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President Biden to deliver Howard U. commencement speech

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

President Joe Biden will be giving a commencement speech to Howard University’s Class of 2023 at D.C.’s Capital One Arena.He will also get the honorary Doctor of Letters from a university that has been a main focus of the president and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a Howard alum, during their time in office.“We are excited to receive the President as this year’s distinguished guest and recognize him for his relentless work uplifting our communities that have been historically left behind,” University President Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a statement. “I look forward to honoring President Biden, our honorary degree recipients, and graduating seniors at the Commencement Convocation.”It comes at a time after he announced his 2024 bid for reelection in which the campaign will focus on turning out Black and young voters, which were largely responsible for his presidential victory in 2020.HBCUs are still a priority for the Biden administration ...

Rublev beats Molcan and the rain for spot in Italian Open 3rd round

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

ROME (AP) — Sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev beat Alex Molcan 6-3, 6-4 in the only match completed so far on a rainy Saturday at the Italian Open.The start of play was delayed for nearly two hours and there was also a brief interruption due to rain during the first set of the Rublev-Molcan match. Then there was a downpour during the final points, as Rublev hurried to close it out before a tarp was pulled out over the red clay court.“I can rest now and I can rest tomorrow. I don’t need to stress waiting,” said Rublev, who won the Monte Carlo Masters last month. “It’s very lucky when you are able to finish just before the rain and you know that most of the players still didn’t play.”Several other matches were suspended before they were completed, with play scheduled to resume later.Rublev’s third-round opponent will be either 27th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Guido Pella, who were scheduled to play later.Also later, second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz was slated to make his Rome debut aga...

Minnesota Lynx player Bridget Carleton excited for 1st WNBA game in Canada

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — The WNBA’s first game in Canada is a full-circle moment for Bridget Carleton.The Chatham, Ontario, native will be suiting up for the Minnesota Lynx in a preseason game Saturday against the Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena.“I think growing up, I never really even dreamed about playing in the WNBA,” the 25-year-old Carleton told The Canadian Press. “I didn’t think I was going to be that good, I think because I knew it was such a small league and only the best of the best, so I was always just kind of focused on college and Team Canada and the Olympics.“A lot of people still live in Toronto who have helped me get to where I am and they always believed in me. … So a huge credit to them for seeing things in me that I didn’t see and to get me to where I am today and (it) kind of comes full circle.”The 6-foot-1 forward who played at Iowa State in college returned to Minnesota on Monday after playing for Perfumerias Avenida in Spain.Perfumerias was swept by Valencia in t...

‘We’re at your side,’ Italian president tells Zelenskyy in Rome before Ukraine leader meets pope

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

ROME (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome before talks on Saturday with Pope Francis at the Vatican, received assurances from Italian leaders of continued military and other aid as his country fights to liberate itself from Russia’s military invasion launched last year.Francis recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.In a tweet, sent shortly after his arrival in the Italian capital late Saturday morning, Zelenskyy cited his schedule of meetings with Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. ” An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! ” Zelenskyy tweeted. When Zelenskyy arrived at a military airfield at Rome’s Ciampino airport, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him. Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine “360 degrees” and press for a just peace, one that safeg...

Surrogate grandmother, daughter reflect on family history

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

REISTERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — It was a week before College Decision Day and Kai Hammond still hadn’t made up his mind.Kai, 18, a Carver Center senior and the second oldest of the Hammond triplets, had narrowed down his college choices to Berklee College of Music and Howard University. His mother, Camille, thought the choice should have been made by then. Kai’s siblings, Aaron and Simone, had decided to go to Morehouse College and Spelman College, respectively, more than a month earlier. But Hammond said Kai, her “creative,” was “keeping her on pins and needles.”“Two of my kids knew last month. But there was a last-minute negotiation and compromise figuring out where the next step would be for him,” the Reisterstown mother and physician said.The family set an in-house decision date of April 30, and Kai ultimately decided to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C.“As a parent at the end of the day, all you have is your best intention and hopes for the kids as to what they will do next...

