Where does Vanderbilt's foul rank among all-time worst March Madness blunders?

The highlight of the first day of the 2017 NCAA tournament was Northwestern’s first-ever tournament win. But the Wildcats’ victory was possible only because of one of the biggest gaffes in March Madness history.

Up one with around 15 seconds left, Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis fouled Northwestern’s Bryant McIntosh. McIntosh went to the line, sunk two free throws and the Wildcats pulled out the win. Fisher-Davis, who thought his Commodores were down one, later admitted it was a “dumb-ass foul.”

The foul is far from the most costly blunder in NCAA tournament history, but it is up there with some of the worst. Here’s a look at the top six boneheaded plays over the years:

The world's fastest growing religion? Islam

 Islam is the world's fastest growing religion - and not just in Muslim majority nations: 10% of all Europeans are projected to be members of the Muslim faith by 2050, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
The study estimates that from 2010 to 2050, Muslims will have increased across the world by 73%, followed by Christians who are projected to grow by 35% during the same time period, and Hindus at 34%.
That means that Islam -- currently the world's second-largest religion -- will surpass Christianity as the world's biggest religion by the end of the century, the study projects.

 Why? Muslim women have more children, on average -- 3.1 children compared to 2.3 for all other religious groups combined, Pew says. Also, those of the Muslim faith tend to be, on average, seven years younger than non-Muslims.
There's not a whole lot new in the findings from what Pew reported in 2015. This year's annual survey also sheds light on how Muslims are perceived around the world, including American views on Islam today compared to 2002 by political party. The study finds the people they surveyed who lean Republican had a more negative view of Muslims in the United States than in 2002, a year after the 9/11 attacks, while the opposite was true for those who lean Democrat.
 

The status of Muslims in the United States has been front and center with President Donald Trump's travel ban against six Muslim-majority countries being temporarily blocked by two federal judges. They cited Trump's statements about Muslims during his campaign for president as part of their rulings.
Last year, Trump told CNN's Anderson Cooper: "I think Islam hates us."
The new ban was announced earlier this month and was set to take effect Thursday. It would have banned people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days

Top Kremlin diplomat calls US uproar over Russia ties a 'witch hunt'

Russia's foreign minister pushed back Friday at assertions that his country's US ambassador is a spy, and echoed US President Donald Trump's contention that the controversy over contacts between Kremlin officials and Trump's campaign is "a witch hunt."

"The ambassadors are appointed in order to maintain relationships," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.

"They are maintained by holding meetings, talks and establishing contacts with officials from both executive and legislative branches of power. I can only quote what the media said today -- this all looks like a witch hunt."

 

 

Citing current and former senior US government officials CNN reported that Kislyak is considered by US intelligence to be one of Russia's top spies and spy recruiters in Washington.

But Russia's Foreign Ministry has angrily rejected allegations that its top diplomat in Washington is a spy amid controversy over meetings he held with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday insisted Kislyak was "a well-known, world-class diplomat."

"He was deputy minister of foreign affairs in Russia, who has communicated with American colleagues for decades in different fields, and CNN accused him of being a Russian spy ... of recruiting? Oh my God!"