text string | url string | crawl_date timestamp[ms] | label int64 | id string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Friday announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China.
The White House’s announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement.
U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan. The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.
While Chinese diplomats protested the move, Taiwan’s trade office in Washington said the U.S. decision to pull arms and other materiel from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense.” In a statement, it pledged to work with the United States to maintain “peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense also expressed its appreciation in a statement Saturday morning that thanked “the U.S. for its firm commitment to Taiwan’s security.”
The package is in addition to nearly $19 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.
The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.
Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.
The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it does not recognize Taiwan’s as an independent country and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.
Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.
China regularly sends warships and planes across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement Friday that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:21 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-us-to-announce-345-million-military-aid-package-for-taiwan/ |
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on three additional charges in a case that accuses him of illegally possessing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, allegations that add fresh detail to the criminal case initially issued last month.
Here’s a look at the charges, the special counsel’s investigation and how Trump’s case differs from those of other politicians known to be in possession of classified documents:
WHAT ARE THE NEW CHARGES?
There are three new charges against Trump, as well as a new defendant in the case.
Prosecutors accuse the former president of trying to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence,” and of inducing another person to do so. They say Trump asked a staffer — Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct the federal investigation into his possession of classified documents.
Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira schemed with Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, to conceal the footage from investigators.
A third count also accuses Trump of willfully retaining national defense information related to a presentation about military activity in another country.
Investigators say Trump showed a classified document during July 2021 meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort to the writer and publisher of the memoir of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Details about that document and the meeting were included in the original indictment, but none of the charges had related to it until now.
Trump had returned that document to the government on Jan. 17, 2022 — nearly a year after he left office, according to the indictment.
Trump was indicted last month on 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents. The charges include counts of retaining classified information, obstructing justice and making false statements, among other crimes.
Trump is accused of keeping documents related to “nuclear weaponry in the United States” and the “nuclear capabilities of a foreign country,” along with documents from White House intelligence briefings, including some that detail the military capabilities of the U.S. and other countries, according to the indictment. Prosecutors alleged Trump showed off the documents to people who did not have security clearances to review them and later tried to conceal documents from his own lawyers as they sought to comply with federal demands to find and return documents.
The top charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
After leaving office in 2021, the former president showed someone working for his political action committee a map that detailed a military operation in a foreign country, prosecutors allege in the document. On another occasion that year, Trump showed a writer, a publisher and two of his staffers — none of whom had security clearances — a military plan of attack.
HOW IS TRUMP REACTING?
A Trump campaign statement dismissed the new charges as “nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt” by the Biden administration “to harass President Trump and those around him” and to influence the 2024 presidential race.
In an interview Thursday night with Breitbart News, Trump called the superseding indictment “harassment,” repeating his insistence that his activities were “protected by the Presidential Records Act.”
On Friday, Trump and a dozen other Republicans seeking the 2024 presidential nomination were expected at an Iowa GOP event.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
De Oliveira is due in court in Florida on Monday.
Both Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to the original 38-count indictment.
Their trial is currently scheduled for May 20, 2024 — deep into the presidential nominating calendar, and probably well after the Republican nominee is known — and it was unclear if the addition of a new defendant could result in a postponement.
Prosecutors, who had wanted the case to go to trial in December, wrote in a separate court filing Thursday that the new charges “should not disturb” the May trial date, “and the Special Counsel’s Office is taking steps related to discovery and security clearances to ensure that it does not do so.”
Trump’s lawyers have claimed that he can’t get a fair trial before the 2024 election.
HOW DID THIS CASE COME ABOUT?
Officials with the National Archives and Records Administration contacted representatives for Trump in spring 2021 when they realized that important material from his time in office was missing.
According to the Presidential Records Act, White House documents are considered property of the U.S. government and must be preserved.
A Trump representative told the National Archives in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Mar-a-Lago. In January 2022, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling Justice Department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.
That May, the FBI and Justice Department issued a subpoena for remaining classified documents in Trump’s possession. Investigators who went to visit the property weeks later to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested information had been returned.
But that assertion turned out to be false. With a search warrant, federal officials returned to Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totaling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.
In all, roughly 300 documents with classification markings — including some at the top secret level — have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.
HOW DID A SPECIAL COUNSEL GET INVOLVED?
Last year, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland picked Jack Smith, a veteran war crimes prosecutor with a background in public corruption probes, to lead investigations into the presence of classified documents at Trump’s Florida estate, as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
Smith’s appointment was a recognition by Garland of the politics involved in an investigation into a former president and current White House candidate. Garland himself was selected by Democratic President Joe Biden, whom Trump is seeking to challenge for the White House in 2024.
Special counsels are appointed in cases in which the Justice Department perceives itself as having a conflict or where it’s deemed to be in the public interest to have someone outside the government come in and take responsibility for a matter.
According to the Code of Federal Regulations, a special counsel must have “a reputation for integrity and impartial decision making,” as well as “an informed understanding of the criminal law and Department of Justice policies.”
DIDN’T BIDEN AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE HAVE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS, TOO?
Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from those involving Trump.
After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorized other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.
There is no indication either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries. That’s important because the Justice Department historically looks for willfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office. But even if the Justice Department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.
As for Pence, the Justice Department informed his legal team this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.
DOES A FEDERAL INDICTMENT PREVENT TRUMP FROM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?
No. Neither the indictment itself nor a conviction would prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.
And, as his indictment earlier this year in a New York hush-money case showed, criminal charges have historically been a boon to his fundraising. The campaign announced that it had raised over $4 million in the 24 hours after that indictment became public, smashing its previous record after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:27 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-with-trump-newly-indicted-heres-what-to-know-about-the-documents-case-and-whats-next/ |
A British court ruled Friday against London suburbs that tried to block a pollution tax on older cars as green policies become a hot political issue in the U.K. amid increasingly dramatic impacts of global climate change.
The High Court ruled that Mayor Sadiq Khan had the authority to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, which charges drivers of older gas and diesel vehicles 12.50 pounds ($16) a day they operate, to the city’s outskirts next month.
Five conservative councils challenged Khan’s right to impose the measure. They criticized the expansion to an area where there are fewer public transport options and people are more reliant on cars, and because of a disproportionate impact on lower-income drivers who can’t afford newer, cleaner cars.
Khan said the ruling would allow the expanded zone to take effect Aug. 29 and help reduce air pollution. He said he would also expand a program that provides financial assistance to some families and small businesses to scrap older cars.
“The ULEZ has already reduced toxic nitrogen dioxide air pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London,” said Khan, a member of the Labour Party. “The coming expansion will see 5 million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.”
The five councils that challenged the zone issued a joint statement saying they were “hugely disappointed”. While they accepted that Khan may have the legal right to implement the measure, they questioned whether it was morally right.
“It is evident that the mayor of London and (Transport for London) do not realize the damage the extension will have to the lives of residents and businesses in outer London as well as those outside of its borders,” the group said.
The city’s transportation agency said most gas vehicles under 16 years old and diesel vehicles less than 6 years old comply with the standard.
In April, a study from London City Hall found levels of nitrogen dioxide exceeded the legal limit in 14 of the city’s 32 boroughs. Khan argued he had a statutory responsibility to take measures to improve air quality.
Nine out of 10 cars on the road in outer London on an average day comply with standards, Transport for London said. The Royal Automobile Club said nearly 700,000 licensed cars in London are unlikely to comply.
Fury over the the ULEZ expansion was credited last week with helping Tories hold one of three seats in Parliament in a special election. Conservatives had been expected to lose all three but they retained their seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Interestingly, the emissions charge was first imposed in 2015 by then-Mayor Boris Johnson, the Conservative who went on to become prime minister before resigning last year amid several scandals and quitting Parliament last month. It was his House of Commons seat Tories retained in the by-election.
The issue has now caused a crisis for the Labour Party, which is seen as likely to return to power next year after being ousted by Conservatives in 2010.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said there was no doubt ULEZ cost them the Uxbridge election and said Khan should “reflect” on the policy.
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was widely quoted this week in a New Statesman magazine interview in which he cautioned: “Don’t ask us to do a huge amount when frankly whatever we do in Britain is not really going to impact climate change.” The interview was conducted before the special elections.
The dust-up over how to control emissions comes as July is on target to be the hottest month in recorded human history and the effects of a warming planet can be seen in catastrophic wildfires, flooding and alarming ocean temperatures. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres this week declared: “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
While the by-election has caused consternation for Labour over how best to stick to a green agenda, it is also sparking a rethink for Conservatives who have been accused recently of backing away from pledges to combat climate change.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signaled this week he was open to revisiting net-zero policies, saying he’d take a pragmatic approach that didn’t add more hassles or costs to people’s lives. He caused confusion by not recommitting to a ban on gas and diesel cars by 2030, though cabinet minister Michael Gove later insisted that deadline was firm. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:34 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ |
BAGHDAD (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s Shiite militant group Hezbollah said Saturday that if governments of Muslim-majority nations do not act against countries that allow the desecration of the Quran, Muslims should “punish” those who facilitate attacks on Islam's holy book.
The comments by Hassan Nasrallah came in a video address to tens of thousands gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs to mark Ashoura, a Shiite holy day commemorating the 7th century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.
Nasrallah often uses religious occasions to send political messages to followers, and on Saturday slammed recent incidents in which the Quran was burned or otherwise desecrated at authorized demonstrations in Sweden and Denmark.
He said Muslims should watch for the outcome of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, scheduled to take place in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the organization’s response to the Quran burnings.
The organization and its member states should “send a firm, decisive and unequivocal message to these governments that any repeat of the attacks will be met with a boycott,” Nasrallah said. If they do not, he said, Muslim youth should “punish the desecrators.”
He did not elaborate what such a boycott and punishment should entail.
Members of the crowd, who carried banners with religious slogans alongside the flags of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Palestine, chanted, “Oh, Quran, we are at your service; Oh, Hussein, we are at your service.”
Shiites represent over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims and view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, ingrained a deep rift in Islam and continues to this day to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.
Millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, while Saturday marked the culmination of the observances in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Iraqi city of Karbala, where Hussein is entombed in a gold-domed shrine. In the streets of the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, mourners gathered to watch reenactments of the Battle of Karbala and Hussein’s death.
In the streets, young men clad in black and white slashed their heads with swords and knives to demonstrate their grief. Friends swabbed each other’s heads with tissues and handed each other water.
In Syria’s capital, Damascus, the crowds were mourning not only the death of Hussein but a deadly attack in the suburb of Sayida Zeinab, home to a shrine to Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
A bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded there on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. On Tuesday, another bomb in a motorcycle had wounded two people.
On Friday, the Islamic State group — a Sunni militant group that often targets Shiites — claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying Thursday’s bombing came “during their annual polytheistic rituals.” The group’s extreme interpretation of Islam holds Shiite Muslims to be apostates.
___
Associated Press writers Anmar Khalil in Karbala, Iraq, and Hassan Ammar in Beirut contributed to this report.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/lebanons-hezbollah-leader-urges-muslims-to-punish-quran-desecrators-if-governments-fail-to-do-so/PUIWGLQTXFD77PIQVPMFQ67F74/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:40 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/lebanons-hezbollah-leader-urges-muslims-to-punish-quran-desecrators-if-governments-fail-to-do-so/PUIWGLQTXFD77PIQVPMFQ67F74/ |
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia’s authorities on Friday called on the country’s international allies to put pressure on Azerbaijan after accusing it of carrying out a three-day blockade of humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The accusations mark another flashpoint in the tense relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan which have fought over the breakaway region for decades.
The Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vahan Kostanyan, accused Azerbaijan of blocking the so-called Lachin Corridor and demanded international allies step in to allow 19 trucks with 400 tons of humanitarian aid to pass. According to Armenian authorities, the trucks have been stuck there since the evening of July 26.
“The additional pressure of our international partners on Baku is very important. We have heard statements from our various colleagues, but we don’t think this is enough,” he said.
Kostanyan previously also accused Azerbaijan of ignoring a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Azerbaijan authorities to ensure unimpeded movement in the Lachin Corridor, the only road from Armenia into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ongoing dispute over the road has impeded food supplies to the region and aggravated tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have fought two wars since the end of Soviet rule.
Nagorno-Karabakh had substantial autonomy under the Soviet Union and came under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in 1994 at the end of years of separatist fighting. Armenian forces also took sizable territory surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
In 2020, Azerbaijan regained most of that surrounding territory and pieces of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a war which killed about 6,800 soldiers. Under a Russia-brokered armistice, transit along the Lachin Corridor was to continue under the guarantee of Russian peacekeepers.
According to Armenian media, trucks and foreign diplomats are currently in the village of Kornidzor on Armenia’s border with Nagorno-Karabakh, which is at one end of the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said that it viewed Armenia’s attempt to send a convoy to Nagorno-Karabakh “under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid’” as a violation of Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Azerbaijan also accuses Armenia of smuggling weapons into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The latest flare-up comes weeks following talks in Brussels and Washington aimed at calming tensions between the two countries after Azerbaijan opened a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor in April. At that point, the road had already been blocked for four months by demonstrators who were protesting what they claimed to be illegal mining and other ecological abuses by Armenians in the area. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:41 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ |
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus on Friday jointly appealed for information that could lead to the buried remains of people who vanished amid violence and war decades ago, a task with increasing urgency as eyewitnesses die.
Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, made the appeal in a symbolic move aiming to show that the purely humanitarian issue should stay above the complex and often bitter politics of the nearly half-century ethnic split.
It also sought to inject some fresh urgency into efforts to resume deadlocked peace talks. A deal has eluded Cypriot leaders since a 1974 coup aiming at union with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that entrenched that division.
Both Christodoulides and Tatar toured the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) that has, since 2006, been tasked with locating, unearthing and identifying the remains of individuals who vanished during clashes in the early 1960s and the 1974 invasion.
“This is a humanitarian issue, therefore this is something which is outside politics,” Tatar told reporters. “What ever we can do to improve, as I saw the discovery of missing persons is something that we owe to the families.”
Christodoulides echoed a shared commitment to collect more information, but added that progress on this issue would also send a “clear political message” about building trust between the two sides that haven’t engaged in direct talks in six years.
Information is now at a premium, said Paul-Henri Arni, the U.N. appointed member of the tripartite committee that also includes a Greek and Turkish Cypriot representative.
Arni told The Associated Press that the CMP has found, identified and returned to relatives the remains of 51.5% of all missing persons.
But having the leaders nudge anyone with information to step forward is essential to resolving the most difficult remaining cases, in which individuals were killed at one spot and buried elsewhere without witnesses.
According to CMP figures, of 1,510 Greek Cypriots and 492 Turkish Cypriots who are missing, 769 and 200 respectively have not been found.
“The issue is access to new information at the moment where witnesses are passing away,” Arni said. “And so we’ve discussed with the leaders ways they could help us through the own networks, also with specific former combatants.”
Work is slow as the chances of finding remains at excavated sites currently stands at 10% — far below the 50% when the CMP began work in earnest in 2006.
Arni said another key source of information are archived witness accounts which have been digitized for easer access, as well as sifting through 900,000 pages of U.N., U.K. and International Committee of the Red Cross archives which produced 3,740 documents of actionable data.
Christodoulides told reporters following the visit to the CMP premises that access to Turkey military archives is still restricted.
Some 80% of the CMP’s 3.2 million euro ($3.5 million) annual budget is funded by the EU and Arni said additional funding would enable the committee to augment is current number of seven excavation teams to speed up work on 65 new sites.
Christodoulides said it would be a “shame” for more information becoming available but without additional teams to act on them, adding that he would formally ask the EU for more funding. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:48 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ |
BENGALURU, India (AP) — The final meeting of climate and environment ministers from the world’s largest economies ended without an agreement or joint statement Friday despite pleas from leading figures for nations to show a united front on climate change as weather records shatter across the globe.
In a gathering in Chennai in India, ministers from the Group of 20 countries — who emit around 80% of the world’s planet-warming gases — failed to agree on four of 68 points of discussion.
A document published by the group shows countries did not agree on aiming to peak emissions by 2025, moving to clean energy and a tax on carbon as a way to reduce emissions.
“We couldn’t get a consensus but we agreed on a lot,” said Canada’s climate minister Steven Guilbeault at a virtual press conference after the meeting.
The ministers’ decisions will now be passed on to country leaders ahead of a summit in New Delhi in September this year. It will be the group’s last chance to issue a joint statement on climate this year.
On Thursday, the president of the upcoming United Nations climate talks Sultan al-Jaber and the U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell attended the Chennai meeting to urge countries to issue an ambitious statement that will make sure the world is on track to keep global warming within the agreed temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The world has currently warmed around 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times and effects are already being felt all over the world, with hosts India especially vulnerable. Earlier this year, more than 100 people died during a heat wave in the center of the country and last week at least 27 people died in western India due to landslides triggered by heavy rains.
Since India took over the G-20 presidency last December, none of the meetings that deal with various policy areas like foreign affairs, finance, energy and climate change have come out with a joint communique but their announcements may form part of a final document released at the leaders’ summit in September.
Earlier this month, a meeting of finance chiefs and central bank governors of the G-20 leading economies ended in Gandhinagar in the western state of Gujarat without a consensus because of differences between countries over the war in Ukraine.
Similarly, a meeting of energy ministers in Goa last week ended unsuccessfully with the final summary failing to mention a phase down of fossil fuels and ministers did not agree to raise ambition to treble renewable energy targets.
The meeting in Chennai was the last of four meetings of G-20 climate ministers. They had earlier met in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Mumbai.
___
Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ | 2023-07-29T10:31:55 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ |
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami on Friday criticized prosecutors for an apparent attempt to undercut a court order and take control of a oceanside condo belonging to a former Republican congressman ahead of a high-profile trial connected to a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government.
When David Rivera and an associate were charged last November with money laundering and acting as unregistered foreign agents for President Nicolás Maduro’s government, prosecutors obtained a judge’s order freezing several banking and brokerage accounts as well as Florida properties that they said were the product of some $24 million in ill-gotten gains.
Prosecutors also blocked eight more properties belonging to Rivera and his associate in Florida and Georgia that, while unrelated to criminal activity, would likely be seized if the two are found guilty.
This month, in a harshly worded ruling, Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres said that the government had no right to take the “innocent” Florida assets without a conviction. Rather than lift the restraining order, the government then asked the court to reconsider and said that it had since determined that three of the properties — including a condo that Rivera and his wife purchased in 2019 for $301,000 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida — could also be traced to the defendants’ alleged lobbying on behalf of Maduro’s government.
Judge Darrin Gayles on Friday expressed frustration with the government’s change in strategy.
“This reeks of gamesmanship,” said Gayles, who reversed his own sealed order of a week ago granting prosecutors’ request that the real estate properties once again be frozen. “It seems like the government simply filed this because it lost.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nalina Sombuntham said prosecutors first learned from investigators that the property could be directly “tainted” by Rivera’s consulting work with Venezuela in May or June but didn’t alert the court until July 14 — a week after Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres issued his 23-page order freeing up the properties.
Gayles, who is overseeing the criminal case, was unimpressed. “It seems like you’re wasting the court’s time,” he said.
Rivera has been marred by scandals stretching back to his days in Congress from 2011 to 2013. He was arrested late last year on an eight-count criminal indictment alleging that at the start of the Trump administration he was part of a conspiracy to lobby on behalf of Venezuela to lower tensions with the U.S., resolve a legal dispute with a U.S. oil company and end U.S. sanctions against the South American nation — all without registering as a foreign agent.
As part of that effort, he arranged meetings in Washington, New York and Dallas for allies of Maduro with U.S. lawmakers and a top aide to former President Donald Trump, according to the indictment. To hide the sensitive nature of his work, prosecutors allege Rivera referred to Maduro in chat messages as the “bus driver,” a congressman as “Sombrero” and millions of dollars as “melons.”
Court records show Rivera’s consulting work was closely coordinated with Raúl Gorrín, a Venezuelan insider and media tycoon who has himself been sanctioned and indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges. Part of the more than $20 million that Rivera was alleged to have received from Venezuela was used to pay maintenance on one of Gorrin’s yachts, according to prosecutors.
Rivera maintains that Gorrín was his attorney in Venezuela and that all of his work was conducted on behalf of PDV USA — a Delaware-based affiliate of Venezuelan-owned Citgo — and didn’t require he register as a foreign agent.
The dispute over Rivera’s assets has slowed the government’s prosecution of the high-profile case. Eight months after being charged, Rivera has yet to be formally arraigned — normally a routine procedural step — because he said he needs access to the disputed assets to pay his attorneys.
Rivera’s attorneys in filings have accused prosecutors of waging a “scorched earth attack” against the south Florida GOP stalwart who once shared an apartment in Tallahassee with now Sen. Marco Rubio when both were state lawmakers.
“They lost, they got caught and they came to this court and it is wrong,” David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Rivera’s co-defendant Esther Nuhfer said.
Rivera was triumphant following Friday’s hearing, accusing the prosecutors of “misconduct.” Judge Gayles was more restrained, making no such finding of wrongdoing even as he questioned prosecutors’ actions.
“Today’s decision shows that there are still honorable judges in America who will not tolerate misconduct from dishonest government prosecutors,” Rivera wrote The Associated Press in a text message. “Another victory for truth and justice.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida didn’t immediately comment.
___
Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:02 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s navy located the boat of a missing American sailor off the country’s southern coast, but the Maryland man who had been piloting it solo wasn’t found, authorities said Friday.
Donald Lawson’s capsized trimaran was found Thursday night by a patrol boat involved in the search 356 nautical miles (about 410 miles or 660 kilometers) southwest of the resort city of Acapulco, according to the navy’s press office.
The navy said that it would continue its search for Lawson, 41, an experienced sailor.
A plane had reported spotting a boat similar to the description of Lawson’s on July 23 about 320 nautical miles (370 miles or 595 kilometers) south of Acapulco. The navy sent boats to the area, but it wasn’t until Thursday night that they found it.
Port authorities in Acapulco said that Lawson had arrived on Jan. 26 for repairs to a motor and hull of the boat. After the repairs were completed, Lawson left Acapulco on July 5, headed for the Panama Canal, where he planned to cross to the Caribbean Sea and continue north to Baltimore, Maryland.
His wife, Jacqueline Lawson, told local media outlets that on July 9, he had sent her a message saying he was having mechanical problems and the motor was losing power. Three days later, he told her a storm had knocked out his wind generator and he would try to return to Acapulco. The last satellite positioning message received for the Defiant was July 13.
Lawson, who is Black, grew up in Baltimore and from his first sailing opportunity at age 9, set his sights on making it his career.
“From that day forward, that was my goal – become a professional sailor,” Lawson said in a profile published by U.S. Sailing last year.
He started out cleaning boats, folding sails and stowing gear in Annapolis. Later, he and his wife founded the Dark Seas Project, an effort to increase diversity in the sport of sailing. He is the chairman of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for U.S. Sailing.
Lawson was working toward challenging records for circumnavigating the globe solo. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:10 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian military says it shot down a Ukrainian missile over a southern Russian city, accuses Kyiv of a “terror attack.”
Russian military says it shot down a Ukrainian missile over a southern Russian city, accuses Kyiv of a “terror attack.”
by: AP
Posted:
Updated: | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-russian-military-says-it-shot-down-a-ukrainian-missile-over-a-southern-russian-city-accuses-kyiv-of-a-terror-attack/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:16 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-russian-military-says-it-shot-down-a-ukrainian-missile-over-a-southern-russian-city-accuses-kyiv-of-a-terror-attack/ |
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Salvage crews dealing with a cargo ship loaded with cars that has been burning for more than two days off the northern Dutch coast boarded the vessel for the first time Friday as heat, flames and smoke eased, the Netherlands’ coast guard said.
“In the course of the morning, after measurements by the recovery companies, it turned out that the temperature on board the Fremantle Highway had dropped sharply. The fire is still raging but decreasing. The smoke is also decreasing,” the coast guard said in a statement.
Salvage workers boarded the ship and established “a new more robust towing connection,” the agency added. “This makes it easier to move the ship and keep it under control.”
Government officials are now “looking at various scenarios to determine the next steps,” the coast guard said.
One crew member died and others were injured after the blaze started. The entire crew was evacuated from the ship in the early hours of Wednesday, with some leaping into the sea and being picked up by a lifeboat. The cause of the fire hasn’t been established.
The Fremantle Highway was 23 kilometers (14 miles) north of the island of Terschelling on Friday afternoon, close to busy North Sea shipping lanes and an internationally renowned migratory bird habitat.
K Line, the company that chartered the ship, said Friday that it was carrying far more electric vehicles than initially reported by the coast guard.
Company spokesman Pat Adamson said the ship was carrying a total of 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles. The coast guard, citing an early freight list, had said it was carrying 2,857 cars, including 25 electric cars.
Adamson said K Line didn’t know the source of the initial lower number.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has warned about the possible dangers of electric vehicle battery fires, a hazard that stems from thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that causes uncontrolled battery temperature and pressure increases.
The burning vessel was close to the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed area that is considered one of the world’s most significant habitats for migratory birds. It’s also close to the Netherlands’ border with Germany, whose environment minister, Steffi Lemke, said Thursday that if the ship were to sink, it “could turn into an environmental catastrophe of unknown proportions.”
Earlier this month in Newark, New Jersey, firefighters took nearly a week to extinguish a similar blaze in a car transport ship. Two firefighters were killed and five others were injured battling the flames. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-salvage-crews-board-a-cargo-ship-burning-off-the-netherlands-the-smoke-and-flames-are-easing/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:23 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-salvage-crews-board-a-cargo-ship-burning-off-the-netherlands-the-smoke-and-flames-are-easing/ |
Four aircrew members were missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States, officials said Saturday.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter went down near Lindeman Island, a Great Barrier Reef tourist resort, at about 11 p.m. Friday, exercise director Australian Army Brigadier Damian Hill said.
A search involving U.S., Canadian and Australian personnel was underway to find the crew who are all Australian men, officials said.
Debris that appeared to be from a helicopter had been recovered, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Douglas McDonald said.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
The Taipan was taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint U.S.-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland. This year’s exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said the helicopter ditched, which refers to an emergency landing on water.
“Defense exercises, which are so necessary for the readiness of our defense force, are serious. They carry risk,” Marles told reporters in Brisbane. “As we desperately hope for better news during the course of this day we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation’s uniform."
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Hill said the exercise was postponed on Saturday morning but had restarted limited activity later in the day. Australia had grounded its Taipan fleet as a precaution, Hill said.
It was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan this year, after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast in March. That helicopter was taking part in a nighttime counterterrorism training exercise when it ran into trouble. All 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Brisbane for a meeting on Saturday and is due to travel with Marles to north Queensland on Sunday to see the exercise.
Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid tribute to the missing air crew at the outset of a meeting with their Australian counterparts, Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
“It’s always tough when you have accidents in training, but … the reason that we train to such high standards is so that we can be successful and we can protect lives when we are called to answer any kind of crisis,” Austin said.
“Our guys tend to make this look easy and they make it look easy because they’re so well exercised and rehearsed and trained, and this is unfortunately a part of that, what it takes to get them to where we need them to be,” Austin added.
Blinken said, “We’re so grateful to them for their dedication, for their service, for everything they’ve been doing to stand up for the freedom that we share and that is what unites us more than anything else.”
Marles thanked the United States for their contribution to the search and rescue effort.
The missing helicopter had just dropped off two Australian commandos before it hit the water, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Australia announced in January that its army and navy would stop flying the European-built Taipans by December 2024, 13 years earlier than originally planned, because they had proven unreliable. They will be replaced by 40 U.S. Black Hawks. Marles said at the time the Lockheed Martin-designed Black Hawks “have a really good proven track record in terms of their reliability.”
Australia’s Taipans had been plagued by problems since the first helicopter arrived in the country in 2007.
Australia’s entire fleet of 47 Taipans was grounded in 2019 to fix a problem with their tail rotor blades. A year later, 27 Taipans were grounded because of a problem with doors.
___
Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/four-australian-aircrew-members-missing-after-helicopter-crash-during-joint-military-exercise-with-us/3614260/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:27 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/four-australian-aircrew-members-missing-after-helicopter-crash-during-joint-military-exercise-with-us/3614260/ |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Doksuri weakened into a tropical storm late Friday night after bringing heavy winds and rain that left more than a million people without power in southern China.
After making landfall Friday morning in southern Fujian province, where at least 400,000 people were evacuated, the storm flooded streets and toppled electric transmission towers in the province. Over a million households were left without power, according to the state-backed Xiamen Evening News.
The typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm at 11 p.m. Friday night, China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV announced.
Businesses and summer school classes had been ordered suspended and the public was urged to stay indoors. In the city of Quanzhou by China’s southern coast, authorities reported some 50 individuals sustained minor injuries. Residents shared photos on social media showing downed trees with roots fully out of the ground Saturday morning.
The tropical storm is expected to move its way farther inland in China, bringing heavy rains to the capital, Beijing.
Earlier in the week, the storm grazed past Taiwan’s main island after hitting the Philippines ‘ main island of Luzon, where it produced landslides, flooding and downed trees. The storm displaced thousands and caused 41 deaths — including 27 killed in the capsizing of a passenger ship. About 20 others remained missing, including four coast guard personnel whose boat overturned while on a rescue mission in hard-hit Cagayan province, officials said Saturday, adding that they were monitoring another approaching storm. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-typhoon-doksuri-is-downgraded-to-tropical-storm-status-as-it-leaves-southern-china/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:30 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-typhoon-doksuri-is-downgraded-to-tropical-storm-status-as-it-leaves-southern-china/ |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries because of “a crippling funding crisis” that has seen its donations plummet by about half as acute hunger is hitting record levels, a top official said Friday.
Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told a news conference that at least 38 of the 86 countries where WFP operates have already seen cuts or plan to cut assistance soon — including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and West Africa.
He said WFP’s operating requirement is $20 billion to deliver aid to everyone in need, but it was aiming for between $10 billion and $14 billion, which was what the agency had received in the past few years.
“We’re still aiming at that, but we have only so far this year gotten to about half of that, around $5 billion,” Skau said.
He said humanitarian needs were “going through the roof” in 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and its global implications. “Those needs continue to grow, those drivers are still there,” he said, “but the funding is drying up. So we’re looking at 2024 (being) even more dire.”
“The largest food and nutrition crisis in history today persists,” Skau said. “This year, 345 million people continue to be acutely food insecure while hundreds of millions of people are at risk of worsening hunger.”
Skau said conflict and insecurity remain the primary drivers of acute hunger around the world, along with climate change, unrelenting disasters, persistent food price inflation and mounting debt stress — all during a slowdown in the global economy.
WFP is looking to diversify its funding base, but he also urged the agency’s traditional donors to “step up and support us through this very difficult time.”
Asked why funding was drying up, Skau said to ask the donors.
“But it’s clear that aid budgets, humanitarian budgets, both in Europe and the United States, (are) not where they were in 2021-2022,” he said.
Skau said that in March, WFP was forced to cut rations from 75% to 50% for communities in Afghanistan facing emergency levels of hunger, and in May it was forced to cut food for 8 million people — 66% of the people it was assisting. Now, it is helping just 5 million people, he said. In Syria, 5.5 million people who relied on WFP for food were already on 50% rations, Skau said, and in July the agency cut all rations to 2.5 million of them. In the Palestinian territories, WFP cut its cash assistance by 20% in May and in June. It cut its caseload by 60%, or 200,000 people. And in Yemen, he said, a huge funding gap will force WFP to cut aid to 7 million people as early as August.
In West Africa, where acute hunger is on the rise, Skau said, most countries are facing extensive ration cuts, particularly WFP’s seven largest crisis operations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon.
He said cutting aid to people who are only at the hunger level of crisis to help save those literally starving or in the category of catastrophic hunger means that those dropped will rapidly fall into the emergency and catastrophe categories, “and so we will have an additional humanitarian emergency on our hands down the road.”
“Ration cuts are clearly not the way to go forward,” Skau said.
He urged world leaders to prioritize humanitarian funding and invest in long-tern solutions to conflicts, poverty, development and other root causes of the current crisis. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-un-says-its-forced-to-cut-food-aid-to-millions-globally-because-of-a-funding-crisis/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:36 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-un-says-its-forced-to-cut-food-aid-to-millions-globally-because-of-a-funding-crisis/ |
Amazon Essentials is offering low prices on pink apparel
If you are obsessed with the new “Barbie” movie, you aren’t alone. Not only is it an epic box office hit, but it’s the highest-grossing movie ever by a female director. Anyone who loves the flick understandably wants to update their wardrobe with pink clothing and accessories that Barbie would be proud to wear.
You can show your enthusiasm for Barbie by shopping Amazon’s private clothing line, Amazon Essentials, for deals on pink fashions. The retailer is celebrating with deals on everything from jackets to sandals that are sure to excite fans of all ages. We’ve rounded up our favorite Barbie-friendly fashion deals to help you shop.
