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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Fiona unleashed more rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who got stranded.
The governor warned that it could take days to get the lights back on.
The blow from Fiona was made more devastating because Puerto Rico has yet to recover from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people and destroyed the power grid in 2017. Five years later, more than 3,000 homes on the island are still covered by blue tarps.
The storm stripped pavement from roads, tore off roofs and sent torrents pouring into homes. It also took out a bridge and flooded two airports.
Authorities reported two deaths from the hurricane — a Puerto Rican man who was swept away by a flooded river and a person in the Dominican Republic who was hit by a falling tree.
The storm was still expected to dump up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain in some places as it spun away from the U.S. territory that is home to 3.2 million people.
Forecasts called for the storm to grow into a major hurricane of Category 3 or greater. It was on a path to pass close to the Turks and Caicos islands on Tuesday and was not expected to threaten the U.S. mainland.
One death in Puerto Rico was associated with the blackout — a 70-year-old man who was burned to death after he tried to fill his generator with gasoline while it was running, officials said.
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi declined to say how long it would take to fully restore electricity, but he said for most customers it would be “a question of days.”
Since the start of the storm, National Guard troops have rescued more than 900 people, Gen. José Reyes told a news conference.
Meanwhile in the Dominican Republic, authorities closed ports and beaches and told most people to stay home from work. Nearly 800 people were evacuated to safer locations, and more than 700 were in shelters, officials said.
The hurricane left several highways blocked, and a tourist pier in the town of Miches was badly damaged by high waves. At least four international airports were closed, officials said.
The Dominican president, Luis Abinader, said authorities would need several days to assess the storm’s effects.
Back in Puerto Rico, the National Weather Service office said flash flooding was occurring in south-central parts of the island and tweeted, “MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY!”
Up to 22 inches (56 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas of Puerto Rico, and forecasters said another 4 to 8 inches could fall as the storm moves away, with even more possible in some places.
“It’s important people understand that this is not over,” said Ernesto Morales, a weather service meteorologist in San Juan.
He said flooding reached “historic levels,” with authorities evacuating or rescuing hundreds of people across Puerto Rico.
“The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” Pierluisi said.
Water service was cut to more than 837,000 customers — two thirds of the total on the island — because of turbid water at filtration plants or lack of power, officials said.
Before dawn Monday, authorities in a boat navigated the flooded streets of the north coast town of Catano and used a megaphone to alert people that the pumps had collapsed, urging them to evacuate as soon as possible.
Authorities said at least 1,300 people spent the night in shelters across the island.
Brown water poured into streets and homes and closed airports in Ponce and Mayaguez.
The system also ripped asphalt from roads and washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police said was installed by the National Guard after Maria hit as a Category 4 storm.
Fiona also tore the roofs off homes, including that of Nelson Cirino in the northern coastal town of Loiza.
“I was sleeping and saw when the corrugated metal flew off,” he said as he watched rain drench his belongings and wind whip his colorful curtains into the air.
After roaring over the Dominican Republic, Fiona moved into the open Atlantic, where it was projected to strengthen, according to the National Hurricane Center.
On Monday evening, it was centered about 130 miles (205 kilometers) southeast of Grand Turk Island and heading northwest at 10 mph (17 kph), with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph).
Tropical storm-force winds extended for 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the center.
U.S. President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency as the eye of the storm approached the island’s southwest corner.
Fiona previously battered the eastern Caribbean, killing one man in the French territory of Guadeloupe when floodwaters washed his home away, officials said.
The system hit Puerto Rico on the anniversary of Hurricane Hugo, which slammed into the island in 1989 as a Category 3 storm.
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Coto reported from Havana.
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| 2022-09-21T07:45:33Z
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LONDON (AP) — The funeral of the only monarch most Britons have known involves the biggest security operation London has ever seen.
Mayor Sadiq Khan says Monday’s state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II is an “unprecedented” security challenge, with hundreds of thousands of people packing central London and a funeral guest list of 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders from around the world.
“It’s been decades since this many world leaders were in one place,” said Khan. “This is unprecedented … in relation to the various things that we’re juggling.”
“There could be bad people wanting to cause damage to individuals or to some of our world leaders,” Khan told The Associated Press. “So we are working incredibly hard — the police, the security services and many, many others — to make sure this state funeral is as successful as it can be.”
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the “hugely complex” policing operation is the biggest in the London force’s history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics.
More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London bobbies supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain’s 43 police forces. Hundreds of volunteer marshals and members of the armed forces will also act as stewards along the processional route.
They are just the most visible part of a security operation that is being run from a high-tech control center near Lambeth Bridge, not far from Parliament.
Street drains and garbage bins are being searched and sealed. On Monday there will be police spotters on rooftops, sniffer dogs on the streets, marine officers on the River Thames and mounted police on horseback.
Flying drones over central London has been temporarily banned, and Heathrow Airport is grounding scores of flights so that aircraft noise does not disturb the funeral service.
Authorities face the challenge of keeping 500 world leaders safe, without ruffling too many diplomatic feathers. Presidents, prime ministers and royalty will gather offsite before being taken by bus to the abbey — though an exception is being made for U.S. President Joe Biden, who is expected to arrive in his armored limousine, known as The Beast.
Another challenge is the sheer size of the crowds expected to gather around Westminster Abbey and along the route the coffin will travel after the funeral, past Buckingham Palace to Hyde Park. From there it will be taken by hearse about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to Windsor, where another 2,000 police officers will be on duty.
The queen is due to be interred in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle alongside her husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99.
Police are deploying more than 22 miles (36 kilometers) of barriers in central London to control the crowds, and transit bosses are preparing for jam-packed stations, buses and subway trains as 1 million people flood the ceremonial heart of London. Subways will run later than normal and train companies are adding extra services to help get people home.
While many will be mourning the queen, support for the monarchy is far from universal. Police have already drawn criticism for arresting several people who staged peaceful protests during events related to the queen’s death and the accession of King Charles III.
Cundy said it had been made clear to officers that “people have a right to protest.”
“Our response here in London will be proportionate, it will be balanced, and officers will only be taking action where it is absolutely necessary,” he said.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said the goal was to keep the event safe, “and try to do it in as unobtrusive a way as possible, because this is obviously a solemn occasion.”
Dean of Westminster David Hoyle, who will conduct the funeral service in the 900-year-old abbey, said preparations were going smoothly — despite the occasional security-related glitch.
“There was a wonderful moment when I had flower arrangers waiting in the abbey, and no flowers, because, quite properly, the police didn’t recognize what the van was and the flowers were sent back,” he said.
___
Follow AP coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
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| 2022-09-21T07:45:39Z
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Facing a complex set of challenges that try humanity as never before, world leaders convene at the United Nations this week under the shadow of Europe’s first major war since World War II — a conflict that has unleashed a global food crisis and divided major powers in a way not seen since the Cold War.
The many facets of the Ukraine war are expected to dominate the annual meeting, which convenes as many countries and peoples confront growing inequality, an escalating climate crisis, the threat of multiple famines and an internet-fueled tide of misinformation and hate speech — all atop a coronavirus pandemic that is halfway through its third year.
For the first time since the United Nations was founded atop the ashes of World War II, European nations are witnessing war in their midst waged by nuclear-armed neighboring Russia. Its Feb. 24 invasion not only threatens Ukraine’s survival as an independent democratic nation but has leaders in many countries worrying about trying to preserve regional and international peace and prevent a wider war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the strategic divides — with the West on one side and Russia and increasingly China on the other — are “paralyzing the global response to the dramatic challenges we face.”
He pointed not only to the devastation in Ukraine from nearly seven months of fighting but the war’s impact on the global economy.
Escalating food and energy prices are hitting the world’s poorest people hardest, and nations are “being devoured by the acids of nationalism and self-interest” instead of working together and resolving disputes peacefully, two principles that lie at the heart of the U.N. Charter and underpin everything the United Nations tries to do.
“The General Assembly is meeting at a time of great peril,” the U.N. chief said last week.
For the first time in three years, leaders will be delivering their speeches in person in the vast General Assembly hall. There will be no more COVID-caused prerecorded addresses or hybrid meetings, with one exception: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Over objections from Russia and a few allies, the 193-member assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday to allow the Ukrainian leader to pre-record his speech because of reasons beyond his control — the “ongoing foreign invasion” and military hostilities that require him to carry out his “national defense and security duties.”
The death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her funeral in London on Monday, which many world leaders plan to attend, have created last-minute headaches for the high-level meeting. Diplomats and U.N. staff are scrambling to deal with changes in travel plans, the timing of some events and the logistically intricate speaking schedule for world leaders.
Guterres is skipping the funeral to preside over Monday’s “Transforming Education Summit” that he called to create action on a U.N. goal to ensure quality education for all children by 2030 that lost significant ground during the pandemic.
The actual gathering of world leaders, known as the General Debate, begins Tuesday morning with the U.N. chief’s state of the world speech to the 77th session of the General Assembly which began on Sept. 12. Brazil has spoken first for over seven decades because at the early General Assembly sessions it volunteered to speak first when no other country did.
The U.S, president, representing the host country for the United Nations, is traditionally the second speaker. But President Joe Biden is attending the queen’s funeral, and his speech has been delayed until Wednesday morning. Senegalese President Macky Sall is expected to take Biden’s slot.
Nearly 150 presidents, prime ministers and monarchs are on the latest speakers list, a very high number reflecting the importance of the meeting not only for presenting every country’s view of the world but for private one-on-one and group meetings where diplomats say a lot of the world’s business is carried out.
In addition to Zelenskyy, Biden and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, other heads of state coming to the U.N. include the presidents of Turkey, Iran, France, Colombia, South Korea, South Africa, Egypt and Venezuela. Heads of government on the list include Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also making a first appearance, and the prime ministers of Japan, Israel, Iraq and Pakistan. Russia and China are sending their foreign ministers.
For many years, foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — have met on the sidelines for lunch or dinner. Diplomats said no meeting is planned this year.
During typical high-level weeks, thousands of people are in the U.N. complex for speeches and hundreds of side events. But because of the continuing pandemic, this year only the few events organized by the secretary-general and the General Assembly president are being held at U.N. headquarters. Dozens of side events will take place elsewhere in the city.
Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group, said Ukraine and the food crisis will be the two “overarching themes” and the message from Western leaders is going to be clear: “This is Russia’s war of aggression and this is a huge attack on the U.N. system.”
A highlight will be the U.N. Security Council ministerial meeting on Sept. 22 focusing on the fight against impunity in the war in Ukraine — a topic decided by France which holds the council presidency this month. The meeting could put foreign ministers of the five permanent council nations in the same room with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who has been invited.
France’s U.N. ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, said Friday that “perpetrators will be held accountable” for the “dramatic consequences” that “the Russian war of aggression” has had on civilians in Ukraine. And U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United Nations faces “a crisis of confidence” brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that violated its neighbor’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, “trampled on human rights” and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter by pursuing war instead of a negotiated peace.
She told reporters Friday that the response must be to “double down on our commitment to a peaceful world and hold even closer our deeply-held principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace and security.”
Thomas-Greenfield insisted the high-level meeting “will not be dominated by Ukraine” because there are conflicts taking place elsewhere as well. That’s why she says the United States is focusing on tackling the food crisis as well as climate change, advancing global health and upholding the U.N. Charter.
The Crisis Group’s Gowan said his organization has seen in recent weeks that African and Latin American countries “have gradually succumbed to Ukraine fatigue,” and there is a feeling in many parts of the U.N. “that countries don’t want to have to constantly attack Russia.” There is a clear understanding among Western leaders, and especially in the U.S., of the need “to keep non-Western countries on board over Ukraine,” he said.
Gowan said he will also be listening for “an undercurrent of discontent” from African nations and countries from the global South about how they’ve been let down on COVID-19 vaccinations and financing to tackle climate change and deal with escalating food prices and the cost of living. He also lamented that crises in Mali, Afghanistan and Yemen won’t be on the front burner.
Secretary-General Guterres, who just visited Pakistan where he said the flooded area is three times the size of his home country Portugal, lashed out at the Group of 20 richest nations, which he said are responsible for 80% of emissions that cause global warming.
“My message to world leaders gathering here is clear: Lower the temperature — now,” he said. “Don’t flood the world today; don’t drown it tomorrow.”
___
Edith M. Lederer is chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press and has been covering international affairs for more than half a century. For more AP coverage of the U.N. General Assembly, visit https://apnews.com/hub/united-nations-general-assembly.
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| 2022-09-21T07:45:47Z
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GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Their spiritual leader is behind bars in California after pleading guilty to sexually abusing minors. Yet legions of followers of Naasón Joaquín García in his home base in Mexico remain fervently loyal to him, viewing his imprisonment as a challenge that will strengthen their church, La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), rather than weaken it.
His continued hold on his flock was evident recently at the Christian church’s main temple in Guadalajara, as thousands gathered to pray for their absent leader during their Holy Supper, the most sacred festivity for La Luz del Mundo. To gasps of surprise, Joaquín García addressed the congregation by telephone from his Los Angeles prison, where he is serving a 16-year sentence.
“I do not see the bars that separate me from you,” he told his followers. “I see your beautiful faces … because you are the children of God.”
Even outside the temple, the sound of his voice stirred emotions among dozens of devotees guarding entries to the sanctuary. Nearly all closed their eyes. Many lifted their fists. Some knelt and wept.
Near the end of the call, Joaquín García asked his followers to raise their hands and their voices to God and repeat after him: “I promise you, Lord, that whatever the suffering, I will never abandon you.”
It seems clear that many members of the church, founded in Mexico in 1926 and now active in many countries, aren’t ready to abandon Joaquín García as their “apostle” — the term used for the church’s leader. Many believe he was sent by God to preach to them and are convinced he is innocent, despite his guilty plea.
“The apostle always shows determination to move forward,” said Phares Ruiz, who traveled from El Salvador to attend the Holy Supper. “He’s firm in his convictions, and the church is firm as well in its purpose of moving forward.”
Ruiz told The Associated Press that his family has belonged to La Luz del Mundo for three generations.
Joaquín García, 53, was arrested in 2019 in California. He initially faced more than 20 charges, but most were dismissed after a plea deal with prosecutors. The church contended that prosecutors withheld or doctored evidence, and said Joaquín García pleaded guilty because he didn’t think he could get a fair trial.
“The Apostle of Jesus Christ has had no choice but to accept with much pain that the agreement presented is the best way forward to protect the church and his family,” the church said.
The home base of the church is the Guadalajara neighborhood of Hermosa Provincia, Spanish for “beautiful province.” Jericho, Bethlehem and Nazareth are among the names of roads converging on the white temple that locals call “the cake,” for its white tiers that diminish in size as they rise upward.
Congregation members in the neighborhood call each other “brother” and “sister” and take pride in helping one another. The church’s media relations office claims there is no crime in the area.
The neighborhood has cafeterias, clinics, a recreation center and a store that sells Bibles and religious-themed games for children. From the walls hang photographs of Joaquín García, smiling and wearing a tuxedo. Spanning the main street is a sculpture spelling “innocent” in Spanish.
Sara Pozos, 49, is among many in the neighborhood who believe their leader’s imprisonment has strengthened the church.
“I think it changed for the better in the sense that now we feel more united, and we feel more empowered,” she said.
“It has been a very difficult issue, of course, for him and for us,” she added. “We all suffer something in life, but one learns to know those moments where you see that God is doing something to help you, to get ahead, not to let you fall.”
Another neighborhood resident, Sailem Castillo, also said she was upbeat despite Joaquín García’s imprisonment.
“For us everything is very nice, everything continues to work,” she said. “Ministers, pastors and deacons have their same duties. They bless the bread, the wine, and do other things as if he were here, although physically he is not.”
The jailed leader is the grandson of La Luz del Mundo’s founder: Eusebio Joaquín González, a member of the military who began preaching in 1926. He’s known to church members as Aarón — a result, he said, of God asking him to change his name.
Aarón’s wife was the church’s first member. Today it claims a membership of more than 5 million in some 50 nations.
La Luz del Mundo is sometimes described as evangelical, but its members do not embrace this term. The church’s doctrine is learned from the cradle. Parents give biblical names to their children and take them to the temple at 40 days old to promise they will guide them to follow their path.
Most teachings translate into something quotidian. During services, the women sit to the right and men to the left. In some cities, people tithe more than 10% of their monthly income to the church. Biblical verses are cited to explain behavior.
Castillo, a recently married woman of 25, told AP the church advises members how “to lead a decent life,” in which women may not drink alcohol or go out on frequent dates. Like other women in Hermosa Provincia, she wears dresses and skirts that are not form-fitting, eschews makeup and earrings and wears her hair long.
The religion is ”very demanding,” said Arlene M. Sánchez-Walsh, a professor of religious studies at Azusa Pacific University, a Christian institution near Los Angeles.
“It is not sufficient to say ‘I have converted’ or “I have baptized’” she said. “You have to follow certain steps to prove your loyalty.”
For some young people, these steps include memorizing songs honoring the apostle, reading the Bible before bed and not marrying someone from outside the church.
“All this goes to show that although you are part of this world, you have accepted a very particular way of life because you are Christian,” Sánchez-Walsh said.
