Category Archives: WPTF News

Knueppel, Flagg help No. 2 Duke pull away late to beat rival UNC 82-69

Knueppel, Flagg help No. 2 Duke pull away late to beat rival UNC 82-69

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 17 points to help No. 2 Duke beat rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night and clinch the outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. Cooper Flagg added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists despite first-half foul trouble for the Blue Devils. Duke is now in position to take over the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 with top-ranked Auburn losing its last two games. Fifth-year senior RJ Davis scored 20 points in his final home game for the Tar Heels. UNC was looking for a marquee win to help its NCAA Tournament chances.… Continue Reading

A South Carolina man executed by firing squad is the first US prisoner killed this way in 15 years

A South Carolina man executed by firing squad is the first US prisoner killed this way in 15 years

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been executed by firing squad, becoming the first U.S. prisoner in 15 years to die by this method. Brad Sigmon was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. Friday after being shot by three prison employee volunteers with rifles. Sigmon killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in their Greenville County home in 2001 in a botched plot to kidnap their daughter. The 67-year-old chose the firing squad because his lawyers said he considered it a better option than the electric chair or lethal injection. He is the first South Carolina prisoner to be executed by bullets.… Continue Reading

Why are clocks set forward in the spring? Thank wars, confusion and a hunger for sunlight

Why are clocks set forward in the spring? Thank wars, confusion and a hunger for sunlight

DALLAS (AP) — Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer. How we came to move the clock forward in the spring, and then push it back in the fall, is a tale that spans over more than a century and is one that’s driven by two world wars, mass confusion at times and a human desire to bask in the sun. There’s been plenty of debate over the practice but about 70 countries currently use what Americans call daylight saving time.… Continue Reading

Bragg to Liberty and back again: Ceremony to rechristen Army post once named for a Confederate

Bragg to Liberty and back again: Ceremony to rechristen Army post once named for a Confederate

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — First it was Fort Bragg, named in honor of a Confederate general. Then it was Fort Liberty. Now, the North Carolina Army installation is officially Fort Bragg again, only this time in honor of a World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient from Maine. A ceremony Friday celebrated the post’s new namesake, Pfc. Roland L. Bragg. President Donald Trump made restoring Confederate names a part of his reelection campaign. While some call it a cynical dodge, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the rededication honors an American hero and restores a name that soldiers knew and revered for over a century.… Continue Reading

Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame

Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The World Video Game Hall of Fame has revealed its 12 finalists for 2025. Members of the public have a week to vote for their favorites online. The finalists are: Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, Golden Eye, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, Quake, NBA 2K and Tamagotchi. The World Video Game Hall of Fame honors games that have achieved longevity, geographical reach and have influenced game design and pop culture. The Class of 2025 will be enshrined May 8 at the Hall of Fame’s new space inside The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.… Continue Reading

Judge orders Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in USAID and State Dept. debts

Judge orders Trump administration to pay nearly $2 billion in USAID and State Dept. debts

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has given the Trump administration until Monday to pay nearly $2 billion owed to partners of the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department. Thursday’s decision thaws the administration’s six-week funding freeze on all foreign assistance. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled in favor of nonprofit groups and businesses that sued over the funding freeze, which has forced organizations around the world to slash services and lay off thousands of workers. Ali issued his order a day after a divided Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s bid to freeze funding that flowed through USAID.… Continue Reading

Trump reaches 36.6 million television viewers for first address to Congress in second term

Trump reaches 36.6 million television viewers for first address to Congress in second term

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump reached an estimated 36.6 million television viewers for his address to Congress, the Nielsen company said. That’s up from former President Joe Biden’s 32.2 million in 2024, and the most since Biden reached 38.2 million in 2022. It was a smaller audience than Trump reached for his annual address in any of the four years of his first term, Nielsen said. Fox News Channel, the most popular network for Trump fans, dominated viewing, reaching 10.7 million people. Nielsen said 71% of Trump’s television viewers were 55 and older.… Continue Reading

NFL legend Bill Belichick is coaching practices again. Only now he’s a college rookie at UNC

NFL legend Bill Belichick is coaching practices again. Only now he’s a college rookie at UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Bill Belichick is back on the practice sidelines again, though now in college at North Carolina. The 72-year-old coach who won six Super Bowls with the NFL’s New England Patriots opened spring practices at UNC this week. He also held his first news conference on campus since his introductory one after his hiring in December. Belichick told reporters that players have responded well to the new staff. That comes as Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi have talked about building what amounts to a mini-NFL model in a college program. UNC’s spring practices run through April 12.… Continue Reading

Trump takes credit for ‘swift and unrelenting’ action in speech to Congress

Trump takes credit for ‘swift and unrelenting’ action in speech to Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking credit for “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy as he updates Congress and the American people on his turbulent first few weeks in office. Democratic legislators have immediately registered their dissent with stone faces, placards calling out ’lies,” and one legislator’s ejection. The Republican-led House and Senate have done little to restrain the president as he and his allies work to slash the size of the federal government and remake America’s place in the world. Trump says he is working to “reclaim democracy from this unaccountable bureaucracy” and has threatened federal workers anew with firings if they resist his agenda.… Continue Reading

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