World
Kansas women beat Columbia 66-59, win WNIT championship
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Taiyanna Jackson had 17 factors and career-high tying 21 rebounds — her fourth consecutive double-double and twenty third of the season — Zakiyah Franklin added 19 factors and Kansas beat Columbia 66-59 Saturday to win the WNIT championship.
Chandler Prater added 9 factors, 11 rebounds and 4 steals for Kansas (25-11) and Wyvette Mayberry scored 12 factors. The Jayhawks completed with their most wins for the reason that 1997-98 workforce that additionally gained 25 video games and set a program report for house wins in a season with 19.
This season Kansas made its first look within the AP High 25 in almost a decade after the Jayhawks — who gained 21 video games final season and superior to the NCAA Event for the primary time since 2013 — set a program report with 10 consecutive wins to open the season.
Columbia (28-6) struggled offensively in opposition to the size and athleticism of the Kansas protection. The Lions, who went into the sport ranked No. 13 nationally in scoring offense (78.8 per recreation) and No. 12 in rebound margin (plus-8.5), have been held to fewer than 60 factors for simply the third time this season and outrebounded (49-41) for simply the fourth time.
Franklin scored eight straight Kansas factors in a 12-5 spurt that gave the Jayhawks a 29-25 lead — the most important by both workforce to that time — with a minute to go within the first half. After Kitty Henderson hit a 3 for the Lions, Chandler Prater’s jumper made it 31-28 at intermission. Henderson hit a 3-pointer, Abbey Hsu made a jumper and Jaida Patrick added one other 3 within the first 68 seconds of the third quarter to place Columbia forward by 5 earlier than a 15-0 spurt gave Kansas the lead for good.
Columbia missed 10 consecutive subject objectives and made simply certainly one of its subsequent 15 from the sector after Patrick’s 3 and Kansas by no means trailed over the ultimate 18 minutes.
Hsu led the Lions with 19 factors and Kaitlyn Davis scored 13. Hsu completed the season with 606 factors, two shy of this system report set by Camille Zimmerman in 2016-17.
Jackson had three blocks to increase her single-season Kansas report to 109.
Columbia is the primary workforce in Ivy League historical past to advance to the WNIT’s championship recreation. Final yr, the Lions have been the primary workforce in convention historical past to make it to the Nice Eight, the place they fell to Seton Corridor, 78-75.
Columbia’s 28 wins this season are a brand new program report, three greater than the earlier report set final yr when the Lions went 25-7.
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AP ladies’s school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
World
Conflicts surged across the world in 2024, data suggests
There was a steep rise in political violence over the past year, with Ukraine and Palestine considered the two major global hotspots of conflict.
The world experienced a further surge in conflicts in 2024, according to data provided by the NGO Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), which maps conflicts across the world’s regions.
Political violence increased by 25% globally in 2024 compared to 2023, with one in eight people exposed to conflict and 223,000 people killed, according to the NGO’s estimates.
The data also suggests that there has been a two-fold increase in global conflicts over the past five years.
Another study by the International Institute for International Studies (IIIS) concludes that the intensity and human toll of armed conflicts are also on the rise, with 37% more people killed in the year leading up to June last year compared to the previous year-long period.
According to ACLED, “Palestine is the most conflict-ridden country in the world”, and “the Middle East is the most affected region”.
It bases its assessment on four indicators: the deadliness, danger, diffusion, and fragmentation of armed conflicts.
It estimates that 81% of Palestine’s population is exposed to conflict, with 35,000 fatalities recorded in the past 12 months. On average, 52 conflict incidents occur in Palestinian territories per day.
Since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in October 2023, the UN estimates that more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. ACLED puts the figure of fatalities in the Palestinian territories — including the West Bank and East Jerusalem — at over 50,000.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues to be the deadliest in the world, while Myanmar, where internal conflict has been raging since the military staged a coup in 2021, has the highest number of armed groups.
Where else are conflicts deepening?
There are an estimated 50 countries worldwide experiencing active conflict.
While Ukraine and Palestine are considered the two major global hotspots of conflict, analysts say other regions of the world are increasingly vulnerable to uprisings.
According to ACLED’s Conflict Watchlist for 2025, Mexico and Colombia in the Americas, Pakistan in Asia and Sudan, Sahel and the Great Lakes region of Africa are also “crisis areas” likely to evolve over the next 12 months.
Also on the watchlist are Myanmar, Ukraine, Iran and its allies, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
The UN estimates that 305 million people will require humanitarian assistance in 2025, as their needs are further driven by conflict and violence.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies warns that the humanitarian needs of people in places such as Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine will “likely remain severely underfunded despite obligations to protect the delivery of humanitarian aid under international humanitarian law.”
World
No. 6 Ohio State routs top-ranked Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl, advances to CFP semifinals
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon in the 111th Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday night.
Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution sometimes hasn’t matched their formidable talent this season.
“You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
After painful regular-season losses to Oregon and Michigan, Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP. Facing the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the Granddaddy of Them All, the Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives to take a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team — and Henderson’s second TD run late in the third essentially put it away.
Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.
“I’m proud of the resilience of these guys,” Day said. “Still got a lot of football ahead of us.”