Those born in the community are baptized at 14 because, according to the church, that lets them decide whether to reaffirm or leave the faith. Nevertheless, there are former members who say their ceremony was not optional.
Ahead of the baptism, in a ritual known as “the revivals,” children undergo days of prayer and fasting inside a temple. The revival consists of repeating “Glory to Christ” nonstop until the youths are heard speaking in tongues to testify that the Holy Spirit has entered them.
For Raquel Haifa, 43, fulfilling the revivals was a traumatizing experience that she considers abusive, because minors are not able to decline to take part.
“I did cry, because I was saying, ‘God, deliver me from this, make this time pass quickly,’” Haifa said from Texas.
Currently, journalists are not allowed to attend services or take photographs inside the church’s temples. Since Joaquín García’s arrest, La Luz del Mundo’s media relations team says it cannot make official statements on his case because litigation is ongoing.
On Sept. 8 a lawsuit was filed in California against Joaquín García and four church members alleged to be complicit in the sex abuse. The suit was filed by five women who — under the pseudonym Jane Doe — were identified as victims in the original criminal charges against him.
It accuses Joaquín García of conditioning victims, under the guise of religion, to serve him above all else, ultimately resulting in the sexual abuse over the course of several years.
The lawsuit includes detailed accounts from the five plaintiffs alleging that they were pressured by Joaquín García and his associates into performing for pornographic photo shoots, and were forced to engage in sex acts with him.
“The church weaponized the faith of their most vulnerable members,” said Jonati Joey Yedidsion, one of the lawyers handling the lawsuit. “Instead of protecting those innocent women, Naasón and the church fostered and then brutally preyed on their blind trust and allegiance in the ‘Apostle’”.
The case has been difficult for some former members who have distanced themselves from the church.
Speaking on a podcast called “I Left a Sect,” Lo-ami Salazar said Hermosa Provincia used to be her “happy place.”
“Knowing that these abuses took place there, in my happy place, in my safe place, is horrible,” she said.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:00Z
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KOZACHA LOPAN, Ukraine (AP) — In a dank basement behind the local supermarket, metal bars cordon off a corner of the room to form a large cell. Dirty sleeping bags and duvets show three sleeping spots on top of sheets of Styrofoam for insulation from the damp earth floor. In the corner, two black buckets served as toilets.
A few meters (yards) outside the barred cell, three dilapidated chairs stand around a table, cigarette butts and empty husks of pumpkin seeds littering the floor around them.
Ukrainian authorities say this was a makeshift prison where Russian forces abused detainees before Ukrainian troops swept through the village of Kozacha Lopan in a major counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region this month. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said more than 10 such “torture chambers” have been discovered in the region since the hasty withdrawal of Russian troops last week. The claims of what occurred in the room could not be independently confirmed.
Kozacha Lopan, whose edge lies less than two kilometers (just over a mile) from the Russian border, was retaken by Ukrainian forces Sept. 11.
In a statement posted Saturday on its Telegram channel, the prosecutor’s office of the Kharkiv region, in whose jurisdiction Kozacha Lopan lies, said the room seen by AP journalists was used as a torture cell during the occupation of the area. It said Russian forces had set up a local police force that ran the prison, adding that documents confirming the functioning of the police department and implements of torture had been seized. The statement said an investigation was being conducted.
Images the prosecutors released showed a Russian military TA-57 telephone with additional wires and alligator clips attached to it. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of using the Soviet-era radio telephones as a power source to shock prisoners during interrogation.
In his nightly address to the nation Saturday, Zelenskyy mentioned another location, at the railway station in Kozacha Lopan, where he said “a room for torture and tools for electric torture was found.” AP journalists did not see that location.
Zelenskyy compared the Russians to the Nazis during World War II.
“And they will answer in the same way — both on the battlefields and in the courtrooms,” he said.
Burial sites have been found in some areas where Russian forces were pushed out, most notably in the city of Izium, where Ukrainian officials say more than 440 graves have been found near the city’s cemetery. Zelenskyy has said they contain the bodies of civilian adults and children, as well as soldiers, showing signs of violent deaths, some possibly from torture.
Vitalii, a commander in the National Guard, said his team is hunting for graves of possible victims of abuse at the detention center in Kozacha Lopan. He asked to be identified by his first name only for security reasons.
The team is also recovering bodies on the battlefield, which are lying where they fell on farm fields or inside burned-out tanks. The Russian army was pushed all the way back across the border into Russia after holding the area for months. But artillery shells still whistle through the air, fired from inside Russia and landing with resonating thumps and billows of black smoke on Ukrainian territory.
Despite the shelling, a small group of soldiers winds its way along a rutted mud track to where a dead Ukrainian combatant lies, spotted by a drone used to search for bodies and shallow graves.
“It’s a risk. We are always risking our lives and at any moment there might be some shell flying in from the territory of Russia,” Vitalii said.
The dead Ukrainian is lying on his back in body armor and helmet, a cap beneath it to block out the sun. The body has been there for a long time.
They document the scene and lift the remains into a body bag before heading farther along the track to a charred Russian tank. It takes only one of the team to carry away the body bag holding the remains of the Russian found inside.
Autopsies will follow, and the details of the sites recorded and passed on to investigators looking into potential war crimes, Vitalii said.
Throughout this border area, where fierce battles raged, villages bear the devastating scars of war: houses bombed and burned, roads pitted with craters from exploding mortar shells, smashed cars lying by the roadside.
In the days after the Russians were chased out, local people have been returning to see what is left of their homes.
“Three days before we decided to leave, it was like hell in here” from all the shooting, said Larysa Letiucha, 56, in the nearby village of Prudyanka. “It was flying from all over the place. It was whistling and exploding. We hid in the basement and … our door was blasted off.”
She left with her family in April, and returned to check on her property a few days after Ukrainian soldiers retook the village.
“I saw a horror. I still cannot pull myself together,” she said in recounting her first sight of what remained of her house. “We were living here our whole lives. We were building it, making renovations. Our whole life was invested here.”
The windows are blasted in and the ceiling leaks from where a patch is missing from an explosion. In the small house her parents built on the same plot, the entire back part is missing. Shrapnel and debris litter the house.
“Our houses are comfortable even though we live in the village,” Letiucha said. “It’s a horror. I don’t even know when we will renovate and rebuild all of this.”
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:08Z
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SAN DIEGO (AP) — When nearly 80,000 Afghans arrived in the United States, refugee resettlement agencies quickly became overwhelmed, still scrambling to rehire staff and reopen offices after being gutted as the Trump administration dropped refugee admissions to a record low.
So the U.S. State Department, working with humanitarian organizations, turned to ordinary Americans to fill the gap. Neighbors, co-workers, faith groups and friends banded together in “sponsor circles” to help Afghans get settled in their communities.
They raised money and found the newcomers homes to rent, enrolled their children in schools, taught them how to open bank accounts and located the nearest mosques and stores selling halal meat.
Since the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Kabul last year, the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans has helped over 600 Afghans restart their lives. When Russia invaded Ukraine, a similar effort was undertaken for Ukrainians.
Now the Biden administration is preparing to turn the experiment into a private-sponsorship program for refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and is asking organizations to team up with it to launch a pilot program by the end of 2022.
The move comes amid increasing pressure on President Joe Biden, who vowed in a 2021 executive order to increase opportunities for Americans to resettle refugees and restore the U.S. as the world’s safe haven. The Trump administration decimated the refugee program, which traditionally tasks nine resettlement agencies with placing refugees in communities.
Experts say the private sponsorship model could transform the way America resettles refugees and ensure a door remains open no matter who is elected.
“I think there is a real revolution right now that is happening in terms of American communities and communities around the world that are raising their hands and saying, `We want to bring in refugees,’” said Sasha Chanoff, founder and CEO of RefugePoint, a Boston–based nonprofit that helped jumpstart the effort.
It comes as the number of people forced to flee their homes topped 100 million this year, the first time on record, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The pilot program will incorporate lessons learned from the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans, which was developed as an emergency measure to accelerate the resettlement of Afghans, with many languishing on U.S. bases. But the pilot program will differ because it is intended to be “an enduring element of U.S. refugee resettlement,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in an email to The Associated Press.
The pilot program will match regular Americans with refugees overseas who have already been approved for admission to the U.S., the spokesperson said. Later, the plan will let Americans identify a refugee overseas and apply to resettle them.
Canada has used private sponsorship for decades to augment its government program.
Chanoff said the new model should also be in addition to the traditional U.S. government refugee program, which has admitted only about 15% of the 125,000 cap Biden set for the budget year that ends Sept. 30. The Biden administration has been slow to beef up staff and overcome the huge backlog, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to advocates.
Those numbers exclude the roughly 180,000 Afghans and Ukrainians who were mostly admitted through humanitarian parole, a temporary legal option that was intended to get them in quicker but left them with less government support.
Regular Americans helped fill that need, Afghan families say.
Under the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans, participants underwent background checks, received training and developed a three-month plan. Each group had to raise at least $2,275 for each person who was resettled, the same allocation the U.S. government gives agencies for each refugee.
Mohammad Walizada, who fled Kabul with his family, said five days after he was connected to a sponsor circle with the Four Rivers Church in New Hampshire, his family moved into a furnished home in Epping, a town of about 7,000 residents.
Meanwhile, Afghan friends and relatives spent months on U.S. bases waiting to be placed by a resettlement agency, he said. Many ended up in California, staying in hotels because of the lack of affordable housing, and with just three months of government assistance.
He said his sponsor circle gave his family 10 months worth of rent and a car, and someone still checks on him, his wife and six children daily. Each circle gets a mentor who coaches them from WelcomeNST, an organization created in 2021 to help Americans resettle Afghans and now Ukrainians. The organization offers a Slack channel for circles and partners with the resettlement agency, HIAS, which connects them to caseworkers when needed.
The New Hampshire team has more than 60 members helping people like Walizada.
“I feel like I have a lot of family here now,” Walizada said.
To be sure, regular Americans have always helped resettle refugees, but not at this scale since the 1980 U.S. Refugee Act created the formal program, experts say.
A similar outpouring of goodwill happened when the Biden administration launched Uniting for Ukraine, which allows Ukrainians fleeing the war into the U.S. for two years with a private sponsor. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the program, received more than 117,000 applications through August.
Hundreds of Americans have formed teams to resettle Ukrainians, including in Wyoming — the only state that has never allowed an official refugee resettlement program.
“We just wanted to be able to do something and we have such a beautiful community here,″ said Darren Adwalpalker, pastor at Highland Park Community Church in Casper, who formed a group that sponsored three Ukrainians who arrived to the city of 60,000 in June.
Adwalpalker got support from humanitarian group Samaritan’s Purse.
“Without private sponsorship, this would not have been possible for a lot of these communities with tremendous resources and goodwill to do this,” said Krista Kartson, who directs its refugee programs.
With $3,000, the pastor said his group provided an apartment for six months for the one Ukrainian who stayed in Casper. Just about everything else — grocery store gift cards, furniture — was donated.
“One of the things I’ve learned is that the whole idea of a resettlement office isn’t that significant” if there are people on the ground willing to help, said Adwalpalker.
“We’ve got dentists working on their teeth. We have doctors seeing them. We have lawyers helping with their immigration paperwork.”
Rudi Berkelhamer, a retired biology professor, wanted to help because her grandparents fled attacks on Jews in the early 20th century in what is now Ukraine.
She was connected to a sponsor circle in Irvine, California, through HIAS, which requires a six-month commitment. Circle members had a week to get to know each other and draft a plan before they were matched to an Afghan family — a young couple and their 3-year-old son — in February.
Berkelhamer shuttled furniture to the family’s home and got them set up with computers and cellphones. Others got them bus passes.
The father — a mechanical engineer who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan — found work at a parachute factory. The mother is taking English classes, and their son is attending preschool.
Berkelhamer sees the family every two weeks. This summer, she went to a museum with the mom and another circle member to paint parasols and have lunch. She plans to keep helping.
“It is not just the necessities; it is doing those kinds of things that make it so meaningful,” she said.
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Taxin reported from Orange County, Calif.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:16Z
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TOKYO (AP) — A powerful typhoon slammed ashore in southern Japan on Sunday as it pounded the region with strong winds and heavy rain, causing blackouts, paralyzing ground and air transportation and prompting the evacuation of thousands of people.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Nanmadol was heading north after making landfall in Kagoshima city on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu. It was packing maximum winds of 162 kilometers (101 miles) per hour, and is forecast to reach Tokyo on Tuesday.
The weather agency predicted as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rainfall by Monday evening and warned of flooding and landslides. It also alerted residents in the affected areas of “unprecedented” levels of powerful winds and waves, urging them to evacuate early.
Storm and high wave warnings were in effect in Kagoshima, where residents were told to stay inside stable buildings on second floor or higher, if it’s deemed a safer option than going to evacuation centers.
More than 12,000 people took shelter at evacuation centers. In neighboring Miyazaki prefecture, about 8,000 people left their homes.
Local officials said several people had been injured. In Kushima city in Miyazaki, a woman was slightly hurt by shards of glass when winds broke windows at a gymnasium. NHK national television said 15 people had been injured, citing its own tally.
Power outages were expanded across the Kyushu region as the typhoon damaged more power lines and facilities while moving north. By Sunday night, 216,450 homes were without electricity, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.
Footage on NHK television showed a pachinko pinball parlor with part of its glass wall shattered by the gust in Kanoya city in Kagoshima. Elsewhere in the prefecture, an elderly woman in suffered a minor injury after falling, NHK said.
Hundreds of domestic flights have been canceled and more are planned to be grounded in western Japan through Tuesday as the typhoon headed northeast, according to Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.
Public transportation including trains and buses in many areas on the Kyushu island were suspended throughout Sunday. Railway operators said bullet trains on Kyushu island also have been suspended, and more stoppages are expected in greater areas in the southwest Monday.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:23Z
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Some census takers who falsified information during the 2020 count didn’t have their work redone fully, weren’t fired in a timely manner and in some cases even received bonuses, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s watchdog group.
The findings released Friday by the Office of Inspector General raise concerns about possible damage to the quality of the once-a-decade head count that determines political power and federal funding,
Off-campus students at colleges and universities were likely undercounted since the census started around the same time students were sent home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, the review found.
During the 2020 census, The Associated Press documented cases of census takers who were pressured by their supervisors to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the census.
Supervisors were able to track their census takers’ work in real time through mobile devices that the census takers used to record information about households’ numbers, demographic characteristics and members’ relationships to one another. As a result, supervisors would get alerts when actions raised red flags about accuracy, such as a census taker recording data on a home while far away from the address or a census taker conducting an interview in just a few minutes. As a quality control check, others census takers were sent back to homes to re-interview residents.
The Inspector General’s probe concluded that some alerts weren’t being properly resolved, some re-interviews weren’t properly conducted and that the work of some census takers whose work had been flagged for falsifying data had not been reworked to fix its accuracy. In fact, some census takers whose work was flagged for falsifications were given more cases, weren’t fired and were reassigned to other operations, the report said.
Of the 1,400 census takers who were designated “hard fails” because questions about the accuracy of their work, only 300 were fired for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. Of the 1,400 “hard fail” census takers, 1,300 of them received bonuses ranging from $50 to $1,600 each, the report said.
The census is the largest nonmilitary mobilization in the U.S. Data gathered during the census determines how many congressional seats each state gets. The numbers also are used for redrawing political districts and distributing $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. Because of that, undercounts can cost communities funding.
The 2020 census faced unprecedented challenges including the pandemic, natural disasters and political interference from the Trump administration.
In response to the Inspector General’s report, the Census Bureau said it appreciated the concerns that were raised but disagreed with the conclusions that data quality may have been damaged since the report cited only a small number of cases out of the overall workload.
“As a result, we asserted that the findings could not and should not be presented as a conclusive assessment of overall census quality,” Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said in the written response.
Under Census Bureau rules, college and university students should have been counted where they spent the most time, either at on-campus housing or off-campus apartments, even if they were sent home because of the pandemic. Most schools didn’t provide the Census Bureau with off-campus student data, and the bureau had to use a last-resort, less-accurate statistical tool to fill in the information gaps on more than 10% of the off-campus student population when they were given the information, the Inspector General’s report said.
Schools often didn’t provide the data because they didn’t have information on off-campus students or because of privacy concerns. The Inspector General recommends passage of legislation that would require schools to provide needed information in future head counts.
“Although difficult to quantify, the fiscal implication of specifically undercounting off-campus students at the correct location for states and localities is potentially far-reaching,” the report said.
The city of Boston, which is home to Northeastern University, Boston University and several other schools, said in a challenge to its census figures that the count missed 6,000 students.
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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:31Z
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The remains of a sailor from Massachusetts who died when the USS Oklahoma was struck by multiple torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 are being buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.
The interment comes more than 80 years after the attack that drew the U.S. into World War II and nearly four years after the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Roman W. Sadlowski, of Pittsfield, had been accounted for using advanced DNA and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.
About 15 family members from Massachusetts, Texas and Florida are scheduled to attend the ceremony that was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, said Joe Makarski Jr., who is Sadlowski’s nephew and who supplied a DNA sample about a decade ago that was used to help identify the remains.
“We’re quite excited,” Makarski, 81, said in a telephone interview. “It’s been a long time, and I am glad to be alive to finalize it.”
