Get complete access for 24 hours to all of the content on our site, including breaking news, e-editions, archives (2010 to current) and special sections.
Start or renew an online subscription to TheDerrick.com! Get 24/7 access to everything on the website, including breaking news, e-editions, searchable archives (2010 to current) and special sections. Subscription commitments begin at just 30 days!
Officially, Meghan Markle’s surname became the unwieldy Mountbatten-Windsor when she married Prince Harry in 2018, but she isn’t wrong in wanting to use Sussex as her last name instead, after her husband’s dukedom, according to experts on royal titles.
But Meghan’s decision this week to make a point of being referred to by the Sussex surname is raising eyebrows in royal circles, where Buckingham Palace “insiders” say that she appears worried that King Charles, or a future King William, could exercise their power to strip her and her husband of their Sussex royal titles, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban says he wouldn’t have traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers without receiving much more in return. Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has come under heavy criticism after sending Doncic to the Lakers in a shocking three-team deal on Feb. 1 that sent Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round draft pick to Dallas. The Lakers have put themselves in position to be title contenders and the Mavericks are in danger of missing the playoffs after Davis and then Kyrie Irving were injured.
A man accused of tampering with a witness in a courtroom hallway has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Abdinasir Abshir will be sentenced for his role in a scheme that prosecutors said stole $250 million in federal funds meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The witness tampering allegation surfaced last month at the trial of the alleged ringleader of the Feeding Our Future scheme. Abshir's lawyer conceded it was a “shocking incident.” Under Friday's plea deal, both sides recommended 63 to 78 months in prison, and Abshir has agreed to pay nearly $2.3 million in restitution. The judge is not bound by the recommendations.
In 2015, then-President Barack Obama committed the United States to achieving newly adopted U.N. global goals by 2030. They included ending poverty, achieving gender equality and urgently tackling climate change. The Trump administration now says it “rejects and denounces” the goals. The 17 goals were adopted unanimously by all 193 U.N. member nations, with the aim of eliminating global hunger, protecting the planet, ensuring prosperity for all people, and promoting peace. Edward Heartney is a minister-counselor at the U.S. mission to the United Nations. He says the U.N. goals “advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”
Mexican Finance Secretary Rogelio Ramírez de la O, a holdover from the previous administration, has resigned for personal reasons and will be replaced by his deputy. President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday in a video posted to X that Ramírez de la O would serve as an economic advisor on international issues. The economist had served as finance secretary since July 2021, when he was appointed by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador amid the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sheinbaum named Edgar Amador Zamora, Ramírez de la O’s number two, to replace him.
France has handed control of two military facilities to Senegal, beginning the formal process of withdrawing its military presence from the West African country amid its waning influence in the region. The handover Friday follows a declaration by Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye late last year that all foreign troops would leave the country. The French Embassy said in a statement that it has handed “the facilities and housing in the Maréchal and Saint-Exupéry districts” over to Senegal. It has not said how many French troops remain. Senegal’s new government has taken a hard-line stance on the French military presence as part of a larger regional backlash against what many consider the legacy of an oppressive colonial empire.
Led by Erik Timko's 19 points, the Delaware Blue Hens defeated the Stony Brook Seawolves 80-76 in the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament on Friday.
Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Payton Verhulst added 16 points and No. 10 Oklahoma battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 12 Kentucky 69-65 and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals. Sahara Williams chipped in with 13 points for Oklahoma, which has won nine straight. The Sooners will face two-time defending Southeastern Conference champion and fifth-ranked South Carolina, an 84-63 winner over Vanderbilt, on Saturday. Georgia Amoore scored 29 points and Clara Strack added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky.
Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro is accusing Guyanese President Irfaan Ali of seeking to provoke an armed conflict, likening him to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom Maduro claims caused the war with Russia.
This week in Aspen marks the debut of Shaun White's Snow League. It's a four-contest circuit that the retired three-time Olympic gold medalist hopes can alter the trajectory of halfpipe snowboarding. White's league promises $1.6 million in prize money, and $50,000 first prizes for men and women. It also offers Olympic qualifying points with the Milan-Cortina Games less than a year away. Top names competing this week include defending Olympic champion Ayumu Hirano on the men's side and Maddie Mastro for the women. White says he sees the league as a long-needed way to bring the best riders together more than every four years for the Olympics.
