ACC, SEC set to begin inter-league challenge next season
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences are set to begin an annual inter-conference men's and women's basketball battle next season.
The leagues and ESPN announced Monday the creation of the ACC/SEC Challenge for both sports for the 2023-24 season. That marks an end to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge established by ESPN with the leagues in 1999, while the women's version followed eight years later. The final edition takes place this week.
The SEC/Big 12 Challenge began for the men during the 2013-14 season, followed by the women a year later, and holds its final edition in January.
The shift comes amid changing media-rights landscape, with the Big Ten reaching seven-year agreements in August with Fox, CBS and NBC for the rights to league football and basketball games.
ESPN already has TV partnerships and league-specific channels for both the ACC and SEC. Every game in the men's and women's events will be carried on an ESPN platform.
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
France's scandal-hit Orpea reaches restructuring agreement
India pegs fiscal deficit at 5.9% of GDP, gross borrowing at 15.43 trillion rupees
French nursing care homes company Orpea SA, whose shares lost more than 90% in value last year after charges of malpractice at its homes, said on Wednesday that in principle it had reached a financial restructuring deal with investors. Orpea said the deal, reached with French state financial institution Caisse des Depots & Consignations (CDC) and other investors, would significantly cut its debts by around 3.8 billion euros ($4.13 billion) and give the company a cash equity injection of 1.55 billion euros. The main group of investors would hold around 50.2% of Orpea's capital and unsecured financial creditors would own 49.4%, Orpea said in a statement.
India's federal government will target a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2023/24, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech. The fiscal deficit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 was at 6.4%, according to the revised estimates. The government's budget gap, which hit a high of 9.5% of GDP in 2020/21 as the spread of COVID-19 infections brought the economy to a halt, has narrowed since but remains well above the medium-term goal of 4.5% of GDP by 2025/26.
The prospects for peace in Myanmar, much less a return to democracy, seem dimmer than ever two years after the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, experts say. On Wednesday, legions of opponents of military rule heeded a call by protest organizers to stay home in what they call a "silent strike" to show their strength and solidarity. Small peaceful protests are an almost-daily occurrence throughout the country, but on the anniversary of the Feb. 1, 2021, seizure of power by the army, two points stand out: The level of violence, especially in the countryside, has reached the level of civil war; and the grassroots movement opposing military rule has defied expectations by largely holding off the ruling generals.
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London strikes latest: Teachers and train drivers join biggest walkout in a decade
Britain is facing strike chaos on Wednesday as civil servants, teachers and train drivers walk out simultaneously in the most significant day of industrial action in a decade. The National Education Union (NEU) expects around 23,000 schools to be affected by strike action across England and Wales, with up to 200,000 members taking to the picket line. Meanwhile, train driver members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out on Wednesday in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Tacoma News Tribune
Tumwater routs rival Black Hills to close out second consecutive 2A EvCo title
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