Makarski never met his mother’s brother, but he grew up hearing about him.
“I remember my Dad and Mom speaking about him, and they always spoke very highly of him,” he said. “I know he worked at General Electric and he did the books for my mother’s little beauty salon in Pittsfield. Growing up, I always saw his picture at my grandmother’s house.”
Sadlowski, 21, enlisted in the Navy on July 31, 1940, according to the Navy’s Office of Community Outreach.
As an electrician’s mate his duties included maintaining, operating and repairing the battleship’s electrical systems, motors, generators and alternators.
The USS Oklahoma was among the first vessels hit during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, struck by three aerial torpedoes just before 8 a.m. when many sailors were still asleep below deck, according to Navy accounts.
The port side was torn open and within 15 minutes of the first strike, it had rolled over completely, trapping hundreds of crew members. Two members of the crew earned the Medal of Honor for their efforts trying to save their fellow sailors, and a third was awarded the Navy Cross.
Sadlowski was among 429 USS Oklahoma sailors and marines who died.
Of those who died, 388 could not be identified and were buried at the Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
The process of disinterring the remains for DNA analysis began in 2015, and since then 355 have been identified, according to the Navy.
Sadlowski’s family debated where to have the remains buried, Makarski said. They considered veterans’ cemeteries in Massachusetts and Florida, and even considered his hometown of Pittsfield, although there are no known family members still living in the western Massachusetts city.
“We talked a lot about it, and decided on Arlington because of its prestige,” he said.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:38Z
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ABOARD THE OPEN ARMS UNO (AP) — The Spanish charity Open Arms has rescued 372 people seeking to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe in unseaworthy smugglers’ boats and recovered the corpse of a man who had been shot by smugglers, officials said Sunday.
The rescue ship Open Arms Uno remained at sea and is seeking a safe port for the rescued people, including some who need medical attention and many who are suffering from dehydration, said Laura Lanuza, an Open Arms spokeswoman. She said they have made at least two requests for a safe port in Malta.
In all, the ship performed three rescues in 24 hours. In the largest rescue, the Open Arms picked up 294 people, mostly Egyptians, from an overcrowded barge in waters south of Malta in an nighttime operation that spanned nearly five hours before dawn Sunday. Those rescued said they had been at sea for four days.
The packed boat had been spotted by volunteer pilots combing the Mediterranean for people in distress, and a photo showed its decks packed with people waving for help.
Before that, the Open Arms rescued 59 migrants from Syria, Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea, among them 10 minors, from an oil platform they had reached in international waters near Tunisia. Still in the flimsy smugglers’ boat was the wrapped body of a migrant who had been shot on shore by smugglers, Lanuza said.
“The smugglers forced the people to take the corpse with them. They spent a day or so at sea, and kept the corpse until they were saved,’’ Lanuza said.
On Saturday morning, the Open Arms rescued 19 people from a rubber dinghy in off Libya in international waters. They included 16 people from Syria.
An Associated Press photographer on board the Open Arms said during each rescue, desperate people flung themselves into the water, complicating the operation.
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Follow all AP stories on global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:45Z
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A strong earthquake shook much of Taiwan on Sunday, toppling a three-story building and temporarily trapping four people inside, stranding about 400 tourists on a mountainside, and knocking part of a passenger train off its tracks.
One person died and nine people had minor injuries, Taiwan’s Emergency Operations Center said.
The magnitude 6.8 quake was the largest among dozens that have rattled the island’s southeastern coast since Saturday evening, when a 6.4 quake struck the same area.
Most of the damage appeared to be north of the epicenter, which Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said was in the town of Chishang at the relatively shallow depth of 7 kilometers (4 miles).
In nearby Yuli town, a cement factory worker died and the three-story building, which had a 7-11 convenience store on the ground floor and residences above it, collapsed, the island’s Central News Agency said.
The 70-year-old owner of the building and his wife were rescued first, but it took longer to get to a 39-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter.
A photo released by the Hualien city government showed the girl lying on a blanket and being handed down a metal ladder from the top of the debris by helmeted rescue workers in orange uniforms.
The top two stories of the building were left sprawled across a small street and onto the other side, with electricity wires pulled down by the fallen structure.
More than 7,000 households were reported without power in Yuli, and water pipes were also damaged. Shelves and musical instruments fell over at the Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church and a long crack ran down its floor. Outside, the pavement was broken into slabs of concrete.
Police and firefighters rushed to a bridge collapse on a two-lane road in what appeared to be a rural part of the same town where three people and one or more vehicles may have fallen off, according to media reports.
Also in Yuli, a landslide trapped nearly 400 tourists on a mountain famous for the orange day lilies that blanket its slopes this time of year, the Central News Agency said. They had no electricity and a weak cellphone signal.
Debris from a falling canopy on a platform at Dongli station in Fuli town, which is between Yuli and the epicenter at Chishang, hit a passing train, derailing six cars, the Central News Agency said, citing the railway administration. None of the 20 passengers were injured.
The shaking was felt at the north end of the island in the capital, Taipei. In Taoyuan city, west of Taipei and 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of the epicenter, a man was injured by a ceiling collapse on the 5th floor of a sports center.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami advisory for several southern Japanese islands near Taiwan, but later lifted it.
___
Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T07:46:52Z
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Lawsuits filed to stop the removal of memorials to Confederate leaders and a pro-slavery congressman in a South Carolina city have been dropped.
The Post and Courier reports that the American Heritage Association helped fund one of the lawsuits. It had been filed by descendants of John C. Calhoun, a former congressman and vice president who died before the Civil War, opposing the city of Charleston’s removal of Calhoun’s statue.
The association also had filed a lawsuit opposing the removal of a Robert E. Lee Memorial Highway marker from the campus of a charter school in Charleston, and the renaming of an auditorium that had been named after Christopher Memminger, a treasury secretary of the Confederacy.
The stone-and-metal monument to Confederate Gen. Lee, was removed in July 2021 and placed in storage.
The city made a deal with the South Carolina State Museum to take the statue of Calhoun.
Both suits had been filed in state court. The highway marker and auditorium lawsuit was dropped Sept. 13. The Calhoun lawsuit was dropped Sept. 15, the newspaper reported.
AHA President Brett Barry declined to comment on the status of the Calhoun case, despite the descendants’ request for dismissal.
“Charleston monuments are an integral part of the city’s historical and artistic American landscape,” Barry told The Post and Courier. “Both the American Heritage Association and members of the Calhoun family look forward to commenting on the destruction of U.S. Vice President Calhoun’s monument and the associated lawsuit in the coming weeks.”
Opponents of the removal of the Lee memorial had accused the city of violating the state Heritage Act, which protects certain monuments.
“As city attorneys have made clear from the start, there was never a violation of the Heritage Act,” Charleston city spokesman Jack O’Toole told The Post and Courier on Sept. 16. “And now that these lawsuits have been dropped, the city can start moving forward once again with plans for these historical items to be displayed in an appropriate public setting here in our state.”
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SAN DIEGO (AP) — More than a half dozen former crewmembers of the USS Bonhomme Richard gave testimony on the first day of the arson trial of a young sailor Monday, describing a harrowing, chaotic scene as they confronted an inferno on the Navy warship with shoddy equipment.
With the thick black smoke quickly enveloping the ship, many said it was difficult to know what was going on. Now more than a year later, several of them who testified at the court martial of 21-year-old Ryan Sawyer Mays said that they are struggling to recall details from that July 12, 2020 morning, posing a challenge to the prosecution.
The prosecution has presented no physical evidence proving the 21-year-old sailor set the USS Bonhomme Richard on fire, something the defense has highlighted. Key witnesses also have changed their stories or their testimonies have contradicted each other, including on Monday.
According to prosecutors, Mays was an arrogant sailor angry about being assigned to deck duty after failing to become a Navy SEAL — and he made the Navy pay in a big way.
“Your honor, it was a mischievous act of defiance gone wrong,” Cmdr. Leah O’Brien told the judge during opening statements for the prosecution at Naval Base San Diego.
Mays’ military defense counsel, Lt. Tayler Haggerty, countered in her opening remarks that it’s the Navy who is wrong. Haggerty said investigators concluded Mays did it before the probe was complete and then ignored evidence and witness accounts that didn’t fit into that narrative so they could find a scapegoat for the loss of a billion-dollar ship that was mismanaged by senior officers.
Once investigators pinned the blame on Mays, who was known for being sarcastic and flippant, “nothing else mattered,” Haggerty said.
“Just because the government eliminates, ignores pieces of evidence, it doesn’t mean the court should,” she told the court. Haggerty told the judge by the end of the trial, which is supposed to last two weeks, “you will exonerate this sailor and find him not guilty of both charges.”
Mays is charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel. He has denied any wrongdoing. He waived his right to a jury and has put his fate in the hands of the Navy judge, Capt. Derek Butler.
The July 2020 blaze burned for nearly five days and sent an acrid smoke over San Diego, damaging the amphibious assault ship so badly that it had to be scuttled. It marked one of the worst noncombat warship disasters in recent memory.
About 115 sailors were on board, and nearly 60 were treated for heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation and minor injuries.
The Navy warship’s former fire marshal became emotional Monday when asked by the prosecution to recall what he did that day. He took a moment before responding.
“I’m still trying to work through this in therapy myself,” Petty Officer Jeffrey Garvin told the court at Naval Base San Diego. “I apologize.”
Later, he repeated, “I can’t remember a lot.”
Defense lawyers say investigators brushed aside the fact that lithium batteries were stored next to highly combustible material such as cardboard boxes, in violation of ship protocol.
The prosecution said one sailor told investigators he saw Mays go down to the ship’s lower vehicle storage area before the fire broke out there, while another sailor who escorted Mays to the brig said she overheard Mays say he did it. The defense said he was being sarcasstic after denying any wrongdoing during over 10 hours of questioning by investigators.
The defense said investigators, meanwhile, dismissed details that pointed to another sailor, who was later fired from the Navy.
Several former crewmembers testified Monday that the lower vehicle storage area was filled with bottles, tools, generators, tractors and other equipment while the ship was undergoing a two-year, $250 million upgrade pier-side in San Diego.
Navy leaders disciplined more than 20 senior officers and sailors in connection with what it described as widespread leadership failures that contributed to the disaster. The Navy spread blame across a wide range of ranks and responsibilities and directly faulted the ship’s three top officers.
While investigators said Mays set the fire, a Navy report last year concluded that the inferno was preventable and unacceptable, and that there were lapses in training, coordination, communications, fire preparedness, equipment maintenance and overall command and control.
The failure to extinguish or contain the fire led to temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas, melting sections of the ship into molten metal that flowed into other parts of the ship.
Retired Navy Capt. Lawrence B. Brennan, an adjunct professor at Admiralty and International Maritime Law Fordham Law School, said the prosecution has its work cut out for it.
“There are questions about identification of the people in the vicinity of the fire and possible causes other than arson,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. “Moreover, the conflagration and firefighting efforts damaged, if not destroyed, the crime scene and crucial evidence.”
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:07Z
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TOKYO (AP) — A tropical storm slammed southwestern Japan with rainfall and winds Monday, leaving one person dead and another missing, as it swerved north toward Tokyo.
Residential streets were flooded with muddy water from rivers, and swathes of homes lost power after Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in the Kyushu region Sunday then weakened to a tropical storm.
A man was found dead early Monday in his car that was sunk in water on a farm, said Yoshiharu Maeda, a city hall official in charge of disasters at Miyakonojo, Miyazaki prefecture. Separately, one person was missing after a cottage was caught in a landslide, according to a Miyazaki prefectural official.
Nanmadol has sustained winds blowing at 108 kilometers per hour (67 mph) and gusts up to 162 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Tens of thousands of people spent the night at gymnasiums and other facilities in a precautionary evacuation of vulnerable homes.
More than 60 people were injured, including those who fell down in the rain or were hit by shards of glass, according to Japanese media reports.
Torrential winds smashed signboards. A construction crane snapped and a window at a pachinko parlor was shattered in Kagoshima city, southwestern Japan.
Bullet trains and airlines suspended service. Warnings were issued about landslides and swelling rivers. Convenience store chains and delivery services temporarily shuttered in southwestern Japan, while some highways were closed and people had some problems with cell phone connections.
The storm is forecast to continue dumping rain on its northeasterly path over Japan’s main island of Honshu, before moving over Tokyo and then northeastern Japan.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:14Z
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations on Sunday called for Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to reopen schools to girls in grades 7-12, calling the anniversary of their exclusion from high school “shameful.”
The U.N. said it is increasingly concerned that the policy, together with other restrictions on basic freedoms, will contribute to a deepening of the country’s economic crisis in the form of greater insecurity, poverty and isolation.
“This is a tragic, shameful, and entirely avoidable anniversary,” said Markus Potzel, acting head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.
A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government. Teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. The religious group has failed to deliver on various promises to enable girls’ return to the classroom. The ban targets grades 7-12, primarily impacting girls age 12 to 18.
The Taliban re-opened high schools to boys while instructing girls to remain at home. The U.N. estimates that more than a million girls have been barred from attending high school over the past year.
“The ongoing exclusion of girls from high school has no credible justification and has no parallel anywhere in the world. It is profoundly damaging to a generation of girls and to the future of Afghanistan itself,” said Potzel, who is also the U.N. secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan.
To mark the Sunday anniversary, 50 girls sent a letter entitled “A Year of Darkness: A Letter from Afghan girls to heads of Muslim countries and other world leaders.” The girls hail from the capital Kabul, eastern Nangarhar province and northern Parwan province.
“The past year, we have been denied human rights, such as the right to attain an education, the privilege to work, the liberty to live with dignity, freedom, mobility and speech, and the right to determine and decide for ourselves,” Azadi, an 18-year-old 11th-grade student from Kabul, said in the letter. The girls named in the letter gave only their first names.
The U.N. said the denial of education violates the most fundamental rights of girls and women. The world body said it increases the risk of marginalization, violence, exploitation and abuse against girls and is part of a broader range of discriminatory policies and practices targeting women and girls since the de facto authorities assumed power in the summer of 2021.
The U.N. again called upon the Taliban to reverse the slew of measures they have introduced restricting Afghan women and girls’ enjoyment of their basic rights and freedoms.
Since taking power, the Taliban have struggled to govern and remain internationally isolated. An economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty and hunger as the flow of foreign aid has slowed to a trickle.
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:20Z
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — A 22-year-old man shot outside of his apartment in North Carolina has been identified as a paratrooper in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg.
Sgt. Nicholas Bobo, 22, of Gordova, Tennessee, was killed Tuesday night at about 11 p.m., according to Fayetteville police.
Officers say they were called to the 900 block of Enclave Dr. for reports of shots fired. When they got to the scene, they say they found Bobo suffering from multiple gunshot wounds outside of his apartment.
He died from his injuries at the scene, according to reports.
In a release from the 82nd Airborne Division, officials said Bobo was an automated logistical specialist assigned to the 407th Brigade Support Battalion who joined the Army in 2018 and arrived at Fort Bragg in 2019.
His awards and decorations include the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and the Army Parachutist Badge, Driver Mechanic Badge-Driver Wheeled Vehicle, and Marksmanship Qualification Badge Expert-Carbine
He is survived by his wife, a daughter, and his parents.
Investigators say after the shooting, the the paratrooper’s vehicle was taken. They did not believe the shooting was a random attack.
The incident is currently under investigation by Army Criminal Investigation Command and the Fayetteville Police Department.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective S. Shirey at (910) 751-3009 or Crime Stoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477).
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:27Z
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(NerdWallet) – If asked to picture a payday lender, you might think of a storefront in a strip mall with green dollar signs and neon slogans like “everyday’s payday.” You probably don’t picture a mobile app that advertises on TikTok and sports a colorful logo.
But cash advance apps like Earnin and Dave provide advances with the same borrow-and-repay structure as payday lenders, and consumer advocates say they carry similar risks. Both are fast, no-credit-check options to bridge an income gap or ease the pressure of inflation.
Neither is an ideal first choice for borrowing fast cash, but knowing their differences can help you save money and avoid damaging your finances.
Cash advance apps work like payday loans
Like most payday loans, a cash or paycheck advance app lets you borrow money with no credit check. You’re also required to repay the advance, plus any fees you agreed to, on your next payday.
A single pay cycle is usually not enough time for borrowers to repay a payday loan, so many people fall into a pattern of getting another loan to pay the previous one, says Alex Horowitz, principal officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
App users may find themselves in a similar cycle. A 2021 study from the Financial Health Network found that more than 70% of app users get advances consecutively. The study doesn’t say why users reborrow, but Horowitz says the behavior is notably similar to payday loans.
“Direct-to-consumer wage advances share DNA with payday loans,” he says. “They’re structured alike, they have repeat borrowing and they’re timed to the borrower’s payday, giving the lender a strong ability to collect.”
Apps may offer more flexibility
Payday lenders and paycheck advance apps both collect repayment directly from your bank account. If your account balance is too low when they withdraw funds, you could incur an overdraft fee, says Yasmin Farahi, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending.
An app might try to avoid overdrawing your account. Mia Alexander, vice president of customer success at Dave, says the app reviews users’ bank accounts before withdrawing repayment. If repayment will put the balance close to zero or negative, the app may not withdraw funds, she says.