Facts about the doll and the movie
“Barbie” has fans young and young at heart flocking to theaters to see what all the buzz is about. Here are a few facts about the movie and the iconic fashion doll:
- Greta Gerwig is the director of “Barbie.”
- Leading actress Margot Robbie is transformed into a real-life version of the beloved doll.
- The film made $470 million globally after only five days in theaters.
- The first Barbie doll was introduced on March 9, 1959, at the New York Toy Fair.
- All shades of pink are associated with Barbie, especially hot pink and bubble gum pink.
- Barbie merchandise is sold in 150-plus countries throughout the world.
Best Barbie pink apparel from Amazon Essentials
Amazon Essentials Pink Pullover Packable Windbreaker
You can sport your love of Barbie pink — even in inclement weather — with this bright pink windbreaker. It offers a pullover style with a protective hood and is packable for easy transport. It’s available at a low price too.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Thong Sandals
These simple thong sandals come in hot pink. They are perfect for hot summer days when you want to sport a splash of pink on casual outings.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Classic Cap Sleeve Wrap Dress
If you want to dress like Barbie, you need a stylish dress in pink. This pretty one has a wrap-style that’s on-trend and figure-flattering. It’s available in a nice selection of sizes, from extra small to 6X.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Neon Pink High-Rise Capri Leggings
With a vibrant pink color, these capri leggings are perfect for any Barbie enthusiast. Pair them with workout gear or a pretty tunic top for stylish looks in and out of the gym.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Knit Pull-On Shorts
These shorts boast a simple pull-style that’s easy to wear. They look great with flirty summer shirts for a warm-weather look that’s Barbie-approved.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Sleeveless Woven Shirt Dress
With a feminine design that offers a button-up front and waist bow, this fashionable dress certainly looks like something Barbie would wear. It has a stylish collar and flowing fit.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Tank Top
This affordable tank top comes in packs of two, which makes it a solid deal. The pink also comes with a white one, both of which can be paired with other pink items in summertime outfits.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Crop Puffer Jacket
Keep your Barbie style going when the weather turns chilly with this puffer jacket. The edgy crop style pairs perfectly with all types of pants and jeans. It has a cozy fill and high collar to lock out the cold.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Hot Pink Swim Top
Pair this swim top with your favorite bikini bottoms for a Barbie look that’s ideal for the pool or beach. It’s made of a nylon blend that washes nicely and dries fast.
Sold by Amazon
Amazon Essentials Pink Active Seamless Long-Sleeve T-shirt
We love this long-sleeve T-shirt for yearlong wear with jeans, leggings or skirts. Featuring a comfortable fit and a breathable material, this shirt is likely to become your go-to pink top for casual days.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jennifer Manfrin writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/shirts-tops-br/amazon-has-barbie-fever-too-and-the-fashion-deals-to-prove-it/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:43 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/apparel-br/shirts-tops-br/amazon-has-barbie-fever-too-and-the-fashion-deals-to-prove-it/ |
Digital detox for kids
Between remote learning, video games and social media, it’s common for kids to experience digital overstimulation. Digital overload occurs when a child uses tech devices that expose them to more sensory information than they can handle. With this in mind, it’s worth having an occasional digital detox day to help kids unwind with screen-free activities.
While it’s easy to go electronics-free for a digital detox day, it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. A trip to the park or beach are fun outdoor options, especially when sports or arts and crafts are involved. Popular indoor activities include puzzles, building projects and even hands-on experience in the kitchen.
Shop this article: Intex Underwater Play Sticks, Singer M1500 Mechanical Sewing Machine, Stomp Rocket Dueling Rocket Launcher for Kids
Effects of digital overload on kids
According to a 2021 study from PubMed, overconsumption of tech devices can lead to:
- Insufficient work.
- Bouts of confusion.
- Delayed decision-making.
- Loss of control over information.
- Refusal to take in information.
- Higher tolerance for error.
- Lack of critical thinking of information.
- Mental health challenges such as anxiety and stress.
How unplugging for a day may help kids
Here’s how you can help your kids detox from their devices.
Benefits eye health
Spending long hours in front of screens due to school, video games or watching TV can wear on your eyes. According to the American Optometric Association, prolonged screen time may lead to digital eye strain, dry eyes, headaches or difficulty sleeping.
As a result, it’s recommended to unplug from devices when possible to alleviate these symptoms. A digital detox can help set the stage for what the AOA refers to as healthier “visual hygiene.” Ideally, kids and adults should take a 20-second break from screens every 20 minutes to view an object 20 feet away to minimize digital eye strain.
Boosts activity levels
A 24-hour digital detox challenge often inspires kids to get more active during the day. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that kids between the ages of 6 to 17 years should engage in an hour of “moderate-to-vigorous intense physical activity each day.”
Without the hindrance or distractions of devices, kids may find it easier to enjoy sports and physical activities, whether swimming, running around a park or playing tag. Older kids, namely high school-aged kids, may prefer spending their digital detox day at the gym, track or basketball court.
Encourages family time
Board game
Digital detox isn’t just for kids. Instead, the entire household can participate in and benefit from it.
If everyone unplugs for a day together, there’s more time to bond and talk over board games, story time, or home improvement projects. Or, the digital detox may present the ideal opportunity to enjoy an undistracted day trip, museum visit or outdoor excursion.
Sold by Amazon
Best toys and activities for 24-hour digital detox challenges
The backyard, park or pool are fun places for kids to play device-free. Investing in a new outdoor toy or game to enjoy during detox day is worth considering, too. Throw Throw Burrito, for example, is a dodgeball-inspired card game for ages 7 and older that keeps kids on their toes as they duck from flying burritos.
Sold by Amazon
Lego Creator 3-in-1 Space Shuttle Toy to Astronaut Figure to Spaceship
This 144-piece building set that offers three project configurations. Suitable for ages 6 and older and well-received for its realistic details.
Sold by Amazon
Every household member can play this wacky word association game with outrageous comparisons. It comes with 1,000 cards and you can play with as many as eight players.
Sold by Amazon
Kids Xplore Nature Exploration Kit
Tap into kids’ curiosity with this kit, which comes with binoculars, magnifying glass, nets and specimen containers. The kit helps kids learn map-reading skills and teaches kids the basics of nature-watching.
Sold by Amazon
Step up pool-time fun with this set of five quick-sinking toys. They’re made with soft, flexible silicone and have rounded edges for safe handling.
Sold by Amazon
Giantville Giant Tumbling Timber Toy
These blocks can grow as high as 4 feet when players flex their block-stacking skills. An all-ages-friendly game, it’s considered a favorite option for household-wide detox days spent outdoors.
Sold by Amazon
KaraoKing Karaoke Machine for Kids
This Bluetooth karaoke machine has plenty of high-tech features kids can enjoy while they belt out their favorite tunes. The machine has a built-in disco ball and connects with most devices for easy streaming.
Sold by Amazon
If a camping excursion is in the cards, either in the backyard or somewhere local, this tent is a wise investment for its 60-second setup. The tent has a spacious 8 feet by 7 feet interior and fits one queen-size air bed.
Sold by Amazon
Nerf Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6 Blaster
Take a game of tag to the next level with this popular dart blaster. It’s equipped with a rotating drum that blasts six darts up to 90 feet. As one of the more affordable Nerf blasters, many people invest in several to enjoy all-out blaster battles.
Sold by Amazon
Creativity for Kids Hide and Seek Rock Painting Kit
The kit comes with 10 rocks and eight colorful paints. Because the paint is weather-resistant, you can place the painted rocks around the yard.
Sold by Amazon
“The Master Guide to Drawing Anime” By Christopher Hart
The book teaches kids how to draw six popular anime figures, including vengeful bad guys. The book includes step-by-step demonstrations as well as templates and outfit guides. It’s recommended for kids ages 14 and older.
Sold by Amazon
Mademax Upgraded 79-Inch Splash Pad
Kids will have tons of summer fun with this splash pad. It comes with a storage bag, a repair patch, a hose connector and rubber washers. It’s easy to set up by connecting it to a garden hose or PVC tube.
Sold by Amazon
Creativity for Kids Grow N’ Glow Terrarium Kit
The kit is perfect for kids that love science. It is designed for kids ages 5 to 8 but can be a fun activity for the entire family. It has a terrarium jar, potting mix, organic chia and wheat grass seeds and more.
Sold by Amazon
Peter Pauper Press Premium Black Sketchbook
Let your kids’ imagination run rampant with a sketchbook. The pages are 8 ½ by 11 inches, giving kids plenty of space for their creativity. It includes 192 perforated, heavyweight pages and a study book binding.
Sold by Amazon
Stomp Rocket Dueling Rocket Launcher for Kids
This rocket launcher provides kids with a fun, safe outdoor activity. It launches four rockets 200 feet. It is safe for kids 5 and up, easy to assemble and 100% kid-powered. No batteries are needed for this Science, Technology, Engineering and Math toy.
Sold by Amazon
Looikoos Walkie Talkies for Kids
Let your kids communicate the old-fashioned way with walkie-talkies. This 3-pack of walkie-talkies come in three colors and a high anti-interference, clear voice technology. It has real-time monitoring, anti-wandering off, an alarm system, and 22 channels. They require four AAA batteries, which are sold separately.
Sold by Amazon
“Disney Dreams Collection Coloring Book” By Thomas Kinkade
This coloring book is for the ultimate Disney-lover. It features 63 color and black-and-white pages of classic Disney stories. It includes paintings from “The Jungle Book,” “Sleeping Beauty” and others. It is available as a paperback or spiral-bound book.
Sold by Amazon
Kinetic Sand Beach Sand Kingdom Playset
Bring the beach to your backyard or your kitchen table with this set. It has 3 pounds of beach sand, molds and tools for kids to enjoy. Kids 3 and older can use six molds to build amazing castles.
Sold by Amazon
This adorable set of whale-shaped bubble guns is sure to keep kids away from their devices. It has four 50-milliliter bubble solutions and three color choices. They are leak- and spill-proof, child-safe and ASTM Safety Test approved.
Sold by Amazon
The kit lets kids try several science experiments from the comfort of their homes. Safe for kids as young as 3, it includes 30 scientific experiments, such as rainbow rain, erupting volcanoes and bottle-blowing balloons. Kids use the instruction cards to guide them through the experiments.
Sold by Amazon
Kids can get creative with modeling clay. It includes 50 colors of clay and tools. It is non-toxic, environmentally-friendly, soft and non-sticky. It air dries, so there’s no need for it to be put in the oven to set.
Sold by Amazon
For the future architect, the magnetic tiles are a great STEM toy to challenge their building skills. This 52 0r 102-piece set can be used to build castles, animals, plants and more. They are made of rounded, high-quality acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic.
Sold by Amazon
National Geographic Microscope for Kids
Kids can examine various species with this microscope. The microscope has large focus knobs, a soft-touch eyepiece and adjustable platform to view species. It comes with six plant sides, six rocks and minerals and six blank sides. It has tools kids use to conduct experiments.
Sold by Amazon
“Where’s Waldo? The Ultimate Waldo Watcher Collection” By Martin Handford
Kids can get lost in time searching for Waldo. It includes seven puzzle books requiring kids to find the iconic character as well as other people and items.
Sold by Amazon
This set has 70 toys to keep kids entertained. Some of the fidget toys include pop bubbles, an infinity cube, fidget spinners, a pop ball, sensory rings and much more. They are great for children with conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, attention-deficit disorder, autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Sold by Amazon
Hapinest Find and Seek Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a classic outdoor game that brings tons of fun. The set is designed for two players, including items such as 35 find and seek cards, two instruction cards and a drawstring bag.
Sold by Amazon
Soppycid Reusable Water Bomb Balloons
These reusable water bombs are an excellent way to have fun in the summer heat. They are offered in a 4-, 6-, 12-, 16-, 18- and 20-pack, and can be used several times. To fill them, simply sink them into water for about a second.
Sold by Amazon
Made By Me Ultimate Weaving Loom
Kids can develop a new hobby with this weaving kit. It can make up to 25 projects that kids can use or share with their friends. It has 378 pieces to make items such as pencil holders, potholders and friendship bracelets. No sewing is needed and it is kid-friendly.
Sold by Amazon
Hapray 4-Pack Bird House Crafts for Kids
This craft set lets kids design birdhouses for their animal friends. It includes four unassembled birdhouses, paint, four brushes, a painting palette, four strings and two glues. The birdhouses are made of high-quality, thick plywood and are non-toxic and eco-friendly.
Sold by Amazon
Let your athletes get some practice in with a punching bag. It comes in three colors and is adjustable to fit the child’s height. It has gloves, a durable stand, a weighted base and a 180-degree spring.
Sold by Amazon
“Paint by Sticker Kids: Zoo Animals” By Workman Publishing
Keep kids entertained for hours with this picture book. It includes 10 sticker paintings that require kids to find the stickers and place them in the right places to create a work of art.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Sian Babish writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing, and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/baby-kids-br/health-safety-br/want-to-limit-kids-screen-time-try-a-digital-detox/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:50 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/baby-kids-br/health-safety-br/want-to-limit-kids-screen-time-try-a-digital-detox/ |
Written by Laura Duerr
For better sleep without replacing your bed, try one of these mattress toppers
Do you feel like you’re not getting enough sleep, even if the clock says you slept eight hours? A mattress topper may be the solution. Mattress toppers help support your sleeping position, soften firm mattresses and minimize disruptive movement from your partner, all without making you replace your entire bed. Mattress toppers are available in several types of foam, gel and feathers, making it easy to customize your bed for a more comfortable night’s sleep.
Shop this article: Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Supreme Mattress Topper, Sleep On Latex Pure Green Natural Latex Mattress Topper, Linenspa Gel-Infused Memory Foam Mattress Topper
The best mattress toppers tested
Our BestReviews Testing Lab tried out two popular mattress toppers. Key features to look for in a mattress topper include temperature regulation and the right balance between softness and support. Mattress toppers are generally between 2 and 4 inches thick, though toppers up to 6 inches thick are available. Finally, if you’re hoping to reduce disruption caused by a partner’s restless sleep, look for a memory foam or gel mattress topper with low transmission of movement.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Supreme Mattress Topper review
Made by trusted mattress brand Tempur-Pedic, the Tempur-Adapt Supreme Mattress Topper transformed the tester’s bed into a luxury sleep experience. The soft memory foam delivered uninterrupted sleep and felt deep and soft yet still supportive. Its sturdy corner straps keep the mattress topper from sliding around, and our tester reported that after several weeks of use, the mattress topper felt just as soft and comfortable as it did on the first day.
Testing Sleep On Latex Pure Green Natural Latex Mattress review
This foam mattress topper, made from latex from organically grown rubber trees, provides sturdy support that’s still comfortable to sleep on. Our tester reports that the Pure Green mattress topper helped them sleep more comfortably than ever, thanks to how well it supported their back and bad shoulder. Plus, it was ready to use right away because the foam unrolled and lay flat instantly, without the uncurling period many mattress toppers need.
Best mattress toppers
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Supreme Mattress Topper
The memory foam in this mattress topper conforms to support the body while retaining bounce-back comfort. It’s made from moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic materials and adds 3 inches of height to mattresses.
Sold by Amazon
Sleep On Latex Pure Green Natural Latex Mattress Topper
This 3-inch thick mattress topper is made from organic latex foam and is OEKO-TEX certified free from harmful chemicals. It’s durable and supportive, while small air chambers throughout the pad help promote airflow for a cooler sleep.
Sold by Amazon
Linenspa Gel-Infused Memory Foam Mattress Topper
This budget-friendly pick is infused with cooling gel, making it good for those who sleep too warm. The extra-soft foam is available in 2- and 3-inch thicknesses.
Sold by Amazon
Sleep Innovations Dual Layer Memory Foam Mattress Topper
At 4 inches thick, this mattress topper is extremely soft and comfortable. It’s made with a layer of memory foam topped with a down alternative pillow-top cover.
Sold by Amazon
This popular mattress topper features targeted zones designed to relieve pressure on different body parts. It’s also helpful for temperature regulation and stays in place well.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Laura Duerr writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/bedding-br/these-mattress-toppers-make-upgrading-your-bedroom-easy-and-inexpensive/ | 2023-07-29T10:32:57 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/bed-bath-br/bedding-br/these-mattress-toppers-make-upgrading-your-bedroom-easy-and-inexpensive/ |
Affordable school supplies and other budget picks
The school year is coming back around, and there’s no better time to start checking items off of your school supply list than right now. Finding affordable school supplies can be somewhat of a chore, but with an understanding of what supplies you need, you can probably find all your needs at a fair price.
From pens and pencils to planners, notebooks and more, being prepared for the back-to-school season doesn’t have to be stressful or break the bank.
Shop this article: Ticonderoga 30-Pack of Yellow Pre-Sharpened Graphite No. 2 Pencils, Blue Sky Academic Planner and Apple iPad Air
Picking your school supply essentials
Student age and grade
Perhaps the main factors for your school supply list are the student’s age, grade and classes. For example, glue is an excellent option for elementary and middle school students who are likely to perform arts and crafts. Older students could benefit from tools with more versatility, such as laptops, tablets or other smart devices. Additionally, a student taking specific classes, such as art or dance, may require more specific materials than what you’ll find on a school supplies list.
School supply options for keeping to your budget
Most school supply lists include several different items, all of which students are expected to have. These costs can add up quickly, though there are a few ways to keep to your budget. If you know the student will use certain disposable items, such as crayons, pens, pencils or erasers, for more than just one school year, you can buy them in bulk to save year after year. Otherwise, consider looking for deals on the student’s essentials.
Choosing your student’s essentials
What constitutes “back-to-school essentials” can vary from student to student, and if they’re too old for elementary school supply lists, then it may be up to you to choose. A few agreed-upon essentials are backpacks, pens and pencils, notebooks and binders. However, this can depend on your student’s classes and may include things ranging from cameras to musical instruments and more.
Best back-to-school supplies on a budget
Ticonderoga 30-Pack Of Yellow Pre-Sharpened Graphite No. 2 Pencils
Pencils are a must-have school supply item, no matter the student’s age. These number two pencils fit most peoples’ budgets and write with the standard lightness used in most schools. They include a useful eraser on the end that’s perfect for math, writing, drawing and other subjects.
Sold by Amazon
Paper Mate InkJoy 100RT Medium Point Ultra Smooth Ink Pens
These pens are super affordable when purchased in bulk and they write very smoothly compared to most other pens. You can buy these pens in either assorted color or black packages, in packs of 12 or 20.
Sold by Amazon
Crayola 24-Pack of Long Barrel Colored Woodcase Pencils
These colored pencils from Crayola are the industry standard, with colors including red, yellow, blue, white and black, among many others still. They come pre-sharpened and are made from all nontoxic materials.
Sold by Amazon
Crayola 152-Pack Ultimate Crayon Collection With Assorted Colors
The price of this massive crayon pack is impressive. It also comes with a crayon sharpener and a useful carrying caddy that makes coloring time easy. You can buy this crayon set in a bundle with a pack of twistable crayons for a little bit more money.
Sold by Amazon
JanSport Student Backpack With 15-Inch Laptop Compartment
This JanSport backpack works great for books and other supplies, and it also has a mesh pocket for holding water bottles and a 15-inch laptop compartment. You can purchase this option in several different colors and styles, each with JanSport’s signature S-curve shoulder straps with adjustable 14.5-inch shoulder drops.
Sold by Amazon
Fiskars Kids Pointed-Tip 5-Inch Safety Scissors In Random Colors
Scissors are another must-have for preschool and K-8 students, and this particular pair is extremely affordable and made blunt for added safety. They come in a random color, either red, blue, light blue or green. This option also comes with a full lifetime warranty, according to the product description.
Sold by Amazon
Gorilla Kids Retractable Disappearing Purple Glue Sticks
For students involved in arts and crafts, glue sticks are a necessity. These disappearing purple glue sticks are ideal for visual projects, offering a strong adhesive in both single packs of six-packs.
Sold by Amazon
Paper Mate 12-Pack Of Large Pink Pearl Classic Pencil Erasers
If a student plans to work in pencil often, another useful tool to keep handy is an eraser. While most pencils include an eraser, these offer a backup solution for when those tiny erasers on your pencil run out.
Sold by Amazon
PowerMe Black Electric Pencil Sharpener for No. 2 Pencils
If you plan to use a pencil, then you will also require a pencil sharpener. This electric sharpener is battery-powered and offers long-term pencil sharpening. You can buy this electric pencil sharpener in black, blue, green, pink, purple or white.
Sold by Amazon
Emraw Four-Pack Of 100-Sheet Black-and-White Marble-Style Cover Composition Books
Composition books are a classic lined paper option for use when taking notes or working on assignments. These lined composition books come with four units, and you can purchase them in black and white or assorted colors.
Sold by Amazon
Blue Sky Academic Year Planner
Academic planners are essential for older kids, and this flexible planner offers weekly and monthly calendar planning. You can buy this planner in 8.5-by-11-inch, 7-by-9-inch or 5-by-8-inch sizes.
Sold by Amazon
Apple 2022 Fifth-Generation 10.9-Inch Purple iPad Air With Wi-Fi
Tablets aren’t exactly cheap, but with Apple offering more budget options than ever, these can make an excellent alternative to laptops for older students. You can buy the iPad Air with either 64 or 256GB of storage, with Wi-Fi or a Wi-Fi and cellular bundle. It’s also available in purple, blue, pink, space gray and starlight.
Sold by Amazon
Acer Aspire 5 15.6-Inch Full Display Slim Laptop With AMD Ryzen 5 Processor
The Aspire 5 is a powerful Acer laptop that comes at a fair price, featuring a powerful processor and multiple bundle options for maximizing your purchase. It also includes 8GB of DDR4 RAM for multitasking and up to 11 hours of battery life off the charger.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Peter McGuthrie writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/homeschooling-br/back-to-school-on-a-budget-check-off-your-school-supply-list-with-these-affordable-essentials/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:04 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/homeschooling-br/back-to-school-on-a-budget-check-off-your-school-supply-list-with-these-affordable-essentials/ |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:33:07 | 1 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
You can save on some of the items kids need most for the 2023 school year
There are lots of essentials to shop for when kids head back to school. Laptops, shoes, clothing, pencils, backpacks and more are on the shopping lists of parents and caregivers as they prepare K-12 students for the first day of class.
It can be challenging and expensive to find the items kids need to start the school year off right. But the BestReviews team can help with our deal-packed guide of back-to-school must-haves.
Shop this article: Apple AirPods Max Over-the-Ear Headphones, Samsil Earth’s Choice Plant-Based 3-Ring Binders and Bentgo Classic All-in-One Bento Box
Back-to-school shopping tips
Back-to-school shopping doesn’t have to be stressful. Following a few key tips will simplify the task and ensure that the students in your life will have everything they need when the bell rings on the first day of school.
Make a list
Before you ever browse the websites of your favorite retailers, it’s a good idea to compile a list of the items your kids will need for back-to-school. In addition to the obvious such as clothes and classroom supplies, things such as a printer, tablet or laptop will help students complete assignments. Class-specific items such as a gym bag and art supplies may also be required. Most schools will provide a list of items needed during the school year so families know what to buy.
Know clothing and shoes sizes
Even if you think you know your kids’ sizes, double-checking them will help you find clothes and shoes that fit and won’t have to be returned. This is especially important for youngsters in the pre-teen and early teen years that have frequent growth spurts.
Shop together
Kids will be more enthused to head back to the classroom when they like their new clothes and school gear. Working together to find back-to-school must-haves will make the process fun and help them find items they are excited to own.
Look for deals
Back-to-school deals are everywhere this time of year, but you have to know where to look. Shopping online for top items from trusted retailers will save you money. BestReviews will also help you find deals through informative articles on our website and by signing up for email alerts.
Best K-12 back-to-school deals
Trim yet versatile, this attractive backpack can accommodate a laptop and other essentials for the classroom. The padded straps are easy to adjust for optimal comfort. Eco-conscious students will also love that the material used to make it comes from recycled plastic bottles.
Sold by HP
Apple AirPods Max Over-the-Ear Headphones
Whether doing homework or taking a break, the right headphones will come in handy frequently throughout the school year. Although an investment, AirPods offer a lot for the price, including a comfortable fit, outstanding sound and reliable noise canceling technology.
Sold by Amazon
Indigo Rein Juniors’ High-Rise Stretchy Skater Ripped Jeans
Denim is everywhere this year, and edgy styles are trending. These jeans stand out for their wide legs with on-trend rips. They are comfortable too thanks to the relaxed fit and stretchy cotton-spandex blend material.
Sold by Macy’s
Every little kid needs a backpack, just like big kids. With numerous fun characters to choose from, this adorable one is perfect for preschoolers as well as kindergarteners. It’s also lightweight and easy to carry. The low price makes it an excellent deal for any parent on a budget.
Sold by Amazon
A basic laptop may be all your student needs to do research and complete assignments. This HP model offers a trim 14-inch design that fits well in most backpacks. The vivid screen is ideal for working on papers or joining virtual meetings.
Sold by Amazon
Bic Xtra-Strong Thick Lead Mechanical Pencils
These mechanical pencils have leads that are thicker than many other brands, so they hold up well to frequent use. They are convenient too, since there is no need for a pencil sharpener to give them sharp points. That pack includes 24 pencils in a variety of colors.
Sold by Walmart
Samsil Earth’s Choice Plant-Based 3-Ring Binders
Made with plant-based and recycled materials, these binders provide an eco-friendly way to keep important papers and assignments protected and organized. Along with durable rings, each binder has interior pockets for additional paper storage. You can choose from several colors, sizes and quantities.
Sold by Amazon
Epson EcoTank ET-2803 Wireless All-in-One Cartridge-Free Printer
Dealing with printer cartridges can be a hassle, but you won’t have these issues with this cartridge-free model. It works with an ink tank that’s easy to fill and is long lasting. It also copies and scans.
Sold by Walmart
Bentgo Classic All-in-One Bento Box
Bento boxes are great for taking lunch to school, as they are compact yet spacious with dividers to keep foods separate. This model features a 2-tier design and comes with plastic utensils that store in the lid. The materials are BPA-free.
Sold by Amazon
K-12 back-to-school deals worth checking out
- The Casio Touch-screen Graphing Calculator is a must-have for advanced math and algebra classes.
- You can save by stocking up now on Pen+Gear 1-Subject Notebooks that are available in a choice of five fun colors.
- Project Rock BSR 2 Training Shoes are ideal for young athletes.
- Amazon Essentials Boys’ Polo Shirts come in packs of two.
- The Columbia Girls’ Benton Springs Fleece Jacket is available in numerous colors to fit every child’s unique style.
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Bre Richey writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/parenting-br/summers-almost-over-dont-miss-these-deals-on-back-to-school-essentials-for-k-12/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:12 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/parenting-br/summers-almost-over-dont-miss-these-deals-on-back-to-school-essentials-for-k-12/ |
Supporters of LGBTQ students in Amherst, Massachusetts, are calling for more transparency about how the district is handling an investigation.
In May, allegations surfaced in the high school student newspaper that counselors at the Amherst Regional Middle School school failed to protect LGBTQ students.
Several staff members were put on leave. The district launched an investigation and soon after, Michael Morris, the superintendent, went on leave for health reasons. He recently returned to work.
Katharine Waggoner, a parent in the district, helped organize a rally on Friday to support LGBTQ students in the district.
"The idea is to really put a spotlight on the need for honoring, celebrating and repairing harm," she said.
Waggoner said organizers also are trying to push the school committee to be more forthcoming about who is being investigated and whether it includes superintendent Morris.
She said she was reassured by an interview the committee chair gave to MassLive, in which he said the investigation — including a conversation with Morris — is still ongoing. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-29/lgbtq-supporters-in-amherst-mass-seeks-more-transparency-in-school-investigation | 2023-07-29T10:33:13 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-29/lgbtq-supporters-in-amherst-mass-seeks-more-transparency-in-school-investigation |
These school supplies deals will save you money when you shop for the new school year
Shopping for back-to-school can be expensive. Kids need new clothes, shoes and accessories plus numerous classroom items before the new school year begins. The good news is that you can save on school essentials by finding them on sale.
This time of year, many popular retailers mark down the prices of the things kids need to head to class. Our back-to-school collection of must-have deals includes everything from shirts to calculators to help you stay within your budget as you shop.
Shop this article: Texas Instruments TI 84 Plus CE Graphing Calculator, Adidas Big Boys Iconic Tricot Pants and Castle Art Supplies Set of 72 Colored Pencils
How to shop for back-to-school deals
The key to successful back-to-school shopping is to think about what your kids need and prefer. After all, what good is a discounted jacket or budget-friendly backpack if your favorite students don’t like them or can’t use them? You can take control of your back-to-school shopping endeavors with a few helpful tips.
Look for on-trend styles
It may seem like various types of attire go out of style as quickly as they become hot items, but kids know what is trending. Get their guidance as you shop so they will be happy with any new additions to their wardrobe. When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with the basics such as jeans and T-shirts.
Think about their shoe needs
Most kids need more than one pair of shoes for school. In addition to current styles such as chunky platform shoes and casual sneakers, athletic shoes are necessary for sports or gym class.
Focus on classroom items
Pencils, calculators, notebooks, pens, erasers and highlighters are some of the most popular essentials that students need when they head back to class. This isn’t a complete list, and the items needed vary depending on the age of the student and class requirements. However, now is a good time to find low prices on these classroom must-haves.
Invest in coursework-friendly tech
Students of all ages work on computers or tablets to conduct research and do assignments. Devices such as headphones and earbuds will help them concentrate. What’s more, a simple home printer makes it possible for kids to print assignments to present to their teachers. When you shop early, you can save big on student-friendly tech.
Consider bags and packs
Don’t forget that kids need something to carry their gear to class. Backpacks, lunch boxes, pencil cases and gym bags are on the lists of most parents as they help their kids gather the items they’ll take back to school.
Best back-to-school deals for school supplies and clothing
Texas Instruments TI 84 Plus CE Graphing Calculator
Even if they are dreading it, many students will have to go to advanced math classes when school is back in session. The TI 84 Plus model is perfect for equations that require graphing to solve. A large vivid screen, lightweight build and rechargeable battery are other features students appreciate.
Sold by Amazon
There are good reasons that the Aspire 5 is a popular choice for students. Although it sports a vivid 15.6-inch screen that’s ideal for working on assignments, the design is trim and easy to stash in a backpack. The responsive 11th-generation Intel processor can easily keep up with important work. Parents will also appreciate the budget-friendly price.
Sold by Amazon
Under Armour Hustle 5.0 Backpack
Kids won’t run out of room in this spacious backpack, as it has ample pockets including one that’s large and padded for a laptop. It even has a lower compartment for stashing gear such as gym shoes.
Sold by Amazon
Epson WorkForce All-in-One Printer
This printer proves that you don’t have to spend a lot of money for a versatile model. Although inexpensive, it prints, scans and copies. It’s also capable of faxing and double-sided printing. Additionally, it has wireless connectivity and can pair with devices that offer voice control via Alexa or Siri.
Sold by Walmart
Adidas Big Boys Iconic Tricot Pants
Lightweight and comfortable, these classic Adidas pants are practical for warming up, playing sports or heading to class. They feature the iconic three-stripe pattern on the legs. Parents will also love how easy the polyester fabric is to wash.
Castle Art Supplies Set of 72 Colored Pencils
Colored pencils are great for kids who have art classes as part of their schedules. This set is perfect for exploring their creative side, as it’s packed with 72 pencils in every color of the rainbow. It includes a case to keep them organized and ready for use.
Sold by Amazon
Available in numerous colors, this pencil case features ample space for numerous writing tools and accessories. It has five elastic holders to keep important pencils and pens easy to access. Several smaller interior pockets will keep small items such as change and paper clips organized.
Sold by Amazon
These fan-favorite earbuds distance themselves from competitors for their amazing sound and reliable noise-canceling technology. These features are beneficial to students when using them to hone in on audio assignments or block out interruptive sounds. Transparency mode is there when they need it to hear outside sounds. They are comfortable to wear, too.
Sold by Amazon
Celebrity Pink Juniors’ High-Rise Wide-Leg Frayed Jeans
Pants with wide legs and denim with rips are both in style this year. This pair of jeans offers both, with an ultra-relaxed fit and on-trend frays. In addition to a casual, comfortable fit, they come in a nice selection of sizes and in a choice of two shades of blue.
Sold by Macy’s
Nike Big Kids Court Borough 2 SE Casual Sneakers
Regardless of your kid’s favorite styles, there’s a good chance that these sneakers will look great with them. They are designed for comfort and have laid-back casual looks that are perfect for class or weekends. They come in trendy white with a colorful Nike swoosh.
Sold by Macy’s
Other back-to-school deals worth checking out
- The Tommy Hilfiger Big Girls’ Ruffle Stripped Jersey Dress is perfect for special school days.
- Oxford Spiral Notebooks can be used for multiple classes thanks to their pocket dividers and three subjects.
