US wins the Sydney leg of Sail GP, showing its class in light winds

SYDNEY (AP) — The United States showed its mastery of light conditions by winning the Sydney leg of the SailGP series Sunday, beating Britain and Spain in a three boat final.

Associated Press Artemis SailGP Team helmed by Nathan Outteridge leads Red Bull Italy SailGP Team helmed by Phil Robertson, NORTHSTAR SailGP Team helmed by Giles Scott and Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team helmed by Dylan Fletcher in action on Race Day 1 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Saturday, Feb. 28 2026. (Travis Hayto/SailGP via AP) Tom McGowan takes part in a sixth sailor experience on board the Los Gallos SailGP Team in front of the Sydney Opera House and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team on Race Day 1 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Saturday Feb.28, 2026. (Brett Phibbs/ SailGP via AP) SailGP fleet led by ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team ahead of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team and BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team start the first race as they pass Shark Island on Race Day 1 of the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney, Australia. Saturday, Feb. 28,2026. (Andrew Baker/SailGP via AP)

Australia SailGP

Racing took place in winds of between 8 and 15 knots (9 to 17 mph) and the United States looked in its element, clearly beating Britain for its first win of the season.

Driver Taylor Canfield positioned the United States at the top end of the starting line in the final and, while Britain crossed slightly ahead, the USA was faster and had a better angle. Britain was just ahead at the first mark but the United States again had better speed and took a lead which it didn't concede for the rest of the race.

Britain split away on the second leg, looking for better wind. But the tactic didn't work and the United States positioned itself well to cement its advantage.

First win in two seasons

While the United States achieved a best speed of the day of around 41 knots, it only managed to stay on its foils for 22 percent of the finals. The win was its first in two seasons, since Cadiz in season four.

SailGP features 13 identical 50 foot catamarans which rise out of the water on foils and can attain high speeds. In the previous event of the series in Auckland, New Zealand strong winds saw boats achieve speeds of around 100kmh (60mph).

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Only 11 boats were able to contest the Sydney event. France and New Zealand are still undergoing repairs after colliding in Auckland ina crashwhich sent a crewperson from both teams to hospital. New Zealand sailor Louis Sinclair suffered compund fractures to both legs and French strategist Manon Audinet suffered chest injuries.

Britain won the first of three fleet races Sunday. The United States won the second race and Denmark won the third.

TheBritish team won the first eventof the sixth SailGP season in Perth, Australia and Australia's Flying Roos won the Auckland event.

After three events, Britain leads the overall standings with 29 points from Australia with 25 and the USA with 20.

AP sports:https://apnews.com/sports

byNeo
in , , , ,
March 01, 2026

US wins the Sydney leg of Sail GP, showing its class in light winds

SYDNEY (AP) — The United States showed its mastery of light conditions by winning the Sydney leg of the SailGP series Sun...
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A March Madness prelude: Men's basketball conference tournament schedule

Before theMadnessbegins, we need to crown conference champions andNCAA Tournamentautomatic bids are up for grabs.

USA TODAY Sports

Here's a list of themen's basketballconference tournament schedules:

Bracketology:NCAA Tournament last four in, first four out

March Madness predictions:13 teams who can win NCAA tournament

Men's college basketball conference tournament dates, schedule

Listed by start date.

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  • Horizon: March 2-10 (Indianapolis)

  • Sun Belt: March 3-9 (Pensacola, Fla.)

  • Patriot: March 3-11 (on campus)

  • OVC: March 4-7 (Evansville, Ind.)

  • ASUN: March 4-8 (Jacksonville, Fla.)

  • Big South: March 4-8 (Johnson City, Tenn.)

  • Summit: March 4-8 (Sioux Falls, SD)

  • NEC: March 4-10 (on campus)

  • MVC: March 5-8 (St. Louis)

  • MAAC: March 5-10 (Atlantic City, NJ)

  • WCC: March 5-10 (Las Vegas)

  • SoCon: March 6-9 (Asheville, NC)

  • CAA: March 6-10 (Washington DC)

  • Big Sky: March 7-11 (Boise)

  • America East: March 7-14 (on campus)

  • Mountain West: March 7-14 (Las Vegas)

  • Southland: March 8-12 (Lake Charles, La.)

  • SWAC: March 9-14 (Atlanta)

  • ACC: March 10-14 (Charlotte)

  • Big 12: March 10-14 (Kansas City)

  • Conference USA: March 10-14 (Huntsville, Ala.)