PITTSBURGH — Organizers of a ballot referendum directing the city to divest from countries committing genocide, specifically citing Israel, conceded that they did not have enough signatures to make it on the ballot during a hearing Friday morning — ending the legal challenges it faced.
Maya T. Prabhu - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)
ATLANTA — A Georgia House staffer will not face charges for his part in a tussle outside the chamber earlier this year that led to him shoving a state senator to the ground.
Cam Fowler is back to play in Anaheim for the first time since the Ducks traded the longest-serving and highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history to the St. Louis Blues less than three months ago. Fowler insists he feels no bitterness or disappointment about the way his 14 1/2 seasons in Orange County ended, and he is likely to receive a boisterous welcome when the Blues face the Ducks. Fowler had been a mainstay on the Ducks’ blue line since 2010, when the team selected him with the 12th overall pick. The Ducks traded him to St. Louis in December.
Adnan Syed, the accused murderer who became the subject of the widely popular podcast “Serial,” has had his sentence for the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee reduced to time served.
Officially, Meghan Markle’s surname became the unwieldy Mountbatten-Windsor when she married Prince Harry in 2018, but she isn’t wrong in wanting to use Sussex as her last name instead, after her husband’s dukedom, according to experts on royal titles.
Led by Kezza Giffa's 25 points, the High Point Panthers defeated the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs 85-64 in the Big South Conference Tournament on Friday.
Oklahoma's top public schools official is continuing his quest to put a Bible in classrooms. Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced this week he's teaming with country music singer Lee Greenwood and seeking donations to buy $59.99 leather-bound “God Bless the USA” Bibles. The move comes one day after a legislative subcommittee in the GOP-controlled Legislature turned down Walters' request for $3 million to pay for the Bibles. Walters announced his Bible mandate last year, prompting a lawsuit from a group of parents and teachers. Some of his proposed policy changes, like a mandate that schools collect immigration status of students, have faced opposition from other GOP leaders.
D’Wayne Wiggins, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Tony! Toni! Tone! behind the classic songs “Anniversary,” “It Never Rains (In Southern California)” and (Lay Your Head on My) Pillow,” has died. He was 64. A statement released by his family on social media says Wiggins died Friday morning after battling bladder cancer over the past year. Wiggins was a vocalist and bass guitarist of the beloved R&B group, which included his brother Raphael Saadiq and their cousin Christian Riley. The Oakland, California, natives became mainstays of the New Jack Swing movement, blending R&B, jazz and traces of gospel melodies.
A former campaign fundraiser for ex-U.S. Rep. George Santos has been sentenced to serve one year in prison for impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide while raising campaign cash for the disgraced New York Republican. Sam Miele pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of federal wire fraud for his role in the criminal case that led to Santos’ expulsion from office. Miele admitted that in 2021, he solicited donations under the name Dan Meyer, who was then-chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the eventual House speaker before his departure in late 2023.
At Paris Fashion Week, Kenzo’s latest evolution trades its signature jungle prints for something sharper: punk-infused tailoring, underground energy, and a touch of British irreverence. For its first dedicated women’s show in eight years, the LVMH-owned house embraced a rebellious streak. Shawl-collared tuxedo jackets melted into kimono shapes, harem pants slouched low, and lingerie peeked from waistbands. The soundtrack? Sex Pistols, Patti Smith and Blondie — setting the mood for a collection that felt more East London than Parisian cool.
Every player in the top two divisions of men’s soccer in France will have “WO=MAN” written on the back of their jerseys instead of their names this weekend. The French league initiative is centered around International Women’s Day on Saturday. It started Friday with Toulouse’s home game against Monaco. It was continuing on Saturday and Sunday with the other teams in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. The LFP says the “WO=MAN” message highlights “the importance of gender equality not only on the field, but also in the stands.” LED panels around the pitches will display “WO=MAN” and official match balls have the motto written on them.