- The Under Armour Boys’ Pennant Jacket is both stylish and warm.
- This Boys’ Nike Character T-shirt will look great with your little man’s favorite pair of jeans.
- Soundcore Life Q20 Hybrid Active Wireless Noise-canceling Headphones offer a nice blend of affordability and quality.
- A kids’ Bentgo Lunch Box provides room for their favorite foods and snacks.
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jennifer Manfrin writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/test-prep-br/back-to-school-2022-these-retailers-are-offering-deep-discounts-on-clothing-and-supplies/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:18 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/education-br/test-prep-br/back-to-school-2022-these-retailers-are-offering-deep-discounts-on-clothing-and-supplies/ |
With great power comes limited pre-order availability
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, from developer Insomniac Games, is one of the biggest games scheduled to release this year. The first game, released in 2018, and the Miles Morales spinoff, released in 2020, were massive critical and commercial hits, so expectations are sky-high.
To capitalize on the fervor, Sony is releasing a special, limited edition PlayStation 5 console packed with Spider-Man goodness. If you already have a PS5, don’t fret. All of the bundle’s contents are also available separately. You’d better act fast, though. Some pieces are already sold out at certain retailers.
What’s in the bundle?
The Spider-Man 2 bundle is composed of four parts. The console, special console covers, a special controller and a digital copy of the game. The total price of the bundle is $599.99. That’s a huge savings compared to the cost of each item separately: $714.96.
The console
There are two versions of the PS5 console. One with a disk drive, which costs $499.99, and one without, which costs $399.99.
The console included in the bundle is the disk version of the console. There’s nothing special or different about the console itself, such as improved performance. It’s just a regular disc PS5.
The console covers
Typically, limited edition console bundles featured special designs painted right onto the system. But, because the PS5 uses detachable covers instead of a built-on body, this bundle just includes covers that come pre-attached to the console. This means you can mix and match any covers you may have or get later.
Console covers for the PS5 generally cost anywhere from $25 to $70 depending on the seller. The limited edition Spider-Man 2 covers cost $64.99. Be careful when purchasing these separately; there is a different version for both the disc and the discless PS5.
The controller
The PS5 controller, known as the “DualSense” controller, has unique features such as a special rumble feature that can mimic the surfaces your character walks on in-game and triggers with adjustable tension so you can feel the weight of pulling a bowstring, for example. It costs $69.99.
The special Spider-Man 2 controller is no different from any other DualSense, save for its design mimicking that of the console cover. It costs $79.99.
The game
Likely the reason you’re considering grabbing any of the above items in the first place, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is set to greatly expand on the gameplay found in the first two games in the series. Some of the biggest changes include being able to swap between Peter Parker and Miles Morales at will, and the introduction of gliding on web wings in your suit. Story-wise, Kraven the Hunter and Venom have been revealed as two big antagonists.
There are three versions of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 you can buy.
- Base version: Also called the Launch Edition, this includes special bonuses for pre-ordering. That’s the version included in the console bundle, and it costs $69.99.
- Digital Deluxe: This includes the Launch Edition bonuses and further extras such as more suits and Photo Mode items. It costs $79.99. If you want those bonuses after buying the base version, you can later upgrade your copy of the game for $9.99.
- Collector’s Edition: This version includes everything in the Digital Deluxe version, plus a SteelBook case and a statue of Peter and Miles fighting Venom. It costs $229.99.
Limited edition purchase details
The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 limited edition console bundle and all of the individual items are currently available for pre-order. All of the above items are set to start shipping out on Sept. 1. The game itself, however, is not due for release until Oct. 20. If you buy the console bundle with the digital code, you can still redeem it. You simply can’t access the software until the game officially releases.
Best Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 items
PlayStation Limited Edition Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 Console Bundle
This set includes everything you need to get started on your next-generation Spider-Man journey once the game launches. The console included is the version with a disc drive.
Sold by Amazon
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Launch Edition
The special Launch Edition of the game includes early unlocks of one suit each for Peter Parker and Miles Morales, three color variants for each suit, an early unlock of the Web Grabber skill and three free skill points.
Sold by Amazon
PlayStation Limited Edition Spider-Man 2 DualSense Controller
This gorgeous controller sports the same “Venom taking over Spider-Man” design featured on the limited edition PS5. The Spider-Man symbol from the video game’s version of Spider-Man’s main suit is front and center on the touchpad.
Sold by Amazon
PlayStation Limited Edition Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 Console Covers
These slick Venom-black covers are for the disc drive version of the console. Use caution when taking off your original ones and attaching these to avoid any damage to your system.
Sold by Best Buy
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jordan C Woika writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/gaming-accessories-br/how-to-pre-order-the-spider-man-2-ps5-and-accessories/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:25 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/electronics-br/gaming-accessories-br/how-to-pre-order-the-spider-man-2-ps5-and-accessories/ |
What’s the best way to organize your life in college?
College is a major life change. Adapting to the new lifestyle is the key to success, and with that comes other changes, including finding new ways to keep your life organized.
Getting organized isn’t only a physical process of tidying up and keeping a calendar. It’s largely a mental process that taps into a work-life balance, mindfulness and understanding one’s limits. Because everyone approaches the idea of organization differently, it’s important to explore different methods to find ones that work for you.
Shop this article: Mag-Fancy Dry Erase Calendar Kit, Clever Fox Planner Premium Edition and Maalbok Monthly Wall Calendar
How to organize your life as a college student
Keep a calendar
It’s no secret that college students are busy between classes, internships, work and activities. Keeping a calendar may improve time management skills and can help prevent overscheduling and burnout.
Additionally, a calendar serves as an informal list of goals. As college students complete each task or finish each day, they may feel a sense of accomplishment as they cross off completed tasks, whether it’s finishing a paper or doing their laundry.
While many students embrace the convenience of calendar apps, others still use planner books or wall calendars to write down appointments and due dates.
Mag-Fancy Dry Erase Calendar Kit
Divide cleaning responsibilities among suitemates and display them on this dry erase board fridge calendar. It comes with a set of four markers with eraser toppers.
Sold by Amazon
Clever Fox Planner Premium Edition
This weekly and monthly planner is jam-packed with features to help users stay organized, such as monthly review sections, bookmarks and blank space.
Sold by Amazon
The oversized day blocks of this monthly calendar leave plenty of room for recording important dates and appointments.
Sold by Amazon
Two Tumbleweeds Daily Planner Notepad
Praised for its convenient design, this daily notepad planner has dedicated sections for a schedule, meal planning and to-do list.
Sold by Amazon
Get used to “day before” prep
Rather than rushing to morning classes or activities — or arriving late — getting into a “day before” prep routine can optimize time. Before going to bed each night, pick out clothes and place textbooks and devices in your school bag. On top of that, it’s helpful to plan and prepare breakfast the night before. Some college students make overnight oats for an easy, nutrient-dense breakfast, while others use personal blenders and pre-measure shake ingredients to enjoy breakfast on the go.
It’s easy to bring breakfast to class with this Magic Bullet set, which includes a few travel cups. The blender handles everything from omelets to smoothies.
Sold by Amazon
Crystalia Breakfast On the Go Cups
These BPA-free yogurt cups are ideal meal prep accessories for yogurt, overnight oats or muesli. The cups are leakproof and come with matching spoons.
Sold by Amazon
Set a cleaning schedule
Cleaning a suite or the dorm bathroom isn’t a glamorous job, but it needs to get done. Instead of putting it off, set a cleaning schedule that works for everyone in the dorm, as teamwork often makes cleaning less daunting.
It’s hugely convenient to have cleaning supplies that are efficient, like multipurpose surface cleaners or wet/dry vacuums. Many of these products offer better results and may cut cleaning time in half.
Shellenbarger 69” Metal Blanket Ladder
A space-saving design, this blanket ladder has four 15-inch rungs to hold clothes or towels. When it’s not in use, it tucks easily behind doors or dressers.
Sold by Wayfair
Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro All-in-One Wet/Dry Vacuum
This popular Bissell vacuum cleans most floor types, making it easy to clean an entire dorm in one fell swoop. It has a tangle-free brush roll and an easy-to-empty dirt tank.
Sold by Amazon
Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner
Available in five scents, this multi-surface cleaner is suitable for everyday use. The formula is cruelty-free and can be used on hardwood floors, tile, countertops and walls.
Sold by Amazon
Clorox ToiletWand Disposable Toilet Cleaning System
Thanks to this convenient toilet cleaning system, there’s no need to bend or scrub. The set comes with six Clorox-infused scrubber heads that make quick work of stains.
Sold by Amazon
Make time for self-care
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with packed schedules, especially around exams or major projects. Making time for self-care gives you the opportunity to take a step back and reset both physically and mentally, which in turn may boost productivity levels later on.
Some college students benefit from adding activities like yoga or fitness classes to their schedules to help them unwind. Others adopt daily habits for self-care, like journaling, skin care routines or meditation.
Calm the Chaos Journal by Nicola Ries Taggart
This daily mindfulness journal has easy-to-follow prompts that aid in goal-setting, reflection and planning. The simple layout leaves plenty of room for writing or doodling.
Sold by Amazon
Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Mask
Indulge in self-care after a long day with this bestselling clay mask. It draws out impurities and leaves skin feeling refreshed and clean.
Sold by Amazon
This pillow is comfortable for meditation or practicing yoga poses. It’s filled with buckwheat and comes in six colors.
Sold by Amazon
Utilize closet and drawer organization
Most dorms are on the smaller side, which makes space a hot commodity. To maximize storage space, purchase closet and drawer organizers. These help keep clothes and accessories tidy and accessible.
One thing to keep in mind with these organizers is that they free up quite a bit of space. To stay organized, it’s smart to leave the free space free. Otherwise, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with an overabundance of stuff.
Home Basics Chevron 10-Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer
Not only is this hanging closet organizer affordable, its slender design is less than 6 inches wide. It’s great for storing shoes, shirts or soft accessories.
Sold by Amazon
Simple Houseware Drawer Organizer Set
This four-piece drawer divider set helps organize bras, socks and underwear. The dividers are made with mold-proof material.
Sold by Amazon
Sterilite Stackable Storage Drawer Set
These stacking storage drawers can go anywhere in dorms, including closets. While they’re often used for storing shoes, they’re suitable to organize makeup or hygiene products.
Sold by Amazon
Tidy up your desk
Tidying up your desk may help boost productivity levels while studying or writing papers. To maintain a desk free and clear of distractions, consider desk organizers to maximize space and storage solutions.
At the very least, it’s smart to have classic desk organizers like pencil cups or file organizers. In the digital era, however, you may need organizers that accommodate devices, cables and other electronics.
MobileVision Bamboo Multi Device Organizer
This five-slot organizer, available in a few design variations, keeps devices organized while they charge, including laptops and smartphones.
Sold by Amazon
These cable ties keep device power cords and wires tangle-free, plus they can be used to wrap up pens, pencils and other office supplies in desk drawers.
Sold by Amazon
Popular for its small footprint, this four-compartment pencil organizer holds dozens of pens as well as highlighters and scissors.
Sold by Amazon
ABC Life Expanding File Folder
Keep paperwork organized with this 26-pocket accordion file organizer. It’s made with high-quality plastic and has a waterproof lid.
Sold by Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Sian Babish writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/storage-organization-br/how-to-stay-organized-in-college/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:32 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/storage-organization-br/how-to-stay-organized-in-college/ |
Comparing the Roomba i3 EVO and i7 models
Vacuuming is no one’s favorite chore, but a robot vacuum does make it a whole lot easier. After more than two decades in business, iRobot, maker of the Roomba, has become synonymous with convenient, low-effort vacuuming, thanks to their impressive range of models. But if you’re trying to decide between the Roomba i3 EVO and the i7, there are some key differences to consider before choosing the best fit for your home.
We put the i3 EVO and i7 to the test in the BestReviews Testing Lab and found that both offer similar performance on most types of flooring as well as smart mapping of your home, which allows for more thorough cleaning. However, the i3 EVO beats the i7 on battery life and dustbin capacity as well as price (the i3 EVO is about $250 cheaper).
But the i7 is no slouch, either. It wins on navigation, thanks to its onboard camera, which gives it advanced capabilities and provides more opportunities to customize your cleaning. It also proved to have better suction power, making it ideal for homes with carpeting.
iRobot Roomba i3 EVO vs. iRobot Roomba i7 specs
When it comes to their performance on hard flooring, the Roomba i3 EVO and Roomba i7 are fairly similar. But small differences in a few key specs affect the overall user experience and ground they can cover.
iRobot Roomba i3 EVO specs
The testing team is checking the dustbin on the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO
Product specifications
Battery life: 96 minutes | Dimensions: 13.26” L x 13.26” W x 3.63” H | Dustbin capacity: 0.5 L | Weight: 7.44 lb | Mapping: Yes | Self-emptying: No | Voice commands: Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri | Scheduling: Yes
Released in 2020 as a new and improved Roomba i3 with better mapping features, the Roomba i3 EVO is similar in size to many other robot vacuums. Compared to the i7, which came out in 2018, it’s slightly narrower by less than a tenth of an inch, which won’t likely make too much of a difference in regard to maneuverability. It has a fairly average-sized dustbin among robot vacuums and is 0.2 liters larger than the i7’s dustbin. It also has a longer battery life, allowing it to clean for 20 minutes more than the i7. Unlike the i3+ EVO, this model isn’t self-emptying, so depending on the size of the space and how dirty it is, vacuuming may be interrupted when the bin is full.
Like many Roombas, the i3 EVO has smart-mapping capabilities that help it to learn your home and navigate the space more effectively. It identifies specific areas and rooms, so you can send the robot out for targeted cleaning by selecting a chosen room in the app’s drop-down menu when scheduling cleaning or sending the robot out for a one-off vacuuming run. Unlike some Roombas (including the i7), however, it doesn’t recognize Keep-Out Zones, which means you can’t prevent it from entering areas you don’t want it to clean.
The i3 EVO is compatible with voice commands through a home assistant, such as Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant. It also lets you set up scheduled cleaning sessions with the iRobot app. You can choose specific days and times for cleaning or set the robot to clean as soon as it detects you’ve left the house.
iRobot Roomba i7 specs
The testing team is using the iRobot app to navigate the iRobot Roomba i7.
Product specifications
Battery life: 75 minutes | Dimensions: 13.34” L x 13.34” W x 3.63” H | Dustbin capacity: 0.3 L | Weight: 7.44 lb | Mapping: Yes | Self-emptying: No | Voice commands: Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri | Scheduling: Yes
Though it’s about the same size as the i3 EVO, the Roomba i7 offers a battery life that’s about 20 minutes shorter. Additionally, its dustbin is approximately 40% smaller than the i3, which means it will likely need to be emptied more frequently during vacuuming to keep the robot cleaning, as it’s not a self-emptying model like the i7+.
Like the i3 EVO and many other robot vacuums, the i7 uses smart-mapping technology to learn your home’s floor plan. However, unlike the i3 EVO, it has an onboard camera for more advanced navigation. As a result, the i7 can clean specific rooms or zones on a vacuuming run and avoid certain areas using Keep-Out Zones. It is also compatible with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant for voice commands, but its range of commands is more extensive than those offered by the i3 EVO and other entry-level robots. For example, in addition to telling the robot to start, pause or stop vacuuming, you can also ask the i7 to vacuum a specific room like the living room or clean near a certain object like under the kitchen table.
The i7 allows for scheduling in the iRobot app. You can set certain times each week or have the robot “sense” when you’re out (via location services or a connected device signal through the app) to begin vacuuming. Through the app, you can also choose cleaning preferences for your i7’s scheduled jobs, including the suction power and number of passes.
Design comparison
The i3 EVO and i7 both feature a classic round robot vacuum shape, but their appearance is slightly different. The i3 EVO features a two-tone gray design mainly composed of plastic. However, it also has a textured fabric-like ring around its top that definitely stood out for its stylish appearance during our testing. On the other hand, the i7 is made entirely of plastic and has a sleek black-and-gray design.
Both models have rubber rolls with enough flexibility to discourage hair from tangling around them. During testing, we found a small amount of easily removed hair around the i3’s brushes and little to no hair around the i7’s rollers. Both models also have plastic wheels that felt sturdy when we tested them. Additionally, the i3 EVO and i7 have a pop-out caster wheel at their front, which is extremely easy to remove if dirt or hair gets stuck around it.
Overall, the i3 EVO and i7 felt equally durable during testing. Because they’re mostly made of sturdy plastic, both models can take a pretty good beating without showing signs of wear and tear. However, we found that the i3 EVO’s textured fabric ring didn’t just give it a more distinctive look than the i7 — it also prevented the robot from showing fingerprints and dust as easily, so it seemed to stay cleaner during our testing.
Navigation comparison
While the i3 EVO and i7 both offer smart mapping, their navigational abilities differ fairly significantly. The i3 EVO maps a space using floor-tracking sensors on its bottom, while the i7 has an camera that provides more thorough, accurate mapping. The i3 EVO can only support a single smart map, while the i7 can recognize up to 10. That makes the i7 a better choice if you want to clean multiple floors of your home or move it between two locations, such as your home and office.
During our testing, we observed a clear difference in the robots’ performance based on these mapping capabilities. The i3 EVO and i7 both map specific rooms or zones, so we sent them out to clean in certain areas. This feature is highly convenient in homes with children and/or pets because the robot can go clean up a mess as soon as it happens.
However, the i7 learned specific rooms as well as objects, so we also sent it out to clean around certain objects, such as in front of the kitchen counter or under the dining table. Unlike the i3 EVO, the i7 also recognizes Keep-Out Zones, which proved a highly convenient feature. During testing, we were able to prevent it from going into areas that didn’t need cleaning or had obstacles that might cause it to get stuck. Overall, this led to more efficient vacuuming.
Neither model offers an obstacle-avoidance feature, so both had issues with objects in their path. The i7 got caught up on string-like items, including power cords and the fringe on a rug. The i3 EVO bumped into small objects in its way, such as a handbag, a shoe and a rubber dog toy, several times before it finally pivoted away from them.
Ultimately, the i7’s advanced navigation makes it the better choice for a cluttered or busy home where you might want to prevent the robot from entering certain areas. For example, the Keep-Out Zone feature can prevent the vacuum from going into a playroom where children’s toys might be scattered on the floor or into the space where your pets’ food and water bowls are located. The i3 EVO still offers strong navigation skills, but it would work best in a home that doesn’t have any real no-go areas.
Features comparison
If you want to ensure your floors get the deepest clean possible, both the Roomba i3 EVO and i7 feature dirt-detect technology, which uses sensors on their underside to detect dirt and debris. These sensors alert the robots when there is a higher concentration of dirt in a given area, so it knows to work harder in those spots. They will continue to clean those areas until the sensors identify fewer debris particles.
During testing, we observed the smart maps for the i3 EVO and i7 after they went out for vacuuming runs. Both models indicated areas on their map where heavier dirt was detected with dark green triangles, so we could see where the dirt-detect technology was triggered. We didn’t observe any noticeable debris in those spots afterward, indicating that the robots had successfully cleaned those dirtier areas.
The Roomba i3 EVO and i7 also work with voice commands when paired with a home assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant. During testing, we used voice control to send the robots out to clean, and both models responded within seconds.
However, the available commands for the i3 EVO are fairly basic. We tested prompts like “start vacuuming,” “pause vacuuming,” “resume vacuuming” and “return to Home Base,” and all worked well. The i7 offers a broader range of voice commands, so we asked it to clean specific rooms like the living room and around certain objects like under the dining table for targeted cleaning. These additional commands can come in handy in a home with children or pets because you can simply command the robot to clean up messes as they happen.
Neither the Roomba i3 EVO nor i7 are self-emptying. If you want a model that empties itself, you’ll need to upgrade to the i3+ EVO or i7+.
Suction comparison
During testing, we found that the Roomba i3 EVO and i7 both performed well on hard flooring, including hardwood and tile. Like many robot vacuums, these models sometimes blew particles out of the path, which required a second pass to capture. Overall, though, they removed nearly all visible debris on hard flooring.
However, our testing found that the i7 offered better suction power when it came to carpeting. We only ran into one issue with it on carpeting — it sometimes got caught on the tasseled edge of a rug. Otherwise, it thoroughly cleaned all carpeted surfaces.
On the other hand, the i3 EVO struggled slightly on carpeting. It left behind a few visible particles of coarse kosher salt and some pieces of pet hair from a larger clump we’d placed in its path. It picked up kitty litter more effectively but also had trouble capturing cereal. It actually crushed a couple of pieces and ground the crumbs into the carpet without removing all the debris, making it the less effective option of the two.
Price
The iRobot Roomba i3 EVO typically retails for $349.99 and can be found at Amazon. The iRobot Roomba i7 usually costs $600 and is available at Amazon. Note that iRobot now only makes the self-emptying versions of these models: the Roomba 3+ EVO and Roomba i7+.
Bottom line
The Roomba i3 EVO and i7 offer many similar features, but their performance differs quite a bit on carpeting. Because of its superior suction power and advanced navigation capabilities, we give the i7 the overall edge. Its performance on carpet and Keep-Out Zones feature make it an excellent choice for a home with small children or pets because you can clean up crumbs and pet hair easily and prevent the robot from going into areas where they might get stuck on toys or bump into pet bowls.
The i3 EVO is still worth consideration, though. It has a longer-running battery and a bigger dustbin, so we recommend it for larger homes with more space to clean. It’s also more affordable than the i7, making it a perfect option if you’re on a budget.
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/vacuums-br/roomba-i3-evo-vs-i7-which-is-best-for-you/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:39 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/vacuums-br/roomba-i3-evo-vs-i7-which-is-best-for-you/ |
Written by Allen Foster
Here’s what we learned about the robot vacuums everyone loves to hate
You want your home clean, but you don’t necessarily want to do it yourself. That’s fine. It’s why iRobot created the Roomba. These little machines have come a long way in the past two decades, so BestReviews Testing Lab tested iRobot’s 2023 line to find out which was the best robotic vacuum.
To get a comprehensive understanding of iRobot’s line, the BestReviews Testing Lab evaluated 10 models. In order of performance during testing, they are:
- Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
- Roomba j7+ Combo Mop and Robot Vacuum
- Roomba j7+ Self Emptying Vacuum
- Roomba i4 Robot Vacuum
- Roomba i8+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
- Roomba i7 Robot Vacuum
- Roomba i1+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
- Roomba 694 Robot Vacuum
- Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum
- Roomba i3+ EVO Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
Each of these models was tested in a real-world environment so we could understand how they performed on hardwood and carpet, as well as in homes with pets. The goal is to provide consumers with valuable information that can help them simplify their purchasing decision without getting lost in a sea of tech specs.
Roombas’ performance varies widely
In a nutshell, BestReviews learned that the models’ capabilities vary dramatically. For example, while the 600 series models missed some areas and only had power for a little over an hour, the s9+ ran for almost 2 hours on a single charge and performed an exceptional deep clean in all areas.
If you are interested in purchasing a Roomba, you must take into consideration the size of your home, whether you have a pet, and how much you have in your budget. While iRobot makes Roombas for a variety of users at different price points, the Testing Lab learned if you don’t match your needs to the product’s abilities, you will be disappointed.
What was our favorite Roomba?
While most of the iRobot Roombas had desirable features and could not be considered a poor choice — especially if you are balancing price and performance — the clear winner was the s9+ model. It scored impressively high when cleaning all floor types. It also offers impressive navigation and scored top marks in quality, ease of setup, performance and user experience. If you want the best, the Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum is the way to go.
Do the hybrid Roomba/Mops compete with the main Roombas?
After testing all 10 of the iRobot Roombas, the BestReviews Testing Lab realized that there was no compromise made when manufacturing the combo model — it offers roughly the same amount of power, intelligence and convenience as the one that doesn’t mop. So the hybrid Roomba is not only comparable to the regular version, it is superior, because a robot that can vacuum and mop at the same time cuts down on cleaning time while increasing efficiency.
What was our least favorite?
While the BestReviews Testing Lab found the two 600 series vacuums to be merely adequate, the lower price helped make those models a slightly better value. The Roomba i3+ EVO Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum, however, has a higher price without substantially more to offer, so it wins the prize for “least favorite.”
Besides having a considerably shorter runtime and questionable cleaning skills, its Wi-Fi range was not impressive and its navigation left a lot to be desired. Since there are far better and comparably priced vacuums in the line, it’s best to steer clear of the i3+.
Testing a Roomba with dog poop
Because it is not a hygienically sound idea, the BestReviews Testing Lab did not encourage a dog to make a mess inside. The lab also did not bring feces into the home just for the purpose of a test. Instead, we approximated the situation using different items so we could discern how the robot vacuums would handle encountering a small unexpected obstacle.
The ideal response was avoidance. Because there’s no guarantee of dryness and solidity, any other option might just spread the mess throughout the home, creating a very unsanitary condition.
After testing a variety of sizes and configurations, the lab found most Roomba models either tried to pass directly through the obstacle or tested it out, by bumping into it and backing up. The only successful avoidance occurred with the j7+ models.
The 10 Roombas that were tested
Roomba s9+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
This model offers deep multi-surface cleaning. It is easy to set up, and the vacuum remembers specific objects and locations, making spot cleaning effortless. It efficiently transitions between all surfaces and is effective at removing debris of all sizes. This is what it is the BestReviews top pick.
Sold by: Amazon
Roomba j7+ Combo Mop and Robot Vacuum
If you’re looking for a thorough, versatile cleaning robot, this is the BestReviews runner-up pick. It vacuums and mops, is powerful enough for pet owners and only takes a few minutes to get up and running. The j7+ combo passed all the Testing Lab’s cleaning challenges with ease and worked well on all types of floors.
Sold by: Amazon
Roomba j7+ Self-Emptying Vacuum
This self-emptying option is also one of BestReviews’ favorite models. It has an impressive range and cleans up all sizes of debris quickly and thoroughly. Besides mapping out the home, this vacuum is smart enough to detect and avoid new obstacles and has admirable real-time reactions.
Sold by: Amazon
While the i4 is a little lacking in features (when compared to high-end models), the price to performance ratio is high enough to make this a solid option for the right home. The main issue with this model is it can take several passes to pick everything up as the brushes have a tendency to spread debris out on the first pass. But eventually, it gets the job done.
Sold by: Amazon
Roomba i8+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
The Testing Lab wouldn’t place this model at the top with regard to power, but it is smart, has a decent amount of runtime and thoroughly cleaned a 250-square-foot room in under 30 minutes. While it had a little trouble with dry cereal, it was impressive in its ability to remove pet hair.
Sold by: Walmart
The i7 isn’t quite as impressive as the j7+. It does a decent job of cleaning, but it doesn’t have a self-emptying feature, which for the price is a little disappointing. As far as performance, this model is satisfactory, doing an okay job in most situations.
Sold by: Amazon
Roomba i1+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
This offering does a satisfactory job. It gives you the convenience of self-emptying and is powerful enough to keep a home with a pet relatively clean. Occasionally, it can get stuck and may miss a patch of tiny debris, but if you are after general maintenance, this model will satisfy.
Sold by: Walmart
Unfortunately, the Roomba 694 has a few flaws. When testing, the lab noticed it could miss small sections. The unit also didn’t communicate when it was full, so average users might run into some frustration. However, the lower price might make this an acceptable option for some consumers.
Sold by: Amazon
While this model tries, and often delivers an exceptional clean, there are times the brushes scatter smaller debris around instead of picking them up. The BestReviews Testing Lab also noticed this model did a lot of bumping into objects, including walls, making its navigating ability less than impressive. However, it performs well enough for entry-level consumers
Sold by: Amazon
Roomba i3+ EVO Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum
The i3+ has its share of pros and cons. It is a self-emptying model, so you get the benefit of forgetting about vacuuming for weeks at a time, but the navigation isn’t super-impressive and the setup can be a little finicky. While it was BestReviews’ least favorite in the line, it still offers adequate performance. That may be enough for some, but we really can’t give it a glowing review.
Sold by: Amazon
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/vacuums-br/we-tested-10-roombas-in-3-days-heres-what-we-learned/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:46 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/vacuums-br/we-tested-10-roombas-in-3-days-heres-what-we-learned/ |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The troubled brother of the late NFL player Aaron Hernandez was charged Friday, now in federal court, with new counts of threatening and stalking after authorities say he threatened to shoot up the University of Connecticut and kill three people in another state.
Dennis Hernandez was ordered to be held in custody after his appearance in the court in Hartford. A message seeking comment was sent Friday night to his attorney.
The new charges came days after it emerged that Hernandez was arrested July 18 on state charges after police said he threatened to kill officers and then urged them to shoot him at his home in Bristol. Officers had gone there after two people close to him raised concerns about his mental health, police said.
The arrest report said the 37-year-old had sent threatening messages, including ones about carrying out a shooting at UConn. He was a Huskies quarterback and wide receiver who went by DJ Hernandez in the mid-2000s.
Court filings in the new federal case include the same messages. Some say the writer is struggling financially, is frustrated at seeing other people get hired as coaches, feels owed by UConn, is planning on “taking down everything” and doesn’t care “who gets caught in the crossfire.”
“I’ve died for years now and now its others peoples turn,” read a July 7 message sent to a woman in Hernandez’s life. It followed a message the day before that warned: “UConn’s gonna see how accurate I am too with my targets.”
Hernandez told another person that he drove July 7 to UConn’s campus in Storrs and to Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, where he coached quarterbacks during the 2010-11 season, according to court papers.
He had been due in state court that day on another case stemming from allegations that he threw a bag containing a brick and a note over a fence and onto ESPN’s property in Bristol.
UConn police confirmed that a vehicle linked to Hernandez was on campus that day. Brown has said that its investigation didn’t indicate Hernandez had been on campus in recent weeks.
Hernandez is due back in state court Tuesday and in federal court Aug. 11.
His younger brother, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, killed himself in 2017 while serving a murder sentence. | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-aaron-hernandezs-brother-now-facing-federal-charges-over-alleged-threatening-messages/ | 2023-07-29T10:33:53 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-aaron-hernandezs-brother-now-facing-federal-charges-over-alleged-threatening-messages/ |
The Pac-12 Conference issued a statement aimed at stability after Colorado became the third school in a year to announce plans to leave. The nine schools remaining for the 2024-25 season were largely silent Friday.
Colorado on Thursday announced it would join the Big 12 beginning in 2024, joining Big Ten-bound Southern California and UCLA in an exodus that could continue in coming weeks and months. Their departures coincide with the expiration of the league’s current media rights deals and the Pac-12 has not yet announced a lucrative deal going forward.
Shortly after CU’s regents approved the move to the Big 12, the Pac-12 issued a statement pledging to soldier on. Possible Pac-12 expansion targets could include San Diego State and SMU.
“We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth,” the Pac-12 said. “Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the Pac-12.”
The Pac-12’s media rights contract expires at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, and Commissioner George Kliavkoff has not noted any progress in landing a new deal.
Oregon State was the only Pac-12 school to comment following the Colorado announcement. A founding member of the league in 1915, Oregon State is considered one of the least likely schools to be poached by another conference.
“Oregon State Athletics trusts that the Pac-12 will secure a media rights deal that will strongly benefit the institutions that are remaining loyal to this conference,” Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes said. “All of us at Oregon State will continue to work hard and diligently to continue the long-term membership and success of our athletic department at a national level.”
Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy said her school joins other members in reaffirming its commitment to the Pac-12.
“We are united by our shared values, our passion for the highest level of intercollegiate athletic competition, our leadership roles as Tier 1 research universities and our support for student-athletes’ academic and athletic excellence,” Murthy said.
The administrations and athletic departments at Utah and Washington declined comment. Arizona State, California and Washington State athletic departments also declined comment, as did the Arizona and Oregon president’s offices.
Stanford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Arizona, Arizona State and Utah are believed to be potential targets for further Big 12 expansion, though those schools publicly committed to the Pac-12 prior to Colorado’s announced departure. The Big 12 has a six-year, $2 billion contract that is projected to net annual revenue of $31 million for each school.
Under then-Commissioner Kevin Warren, the Big Ten still had eyes out west even after landing USC and UCLA, with Oregon and Washington having the most appeal of the remaining Pac-12 schools. But Warren is gone now and his replacement, Tony Pettit, said earlier this week that the Big Ten isn’t eager to expand more.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-beleaguered-pac-12-says-it-will-pursue-expansion-with-colorado-usc-and-ucla-all-leaving-next-year/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:00 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-beleaguered-pac-12-says-it-will-pursue-expansion-with-colorado-usc-and-ucla-all-leaving-next-year/ |
Patriots Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
At +6600, the New England Patriots are No. 19 in the NFL in terms of Super Bowl-winning odds as of December 31.
Watch the Patriots this season on Fubo!
Patriots Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC East: +750
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +6600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
New England Betting Insights
- New England won seven games against the spread last season, failing to cover or pushing nine times.
- Last season, the combined scoring went over the point total eight times in Patriots games.