However, apps commonly include language in their user agreements that even if they try not to overdraw your account, they aren’t responsible if they do.
In states where payday lending is allowed, it’s unlikely that a payday lender will offer a free, unsolicited payment extension, as some apps say they do. Some states require payday lenders to offer no-cost extended payment plans to struggling borrowers, but a 2021 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that some lenders misrepresent the plans or don’t disclose them.
Also unlike payday lenders, apps don’t make collection calls. If a user revokes access to their bank account to avoid repayment, the app won’t try to collect the funds. The user just can’t get another advance until they repay the previous one.
Payday loans cost more
Payday loans tend to have high, mandatory fees, while apps often don’t. Instead, they charge small fees that users can opt into throughout the borrowing process. Those fees can add up, but they’re usually less than what payday lenders charge.
For example, an app might charge a monthly subscription fee, or a fee for instant access to funds. Most cash advance apps also ask for a tip for the service.
The fee on a $375 payday loan is most commonly about $55 in a two-week period, Horowitz says. Because cash advance app fees are mostly optional, you can easily keep the cost below $10.
Earnin user Sharay Jefferson says she used payday loans in the past, but she switched to a cash advance app because it’s a cheaper way to cover bills and unexpected expenses.
“If you get a payday loan for $200, you’re going to pay maybe three-something back,” she says. “With Earnin, I’m going to have to pay back that $200, plus whatever I decide to tip them. It’s way less expensive.”
Technically, apps aren’t lenders
Regulators like the CFPB haven’t classified paycheck advance apps as lenders, despite their similarities to payday lending.
Earnin CEO and founder Ram Palaniappan says the app is more like a payroll service or ATM because it facilitates access to your own funds. Earnin requires users to upload a time sheet showing they’ve worked enough hours to have earned the cash advance amount. Other apps scan a user’s bank account for income and expenses to determine whether they qualify for an advance.
Farahi says apps should be treated like creditors, meaning they would follow the Truth in Lending Act, which requires creditors to disclose an annual percentage rate. An APR lets consumers compare costs between financing options. For example, users could compare a cash advance app’s APR to a credit card’s and choose the most affordable one.
“People still need to know what the actual cost of credit is and be able to evaluate it and truly compare that cost against other options,” she says.
Apps would also have to adhere to applicable state lending laws. Currently, 18 states and Washington, D.C., have maximum interest rate caps that could limit app fees, she says.
Cash advance app vs. payday loan: Which is better?
If you urgently need cash, you may have better alternatives than payday loans and advance apps, Farahi says.
Local nonprofits and charities can help with basic food and clothing needs. A family or friend could loan you money without charging extra fees. If you have a few hours to spare, a side gig could generate as much money as a typical payday loan or cash advance app.
If the choice is between an app and a payday loan, the app is probably the better option because:
- It’s cheaper.
- It may not trigger an overdraft fee.
- If you don’t repay it, the app won’t send you to collections.
A cash advance from an app is unlikely to leave you in a better financial spot, Farahi says. But it may be a little less likely than a payday loan to leave you worse off.
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:35Z
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(The Hill) – The White House-brokered agreement to avert a railroad strike has the potential to fall apart, threatening widespread economic disruption right before the midterm elections.
Rail workers are set to vote on the tentative deal reached between unions and railroads Thursday morning. If any of the 12 rail unions fail to ratify a new contract, nearly 125,000 rail workers could be headed for a strike.
The agreement would mandate two-person crews, cap health care costs and allow workers to take time off for medical appointments or other scheduled events without being penalized, all key concessions won by unions.
The deal also provides 24 percent raises over five years, back pay and cash bonuses, similar terms to those offered by the White House-appointed presidential emergency board (PEB) last month.
But nearly 36 hours after the agreement was announced, rail workers said they still didn’t have concrete details on sick leave and voluntarily assigned days off. That’s raised some doubts about just how strong the new contract language is.
Ron Kaminkow, an organizer at Railroad Workers United, which represents rank-and-file railroaders, said that there’s “a lot of anger, confusion and hostility” toward the new agreement, which many workers feel is intentionally vague.
“Workers are pissed off and this time we actually have a lot of leverage,” said a locomotive engineer at Norfolk Southern who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “I know I’m not going to accept anything less than what we deserve.”
The two largest rail unions warned during negotiations that their members wouldn’t approve a contract that doesn’t quell outrage over unpredictable scheduling, unsafe working conditions and a lack of sick leave.
For the strike threat to end, workers would need to feel that the proposed contract is far stronger than the deal offered by the PEB. A survey of rail workers at the SMART Transportation Division found that nearly 8 in 10 would have voted to reject that contract.
Another dilemma is that the tentative agreement reached Thursday only applies to SMART and the Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the two largest rail unions, but not the other unions that agreed to contracts based on the less worker-friendly PEB guidance.
Those include nearly 5,000 rail workers at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who voted to reject the PEB contract and authorize a strike last week. The union said it would resume negotiations this week and hold off on a strike until at least Sept. 29.
Vote counting is certain to drag into October, potentially setting up a key deadline at the height of election season.
Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois, predicted that the deal will ultimately pass but with a “sizeable number of ‘no’ votes.”
“I would be surprised if the bargaining committee misread what the rank and file would support. That doesn’t mean that it will pass with supermajorities,” Bruno said. “That will signal a level of continuing grievance on the part of the membership. It wouldn’t surprise me if a fairly substantial number of members voted ‘no’ in part because of how genuinely abused they feel.”
Bruno also said that the fact that sick leave and voluntarily assigned days off are the sticking points and not wages may inspire more “no” votes from workers.
“Usually, there’s a way to kind of figure out money,” he said. “It’s very often issues that go to respect and go to treatment, working autonomy, worker ability to have some control over their life. … I think it reflects just how much power employers can have, even under a collective bargaining agreement.”
A strike would shut down the U.S. railroad system, which carries nearly one-third of the nation’s freight, shutting down large portions of the economy. Enormous amounts of food, fuel and other key commodities would have no way to reach their destination.
The potential of further disruption to the nation’s fragile supply chain came at a terrible time for Democrats looking to hold onto their majority in Congress in the upcoming midterms.
There’s a sense of dread among some rail workers that Congress, not workers, will ultimately decide on the next rail contract if they vote down the newest agreement.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a GOP resolution that would have forced unions to accept the PEB terms, arguing that negotiators should be given more time.
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats were ready with a resolution to block a railroad shutdown if negotiations collapsed. She didn’t indicate whether the bill would impose a new contract, appoint arbitrators or simply prevent a walkout.
“Thankfully this action may not be necessary,” Pelosi said in a statement.
If the negotiations collapse, it could bode poorly for Biden, who often touts that he is the most pro-union president in U.S. history. Biden’s call into negotiations at 9 p.m. on Thursday to say a shutdown of railways was unacceptable came just hours before the tentative deal was struck. He’s received credit from both sides of the talks.
“This is an important test for the Biden administration’s commitments—not just to labor unions but to protecting middle-class jobs and workers,” said Gordon Lafer, co-director of the Labor Education & Research Center at the University of Oregon.
“If the company’s position is essentially that it wants to keep workers on impossible schedules that take a toll on their health, family life and emotional well-being, just in order to not lessen what are already healthy profits, I think that’s exactly the kind of problem that Biden has promised to solve,” he added.
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:42Z
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(KTLA) – A flight from California to Hawaii was interrupted, but not because of an incident or safety issue. Passengers were instead directed to pay attention to a musical type of in-flight instruction.
On Friday, passengers on the Southwest Airlines flight from Long Beach to Honolulu were surprised with a free ukulele lesson mid-flight.
Guitar Center, the music instrument retailer, organized the lesson. Over the course of the six-hour flight, passengers onboard were taught how to play “Hello, Aloha. How are you?” in its entirety on Hawaii’s most famous instrument.
“I’ve taught students through Guitar Center Lessons since 2014, but never in an airplane,” said Alexandra Windsor, educational affairs specialist for Guitar Center Lessons. “It was inspiring to see how quickly passengers of all ages picked up the ukulele – many with no musical background.”
As the plane touched down in the Aloha State, each passenger deplaned with a special gift: They got to keep their new instruments and a carrying case to keep them safe.
“The ukulele is the perfect instrument for beginners, and it shows just how fun and easy learning something new can be,” said Windsor.
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:49Z
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane Fiona made landfall in southwest Puerto Rico Sunday afternoon, shortly after being upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.
Fiona hit about 15 miles (25 kilometers) south-southeast of Mayaguez with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) around 3:20 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
The NHC said Fiona could bring “catastrophic flooding” and life-threatening mudslides to Puerto Rico.
“Parts of Puerto Rico could pick up over 12 inches of rain before skirting the east coast of the Dominican Republic Monday,” meteorologist Eric Stone said.
Forecasters said the downpour could bring up to 25 inches of rain in isolated areas.
The storm knocked out power to more than half a million customers and several health institutions, including Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital, which was running on generators. Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said crews were working to repair generators as soon as possible at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“The damages that we are seeing are catastrophic,” said Gov. Pedro Pierluisi.
“I urge people to stay in their homes,” said William Miranda Torres, mayor of the northern town of Caguas, where at least one large landslide was reported, with water rushing down a big slab of broken asphalt and into a gully.
The storm also washed away a bridge in the central mountain town of Utuado that police say was installed by the National Guard after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017.
Anxiety ran high across the island with Fiona due just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that hit on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island’s power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths.
More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak.
“I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that post-traumatic stress of, ‘What is going to happen, how long is it going to last and what needs might we face?’” said Danny Hernández, who works in the capital of San Juan but planned to weather the storm with his parents and family in the western town of Mayaguez.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency crisis for the commonwealth, ordering federal assistance to be sent to help Puerto Rican authorities respond to the potential dangers.
A hurricane warning is in effect for:
- Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra
- The coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Cabo Frances Viejo
A hurricane watch is in effect for:
- North coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Frances Viejo westward to Puerto Plata
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for:
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- The British Virgin Islands
- North coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Frances Viejo westward to Puerto Plata
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for:
- South coast of the Dominican Republic west of Cabo Caucedo to Barahona
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Southeastern Bahamas, including the Acklins, Crooked Island, Long Cay, the Inaguas, Mayaguana, and the Ragged Islands
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T07:47:57Z
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Chelsea Gray scored 20 points to lead the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA title in a 78-71 road win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 4 on Sunday.
Gray went 9 of 13 from the floor, and was named MVP after averaging 18 points over the run. The Aces improved to 4-0 in this year’s playoffs with two days rest.
Riquna Williams added 17 points Kelsey Plum added 16 points for the Aces, Jackie Young had 13 and league MVP A’ja Wilson added 11 points to go with 14 rebounds.
Vegas finished on an 8-0 run. As the buzzer sounded Wilson grabbed the ball and stomped the floor before being mobbed by her teammates.
We champs! We champs! We champs!” Wilson screamed at teammates as they pulled on their championship hats and T-shirts before the trophy ceremony.
It’s the first major pro sports title for a team from Las Vegas, and Wilson surely hopes this is just the beginning.
“You see it. You see it,” Wilson said in the on-court celebration. “This is what we’re building. This is what we’re doing. This is it. I’m so happy right now.”
Courtney Williams had 17 points to lead Connecticut and Alyssa Thomas had her second straight triple-double with 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Jonquel Jones added 13 points and DeWanna Bonner had 12.
Las Vegas led by two points at the half and four points after three quarters.
For Aces coach Becky Hammon, who didn’t get a title in her standout WNBA career, the ring completed a decades-long quest. She left an assistant coach position with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs to take over in Las Vegas, and the move paid off.
“They’re unbelievable on the court but they’re unbelievable humans, first and foremost,” Hammon said. “They care about each other. They invest in each other. It’s been an absolute honor to be their coach. I saw excellence and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Hammon also paid tribute to former Aces coach Bill Laimbeer, who was on the floor for the ceremony. “He put this team together and saw the pieces,” Hammon said.
Aces owner Mark Davis, who also owns the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, wasn’t with his football team Sunday. He was in Connecticut to get a trophy. He hoisted it, then turned it over to gleeful players who did the same.
“Las Vegas, we are world champions,” Davis said.
It was a six-point lead in the fourth when Kelsey Plum was called for a flagrant foul after running into Bonner while the Sun guard was attempting a 3-pointer and sending her to the floor holding her right ankle. Bonner hit all three free throws before Jonquel Jones short jumper cut the lead to a point. The Sun then tied the game at 67 on free throw by Courtney Williams and took a 71-70 lead on two fouls shots from Brionna Jones.
But Las Vegas had the answers.
Riquna Williams 3-pointer put the Aces back on top and Chelsea Gray’s step-back jumper extended the lead back to 75-71 with under a minute left A’Ja Wilson then stole a pass and Plum hit a short jump shot to secure the win.
Bonner opened the scoring with a leaner from the left wing. But Kelsey Plum’s 3-pointer from the left baseline sparked an early 12-0 run for Vegas that shot them out to a 16-6 lead. The Aces, who gave up 34 points to the Sun in in first quarter of Game 3, led 16-12 after 10 minutes on Sunday.
Gray — who overcame some serious injuries that threatened to sidetrack her career in the past — was WNBA Finals MVP, to no one’s surprise after averaging 18.3 points and 6 assists in the series.
“My teammates are awesome,” Gray said as she broke into tears. “I worked so hard for this.”
She wasn’t a WNBA All-Star this season, nor was she a first-team all-league pick, and voiced her displeasure about that.
In the end, she also got the last word.
“They can keep that All-Star and first team,” Gray said. “I got the ring.”
SCRAPPY GAME
As expected, it was a physical game appropriately played on an NFL Sunday. The Sun got a scare when Bonner took an inadvertent elbow to the gut from Gray late in the first quarter and and was on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the bench. She came back into the game later in the half, apparently suffering no ill effects. Natisha Hiedeman and Plum got into a short pushing match in the second quarter, eliciting technical fouls on both players. That was all before Plum’s flagrant in the fourth.
INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Before the game, both coaches reflected on the makeup of organizations in the Final. The Aces are led by Hammon and two Black women executives in general manager Nikki Williams and Nikki Fargas, president of business operations. The Sun are owned by the Mohegan Tribe, have a woman president in Jen Rizzotti and are coached by Curt Miller, a gay man.
“Women’s basketball is such a story in terms of diversity and inclusion. I mean, our our league defines it and I’m so proud to be a part of it, Miller said, adding that he hopes to be an inspiration to any gay child “wondering if they can chase a career in sports.”
Hammon said she believes the diversity in her team’s front office has made it stronger
“You can make a lot better picture with a box full of crayons than just a pencil,” she said.
RAIDERS’ SUPPORT
The start of the celebration was shown on the video screens at the Raiders’ stadium during the NFL game against Arizona on Sunday, with fans breaking into loud cheers. They can cheer more in a few days: a parade on the Las Vegas Strip is planned for Thursday evening.
“What a team, what talent, what a victory! You have made Las Vegas so proud!” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a statement. “Thank you for your effort, discipline & focus. We can’t wait for the celebrations & a great parade!”
TIP-INS
The Aces are the fourth WNBA team to win a title with both a league MVP and coach of the year … The Sun have been among the last four WNBA teams standing for each of the last four seasons, making it back to the Finals for the first time since 2019.
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A University of Tampa student died after getting into the wrong car early Saturday morning, police said.
The student had been out with friends before taking an Uber home. According to the Tampa Police Department, after getting out of his Uber, the student tried to force his way into the vehicle of another man parked nearby. The driver shot the student in the chest, saying he feared for his life.
The student died at the scene.
In a campus-wide email, the University of Tampa said in part, “Our heartfelt condolences go out to the student’s family and friends, as well as all who were affected by this incident. The University values all members of the community and mourns this tragic loss.”
“It’s so scary and awful that happened,” said freshman student Erika Roberti. “That’s just so bad.”
“It just seems like something that would never happen, especially in this kind of city,” freshman Emily Ollendorff said. “It was very shocking to hear and kind of confusing. We obviously don’t know the full details about it.”
The shooter remained at the scene and is cooperating with detectives, the police department said. Any potential charges would be decided by the State Attorney’s office.
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| 2022-09-21T07:48:25Z
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(NEXSTAR) – Home buyers open to embracing a new state will get a lot more house for their money, a new study shows.
An analysis by The Ascent, which rates and reviews personal finance products, found that the average median home price in the first quarter of 2022 was $428,700.
In the 10th least expensive state, Louisiana, the average price is less than half that, at $214,522. If Mardi Gras, mouth-watering culinary options and a fascinating history are not enough to draw you to the Pelican State, don’t worry, there are cheaper options.
In Kentucky, home to the iconic Derby and Mammoth Cave National Park, the average price dips below $200,000, to $197,644.
See the full list, according to The Ascent:
There’s also good news for home buyers in all states. An analysis of home sales data by Redfin shows that, on average, U.S. homes purchased during a four-week period in August sold for less than what sellers were asking. That hasn’t happened since at least March 2021, according to the real estate brokerage.
“The only times you get homes going above list price is when there’s a bidding war, and those used to not be a regular occurrence,” said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist. “And we’re back to a place where bidding wars are unusual, not the norm.”
