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Diede de Groot wins US Open women’s wheelchair title for her 12th straight Grand Slam victory

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Diede de Groot won her 12th straight Grand Slam wheelchair singles title Sunday, beating Yui Kamiji 6-2, 6-2 in the U.S. Open women’s final.The Dutch star completed her third straight calendar-year Grand Slam, including a Golden Slam in 2021, when she also won the Paralympic gold medal. De Groot has won six straight U.S. Open titles and 20 major singles titles overall — not that she keeps count.“I’d like to really not worry about it too much, because then you’re going to start to think about, ‘Oh, I want to reach this or I want to reach that,’” she said. “I really just want to focus on my game, and that’s what I did today. So that’s what I’m really proud of. But I think just being this consistent is what I’m really proud of. Being able to do it multiple times in the year.”De Groot hasn’t lost a Grand Slam singles match since falling in the French Open semifinals in 2020.___AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisSource

Brittney Sykes shot at buzzer lifts Mystics to 90-88 win over Liberty in regular-season finale

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Brittney Sykes scored on a lob pass at the buzzer to lift the Washington Mystics to a 90-88 win over the New York Liberty on Sunday to close out the regular season.Sykes, who finished with 20 points, caught the inbounds pass from Natasha Cloud in the lane and put it in before the buzzer, ending the Liberty’s eight-game winning streak and any chance to get the top seed in the playoffs. The teams will meet in the first round of the WNBA playoffs with Game 1 on Friday in New York. The final play was set up after Breanna Stewart blocked Elena Delle Donne’s shot on the baseline with 0.5 seconds remaining. Washington (19-21) turned a 71-67 lead to start the fourth quarter into a double-digit advantage. New York was down 84-74 with 4:41 left when Sabrina Ionescu was fouled hard on a drive by Tianna Hawkins. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant one. Ionescu made both free throws to start a 14-4 burst to tie the game on Stewart’s layup with 21.5 seconds left....

Local boy with Down syndrome featured in NYC Times Square video

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR) -- A Littleton boy with Down syndrome was featured in a video in Times Square prior to the annual NYC Buddy Walk. Kim Smith is 9-year-old Gavin Smith's mother. She heard about the annual National Down Syndrome Society Times Square video presentation contest through their local chapter of the society. Coffee shop uses glass jars to reduce plastic waste Out of thousands of entries, the photo of Gavin below was chosen. "I feel like it really captured Gavin and his favorite things, he loves to sit in the sunshine and out in the snow," said Smith. A Littleton boy with Down syndrome was featured in a video in Times Square prior to the annual NYC Buddy Walk. (Smith family)Smith was able to be there in Times Square as his photo appeared."I was crying when it started, and it's not even my son's picture on there yet," she explained. "Just when the presentation started, and you take in the atmosphere, and you look around and see so many families and so many kids and a...

Disgraced football chief Luis Rubiales resigns over World Cup kiss scandal

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

Spain’s suspended football federation President Luis Rubiales announced his resignation Sunday, citing the intense public criticism he’s received after forcibly kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso at the Women’s World Cup final.“I do not want Spanish football to be negatively impacted by this disproportionate campaign,” Rubiales wrote in a statement sent to the media shortly after he presented his resignation to acting federation President Pedro Rocha on Sunday night.Rubiales’ resignation statement was distributed at the same time that journalist Piers Morgan published a clip of an upcoming interview in which Rubiales confirms his resignation and said his father had urged him to step down in order to preserve his dignity.Last month Rubiales ignited a firestorm with his actions at the World Cup final, which kicked off a wider conversation about sexism in Spanish society. For several weeks the country’s top politicians and the heads of Spain̵...

Ticker: Housing affordability at record low; Fran Drescher reelected SAG-AFTRA president

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

U.S. housing affordability remained at a record low in July as high mortgage rates and prices kept home ownership out of reach for many Americans.The National Association of Realtors housing affordability index was unchanged at 87.8 in July, matching the lowest level in data back to 1989. A level of 100 means a family with the median income has enough income to qualify for a mortgage at the median home price.The typical family spent 28.5% of their income on the principal and interest of their mortgage payment each month, also matching an all-time high, according to the report released Friday.Qualifying income for a mortgage, based on a 20% down payment, was a record $104,496 in July.“Higher mortgage rates continued to harm affordability despite modestly lower median home prices,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in an email.Fran Drescher reelected SAG-AFTRA presidentFran Drescher was easily reelected as president of SAG-AFTRA on Friday, a strong show of support as the actor...