- New England put up 314.6 yards per game offensively last year (26th in ), and it surrendered 322 yards per game (eighth) on defense.
- The Patriots had four wins at home last year and four away.
- New England won one game as an underdog (1-7) a year ago, and went 7-1 as the favored team.
- In the AFC East the Patriots were 3-3, and in the conference overall they went 6-6.
Patriots Impact Players
- On the ground, Rhamondre Stevenson had five touchdowns and 1,040 yards (61.2 per game) last year.
- In the passing game, Stevenson scored one touchdown, with 69 receptions for 421 yards.
- In 14 games, Mac Jones passed for 2,997 yards (214.1 per game), with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 65.2%.
- In addition, Jones rushed for 102 yards and one TD.
- JuJu Smith-Schuster had 78 receptions for 933 yards (58.3 per game) and three touchdowns in 16 games a season ago for the Chiefs.
- DeVante Parker had 31 catches for 539 yards (41.5 per game) and three touchdowns in 13 games.
- Matthew Judon had 59 tackles, 14.0 TFL, 15.5 sacks, and three passes defended last year.
Bet on Patriots to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Patriots NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:24 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/patriots-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:03 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/patriots-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
CINCINNATI (AP) — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could miss “several weeks” with a right calf strain, coach Zac Taylor said Friday.
The 26-year-old franchise quarterback hobbled on one leg and then went to the ground after a scramble play near the end of Thursday’s practice. He rode off the field in a medical cart.
“It will take several weeks, and that’s all the information we have,” Taylor said.
Burrow did not practice Friday, with backup QBs Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian taking the snaps. The Bengals play their first preseason game on Aug. 11 and open the regular season Sept. 10.
Taylor said Burrow “has seen the doctors” and was present for meetings at the team’s training facility Friday. The quarterback was wearing a compression sleeve on his right calf when he pulled up with the injury, but Taylor said Friday he was unaware there was anything wrong before that play.
Burrow is still negotiating with the Bengals on a long-term contract that could make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players.
The team’s top draft pick in 2020 had talked Wednesday about how good he felt at the opening of camp after his first three NFL training camps were disrupted and how he hoped to play in some preseason games.
Preseason practice was truncated in Burrow’s rookie year in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2001, he was still rehabbing after knee surgery the previous December. On the first day of camp last year, he was stricken with appendicitis.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-bengals-qb-joe-burrow-could-miss-several-weeks-with-calf-strain-coach-taylor-says/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:07 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-bengals-qb-joe-burrow-could-miss-several-weeks-with-calf-strain-coach-taylor-says/ |
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — Celine Boutier posted a 2-under 69 in the second round of the Evian Championship to move to 7 under overall, giving her a one-shot lead on Friday.
But surprise overnight leader Paula Reto dropped down the leaderboard after a 4-over 75.
The 29-year-old Boutier, who was two shots back from Reto overnight, is looking to become the first Frenchwoman to win the tournament, which became a major in 2013.
“It’s really great to feel the support from the fans when you play some good shots and some good putts go in,” Boutier said. “This kind of support used to put me under pressure in the past, and I didn’t cope well with it, but this year I’m trying to stay very relaxed.”
Her solid round kept her narrowly ahead of Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, who carded 67, and Japan’s Yuka Saso (69), in a tie for second.
They are one shot ahead of Nasa Hataoka of Japan (67), Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (68) and American Alison Lee (71).
Reto struggled badly on the back nine, with a double bogey on the 12th hole followed by three bogeys over the next four holes.
The 33-year-old South African ended the day in a tie for eighth at 3 under overall along with defending champion Brooke Henderson of Canada, who finished on 70.
Boutier was level with 2015 champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand overnight, but Ko drifted way back into a tie for 22nd after a dismal round of 76 at the Evian Resort Golf Club.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-boutier-holds-a-1-shot-lead-after-2nd-round-of-evian-championship/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:14 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-boutier-holds-a-1-shot-lead-after-2nd-round-of-evian-championship/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas was suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball on Friday for intentionally throwing at Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was suspended for one game and fined as a result of Mikolas’ actions Thursday night. Mikolas appealed his penalties, while Marmol served his suspension Friday night against the Cubs.
In the first inning in the Cardinals’ 10-3 loss, Happ bloodied St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras when he hit him in the head with a long follow-through on a swing, then was soon hit himself by a pitch from Mikolas.
Andrew Knizner took over behind the plate for Contreras, and Mikolas brushed back Happ with the first pitch when play resumed to run the count to 3-1. With the next pitch, Mikolas hit Happ in the rear end.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-cardinals-mikolas-suspended-5-games-and-fined-for-intentionally-throwing-at-cubs-happ/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:21 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-cardinals-mikolas-suspended-5-games-and-fined-for-intentionally-throwing-at-cubs-happ/ |
GENEVA (AP) — The IOC assured Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan on Friday that she will have a place at the Paris Olympics next year after she was disqualified from a key ranking event for refusing to shake hands with a Russian she had beaten.
In a letter to Kharlan, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said it would make a “unique exception” by allocating her an extra place to ensure she competes in Paris.
“It is admirable how you are managing this incredibly difficult situation,” wrote Bach, who like Kharlan is a former Olympic champion in a fencing team event.
Each Olympic sport has a strict quota for athletes within the IOC-imposed 10,500 overall total at the Summer Games in Paris.
A protected entry for the 32-year-old Kharlan, a four-time Olympic medalist, has now been found after controversy over her disqualification at the world championships on Thursday marred the event at Milan, Italy.
The incident between Kharlan and her Russian opponent — Anna Smirnova, who was competing as an approved neutral athlete — also cast doubt on the IOC’s hopes for athletes from the two countries to compete against each other without incident.
Kharlan comfortably beat Smirnova 15-7 in a first-round contest then refused a handshake, and instead pointed her sabre toward the Russian. Touching blades was used as an alternative to handshakes at fencing competitions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Smirnova stood facing Kharlan and did not raise her sabre. Kharlan then turned and left the piste and the Russian refused to leave for more than 50 minutes. Smirnova sat on a chair on the piste in an apparent protest over the handshake.
Kharlan was later disqualified by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) which denied her the chance to earn more ranking points that feed into Olympic qualification.
The IOC said Thursday that sports governing bodies should show “sensitivity” on issues involving Ukrainians and neutral athletes from Russia – an apparent suggestion that the FIE made an error.
One day later, Bach wrote to Kharlan acknowledging a “roller coaster of emotions and feelings” she must have.
The FIE changed course Friday by saying it would allow Kharlan to compete for Ukraine in the upcoming team sabre event, but still defended the decision to punish her. Kharlan had faced a suspension from the rest of the world championships and from other events.
Echoing the IOC, the FIE interim president Emmanuel Katsiadakis said the ruling “sends a message of sensitivity and understanding to our members and all sports federations, as the world faces tremendous challenges.” The FIE published a comment attributed to Kharlan saying she was ”thankful for this decision” and wanted to return to competition.
However, the FIE statement made no mention of allowing Ukrainians to avoid handshakes with Russian opponents in future — which could mean more disputes ahead of the Olympics — and the federation insisted it was right to punish Kharlan.
“The FIE stands fully behind the penalty, which, after a thorough review, is in complete accordance and compliance with its official rules and associated penalties,” it said.
___
AP coverage of the Paris Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ioc-assures-ukraine-fencer-of-paris-games-spot-after-dq-for-not-shaking-hands-with-russian-opponent/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:27 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ioc-assures-ukraine-fencer-of-paris-games-spot-after-dq-for-not-shaking-hands-with-russian-opponent/ |
GENEVA (AP) — Juventus was removed from European competition next season and Chelsea was fined $11 million in separate UEFA rulings over financial rules breaches on Friday.
The expulsion of Juventus from the third-tier Europa Conference League was expected because of a false accounting case that already saw the two-time European champion deducted 10 points in Serie A. That penalty dropped Juventus out of Champions League qualification places.
Juventus’ spot in the Europa Conference League should go to Fiorentina in the playoffs round starting on Aug. 24.
UEFA said Friday that Juventus also must also pay a fine of 10 million euros ($11 million) for breaking Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. A further 10 million euros can be deducted if the club fails to comply with UEFA financial monitoring rules in future seasons.
Juventus regretted the ruling but said it wouldn’t appeal.
“We regret the decision of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body,” Juventus president Gianluca Ferrero said in a statement on the club’s website. “We do not share the interpretation that has been given of our defense and we remain firmly convinced of the legitimacy of our actions and the validity of our arguments.
“However, we have decided not to appeal this judgment. Despite this painful decision, we can now face the new season by focusing on the field and not on the courts.”
In a separate case, Chelsea will also pay a settlement of 10 million euros to UEFA for incorrect financial information submitted between 2012 and 2019 when the club was owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Chelsea’s current American-led ownership group reported “potentially incomplete financial reporting under the club’s previous ownership” in May last year, UEFA said.
Chelsea, which won the Champions League in 2012 and 2021, did not qualify for the next editions of European competitions.
“In accordance with the club’s ownership group’s core principles of full compliance and transparency with its regulators, we are grateful that this case has been concluded by proactive disclosure of information to UEFA and a settlement that fully resolves the reported matters,” Chelsea said in a statement. “Chelsea greatly values its relationship with UEFA and looks forward to building on that relationship in the years to come.”
UEFA had opened an investigation against Juventus in December for probable breaches of FFP rules after prosecutors in Italy unsealed their case against the storied club.
Juventus was ultimately docked 10 points in Serie A by Italian authorities which dropped the club from potentially finishing in the top four and earning a place in the next Champions League to finish seventh — enough only for the third-tier Conference League. AC Milan got into the Champions League instead.
The false accounting allegations pushed UEFA club finance investigators to terminate a settlement agreed with the club last year and impose fresh sanctions, the European soccer body said.
The chaotic 2022-23 season for Juventus also saw it lose long-standing club officials who resigned, including president Andrea Agnelli and vice president Pavel Nedvěd, a former playing great.
Juventus also lost two years of European football from 2006 to 2008 in fallout from the Calciopoli corruption scandal.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-juventus-removed-from-european-competition-by-uefa-for-financial-wrongdoing/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:34 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-juventus-removed-from-european-competition-by-uefa-for-financial-wrongdoing/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have made pitching a priority in advance of the trade deadline, acquired starter Lance Lynn and reliever Joe Kelly on Friday in a swap with the Chicago White Sox.
The NL West leaders sent outfielder Trayce Thompson, pitcher Nick Nastrini and reliever Jordan Leasure to the White Sox.
Lynn and Kelly join utilityman Kiké Hernández from the Boston Red Sox and infielder-outfielder Amed Rosario from the Cleveland Guardians in Los Angeles, ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“I would argue we have raised the floor and the ceiling,” manager Dave Roberts said.
The Dodgers may not be done, either, with a need for more starting pitching.
“I think there’s always a chance,” Roberts said. “There’s still time on the clock.”
Lynn has been mostly underwhelming this season. The 36-year-old right-hander is 6-9 with a 6.18 ERA and leads the American League in earned runs (79) and home runs allowed (28).
Roberts called Lynn a “victim of sort of the circumstance” with the sub-.500 White Sox, who are 13 games back of AL Central leader Minnesota.
“I just feel like getting in this environment, playing meaningful games will bring out the best in him,” Roberts said.
Lynn has 139 strikeouts in 115 innings and 10.9 per nine innings. In June, Lynn struck out 16 in a game against Seattle, setting a major-league mark for most strikeouts in a game by a pitcher with an ERA above 6.00.
He was an All-Star for the White Sox in 2021 and shortly after signed a $38 million, two-year contract extension that included a club option.
“I’m happy to have had the time that I had here, but it is a business and sometimes these things happen,” Lynn said. “I’m just looking forward to the possibility of making a playoff push.”
Lynn began the 2022 season on the injured list with a meniscus tear suffered in spring training. He returned in mid-June and finished the season with an 8-7 record in 21 starts and a 3.99 ERA. He recorded 121 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings.
Lynn has spent most of his career in the AL. Besides the White Sox, he has pitched for Minnesota, the New York Yankees and Texas. He began his career with St. Louis, and missed the 2016 season with them after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Lynn won a World Series with the Cardinals in 2011, his debut season in the majors. The following year he earned his first All-Star berth.
The Dodgers have not yet decided who Lynn will replace in the rotation. He’ll arrive in Los Angeles this weekend and discuss a possible start against Oakland next week.
Kelly returns to Los Angeles for his second stint with the Dodgers. The hard-throwing right-handed reliever recently returned from the injured list for elbow inflammation. He has one save, a 4.97 ERA and 41 strikeouts this season.
Like Lynn, Kelly is eager to join a contending team.
“It’s something that I thrive on,” he said. “I think my personality type is to love the adrenaline, love the big moments. So, I’m super, super stoked to go back for sure.”
Kelly pitched for the Dodgers from 2019-21, winning the World Series during the pandemic-delayed 2020 season. He had a 3.59 ERA in 105 1/3 innings during that span.
“I would argue that his stuff is even better than it was then when he was with us, the velocity, the curveball, all that stuff,” Roberts said. “He’s a guy, like most players when they’re in a winning environment, they thrive.”
Kelly isn’t the only former Dodger to land back in Los Angeles. Hernández returns three years after he departed for the East Coast.
Rosario was set to start at shortstop Friday night in the series opener against the Reds. But the plan is for him to get acclimated to second base and also play some center field. He’ll mostly start against left-handed pitching.
“It’s certainly a big upgrade for our ballclub,” Roberts said. “He’s been good versus right-handed pitching, but he’s been a killer versus lefties and that’s something we want to capture.”
___
AP Baseball Writer Jay Cohen, AP Sports Writer Eric Olson and AP freelancer Seth Engle contributed to this report.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-lance-lynn-and-joe-kelly-are-heading-to-the-dodgers-in-a-trade-with-the-white-sox-source-tells-ap/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:41 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-lance-lynn-and-joe-kelly-are-heading-to-the-dodgers-in-a-trade-with-the-white-sox-source-tells-ap/ |
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — With the FedEx Cup two weeks away, Lee Hodges can breathe easier. Justin Thomas can’t.
Hodges birdied four of his last six holes for a 7-under 64 and a four-stroke lead over Tyler Duncan on Friday after almost two rounds of the 3M Open.
A nearly two-hour afternoon weather delay led to play being suspended due to darkness with six players yet to finish — none within 10 shots of the lead.
Hodges, 74th in the FedEx Cup points race, opened with a 63 for the first-round lead and had a 15-under 127 total to break the tournament 36-hole record of 128 set by Bryson DeChambeau in 2019.
Hodges was 3 under on the front nine and added a 33-foot birdie putt on No. 13, followed by birdies from 14 feet on No. 14 and 11 feet on No. 17.
“I’ve got a great attitude out there. Me and my caddie (Andrew Medley), we’re 70-something on the points list, like what do we have to lose, you know?” Hodges said. “We’ve committed to every shot we’ve hit so far, which has been great. We’ll continue to do it, because what do we have to lose.”
A lengthy last-hole putt was not enough to overcome a couple bad holes as Thomas aims to make the FedEx Cup playoffs for the eighth straight season. He birdied four of his last five holes to shoot a shot an even-par 71, leaving him 2 under for the tournament and two strokes short.
Thomas, at No. 75 in the FedEx Cup standings, has missed five cuts in his last seven starts. The top 70 next week after the Wyndham Championship will advance to the playoffs. Looking to stay in strong consideration for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Thomas has just two top-10 finishes in 14 tournaments since mid-February.
Starting on the back nine, Thomas put two balls in the water on the par-5 18th, falling to 1 under. An errant tee shot and poor chip led to another double bogey on the par-3 fourth, before a strong finishing stretch was punctuated by a 30-foot putt on No. 9.
“This is a good chance for me to learn a little bit about myself and push myself and become better,” Thomas said before the tournament. “I mean, this game, nothing’s given to you. I’ve had great chances to win the FedEx Cup the last five or six years and now I’m trying to make the playoffs. That’s just the way that this sport is. And it can happen to anybody, so you’ve just got to go out and get it.”
He wasn’t the only player to put untimely dents in possible playoff plans by missing the cut. No. 70 K.H. Lee (1 under), No. 72 Davis Thompson (2 under) and No. 90 Gary Woodland (3 over) also get the weekend off.
Duncan, who has missed six cuts in his past eight events and 17 of 27 this season, shot a 67. He has back-to-back bogey-free rounds.
“You never know when it’s coming, but I’ve been putting in the work and you always hope it shows up,” Duncan said. “But it doesn’t always show up when you want it to.”
Defending champion Tony Finau (66), J.T. Poston (66), Brandt Snedeker (68) and Kevin Streelman (68) were 10 under.
With one top-10 in 25 starts this season, Streelman is in a rare position.
“I haven’t been in the final groups in a while on a Saturday, so looking forward to that. At my age I don’t have much to lose, so go out and have some fun this weekend,” the 44-year-old Streelman said.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-lee-hodges-leads-the-3m-open-while-justin-thomas-misses-the-cut-to-hurt-his-playoff-hopes/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:48 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-lee-hodges-leads-the-3m-open-while-justin-thomas-misses-the-cut-to-hurt-his-playoff-hopes/ |
MIAMI (AP) — Miguel Cabrera’s farewell tour has reached a special location.
The Detroit Tigers’ slugger is approaching the last two months of his major league career. And in his final season, Cabrera has received numerous tributes in visiting stadiums.
This weekend, the honors bring added significance.
The Tigers opened a three-game series Friday in Miami against the Marlins. The 40-year-old Cabrera is returning to the city where he spent his first five seasons and is facing the organization that signed him shortly after his 16th birthday.
“It is very emotional because this is where it all started,” Cabrera, a native of Venezuela, said before the Tigers lost to the Marlins 6-5 in Friday’s series opener. “To be back here is awesome.”
The Marlins brought up the then-20-year-old Cabrera two months into the 2003 season. Cabrera made an immediate impact, hitting a walk-off home run to help the Marlins beat Tampa Bay in his major league debut.
“I remember it well because in all the stadiums I’ve visited, that is the first video presented,” said Cabrera, who went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch. “My teammates kid me because I was so skinny back then.”
It was a sign of things to come. Cabrera played a key role in the Marlins’ postseason run in 2003 that culminated with a World Series championship.
Cabrera was a four-time All-Star during his time with the Marlins. But the club, fearing it would lose Cabrera to free agency once he became eligible, dealt him to Detroit following the 2007 season.
“When I received that call, I had many questions on why I was being traded,” Cabrera said. “The club had a good young group and was growing tremendously. Had the group stayed together, we had a chance to contend for the division. They told me to be calm, that you’re going to a good club with a chance to win.”
Cabrera flourished in Detroit, becoming one of the game’s top hitters and a two-time AL MVP. In 2012, Cabrera won the AL Triple Crown, the first to accomplish the feat since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
But the offensive production, which included four AL batting titles, declined as Cabrera reached his late 30s. Nonetheless, Cabrera reached the career 3,000-hit and 500-homer milestones over the last two seasons.
Now limited to a parttime role, Cabrera will play the three games against Miami. The second game on Saturday also will be promoted as Venezuelan Heritage Day.
“It is going to be great for me and my family,” Cabrera said of the ceremony,” Cabrera said. “You have to enjoy this moment, every second, every minute. After that, you prepare for the game and do your best to help our team win.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-miguel-cabreras-farewell-tour-makes-a-stop-miami-where-his-career-started-years-ago/ | 2023-07-29T10:34:56 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-miguel-cabreras-farewell-tour-makes-a-stop-miami-where-his-career-started-years-ago/ |
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Ramsey, set for surgery on Friday, addressed his Miami Dolphins teammates a day earlier about the injury and told them not to worry or feel sorry for him.
The six-time Pro Bowl cornerback suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee at the end of Thursday’s practice and is expected to miss the start of the regular season. But he vowed — bragged a little — that he could beat whatever timeline for return doctors give him.
“It really moved a lot of people,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Friday. “He first let everybody know how much he appreciated this team, how this team has accepted him, how he has been in the league a little bit and how he knows what we’re doing here, in his opinion, is special, for his position group not to waiver, and exuded all the confidence that he had in that position group.”
McDaniel said Ramsey will have surgery Friday afternoon to repair the tear and his timeline for return won’t be known until the procedure is complete.
The injury happened during an 11-on-11 drill during Miami’s second practice of training camp. McDaniel said it was a non-contact injury that happened while he was matched up against receiver Tyreek Hill. Ramsey and Hill collided on the play, but the injury, McDaniel clarified, happened before the contact.
“That end of the season push (will) be legendary!” Ramsey tweeted Thursday night.
Miami acquired the All-Pro cornerback Ramsey in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams in March.
When veteran players reported to training camp on Monday, Ramsey spoke of the potential of the Dolphins defense, which is adjusting to a new scheme under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
“I’ve been a part of his defense for the past three years so I kind of know how to play it,” Ramsey said. “I know what’s needed to play this defense and be one of the best defenses in the league and be elite. And we got all the pieces — edge rushers to the secondary. We even got the linebackers and all that. Like I said, I don’t compare, but I look at other teams I’ve been a part of and I feel like we, on paper, we stack up well. But the work comes first.”
The Dolphins dealt with several injuries at the cornerback position last season. Veteran cornerback Xavien Howard played through groin injuries all year.
Byron Jones missed the entire season after having surgery on his Achilles tendon. The Dolphins cut him earlier this year in a cost-cutting move.
Trill Williams tore the ACL in his left knee during the preseason. Nik Needham tore his Achilles last October.
Williams and safety Brandon Jones are still working their way back from their respective season-ending injuries.
McDaniel said he’s confident in the team’s cornerback room, which also includes Kader Kohou, who had a breakout 2022 season as an undrafted rookie free agent, Keion Crossen and 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene.
Earlier this week, Howard pointed to Kohou as a player to watch as camp opened.
“My boy, Kader. Dude is a straight dawg,” Howard said. “His mentality he has, just being an undrafted guy, I continue to see him grow and get better on the field.”
Miami also drafted cornerback Cam Smith in the second round in April to add more depth. Smith’s role will likely increase in Ramsey’s absence.
“I feel good about the entire crew,” McDaniel said. “We are dealing with some injuries now in that group, but I feel very, very, very good about the competition there and the guys that are ready to go see some more opportunities.”
With the cornerback room not at full strength, McDaniel said the team will work out a cornerback soon for “depth purposes.”
Notes: McDaniel said linebacker Jaelan Phillips was “stepped on” during the first practice of training camp. McDaniel said the team is not worried about the injury, but it would “not be healed” if he continues practicing with it. Phillips did not practice Thursday. … Crossen has an undisclosed injury and will not practice Friday. … McDaniel said he’s happy with Miami’s running back group as the Dolphins continue to be linked to Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-mike-mcdaniel-confident-in-dolphins-cb-depth-amid-jalen-ramsey-injury/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:02 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-mike-mcdaniel-confident-in-dolphins-cb-depth-amid-jalen-ramsey-injury/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA told teams Friday that Damian Lillard and his agent confirmed that the All-Star guard would honor his contract in any potential trade, despite the agent saying Lillard only wanted to be dealt to the Miami Heat.
A memo sent to general managers and obtained by The Associated Press also warned that Lillard would be subject to discipline by the league if he or Aaron Goodwin make additional comments suggesting he won’t fully perform the requirements of his contract in the event of a trade.
Lillard told the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this month he wanted to be traded and Goodwin subsequently made clear his preference was Miami.
“Dame’s position won’t change,” Goodwin told AP on July 6. “This entire situation was about building an opportunity for Portland to win or giving him another opportunity that he wants, which is Miami.”
The league said it interviewed Lillard and Goodwin, along with several teams with whom Goodwin spoke. Goodwin denied telling teams that Lillard would refuse to play for them and the teams provided descriptions that were “mostly, though not entirely, consistent with Goodwin’s statements to us.”
Players are not allowed to publicly request trades. The league also stated in the memo that it told the Players Association that further comments such as Goodwin’s will be subject to discipline.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-nba-tells-teams-lillard-would-honor-contract-in-any-trade-warns-of-discipline-for-saying-otherwise/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:09 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-nba-tells-teams-lillard-would-honor-contract-in-any-trade-warns-of-discipline-for-saying-otherwise/ |
TORONTO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 39th home run for the Angels before leaving with leg cramps as the Toronto Blue Jays slugged three solo homers and rallied to beat Los Angeles 4-1 on Friday night.
Ohtani was replaced by pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic when his at-bat came up with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Ohtani was lifted because of cramping in both of his calves, Angels manager Phil Nevin said.
“We’ll evaluate it tomorrow when he gets up,” Nevin said. “It’s just cramping right now. It’s kind of in both legs. He’s done a lot of work the last two days and wasn’t able to go.”
A day earlier, Ohtani left the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit because of cramps. The two-way superstar threw a one-hitter in the opener Thursday for his first career MLB shutout, then homered twice in the second game.
Nevin said Ohtani’s soreness developed after he grounded out to begin the eighth.
“He came in and was trying to get some work done and just kept cramping up,” Nevin said.
Stefanic struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch from right-hander Jordan Romano as Toronto ended the Angels’ four-game winning streak.
After the game, an angry Nevin was seen holding up a tablet computer and yelling at plate umpire Mike Estabrook as the crew left the field.
“I just explained to him that I thought the pitch to Stefanic was outside,” Nevin said.
Matt Chapman, Danny Jansen and Whit Merrifield homered for the Blue Jays, who are 24-11 when they hit two or more home runs.
“Our team has been playing a good brand of baseball for a while now,” Chapman said. “I think maybe we’re just starting to find ways to come out on top of some of those close games.”
Chapman hit a two-out drive in the second, his 14th of the season. Jansen homered to lead off the third, his 14th. Both home runs came off right-hander Lucas Giolito, who made his first start for the Angels since being acquired from the White Sox earlier this week.
Giolito (6-7) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.
“I felt relatively sharp, throwing a lot of strikes, but they hammered my mistakes pretty good,” Giolito said.
Bo Bichette hit an RBI double off Giolito in the sixth and Merrifield made it 4-1 with a two-out homer off José Soriano in the seventh, his eighth. Merrifield finished 3 for 4 and has six home runs in his last 17 games. He hit a three-run homer in Thursday’s road win over the Dodgers.
The Blue Jays began the day in the third AL wild-card spot, three games ahead of the Angels. Los Angeles trails Boston and the New York Yankees in the postseason race.
After being greeted with a loud ovation from the sellout crowd of 42,106, Ohtani homered on the first pitch he faced, going deep in three straight at-bats over two games.
Ohtani’s 397-foot drive came off Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman. Ohtani homered in consecutive games for the ninth time this season.
Ohtani’s streak of homers ended when he struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch from Gausman in the third. Ohtani singled in the sixth and grounded out against left-hander Tim Mayza in the eighth.
Gausman (8-5) allowed one run and five hits in six-plus innings to win for the first time since June 21 at Miami. Gausman walked three and struck out nine, increasing his AL-leading total to 171.
Erik Swanson relieved Gausman after the Angels loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh. Swanson struck out Trey Cabbage and pinch-hitter Eduardo Escobar, then retired Luis Rengifo on a fly ball.
“Not getting one across, that hurts,” Nevin said.
Mayza worked one inning and Romano got two outs in the ninth before Yimi García finished for his third save in six chances. Romano was pitching for the fifth time since leaving the July 11 All-Star game because of a sore back.
“He’s doing alright,” manager John Schneider said of Romano. “Just lower back discomfort, it kind of locked up on him a little bit. Just kind of wanted to play it safe there.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: Before the game, Nevin said Ohtani would get an extra day of rest before his next start, which was scheduled for next Thursday’s home game against Seattle. … SS Zach Neto (sore back) was scratched from the starting lineup and replaced by Andrew Velazquez. Rengifo took over in the leadoff spot.
Blue Jays: LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (Tommy John surgery) will start on Tuesday against Baltimore, Schneider said. With the Blue Jays beginning a stretch of 17 games in 17 days Friday, Schneider said Ryu will be part of a six-man rotation. … RHP Chad Green (Tommy John surgery) will make a rehab appearance with Class-A Dunedin Saturday, his third.
ANGRY WORDS
Cameras caught Chapman yelling at Schneider in the dugout after the top of the first.
“That’s just everybody being competitive, wanting to win baseball games,” Chapman said. “Just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing. What was said and what it’s about, I’m just going to keep between us.”
NEW-LOOK LINEUP
Blue Jays OF George Springer, who came in stuck in an 0-for-16 slump, was dropped from the leadoff spot to fifth. Springer finished 0 for 4. Merrifield moved up to hit leadoff.
ROSTER MOVES
The Angels optioned RHP Gerardo Reyes to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room on the roster for Giolito.
UP NEXT
RHP Alek Manoah (2-8, 6.10 ERA) starts for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. LHP Reid Detmers (2-7, 4.38) goes for the Angels.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ohtani-hits-majors-best-39th-hr-before-leaving-with-leg-cramps-in-angels-4-1-loss-to-blue-jays/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:15 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ohtani-hits-majors-best-39th-hr-before-leaving-with-leg-cramps-in-angels-4-1-loss-to-blue-jays/ |
TORONTO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 39th home run — for a streak of three homers in three at-bats over two games — before being sidelined due to cramping for a second consecutive game.
Ohtani was replaced by pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic when his at-bat came up with the bases loaded in the ninth inning due to leg cramps. The Blue Jays beat the Angels 4-1 Friday.
Los Angeles manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani was removed because of cramping in both of his calves.
“We’ll evaluate it tomorrow when he gets up,” Nevin said. “It’s just cramping right now. It’s kind of in both legs. He’s done a lot of work the last two days and wasn’t able to go.”
Ohtani homered twice in the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit on Thursday before leaving with cramps. He threw an eight-strikeout, one-hitter in the opener for his first career MLB shutout.
The two-way superstar became the first player to throw a shutout in one game of a doubleheader and hit one homer — much less two — in the other.
Thursday’s performance against the Tigers came hours after the team confirmed Ohtani will stay with the Angels for the rest of the season before he becomes a free agent.
Nevin said Ohtani’s soreness developed after he grounded out to begin the eighth inning.
“He came in and was trying to get some work done and just kept cramping up,” Nevin said.
Stefanic struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch from right-hander Jordan Romano as Toronto ended the Angels’ four-game winning streak.
On Friday, Ohtani homered on the first pitch he faced, going deep in three straight at-bats. His drive to right came off Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman and traveled 397 feet.
Ohtani streak of homers ended when he struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch from Gausman in the third. He singled off Gausman in the sixth and grounded out to shortstop against left-hander Tim Mayza in the eighth, slowing up as he approached first base.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ohtani-hits-majors-leading-39th-home-run-against-blue-jays-extends-hr-streak-to-3-at-bats/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:18 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-ohtani-hits-majors-leading-39th-home-run-against-blue-jays-extends-hr-streak-to-3-at-bats/ |
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado’s return to the Big 12 in 2024 fits right into Deion Sanders’ recruiting blueprint, allowing him to get an even better foothold in the teeming Texas and Florida markets.
“I think Colorado is already an exciting team on the recruiting trail with Coach Prime and his experienced staff full of college coaches who have been around for a while and a lot of guys with NFL pedigree,” said Steve Wiltfong, national recruiting director for 247Sports. “So I think more than anything it adds to the excitement because it’s moving to what is certainly a more stable conference and one that just had a football team (TCU) in the playoff.”
Athletic director Rick George said he kept basketball coaches Tad Boyle and JR Payne in the loop along with Sanders, who’s entering his first season in Boulder, before the CU board of regents rubber-stamped Colorado’s return to the Big 12 on Thursday.
“I think all of them felt like: Whatever you think’s best for us, we’re going to play whomever you ask us to play,” George said. “I will tell you, there are tremendous benefits for being in the Big 12 for the direction that Coach Prime’s going as it relates to recruiting, being able to play in Orlando against UCF, where he’s recruiting very heavily (and) the state of Texas has always been a priority for us.”
The newfangled Big 12 isn’t the same league the Buffs left in 2011 during the initial rounds of conference realigment when Texas A&M, Missouri and Nebraska also left. Texas and Oklahoma are leaving next year for the Big Ten. TCU and West Virginia came on board a decade ago and Cincinnati, Houston, BYU and Central Florida were added this year.
Sanders, who’s overseen the biggest roster overhaul in the nation since his hiring this spring, already has strong roots in Florida and Texas.
He was born in Fort Myers and starred at Florida State before embarking on a dual sports career as an NFL defensive back and a Major League outfielder. Some of his best years came during his half decade with the Cowboys from 1995-99 and he still has a home in the Dallas area.
When the Buffaloes return to the Big 12 next year, they will have four conference opponents in the Lone Star State in TCU, Texas Tech, Baylor and Houston, which features one of the nation’s largest television markets.
“Houston has always been a favorable market for us in recruiting,” said George, who then mentioned a few players from CU’s heyday in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “You think back to Alfred Williams, Kanavis McGhee and Chris Hudson. That area — the fifth-largest market in the country — also was a factor” in Colorado’s decision to return to the Big 12.