On average, 7.5% of homes for sale in the four weeks in August that Redfin tracked had a price drop each week, a record high, the company said.
That the typical home is now selling for below the asking price is a sign that the housing market is becoming a bit more balanced, or less skewed, toward sellers.
“It’s significant that now buyers know that when they’re bidding on a home chances are they can get it for less than the asking price and without a competing offer, which was not the case earlier this year,” Fairweather said.
That doesn’t mean some homes aren’t still drawing multiple offers. Some 37% of homes purchased in the four-week stretch of August analyzed by Redfin sold for more than their list price. That was down from 50% a year earlier, Redfin said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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(NEXSTAR) – He won multiple Emmys. He was nominated for an Academy Award. And he also played a part in popularizing Cap’n Crunch for generations of cereal-chomping kids.
The late Allan Burns is probably better known as the co-creator of such sitcoms as “My Mother the Car” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” but before that, he was a young writer and animator working for Jay Ward, the producer of such animated series as “Crusader Rabbit” and “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.”
In 1962, Burns was working at Jay Ward Productions when he got a call from Ward, who was off on vacation. Ward had forgotten he had scheduled a meeting with some Chicago-based advertising executives working for Quaker Oats, who were looking to build a campaign around a new cereal. Ward asked Burns to take a stab at it, but not before trying some of the cereal, which Ward had kept in a bag in his office.
“I tasted it, and … it tasted like it was going to shred my mouth, it was so crunchy,” Burns said in a 2004 interview with the Television Academy. “And I called Jay [Ward] back and I said, ‘I think I’ve got a [tagline]: It’s not, “It stays crunchy, even in milk” — it would be, “Stays crunchy, even in hydrochloric acid.” This stuff is going to shred children’s mouths all over America.’”
Ward nevertheless asked Burns to “whip something together” over the next few days, so he drew up a “Horatio Hornblower-figure” he named “Cap’n Crunch, as well as a slew of supporting characters for television commercials or a possible cartoon series.
Burns ended up pitching the idea to the ad executives, who apparently thought it was funny before leaving to pursue meetings with other animation houses, including Hanna-Barbera. But about a month later, Burns learned that Jay Ward Productions had successfully sold the idea to Quaker Oats.
Burns had also earned himself a bonus, though it wasn’t anywhere near the “millions” he estimated his creation earned for Quaker Oats.
“I got a thousand dollars for creating this thing. That was it,” he said.
Burns probably wasn’t miffed for too long. He and Chris Hayward, a fellow writer for Jay Ward Productions, pitched an idea for a half-hour sitcom (loosely inspired by the Addams Family cartoons in the New Yorker) that went on to become “The Munsters.” Within a few years, they also co-created “My Mother the Car,” and later became writers and story consultants on “Get Smart.”
But perhaps Burns’ biggest hit was “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which he co-created with James L. Brooks. The show aired for seven seasons and spawned three spin-offs — “Rhoda,” “Phyllis” and “Lou Grant” — all of which Burns wrote for. He was also the executive producer of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda” and “Lou Grant,” among other popular shows listed in his IMDb credits.
Over the years, Burns picked up several Emmy Awards, mostly for writing and producing “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” but also for “He & She,” a comedy series starring Paula Prentiss and Richard Benjamin that he wrote for in the late ‘60s. He would later earn an Academy Award nomination for co-writing 1979’s “A Little Romance” starring Laurence Olivier.
Burns passed in Jan. 2021, leaving behind a body of work that entertained generations of viewers, young and old.
And if he indeed encouraged a few kids to “shred” their mouths on some super-crunchy cereal along the way, so be it.
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| 2022-09-21T07:48:40Z
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(NEXSTAR) — Does anybody like going to the airport? Whether you find it glamorous or treacherous, moving through an airport is a hard-to-avoid event if you want to see the world. But not all airports are created equal, apparently.
This year, travel news and resources company Frommer’s ranked the 10 “worst” airports in the U.S. based on “flight delays, security wait times, customer satisfaction surveys, and the reviews of experts.”
These are the 10 worst airports in the U.S., according to Frommer’s:
10. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) — This Virginia airport’s layout and location were among the outlet’s main complaints, though it was noted for being attractively built. Airport manager Richard Golinowski recently told The Washington Post he’s aware some of the older buildings are “starting to see some problems,” but noted they’re working to address these issues, including adding a 14-gate concourse expected to be complete in 2026.
9. West Virginia International Yeager Airport (CRW) — The location of this airport in Charleston, West Virginia, is labeled “scary” by Frommer’s — the site is surrounded on all sides by cliffs. The facility was previously known only as Yeager Airport, but was renamed in January in order to be classified as “international,” WOWK in Charleston reports. Its international U.S. Customs service won’t be ready until December, however.
8. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) — Delays and cancellations landed this massive hub in north Central Texas at eighth on the list. But DFW recently became the U.S. airport with the most nonstop flights (a title it previously held) and is currently offering about 239 nonstop destinations, according to aviation news outlet Simple Flying.
7. Denver International Airport (DIA) — Turbulence. Denver is surrounded by mountainous, hilly areas, and this can result in bumpier flights than many may be used to. (Apparently, mountains + wind = air waves.) The Federal Aviation Administration has a Tips of Mountain Flying manual that Frommer’s notes could be useful here.
6. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) — This Ohio airport is dinged by Frommer’s for needed updates and lack of space. A 2019 J.D. Power customer satisfaction study placed CLE even worse, coming second-to-last.
5. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) — Some tough traffic and closed roads near the City of Brotherly Love’s main airport make for a rocky trip for passengers, both Frommer’s and J.D. Power say. The latter named PHL dead last on its 2021 airport customer satisfaction survey.
4. O’Hare International Airport (ORD) — Chicago’s massive airport is considered still too small by Frommer’s, and often-delayed flights didn’t help its ranking. Meanwhile, J.D. Power ranked it last on its 2021 customer satisfaction survey for “mega”-sized airports.
3. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) — It may be the only airport with a two-part “LOST” episode named after it, but getting lost at it is also a complaint, based on ratings. The airport is noted to have a “confusing” layout and, like most of Los Angeles, traffic problems.
2. LaGuardia Airport (LGA) — One of New York City’s major airports is clocked for running late on the clock, as Frommer’s says delays and cancellations are common at LGA. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) shows 22.52% of flights were delayed or cancelled from July 2019 to July 2021. To remedy some of these problems, LGA has undergone a few alterations (see below).
1. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — BTS data shows 24.29% of flights at this New Jersey airport were delayed or canceled between July 2019 and July 2021. Recently, EWR was shifted from being part of the NYC code by the International Air Transport Association, reported Travel + Leisure. What will this mean for flyers? Perhaps less competition for flights and thus higher prices for travelers to New York, T+L says. Yahoo! Finance reports the change is set to go into effect Oct. 3.
LaGuardia, the second-worst on Frommer’s list, has since undergone billions of dollars worth of renovations, transforming from what Bloomberg called in June a “once-infamous” airport into one named the best in design and architecture by an international jury for the Prix Versailles Award.
Meanwhile, Fundera, a small business resources site run by NerdWallet, also ranked the five worst regional airports for business travelers based on convenience and flight performance/availability. Its “worst” airports were, in order from least-worst to worst: Palm Beach International Airport, Albuquerque International Sunport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport, and Memphis International Airport.
Fundera found Memphis airport’s single business lounge and lack of direct flights lacking, ultimately ranking it as the worst, Travel Channel reported. But proving that “best” and “worst” may be in the eye of the beholder, Fundera ranked LAX — Frommer’s third-worst — as its fifth best for business travelers, citing affordable parking fees and flight availability.
Safe travels wherever you fly from — and may your stresses stay low.
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| 2022-09-21T07:48:47Z
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NEW YORK (WPIX) — A man started swinging around an ax in a McDonald’s after getting into a fight with three people early Friday, police say.
NYPD got a call around 2:25 a.m. about a fight in a McDonald’s on the Lower East Side.
Witnesses told police that Micahel Palacios, 31, had a physical fight with three unknown men. A video with over 22 million views on Twitter shows Palacios going into his backpack and removing an ax. Then, officials said he started swinging the axe, breaking tables, shattering glass, and threatening people at the McDonald’s.
Police found a knife in his backpack. He was arrested on the following charges:
- Criminal mischief
- Three counts of menacing
- Two counts of Criminal possession of a weapon
The viral video shows over two minutes of back-and-forth, threats, and assault.
No injuries were reported by the victims.
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| 2022-09-21T07:48:55Z
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(NerdWallet) – The Biden administration announced plans for federal student loan relief last month. The plans include the cancellation of up to $10,000 in debt for borrowers who meet income requirements and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Beyond cancellation, the proposal also extended the pause on loan repayment through the end of the year and introduced a new income-driven repayment plan aimed at lowering monthly payments.
For now, these plans are just, well, plans. And plans can change. Many experts expect the proposal to face legal challenges, so don’t make any big money moves just yet. Here’s what you can do now to prepare for relief, and what it could mean for your budget.
There’s still uncertainty
If the proposal moves forward unchanged, it could still take time for your budget to feel the effects. Loan forgiveness should be automatic for roughly 8 million people because they’ve already supplied income data, according to the Department of Education. The Biden administration aims to make an application available for everyone else by early October. Relief is estimated to come four to six weeks after completing the application.
“There’s still a lot of unanswered questions,” says Kyle Liseno, head of the student loan department at the nonprofit agency American Consumer Credit Counseling. “I’ve been telling people, just kind of stay tuned to studentaid.gov, which is the Department of Education website.” You can also sign up for application notifications on the Department of Education’s subscription page. The application deadline is Dec. 31, 2023. But borrowers are advised to apply before Nov. 15 of this year to get relief before the payment pause ends.
Here’s what could happen if relief withstands legal challenges
It could free up more money for expenses and goals
The newly announced relief plans could erase or reduce a substantial amount of your federal loan debt. (Private student loans are not covered.) The impact on your budget could be massive, especially during a time of heightened inflation and interest rates.
“$10,000 could be a great amount for someone, and it could really help them in terms of just getting back on their feet and getting rid of financial debt,” says Maggie Klokkenga, a certified financial planner in Morton, Illinois.
If you don’t qualify for forgiveness, you’ll still benefit from the pause on loan payments, which has been extended through Dec. 31, 2022 — interest-free. If you keep making payments during the pause, your balance will drop. If you hold off, you can put some of the money you previously spent on payments toward more urgent expenses, such as rent or high-interest debt.
But even if you’re eligible, you won’t be handed a $10,000 check. Klokkenga suggests looking at your previous student loan statements to remind yourself of the minimum payment amount. Then, you can allocate some or all of that amount (depending on how relief impacts your balance) toward saving for an emergency fund and other financial goals, “whether it’s vacation, short term, or whether it’s retirement, long term,” Klokkenga says. “And then you can still have some fun with it, but it’s not to say this is a windfall or that you just won the lottery.”
Liseno says he’s already seen many people pursue financial goals while payments have been paused. “All this deferment has shown that when student loans are off the table, young people are buying homes now. They’re buying cars. That money is going into the economy,” he says.
Think of what you would do with the extra cash if your $300 minimum monthly payment got slashed to $150. Or $0. Klokkenga says using an online tool, such as Utah State University Extension’s PowerPay, can help you create a debt payment or spending plan based on your student loan savings.
You might not feel a difference
Federal student loan payments have been on pause since March 2020. This latest extension should feel familiar.
The relief plan “is going to help a lot of Americans with … their future budgets,” Liseno says. “Because most people haven’t had to pay in almost three years.”
If you took advantage of the pause, you’ve likely already moved money around elsewhere in your budget. Or, if you’ve been responsibly socking the monthly payment amount away in savings, you’ll be accustomed to parting with that money if you still have a balance to pay come January.
Student loan relief plans are still up in the air. It may be tough to predict what will happen with your finances until there’s a clear resolution. In the meantime, stay on top of news and do your best to prepare for different outcomes.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:02Z
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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — New research from the journal Pediatrics reveals that emergency room visits involving children who have swallowed button batteries have doubled in the past decade.
Button batteries are commonly found in products such as remote controls, watches, and toys.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, every three hours a child will visit the ER after consuming a battery.
Health experts say the effects of swallowing a battery are serious and can be deadly. Consuming button batteries can cause serious tissue damage in as little as two hours. Once the battery comes in contact with saliva, a reaction can occur that begins to erode the child’s esophagus.
Experts say one of the most important steps you can take in this situation is to call the poison helpline.
Additionally, children should not be allowed to eat or drink after swallowing the battery.
You can, however, slow the harmful effects by giving your child honey. If your child is over 1 year old, it is recommended to give them two teaspoons every 10 minutes for up to 6 doses.
“After testing nearly 30 different substances found in the kitchen and pantries of most households, we found that honey, which is obviously very palpable, is a weakly acetic type of solution so it helps to neutralize the PH. It also acts as a viscous or physical barrier to coat the esophagus so there is less direct contact,” said Dr. Chris Jatana, Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Experts say above all, get your child to a nearby hospital immediately.
Just last month, an Ohio mother went viral with a Facebook post describing how she gave her young daughter honey after she swallowed a button battery from a doll’s leg.
After arriving at the hospital, X-rays showed the battery had slid into the girl’s stomach where it was less dangerous. The girl was discharged after an overnight stay in the hospital, Nexstar’s WJW reports.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:10Z
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(The Conversation) – You define beauty yourself. You are more than a number on a scale. Love yourself the way you are. Body positive messages like these seem to be everywhere from social media to TV ads. But while some find the body positivity movement to be uplifting and helpful, others have begun calling the movement “toxic” and suggesting it may be time to move on from this way of thinking.
Body positivity has its roots in radical fat activism that began in the late 1960s. Alongside activism among ethnic minority women, these groups protested against structural biases and discrimination, especially from the fashion and beauty industries that profited from making people and communities feel inadequate.
Over time, this evolved into the body positivity movement as we know it today. Initially, the movement was driven by popular social media accounts that challenged narrowly defined societal standards of appearance.
But some say the movement shifted away from its radical roots when it went mainstream. This was largely thanks to corporate brand campaigns, such as Dove’s Real Beauty campaign and promises by fashion magazines to show a more diverse array of bodies.
Body positivity’s aim to promote acceptance and appreciation of a diversity of body types and sizes may explain why it has such a broad appeal. And indeed, there’s evidence that such messaging can have a positive impact. Studies show that women exposed to social media accounts and content about body positivity have better mood, as well as greater body satisfaction and emotional wellbeing.
Turning toxic
But despite the positive effect body positivity can have, more recently some have voiced concerns. They are worried the movement itself is exclusionary and that it may actually do more harm than good. For example, the singer Lizzo says that the movement has been “co-opted by all bodies” and has become about celebrating “medium and small girls and people who occasionally get rolls”.
Others feel that the movement continues to exclude marginalised bodies, with the most influential body positive accounts and posts typically depicting conventionally attractive white women. One analysis of almost 250 body positivity posts on Instagram found that 67% of the posts featured white women, with men and ethnic minority women seriously under-represented.
Others have said that the emphasis on loving your looks actually reinforces society’s preoccupation with appearance over other attributes. One study found that when women watched a lifestyle television programme aimed at promoting body positivity, they experienced similar increases in anxiety about their body and dissatisfaction compared to women who watched a programme about fashion models.
Such body positivity content may have a negative impact on viewers because it does little to challenge the underlying idea that people are valued primarily for their appearance. Despite its positive spin, the movement still encourages people to work on their body and engage in beauty practices. And if you fail to be body positive, it’s you that’s at fault.
Likewise, some commentators find the involvement of corporations and the “performative activism” (doing something because of how it looks rather than what it achieves) of the movement to be problematic. In her influential article Body Positivity is a Scam, writer Amanda Mull argued that in divorcing itself from its radical past, the movement ignores the structural reasons that lead to negative body image, such as gendered inequalities and systems of oppression. Instead, the messaging now shifts the focus onto individuals and their ability to feel happy in their body.
Some even feel the current movement pushes a form of “toxic positivity”, the expectation that we should always be positive no matter what, and that we should silence negative emotions in ourselves and others. Much of the current movement’s messaging emphasises that people should show confidence and acceptance in their body. The end result is that those who fail to achieve body confidence end up feeling like they’ve failed themselves.
There’s some recent evidence to support this idea. One group of researchers exposed women to this kind of toxic body positivity using various images – such as ones that depicted the message, “You MUST accept your body or you will never be happy”.
Across a series of experiments, women exposed to such messages didn’t feel any better about their body image. Instead, their body image only improved when the participants understood that people close to them (such as friends or family) appreciated them for who they were – rather than what they looked like.
Body neutrality
Many are now moving away from the body positivity movement and the pressures that come from it entirely, and instead are getting behind the body neutrality movement. Rather of focusing on physical appearance, body neutrality is the idea that we can exist without having to think too much about our bodies one way or the other.
We are all more than just our bodies. We are complex beings with a range of emotions and feelings about our bodies.
And because body neutrality de-emphasises the focus on appearance, it allows us to better appreciate all the things our bodies are able to do. Being grateful for being able to do the hobbies you love or appreciating your body for what it’s capable of doing are both examples of body neutrality.