  • Big Ten: March 10-15 (Chicago)

  • Big East: March 11-14 (New York City)

  • Big West: March 11-14 (Henderson, NV)

  • MAC: March 11-14 (Cleveland)

  • MEAC: March 11-14 (Norfolk, Va.)

  • WAC: March 11-14 (Las Vegas)

  • American: March 11-15 (Birmingham)

  • Atlantic 10: March 11-15 (Pittsburgh)

  • SEC: March 11-15 (Nashville)

  • Ivy: March 14-15 (Ithaca, NY)

When is Selection Sunday 2026?

The 68-team bracket for the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament will be unveiled on 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 15.

When does March Madness start?

The first men's game of the 2026 NCAA tournament will be on March 17 with the start of the First Four in Dayton, Ohio.

March Madness 2026 schedule

The 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament will transpire over the next three weeks, which will end with the Final Four and the national championship game in Indianapolis.

Here's a rundown of the schedule for the 2026 NCAA Tournament:

  • First Four: March 17-18

  • First round: March 19-20

  • Second round: March 21-22

  • Sweet 16: March 26-27

  • Elite Eight: March 28-29

  • Final Four: April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

  • National championship game: April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NCAA men's basketball conference tournament schedule, dates, locations

byNeo
in , , , ,
March 01, 2026

A March Madness prelude: Men's basketball conference tournament schedule

Before theMadnessbegins, we need to crown conference champions andNCAA Tournamentautomatic bids are up for grabs. ...
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At least 6 killed as Shiites storm US Consulate in Pakistan over killing of Iran's supreme leader

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — At least six people were killed and about a dozen were wounded in violent clashes with police and paramilitary forces Sunday after hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, authorities said.

Associated Press Shiite Muslims mourn the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a protest against the U.S. and Israel in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) Pakistani Shiite Muslims sit on a road during a demonstration to condemn the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a major attack by Israel and the United States, in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) Pakistani Shiite Muslims sit on a road during a demonstration to condemn the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a major attack by Israel and the United States, in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) A security officer takes position as a motorcycle which was set on fire by angry protestors is seen outside the U.S. Consulate following protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Muhammad Farooq) Police officers and rescue workers examine a burnt police post, which was set on fire by angry protestors close to the U.S. Consulate following protesters stormed the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Muhammad Farooq)

APTOPIX Pakistan Iran US Israel

The violence came hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Police and officials at a hospital in Karachi said at least eight people were also wounded in the clashes.

Summaiya Syed Tariq, a police surgeon at the city's main government hospital, confirmed that six bodies and multiple injured people were brought to the facility. Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province and Pakistan's largest city.

Senior police official Irfan Baloch said protesters briefly attacked the perimeter of the U.S. Consulate but were later dispersed. "The situation is now fully under our control," Baloch said.

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He dismissed as baseless reports that any part of the consulate building was set on fire. However, he said protesters torched a nearby police post and smashed windows of the consulate before security forces arrived and regained control.

Witnesses said dozens of Shiite protesters remained gathered about a kilometer (half a mile) from the consulate, urging others to join them. Shiites make up roughly 15% of Pakistan's population of about 250 million and represent one of the largest Shiite communities in the world. They have frequently staged anti-Israel and anti-U.S. rallies in the past, though clashes of this scale are rare.

Shiites also held a rally near the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province, police said. Faisal Kamran, a senior police official, said demonstrators tried to protest outside the consulate but were not allowed. Police dispersed the crowd when they tried to march toward the building, he said.

Associated Press writers Babar Dogar in Lahore, Pakistan, and Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

byNeo
in , , , ,
March 01, 2026

At least 6 killed as Shiites storm US Consulate in Pakistan over killing of Iran's supreme leader

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — At least six people were killed and about a dozen were wounded in violent clashes with police an...
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Protests break out in Pakistan, Iraq over Khamenei's death

KARACHI, Pakistan, March 1 (Reuters) - Pakistani police fired tear gas on Sunday to scatter protesters who breached the outer wall ‌of the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Karachi ‌following news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali ​Khamenei.