“Colorado recruits Texas hard because it’s an obvious state to go recruit,” Wiltfong said, “and now being in the Big 12, with all those Texas teams, it gives them one more inch to say, ’Hey, we’re going to be coming to the Lone Star State a lot throughout your career to play some big games.’”
Wiltfong expects Sanders to compete with the big boys when it comes to the recruiting trails of Texas.
“Deion’s lived in Texas, right? Deion is going to go where the players are. He’s going to recruit nationally because his name is electric,” Wiltfong said.
Colorado is the third school to leave the Pac-12 in the last year, joining UCLA and USC, which are going to the Big Ten next year. The moves coincide with the expiration of current media rights deals with ESPN and Fox.
Colorado is expected to get $31.7 million in annual TV revenue in the Big 12, which last year came to an agreement with ESPN and Fox on a six-year extension worth more than $2 billion that runs through 2030-31.
After Colorado’s vote to leave, the Pac-12 issued a statement that read, “We are focused on concluding our media rights deal and securing our continued success and growth. Immediately following the conclusion of our media rights deal, we will embrace expansion opportunities and bring new fans, markets, excitement and value to the Pac-12.”
___
AP College Football Writer Eric Olson contributed to this report.
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25 Sign up for the AP Top 25 newsletter here: https://link.apnews.com/join/6nr/morning-wire-newsletter-footer-internal-ads | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-prime-real-estate-colorados-return-to-big-12-fits-deion-sanders-football-recruiting-blueprint/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:25 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-prime-real-estate-colorados-return-to-big-12-fits-deion-sanders-football-recruiting-blueprint/ |
Source: Oldham County Detention Center Imagine being such a dedicated racist that you end up spending nearly a decade in prison because you just couldn’t stand to keep your hateful bigotry in the confines of your heart and away from Black people and people of color no matter how many times you were warned to by courts of law. Such is the case for 54-year-old Suzanne Craft of Louisville, Kentucky. According to WHAS 11, Craft was sentenced to nine years behind bars followed by three years of supervised release for sending threatening letters to neighbors in Lake Forest of eastern Jefferson County for no discernable reason besides those neighbors failing to be born Caucasian. In 2020, Craft mailed numerous threats of violence and racial slurs to an interracial couple and their children who lived in the same neighborhood. She was convicted of five counts of mailing threatening communications, and this was after she had been caught vandalizing at least two homes with swastikas and the N-word, for which she was reportedly sentenced to seven days of home incarceration. (Craft is her name, and arts and KKKrafts are, apparently, her game.) From WHAS: In 2020, Louisville Metro Police served Craft a criminal summons after two homes in the Lake Forest neighborhood were vandalized. She then appeared in court in August later that year for violating a no-contact order from a different incident in June. Michela Pineda testified Craft was caught on camera using chemicals and bleach to burn a swastika into the Pineda family’s lawn, weeks after the no-contact order was issued. The Pineda family also say Craft was the person who spray-painted racial slurs on their driveway in June 2020. It’s unclear if the threatening letters the FBI says Craft sent in 2020 were to the Pineda’s or a different family. Vanessa Cantley, the attorney for Michaela and Connie Pineda, told the Courier-Journal that the letters, not only contained racial slurs, but the envelopes also contained bullets. Those letters, again, came after the alleged vandalism, which came after the no-contact order was issued, and she had been found guilty of contempt of court twice for violating that order. Again, this woman was simply bound and determined to be a bigot. “This sentence sends a clear message regarding our commitment to ending hate-motivated violence and threats of violence,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “There is no room in civilized society for violent threats based on race.” And if Craft hasn’t gotten that message by now—and it’s entirely possible that she still hasn’t considering her track record—at least she’ll be learning it behind bars. SEE ALSO: What Happened To Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens? White Woman Kills Unarmed Black Mother Of 4 White Woman Facing Hate Crime Charges After Racist Rant In Pizzeria Caught On Video The post Racist Louisville Woman Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For Terrorizing Interracial Couple appeared first on NewsOne. Racist Louisville Woman Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For Terrorizing Interracial Couple was originally published on newsone.com | https://hot1009.com/3717602/racist-louisville-woman-sentenced-to-9-years-in-prison-for-terrorizing-interracial-couple/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:27 | 0 | https://hot1009.com/3717602/racist-louisville-woman-sentenced-to-9-years-in-prison-for-terrorizing-interracial-couple/ |
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Broncos coach Sean Payton said Friday he regrets disparaging his predecessor in an interview in which he called the work Nathaniel Hackett and his staff did in Denver last season “one of the worst coaching jobs in the NFL” and said there were “20 dirty hands” around Russell Wilson’s career-worst season.
“Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on and not my coaching hat,” said Payton, who’s returning to the sideline this season after a year’s sabbatical during which he worked as a studio football analyst for Fox Sports following a 15-year stint with the New Orleans Saints.
Payton’s comments in an interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell rocked the NFL because he broke the coaches code in which they refrain from publicly lambasting one another and because he spent his first six months on the job admonishing his players not to look back at last year’s dismal season and to ignore “outside noise.”
“I said this to the team in the meeting yesterday: we’ve had a great offseason relative to that, you know, and I’ve been preaching that message and here I am the veteran” doing just that, Payton said during a lengthy mea culpa in his first comments since he ignited the firestorm.
“It was a learning experience for me. It was a mistake. Obviously, I needed a little bit more filter … I needed a little bit more restraint. And I regret that,” Payton continued.
Payton said he’s usually pretty media savvy “and I just had one of those moments. Jarrett’s a good friend, real good at his job. And two lattes in the morning, first one I see and 40 minutes later, I’m regretting it.”
In the interview, Payton also took potshots at the Jets, who hired Hackett as their offensive coordinator this year, and criticized Broncos general manager George Paton and team President Damani Leech for allowing Hackett and his staff to give Wilson so much free rein, including having his personal quarterback coach with him at team headquarters.
That was one of many unconventional allowances — another was having his own office upstairs next to the coaches — that drew heavy scrutiny when Wilson looked nothing like the star he’d been in Seattle or like a QB who deserved the $245 million extension he signed last summer.
Payton’s criticisms were part of a spirited defense of Wilson, whom he expects to have a big comeback this year and help the Broncos end a seven-year playoff drought.
“Listen, I’m not afraid of the expectation,” Payton said Friday. “I’ve talked with several people about, you know, being used to contending for the postseason. You don’t take it for granted. But that mindset needs to be present here. And so yeah, I see this as a team that has that ability.”
Payton didn’t specifically apologize for his critical comments but he did say he’ll reach out to Hackett and Jets head coach Robert Saleh “at the right time” to do so.
The Broncos host the Jets on Oct. 8, and the row he started “certainly will bring more interest to the game when we play them,” Payton said. “But that seems like years from now.”
Closer to home, Payton has some damage control to do with his GM and the team president who came on board late last summer.
“The front office and the ownership are the two reasons I came here,” Paton said. “So, George and I are close. He was one of the big attractions, he and ownership. My point was it was across the board organizationally, it wasn’t just one person” responsible for Wilson’s dismal season.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-sean-payton-says-he-regrets-criticizing-predecessor-nathaniel-hackett-and-his-own-general-manager/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:32 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-sean-payton-says-he-regrets-criticizing-predecessor-nathaniel-hackett-and-his-own-general-manager/ |
Source: Bennett Raglin / Getty “Bow Wow” who’s real name is Shad Moss is denying all allegations of cheating a young rapper out of money for a feature! saying she was catfished. A father recently came forward claiming to be scammed by Bow Wow, and initiated a lawsuit against the ‘Bounce With Me’ rapper. The father of the young lady says he was charged 3K and paid over Cash App but the bars were never delivered! Now we hope this isn’t true especially since Bow Wow was one of the biggest child entertainers of our generation! We are certain he knows how it feels to be a young and hungry artist. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE. Now that the family is requesting a whopping $15,000 for damages and distress Shad ain’t having it! He took to social media to call CAP on the accusations! “D pimpin done got yall again huh? I dont conduct business on apps. I do NOT use or have cash app. So if you aint call management and send a wire .. you def was NOT dealing with me.” He went on to say, “be careful who yall send yalls money to online. This happens everyday to folks. This the 3rd time somebody acting like me catfishing people,” Bow Wow tweeted. Of course Lore’l had to break it down in the LO down! listen below! Text “HUSTLE” to 71007 to join The Morning Hustle Show mobile club for exclusive news. (Terms and conditions). We’ll be watching to see how this all unfolds! We really hope that this is more than a money grab and that the truth will come to the light soon! HEAD BACK TO THEMORNINGHUSTLE.COM HOME PAGE Bow Wow Denies Claims Of Stealing Money From Young Rapper After Lawsuit! was originally published on themorninghustle.com | https://hot1009.com/3717837/bow-wow-denies-claims-of-stealing-money-from-young-rapper-after-lawsuit/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:34 | 0 | https://hot1009.com/3717837/bow-wow-denies-claims-of-stealing-money-from-young-rapper-after-lawsuit/ |
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid watched his team work out in pads for the first time since their Super Bowl triumph last February and saw his players’ energy rise.
“Naturally it does that,” Reid said. “But I like the way they did it, how they got after each other.”
The defending champions ratcheted up the competition for an hour, 40 minutes in sweltering conditions as the heat index soared into the mid-90s.
The air wasn’t all that was hot, like when cornerback Dicaprio Bootle continued hacking at the football in the grasp of tight end Travis Kelce after a play. Cornerback Lamar Jackson raised eyebrows when he delivered a late hit on receiver Kekoa Crawford out of bounds.
Reid doesn’t mind trash-talking and spirited play as long as players keep their wits about them.
“They’re going to jaw,” Reid said. “It’s hot, humid, they’re going to jaw a little bit. As long as there are no punches thrown we’re all right.”
The Chiefs dug in during practice for three separate periods of 11-on-11, along with a nine-on-seven run session.
However, the most anticipated session in Friday’s practice focused on offensive and defensive linemen facing off in pass-rushing scenarios.
“It’s you mano a mano,” guard Trey Smith said. “All the technical details, every little piece matters. Being able to lock in those little seconds and get your job done.”
Linebacker Willie Gay said the hard, hot practice was tailor made for Reid. Although it was grueling, “I told the guys, as long as we continue to get better, it’s going to make the games and preseason even easier, and we’ll start winning,” he continued.
There’s rust to knock off whenever the pads first come on.
“You have some things that you got to clean up, some things you can be a little tighter technique-wise, but it’s always good to put the pads back on,” Smith said. “It’s always good knowing the season’s around the corner.”
Off the field, defensive tackle Chris Jones held out for seventh day and Reid, who hasn’t communicated with Jones recently, didn’t know when the holdout would end.
“We’re moving fast and furious even though he’s not here,” Reid said.
The 29-year-old-Jones is set to earn $19.5 million in base salary this season in the final year of a four-year extension signed in 2020. The All-Pro is seeking an extension that would make him the league’s second-highest-paid defensive tackle behind Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald, whose contract sports an annual average value of $31.67 million.
Jones has been fined $50,000 fine for each missed day of training camp missed, a total that’s grown to $350,000 00 so far. If Jones doesn’t report by Aug. 13, he will be assessed an additional fine of $1.147 for missing the team’s preseason opener against New Orleans.
NOTES: Linebacker Nick Bolton returned to practice Friday following a brief illness, but fellow linebacker Drue Tranquill exited practice early due to a sprained neck. Defensive end Mike Danna left with a strained calf while tight end Jody Fortson is undergoing further examination on a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney expects to miss the remainder of training camp after surgery Tuesday for a torn meniscus.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:38 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-super-bowl-champion-chiefs-hold-hot-tough-practice-in-1st-day-of-pads/ |
Source: Radio One / @djxo313 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE. Source: Radio One / @djxo313 Text “HUSTLE” to 71007 to join The Morning Hustle Show mobile club for exclusive news. (Terms and conditions). HEAD BACK TO THEMORNINGHUSTLE.COM HOME PAGE Na’im Lynn & Spank Horton Talk Kevin Hart, New Comedy, Carlee Russell & More! was originally published on themorninghustle.com | https://hot1009.com/3717838/naim-lynn-spank-horton-talk-kevin-hart-new-comedy-carlee-russell-more/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:40 | 0 | https://hot1009.com/3717838/naim-lynn-spank-horton-talk-kevin-hart-new-comedy-carlee-russell-more/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As Bronny James continues to recover after going into cardiac arrest, his Southern California teammates have been at practice to prepare for a 10-day exhibition tour of Greece and Croatia that begins next week.
The tour will run from from Aug. 5-15 and see the Trojans visit Athens and Mykonos, Greece, and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Teams are allowed to go on a foreign tour once every four years under NCAA rules.
James was discharged from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Thursday and is resting at home, according to a statement from the hospital. His father, Lakers superstar LeBron James, also posted on social media that his family is “safe and healthy.”
Bronny James will continue to undergo tests to determine the cause of his cardiac arrest, which occurred Monday morning during a workout at USC’s Galen Center.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart abruptly stops beating, because of a problem with its electrical activity. While uncommon in young people, sudden cardiac arrest is the leading medical cause of death in young athletes. Some studies have estimated one sudden cardiac death in 50,000 to 80,000 young athletes each year.
No information has been made public about what may have caused Bronny James’ cardiac arrest. But one of the most common causes in young athletes is an underlying problem with the heart’s structure, such as a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that leads to a thickened heart muscle more prone to irregular electrical activity. A more rare cause is commotio cordis, which occurs when someone receives a sharp blow to the chest during a specific part of the heartbeat’s cycle — what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin earlier this year.
James was the second high-profile USC basketball recruit to go into cardiac arrest in the last year. Vincent Iwuchuwku also was stricken during a workout last July, but the 7-foot-1 center returned to the court six months later and appeared in 14 games.
It’s too soon to know how James’ playing career could be affected, especially without a lot of information being made public. Various experts point to James’ quick move out of intensive care and being released three days later as encouraging.
The upcoming trip is important for the Trojans as James recovers. USC had the nation’s fourth-ranked recruiting class, including the top-rated player in guard Isaiah Collier.
James committed to the Trojans in May after the 6-foot-3 18-year-old became one of the nation’s top prospects as a two-way point guard for Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California.
He is the sixth McDonald’s All-American to come to USC since Andy Enfield became coach in 2013.
With his family fame and huge social media following, Bronny James also has the top name, image and likeness valuation in sports at $6.3 million, as estimated by On3.com. He is the oldest of LeBron and Savannah James’ three children.
___
AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham and AP Health & Science Writer Lauran Neergard contributed to this report.
___
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/lebron-james | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-usc-still-preparing-for-a-european-tour-as-bronny-james-recovers-at-home-after-cardiac-arrest/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:44 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-usc-still-preparing-for-a-european-tour-as-bronny-james-recovers-at-home-after-cardiac-arrest/ |
Panthers Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
The Carolina Panthers right now have the 26th-ranked odds in the league to win the Super Bowl at +8000.
Watch the Panthers this season on Fubo!
Panthers Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC South: +350
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +8000
Looking to place a futures bet on the Panthers to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Carolina Betting Insights
- Carolina put together an 8-8-0 record against the spread last season.
- The Panthers and their opponents combined to go over the point total eight out of 17 times last season.
- Carolina ranked fourth-worst in total offense (306.2 yards per game) last season, but it played a little better on defense, ranking 22nd with 349.8 yards allowed per contest.
- The Panthers went 5-4 at home last season, but they won only twice away from home.
- As favorites, Carolina failed to win even once last season (0-4), and as an underdog posted a record of 6-6.
- The Panthers were 6-6 in the NFC, including 4-2 in the NFC South.
Panthers Impact Players
- Miles Sanders ran for 1,269 yards (74.6 per game) and 11 touchdowns in 17 games last year for the Eagles.
- In 14 games for the Saints, Andy Dalton threw for 2,871 yards (205.1 per game), with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.7%.
- In the Vikings' passing game a season ago, Adam Thielen scored six TDs, catching 70 balls for 716 yards (42.1 per game).
- In 15 games, Chuba Hubbard rushed for 466 yards (31.1 per game) and two TDs.
- On defense last year, Frankie Luvu helped lead the way with one interception to go with 111 tackles, 19.0 TFL, seven sacks, and four passes defended in 15 games.
Bet on Panthers to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Panthers NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:23 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wistv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/panthers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:45 | 0 | https://www.wistv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/panthers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The city of San Francisco has opened a complaint and launched an investigation into a giant “X” sign that was installed Friday on top of the downtown building formerly known as Twitter headquarters as owner Elon Musk continues his rebrand of the social media platform.
City officials say replacing letters or symbols on buildings, or erecting a sign on top of one, requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
The X appeared after San Francisco police stopped workers on Monday from removing the brand’s iconic bird and logo from the side of the building, saying they hadn’t taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
Any replacement letters or symbols would require a permit to ensure “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to make sure additions are safely attached to the sign, Patrick Hannan, spokesperson for the Department of Building Inspection said earlier this week.
Erecting a sign on top of a building also requires a permit, Hannan said Friday.
“Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” he said in an email.
Musk unveiled a new “X” logo to replace Twitter’s famous blue bird as he remakes the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year. The X started appearing at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has long been fascinated with the letter X and had already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp. after he bought it in October. One of his children is called “X.” The child’s actual name is a collection of letters and symbols.
On Friday afternoon, a worker on a lift machine made adjustments to the sign and then left. | https://www.qcnews.com/technology/ap-x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-to-investigate-permit-violation/ | 2023-07-29T10:35:50 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/technology/ap-x-logo-installed-atop-twitter-building-spurring-san-francisco-to-investigate-permit-violation/ |
The numbers are in and things look surprisingly rosy for the U.S. economy:
The Federal Reserve is still cautious, but big brands – including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Visa — are singing praises to shoppers seemingly undeterred by companies' raising prices. What's more, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie are enticing people to part with their money, bolstering local businesses.
Financial reports by corporations and government data have been painting a picture this month of insatiable American shoppers making companies positively exuberant.
This week, GDP or gross domestic product – considered the measure of economic growth – showed the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4%, much higher than expected. What's fueling it is — you guessed it — spending. Brand after brand this week boosted their earnings forecasts for the year, calling consumers "resilient" in the face of higher prices.
The 'she-conomy' takes center stage
Americans have been scaling back in some categories, including clothing and furniture, but we're splurging on travel. We're also going out to eat, and see concerts and movies. You could call it the Barbie bump.
Plus, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have been moving markets, quite literally. The Federal Reserve has tracked the striking effect of Taylor Swift's tour on host cities. One analysis estimates it could generate almost $5 billion in global revenue. When Beyoncé comes to town, hotels, hair stylists and bartenders all get a boost, according to Yelp.
Southwest Airlines this week reported record revenue. Hilton executives said people were spending more across all its hotels, from the humbler Garden Inn to the upscale Waldorf Astoria, with business travel picking up and overall demand exceeding available rooms. Hotel prices have been setting records too.
"Not to be a Pollyanna at all, it all feels pretty good. ... I think the rest of this year's going to be very solid," Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta told analysts on Wednesday. "And I think next year will be a darn good year."
Companies test price limits in a 'Hot Profit Summer'
Higher prices showed up as good news in corporate reports across the board. Among them was Hershey (whose brands include Reese's and Skinny Pop). The company said people were buying slightly fewer snacks and candies, but its profits rose almost 30% anyway. A similar thing happened at Procter & Gamble (which makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste) and Colgate-Palmolive.
Coca-Cola, like rival Pepsi, reported that shoppers remained loyal to brand-name soda despite several rounds of price hikes.
Corporate execs offered many explanations for those hikes, including higher wages and other costs, such as sugar and corn syrup. Chipotle said it was still spending more on beef, tortillas, salsa, beans and rice, and did not rule out additional price hikes later in the year.
Is a spending hangover on the way?
So how are shoppers paying for all of this? Part of it is going on credit cards; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York saying credit card debt is at a record high. Banks report families are dipping into or even draining their pandemic-era savings.
But there's more to the story: A lot of workers have gotten raises recently. For the first time in months, our wages are outpacing inflation, as employers continue to compete for workers. This, in fact, raises the specter of the notorious wage-price spiral, with companies citing higher labor costs as a major cause of higher prices, and then workers pointing to those rising prices as proof they need higher pay.
Still, it seems like the pace of those raises is slowing down, which could signal that the labor market is softening. This is good news for inflation – which is now at 3% versus last year's 9% – but not enough for the Fed to ease up. It raised interest rates again this week, to a 22-year high.
"Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters, explaining the decision. "Nonetheless, the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go."
While the economy has remained strong amid months of interest rate hikes — and the unemployment rate near a record low at 3.6% — the effects of the Fed's actions could still be coming.
If they can cool off the economy just enough to stop companies from raising prices, but not so much that they lay off workers, the Fed will have achieved what economists call a soft landing.
"We're not there yet," said KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk. "The hope is certainly high that we could get there."
NPR's David Gura contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power | 2023-07-29T10:36:49 | 0 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:36:55 | 0 | https://www.knau.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
The numbers are in and things look surprisingly rosy for the U.S. economy:
The Federal Reserve is still cautious, but big brands – including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Visa — are singing praises to shoppers seemingly undeterred by companies' raising prices. What's more, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie are enticing people to part with their money, bolstering local businesses.
Financial reports by corporations and government data have been painting a picture this month of insatiable American shoppers making companies positively exuberant.
This week, GDP or gross domestic product – considered the measure of economic growth – showed the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4%, much higher than expected. What's fueling it is — you guessed it — spending. Brand after brand this week boosted their earnings forecasts for the year, calling consumers "resilient" in the face of higher prices.
The 'she-conomy' takes center stage
Americans have been scaling back in some categories, including clothing and furniture, but we're splurging on travel. We're also going out to eat, and see concerts and movies. You could call it the Barbie bump.
Plus, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have been moving markets, quite literally. The Federal Reserve has tracked the striking effect of Taylor Swift's tour on host cities. One analysis estimates it could generate almost $5 billion in global revenue. When Beyoncé comes to town, hotels, hair stylists and bartenders all get a boost, according to Yelp.
Southwest Airlines this week reported record revenue. Hilton executives said people were spending more across all its hotels, from the humbler Garden Inn to the upscale Waldorf Astoria, with business travel picking up and overall demand exceeding available rooms. Hotel prices have been setting records too.
"Not to be a Pollyanna at all, it all feels pretty good. ... I think the rest of this year's going to be very solid," Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta told analysts on Wednesday. "And I think next year will be a darn good year."
Companies test price limits in a 'Hot Profit Summer'
Higher prices showed up as good news in corporate reports across the board. Among them was Hershey (whose brands include Reese's and Skinny Pop). The company said people were buying slightly fewer snacks and candies, but its profits rose almost 30% anyway. A similar thing happened at Procter & Gamble (which makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste) and Colgate-Palmolive.
Coca-Cola, like rival Pepsi, reported that shoppers remained loyal to brand-name soda despite several rounds of price hikes.
Corporate execs offered many explanations for those hikes, including higher wages and other costs, such as sugar and corn syrup. Chipotle said it was still spending more on beef, tortillas, salsa, beans and rice, and did not rule out additional price hikes later in the year.
Is a spending hangover on the way?
So how are shoppers paying for all of this? Part of it is going on credit cards; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York saying credit card debt is at a record high. Banks report families are dipping into or even draining their pandemic-era savings.
But there's more to the story: A lot of workers have gotten raises recently. For the first time in months, our wages are outpacing inflation, as employers continue to compete for workers. This, in fact, raises the specter of the notorious wage-price spiral, with companies citing higher labor costs as a major cause of higher prices, and then workers pointing to those rising prices as proof they need higher pay.
Still, it seems like the pace of those raises is slowing down, which could signal that the labor market is softening. This is good news for inflation – which is now at 3% versus last year's 9% – but not enough for the Fed to ease up. It raised interest rates again this week, to a 22-year high.
"Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters, explaining the decision. "Nonetheless, the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go."
While the economy has remained strong amid months of interest rate hikes — and the unemployment rate near a record low at 3.6% — the effects of the Fed's actions could still be coming.
If they can cool off the economy just enough to stop companies from raising prices, but not so much that they lay off workers, the Fed will have achieved what economists call a soft landing.
"We're not there yet," said KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk. "The hope is certainly high that we could get there."
NPR's David Gura contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power | 2023-07-29T10:39:10 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) – A break from the heat and eventually humidity for Central New York this weekend. Details below…
This weekend a 50/50 split
We will have some scattered showers and thunderstorms to contend with on Saturday. It won’t be a day-long washout, however, with some dry time and partial sunshine still in the mix. A frontal system is moving through midday and early afternoon and that seems to be the most likely time for showers and storms. If you have outdoor plans, keep an eye to the sky and on the Live Doppler 9 app.
At this point, the threat for severe weather is low. However, any storm that develops could produce heavy rainfall, frequent lightning, as well as gusty winds.
The highlight of Harborfest in Oswego, the fireworks show, comes Saturday evening and it looks like the weather cooperates. Showers should be out of the region before sunset and temperatures are in the 70s.
When does it cool down?
Our temperatures start to back off over the weekend. Even with a good deal of sunshine we expect temperatures only in the mid to upper 70s by Sunday. More importantly, the dew points drop into the 50s to close out the weekend which will feel very refreshing! Sunday certainly looks to be the pick day for anything you may have planned outdoors this weekend.
It looks like this change to cooler and less humid air is going to last for a while. There is a cold front coming through on Monday with a few showers and perhaps a thunderstorm. In the wake of this front is another pleasant air mass taking us into the middle of next week and the beginning of August.
Keep checking the latest 7-day forecast. | https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/not-as-warm-with-showers-storms-saturday/ | 2023-07-29T10:41:47 | 0 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/not-as-warm-with-showers-storms-saturday/ |
Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:
Colson Whitehead channels the paranoia and fear of 1970s NYC in 'Crook Manifesto': "My early '70s New York is dingy and grimy," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author says. Whitehead's sequel to Harlem Shuffle centers on crime at every level, from small-time crooks to Harlem's elite.
Crime writer S.A. Cosby loves the South — and is haunted by it: Cosby's novel All the Sinners Bleed centers on a Black sheriff in a small Southeast Virginia county. The novel was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the shadow of the Confederacy.
You can listen to the original interviews and review here:
Colson Whitehead channels the paranoia and fear of 1970s NYC in 'Crook Manifesto'
Crime writer S.A. Cosby loves the South — and is haunted by it
Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air. | https://www.wboi.org/2023-07-29/fresh-air-weekend-colson-whitehead-s-a-cosby | 2023-07-29T10:41:50 | 0 | https://www.wboi.org/2023-07-29/fresh-air-weekend-colson-whitehead-s-a-cosby |
Panthers Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
The Carolina Panthers right now have the 26th-ranked odds in the league to win the Super Bowl at +8000.
Watch the Panthers this season on Fubo!
Panthers Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC South: +350
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +8000
Looking to place a futures bet on the Panthers to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Carolina Betting Insights
- Carolina put together an 8-8-0 record against the spread last season.
- The Panthers and their opponents combined to go over the point total eight out of 17 times last season.
- Carolina ranked fourth-worst in total offense (306.2 yards per game) last season, but it played a little better on defense, ranking 22nd with 349.8 yards allowed per contest.
- The Panthers went 5-4 at home last season, but they won only twice away from home.
- As favorites, Carolina failed to win even once last season (0-4), and as an underdog posted a record of 6-6.
- The Panthers were 6-6 in the NFC, including 4-2 in the NFC South.
Panthers Impact Players
- Miles Sanders ran for 1,269 yards (74.6 per game) and 11 touchdowns in 17 games last year for the Eagles.
- In 14 games for the Saints, Andy Dalton threw for 2,871 yards (205.1 per game), with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.7%.
- In the Vikings' passing game a season ago, Adam Thielen scored six TDs, catching 70 balls for 716 yards (42.1 per game).
- In 15 games, Chuba Hubbard rushed for 466 yards (31.1 per game) and two TDs.
- On defense last year, Frankie Luvu helped lead the way with one interception to go with 111 tackles, 19.0 TFL, seven sacks, and four passes defended in 15 games.
Bet on Panthers to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Panthers NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:23 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/panthers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:41:50 | 1 | https://www.wbtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/panthers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Not as warm with showers/storms Saturday Gallery Saturday Harborfest and mowing forecast Video Syracuse Ukrainian Festival gets underway OTL: Two credit card thieves in East Syracuse Video
Saturday Harborfest and mowing forecast Video Syracuse Ukrainian Festival gets underway OTL: Two credit card thieves in East Syracuse Video
Boeheim’s Army gets revenge on The Nerd Team Video Syracuse Mets stumble on the road at Lehigh Valley Westhill basketball coaching legend Kevin King retires Video Boeheim’s Army advances to second round of TBT with … Video
Syracuse Mets stumble on the road at Lehigh Valley Westhill basketball coaching legend Kevin King retires Video Boeheim’s Army advances to second round of TBT with … Video
Westhill basketball coaching legend Kevin King retires Video Boeheim’s Army advances to second round of TBT with … Video
New exhibit and film coming to the MOST Video Nave Law Firm supporting the Redhouse Arts Center Video What’s new at the Brewerton Ace Hardware Video Saratoga Race Course in full swing this summer Video
Nave Law Firm supporting the Redhouse Arts Center Video What’s new at the Brewerton Ace Hardware Video Saratoga Race Course in full swing this summer Video
Amazon has ‘Barbie’ fever too — and the fashion deals … Amazon is joining the “Barbie” movie hype with lots of new deals on pink clothing! Find the best pink clothing you can wear when you go to see the movie.
How to pre-order the Spider-Man 2 PS5 and accessories Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is one of the biggest games scheduled to release this year, and so are PS5 accessories. Find all the best Spider-Man PS5 accessories here.
Digital detox tips for kids Want to limit screen time? Try a digital detox for kids. Going electronics-free means it’s essential to have other activities lined up to engage kids. | https://www.localsyr.com/watertown-weather/north-country-wake-up-weather-saturday-july-28th/ | 2023-07-29T10:41:53 | 0 | https://www.localsyr.com/watertown-weather/north-country-wake-up-weather-saturday-july-28th/ |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:41:56 | 1 | https://www.wboi.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
Fatal Crash in McAllen Under Investigation
Related Story
MCALLEN--A fatal crash out of McAllen is under investigation.
The crash happened around 1:45 a.m. on Jackson Road south of Whalen road. DPS' preliminary investigation revealed a 2014 Chevy Silverado was traveling southbound on Jackson road when the driver veered left and crossed the northbound lanes. He collided with a concrete fence. It's unknown why the driver hit the fence.
The driver, 38-year-old Raul Esqueda Jr. of Pharr, died at the scene. No one else was in the car. | https://www.krgv.com/videos/fatal-crash-in-mc-allen-under-investigation | 2023-07-29T10:42:38 | 1 | https://www.krgv.com/videos/fatal-crash-in-mc-allen-under-investigation |
McAllen ISD superintendent says he plans to serve as Harlingen CISD superintendent
Related Story
McAllen ISD superintendent J.A. Gonzalez says he’s ready for a change, and plans to accept a potential offer from a different school district to serve as their superintendent.
On Tuesday, the Harlingen CISD school board announced they selected Gonzalez as the lone finalist for the superintendent position, according to a news release.
PREVIOUS STORY: McAllen ISD superintendent named as lone finalist for superintendent position at Harlingen CISD
Due to a state law, Harlingen CISD must go through a 21-day waiting period before they can officially offer the job to Gonzalez.
Gonzalez has been with the McAllen school district for 26 years, and served as its superintendent for eight of those years.
When asked why he would accept the superintendent position with Harlingen CISD, Gonzalez said the district is a good place to work at, and a place to move his family.
“They have a hard-working staff, their school board is second to none,” Gonzalez said. “When you look at all those things, and you put them together, it's just a desirable destination.”
Though he is under contract at McAllen ISD until 2025, Gonzalez said he is free to leave early.
The Texas Education Agency website states Gonzalez earned a salary of $267,000 for the 2022-2023 school year. He said he couldn’t go over his new salary as salary negotiations at Harlingen CISD are still being finalized.
The McAllen School Board meeting is set to hold a special meeting Thursday evening to discuss and possibly appoint an acting superintendent. | https://www.krgv.com/videos/mcallen-isd-superintendent-says-he-plans-to-serve-as-harlingen-cisd-superintendent | 2023-07-29T10:42:44 | 1 | https://www.krgv.com/videos/mcallen-isd-superintendent-says-he-plans-to-serve-as-harlingen-cisd-superintendent |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.knkx.org/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:42:45 | 1 | https://www.knkx.org/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
Falcons Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
At +6600, the Atlanta Falcons are No. 19 in the NFL in terms of Super Bowl-winning odds as of December 31.
Watch the Falcons this season on Fubo!