In fact, there’s evidence to suggest that body neutrality can be beneficial to us. Across cultures and demographic groups, body neutrality is associated with more positive body image and mental wellbeing. And the good news is there are many ways you can develop body neutrality, including writing-based therapies, yoga and spending time in nature.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:17Z
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the discovery of top-secret documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate raised concerns that sensitive data was compromised and called it “irresponsible.”
Biden, who rarely does interviews, spoke to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a segment that aired Sunday. He said that when he heard about classified documents taken from the White House, he wondered how “anyone could be that irresponsible.”
Biden added: “And I thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?”
The president said he did not get a heads-up before the Trump estate was searched, and he has not asked for any specifics “because I don’t want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take.”
The FBI says it took about 11,000 documents, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office, while serving a court-authorized search warrant at the home on Aug. 8. Weeks after the search, Trump lawyers asked a judge to appoint a special master to conduct an independent review of the records.
The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act.
Biden told “60 Minutes” that when he heard about classified documents being taken from the White House, he wondered how “anyone could be that irresponsible.”
“And I thought what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods?”
In the wide-ranging interview, the president wouldn’t commit to running for reelection in 2024, though he’s said in the past that he planned to.
“My intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again,” he said. “But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.”
Biden was asked about growing concerns that Russia’s efforts to seize Ukraine could inspire China’s leader Xi Jinping to attack Taiwan. The island has been recognized by the U.S. as part of China but has its own democratic government. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met last week.
Biden again said the U.S. forces would respond “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”
White House officials later said the official U.S. policy had not changed, and would not say whether American forces would be called to defend Taiwan. Biden has made the claim before, but the statements come at an increasingly tense time for U.S.-China relations, particularly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip there last month.
Beijing sees official American contact with Taiwan as encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step Biden and other U.S. leaders say they don’t support.
The president said the U.S. commitment to Ukraine was “ironclad” and would remain so “as long as it takes.” Ukrainian troops are engaged in a counteroffensive that has reclaimed towns and cities from Russian troops. But the toll the war has taken is vast, and fresh atrocities are being revealed, including torture chambers and mass graves. Since January 2021, the U.S. has given more than $13.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
In the same hour, “60 Minutes” also aired an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who will be speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in New York this coming week. Raisi echoed standard Iranian lines about the status of currently stalled nuclear talks with world powers. He said the United States is not trustworthy and demanded guarantees that the U.S. would not withdraw from a deal as President Donald Trump did in 2018.
Raisi said he had no plans to meet with Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. event as it would serve no purpose, although he reiterated that Iran is willing to discuss prisoner exchanges with the United States. He also defended his country’s anti-Israel stance and said Tehran was committed to pursuing “justice” for the Trump administration’s assassination of a top Iranian military commander.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:32Z
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LONDON (AP) — For U.S. President Joe Biden, it was the crumpets. For his wife, first lady Jill Biden, it was the tea.
Joe and Jill Biden on Sunday helped honor Queen Elizabeth II by sharing memories of their tea time last year when she invited them to join her at Windsor Castle, near London.
The president, who said after that 2021 visit that Elizabeth reminded him of his late mother, recalled Sunday that she kept offering him crumpets. He did not refuse.
“I kept eating everything she put in front of me,” he said. “But she was the same in person as … her image: decent, honorable, and all about service.”
The queen, who was Britain’s longest-serving monarch, died earlier this month after a 70-year reign. Biden is among hundreds of heads of state and other dignitaries who are in London to attend her state funeral service Monday at Westminster Abbey.
The first lady told The Associated Press in a telephone interview after she and the president attended a reception at Buckingham Palace that “what really impressed me” about the queen was “just how warm and gracious she was.”
“I loved her sense of curiosity. She wanted to know all about American politics and so she asked Joe question after question,” Jill Biden said. She said sitting in Elizabeth’s living room was “almost like being, you know, with your grandmother.”
“And she said, ‘Let me pour the tea,’ and we said, ‘No, no, let us help,’ and she said ‘Oh, no, no, no, I’ll get this. You sit down,’” Jill Biden said. “And it was just a very special moment with a very special woman.”
The Bidens paid their respects to the queen on Sunday by traveling to Westminster Hall, where she has been lying in state, to stand before the monarch’s coffin in the presence of thousands of mourners who had spent hours upon hours waiting to file past.
They then signed condolence books at Lancaster House before going to Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by King Charles III and other royal family members for the world leaders who flew in for the funeral.
After signing the book, Biden said his his heart goes out to the royal family because the queen’s death has left it with a “giant hole.”
“Sometimes you think you’ll never, you’ll never overcome it,” said Biden, who often speaks in very personal terms about loss following the death of his first wife and infant daughter, and later an adult son. “But as I’ve told the king, she’s going to be with him every step of the way — every minute, every moment. And that’s a reassuring notion.”
While viewing the coffin on Sunday, the first lady said, she watched a little boy dressed in a Boy Scout uniform come in and give the queen a three-finger salute.
“I mean, it just gave me a lump in my throat,” she said, and showed ”how much the people really loved their queen, no matter their ages.”
President Biden wrote in the condolence book that the queen “was admired around the world for her unwavering commitment to service.”
The first lady signed a separate condolence book for spouses and ambassadors, writing “Queen Elizabeth lived her life for the people. She served with wisdom and grace. We will never forget her warmth, kindness and the conversations we shared.”
In the interview, Jill Biden cautioned that there’s a “human piece” to the queen’s death.
Speaking of Charles, she said: “He is the king, but no one should forget, he lost his mother and, you know, Prince William lost a grandmother. Sometimes we tend to forget the really human piece of this and the sorrow that they … have to bear and how they have to grieve in public. But they seem to be doing OK,” she said.
More than 2,000 people were expected at Westminster Abbey for Monday’s funeral.
___
Follow AP coverage of Queen Elizabeth II at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves at the White House.
Biden is getting in the Sept. 26 visit with just about a week before the 2022 regular season wraps up and playoffs begin. The Braves beat the Houston Astros in six games last year. The Braves are in second place in the National League East standings with 91 wins. Post-season begins Oct. 7.
The president, regardless of party, often honors major league and some college sports champions with a White House ceremony, typically nonpartisan affairs in which the commander in chief pays tribute to the champs’ prowess, poses for photos and comes away with a team jersey.
Those visits were highly charged in the previous administration. Many athletes took issue with President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric on policing, immigration and more. Trump, for his part, didn’t take kindly to the criticism from athletes or their on-field expressions of political opinion.
Under Biden, the tradition appears to be back. He’s hosted the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the White House.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:47Z
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BEIJING (AP) — China’s government on Monday criticized President Joe Biden’s statement that American forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing tries to invade as a violation of U.S. commitments about the self-ruled island, but gave no indication of possible retaliation.
Biden said “yes” when asked during an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” program whether “U.S. forces, U.S. men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.”
The comment added to displays of official American support for the island democracy in the face of growing shows of force by the mainland’s ruling Communist Party, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.
Without citing Biden by name, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the “U.S. remarks” violate Washington’s commitment not to support formal independence for Taiwan, a step Beijing has said would lead to war.
“China strongly deplores and rejects it and has made solemn complaints with the U.S. side,” said the spokeswoman, Mao Ning.
CBS News reported the White House said after the interview U.S. policy hasn’t changed. That policy says Washington wants to see Taiwan’s status resolved peacefully but doesn’t say whether U.S. forces might be sent in response to a Chinese attack.
Tension is rising following efforts by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to intimidate Taiwan by firing missiles into the nearby sea and flying fighter jets toward the island after visits to Taipei by political figures including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mao called on Washington to “handle Taiwan-related issues prudently” and “not to send any wrong signals” to supporters of Taiwan independence “to to avoid further damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with the Communist Party in control of the mainland. The two governments say they are one country but dispute which is entitled to be the national leader.
“We will do our utmost to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity, while we will not tolerate any activities aimed at splitting China and reserve the option to take all necessary measures,” Mao said.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry expressed “sincere gratitude” to Biden for “affirming the U.S. government’s rock-solid promise of security to Taiwan.”
Taiwan will “resist authoritarian expansion and aggression” and “deepen the close security partnership” with Washington and other governments “with similar thinking” to protect regional stability, the statement said.
Washington is obligated by federal law to see that Taiwan has the means to defend itself but doesn’t say whether U.S. forces would be sent. The United States has no formal relations with the island but maintains informal diplomatic ties.
The Communist Party has persuaded most foreign governments to switch official recognition to Beijing, though many maintain informal ties have extensive trade and investment relations with Taiwan. The island’s official diplomatic partners are mostly small, poor nations in Africa and Latin America.
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” Mao said. “The government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legal government representing the whole of China.”
Washington says it doesn’t support formal independence for Taiwan, a stance Biden repeated in the interview broadcast Sunday.
“Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence,” the president said. “We’re not encouraging their being independent.”
In May, Biden said “yes” when asked at a news conference in Tokyo whether he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded.
___
Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing and journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T07:49:54Z
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LONDON (AP) — American presidents usually make a splash when they travel abroad, holding the spotlight and quickly becoming the center of attention.
Not this time.
For U.S. President Joe Biden and other presidents, prime ministers and dignitaries, there were no red-carpet arrivals, no big speeches and no news conferences as they gathered for Monday’s state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II. Instead, world leaders used to people hanging on their every word checked their egos in the service of honoring the queen, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, who died earlier this month at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
“They know that they are there to honor the passing, honor the individual,” said Capricia Marshall, who was the U.S. State Department’s protocol chief for a period during Barack Obama’s administration. “They also are aware that they’re representing their country.”
The protocol office is a key player in U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic affairs, working to make sure U.S. officials don’t say or do anything that will offend a foreign visitor or host.
The president and first lady were among some 2,000 people attending the funeral at Westminster Abbey. The couple arrived for the funeral, waiting in the back as a procession moved past, before taking their seats among hundreds of others. They arrived in London late Saturday and paid respects to the queen on Sunday, viewing her coffin at Westminster Hall, signing condolence books at Lancaster House and attending a Buckingham Palace reception for funeral guests hosted by King Charles III.
But the president’s public appearances in London have been limited and controlled, part of the choreography around the elaborate farewell to the only monarch most Britons have ever known. He spoke only for just a few minutes Sunday about the queen, as he recalled how the woman he said reminded him of his mother kept feeding him crumpets when they had tea together last year at Windsor Castle.
When Biden spoke to the BBC, the only outlet broadcasting live as he signed the condolence book, the network kept up a split screen with Sir David Manning, a former British ambassador to the U.S., and did not air Biden’s comments live.
Most other leaders in town have kept similarly low profiles, appearing only to sign the official book of condolence and silently pay respects at the queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall.
A few have given interviews to share memories of Elizabeth, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who told the BBC about the advice the queen gave her on balancing work and motherhood: “I remember she just said, ‘Well, you just get on with it,’ and that was actually probably the best and most I think factual advice I could have.”
Leaders like Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have batted away questions about whether their countries are likely to become republics, saying now is not the time to discuss it. Both countries have the queen as their monarch.
An exception was Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, who is running for reelection and delivered an open-air campaign speech Sunday outside his country’s embassy in London. Bolsonaro, who trails former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in opinion polls, insisted to about 200 supporters that the polls were wrong and that he could avoid entering a runoff on Oct. 2.
Biden and new U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss scrapped a weekend meeting in favor of a more robust sit-down next week during the U.N. General Assembly, and the White House didn’t even announce news of the meeting until after British officials had.
One senior U.S. official said Biden’s lower profile was less about protocol and more about the fact that “it’s not our show. It’s the Brits’ show.” The U.S. has to be sensitive to that, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Peter Selfridge, another former U.S. official, said Biden is in London “to grieve” and likely does not care that he has largely been out of the spotlight. Selfridge noted the president’s history of personal loss, including the death of his first wife and infant daughter and, later, an adult son.
“As a matter of fact, that’s probably the way he wants it,” said Selfridge, the U.S. chief of protocol during Obama’s second term.
Then again, some people’s wiring doesn’t allow them to avoid making a beeline for the first camera they see, said Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management expert.
But Dezenhall said in an email that the “good news is that most American presidents … understand that humility is called for at certain times.”
___
Associated Press writers Jill Lawrence in London and Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:02Z
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is finding it’s easier to call out attacks on democracy than it is to stop them.
His fundamental rationale for running for president was that America’s democratic traditions were in jeopardy. Now, 20 months into his presidency, the dangers are worse, Biden’s warnings are more dire — and the limits of his own ability to fix the problem are clearer.
Former President Donald Trump continues to stoke the baseless claim the 2020 election was stolen, and even now advocates for the results in certain battleground states to be decertified even though the falsehood has been rejected by dozens of courts and his own attorney general. The belief has taken deep root in the Republican Party, with dozens of candidates insisting Trump was right.
Never in the country’s history have elections taken place in a climate where one party has so frontally questioned the integrity of the electoral process and actively sought to undermine confidence in it.
“We’re in an unprecedented situation here, because Biden’s predecessor has shown a flagrant disregard for the Constitution of the United States, and now others are following that path,” said Princeton historian Sean Wilentz, who was among a group invited to the White House recently to put today’s challenges in historical context. “It could be dangerous.”
Biden has found, even with the megaphone of the White House, how difficult it is to counter the Trump-inspired narrative and the millions of Americans who believe it. Trump allies have been going around the country peddling lies about the 2020 election and conspiracy theories about voting machines, while Republican candidates running for office this year have repeated his lies to their supporters –- messaging that has reached a broad audience.
Every U.S. president swears to “preserve, protect and defend” the U.S. Constitution, but even in ordinary times there is no playbook for safeguarding it. Biden took that oath as the nation was facing challenges unmatched since perhaps the U.S. Civil War, in the view of some historians.
In a speech earlier this month at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, Biden described democracy as “under assault” and pledged that it was the work of his presidency to defend it. But he also said the solution had to be bigger than him, that he can’t turn back what he sees as a years-long backslide in American political norms on his own.
“For a long time, we’ve told ourselves that American democracy is guaranteed. But it’s not,” he said. “We have to defend it, protect it, stand up for it – each and every one of us.”
Has Biden himself done enough?
His efforts at persuasion don’t seem to have produced any significant shift in public opinion. His push for voting rights legislation in Congress has for the most part fallen short.
Beyond the president’s increasingly drastic warnings, White House officials point to the administration’s efforts to push voting rights safeguards through Congress and to their support for the Electoral Count Act, which would patch ambiguities exploited by Trump and his allies.
The Department of Justice is prosecuting those who violently stormed the Capitol. More than 870 people have been charged and more than 400 convicted.
The administration also has sounded the alarm about domestic extremist groups. There’s an increasing overlap with politically-fueled violence, as a growing number of ardent Trump supporters seem ready to strike back against the FBI or others they consider going too far in investigating the former president. And the National Security Council has developed a whole-of-government strategy to counter domestic violent extremism, which U.S. intelligence officials have called the top threat to homeland security.
While voters ranked threats to democracy as the most important issue ahead of the midterm elections, according to an NBC News poll late last month, the conspiracy theories pushed by Trump and his allies have succeeded in sowing doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections in a large swath of the population.
Two-thirds of Republicans believe Biden wasn’t legitimately elected president, according to an AP-NORC poll. They believe that votes were switched, or voting machines were corrupted en masse, or that fake ballots were cast in favor of Biden because pandemic-era policies made voting too easy.
Trump-backed candidates are winning primaries and some will make it to Congress. In the states, nearly 1 in 3 Republican candidates for offices that play a role in overseeing, certifying or defending elections supported overturning the results of the 2020 presidential race.
Candidates have signaled a new willingness to simply refuse to accept the results of their election if they lose. And election workers across the country are getting death threats and are harassed online, pushing many to just resign.
“We are very clearly playing with fire with some of the new tactics, allowing them to proliferate around the country,” said Matthew Weil, the executive director of our Democracy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank. “It’s: ‘If my candidate loses, I’m going to drag it out as long as possible. I can cut the legs out from the person who beat me from taking office.’ That’s a new feature and it’s pretty dangerous. We can’t have an election system where people aren’t willing to lose.”
Checking the antidemocratic forces within Trumpism is not just a policy aim, it’s a political endeavor as well, and that clouds the picture.
Biden aides say his best tool to try to preserve democracy is his use of the bully pulpit to make clear to voters that they play a vital role in participating in the electoral process and deciding whom to put into positions of influence.
He isn’t the only one sounding the alarm. The special congressional committee investigating the 2021 Capitol insurrection has delivered the same message, as have election officials in states across the country, historians and other lawmakers.
Administration allies say Biden’s efforts have resonated with voters, particularly as Trump’s behavior in late 2020 and early 2021 has been cast into stark relief by the Jan. 6 committee.
But the president’s remarks have largely been dismissed by Republicans unwilling to break with Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump supporters threatened to hang on Jan. 6 and who hid in a secure location beneath the building as the masses hunted him in the halls, decried Biden’s comments after the Philadelphia speech.
“Never before in the history of our nation has a president stood before the American people and accused millions of his own countrymen of being a ‘threat to this country,’” Pence said in remarks to conservatives.
Former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called Biden “the most condescending president of my lifetime.”
The struggle the nation is facing goes beyond political parties, though. And “unless and until enough people fight for, protect and build our democracy, the fever we see today will continue,” said Melody Barnes, head of the University of Virginia Karsh Institute of Democracy.
