April 8 top stories
It is April 8. Hope your weekend was good. Here are today’s top stories.
2024 NCAA women’s basketball championship
The South Carolina Gamecocks were crowned national women’s champions on Sunday, beating fellow top-seed rival Iowa Hawkeyes and star Caitlin Clark 87-75.
The win gives coach Dawn Staley and her team a third NCAA title, capping a perfect 38-0 season for the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks’ freshman Tessa Johnson had 19 points and senior center Kamilla Cardoso had 15 as the team smothered Iowa’s hope for its first championship title.
The win also avenges South Carolina’s loss to Iowa in last year’s Final Four, the team’s only loss that season. The Gamecocks are now 109-3 in the last three seasons.
For the second year in a row, Iowa and Clark have come up short in the national championship game, losing to LSU a year ago. This was Clark’s final game in an Iowa uniform before heading to the WNBA, where she is expected to be the top pick in the draft on April 15. Clark finished with a game-high 30 points.
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattles East Coast
Local officials said a rare 4.8-magnitude earthquake was felt across the East Coast on the morning of April 5.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was centered near Lebanon, New Jersey. The earthquake struck just before 10:30 a.m. local time. Hours later, New Jersey and New York City felt a 4.0 magnitude aftershock.
According to the Associated Press, more than 42 million people were affected by the morning’s quake – with shaking felt in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
The USGS reported the shaking was felt as far north as Maine and as far south as Norfolk, Virginia. They said earthquakes are uncommon but not unheard of along the Atlantic Coast.
The earthquake was the strongest in New Jersey in almost 250 years. It was also the strongest earthquake to strike the East Coast since a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Virginia in 2011.
Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with Ecuador after embassy raid
Mexico is breaking diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police raided its embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been seeking asylum there. Mexico’s foreign ministry spokesperson announced all Mexican diplomatic staff would leave Ecuador immediately.
Mexico decried the raid as an outrage against international law. Under diplomatic norms, embassies are generally considered protected spaces.
A rift between the two Latin American countries had been growing for several years, culminating Friday in Mexico’s decision to grant political asylum to Glas, who served as vice president under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017.
Convicted twice on corruption charges, Glas says he is the subject of political persecution (a threat to life or freedom because of one’s political opinion) and had been sheltering inside the embassy. Glas had most recently been accused by Ecuadorian authorities of embezzling government funds meant to help rebuild after a devastating 2016 earthquake.
Both Mexican and Ecuadorian presidents confirmed the embassy raid and the arrest of Glas on their respective official X accounts. Glas has since been transferred to a maximum-security prison in Guayaquil known as La Roca in Ecuador.
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111-year-old great-grandad British man is world’s oldest living man
The world’s oldest living man, 111-year-old Briton John Tinniswood, said his longevity was “just luck” and there was no special secret to his diet – although his favorite food was fish and chips every Friday.
Tinniswood, who has been retired for more than half a century, inherited the Guinness World Records title from Venezuelan Juan Vicente Perez Mora, 114, whose death was announced last week.
Born in 1912 in northern England, retired accountant and former postal service worker Tinniswood clocked in at 111 years old and 222 days.
He gave a pithy reply when asked for the secret to his longevity: “You either live long or you live short, and you can’t do much about it.”
The oldest man ever was Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to 116 years and 54 days. The oldest living woman and oldest living person overall is Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera, aged 117.
See Alex for a brief on more than 100 dogs seized in an alleged dogfighting ring. Here you go.
Over 120 dogs seized from New Jersey compound used in alleged dogfighting ring
Thanks, Callie.
CNN reported that in New Jersey, police rescued over 120 dogs that were a part of a suspected dogfighting ring that was under investigation.
At a compound consisting of several buildings in southern New Jersey, police found dogs and puppies living in barren pens and cages or left chained outside in the cold rain. Some dogs were emaciated and had wounds and/or scarring.
The Humane Society said many of the dogs, despite their health challenges and their alleged use in dogfights, were friendly and affectionate with their rescuers. The dogs received medical care from veterinarians. The dogs have been moved to a different and “safe” location.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said eight people have been arrested and charged.
Dogfighting is a federal felony. Owners and spectators can make a lot of money betting on fights, which often result in severe injuries or death for the dogs.
CNN explained that in 2022, federal officials seized roughly 400 dogs from suspected dogfighting rings.
Thanks for that brief. That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
2024 NCAA women’s basketball championship
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattles East Coast
Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with Ecuador after embassy raid
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/06/1243216625/mexico-diplomatic-ties-ecuador
111-year-old great-grandad British man is world’s oldest living man
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-68741070
Over 120 dogs seized from New Jersey compound used in alleged dogfighting ring
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/06/us/new-jersey-dogfighting-ring