Falcons Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC South: +220
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +6600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Falcons to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Atlanta Betting Insights
- Atlanta put together a 9-7-0 record against the spread last season.
- A total of seven Falcons games last season hit the over.
- Atlanta ranked 24th in total offense (318.3 yards per game) and 27th in total defense (362.1 yards allowed per game) last year.
- The Falcons were 6-3 at home last season, but they won only one game on the road.
- As the underdog, Atlanta went 3-9 last season. When favored, however, won every game (4-0).
- In the NFC South the Falcons won only two games (2-4), and in the conference overall they went 6-6.
Falcons Impact Players
- Tyler Allgeier ran for 1,035 yards (64.7 per game) and three touchdowns in 16 games last year.
- Also, Allgeier had 16 receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown.
- In 13 games, Cordarrelle Patterson rushed for 695 yards (53.5 per game) and eight TDs.
- In nine games for the Commanders a season ago, Taylor Heinicke threw for 1,859 yards (206.6 per game), with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, and a completion percentage of 62.2%.
- Drake London had 72 receptions for 866 yards (50.9 per game) and four touchdowns in 17 games.
- As a tone-setter on defense, Richie Grant collected 122 tackles, 3.0 TFL, and two interceptions in 17 games last year.
Bet on Falcons to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Falcons NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:24 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbrc.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/falcons-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:46:02 | 1 | https://www.wbrc.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/falcons-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Lubbock theater among best in Texas for 'Oppenheimer' IMAX experience
Christopher Nolan wants you to see his new film "Oppenheimer" on 70mm IMAX film.
But to do that, plan to drive at least five hours from Lubbock. And even if a road trip is in the cards, good luck getting a ticket.
The director told the Associated Press the IMAX 70mm format is the "best possible experience" to view the film — "The sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled," Nolan said.
More:Christopher Nolan's new movie about nukes is 'the stuff of cinematic drama'
However, only two theaters in Texas — the AMC RiverCenter in San Antonio and the Cinemark XD and IMAX in Dallas — are screening the film in the film in IMAX 70mm, among just 17 in the U.S. and 30 worldwide. Screenings are sold out at both for weeks in advance.
If you don't mind starting a three-hour movie at 2:35 a.m., you might snag a less-than-optimal front-row seat in Dallas next weekend.
But even without local access to the IMAX 70mm film format, Lubbockites still have an excellent option — commensurably one of the best in Texas — to follow lead actor Cillian Murphy's directive to see it "on the biggest ******* screen possible."
Many theaters are screening "Oppenheimer" in the much more common, yet still high-quality digital IMAX format, but just seven digital IMAX theaters in Texas showing the film have screens measuring 70 feet or more, according to a recent Texas Monthly article, including Lubbock's Premiere Lux 16 in the South Plains Mall.
The IMAX screen at Lubbock's Premiere measures 39.3 by 70 feet, according to an online database that tracks large-format theaters. For comparison, the domed screen at the Science Spectrum OMNI theater measures 58 feet.
Where to see 'Oppenheimer' in Texas on the biggest IMAX screen possible
IMAX 70mm film
- Cinemark XD and IMAX — Dallas — 52.9 x 70.7 ft.
- AMC RiverCenter — San Antonio — 52.9 x 70 ft.
IMAX digital (70+ feet)
- AMC RiverCenter — San Antonio — 62 x 85 ft.
- Regal Lone Star 19 — Tomball — 45 x 71 ft.
- Premiere Lux Cine 17 — El Paso — 50 x 70 ft.
- Santikos Palladium IMAX — San Antonio — 44 x 70 ft.
- Premiere Lux 15 — Bryan — 40 x 70 ft.
- Premiere 15 IMAX — Temple — 39.6 x 70 ft.
- Premiere Lux 16 — Lubbock — 39.3 x 70 ft. | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/entertainment/2023/07/29/lubbock-theater-among-best-in-texas-for-oppenheimer-imax-experience/70486443007/ | 2023-07-29T10:46:03 | 1 | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/entertainment/2023/07/29/lubbock-theater-among-best-in-texas-for-oppenheimer-imax-experience/70486443007/ |
High school football preview: Hale Center alum Marc Puente takes over as Owls head coach
Marc Puente is back home.
Puente, a 2005 graduate of Hale Center, returned to his alma mater as head football coach. Puente was Plainview's boys basketball coach last season, and he's excited for his first shot leading a football program.
"This is something that I wanted when I first started (coaching)," Puente said. "It's been 15 years in waiting. I've done some basketball stuff that has kind of prepared me for it. It was something that I really wasn't sure that it was gonna ever happen."
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW:With experience all around, Sudan eyes playoff run
Puente's most recent position in football was as Falls City's passing-game coordinator from 2015-18. He inherits a squad that finished 5-6 after a first-round loss to eventual state-semifinalist New Home.
Puente said familiarity with longtime families in town has eased the transition. Still, he's learning his roster and where players will fit.
Adam Beruman and Aidan Baldridge will be key to the offense. Each played snaps at quarterback last season, and Puente said the starter will be decided in preseason practice. Sophomore Ryan Mesquite will also be part of the QB competition. The backups will be "big contributors" elsewhere on offense.
Puente is excited about depth at skill positions, including Lionel Martinez and Jessie Castillo, who each surpassed 500 receiving yards last year. Jhett Truby will be another target, but he made his biggest impact in 2022 on defense.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW:Ralls aim for another district title push in 2023
Truby had four interceptions and leads a secondary that includes Martinez. Michael Lopez returns as the top linebacker. Puente said guys such as Cade Sierra, Hector Gerhardt and Mesquite are part of a group of defensive backs/linebackers that will be ironed out in practice.
"We want to be 1-0 every week and not look past anybody," Puente said. "And just start building the tradition that we used to have."
Hale Center Owls
Head coach — Marc Puente (head-coaching debut)
2022 record — 5-6 overall, 3-2 in District 3-2A Division II
Last district title/playoff appearance — 1995/2022
Base offense — Multiple
Base defense — 3-3 stack
Returning lettermen — 18
Returning off./def. starters — 8/6
Player to watch — Adam Beruman, ATH; Aidan Baldridge, QB; Lionel Martinez, WR/DB; Jhett Truby, WR/DB; Michael Lopez, LB
2023 schedule
* — denotes District 4-3A DII game
Aug. 25 — vs. Stinnett West Texas, 7 p.m.
Sept. 1 — at Plains, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8 — at New Home, 7 p.m.
Sept. 15 — at Ropes, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22 — at Floydada, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6 — vs. Sudan*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 13 — at Ralls*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 20 — vs. Bovina*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27 — vs. Lockney*, 7 p.m.
Nov. 3 — at Crosbyton*, 7 p.m.
2022 schedule
at Stinnett West Texas L, 21-6
Plains W, 8-6
New Home L, 48-12
Ropes L, 29-12
Floydada W, 13-7
at Sudan* L, 26-6
Ralls* W, 28-13
at Bovina* L, 32-14
at Lockney* W, 40-13
Crosbyton* W, 75-6
New Home L, 49-8 (bi-district) | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/07/29/texas-high-school-football-preview-hale-center-owls-schedule-new-head-coach-marc-puente/70422791007/ | 2023-07-29T10:46:09 | 1 | https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/07/29/texas-high-school-football-preview-hale-center-owls-schedule-new-head-coach-marc-puente/70422791007/ |
Fresh charges tie Trump even more closely to coverup effort. That could deepen his legal woes
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a stunning new allegation in an already serious case: Former President Donald Trump sought to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents.
The latest criminal charges unsealed Thursday deepen Trump’s legal jeopardy, alleging a more central role for the former president than previously known in a cover-up that prosecutors say was meant to prevent them from recovering top-secret documents he took with him after he left the White House. Coming as Trump braces for possible additional indictments related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the new allegations strengthen special counsel Jack Smith’s already powerful case against Trump while undercutting potential defenses floated by the former president, experts say.
“Before these new charges, you could maybe try some sort of defense that ‘this was all a mistake, it was my staff’ or confusion about what documents he actually had,” said former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason, a George Washington University law professor.
“But especially now, when you’re trying to destroy video footage,” he added, “that’s kind of the final nail in the coffin. I don’t see much in the way of a defense, not a real defense. All he can do is claim he’s being persecuted and hope for a holdout juror or something.”
Trump resorted to that familiar playbook on Friday, writing in a post on his Truth Social platform that “this is textbook Third World intimidation by rabid, lawless prosecutors.” He insisted during an interview with radio host John Fredericks that he did nothing wrong and accused prosecutors of trying to intimidate his staff into making up lies about him.
Later Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Mar-a-Lago security tapes were voluntarily handed over to prosecutors. Trump said he was told they were not “deleted in any way, shape or form.”
The new Florida charges came as a surprise given that Trump and his legal team have been focused on the prospect of an additional indictment in Washington — possibly within days — related to his efforts to cling to power after he lost to President Joe Biden. Trump received a letter this month informing him that he’s a target in that probe, and his lawyers met Thursday with special counsel Jack Smith’s office.
Hours after that meeting, Smith revealed the new classified documents case charges on top of a 38-count indictment issued last month against Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta. The updated indictment includes a detailed chronology of phone conversations and other interactions between Trump, Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, in the days after the Justice Department last June drafted a subpoena for security camera footage at Mar-a-Lago.
Video from the home would ultimately become vital to the government’s case because, prosecutors said, it shows Nauta moving boxes in and out of a storage room — an act alleged to have been done at Trump’s direction and in an effort to hide records not only only from investigators but Trump’s own lawyers.
The day after a draft subpoena was sent to the Trump Organization, the indictment says, Trump called De Oliveira and spoke with him for about 24 minutes. Though the details of that conversation are not included in the indictment, De Oliveira is described by prosecutors as asking a Mar-a-Lago information technology staffer several days later how long the server retained footage for and is quoted as telling the employee that “the boss” wanted it deleted.
Lawyers for Nauta, who has pleaded not guilty, and De Oliveira declined to comment on the allegations. De Oliveira is expected to make his first court appearance in Miami on Monday.
To the extent that evidence of Trump’s involvement in trying to delete video is circumstantial rather than direct, it might present a challenge for prosecutors, said David Aaron, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor who has worked on cases involving the mishandling of classified documents.
But if they can tie the effort to Trump, he added, “it’s devastating in its own right, because it doesn’t matter at that point what he thought he had the right to do, or whatever other defense he’s going to have about the classified documents. That’s in and of itself very bad.”
It could also help prosecutors establish that Trump knew what he was doing was wrong because “you only delete video of what you’ve done if you think it’s going to get you in trouble,” Aaron said. And Trump’s own accusations against others, like his claims against Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 presidential race, could boomerang against him.
Trump has claimed that Clinton deleted emails from her private server for the purpose of obstructing a criminal investigation into her own handling of classified information — something the FBI and Justice Department never alleged — but now stands himself accused of scheming to delete evidence he feared would be incriminating.
“He has specifically criticized other public figures for deleting data when he says they thought they were going to be in trouble,” Aaron said. “So if you needed to prove his consciousness of guilt, it’s not just an obvious thing that you would ask the jury to rely on common sense for — he’s actually made statements about what it means when someone does this.”
Trump and Nauta are set for trial next May, though it’s not clear if that date will hold.
Smith’s team also added a new count of willful retention of national defense information related to a classified document about a Pentagon plan of attack on a foreign country prosecutors say Trump showed off during a July 2021 meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey resort.
That charge comes after Trump repeatedly claimed he didn’t have any secret documents when he spoke, only magazine and newspaper clippings, even though an audio recording captured him saying “this is secret information.” The document was returned to the government in January 2022, months before the subpoena for classified records.
It’s not clear why prosecutors moved now to indict another one of Trump’s underlings, though bringing charges against De Oliveira that could carry significant prison time adds serious pressure on him, potentially increasing the odds that he could decide to cut a plea deal and cooperate.
“But, you know, Trump seems to inspire a lot of loyalty, at least in some people,” Eliason said. “Maybe they are holding out for the idea that he is reelected and he can pardon them.”
____
Richer reported from Boston.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/29/fresh-charges-tie-trump-even-more-closely-coverup-effort-that-could-deepen-his-legal-woes/ | 2023-07-29T10:46:12 | 0 | https://www.kttc.com/2023/07/29/fresh-charges-tie-trump-even-more-closely-coverup-effort-that-could-deepen-his-legal-woes/ |
Vikings Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Published: Jul. 29, 2023 at 4:22 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Minnesota Vikings have +4000 odds to win the Super Bowl as of December 31.
Watch the Vikings this season on Fubo!
Vikings Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC North: +280
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +4000
Looking to place a futures bet on the Vikings to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Minnesota Betting Insights
- Minnesota compiled a 7-8-1 record against the spread last season.
- A total of 11 Vikings games last season hit the over.
- Despite sporting a bottom-five defense that ranked second-worst in the (388.7 yards allowed per game) last season, Minnesota played better on the other side of the ball, ranking seventh in the by putting up 361.5 yards per game.
- Last year the Vikings were 8-1 at home and 5-3 away.
- As favorites, Minnesota was undefeated (11-0) last season, but finished just 1-4 as the underdog.
- The Vikings were 8-4 in the NFC, including 4-2 in the NFC North.
Vikings Impact Players
- In 17 games last year, Kirk Cousins passed for 4,547 yards (267.5 per game), with 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 65.9%.
- On the ground, Cousins scored two touchdowns and accumulated 97 yards.
- Justin Jefferson had 128 receptions for 1,809 yards (106.4 per game) and eight touchdowns in 17 games.
- T.J. Hockenson had 86 catches for 914 yards (53.8 per game) and six touchdowns in 17 games a season ago.
- K.J. Osborn had 60 receptions for 650 yards (38.2 per game) and five touchdowns in 17 games.
- As a tone-setter on defense, Jordan Hicks compiled 130 tackles, 2.0 TFL, three sacks, and one interception in 17 games last year.
Bet on Vikings to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Vikings NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:22 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.kttc.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/vikings-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:46:19 | 1 | https://www.kttc.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/vikings-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Supporters of LGBTQ students in Amherst, Massachusetts, are calling for more transparency about how the district is handling an investigation.
In May, allegations surfaced in the high school student newspaper that counselors at the Amherst Regional Middle School school failed to protect LGBTQ students.
Several staff members were put on leave. The district launched an investigation and soon after, Michael Morris, the superintendent, went on leave for health reasons. He recently returned to work.
Katharine Waggoner, a parent in the district, helped organize a rally on Friday to support LGBTQ students in the district.
"The idea is to really put a spotlight on the need for honoring, celebrating and repairing harm," she said.
Waggoner said organizers also are trying to push the school committee to be more forthcoming about who is being investigated and whether it includes superintendent Morris.
She said she was reassured by an interview the committee chair gave to MassLive, in which he said the investigation — including a conversation with Morris — is still ongoing. | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-07-29/lgbtq-supporters-in-amherst-mass-seeks-more-transparency-in-school-investigation | 2023-07-29T10:46:55 | 0 | https://www.mainepublic.org/2023-07-29/lgbtq-supporters-in-amherst-mass-seeks-more-transparency-in-school-investigation |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:47:01 | 1 | https://www.mainepublic.org/npr-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
The numbers are in and things look surprisingly rosy for the U.S. economy:
The Federal Reserve is still cautious, but big brands – including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Visa — are singing praises to shoppers seemingly undeterred by companies' raising prices. What's more, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie are enticing people to part with their money, bolstering local businesses.
Financial reports by corporations and government data have been painting a picture this month of insatiable American shoppers making companies positively exuberant.
This week, GDP or gross domestic product – considered the measure of economic growth – showed the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4%, much higher than expected. What's fueling it is — you guessed it — spending. Brand after brand this week boosted their earnings forecasts for the year, calling consumers "resilient" in the face of higher prices.
The 'she-conomy' takes center stage
Americans have been scaling back in some categories, including clothing and furniture, but we're splurging on travel. We're also going out to eat, and see concerts and movies. You could call it the Barbie bump.
Plus, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have been moving markets, quite literally. The Federal Reserve has tracked the striking effect of Taylor Swift's tour on host cities. One analysis estimates it could generate almost $5 billion in global revenue. When Beyoncé comes to town, hotels, hair stylists and bartenders all get a boost, according to Yelp.
Southwest Airlines this week reported record revenue. Hilton executives said people were spending more across all its hotels, from the humbler Garden Inn to the upscale Waldorf Astoria, with business travel picking up and overall demand exceeding available rooms. Hotel prices have been setting records too.
"Not to be a Pollyanna at all, it all feels pretty good. ... I think the rest of this year's going to be very solid," Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta told analysts on Wednesday. "And I think next year will be a darn good year."
Companies test price limits in a 'Hot Profit Summer'
Higher prices showed up as good news in corporate reports across the board. Among them was Hershey (whose brands include Reese's and Skinny Pop). The company said people were buying slightly fewer snacks and candies, but its profits rose almost 30% anyway. A similar thing happened at Procter & Gamble (which makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste) and Colgate-Palmolive.
Coca-Cola, like rival Pepsi, reported that shoppers remained loyal to brand-name soda despite several rounds of price hikes.
Corporate execs offered many explanations for those hikes, including higher wages and other costs, such as sugar and corn syrup. Chipotle said it was still spending more on beef, tortillas, salsa, beans and rice, and did not rule out additional price hikes later in the year.
Is a spending hangover on the way?
So how are shoppers paying for all of this? Part of it is going on credit cards; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York saying credit card debt is at a record high. Banks report families are dipping into or even draining their pandemic-era savings.
But there's more to the story: A lot of workers have gotten raises recently. For the first time in months, our wages are outpacing inflation, as employers continue to compete for workers. This, in fact, raises the specter of the notorious wage-price spiral, with companies citing higher labor costs as a major cause of higher prices, and then workers pointing to those rising prices as proof they need higher pay.
Still, it seems like the pace of those raises is slowing down, which could signal that the labor market is softening. This is good news for inflation – which is now at 3% versus last year's 9% – but not enough for the Fed to ease up. It raised interest rates again this week, to a 22-year high.
"Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters, explaining the decision. "Nonetheless, the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go."
While the economy has remained strong amid months of interest rate hikes — and the unemployment rate near a record low at 3.6% — the effects of the Fed's actions could still be coming.
If they can cool off the economy just enough to stop companies from raising prices, but not so much that they lay off workers, the Fed will have achieved what economists call a soft landing.
"We're not there yet," said KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk. "The hope is certainly high that we could get there."
NPR's David Gura contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power | 2023-07-29T10:47:52 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power |
From the outside, the tall white building looks like any other hip, new Brooklyn living space. But about a thousand migrant men sleep here every night and there's room for hundreds more. It's a sort of mega shelter, poised to become one of New York City's largest.
It's been open for just a few weeks, and it's already riddled with accusations of abuse.
For months, Mayor Eric Adams has been issuing warnings that the New York City shelter system simply cannot handle the deluge of over 90,000 people it has received in the last year or so. "We have no more room in the city," he cautioned at a recent press conference. "We need help from the federal government."
The Adams administration is challenging New York's right to shelter law in court: That's the law that for decades has assured that the city provide a safe haven to anyone in need, regardless of immigration status.
Adams also recently announced several unusual measures including distribution of fliers to asylum-seekers at the border in order to discourage migrants from coming to New York City. Single adults will only be able to stay in shelters for 60 days before having to reapply.
Activists say it's in keeping with this policy shift that the new shelter site — located in Brooklyn's posh Clinton Hill neighborhood — is being referred to as an "emergency respite center," rather than a shelter. It's been touted as a temporary humanitarian aid solution.
NPR spent several days speaking to asylum seekers who say conditions in the building are dire. Many described zones of 80 to 90 people sharing two bathrooms. A 26-year-old man named Deivy says he's fleeing armed conflict in Colombia and that he's been living in the shelter for over a week.
He asked that his last name be withheld for fear of retaliation. Deivy says fighting over use of the bathroom facilities is common and showering is an odyssey. Parked outside, two trailers with showers serve the entire building.
"It's bad in there," says one Mauritanian man named Neimar, who also asked that his last name be withheld for fear he'd be in trouble with shelter authorities. Sitting listlessly on a nearby park bench, Neimar describes the experience as a sort of limbo. "We had no life where we came from, but here we have no luck here. No clothing. No food. Nothing."
Lack of access to food is one of the most common complaints. On a recent day shelter occupants say lunch consists of a bag of chips and a water. Often the food has gone bad.
What troubles many people here the most is the security guards. "They treat us like animals," says Neimar. "As if we were not people."
In interviews with more than two dozen people, nearly everyone recounted experiencing physical harassment and verbal slights at the shelter. "I understand enough English to know I'm being insulted," says Deivy.
NPR reached out to the New York City government multiple times for comment on these accusations without response.
Advocates say shelters like this one are disheartening, especially given that New York has long been seen as a beacon for immigrants. "For at least 40 years, New York City has provided a right to shelter to all people — regardless of their immigration status — who need a place to stay for the night," says Columbia University Professor Elora Mukherjee, who studies immigration and law. She called the shift in policy "devastating."
For many migrants and asylum seekers, this Brooklyn location is not the first encounter with the New York shelter system. But it does feel like the last straw. Several described the situation at this new site so dire, they would rather sleep under a nearby highway overpass. Others have no choice but to join a homeless camp of nearly 20 men.
Among them is Jose Antonio. He says he left Venezuela to escape government harassment. "Eighty people using two bathrooms?" he says. "It's a health hazard." When he arrived at the shelter a few weeks ago, it was under construction, still lacking lights. After an altercation over bathroom access in the morning, he says, he was asked to leave. He now he sleeps outside. During the day, he works odd landscaping gigs.
The motto down here: stay working.
But the question of work and who is allowed to do it is where the federal immigration bureaucracy labyrinth gets even more complicated. The soonest an asylum seeker can get a work permit is six months after they apply for asylum. That's a process that can in turn take years.
"The Mayor does make a good point when he says that the city needs help. And that help should take various forms," said Professor Elora Mukherjee. The city, she says, needs the federal government to lend their authority. "First and foremost: the federal government should authorize asylum seekers to receive their lawful work organization as soon as they enter the United States and fill out the relevant paperwork."
There's no indication that this will happen anytime soon. Instead, many men rent scooters in order to work for food delivery apps. By noon on a recent day, the dinging sound of orders start echoing under the bridge.
The men head out.
It's a dystopian scene: asylum seekers, staying in a shelter and under a bridge, delivering pricey meals throughout New York.
A few days later, the police sweep the camp. For several hours the men say they are driven around the city on a bus and taken to two different shelters where they are turned away.
Eventually, the bus drops them off in Brooklyn again. The men walk back to the highway overpass and to the camp where they find many of their belongings are now missing. One man reports his immigration papers, cellphone, and clothing all gone.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2023-07-29/as-nyc-limits-access-to-migrants-and-asylum-seekers-many-are-left-homeless | 2023-07-29T10:47:52 | 0 | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2023-07-29/as-nyc-limits-access-to-migrants-and-asylum-seekers-many-are-left-homeless |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:47:59 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
The numbers are in and things look surprisingly rosy for the U.S. economy:
The Federal Reserve is still cautious, but big brands – including Coca-Cola, Hilton and Visa — are singing praises to shoppers seemingly undeterred by companies' raising prices. What's more, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Barbie are enticing people to part with their money, bolstering local businesses.
Financial reports by corporations and government data have been painting a picture this month of insatiable American shoppers making companies positively exuberant.
This week, GDP or gross domestic product – considered the measure of economic growth – showed the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4%, much higher than expected. What's fueling it is — you guessed it — spending. Brand after brand this week boosted their earnings forecasts for the year, calling consumers "resilient" in the face of higher prices.
The 'she-conomy' takes center stage
Americans have been scaling back in some categories, including clothing and furniture, but we're splurging on travel. We're also going out to eat, and see concerts and movies. You could call it the Barbie bump.
Plus, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé have been moving markets, quite literally. The Federal Reserve has tracked the striking effect of Taylor Swift's tour on host cities. One analysis estimates it could generate almost $5 billion in global revenue. When Beyoncé comes to town, hotels, hair stylists and bartenders all get a boost, according to Yelp.
Southwest Airlines this week reported record revenue. Hilton executives said people were spending more across all its hotels, from the humbler Garden Inn to the upscale Waldorf Astoria, with business travel picking up and overall demand exceeding available rooms. Hotel prices have been setting records too.
"Not to be a Pollyanna at all, it all feels pretty good. ... I think the rest of this year's going to be very solid," Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta told analysts on Wednesday. "And I think next year will be a darn good year."
Companies test price limits in a 'Hot Profit Summer'
Higher prices showed up as good news in corporate reports across the board. Among them was Hershey (whose brands include Reese's and Skinny Pop). The company said people were buying slightly fewer snacks and candies, but its profits rose almost 30% anyway. A similar thing happened at Procter & Gamble (which makes Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste) and Colgate-Palmolive.
Coca-Cola, like rival Pepsi, reported that shoppers remained loyal to brand-name soda despite several rounds of price hikes.
Corporate execs offered many explanations for those hikes, including higher wages and other costs, such as sugar and corn syrup. Chipotle said it was still spending more on beef, tortillas, salsa, beans and rice, and did not rule out additional price hikes later in the year.
Is a spending hangover on the way?
So how are shoppers paying for all of this? Part of it is going on credit cards; the Federal Reserve Bank of New York saying credit card debt is at a record high. Banks report families are dipping into or even draining their pandemic-era savings.
But there's more to the story: A lot of workers have gotten raises recently. For the first time in months, our wages are outpacing inflation, as employers continue to compete for workers. This, in fact, raises the specter of the notorious wage-price spiral, with companies citing higher labor costs as a major cause of higher prices, and then workers pointing to those rising prices as proof they need higher pay.
Still, it seems like the pace of those raises is slowing down, which could signal that the labor market is softening. This is good news for inflation – which is now at 3% versus last year's 9% – but not enough for the Fed to ease up. It raised interest rates again this week, to a 22-year high.
"Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters, explaining the decision. "Nonetheless, the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go."
While the economy has remained strong amid months of interest rate hikes — and the unemployment rate near a record low at 3.6% — the effects of the Fed's actions could still be coming.
If they can cool off the economy just enough to stop companies from raising prices, but not so much that they lay off workers, the Fed will have achieved what economists call a soft landing.
"We're not there yet," said KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk. "The hope is certainly high that we could get there."
NPR's David Gura contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power | 2023-07-29T10:47:59 | 1 | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2023-07-29/what-recession-its-a-summer-of-splurging-profits-and-girl-power |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:48:05 | 0 | https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/news-from-npr/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
President Biden publicly acknowledged his seventh grandchild, a 4-year-old named Navy Joan Roberts, for the first time on Friday, capping a month of questions about why he had seemingly excluded the little girl from his tight family circle.
Roberts is the daughter of Hunter Biden and Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity lawsuit against her child's father in 2019.
"Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward," President Biden said in a statement to People magazine published on Friday evening.
President Biden Speaks Out on Hunter’s Daughter, 4, with Ark. Woman: ‘Jill and I Only Want What’s Best’ (Exclusive) https://t.co/9qlHMZXH7E
— People (@people) July 28, 2023
"This is not a political issue, it's a family matter," Biden said in the statement. "Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy."
President Biden is known for often speaking about his love of his family and grandchildren. Last year, Hunter Biden's eldest child, Naomi, was married at the White House in what was a lavish affair.
In early July, the New York Times profiled Navy, her mother, and some of the details of their child support settlement. The story drew attention to the fact that the president had never recognized his 4-year-old granddaughter.
Some GOP presidential contenders like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made jabs at the president for the omission.
Hunter Biden recently settled a lawsuit over his daughter
Hunter Biden has struggled with addiction. In his 2021 memoir, he blamed his addictions for his court battle over his daughter's paternity.
"It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine — I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone," he wrote in his memoir. "I was a mess, but a mess I've taken responsibility for."
Hunter Biden was proven to be the child's father through a DNA test. He has recently settled a lawsuit for child support.
He has three older children, now in their 20s, as well as a 3-year-old son named Beau, who is often seen at the White House.
Hunter Biden has been the target of Republican attacks on the president because of his business dealings and legal issues.
He recently agreed to plead guilty to tax and gun charges in a deal that would allow him to avoid future prosecution. But that plea deal fell apart when the judge said she needed more information and wasn't ready to accept the deal he struck with the Justice Department.
The White House has refused to comment on whether Hunter Biden's legal troubles are a political liability for the president, describing them as personal matters, and saying only that the president loves his son and supports him as he tries to rebuild his life.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now | 2023-07-29T10:48:28 | 1 | https://www.kcbx.org/npr-top-news/2023-07-28/biden-has-a-7th-grandchild-but-hes-never-acknowledged-her-until-now |
Lions Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
The Detroit Lions have +2000 odds to win the Super Bowl, eighth-ranked in the league as of December 31.
Watch the Lions this season on Fubo!
Lions Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC North: +130
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +2000
Looking to place a futures bet on the Lions to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Detroit Betting Insights
- Detroit compiled a 10-5-0 record against the spread last season.
- A total of 10 Lions games last season hit the over.
- While Detroit ranked worst in the in total defense with 392.4 yards allowed per game last season, it was a different story on the other side of the ball, as it ranked fourth-best in the (380 yards per game).
- The Lions went 5-4 at home last season and 4-4 away from home.
- Detroit had a 3-2 record as the favored team, and posted a 5-5 record as underdogs.
- The Lions were 5-1 in the NFC North and 7-5 in the NFC overall.
Lions Impact Players
- In 17 games last year, Jared Goff passed for 4,438 yards (261.1 per game), with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and a completion percentage of 65.1%.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown had 106 catches for 1,161 yards (72.6 per game) and six touchdowns in 16 games.
- On the ground with the Bears a season ago, David Montgomery scored five touchdowns a season ago and picked up 801 yards (50.1 per game).
- Kalif Raymond had 47 receptions for 616 yards (36.2 per game) and zero touchdowns in 17 games.
- Alex Anzalone posted one interception to go with 125 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, and five passes defended in 17 games last year.
Bet on Lions to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Lions NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:21 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wnem.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/lions-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:48:36 | 0 | https://www.wnem.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/lions-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
President Harding dies, Medicare approved: News Journal archives, week of July 30
“Pages of history” features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal.
July 30, 1923, The Evening Journal
At 60 years, Ford is world’s richest man
Henry Ford, maker of automobiles and the world’s richest man, is 60 years old today.
Twenty years ago on his 40th birthday he was a poor man. He had just quit a job with the Detroit Edison Company, where he had worked for seven years, to organize Ford Motor Company.
While he was working as a master mechanic in the Edison Electric Power plant, carrying his dinner pail to work and drawing a salary of $125 a month, Ford was spending his nights and holidays working on his “horseless carriage.”
He established the foundation of his success – success in becoming the world’s richest man with a personal fortune of $750 million as head of the world’s largest automobile company.
Ford acknowledged that had it not been for the devotion and faith of his wife he could not have succeeded.
Although today marks Ford’s passing of the 60-year mark, it was observed only as another day in his life, without ceremony.
July 31, 1965, Wilmington Morning News
LBJ, Truman bask in Medicare triumph
President Johnson signed his $6.5 billion Medicare bill yesterday after journeying more than 1,000 miles to share “this time of triumph” with former President Harry S. Truman.
The new law, said the 81-year-old former president, will mean dignity, not charity “for those of us who have moved to the sidelines.”
Then, one hand on his cane, Truman stepped aside and listened as Johnson said the vast program of medical insurance for the elderly will bring “the light of hope and realization” to millions of Americans….
Truman went on to recall that there had been much debate within his administration about the wisdom of proposing medical insurance legislation. He said he finally told his associates: “We’re gonna do it boys, we’re gonna do it. We may not make it but someday we will.”
Aug. 3, 1923, Wilmington Morning News
President Harding dead
SAN FRANCISCO – “That’s good; go on; read some more.”
These were the last words uttered by the President to Mrs. Harding. The President’s hand raised as he asked Mrs. Harding to continue reading. Instantly his expression changed. He was dead.
Warren G. Harding, President of the United States, died instantaneously and without warning at 7:30 o’clock last night, a victim of stroke by apoplexy, which struck him down in his weakened condition after an illness of exactly a week.
The Chief Executive of the nation, and by virtue of his office and personality, one of the world’s leading figures, passed away at the time when his physicians, his family and his people thought that medical skill, hope and prayer had won the battle against disease …
He was definitely on the road to recovery from ptomaine poisoning, acute indigestion, and pneumonia which followed them …
The disease had been conquered, the fire was out, but seven days of silent, though intense, suffering had left their mark, and before physicians could be called, members of his party summoned, or remedial measures taken, he passed from life’s stage after having for nearly two and a half years served his nation and for many years his native state of Ohio.