Springfield Central too much for Central Catholic

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

SPRINGFIELD – The first game of the John Sexton regime didn’t go as planned for the Central Catholic football team Sunday afternoon, as perennial power Springfield Central rolled out a reloaded offense the Raiders couldn’t keep up with in a 44-26 loss.Freshman Jareth Staine starred under center for the Golden Eagles (1-0), filling former star Pop Watson’s shoes by passing for 256 yards and four touchdowns. Dwayne Early (5 catches, 94 yards) and Mattias Barbour (5 catches, 74 yards) each caught a pair of scores in an effort that saw four players find the end zone.Central Catholic star quarterback Blake Hebert helped the team nearly storm back from an early deficit with two touchdown runs, but the offense couldn’t deliver on three different possessions that it had the chance to tie the game on. That includes two to start the second half.Hebert got hurt on a turnover-on-downs on the second of those drives in the third quarter, and Springfield Central blew the game open after he exited ...

Arrest made in fatal Oceanside shooting

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A suspect was arrested in connection to a shooting in an Oceanside parking lot Saturday evening that left one person dead, authorities confirmed.The incident was reported around 4:36 p.m. after an altercation between three juvenile suspects and 29-year-old man in a parking lot on N Redondo Drive near Vandegrift Boulevard, according to Jennifer Atenza with the Oceanside Police Department.Multiple shots were reportedly fired by one of the juveniles as the altercation escalated. According to OPD, the suspect chased the victim and fired again, striking the victim in the upper torso area. All three suspects then fled north from the parking lot.The victim, a resident of Oceanside, sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead on scene. His identity has not been released.The motive and circumstances that led up to the shooting are still under investigation. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office ASTREA helicopter assisted officers in searching for the suspects through...

Suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales resigns after kiss scandal at World Cup

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has resigned from his post after a kiss scandal which tarnished Spain’s victory at the Women’s World Cup.Rubiales announced his resignation Sunday in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.“After my swift suspension by FIFA, and the rest of the cases building against me, it is clear that I cannot return to the post,” Rubiales said in his statement.Rubiales kissed star player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. Spanish state prosecutors accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion after the unwanted kiss, the country’s prosecutors’ office said Friday, two days after Hermoso formally accused him of sexual assault.He had already been suspended from his job by FIFA for his conduct at the final.Rubiales said he also resigned as UEFA vice president.Rubiales said that he had told in...

Tributes pour in for Monique Bégin, ‘trailblazer’ and former federal cabinet minister

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is mourning the loss of Monique Bégin, a former cabinet minister and academic who died Friday at the age of 87. Trudeau says Bégin’s was a “trailblazer for Canadian women,” whose election to Parliament in 1972 made her one of the first of three women from Quebec to serve in the House of Commons.He said in a statement that Bégin made her mark on the country by introducing the Canada Health Act and a child tax credit before leaving politics and returning to academia after more than a decade in public life. Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent says Bégin was a much-loved leader who leaves an important legacy, and he noted that she served on the first board of the Broadbent Institute, a progressive thank tank he founded in 2011.The University of Ottawa, where Bégin landed after leaving politics, says she played a significant role in shaping the institution where she served as chair of women’s studies and was later named de...

Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev playing for US Open men’s title in a rematch from 2 years ago

Published Sun, 22 Dec 2024 23:16:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev have begun their match to determine the U.S. Open men’s champion.Their meeting Sunday is a rematch of the 2021 final in Flushing Meadows. Medvedev won that day for his lone Grand Slam title, denying Djokovic what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969.Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, has gone on to win two more major titles this year, at the Australian Open and French Open, to raise his career total to 23. That is the most Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis history and ties Serena Williams for the most in the professional era, dating to 1968.The match is being played with the roof closed at Arthur Ashe Stadium because of the potential for more bad weather.___AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisThe Associated Press