Reuters Protesters supporting Iraqi Shi'ite armed groups demonstrate near the entrance of the Green Zone after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani Security forces patrol as protesters supporting Iraqi Shi'ite armed groups gathered near the entrance of the Green Zone and attempted to move toward the U.S. embassy after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani Security forces gather as protesters supporting Iraqi Shi'ite armed groups gathered near the entrance of the Green Zone and attempted to move toward the U.S. embassy after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani Police and security officials gather after a protest outside the U.S. Consulate General, following news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Karachi, Pakistan March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro Police gathers after a protest outside the U.S. Consulate General, following news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Karachi, Pakistan March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro A police officer walks next to a checkpost set ablaze in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate General, following news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Karachi, Pakistan March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite armed groups gather after the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad

Pro-Iranian protesters also gathered outside the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where the U.S. Embassy is located.

In Karachi, protesters had been pushed back from the consulate, a spokesman for the local government said. A ‌Reuters reporter heard sounds ⁠of gunfire and video footage from the scenes showed burning vehicles outside the consulate's main gate.

No casualties were reported ⁠in the clashes. U.S. diplomats in the consulate were not immediately available for comment.

Large protests also broke out in other parts of Pakistan.

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Protesters set ​fire to ​a United Nations office building in ​Pakistan's northern city of Skardu, ‌in the normally peaceful Shia-majority Gilgit Baltistan region known for its Himalayan peaks popular with tourists.

"A large number of protesters have gathered outside the UN office in GB and burned down the building," local government spokesperson Shabbir Mir told Reuters, adding no casualties had been reported.

Crowds ‌had gathered earlier in the day to ​protest Khamenei's death.

In the central city of ​Lahore, hundreds of protesters gathered ​outside the U.S. consulate but there were no reports ‌of violence.

"Some of the protestors tried ​to damage the ​security gate, hundreds of yards away for the Consulate, however, police stopped them without use of force," Aqeel Raza, an eyewitness, ​told Reuters.

(Reporting by Akhtar ‌Soomro and Ariba Shahid in Karachi, Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar ​and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing ​by Clarence Fernandez and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

byNeo
in , , , ,
March 01, 2026

Protests break out in Pakistan, Iraq over Khamenei's death

KARACHI, Pakistan, March 1 (Reuters) - Pakistani police fired tear gas on Sunday to scatter protesters who breached the o...
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OPEC+ debates oil output boost as US war on Iran disrupts shipments

By Olesya Astakhova, Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar

Reuters

LONDON/MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - OPEC+ will consider a larger-than-expected oil output increase on Sunday, two OPEC+ sources said after ‌the U.S.-Israeli war on OPEC+ member Iran and Tehran's retaliation led to shipment ‌disruptions in the Middle East.

OPEC+ has a history of raising oil output to cushion disruptions but analysts said the ​group currently has very little spare capacity to meaningfully add to supply, except for its leader Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Riyadh has been raising oil production and exports in recent weeks in preparation for U.S. strikes on Iran, sources have told Reuters.

Oil, gas and other shipments ‌from the Middle East via the ⁠Strait of Hormuz have come to a halt since Saturday after shipowners received a warning from Iran saying the area was closed for navigation.

OPEC+ ⁠will debate a production hike of 411,000 barrels per day or more at a meeting on Sunday, sources told Reuters, larger than the original expectations of 137,000 bpd.

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Oil prices jumped on Friday ​to $73 per ​barrel, the highest level since July, on fears ​of a wider conflict in the ‌Middle East and supply disruptions through Hormuz, the world's most important oil route amounting to over 20% of global oil transit.

Middle East leaders have warned Washington that a war on Iran could lead to oil prices jumping to over $100 per barrel, said veteran OPEC analyst Helima Croft from RBC. Analysts from Barclays also said prices could rise to $100.

Croft said the market impact ‌from any large OPEC output increase will be limited ​due to a lack of actual production capabilities outside ​Saudi Arabia.

The meeting on Sunday will ​start at 1100 GMT and will involve only eight members of OPEC+ - ‌Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, ​Iraq, Algeria and Oman. ​OPEC+ groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies like Russia but most production changes in the past years have been done by the eight members.

The ​eight members raised production quotas ‌by about 2.9 million bpd from April through December 2025, roughly 3% of ​global demand, before pausing increases for January to March 2026 due to seasonal ​weakness.

(Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

byNeo
in , , , ,
March 01, 2026

OPEC+ debates oil output boost as US war on Iran disrupts shipments

By Olesya Astakhova, Alex Lawler and Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON/MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - OPEC+ will consider a la...
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