With the passing of Mr. Harding, the office of President devolves upon Calvin Coolidge, Vice President of the United States, a man silent in nature, but demonstrated as strong in emergencies. He was notified of the death of Mr. Harding at his home in Plymouth, Vermont …
The body of President Harding will leave San Francisco on a special train at about 7 o’clock Friday evening and go directly to Washington, by way of Reno, Ogden, Cheyenne, Omaha and Chicago …
Aug. 5, 1972, Evening Journal
Shock wave from sun due tonight
Federal astronomers predict a shock wave of electrified gases, the result of a large solar flare, will hit the Earth’s atmosphere tonight, disrupting the planet’s magnetic field.
The solar flare, detected yesterday, was the second major flare on the sun in three days.
“It was one of the five largest ever observed,” said Ralph Segman, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) information officer….
The “geomagnetic storm” will cause radio signal blackouts in both polar regions and cause appearances of Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, he said.
Segman added the storm might interfere with defense monitoring by the North American Air Defense Command. Other effects could include huge surges in power lines and alterations of satellite orbits …
Radio signal blackouts have persisted for several days in Antarctica and northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and the Soviet Union because of the new solar activity which began Wednesday …
The federal astronomers predicted that the Earth would be hit with a “sudden commencement geomagnetic storm” at 8:30 p.m. EDT today …
The flare is the result of violent explosions on the surface of the sun. The explosions bring about a bombardment of the Earth’s atmosphere by electrical particles, and the glow visible in the atmosphere is “an optical emission resulting from the electrical particle bombardment,” said Dr. Kay Baker, who directs the space science laboratory at Utah State University ….
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2023/07/29/president-harding-dies-medicare-law-signed-henry-ford-richest-news-journal-archives-week-of-july-30/70455804007/ | 2023-07-29T10:49:04 | 1 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2023/07/29/president-harding-dies-medicare-law-signed-henry-ford-richest-news-journal-archives-week-of-july-30/70455804007/ |
Jalen Carter makes another ‘wow’ play at Eagles camp; is he getting ahead of Jordan Davis?
PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles have only had two days of practice, but so far, Jalen Carter has done something in each practice to indicate that he is well on his way of achieving his rookie goal.
"I want to be defensive rookie of the year," Carter said after practice Friday. "You know, I had a lot of goals and it changes every day. But my main goal is defensive rookie of the year."
Before anyone starts calling Carter the next Aaron Donald, or even Fletcher Cox, the usual caveats apply: It was Day 2 of training camp. Carter has played mostly on the second team. The pads haven't come on yet. And so on.
And on this particular play, Carter was with the third team defensive line, going against the third-team offensive line.
Third team or not, Carter's play was impressive.
The offense ran a running play to the right. Carter was being double-teamed, with 300-pound linemen on either side of him. Carter pushed one into the other, knocking both of them over like a bowler knocking the No. 5 pin into the No. 4 pin to convert a spare.
BARGAIN AT ANY PRICE?Justin Herbert's record $262.5M contract shows why Jalen Hurts' Eagles deal is a bargain
EVERYTHING EAGLES:🦅 Sign up for Eye on the Eagles, our new NFL newsletter 🦅
By doing that, there was no room for the running back to cut upfield, so he kept drifting to the outside. Carter didn't make the so-called tackle, but the running back was touched for no gain.
To Carter, it's nothing new. He faced double teams often when he was at Georgia, and he learned how to beat them both with his power and his speed.
"It's different, you know?" Carter said about the NFL level. "Guys are very strong. Technique is very different. What I noticed about our O-line is they might not throw their hands a lot. And they might use a little finesse with their little stance and all that. It's harder to read run and pass. I just gotta learn."
On Wednesday, the first day of practice, Carter was playing on the second team, and going against the first team offensive line. He beat left guard Landon Dickerson to the inside for a so-called sack. The play was blown dead as quarterbacks are not allowed to be touched.
It's hard to recall another Eagles rookie defensive lineman making such an impact so quickly, since perhaps Cox in 2012. And the Eagles are no strangers when it comes to drafting defensive linemen in the first round.
Since Cox, the Eagles have used first-round picks on defensive linemen/edge rushers on Marcus Smith in 2014, Derek Barnett in 2017 and Jordan Davis in 2022.
Already, Carter has caught the eye of both the Eagles' offensive and defensive linemen.
"Jalen Carter is very fast," left tackle Jordan Mailata said. "The intensity right now and the speed of his game is really fast. I’ve had a couple plays with Jalen, just trying to cut him off from the backside, and he’s really fast ... He’s really good."
Added Cox: "I’ve been in his position, drafted in the first round. You expect a lot, but the biggest thing is to get in and learn, learn the defense, learn how to practice as a pro. Learn the new environment and having to deal with a lot of media, but let go of the distractions.
"Overall, he’s going to be a really good player for us."
The transition to the NFL hasn't been as smooth for Davis, who was Carter's teammate at Georgia in 2021 when the Bulldogs won their first of two straight national championships.
Davis, who's 6-foot-6, 336 pounds, had an up and down rookie season in 2022. He was starting to earn more playing time in the defensive tackle rotation, particularly at nose tackle, before an ankle injury midway through the season sent him to injured reserve.
JURGENS' JOB?Despite no career starts, this lineman is the frontrunner to start at RG for Eagles
When he returned, the Eagles had signed two veteran defensive tackles in Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh, and Davis' playing time diminished the rest of the way.
Joseph and Suh didn't return this season and Javon Hargrave, who was selected to the Pro Bowl with 11 sacks, signed with the 49ers as a free agent. That leaves an opening for Davis, who has been with the first team so far with Cox and Milton Williams.
Davis has played relatively well so far in camp, but he hasn’t made the splash plays that Carter has. Still, it’s easy to see why the Eagles have high expectations for Davis, especially as a run stopper in the middle.
"Go find another human being that looks like him," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said about Davis. "There are not many people built like that. He's strong. He's fast. He's quick. He's powerful. It's about putting it all together, and then us helping him put it all together, and getting the right combination of guys in there and being impactful."
Carter is clearly working himself into that combination of guys.
Interestingly, both Carter and Davis have had their conditioning questioned − Davis last season, and Carter after a poor Pro Day in March. Carter, however, was considered one of the top players in the draft last spring. He fell to the Eagles at No. 9 after pleading no contest to racing and reckless driving in a fatal car accident involving another car.
Carter said Friday that Carter’s conditioning is not a concern, as he showed by making impactful days during a brutally hot 75-minute practice. And he said he's well suited for the defensive scheme.
"I'm very powerful in our defense, the D line," Davis said. "(Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker) wants us to fire off the ball, and that's something I like to do."
Carter said he's not worried about anything else beyond that.
"I'm not really expecting anything," he said. "When they tell me (to go in), I'm just trying to have a big impact on the game, and just do my best."
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/nfl/eagles/2023/07/29/eagles-rookie-jalen-carter-another-wow-play-ahead-jordan-davis-training-camp-fletcher-cox-hargrave/70459747007/ | 2023-07-29T10:49:10 | 1 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/sports/nfl/eagles/2023/07/29/eagles-rookie-jalen-carter-another-wow-play-ahead-jordan-davis-training-camp-fletcher-cox-hargrave/70459747007/ |
Ride some waves, check out the fair, cool off with a side of fun: Your Weekend Guide
Hey, folks, just one more day of asphalt curdling heat and things should ease up a bit, if the forecast is to be believed.
Since it's hot, let's start our Weekend Guide with a few places to escape the swelter and still have tons of fun:
Delaware State Fair
This is the final day of the 2023 Delaware State Fair, so heat wave or now heat wave, it's now or never.
Matthew Korfhage has tried tons of the food at the fair to help guide your noshing decisions. BBQ Parfait? Pickle Pizza? Doughnut Burger? Yeah, all that and more.
Before you head out, be sure to consult our 2023 Delaware State Fair Guide, with all you need to know about tickets, safety, concessions and more. You will find the full guide to fair entertainment here.
Wondering how rides are inspected at the fair and if they have all passed? Check out our story.
Ride the waves at Delaware beaches
If you're headed to the beach this weekend, keep in mind the Bidens are likely headed there, too. That could mean some traffic tie-ups.
As always Shannon Marvel McNaught has rounded up everything you need to know if you go with our weekly Beach Guide.
And Patty Talorico has this great guide to how you may be able to spot the president if that's your thing.
Stay cool, whatever you do. Sunblock up, floppy hats, light clothing and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (tequila shots don't count!)
Cool off at these fun spots
The dog days of summer bark loud and proud as the region is hit with a heat wave late this week.
Some of you have young kids on summer break to entertain, but it’s likely too hot to take them outside. Others need a new after-work activity now that an outdoor walk in the park is out of the question.
Whatever your heat-related plight may be, we know how frustrating it can be to limit yourself to the indoors, especially if you have a house full of children to keep entertained.
Check out these fun spots, as well as some tips to keep you chill.
Summer bucket list
We're hyped for another summer weekend, as July gives way to August.
From New Castle to Slower Lower, there is no shortage of fun to be had from beach to city and everywhere in between.
To inspire you to make the most of it, we've polled our Delaware Online/The News Journal team to share their bucket list items, the things they are determined to do to maximize their own summer of 2023.
We all scream!
Have you ever seen the old Jim Jaramusch film "Down by Law''?
Well, it's the perfect binge-watch for a sultry late July night if you're staying in. It stars Roberto Begnini (!), John Lurie and Tom Waits and is pretty fabulous. But our point here is, the funniest scene involves ice cream.
And so does this roundup by Krys'tal Griffin, which points you in the direction of 9 ice cream places to check out in Delaware.
Something wicked this way comes
Everything that glitters ain't gold. It's a shocking prophecy Macbeth gets from supernatural women on a bloody path for power that looks nothing like ketchup stains. Will Macbeth come out on top? You'll find out in Delaware Shakespeare Summer Festival's version of the Shakespeare tragedy.
Rockwood Park (4651 Washington St., Extension, near Wilmington) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 6 p.m. Sundays. The final show is Sunday, Aug. 6. Wednesday shows are pay-what-you-can donations. Tickets for other dates are $20-$25. Visit delshakes.org or (302) 468-4890.
Check out our photo gallery from the opening performance here.
Movies in the park
Want to catch a free movie in the park? It may be too hot tonight but there are plenty more to enjoy this summer.
Check out this roundup from throughout Delaware.
Tyler Hubbard caps off Delaware State Fair
Arena and stadium-touring country artist Tyler Hubbard is most famous for making up half of the Grammy-nominated duo Florida Georgia Line with Brian Kelley, a band that officially parted ways in September.
FGL, which headlined Harrington’s Delaware Junction Country Music Festival in 2015, has had one of the craziest runs in country music over the last decade. The band is responsible for the hits “This is How We Roll,” “Cruise” and “Lil Bit.”
Fans will get a taste of Hubbard’s solo career when he returns to Harrington, the country capital of Delaware. Singer Megan Moroney will open the show.
Delaware State Fair (18500 S. Dupont Highway, Harrington) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 29. Tickets are $39-$74 (plus service fee). Visit delawarestatefair.com or (302) 398-3269.
Andre Lamar, Krys'tal Griffin and Shannon Marvel McNaught contributed to this story. | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/2023/07/29/delaware-weekend-fun-includes-tyler-hubbard-macbeth-cool-fun/70488042007/ | 2023-07-29T10:49:16 | 1 | https://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/2023/07/29/delaware-weekend-fun-includes-tyler-hubbard-macbeth-cool-fun/70488042007/ |
Cowboys Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Published: Jul. 29, 2023 at 4:23 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
As of December 31 the Dallas Cowboys' odds of winning the Super Bowl are listed at +1600.
Watch the Cowboys this season on Fubo!
Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC East: +170
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +1600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Dallas Betting Insights
- Dallas covered nine times in 17 chances against the spread last season.
- A total of nine Cowboys games last season hit the over.
- Dallas ranked 11th in total offense (354.9 yards per game) and 12th in total defense (330.2 yards allowed per game) last season.
- At home last season, the Cowboys were 8-1. Away, they were 4-4.
- Dallas posted an 8-3 record as the favored team, and posted a 3-2 record as underdogs.
- The Cowboys were 4-2 in the NFC East and 8-4 in the NFC as a whole.
Cowboys Impact Players
- Tony Pollard ran for 1,007 yards (62.9 per game) and nine touchdowns in 16 games last year.
- In the passing game, Pollard scored three touchdowns, with 39 catches for 371 yards.
- In 12 games, Dak Prescott passed for 2,860 yards (238.3 per game), with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.2%.
- On the ground, Prescott scored one touchdown and picked up 182 yards.
- In the passing game a season ago, CeeDee Lamb scored nine TDs, hauling in 107 balls for 1,359 yards (79.9 per game).
- In the passing game with the Texans, Brandin Cooks scored three TDs, catching 57 balls for 699 yards (53.8 per game).
- As a key defensive contributor, Micah Parsons compiled 65 tackles, 14.0 TFL, and 13.5 sacks in 17 games last year.
Bet on Cowboys to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Cowboys NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:24 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.ktre.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/cowboys-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:49:24 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/cowboys-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Four air crew members were missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States, officials said Saturday.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter went down near Lindeman Island, a Great Barrier Reef tourist resort, at about 11 p.m. Friday, exercise director Australian Army Brigadier Damian Hill said.
A search involving U.S., Canadian and Australian personnel was underway to find the crew who are all Australian men, officials said.
Debris that appeared to be from a helicopter had been recovered, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Douglas McDonald said.
The Taipan was taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint U.S.-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland. This year’s exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said the helicopter ditched, which refers to an emergency landing on water.
“Defense exercises, which are so necessary for the readiness of our defense force, are serious. They carry risk,” Marles told reporters in Brisbane. “As we desperately hope for better news during the course of this day we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation’s uniform.”
Hill said the exercise was postponed on Saturday morning but had restarted limited activity later in the day. Australia had grounded its Taipan fleet as a precaution, Hill said.
It was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan this year, after one ditched into the sea off the New South Wales state coast in March. That helicopter was taking part in a nighttime counterterrorism training exercise when it ran into trouble. All 10 passengers and crew members were rescued.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Brisbane for a meeting on Saturday and is due to travel with Marles to north Queensland on Sunday to see the exercise.
Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid tribute to the missing air crew at the outset of a meeting with their Australian counterparts, Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
“It’s always tough when you have accidents in training, but … the reason that we train to such high standards is so that we can be successful and we can protect lives when we are called to answer any kind of crisis,” Austin said.
“Our guys tend to make this look easy and they make it look easy because they’re so well exercised and rehearsed and trained, and this is unfortunately a part of that, what it takes to get them to where we need them to be,” Austin added.
Blinken said, “We’re so grateful to them for their dedication, for their service, for everything they’ve been doing to stand up for the freedom that we share and that is what unites us more than anything else.”
Marles thanked the United States for their contribution to the search and rescue effort.
The missing helicopter had just dropped off two Australian commandos before it hit the water, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Australia announced in January that its army and navy would stop flying the European-built Taipans by December 2024, 13 years earlier than originally planned, because they had proven unreliable. They will be replaced by 40 U.S. Black Hawks. Marles said at the time the Lockheed Martin-designed Black Hawks “have a really good proven track record in terms of their reliability.”
Australia’s Taipans had been plagued by problems since the first helicopter arrived in the country in 2007.
Australia’s entire fleet of 47 Taipans was grounded in 2019 to fix a problem with their tail rotor blades. A year later, 27 Taipans were grounded because of a problem with doors.
___
Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-4-air-crew-members-are-missing-after-australian-army-helicopter-ditched-off-australias-coast/ | 2023-07-29T10:49:55 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-4-air-crew-members-are-missing-after-australian-army-helicopter-ditched-off-australias-coast/ |
A British court ruled Friday against London suburbs that tried to block a pollution tax on older cars as green policies become a hot political issue in the U.K. amid increasingly dramatic impacts of global climate change.
The High Court ruled that Mayor Sadiq Khan had the authority to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, which charges drivers of older gas and diesel vehicles 12.50 pounds ($16) a day they operate, to the city’s outskirts next month.
Five conservative councils challenged Khan’s right to impose the measure. They criticized the expansion to an area where there are fewer public transport options and people are more reliant on cars, and because of a disproportionate impact on lower-income drivers who can’t afford newer, cleaner cars.
Khan said the ruling would allow the expanded zone to take effect Aug. 29 and help reduce air pollution. He said he would also expand a program that provides financial assistance to some families and small businesses to scrap older cars.
“The ULEZ has already reduced toxic nitrogen dioxide air pollution by nearly half in central London and a fifth in inner London,” said Khan, a member of the Labour Party. “The coming expansion will see 5 million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.”
The five councils that challenged the zone issued a joint statement saying they were “hugely disappointed”. While they accepted that Khan may have the legal right to implement the measure, they questioned whether it was morally right.
“It is evident that the mayor of London and (Transport for London) do not realize the damage the extension will have to the lives of residents and businesses in outer London as well as those outside of its borders,” the group said.
The city’s transportation agency said most gas vehicles under 16 years old and diesel vehicles less than 6 years old comply with the standard.
In April, a study from London City Hall found levels of nitrogen dioxide exceeded the legal limit in 14 of the city’s 32 boroughs. Khan argued he had a statutory responsibility to take measures to improve air quality.
Nine out of 10 cars on the road in outer London on an average day comply with standards, Transport for London said. The Royal Automobile Club said nearly 700,000 licensed cars in London are unlikely to comply.
Fury over the the ULEZ expansion was credited last week with helping Tories hold one of three seats in Parliament in a special election. Conservatives had been expected to lose all three but they retained their seat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Interestingly, the emissions charge was first imposed in 2015 by then-Mayor Boris Johnson, the Conservative who went on to become prime minister before resigning last year amid several scandals and quitting Parliament last month. It was his House of Commons seat Tories retained in the by-election.
The issue has now caused a crisis for the Labour Party, which is seen as likely to return to power next year after being ousted by Conservatives in 2010.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said there was no doubt ULEZ cost them the Uxbridge election and said Khan should “reflect” on the policy.
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was widely quoted this week in a New Statesman magazine interview in which he cautioned: “Don’t ask us to do a huge amount when frankly whatever we do in Britain is not really going to impact climate change.” The interview was conducted before the special elections.
The dust-up over how to control emissions comes as July is on target to be the hottest month in recorded human history and the effects of a warming planet can be seen in catastrophic wildfires, flooding and alarming ocean temperatures. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres this week declared: “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
While the by-election has caused consternation for Labour over how best to stick to a green agenda, it is also sparking a rethink for Conservatives who have been accused recently of backing away from pledges to combat climate change.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signaled this week he was open to revisiting net-zero policies, saying he’d take a pragmatic approach that didn’t add more hassles or costs to people’s lives. He caused confusion by not recommitting to a ban on gas and diesel cars by 2030, though cabinet minister Michael Gove later insisted that deadline was firm. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:02 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-a-pollution-tax-on-older-cars-can-be-extended-to-londons-suburbs-after-a-british-court-ruling/ |
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Armenia’s authorities on Friday called on the country’s international allies to put pressure on Azerbaijan after accusing it of carrying out a three-day blockade of humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The accusations mark another flashpoint in the tense relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan which have fought over the breakaway region for decades.
The Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vahan Kostanyan, accused Azerbaijan of blocking the so-called Lachin Corridor and demanded international allies step in to allow 19 trucks with 400 tons of humanitarian aid to pass. According to Armenian authorities, the trucks have been stuck there since the evening of July 26.
“The additional pressure of our international partners on Baku is very important. We have heard statements from our various colleagues, but we don’t think this is enough,” he said.
Kostanyan previously also accused Azerbaijan of ignoring a ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Azerbaijan authorities to ensure unimpeded movement in the Lachin Corridor, the only road from Armenia into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ongoing dispute over the road has impeded food supplies to the region and aggravated tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have fought two wars since the end of Soviet rule.
Nagorno-Karabakh had substantial autonomy under the Soviet Union and came under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in 1994 at the end of years of separatist fighting. Armenian forces also took sizable territory surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
In 2020, Azerbaijan regained most of that surrounding territory and pieces of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a war which killed about 6,800 soldiers. Under a Russia-brokered armistice, transit along the Lachin Corridor was to continue under the guarantee of Russian peacekeepers.
According to Armenian media, trucks and foreign diplomats are currently in the village of Kornidzor on Armenia’s border with Nagorno-Karabakh, which is at one end of the Lachin Corridor.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said that it viewed Armenia’s attempt to send a convoy to Nagorno-Karabakh “under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid’” as a violation of Azerbaijan’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.” Azerbaijan also accuses Armenia of smuggling weapons into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The latest flare-up comes weeks following talks in Brussels and Washington aimed at calming tensions between the two countries after Azerbaijan opened a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor in April. At that point, the road had already been blocked for four months by demonstrators who were protesting what they claimed to be illegal mining and other ecological abuses by Armenians in the area. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:09 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-armenia-calls-on-allies-to-help-get-aid-to-nagorno-karabakh-during-tensions-with-azerbaijan/ |
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus on Friday jointly appealed for information that could lead to the buried remains of people who vanished amid violence and war decades ago, a task with increasing urgency as eyewitnesses die.
Cyprus’ Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, made the appeal in a symbolic move aiming to show that the purely humanitarian issue should stay above the complex and often bitter politics of the nearly half-century ethnic split.
It also sought to inject some fresh urgency into efforts to resume deadlocked peace talks. A deal has eluded Cypriot leaders since a 1974 coup aiming at union with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that entrenched that division.
Both Christodoulides and Tatar toured the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) that has, since 2006, been tasked with locating, unearthing and identifying the remains of individuals who vanished during clashes in the early 1960s and the 1974 invasion.
“This is a humanitarian issue, therefore this is something which is outside politics,” Tatar told reporters. “What ever we can do to improve, as I saw the discovery of missing persons is something that we owe to the families.”
Christodoulides echoed a shared commitment to collect more information, but added that progress on this issue would also send a “clear political message” about building trust between the two sides that haven’t engaged in direct talks in six years.
Information is now at a premium, said Paul-Henri Arni, the U.N. appointed member of the tripartite committee that also includes a Greek and Turkish Cypriot representative.
Arni told The Associated Press that the CMP has found, identified and returned to relatives the remains of 51.5% of all missing persons.
But having the leaders nudge anyone with information to step forward is essential to resolving the most difficult remaining cases, in which individuals were killed at one spot and buried elsewhere without witnesses.
According to CMP figures, of 1,510 Greek Cypriots and 492 Turkish Cypriots who are missing, 769 and 200 respectively have not been found.
“The issue is access to new information at the moment where witnesses are passing away,” Arni said. “And so we’ve discussed with the leaders ways they could help us through the own networks, also with specific former combatants.”
Work is slow as the chances of finding remains at excavated sites currently stands at 10% — far below the 50% when the CMP began work in earnest in 2006.
Arni said another key source of information are archived witness accounts which have been digitized for easer access, as well as sifting through 900,000 pages of U.N., U.K. and International Committee of the Red Cross archives which produced 3,740 documents of actionable data.
Christodoulides told reporters following the visit to the CMP premises that access to Turkey military archives is still restricted.
Some 80% of the CMP’s 3.2 million euro ($3.5 million) annual budget is funded by the EU and Arni said additional funding would enable the committee to augment is current number of seven excavation teams to speed up work on 65 new sites.
Christodoulides said it would be a “shame” for more information becoming available but without additional teams to act on them, adding that he would formally ask the EU for more funding. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:15 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-divided-cyprus-rival-leaders-appeal-for-information-on-the-missing-as-eyewitnesses-die/ |
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis urged governments to do more to fight climate change and protect “our common home” as improving weather conditions Friday helped firefighters contain wildfires in Greece, Italy and other countries in southern Europe.
Francis, who has been outspoken on environmental issues, sent a telegram of condolences to Greece, where wildfires killed five people over the past week, including the pilots of a water-dropping aircraft.
The pope noted that successive heat waves have exacerbated the dangers of the summer fire season. He offered his prayers for firefighters and emergency personnel in particular.
“(I hope) that the risks to our common home, exacerbated by the present climate crisis, will spur all people to renew their efforts to care for the gift of creation, for the sake of future generations,” Francis said.
Fueled by the heat waves and strong gusts of wind, wildfires in Europe’s Mediterranean region have kept travelers and residents on alert. In Greece, fires scorched hundreds of square kilometers of land outside Athens, on the island of Rhodes and elsewhere this month.
As the situation improved considerably on Friday, Greece’s minister for the police unexpectedly stepped down, citing “personal grounds.” Greek media said Notis Mitarachi’s resignation was requested after it emerged he had been on a family holiday during the wildfire crisis.
The main opposition Syriza party issued a statement accusing the center-right government of using “personal grounds” as a euphemism for “(Mitarachi’s) holidays while the country was burning from end to end.”
In central Greece, authorities maintained an exclusion zone around one of the country’s largest air force bases after a wildfire triggered powerful explosions at a nearby ammunition depot Thursday. Fighter jets stationed at the 111th Combat Wing base were moved to other facilities.
The depot blasts near the central city of Volos shattered windows in nearby towns and prompted the evacuation of more than 2,000 people. Local news broadcasts showed a ground-shaking fireball erupting.
Residents were rushed onto private boats mobilized by the coast guard and taken to a conference center in Volos, some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the weapons storage site. A civilian traffic ban and evacuation order remained in effect Friday within a 3-kilometer (2-mile) radius of the depot.
The explosions did not affect flights at Volos international airport, officials told The Associated Press.
A drop in temperatures and calmer winds helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes in Greece and all major fires were contained by midday Friday, Greek Fire Service officials said.
Conditions also improved elsewhere in Europe’s Mediterranean regions thanks to cooler temperatures, allowing firefighters to contain wildfires along the Croatian coast and in Sicily.
Firefighting teams in Turkey also brought a wildfire burning close to the southern Mediterranean resort of Kemer under control, four days after it erupted, Ibrahim Yumakli, the country’s forestry minister, said.
The governments of the countries hit by heat waves and fires have steered public debate away from the potential impact on tourism. Rhodes, where a fire last weekend required about 19,000 people to be evacuated from several locations on the island, was promised state support Friday for its international advertising campaign.
In Germany, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach sought Friday to address Italian irritation over a mid-July social media post in which he described the heat wave he encountered on a visit to Italy as “spectacular” and added that “if it goes on like this, these vacation destinations will have no future in the long term.”
Lauterbach told reporters in Berlin that he wasn’t warning against vacations in southern Europe and plans to visit Italy again himself.
“Of course, it is more difficult now for the southern countries to organize heat protection in such a way that it is also accessible for every tourist, but I think those countries will know exactly what they have to do,” he said.
Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek minister for climate change and civil protection, said fires had burned 400 square kilometers (155 square miles) of land in the country in July alone, while the recent average is 500 square kilometers (nearly 200 square miles) in a year.
“Is the situation any better in other countries bordering the Mediterranean? It’s a fair question … but the answer is no,” Kikilias said.
“The climate crisis that brought us this unprecedented heat wave is here. It’s not a theory. It is our actual experience,” he said. “This is not something that will just occur this year. It will last and we have to face the consequences of what that means.”
___
Winfield reported from Rome. Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues at https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:22 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-exclusion-zone-set-up-around-greek-military-base-after-wildfires-trigger-powerful-explosions/ |
BENGALURU, India (AP) — The final meeting of climate and environment ministers from the world’s largest economies ended without an agreement or joint statement Friday despite pleas from leading figures for nations to show a united front on climate change as weather records shatter across the globe.
In a gathering in Chennai in India, ministers from the Group of 20 countries — who emit around 80% of the world’s planet-warming gases — failed to agree on four of 68 points of discussion.
A document published by the group shows countries did not agree on aiming to peak emissions by 2025, moving to clean energy and a tax on carbon as a way to reduce emissions.
“We couldn’t get a consensus but we agreed on a lot,” said Canada’s climate minister Steven Guilbeault at a virtual press conference after the meeting.
The ministers’ decisions will now be passed on to country leaders ahead of a summit in New Delhi in September this year. It will be the group’s last chance to issue a joint statement on climate this year.
On Thursday, the president of the upcoming United Nations climate talks Sultan al-Jaber and the U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell attended the Chennai meeting to urge countries to issue an ambitious statement that will make sure the world is on track to keep global warming within the agreed temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
The world has currently warmed around 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times and effects are already being felt all over the world, with hosts India especially vulnerable. Earlier this year, more than 100 people died during a heat wave in the center of the country and last week at least 27 people died in western India due to landslides triggered by heavy rains.
Since India took over the G-20 presidency last December, none of the meetings that deal with various policy areas like foreign affairs, finance, energy and climate change have come out with a joint communique but their announcements may form part of a final document released at the leaders’ summit in September.
Earlier this month, a meeting of finance chiefs and central bank governors of the G-20 leading economies ended in Gandhinagar in the western state of Gujarat without a consensus because of differences between countries over the war in Ukraine.
Similarly, a meeting of energy ministers in Goa last week ended unsuccessfully with the final summary failing to mention a phase down of fossil fuels and ministers did not agree to raise ambition to treble renewable energy targets.
The meeting in Chennai was the last of four meetings of G-20 climate ministers. They had earlier met in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar in Gujarat and Mumbai.
___
Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:30 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-g20-ministers-reach-agreement-on-most-but-not-all-climate-issues/ |
BERLIN (AP) — A leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany on Friday urged members of the country’s main opposition conservative bloc to break down a “firewall” meant to isolate his party, which is at record levels in polls.
The 10-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gathered in the eastern city of Magdeburg for a convention stretching over the next two weekends at which it plans to choose candidates and set its policy platform for next June’s European Parliament election.
Recent polls put support for AfD at 19-22%, behind only the main conservative opposition bloc. Earlier this week, the latter’s main leader, Friedrich Merz, insisted that there would be no cooperation even at the local level between his Christian Democratic Union and AfD, after his apparent suggestion that they might work together prompted criticism from fellow conservatives.
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told delegates that “polls aren’t results” and they should view recent surveys with “humility.” But he pointed to his party’s prospects of winning three state elections in eastern regions next year, and said that “we could take on government responsibility.”
The first AfD candidates recently won elections in eastern Germany to lead a county administration and become the full-time mayor of a municipality.
Chrupalla mocked Merz, who recently described his conservative bloc as an “alternative for Germany with substance.” He said that “we are the original,” and argued that Merz has recognized “it was wrong to put up a firewall against our party.”
“I call on all patriots in the CDU: tear down this … wall,” he said.
Chrupalla spent large parts of his speech assailing the environmentalist Green party, part of the center-left coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and also underlined his party’s opposition to weapons deliveries to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. He asserted that today’s European Union is “responsible for a disastrous migration policy, with sanctions policies that are harmful to the economy.”
The AfD convention will, probably several days in, address the party’s position on the EU and whether Germany should leave. The party’s other co-leader, Alice Weidel, told ZDF television Friday that it favors a dismantling of EU areas of responsibility, but didn’t specify whether the bloc should be dissolved. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:37 | 0 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-german-far-right-leader-urges-conservatives-to-break-down-firewall-against-his-party/ |
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami on Friday criticized prosecutors for an apparent attempt to undercut a court order and take control of a oceanside condo belonging to a former Republican congressman ahead of a high-profile trial connected to a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government.
When David Rivera and an associate were charged last November with money laundering and acting as unregistered foreign agents for President Nicolás Maduro’s government, prosecutors obtained a judge’s order freezing several banking and brokerage accounts as well as Florida properties that they said were the product of some $24 million in ill-gotten gains.
Prosecutors also blocked eight more properties belonging to Rivera and his associate in Florida and Georgia that, while unrelated to criminal activity, would likely be seized if the two are found guilty.
This month, in a harshly worded ruling, Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres said that the government had no right to take the “innocent” Florida assets without a conviction. Rather than lift the restraining order, the government then asked the court to reconsider and said that it had since determined that three of the properties — including a condo that Rivera and his wife purchased in 2019 for $301,000 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida — could also be traced to the defendants’ alleged lobbying on behalf of Maduro’s government.
Judge Darrin Gayles on Friday expressed frustration with the government’s change in strategy.
“This reeks of gamesmanship,” said Gayles, who reversed his own sealed order of a week ago granting prosecutors’ request that the real estate properties once again be frozen. “It seems like the government simply filed this because it lost.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nalina Sombuntham said prosecutors first learned from investigators that the property could be directly “tainted” by Rivera’s consulting work with Venezuela in May or June but didn’t alert the court until July 14 — a week after Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres issued his 23-page order freeing up the properties.
Gayles, who is overseeing the criminal case, was unimpressed. “It seems like you’re wasting the court’s time,” he said.
Rivera has been marred by scandals stretching back to his days in Congress from 2011 to 2013. He was arrested late last year on an eight-count criminal indictment alleging that at the start of the Trump administration he was part of a conspiracy to lobby on behalf of Venezuela to lower tensions with the U.S., resolve a legal dispute with a U.S. oil company and end U.S. sanctions against the South American nation — all without registering as a foreign agent.