In the fast-changing world of college basketball, some things remain constant. Saint Mary’s, the small school in San Francisco’s East Bay region, keeps piling up wins at the rate that only the blue bloods of the sport can match. The Gaes are ranked 21st in the country after winning back-to-back outright regular season titles in the West Coast Conference and head into the conference tournament with a chance to become the first team to repeat as champions other than Gonzaga since Pepperdine in 1991-92.
JuJu Watkins scored 31 points, Kiki Iriafen added 21 and each grabbed 10 rebounds in their first Big Ten Tournament games, leading No. 2 Southern California to an 84-79 victory over Indiana. The Trojans are 3-0 in Indiana this season and have won eight straight. They'll face either fourth-seeded Maryland or fifth-seeded Michigan in Saturday's first semifinal. Yarden Garzon made five 3-pointers and led the Hoosiers with 23 points. The Trojans struggled to pull away until Talia von Oelhoffen and Watkins made back-to-back 3s late in the fourth to give USC its largest lead of the game, 77-68.
Chloe Kitts had 25 points and 10 rebounds and No. 5 South Carolina held off a furious second-half rally from Vanderbilt to win 84-63 on Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15 off the bench and Sania Feagin added 13 points for South Carolina, which has won five straight. Coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, the Southeastern Conference’s top seed, appeared plenty motivated to win a third straight tournament title. They came out of the gates strong, shooting a blistering 67% from the field in the first half to build a 48-23 lead at the break.
Authorities are pulling submerged vehicles from the Columbia River, including a car thought to have belonged to a Portland couple who vanished in 1958 while out for a drive with their three daughters. The vehicles, including the station wagon believed to belong to Ken and Barbara Martin, were found after a yearslong search by diver Archer Mayo. The Martins never returned from a drive to the mountains to collect Christmas greenery. The bodies of two of the couple's daughters washed up months after they vanished. A Hood River County sheriff’s deputy says the station wagon is encased in mud and debris, so authorities aren't certain it belongs to the Martins.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — An Irmo man indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of threatening the life of President Donald Trump was denied bond Friday after a hearing in which a prosecutor told the magistrate judge that the man posed a danger to the community.
Maryland and 19 other states are suing multiple federal agencies in a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s administration has illegally fired thousands of federal probationary workers. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading the coalition of attorneys general in the federal lawsuit that was filed late Thursday in Maryland. The lawsuit says the mass firings will cause irreparable burdens and expenses on the states, because they will have to support recently unemployed workers and adjudicate claims of unemployment assistance. The lawsuit also says the layoffs will hurt state finances due to lost tax revenue and additional services for the suddenly unemployed.
Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)
ATLANTA — While clashes between Democrats and Republicans are the stuff of Georgia political lore, the real tensions shaping the final sprint of this year’s 40-day session are between the GOP-led House and Senate.
The NBA fined DeMar DeRozan $25,000 on Friday for publicly criticizing officials after the Sacramento Kings' loss to the Denver Nuggets. “The refs were terrible,” DeRozan said after the 116-110 loss on Wednesday, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Nuggets had 30 free throws to 14 for the Kings. That included a 13-4 difference in the fourth quarter in which Denver outscored Sacramento 32-17.
Former central banker Mark Carney looks set to become Canada’s next prime minister after the governing Liberals announce a replacement for Justin Trudeau on Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose sweeping tariffs have sparked a surge in Canadian nationalism. That has dramatically revived the Liberal Party’s chances in a general election that’s expected within days or weeks. Carney navigated crises when he was the head of Canada’s central bank and at the Bank of England. He has picked up one endorsement after another from Cabinet ministers and members of Parliament since January.
An independent investigation has been opened into the coaching staff at Bay FC following publication of a report that described a “toxic” work environment at the club, National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman confirmed. The San Francisco Chronicle published an investigation Friday that said at least two formal complaints had been made about the team under coach Albertin Montoya. Two former players, who were not named in Chronicle’s report, described the team environment as toxic and two former Bay FC employees agreed with the assessment.