The closest parallel, historians say, has been the Civil War era, when war broke out after Southern states wouldn’t recognize Abraham Lincoln had been elected president. Following the end of fighting, there was a continued refusal to accept the rule of law during Reconstruction, as deep racism and violence proliferated, resulting eventually in the Jim Crow era.
At critical moments, U.S. leaders have taken a stand to protect the nation from itself. George Washington left office to ensure future leaders would willingly walk away, too. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate — a wildly unpopular move in 1974 but one that has since been viewed more as an effort to push the country past a national nightmare.
Biden, at a summit this past week on countering hate-fueled violence, talked about how good he felt years ago when he worked successfully with Republicans in the Senate to get the Voting Rights Act extended. “And I thought, well, you know, hate can be defeated,” he said.
“But it only hides,” he said with a sigh. “And when given any oxygen, it comes out from under the rocks.”
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:09Z
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AUBURN, Maine (AP) — Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District this year, but his brand of politics is.
In a race that will help decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Jared Golden will defend his seat against Republican former Rep. Bruce Poliquin and independent candidate Tiffany Bond. The race is a rematch for Golden and Poliquin, who ran for the same seat in 2018, when Golden emerged victorious by a razor-thin margin.
The appeal of Trump-style politics has grown in the district since then despite the fact it is represented by Golden, a moderate Democrat. Poliquin, who represented the 2nd District as a moderate Republican from 2014 to 2018, has shifted his own messaging rightward to try to take advantage of those headwinds.
The result is a race that could be an indicator of Trump’s continued influence on swing districts and rural politics.
Voters in the district are taking notice. Mary Hunter, a Democrat and retired academic who lives in the city of Lewiston, thinks Golden is still the right candidate for the district. She said she’s voting for him in part because she’s concerned about Democrats losing control of Congress. And she’s aware Trump is still a big influence on a lot of voters in her district.
“Most people are kind of red team or blue team. I think Jared is doing his best to move to the middle. He’s very centrist,” Hunter said. “Whether that will serve him, I don’t know.”
But in Auburn, a nearby city of about 23,000 in the 2nd District, Coastal Defense Firearms owner Rick LaChapelle said he’s planning to vote for Poliquin. LaChapelle, a Republican city councilor in Lewiston, said he respects Golden but feels the Democratic Party has become too extreme.
“His party is too radical. He cannot overcome the strength of his party, so you have to change the party,” LaChapelle said.
The district, one of two in Maine, includes the state’s second- and third-largest cities — Lewiston and Bangor — but is mostly made up of vast rural areas in northern and western Maine. It also includes the state’s Down East coastline and is home to Maine’s traditional industries such as lobster fishing, logging and potato and blueberry farming.
The district is also geographically the largest in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River, and it is far more politically mixed than the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District in southern Maine. Trump won the 2nd District in 2016 and performed even better in the district in 2020, though he lost the statewide vote both times because of overwhelming margins in the 1st District, centered in liberal Portland.
Poliquin has focused his campaign on issues such as curtailing immigration and protecting gun rights. It’s a shift from his earlier campaigns, which focused more closely on controlling taxes and protecting rural jobs, though he continues to tout those issues. His website has warned of liberals who want to defund law enforcement and push critical race theory in schools, and boasted of his work with Trump when he served in Congress.
“I came out again from semi-retirement because our country and our state are in deep trouble,” said Poliquin, who was once an investment manager and served two years as Maine’s state treasurer.
Golden, a Marine Corps veteran, has long positioned himself as a moderate who supports the 2nd Amendment and works to safeguard industries such as commercial fishing and papermaking. He’s continuing that approach this time around.
Golden has shown a willingness to buck his own party over the years, including coming out against President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan in August. His positions have sometimes won him crossover endorsements from groups that often back Republicans, such as when he received the backing of the state’s largest police union in July.
The union also endorsed Republican former Gov. Paul LePage, who is running for his old job. Golden said he expects voters to reward him for standing up to the Democratic Party leadership on issues such as the nearly $2 trillion climate and health care bill the House passed in 2021. He voted against the bill. He subsequently voted for the slimmed-down $740 billion measure that passed Congress last month.
“In the last two years, I don’t know of anyone who has been more independent, and more willing to stand up to their own party, than I have been,” Golden said. “I’m not trying to strategize ‘How do I hold on to the Democratic voters or to the Trump voters?’”
The race will include the use of ranked-choice voting, which Golden needed to win the seat in 2018. Bond, who came in third in 2018, said independent voters in the race will be the ones who decide it. She said she’s focusing her campaign on issues such as improving health care access and addressing climate change.
Bond said she expects ranked voting will play a role again this time around.
“I was the candidate who got all the votes that neither party could,” she said.
The race is likely to be much closer than Golden’s 2020 reelection victory, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at University of Maine. Golden won that election handily over Republican Dale Crafts.
It’ll be closer this time in part because of national backlash against Democrats over issues such as inflation, Brewer said. But it’ll also be closer simply because the 2nd District is unpredictable, he said.
“It’s the kind of district that has a lot of the people Trump made his appeal to in 2016. Relatively rural, largely white working class voters who have a sense of grievance, economic grievance,” Brewer said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that this race is going to be closer than Golden’s last race.”
____
The story has been corrected to show that Golden voted for the $740 billion climate and health care bill passed last month. He voted against a previous, more expansive bill in 2021 labeled the Build Back Better Act.
Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics.
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:17Z
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PHOENIX (AP) — Simmering discontent among a segment of Arizona Republicans over John McCain’s famous penchant for bucking his party boiled over in the winter of 2014 with the censure of the longtime U.S. senator.
McCain’s allies responded with an all-out push to reassert control over the Arizona Republican Party. Censure proponents were ousted or diminished, and McCain went on to defeat his far-right challenger in a blowout during the 2016 primary.
Less than a decade later, the right wing forces that McCain marginalized within the Arizona GOP are now in full control, with profound implications for one of the nation’s most closely matched battlegrounds. Arizona Republicans have traded McCain for Donald Trump.
“We drove a stake in the heart of the McCain machine,” Kari Lake, making a dramatic stabbing gesture, said in a speech days after she won the Republican primary for governor in early August.
Lake, a well-known former television news anchor, has delighted segments of the state’s GOP base that have long been at odds with their party’s establishment and want their leaders to confront Democrats, not compromise with them.
She draws large, enthusiastic crowds that are unusually energized for a midterm election. Her fans erupt in rapturous applause when she takes a shot at the media or pledges to repel the “invasion” at the southern border.
“She’s for border control. She’s a MAGA person. She is fighting the establishment. And that, to me, is enough,” said Bob Hunt, a Republican in Tucson who attended a Lake rally this summer.
McCain, who died in 2018, never lost a race in his home state. But his maverick brand of Republicanism is in retreat after election-denying allies of the former president swept GOP primaries this month from governor and U.S. Senate down to the state Legislature.
Kelli Ward, the primary challenger McCain trounced in his last re-election campaign, was elected state GOP chair in 2019. She broke with precedent for party leaders and campaigned openly for Trump’s slate of candidates ahead of the primary this year.
It is in some ways a return to roots for Republicans in Arizona, a state with a long history as a crucible for emerging strands of conservatism.
Barry Goldwater, an Arizona senator from the 1950s through the 1980s, pushed the GOP in a new direction, laying the groundwork for conservative and libertarian movements. He gave voice to anti-elite grievances and racial anxieties that have contributed to Trump’s appeal.
McCain replaced Goldwater in the Senate, representing an Arizona reshaped by decades of migration. Young families flocked to affordable neighborhoods in and around Phoenix, and retirees escaping the snow settled in new golf communities attracting seniors.
McCain eventually built a national profile as a fiscal conservative unafraid — even eager — to buck GOP leadership. He helped pass campaign finance reform legislation and worked on unsuccessful immigration reform and climate change legislation. In one of his last defiant decisions, he gave a dramatic thumbs down vote to kill legislation that would have repealed former President Barack Obama’s health care law.
McCain won over independents and some Democrats to overwhelmingly win reelection. But the apostasies that appealed to more moderate voters made him a pariah to many within his own party.
Democrats think this year’s slate of Trump-backed nominees gives them a fighting chance to win some of the top offices on the ballot. If the Republicans win, officials who refuse to accept Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election will hold the levers of power with the ability to set election laws and certify results in a state that plays an important role in determining control of Congress and the presidency.
Ideological factions are always at tension within political parties, and Arizona Republicans have long hosted a particularly raucous tug-of-war. Pro-business, limited government conservatives — such as McCain, former Sen. Jeff Flake and termed-out Gov. Doug Ducey — are derided as “Republicans in name only” by a base eager to fight culture war battles.
Still, a large chunk of Republican voters like the establishment brand. Lake had a tough primary race against Karrin Taylor Robson, a conservative businesswoman and longtime donor to mainstream candidates from both parties. Lake, Finchem and the other successful Trump allies all won their primaries with less than 50% of the vote in multi-candidate fields.
“The people we put up are not conservative,” said Kathy Petsas, a Republican activist who backed mainstream Republicans in the primary. “There’s nothing conservative about lying about the results of the 2020 election. When we undermine our democratic institutions, there’s nothing conservative about that.”
But rarely have the insurgents been as dominant as they are now in Arizona. The GOP nominees for nearly all statewide offices push lies about the 2020 election.
Lake incessantly went after Ducey, McCain, Flake and others she labeled “Republicans in name only” on her way to winning the GOP nomination for governor. She joined with Mark Finchem, who won the primary for secretary of state, in a lawsuit seeking to require hand-counting of ballots; they lost, but filed an appeal this week.
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar was censured by the House and lost his committee assignments for posting a video depicting violence against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The primary winners represent those who control the Arizona Republican Party today and are fiercely loyal to Trump, who was just the second Republican since the 1940s to lose Arizona.
Last year, the party censured McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, for endorsing Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, along with Flake and Ducey. Flake decided not to run for re-election in 2018 after his criticism of Trump infuriated the base and promised a fierce primary battle.
“Unfortunately, all these election deniers were successful here in Arizona, in a swing state,” said Bill Gates, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which has faced vitriolic backlash for defending the 2020 election against Trump’s false claims of fraud. “So we’ll see if those folks are able to win in the general election. I think that will give us a feel on where this party is headed in the future.”
Gates was censured by Legislative District 3 Republicans last month for saying election-denying GOP candidates may have to lose for the party to find its way.
Rusty Bowers, the staunchly conservative speaker of the state House, also has found himself ostracized by his party for taking a stand against Trump’s lies. He lost the primary in his bid to move to the state Senate.
Bowers last month said Trump has “thrashed our party” and that the Arizona GOP faces a “hard reckoning” if it continues to bully those who don’t fall in line with the former president’s demands.
For now, the far-right wing of the party is ascendant and sees no need to moderate.
Days after Lake won the primary for governor, her campaign shared a video of Goldwater’s speech accepting the 1964 Republican nomination for president.
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” he said. “And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
The crowd erupted. Goldwater went on to win just six states in the second most lopsided defeat in a presidential race in U.S. history, but he remained a hero to many in his home state.
Lake’s official campaign Twitter account said a united party would bring “a Conservative revival” to the state in the general election: “The Party of Goldwater has risen like a Phoenix.”
___
Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:24Z
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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said Sunday that the United States deplores recent attacks by Azerbaijan and called for a negotiated solution to the countries’ conflict.
Pelsoi’s visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, with a congressional delegation came just a few days days after two days of shelling by both sides that killed more than 200 troops. It was the largest outbreak of hostilities in more than two years.
The two ex-Soviet countries have been locked in a decades-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but was long under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed broad swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent territories held by Armenian forces. More than 6,700 people died in that fighting.
Armenia and Azerbaijan each blamed the other for starting the shelling attacks last week.
Pelosi on Sunday met with Alen Simonyan, president of Armenia’s parliament, and told reporters afterward that “Our meeting again had a particular importance to us because the focus was on security following the illegal and deadly attacks by Azerbaijan on the Armenian territory.
“We strongly condemn those attacks — we in our delegation on behalf of Congress — which threaten prospects for a much-needed peace agreement,” she said. “The United States … has clearly and has long stated that there can be no military solution to the conflict. We continue to watch the situation closely and we continue supporting a negotiated, comprehensive and sustainable solution to all issues relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry sharply criticized her comments.
“Pelosi’s baseless and unfair accusations against Azerbaijan are unacceptable,” it said in a statement.
“We emphasize with regret that Pelosi, who speaks of justice, has not purposefully shown any position until today regarding the policy of aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan, the occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan for almost 30 years, the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and other similar grave crimes, for which Armenia is responsible,” the ministry said.
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:32Z
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Former President Trump‘s favorability rating has dropped to a new low after slowly trickling down over the past few months.
A new NBC News poll released Sunday found that 34 percent of registered voters said they have a positive view of Trump, while 54 percent say they have a negative view of him. Trump’s favorability rating was at its lowest in April 2021, when his rating fell to 32 percent in the same NBC poll.
The former president’s favorability score is down slightly since last month, with the same 54 percent saying they have a negative view of Trump, but 36 percent saying they had a positive view of him.
While Trump’s favorability score has trickled down, President Biden’s score has gone up, though only slightly. This month, 45 percent said they approve of the president — a two-point increase since last month.
Contrarily, 52 percent of voters say they disapprove of Biden, which has gone down three percentage points since last month.
Pollsters also questioned voters about their views on the different investigations against Trump, specifically asking whether the various investigations should stop or continue. The poll found that 56 percent of voters believe the investigations should continue, while 41 percent say they should stop.
The poll comes amid an FBI investigation into former President Trump and the documents he was holding at Mar-a-Lago. The government recovered thousands of government documents from the Florida property since Trump left office, including more than 300 documents with various classified markings.
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters between Sept. 9-13, and has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.
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| 2022-09-21T07:50:39Z
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We asked our tech expert about the iPhone 14
Apple continues improving its fan-favorite formula with each new device they release. The latest iPhone has a range of new features and four versions from which you can choose. Still, is it worth upgrading if you already have the iPhone 13? To learn more about the device and its features, we sat down with our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez.
Everything you need to know about the iPhone 14
What makes the iPhone 14 stand out?
Apple’s latest iPhone has better cameras than its predecessors. This Pro version’s main sensor has more pixels and a faster aperture, meaning it can capture higher-resolution images than the iPhone 13. Additionally, the front camera is designed to take better low-light photos and has an autofocus feature. Apple also introduced a new video action mode to enhance stabilization when you’re in motion.
According to Vazquez, “the iPhone 14 is more ‘evolution than revolution,’ which I’m 100% OK with in this case. The crash detection feature is something I think everyone should consider in terms of early adoption, as it allows you to send an SOS if you can’t reach 911.” The crash detection feature can determine when you’ve been in a severe car crash; it displays and reads a notification that lets you make an emergency call and calls automatically if you don’t respond in 20 seconds. The SOS is sent via satellite, so it works even if you don’t have a mobile signal.
Apple also removed its physical SIM card trays for its new release. Instead, you’ll use an eSIM that’s easier to set up than a traditional SIM. eSIMs also enable you to have up to eight SIM profiles on a single device, meaning you can keep your work and personal numbers separate without buying two phones.
iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone is releasing the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max and 14 Plus. Per Vazquez, “The big difference is the chip inside. Apple’s strategy is to have standard model iPhones use the last-gen pro chip and introduce a new chip in the newest pro models.”
The iPhone 14 Pro also features a dynamic island feature that lets you see system-wide alerts, notifications and operations at the top of your device. This feature makes it easier to interact with your apps and makes use of previously-wasted space. The Pro models also have better cameras; the Pro camera system features a 48-megapixel main camera with a 6 times optical zoom range, whereas the iPhone 14 has a 12-megapixel main camera with a 2 times optical zoom.
Is the iPhone 13 still worth considering?
The iPhone 13 has an emergency SOS feature, although it requires an active mobile signal to work. Its camera is nearly identical to the iPhone 14 but doesn’t have autofocus. Both devices use the A15 Bionic Chip, although the iPhone 14’s chip has a 5-core GPU.
When asked about the iPhone 13, Vazquez said, “The 13 is definitely worth considering, as is the 12. One of the big leaps people should consider is whether a device has 5G. As 5G becomes more widespread, they’re decommissioning LTE towers. Most things I like about the 14 are true on the 13 as well. If you have a 13, it’s worth upgrading to an iPhone 14 Pro. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine you’ll notice a difference if you switch from the 13 to the 14.”
iPhone 14 FAQ
How much does the iPhone 14 cost?
A. The iPhone 14 costs $799 on the low end, whereas the 14 Pro has a low-end price of $999. The iPhone 14 Plus costs $899 on the low end, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max costs at least $1,099.
What is the maximum storage on an iPhone 14?
A. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus can be purchased with 128 gigabytes, 256GB or 512GB of storage space. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max can be purchased with up to 1 terabyte of storage.
iPhone products our expert recommends
This phone features a 12-megapixel main camera with a 6 times optical zoom. The 120-megahertz refresh rate makes for a smooth experience. The internal chip is on par with the iPhone 14, so you can expect it to be just as fast. It has an emergency SOS feature and up to 28 hours of video playback on a single charge.