As part of that effort, he arranged meetings in Washington, New York and Dallas for allies of Maduro with U.S. lawmakers and a top aide to former President Donald Trump, according to the indictment. To hide the sensitive nature of his work, prosecutors allege Rivera referred to Maduro in chat messages as the “bus driver,” a congressman as “Sombrero” and millions of dollars as “melons.”
Court records show Rivera’s consulting work was closely coordinated with Raúl Gorrín, a Venezuelan insider and media tycoon who has himself been sanctioned and indicted in the U.S. on money laundering charges. Part of the more than $20 million that Rivera was alleged to have received from Venezuela was used to pay maintenance on one of Gorrin’s yachts, according to prosecutors.
Rivera maintains that Gorrín was his attorney in Venezuela and that all of his work was conducted on behalf of PDV USA — a Delaware-based affiliate of Venezuelan-owned Citgo — and didn’t require he register as a foreign agent.
The dispute over Rivera’s assets has slowed the government’s prosecution of the high-profile case. Eight months after being charged, Rivera has yet to be formally arraigned — normally a routine procedural step — because he said he needs access to the disputed assets to pay his attorneys.
Rivera’s attorneys in filings have accused prosecutors of waging a “scorched earth attack” against the south Florida GOP stalwart who once shared an apartment in Tallahassee with now Sen. Marco Rubio when both were state lawmakers.
“They lost, they got caught and they came to this court and it is wrong,” David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Rivera’s co-defendant Esther Nuhfer said.
Rivera was triumphant following Friday’s hearing, accusing the prosecutors of “misconduct.” Judge Gayles was more restrained, making no such finding of wrongdoing even as he questioned prosecutors’ actions.
“Today’s decision shows that there are still honorable judges in America who will not tolerate misconduct from dishonest government prosecutors,” Rivera wrote The Associated Press in a text message. “Another victory for truth and justice.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida didn’t immediately comment.
___
Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:44 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-judge-blasts-prosecutors-handling-of-venezuela-case-against-ex-miami-congressman/ |
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s navy located the boat of a missing American sailor off the country’s southern coast, but the Maryland man who had been piloting it solo wasn’t found, authorities said Friday.
Donald Lawson’s capsized trimaran was found Thursday night by a patrol boat involved in the search 356 nautical miles (about 410 miles or 660 kilometers) southwest of the resort city of Acapulco, according to the navy’s press office.
The navy said that it would continue its search for Lawson, 41, an experienced sailor.
A plane had reported spotting a boat similar to the description of Lawson’s on July 23 about 320 nautical miles (370 miles or 595 kilometers) south of Acapulco. The navy sent boats to the area, but it wasn’t until Thursday night that they found it.
Port authorities in Acapulco said that Lawson had arrived on Jan. 26 for repairs to a motor and hull of the boat. After the repairs were completed, Lawson left Acapulco on July 5, headed for the Panama Canal, where he planned to cross to the Caribbean Sea and continue north to Baltimore, Maryland.
His wife, Jacqueline Lawson, told local media outlets that on July 9, he had sent her a message saying he was having mechanical problems and the motor was losing power. Three days later, he told her a storm had knocked out his wind generator and he would try to return to Acapulco. The last satellite positioning message received for the Defiant was July 13.
Lawson, who is Black, grew up in Baltimore and from his first sailing opportunity at age 9, set his sights on making it his career.
“From that day forward, that was my goal – become a professional sailor,” Lawson said in a profile published by U.S. Sailing last year.
He started out cleaning boats, folding sails and stowing gear in Annapolis. Later, he and his wife founded the Dark Seas Project, an effort to increase diversity in the sport of sailing. He is the chairman of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for U.S. Sailing.
Lawson was working toward challenging records for circumnavigating the globe solo. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:51 | 0 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-mexicos-navy-finds-boat-but-not-missing-us-sailor/ |
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Millions of Shiite Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world on Friday commemorated Ashoura, a remembrance of the 7th-century martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, that gave birth to their faith.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban cut mobile phone services in key cities holding commemorations for fear of militants targeting Shiites, whom Sunni extremists consider heretics. Security forces in neighboring Pakistan as well stood on high alert as the commemorations there have seen attacks in the past.
Not all Shiites, however, were to mark the day Friday. Iraq, Lebanon and Syria planned their remembrances for Saturday, which will see a major suburb of Beirut shut down and the faithful descend on the Iraqi city of Karbala, where Hussein is entombed in a gold-domed shrine.
Shiites represent over 10% of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims and view Hussein as the rightful successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein’s death in battle at the hands of Sunnis at Karbala, south of Baghdad, ingrained a deep rift in Islam and continues to this day to play a key role in shaping Shiite identity.
Over 1,340 years after Hussein’s martyrdom, Baghdad, Tehran, Islamabad and other major capitals in the Middle East were adorned with symbols of Shiite piety and repentance: red flags for Hussein’s blood, symbolic black funeral tents and black dress for mourning, processions of men and boys expressing fervor in the ritual of chest-beating and self-flagellation with chains.
In Iran, where the theocratic government views itself as the protector of Shiites worldwide, the story of Hussein’s martyrdom takes on political connotations amid its tensions with the West over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian state television aired images of commemorations across the Islamic Republic, tying the event to criticizing the West, Israel and the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Anchor Wesam Bahrani on Iran’s state-run English-language broadcaster Press TV referred to America as the “biggest opponent of Islam” and criticized Muslim countries allied with the U.S.
Men wore black, rhythmically beating their chests in mourning or using flails to strike their backs. Some wore red headbands, as black and red banners bore Hussein’s name. Some sprayed water over the mourners in the intense heat.
“Every year everyone joins hands in solidarity,” said 23-year-old Mohammad Hajatmand, who took part in a processional in Tehran. Hussein “was martyred very brutally and when anyone hears the story of Ashoura, regardless of their religion, their hearts will be broken and they will sympathize with him.”
The commemoration in Iran also comes as Tehran prepares for the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death launched protests nationwide in Iran that reportedly saw more than 500 protesters killed and some 20,000 others detained. Authorities have begun stepping up their enforcement of mandatory hijab, or headscarf, laws for women in recent weeks.
In the suburb of Sayida Zeinab near Syria’s capital, Damascus, security forces guarded checkpoints after a bomb hidden in a motorcycle exploded Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more. On Tuesday, another bomb in a motorcycle wounded two people. The suburb is home to a shrine to Zeinab, the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
Local resident Mustafa Semaan, 41, said the area had seen a resurgence of religious tourism after security stabilized amid Syria’s ongoing war and the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t believe the religious observances will be affected (by the recent bombings), but the economic situation as a result of visitors coming from outside Syria may be affected,” Semaan said. “If this continues, if there were a third attack, there might be a very negative impact.”
Iraq will see the main observance of the Ashoura on Saturday in Karbala, where hundreds of thousands are expected and many will rush toward the shrine to symbolize their desire to answer Hussein’s last cries for help in battle. Convoys of the faithful already had begun to arrive there.
Those marking the commemoration in Kabul, Afghanistan, beat their backs bloody with chains and knives in ritual bloodletting known as “tatbir,” meant to recreate the blood flowing from the slain Hussein. The practice has become debated among Shiite clerics in recent decades.
“We have only one problem that (the Taliban) are preventing us to raise our flags and enter (the city) with the flags,” said Karbalayee Rashid, an organizer of the Kabul commemoration. “Thank God the security has been taken care. It is OK, but there are more limits in this country this year than last year.”
In Pakistan, authorities stepped up security as an Interior Ministry alert warned that “terrorists” could target Ashoura processions in major cities. Security was tight in the capital, Islamabad, where police were deployed at a key Shiite place of worship.
The main Ashoura processions also got underway in the eastern city of Lahore in the Punjab province, where thousands of police officers have been deployed. Processions in Karachi and elsewhere were also starting. There was no immediate report of any violence.
“The Imam’s lesson is … hold on to patience,” said Anam Batool, a mourner who took part in a commemoration in Islamabad. “After that, resist falsehood, stand with the truth. Where you must raise your voice against oppression, raise your voice there.”
___
Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Baghdad; Anmar Khalil in Karbala, Iraq; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-millions-of-shiite-muslims-across-the-world-commemorate-the-mourning-day-of-ashoura/ | 2023-07-29T10:50:58 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-millions-of-shiite-muslims-across-the-world-commemorate-the-mourning-day-of-ashoura/ |
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian military says it shot down a Ukrainian missile over a southern Russian city, accuses Kyiv of a “terror attack.”
Russian military says it shot down a Ukrainian missile over a southern Russian city, accuses Kyiv of a “terror attack.”
by: AP
Posted:
Updated: | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-russian-military-says-it-shot-down-a-ukrainian-missile-over-a-southern-russian-city-accuses-kyiv-of-a-terror-attack/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:05 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-russian-military-says-it-shot-down-a-ukrainian-missile-over-a-southern-russian-city-accuses-kyiv-of-a-terror-attack/ |
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Salvage crews dealing with a cargo ship loaded with cars that has been burning for more than two days off the northern Dutch coast boarded the vessel for the first time Friday as heat, flames and smoke eased, the Netherlands’ coast guard said.
“In the course of the morning, after measurements by the recovery companies, it turned out that the temperature on board the Fremantle Highway had dropped sharply. The fire is still raging but decreasing. The smoke is also decreasing,” the coast guard said in a statement.
Salvage workers boarded the ship and established “a new more robust towing connection,” the agency added. “This makes it easier to move the ship and keep it under control.”
Government officials are now “looking at various scenarios to determine the next steps,” the coast guard said.
One crew member died and others were injured after the blaze started. The entire crew was evacuated from the ship in the early hours of Wednesday, with some leaping into the sea and being picked up by a lifeboat. The cause of the fire hasn’t been established.
The Fremantle Highway was 23 kilometers (14 miles) north of the island of Terschelling on Friday afternoon, close to busy North Sea shipping lanes and an internationally renowned migratory bird habitat.
K Line, the company that chartered the ship, said Friday that it was carrying far more electric vehicles than initially reported by the coast guard.
Company spokesman Pat Adamson said the ship was carrying a total of 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles. The coast guard, citing an early freight list, had said it was carrying 2,857 cars, including 25 electric cars.
Adamson said K Line didn’t know the source of the initial lower number.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has warned about the possible dangers of electric vehicle battery fires, a hazard that stems from thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that causes uncontrolled battery temperature and pressure increases.
The burning vessel was close to the shallow Wadden Sea, a World Heritage-listed area that is considered one of the world’s most significant habitats for migratory birds. It’s also close to the Netherlands’ border with Germany, whose environment minister, Steffi Lemke, said Thursday that if the ship were to sink, it “could turn into an environmental catastrophe of unknown proportions.”
Earlier this month in Newark, New Jersey, firefighters took nearly a week to extinguish a similar blaze in a car transport ship. Two firefighters were killed and five others were injured battling the flames. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-salvage-crews-board-a-cargo-ship-burning-off-the-netherlands-the-smoke-and-flames-are-easing/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:12 | 0 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-salvage-crews-board-a-cargo-ship-burning-off-the-netherlands-the-smoke-and-flames-are-easing/ |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Doksuri weakened into a tropical storm late Friday night after bringing heavy winds and rain that left more than a million people without power in southern China.
After making landfall Friday morning in southern Fujian province, where at least 400,000 people were evacuated, the storm flooded streets and toppled electric transmission towers in the province. Over a million households were left without power, according to the state-backed Xiamen Evening News.
The typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm at 11 p.m. Friday night, China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV announced.
Businesses and summer school classes had been ordered suspended and the public was urged to stay indoors. In the city of Quanzhou by China’s southern coast, authorities reported some 50 individuals sustained minor injuries. Residents shared photos on social media showing downed trees with roots fully out of the ground Saturday morning.
The tropical storm is expected to move its way farther inland in China, bringing heavy rains to the capital, Beijing.
Earlier in the week, the storm grazed past Taiwan’s main island after hitting the Philippines ‘ main island of Luzon, where it produced landslides, flooding and downed trees. The storm displaced thousands and caused 41 deaths — including 27 killed in the capsizing of a passenger ship. About 20 others remained missing, including four coast guard personnel whose boat overturned while on a rescue mission in hard-hit Cagayan province, officials said Saturday, adding that they were monitoring another approaching storm. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-typhoon-doksuri-is-downgraded-to-tropical-storm-status-as-it-leaves-southern-china/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:18 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-typhoon-doksuri-is-downgraded-to-tropical-storm-status-as-it-leaves-southern-china/ |
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has been forced to cut food, cash payments and assistance to millions of people in many countries because of “a crippling funding crisis” that has seen its donations plummet by about half as acute hunger is hitting record levels, a top official said Friday.
Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, told a news conference that at least 38 of the 86 countries where WFP operates have already seen cuts or plan to cut assistance soon — including Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and West Africa.
He said WFP’s operating requirement is $20 billion to deliver aid to everyone in need, but it was aiming for between $10 billion and $14 billion, which was what the agency had received in the past few years.
“We’re still aiming at that, but we have only so far this year gotten to about half of that, around $5 billion,” Skau said.
He said humanitarian needs were “going through the roof” in 2021 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and its global implications. “Those needs continue to grow, those drivers are still there,” he said, “but the funding is drying up. So we’re looking at 2024 (being) even more dire.”
“The largest food and nutrition crisis in history today persists,” Skau said. “This year, 345 million people continue to be acutely food insecure while hundreds of millions of people are at risk of worsening hunger.”
Skau said conflict and insecurity remain the primary drivers of acute hunger around the world, along with climate change, unrelenting disasters, persistent food price inflation and mounting debt stress — all during a slowdown in the global economy.
WFP is looking to diversify its funding base, but he also urged the agency’s traditional donors to “step up and support us through this very difficult time.”
Asked why funding was drying up, Skau said to ask the donors.
“But it’s clear that aid budgets, humanitarian budgets, both in Europe and the United States, (are) not where they were in 2021-2022,” he said.
Skau said that in March, WFP was forced to cut rations from 75% to 50% for communities in Afghanistan facing emergency levels of hunger, and in May it was forced to cut food for 8 million people — 66% of the people it was assisting. Now, it is helping just 5 million people, he said. In Syria, 5.5 million people who relied on WFP for food were already on 50% rations, Skau said, and in July the agency cut all rations to 2.5 million of them. In the Palestinian territories, WFP cut its cash assistance by 20% in May and in June. It cut its caseload by 60%, or 200,000 people. And in Yemen, he said, a huge funding gap will force WFP to cut aid to 7 million people as early as August.
In West Africa, where acute hunger is on the rise, Skau said, most countries are facing extensive ration cuts, particularly WFP’s seven largest crisis operations: Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon.
He said cutting aid to people who are only at the hunger level of crisis to help save those literally starving or in the category of catastrophic hunger means that those dropped will rapidly fall into the emergency and catastrophe categories, “and so we will have an additional humanitarian emergency on our hands down the road.”
“Ration cuts are clearly not the way to go forward,” Skau said.
He urged world leaders to prioritize humanitarian funding and invest in long-tern solutions to conflicts, poverty, development and other root causes of the current crisis. | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-un-says-its-forced-to-cut-food-aid-to-millions-globally-because-of-a-funding-crisis/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:25 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-international/ap-un-says-its-forced-to-cut-food-aid-to-millions-globally-because-of-a-funding-crisis/ |
Finding new species of fish was the goal when marine biologist Hudson Pinheiro was diving in the Verde Island Passage in the Philippines. And he found them. But while he was down there, he found something else that was deeply troubling: plastic — loads of it smothering the coral reef where the fish were living.
"It's sad," Pinheiro, currently a researcher with the University of São Paulo, told NPR. "It's super, super sad."
Pinheiro expanded his research focus beyond fish to the plastics they live with. Of particular interest to him: The kinds of plastics covering the reefs and how they were impacting the health of the corals and their fish communities.
Researchers have previously found that plastic can not only "suffocate and kill the corals, sponges and other invertebrates," says Pinheiro, but also increase the likelihood of a coral getting a disease by 20 times, according to a 2018 study published in Science.
Over the next several years, Pinheiro and 18 other researchers examined trash from 84 reefs across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans — often spending 5 to 6 hours per dive. In harder to reach locations, the team used video recorders mounted on underwater vehicles.
The result was what Pinheiro calls the most comprehensive catalog to date of the acres of plastic debris impacting corals. His team found that it sits atop 92% of the reefs they studied, including some of the most remote and uninhabited ones. His study appears in this week's issue of Nature.
More than bags and bottles
What Pinheiro and his team found was that the trash wasn't just plastic bags and bottles. The lion's share was actually plastic fishing debris, "like ropes, long lines, nets that get entangled and get stuck in the reef," he says.
Even after all this fishing gear settles on the coral, it keeps on killing other marine animals. It continues to catch fish even after it's been discarded or lost – a phenomenon known as "ghost fishing."
The researchers were also surprised to discover there was more plastic enmeshed in deeper reefs than shallower ones.
That may be because "most of the fish are already overfished in the shallow water," says Pinheiro. "So the fishermen [are] moving to deeper reefs to catch the same amount that they used to catch before."
Plastic pollution was denser on reefs near cities and markets, which is logical. More people equals more plastic waste. But there was also a great deal of plastic found in marine protected areas, underwater regions intended for long-term conservation, where you would think people would be more careful about littering. That was curious at first, says Pinheiro, but made sense when he considered that's where fish (and therefore fishermen) are found in relatively higher abundance.
Where plastic waste on reefs is worse
Pinheiro says that low and middle-income countries (like Brazil, the Philippines, and the East African nation of Comoros) tend to have more plastic pollution due to limited resources allocated to waste management and improving fishing gear. "If you don't take care of collecting and recycling and having a good destination" to dispose of the trash, explains Pinheiro, "it easily [gets into] the environment."
"We need to be thinking about how higher income countries can help lower income countries pay for their solutions," says ecologist Chelsea Rochman who studies plastic pollution at the University of Toronto and wasn't involved in the research.
"It's often been the case that where people look for plastic pollution, people find it," she says. But what makes this study special, says Rochman, is that the authors have counted the plastic in the same way across many locations to show "this global distribution in a way that you can make comparisons, which will be really important for management."
Pinheiro says he's worried by what he and his colleagues found, but he's committed to try to turn things around for the reefs. He says that governments need regulations that reduce single-use plastic and improve trash collection.
And he stresses the importance of working with and supporting communities dependent on fishing. "How can we change the ropes, the nets?," he asks. "We need to find a biodegradable material, like made from fibers as we used to do before."
He points to a couple success stories like the prohibition of single-use plastic bags (in California, for example). In other places like Honduras and the Maldives, says Pinheiro, they're offering incentives to produce biodegradable materials for products like clothing. And he points to Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian volcanic archipelago that has banned plastic packaging and is encouraging the use of eco-friendly materials.
The overall goal is for all this plastic to stop finding its way to the reefs, he says. And perhaps start cleaning up what's already there.
Next up for Pinheiro: He will expand his work on plastics and fish communities to cover rocky shores and rocky reefs. And he plans to work at the regional level to make policy recommendations to managers and governments.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wfit.org/environment-and-science/2023-07-12/plastic-is-suffocating-coral-reefs-and-its-not-just-bottles-and-bags | 2023-07-29T10:51:27 | 1 | https://www.wfit.org/environment-and-science/2023-07-12/plastic-is-suffocating-coral-reefs-and-its-not-just-bottles-and-bags |
Chiefs Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Right now the Kansas City Chiefs have the best odds in the NFL to win the Super Bowl, listed at +600.
Watch the Chiefs this season on Fubo!
Chiefs Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC West: -165
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Kansas City Betting Insights
- Kansas City went 7-10-0 ATS last season.
- Last season, eight Chiefs games hit the over.
- Kansas City ranked 11th in total defense last season (328.2 yards allowed per game), but it excelled on the other side of the ball, ranking best in the with 413.6 total yards per game.
- At home last season, the Chiefs were 7-1. On the road, they were 7-2.
- Kansas City won one game as an underdog (1-1) a year ago, and went 13-2 as the favored team.
Chiefs Impact Players
- Patrick Mahomes II passed for 5,250 yards (308.8 per game), completing 67.1% of his passes, with 41 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games last year.
- Also, Mahomes rushed for 358 yards and four TDs.
- In the passing game, Travis Kelce scored 12 TDs, catching 110 balls for 1,338 yards (78.7 per game).
- On the ground, Jerick McKinnon scored one touchdown a season ago and accumulated 291 yards (17.1 per game).
- In 17 games, Isiah Pacheco rushed for 830 yards (48.8 per game) and five TDs.
- On defense last year, Nick Bolton helped keep opposing offenses in check with two interceptions to go with 180 tackles, 9.0 TFL, two sacks, and three passes defended in 17 games.
Bet on Chiefs to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Chiefs NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 29 at 5:21 AM ET. Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/chiefs-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:27 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/sports/betting/2023/07/29/chiefs-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are demanding the release of a transcript from a new FBI witness that they say contradicts Republicans’ claims in the expanding congressional inquiry into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, sent a letter Friday to Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, asking him to produce the transcribed interview this month with an FBI agent who worked on the investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings. The witness was interviewed on July 17.
“This failure to release a transcript is the latest in your troubling pattern of concealing key evidence in order to advance a false and distorted narrative about your ‘investigation of Joe Biden’ that has not only failed to develop any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden but has, in fact, uncovered substantial evidence to the contrary,” Raskin wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
The Maryland lawmaker claimed the closed-door interview with the unidentified agent conducted by committee staff “directly undermined” testimony released by Republicans last month from two IRS whistleblowers who allege that the Justice Department interfered with their yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden.
Republicans said the transcript will be released but is not yet ready. “The transcript is going through the normal review process where the witness reviews it and makes any corrections needed,” the GOP majority tweeted Thursday night. “Once that process has been completed, we will release it.”
House rules allow only the majority party to release transcribed interviews from a committee investigation, meaning minority Democrats have no direct power over the matter.
Raskin says in the letter that it is unusual for the release of a transcript to take this long. However, it is not unusual for committee staff to handle whistleblowers cautiously and keep sensitive information tightly held.
The letter from Raskin comes days after Hunter Biden’s plea deal in a criminal case unraveled during a court hearing. A federal judge in the case raised concerns about the terms of the agreement. Republicans like Comer claimed vindication, having slammed the agreement as a “sweetheart deal.”
“The judge did the obvious thing, they put a pause on the plea deal, so I think that was progress,” Comer said Wednesday. “I think it adds credibility to what we’re doing.”
The president’s youngest son was charged last month with two misdemeanor crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. He had been expected to plead guilty Wednesday after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who wanted two years of probation.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Hunter Biden remains under active investigation, but would not reveal details. | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:32 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-democrats-claim-the-gop-is-withholding-evidence-contradicting-claims-in-hunter-biden-probe/ |
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court Friday to reverse a federal judge’s decision to keep his hush-money criminal case in a New York state court that the former president claims is “very unfair” to him.
Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan after U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein last week rejected his bid to move the case to federal court, where his lawyers were primed to argue he was immune from prosecution.
U.S. law allows criminal prosecutions to be moved from state to federal court if they involve actions taken by federal government officials as part of their official duties, but Hellerstein ruled that the hush-money case involved a personal matter, not presidential duties.
Trump’s appeal notice came at the end of another busy week of legal action for the twice-indicted Republican as he seeks a return to the White House in next year’s election. On Thursday, he was indicted on new criminal charges in a separate case in federal court in Florida involving allegations that he illegally hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the hush-money case and fought to keep it in state court, declined to comment on Trump’s appeal.
Trump pleaded not guilty April 4 in state court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide reimbursements made to his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen for his role in paying $130,000 to the porn actor Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Cohen also arranged for the National Enquirer to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair, which the supermarket tabloid then squelched in a dubious journalism practice known as “catch-and-kill.”
Trump denied having sexual encounters with either woman. His lawyers argue the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and not part of any cover-up.
He is scheduled to stand trial in state court on March 25, 2024. In the meantime, his lawyers have asked the state court judge presiding over the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, to step aside, arguing that he’s biased in part because his daughter does political consulting work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals. Trump has referred to Merchan as “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.” The judge has yet to rule on the request.
In seeking to try the hush-money case tried in federal court, Trump’s lawyers have argued that some of his alleged conduct amounted to official presidential duties because it occurred in 2017 while he was president, including checks he purportedly wrote while sitting in the Oval Office.
Moving the case from state court to federal court would have significant legal and practical consequences for Trump. In federal court, for example, his lawyers could then try to get the charges dismissed on the grounds that federal officials have immunity from prosecution over actions taken as part of their official job duties.
A shift to federal court would also mean a more politically diverse jury pool — drawing not only from heavily Democratic Manhattan, where Trump is wildly unpopular, but also from suburban counties north of the city where he has more political support. | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:39 | 0 | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-donald-trump-appeals-judges-decision-to-keep-hush-money-case-in-new-york-state-court/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan and South Korea next month for a summit at Camp David, the White House announced Friday.
The Aug. 18 meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is the latest sign of warming relations between Japan and South Korea as they move to set aside generations of tensions and mistrust while the United States deepens its commitment to Asia.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the leaders “will discuss expanding trilateral cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.” Expected topics include the threat posed by North Korea and ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and with the Pacific Islands.
The invitation spun out of a brief photo-op that the three leaders had at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May. The Biden administration has been urging stronger economic and defense ties between South Korea and Japan as it looks to bolster the region against China’s assertive territorial moves, as well as to secure their cooperation to support Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion. | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:46 | 0 | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-president-biden-to-host-the-leaders-of-japan-and-korean-for-an-august-summit-at-camp-david/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said he is “fine” since he froze up midsentence during a press conference on Wednesday. And now his office is trying to tamp down speculation that he might not fill out his term as leader because of his health.
In a statement, his office said McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues and “plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do.”
The statement, first reported by Politico, comes after McConnell, 81, has suffered health problems in recent months. At his weekly press conference this week, he froze and stared vacantly for about 20 seconds before his GOP colleagues standing behind him grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office. He later returned to the news conference and answered questions as if nothing had happened.
When asked about the episode, he said he was “fine,” a statement he repeated in a hallway to reporters later that day. Neither McConnell nor his office would answer questions about whether he got medical help afterward.
Even as McConnell tried to brush off the concerns, the episode raised new questions among his colleagues about his health and also whether McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and has served as Republican leader since 2007, might soon step aside from his leadership post.
He was elected to a two-year term as leader in January by a large majority of his conference, despite an insurgent challenge from Florida Sen. Rick Scott. He would be up for re-election as leader again after the 2024 elections.
By then, he will have to decide also if he wants to run again for another Senate term. He is up for re-election in 2026.
In March, McConnell suffered a concussion and a broken rib after falling and hitting his head after a dinner event at a hotel. He didn’t return to the Senate for almost six weeks. He has been using a wheelchair in the airport while commuting back and forth to Kentucky. And his speech has recently sounded more halting.
But McConnell, famously reticent and often private about his personal life and health, has said very little about what is going on.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said after Wednesday’s episode that McConnell’s job as leader calls for more transparency than it would for others.
“We should find out, you know, fairly soon what happened and how serious it is,” Cramer said. “But I don’t have to tell you, Mitch is also, as an individual, a pretty private guy. So we’ll see.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he talked to McConnell on Wednesday night and he seemed “strong and alert.” But he said what happened at the news conference on Wednesday was disturbing to watch.
“Mitch is strong, he’s stubborn as a mule,” Cruz said. “My prayers are with them. I hope that — we’re going into the August recess — I hope he has time to fully recuperate.”
GOP senators who are seen as potential successors have been cautious in their reaction.
“He’s fine, he’s back to work,” said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican and one of the senators standing behind McConnell when he froze up.
“I support Senator McConnell as long as he wants to serve as leader,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, another potential replacement.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican and a former orthopedic surgeon, guided McConnell back to his office to rest during the news conference. Afterwards, he told reporters that he has been concerned since McConnell was injured earlier this year, “and I continue to be concerned.”
Barrasso then added: “I said I was concerned when he fell and hit his head a number of months ago and was hospitalized. And I think he’s made a remarkable recovery, he’s doing a great job leading our conference and was able to answer every question the press asked him today.”
Several other GOP senators projected confidence in the Republican leader.
“I do have confidence in his leadership,” said Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis. “At lunch yesterday, he spoke. He was completely on his game using numbers that were pulled out of his head and he was completely with it. So I don’t know what precipitated the freeze, but he’ll be careful to evaluate his own capabilities.”
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said he was “a little concerned” after the news conference.
“He said that he got a little overheated, a little dehydrated,” said Marshall, who is also a doctor. “That’s what it looks like to me. I can tell you, he’s got a strong, strong voice in our conference. He’s providing steady leadership. And I think he’s doing a great job as leader.”
McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in climbing stairs. In addition to his fall in March, he also tripped and fell four years ago at his home in Kentucky, causing a shoulder fracture that required surgery.
The Republican leader carried on with his full schedule after the episode on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with his Republican counterpart at an event Wednesday evening for Major League Baseball owners.
“I said I’m so glad you’re here,” Schumer said. “And he made a very good speech.”
The Republican leader is one of several senators who have been absent due to health issues this year. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, 90, was out of the Senate for more than two months as she recovered from a bout of shingles. And Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., 53, took leave for several weeks to get treatment for clinical depression.
—-
Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro and AP videojournalist Mike Pesoli contributed to this report. | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ | 2023-07-29T10:51:53 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-sen-mcconnell-says-he-plans-to-serve-his-full-term-as-leader-despite-questions-about-his-health/ |
WASHINGTON (AP) — A freshman Republican congressman from Wisconsin is refusing to apologize after he yelled and cursed at high school-aged Senate pages during a late night tour of the Capitol this week, eliciting a bipartisan rebuke from Senate leaders.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, speaking in a round of interviews Friday on Wisconsin conservative talk radio, did not refute reports of his actions or back down from what he did.
Van Orden used a profanity to describe the pages as lazy and and another to order them off the floor of the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday night, according to a report in the online political newsletter PunchBowl News. The pages were laying down to take photos in the Rotunda, according to the publication.
“I’m not going to apologize for making sure that anybody — I don’t care who you are and who you’re related to — defiles this House,” Van Orden said on “The Dan O’Donnell Show.” “It’s not going to happen on my watch, man.”
Van Orden said he was protecting the integrity of the Capitol Rotunda because it served as a field hospital during the Civil War and it’s where presidents have lain in state upon their deaths. He said the young people he confronted were “goofing off” and that Democrats were making it an issue.
“Would this be an issue if those young people did not have political connections?” Van Orden said on “The Jay Weber Show.” “Why do you think this is an issue, pal?”
A former Navy SEAL who was outside of the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, Van Orden also appeared to embrace the presence of alcohol in his office the same evening he encountered the pages. Images were posted on social media showing bottles of liquor and beer cans on a desk in his office. Van Orden said on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, that the alcohol was from constituents.
And his spokeswoman Anna Kelly posted: “As the Congressman says, once you cross the threshold to our office, you are in Wisconsin!” She followed that with a beer mug emoji.
Van Orden represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, a GOP-leaning jurisdiction that comprises parts of central, southwestern and western Wisconsin, including moderate exurbs of Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
On Thursday evening, just before the Senate left for its August recess, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., rebuked Van Orden’s behavior and thanked the pages, high school-age students who serve as helpers and messengers around the Senate. Several of the pages were sitting on the Senate floor at the time, smiling and nodding as dozens of senators stood and gave them a standing ovation.
Without mentioning Van Orden by name, Schumer said he was “shocked” to hear about the behavior of a member of the House Republican majority and “further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people.” He noted that Thursday was the final day for this class of pages.
“They’re here when we need them,” Schumer said. “And they have served this institution with grace.”
McConnell said he associated himself with Schumer’s words. “Everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way,” he said.
When asked about McConnell’s rebuke, Van Orden said Friday “I don’t know what it was because I honestly have not tracked any of this stuff.”
Van Orden was elected to Congress in 2022 after a losing bid in 2020. He has insisted that he did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and on Friday again condemned those who did, calling them “buffoons.” That didn’t stop fellow Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, a Democrat, from invoking the Jan. 6 attack in criticizing Van Orden.
“Wonder if he told that to his fellow insurrectionists, who were beating police officers on the same ground?” Pocan said on X.
Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat who is running to challenge Van Orden in 2024, called him an embarrassment and a hypocrite. She called Van Orden a “serial harasser” and referenced an incident in June 2021 when Van Orden was upset about a display of LGBTQ+ books at a southwestern Wisconsin library and yelled at a teenager who was working there.
“For someone to perhaps drunkenly, and definitely belligerently, yell at these kids for enjoying our nation’s Capitol is just stupid,” Pocan said Friday. “He would be best to say it was stupid and just move on.”
___
EDITORS’ NOTE: An earlier version of this story misidentified the name of “The Dan O’Donnell Show.”
___
Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ | 2023-07-29T10:52:00 | 1 | https://pix11.com/ap-political/ap-senate-rebukes-wisconsin-congressman-who-yelled-vulgarities-at-high-school-age-pages/ |