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North Carolina man’s lottery winnings will go to teach dance to children in Mali
![North Carolina man’s lottery winnings will go to teach dance to children in Mali North Carolina man’s lottery winnings will go to teach dance to children in Mali](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cb10469d6434dfd6ad873dc3bf38a92d8875f451/0_15_600_360/master/600.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom,left&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=c6c1858f199802e1c131bf129aea266b)
A man who moved to the US from Mali and won a six-figure lottery prize plans to invest in supporting schoolchildren in his war-torn home country.
“This was my dream,” Souleymane Sana said of being in a position to help schoolchildren in Mali, according to lottery administrators. “That was one of the main reasons I bought that ticket. [It] was to be able to keep helping them.”
Sana, 39, lives in New Bern, North Carolina, and works as a dance instructor. He went to a convenience store and bought a North Carolina Education Lottery scratch-off ticket. It won him $100,000, reduced to $71,259 after state and federal taxes, officials said.
Many winners of lottery prizes of that size talk about treating themselves, paying bills or saving.
But when Sana went to lottery headquarters to collect his winnings, he spoke about how he had started a group dedicated to preserving traditional Malian music and dance and planned to use his winnings to build classrooms and a center dedicated to teaching children dance.
“I love to dance, and I want to teach the children in Mali to love it, too,” Sana said in a statement issued by lottery officials. “If you talk about culture and you talk about education, they both go together.
“I’m going to keep doing my best to help build more … for the children in Mali. That is the thing that makes me really happy.
“My dream is just becoming true little by little and I hope it will keep going.”
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Mali has been destabilized since 2012, when a military uprising overthrew the president, Amadou Toumani Touré. Militants seized on the resulting power vacuum, mounting an insurgency capitalizing on ethnic grievances, poor governance, corruption and poverty.
A United Nations report recently gave an hour-by-hour account of a five-day military operation in March 2022 in which 500 people were killed. Most were unarmed civilians, killed by Malian troops and mercenaries believed to be from the Wagner group, which is run by an ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The operation focused on by the UN report is the worst single atrocity associated with Wagner outside Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wagner’s fighters have been leading Russia’s push to seize the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, which Ukraine’s defenses have fiercely contested, leading to heavy casualties.
According to North Carolina officials, money from scratch-off lottery ticket sales raises $2.5m daily for the state education system. Last year, officials said, the county where Sana lives received nearly $6m from lottery ticket sales.
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North Carolina
Obituary for Kristie Lee Sturgill Blake at Market Street Chapel
North Carolina
NBA Draft Scouting Report: Texas’ Tre Johnson
![NBA Draft Scouting Report: Texas’ Tre Johnson NBA Draft Scouting Report: Texas’ Tre Johnson](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2209,h_1242,x_1298,y_403/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/nba_draft/01j462h25vxrtranzx37.jpg)
Drake Powell
Guard | UNC
Height: 6’5” | Weight: 185 lbs
2025 Draft Age: 19.78
As a natural wing or off-ball guard, Powell has what it takes to be an impact player at the next level. He boasts the positional size and athleticism to exploit his opponents on either end of the floor. Overall, he’s a very smart player with a competitive edge and is willing to adapt to what his team needs to win.
Powell is really best as an off-ball player offensively, especially given he’s not known for being a self-creator or primary ball-handler. However, he is a smart cutter and has found ways to position himself for success when finding space. To really take his game overall to the next level, the North Carolina freshman will need to prove he can become a better shooter. Whether it’s in the mid-range or beyond the arc, his jumper is inconsistent. Again, as an offensive prospect, he needs to improve to really become a two-way threat. The physical traits are there for him to get where he needs to be, but the development of his offensive game is a huge swing for Powell in terms of draft stock.
On the defensive end of the floor, Powell really shines. His athletic tools allow him to be all over the place and make plays on and off of the ball. He is quick, boasts length and is very smart as a defender. When thinking about what will differentiate him from other prospects at the next level, it will be his upside as a defensive prospect. He plays with tremendous energy and effort and he makes those around him better on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, he is one of the best defenders in the entire freshman class.
If Powell can convince NBA teams that he has the future projection of being a better offensive player, there’s no question he could be one of the most impactful players in the draft. In the meantime, he can lean on his defensive abilities to contribute to winning. The former five-star recruit is following in the footsteps of his father as a Tar Heel, as he played baseball for North Carolina when he was in school.
Mid to Late Lottery Pick in 2025 NBA Draft.
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North Carolina
WATCH: Steamy and Stormy in North Carolina on Friday, Heat Advisory in the eastern Triad
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