Dillon Gabriel passed for 299 yards and hit Traeshon Holden for two touchdowns for the Ducks (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed), whose dreams of their first national title were flattened on the famed Rose Bowl turf. Oregon’s 14-game winning streak also ended.
Eleven days after routing Tennessee to open the Playoff, Ohio State dominated this rematch of these Big Ten teams’ regular-season thriller, won 32-31 by the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 12. The Ohio State defense that couldn’t sack Gabriel in the teams’ first meeting dropped the Heisman Trophy finalist eight times in the rematch.
Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout freshman playmaker, had a remarkable bowl debut with seven receptions for 187 yards — including five catches for 161 yards in the first half alone, hauling in scoring passes of 45 and 43 yards.
Ohio State turned the CFP’s most anticipated quarterfinal matchup into a long celebration at the Rose Bowl, which has hosted several thrilling, close games in recent Januaries. This one pitted two powerhouse programs widely considered to have the top two teams left in the inaugural 12-team Playoff, but the Buckeyes scored early and often at the Rose Bowl.
The Big Ten champion Ducks couldn’t make any offensive headway until they trailed by 34 points, failing to create any of the big plays that carried the Ducks to victory in Eugene.
After the usual pregame pageantry in 70-degree sunshine at the venerable stadium in Arroyo Seco, Ohio State needed just three plays and 49 seconds to strike first. Howard threw a short play-action screen pass to Smith, who motored through Oregon’s secondary for a 45-yard score.
On the Buckeyes’ third drive, Howard feathered an exceptional long pass over three Ducks to the sprinting Egbuka for a 42-yard TD. Howard finished the first quarter with a career-best 212 yards passing, surpassing his 160 yards during Ohio State’s hot start against Tennessee.
Early in the second quarter, Smith got so open near the Ducks’ goal line that he had two seconds to settle under Howard’s long throw like an outfielder with a fly ball, scoring a 42-yard TD untouched.
When Henderson broke a 66-yard TD run down the Oregon sideline for a 31-0 lead, both sides of the Rose Bowl stands rippled with disbelief.
Oregon finally got moving on its final drive before halftime. Gabriel found Holden for a 5-yard TD pass at the gun, and the Ducks added a two-point conversion to salvage something from their horrific half.
The Ducks drove for Noah Whittington’s 2-yard TD run to open the second half, scoring the first touchdown allowed in the third quarter all season by Ohio State. Oregon even forced a punt moments later to stir faint hope in its fans, but the Ohio State defense drove the Buckeyes backward for a punt before Howard’s group methodically drove for Henderson’s second TD.
Takeaways
Ohio State: The full force of the Buckeyes’ talent has been on display for the past two weeks after it fell short twice in the regular season. The 12-team playoff opened the chance for redemption. This group is seizing it, and it’s awfully fun to watch.
Oregon: Having 3 1/2 weeks off with their first-round bye proved to be dangerous for the Ducks. This disconcerting flop doesn’t completely ruin a breakthrough Big Ten debut, but the season will always loom as a missed opportunity in Oregon history.
Up next
Ohio State: The Cotton Bowl will be a preview of both teams’ 2025 season opener, since Texas visits Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30.
Oregon: The 2025 season opener is at home against Montana State, which faces North Dakota State in the FCS title game Monday night.
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World
Migrants accused of killing Mexican border agent after he asked for their IDs: officials
Three suspected migrants were arrested Monday for allegedly killing a Mexican immigration agent who had asked to see their identification documents, Mexican officials say.
The migrants — two from Venezuela and one from Colombia — were arrested hours after an alleged attack on the agent, who was found earlier in the day with no signs of life, state security and migration officials said. The attack took place around 30 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.
State investigators confirmed that the immigration agent suffered a head injury and was found with no vital signs. His body also showed “signs of violence,” according to a statement from public security officials with northern Chihuahua state.
MEXICO LAUNCHING APP FOR MIGRANTS IN US, VOWS TO DEFEND CITIZENS FACING DEPORTATION
The agent was identified as Luis Alberto Olivas García, who had worked for the immigration agency for 30 years.
The slain agent was attacked at a checkpoint just south of Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, when he asked an unspecified number of foreign nationals for their identification documents, according to the National Migration Institute.
Preliminary reports indicated that the agent had sustained several wounds possibly caused by a sharp weapon and a head injury most likely caused by a rock, the New York Times reported, citing the Chihuahua security ministry, Jorge Armendáriz.
NEW REPORT REVEALS MASSIVE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BENEFITING FROM BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN’S ‘QUIET AMNESTY’
Olivas García had been recognized earlier on Monday for his 30 years of service, Armendáriz added.
The death of the agent marked a rare case of deadly violence against agents and comes as migrants try to cross into the U.S. ahead of an impending crackdown on illegal crossings when President-elect Trump is sworn into office.
Hundreds of U.S.-bound migrants waited in long lines outside an immigration office in southern Mexico on Monday, hoping to secure safe passage north and enter the U.S., according to Reuters.
The U.S. recorded an unprecedented number of illegal migrants flowing across its borders under the Biden-Harris administration.
A cornerstone of Trump’s second term in office is to secure the border and carry out the largest mass deportation program the U.S. has ever seen.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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