Space Rabbit Coffee hops into changing part of Christiansburg

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) — Lindsey and Tanner Ratcliffe noticed during their time living out West that coffee shops with only a drive-thru are quite common in that part of the country.So when the time came to open their own business, the couple already had a good idea of what they ultimately wanted to do.“We always knew we wanted to have a West Coast style on the East Coast,” said Lindsey Ratcliffe.That plan finally came to fruition this past winter when they opened Space Rabbit Coffee, a drive-thru shop on Christiansburg’s Roanoke Street that’s modeled after many of the spots they saw during their time out West.The drive-thru operates out of a nearly 1,000-square-foot building that formerly housed a LoanMax Title Loans location. One of the business’ distinguishing features is a mural on one of its exterior walls of a sunglasses-wearing rabbit dressed in an astronaut suit. The rabbit is painted against a mountainous backdrop, and coffee is shown floating around its helmet.The mural ...

Falls Church student charged in connection to 2 sexual assault cases

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

Police in Falls Church, Virginia, arrested a student Thursday in connection to two incidents of sexual assault.The student was charged with aggravated sexual assault and rape after a two-month investigation revealed serious incident involving a female student that happened on a Falls Church City Public Schools campus two hours after school was dismissed, authorities said.Police also said that they had probable cause to believe that the juvenile sexually assaulted another female student in an incident that took place away from school grounds and after school hours.FCCPS Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan said that school administrators informed law enforcement after hearing about the allegations and cooperated with Falls Church police throughout the investigation.The accused student was expelled and hasn’t been on campus since the reported sexual assault.“We want to assure you that our students’ safety, security, and well-being are our top priorities,” Noonan said in a...

Tribes whose lands are cut in two by US borders push for easier crossings

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

For four hours, Raymond V. Buelna, a cultural leader for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, sat on a metal bench in a concrete holding space at the U.S.-Mexico border, separated from the two people he was taking to an Easter ceremony on tribal land in Arizona and wondering when they might be released.It was February 2022 and Buelna, a U.S. citizen, was driving the pair — both from the sovereign Native American nation’s related tribal community in northwestern Mexico — from their home to the reservation southwest of Tucson. They’d been authorized by U.S. officials to cross the border. But when Buelna asked an agent why they were detained, he was told to wait for the officer who brought him in.“They know that we’re coming,” said Buelna, who has made the trip for a variety of ceremonies for 20 years. “We did all this work and then we’re still sitting there.”Now, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is trying to change this — for themselves and potentially dozens of other tribes in the U.S. Tr...

Smoking third rail wiring causes service disruptions on Red Line

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

Smoke on the tracks at the MBTA’s Central Station caused some service disruptions on the Red Line on Saturday morning.The Cambridge Fire Department responded to the report of an odor of smoke around 7 a.m. It was determined smoke was coming from third-rail wiring.Shuttle buses were run from Harvard to Park Street to assist riders while the situation was addressed.Regular service has since resumed.https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1657370546848276480https://twitter.com/CambridgeMAFire/status/1657341168882008069No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Bill Madden: The Mets hitting will come around, but the pitching is a different story

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:44:54 GMT

There’s no way to sugarcoat this. Steve Cohen’s $346 million Mets are off to an extremely disappointing start. They’re not hitting, having been shut out a major league worst seven times, one fewer than all of last season. And they’re not pitching, with only six quality starts, 28th fewest in baseball.So what’s a manager to do?Right now, Buck Showalter has to grin and bear it. He knew starting out he would be managing this year with a major handicap — one huge reliever short — after Edwin Diaz blew out his knee celebrating in the World Baseball Classic. What he did not see was his hitters going into such an early season malaise. But that he has to believe will soon turn around, although it may require an injection of Ronny Mauricio, who continues to tear it up in Triple-A, at second base and Jeff McNeil moving to the outfield (where both Starling Marte and Mark Canha have so far been mostly impotent). It is also worth noting that Francisco Li...