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This affordable iPhone has a 12-megapixel camera with a 2 times optical zoom range. The 6.1-inch display looks fantastic. It’s available in six colors and with up to 512GB of storage. It’s 5G capable and has an emergency SOS feature.
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Ferilinso Screen Protector for iPhone 13 and iPhone 14
This screen protector enhances privacy by obscuring your screen when viewed from the side. It’s made of tempered glass and includes a camera protector. It’s easy to attach, and the camera protector doesn’t obscure your flash.
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Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max Silicone Case With MagSafe
This is designed with magnetic accessories and wireless charging in mind. It’s available in 11 colors. It features a soft, durable exterior.
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Anker Quick Charge 3.0 Wall Charger
This wall charger has surge protection and heat protection features. It’s affordable and compact. It’s available in black or white.
Sold by Amazon
This stand features a sleek design and MagSafe charging capabilities. You can adjust your phone up to 70 degrees while it’s docked. The MagSafe cable isn’t included, but most were impressed with the build quality.
Sold by Amazon
WWB Store USB To Lightning Cable
This is available in three-foot, six-foot and 10-foot sizes. It can be purchased in gray or silver. It’s compatible with USB-C and USB-A.
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.
Cody Stewart writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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Carlos Alcaraz is producing the goods for his country as well as himself.
Seven days after winning his first Grand Slam tournament, the top-ranked Alcaraz beat Kwon Soon-woo in straight sets in the Davis Cup Finals to secure Spain victory over South Korea and a spot in the quarterfinals as Group B winner.
The U.S. Open champion pumped his fists by his side and yelled in celebration after Kwon sent a forehand long to hand the Spanish teenager a 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory in front of a passionate home crowd in Valencia on Sunday.
It was Alcaraz’s first win since beating Casper Ruud in the U.S. Open final last Sunday to also become the youngest man to lead the ATP computerized rankings since they began in 1973.
“Playing the Davis Cup here is an honor for me,” Alcaraz said. “But it’s even better to come here being No. 1 in the world and U.S. Open champion, to share this moment with all my people, my family, my friends.
“I’m really happy to live this moment right now and to share this moment with all of them.”
Alcaraz sat out Spain’s opening 3-0 win over Serbia on Wednesday and lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in a 2-1 upset for Canada on Friday.
But the 19-year-old Alcaraz was back to his best on Sunday, with some shots that had the crowd on their feet. Kwon also played inspired tennis and their trainers squeaked on the hard court as both ran frantically in lengthy rallies, returning shots that at times seemed unplayable.
Roberto Bautista Agut had got Spain off to a great start with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Hong Seong-chan. Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martínez beat Nam Ji-sung and Song Min-kyu 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in the doubles for a 3-0 win to Spain.
The result sends Spain through to the final eight in November, when it will face Group A runner-up Croatia. It will also be on home turf for Spain as the single-venue quarterfinals will be played in the southern city of Málaga in November.
Three other venues — Bologna in Italy, Hamburg, Germany and Glasgow, Scotland — were hosting group-stage matches.
Italy was already assured a place in the quarterfinals but it secured top spot in Group A with a 2-1 victory over Sweden and a matchup against Group D runner-up the United States.
Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli won the deciding doubles, beating André Göransson and Dragoș Nicolae Mădăraș 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Sweden had needed a 3-0 win over Italy to progress and its hopes were dashed when Matteo Berrettini eased to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Elias Ymer, whose younger brother Mikael Ymer then went on to beat Jannik Sinner 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
In Germany, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz eased past Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4 to secure a 2-1 win for Germany over Australia and top spot in Group C.
Both were already assured of a place in the quarterfinals before the start of the day’s play. Jan-Lennard Struff beat Purcell 6-1, 7-5 for his third straight victory this week before Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled Australia level with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory over Oscar Otte.
Germany will play Canada in the quarterfinals with Australia facing the Netherlands.
The Netherlands won Group D on Saturday, progressing with the U.S. That meant Great Britain or Kazakhstan had little to play for in their match in Glasgow. But Andy Murray, playing in possibly his final Davis Cup match, set his team on the way to a 2-1 win in the city of his birth. Murray beat Dmitry Popko 6-4, 6-3.
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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T07:51:07Z
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Washington made its season debut in The Associated Press college football on Sunday at No. 18, and Penn State and Oregon moved into the top 15 after all three had decisive nonconference victories.
A weekend filled with blowouts by highly ranked teams kept the top 10 almost unchanged.
No. 1 Georgia picked up six more first-place votes in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The Bulldogs are up to 59 first-place votes and 1,569 points.
No. 2 Alabama received three first-place votes and No. 3 Ohio State got one.
No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Southern California all held their spots. The one change in the top 10 was No. 8 Kentucky flip-flopping with No. 9 Oklahoma State. Arkansas stayed at No. 10.
The top 10 teams, most playing overmatched nonconference opponents, won their games Saturday by a combined 521-120.
The shuffling came in the next 10.
No. 11 Tennessee moved up four spots. Penn State jumped eight to No. 14 after routing Auburn on the road. No. 15 Oregon moved up 10 spots after handily defeating BYU, which slipped seven places to No. 19.
Washington beat previously ranked Michigan State 39-28 to earn a ranking for the first time since the 2021 preseason poll. Washington has had two brief stays in the AP Top 25 the last two seasons but has been mostly unranked since the early part of the 2019 season.
“To get this win now is just going to continue to put this belief in our guys. It’s only going to get better for us as we go to work in practice,” first-year Washington coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters after the game.
Michigan State dropped all the way out after being No. 11.
Mississippi moved up four spots to No. 16 and No. 20 Florida slipped a couple of spots after barely getting by South Florida at home.
At the bottom of the rankings, Miami dropped 12 spots and landed at No. 25 after losing at Texas A&M. The Aggies went up one to No. 23.
POLL POINTS
The 10-0 weekend from the top 10 was the first since they all played and won in Week 2 of the 2019 season.
Overall, the AP Top 25 teams won 22 games, the most since 24 teams won in Week 1 of 2019.
— Washington’s leap into the poll from unranked to No. 18 was the best for the program since September 1989, when the Huskies beat Texas A&M and went from outside the rankings to No. 15.
CONFERENCE CALL
The Pac-12 has its most ranked teams since the first regular-season poll of 2021, when it had five.
SEC — 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23).
ACC — 5 (Nos. 5, 12, 21, 24, 25).
Big 12 — 4 (Nos. 6, 9, 17, 22).
Pac-12 — 4 (Nos. 7, 13, 15, 18).
Big Ten — 3 (Nos. 3, 4, 14).
Independents — 1 (No. 19).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 5 Clemson at No. 21 Wake Forest. For the first time since 1950, the Tigers and Demon Deacons will meet as ranked teams.
No. 20 Florida at No. 11 Tennessee. For the first time since 2017, the teams that used to own the SEC East are both ranked when they play.
No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 23 Texas A&M at Arlington, Texas. It’s not getting any easier for the Aggies.
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
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| 2022-09-21T07:51:14Z
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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson made a calculated gamble in hiring a football coach five years ago, one that earned the school a national mocking.
He hoped Herm Edwards, despite no head college coaching experience and nine years in a television studio, would give the program the jolt it needed, usher it into a new era through an NFL-like leadership model.
Edwards managed to quiet many of the critics with some early wins on the field and recruiting trail.
When ugly losses piled up and an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations lingered, Anderson decided to make a change.
Arizona State and Edwards mutually agreed to part ways Sunday, a day after the Sun Devils lost 30-21 to Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference as heavy home favorites.
“I don’t regret at all because I believed it was the right thing to do then,” Anderson said. “But I also believe that when you come to a point where you realize that you’re not always right, and perhaps it’s not working at the level you want and you don’t have the patience to wait because the world is changing really fast out there, then you make changes. That’s what we’ve done.”
Edwards managed to hold onto his job after an up-and-down 2021, but another shaky loss led to his firing three games into his fifth season. Arizona State is still awaiting word on possible NCAA sanctions for allegedly hosting recruits on campus during an NCAA-mandated COVID-19 dead period in 2020.
Edwards went 46-26 at Arizona State, including 1-2 this season and 17-14 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils never won more than eight games in a season under Edwards and fell short of Anderson’s goal of playing in major bowl games.
Running backs coach Shaun Aguano will serve as interim coach.
The Sun Devils begin Pac-12 play next with three ranked teams: No. 13 Utah at home Saturday, followed by No. 7 Southern California and No. 18 Washington.
“Our future begins now and our responsibility is to try to infuse new energy, new urgency into the program,” Anderson said.
Edwards, a former NFL head coach, was considered an unconventional hire when he was tapped by University President Michael Crow and Anderson to lead the middling program. A former NFL agent, Anderson represented Edwards during his playing days with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Edwards spent the nine previous years as an NFL TV analyst and had not been a college coach since serving as San Jose State’s defensive backs coach from 1987-89.
The loquacious coach changed the narrative his first few seasons in Tempe, proving to be an adept recruiter while leading the Sun Devils to two straight bowl appearances.
The goodwill didn’t last.
Arizona State was hit hard by COVID-19 during the delayed 2020 season, finishing 2-2. The Sun Devils opened the 2021 season 5-1 before suffering consecutive ugly losses, giving up 56 straight points to Utah and Washington State.
Edwards was thought to be on the hot seat at the end of the season, but Anderson said he would remain as coach following a lopsided win over rival Arizona.
Arizona State had an exodus of players and coaches during the offseason, losing five assistant coaches, 11 players drafted or signed by NFL teams and numerous key players to the transfer portal.
Edwards rebuilt the Sun Devils mainly through the transfer portal, adding 43 new players to the roster.
The Sun Devils opened the season with an expectedly-easy win over FCS opponent Northern Arizona and played OK at No. 8 Oklahoma State before fading late in 34-17 loss.
Arizona State hoped it righted itself against Eastern Michigan, only to fall flat against a 20 1/2-point underdog at home. The Sun Devils could not stop the Eagles defensively, were plagued by key penalties and became the first Pac-12 school to lose to a MAC school.
“We had a lot of faith and confidence that with the right coaching staff and with some of the folks that we were anticipating bringing in, we would have an opportunity to really bounce back,” Anderson said. “We were looking to do that with the leadership we had and thought we had an opportunity to do that — and it did not materialize.”
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
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| 2022-09-21T07:51:21Z
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It certainly looked like the Saints were in Tom Brady’s head when the Buccaneers quarterback threw a tablet in the bench area and later jawed with New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore after a drive-stalling incomplete pass.
How quickly a game can change when emotions spill over.
Brady helped incite a skirmish that led to the ejections of Lattimore and Bucs receiver Mike Evans, then threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Breshad Perriman that lifted Tampa Bay to a 20-10 victory over New Orleans on Sunday.
“It’s an emotional game,” Brady said flatly. “A little bit of execution helps all the way around. I thought the defense played well again and the offensive line fought hard.
“Tough game all around,” Brady added. “That is a really good team, really well coached — a team we really struggle with. So, it feels good to win.”
Brady, who’d lost four straight regular-season meetings with the Saints, again struggled for the first three quarters of this latest, testy encounter between NFC South rivals.
Brady’s frustration was clear when he was caught on camera forcefully throwing a tablet to the turf with a healthy turn of his torso and full follow-through of his prolific right arm.
And after his third-down incomplete pass early in the fourth quarter, Brady was shouting at Lattimore when running back Leonard Fournette entered the fray and shoved the Saints’ star cornerback. Lattimore responded by shoving Fournette, and Evans rushed in and flattened Lattimore — much like he did in a 2017 game between these teams.
“I was just trying to have my teammate’s back,” Evans said. “I seen (Lattimore) punch someone. I wasn’t going to let that happen. … We know when you come to New Orleans, it gets spicy.”
Evans was ejected, as he was five seasons ago. But this time, so was Lattimore, who did not speak with media after the game.
“It hurts to lose your best corner,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “Guys gun at him because they know he is one of the best corners in the league.
“When I saw the replay, (Lattimore) didn’t go after anybody. Somebody came after him,” Jordan said. “What do you want him to do in that situation?”
With Paulson Adebo sitting out with an ankle injury, Lattimore’s ejection left the Saints without their top two cornerbacks — and Brady took advantage.
On Tampa Bay’s next series, Brady marched the Bucs (2-0) to the New Orleans 28 and then hit Perriman in the back right corner of the end zone to make it 10-3.
“We lost a good player and they lost a good player. It was a physical ballgame,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “I don’t know if it was a turning point. … It could have gone either way. We knew we had to make some plays.”
The Bucs’ defense squelched the Saints’ comeback bid by intercepting Jameis Winston three times in the final 12 minutes. Jamel Dean made the first two picks — one on a deep pass intended for rookie Chris Olave at the goal line. Later, safety Mike Edwards returned an interception near the right sideline 68 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-3.
Brady finished 18 of 34 for 190 yards and the lone TD.
Winston, who had been limited in practice by a back injury, completed 25 of 40 passes for 236 yards and one late TD toss to Michael Thomas.
“Everyone in that locker room is playing with a banged-up something,” Winston said. “What is most important is offensively I have to do a better job of executing on third downs and I can’t give them the football.”
Tampa Bay didn’t score until Ryan Succop hit a 47-yard field goal with 3:09 left in the third quarter to tie it at 3.
The Saints (1-1) were threatening to retake the lead when safety Logan Ryan punched the ball free of running back Mark Ingram’s grasp at the Buccaneers 10, and linebacker Carl Nassib recovered.
“We were moving the ball well, going in to take control of the game. That just can’t happen,” Ingram said. “Whether it was a good punch, whether it was a rip, whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter.”
Wil Lutz’s 31-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive gave the Saints a lead that stood up throughout a first half in which Tampa Bay squandered two scoring chances.
Brady’s fumbled snap on third and short from the New Orleans 34 ended one drive. The Bucs also failed on a fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 8 when Carl Granderson stuffed Fournette’s run.
INJURIES
Buccaneers: Defensive tackle Akiem Hicks left the game with a foot injury and reserve left tackle Josh Wells, who was starting for the inactive Donovan Smith (elbow), left with a calf injury. Receiver Julio Jones was scratched pregame with a knee injury.
Saints: Top running back Alvin Kamara was inactive because of his rib injury.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host Green Bay on Sept. 25.
Saints: Visit Carolina on Sept. 25.
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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T07:51:38Z
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore both were ejected for their involvement in a several-player, after-the-whistle scrap in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s meeting in the Superdome.
This marked the second time since 2017 that Evans has been thrown out of a game in the dome for flattening Lattimore after the Saints top defensive back had been squaring off with another Buccaneers player.
This time, it started after a third-down incomplete pass with Tom Brady shouting at Lattimore. As Lattimore responded, running back Leonard Fournette stepped in and shoved Lattimore, who shoved Fournette back.
That’s when Evans came running in from near the sideline and knocked Lattimore off his feet. Players poured off both sidelines at that point, and Saints wide receiver Jarvis Landry tried to grab Evans, only to have Evans slam him to the turf while both were engulfed by a swarm of players from both teams.
Officials conferred and elected to asses offsetting personal fouls on just Evans and Lattimore, and ejected both.
Lattimore and Evans have carried on a personal rivalry since 2017, when Lattimore was the defensive rookie of the year. During a Saints victory in New Orleans that season, an altercation began along the Tampa Bay sideline when then-Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston pointed in Lattimore’s face and told him to go back to his own bench area.
That’s when Evans blindsided Lattimore with a running start, knocking Lattimore hard to the turf. Only Evans was ejected that time. He also was suspended a subsequent game.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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SUGAR GROVE, Ill. (AP) — British Open champion Cameron Smith made his decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf pay off Sunday when he closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago.
Smith was only briefly threatened in the third and final round. One of the key moments was a 10-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and neither Dustin Johnson nor Peter Uihlein could do enough to catch him.
Smith won $4 million from the $20 million purse for individual play.
“I think I had to prove to myself and other people that I’m still a great player, I’m still out here to win golf tournaments,” Smith said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but I stuck tough and made some putts.”
Johnson (70) and Uihlein (69) each made birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Rich Harvest Farms and tied for second, each earning $1,812,500.
Johnson’s birdie enabled his team to win for the fourth straight time, which was worth an additional $750,000 for Johnson, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. In the five events Johnson has played, he now has made just over $12.5 million.
Uihlein’s team — Brooks Koepka is the captain — finished second, which was worth $375,00 for each team member. With the runner-up finish as an individual and team, Uihlein picked up nearly $2.2 million on Sunday.
Smith let his short game do most of the damage. He made enough birdies on the front nine to stay in front, and hit a flop shop to a foot on the par-5 11th for another birdie.
Uihlein made birdie on the 13th and looked as though he might be able to trim the deficit to one shot until Smith made his clutch par.
Smith left no doubt at the end, hitting his approach over the water to 4 feet on the 17th to take a three-shot lead to the par-5 finish, and then holing an 18-foot birdie putt that gave his team a tie for third with Phil Mickelson’s team.
Mickelson had his best round since joining Saudi-funded LIV Golf with a 66 and tied for eighth, his first top-10 finish in five events.
Johnson is the only player from the 48-man field to have finished in the top 10 at every LIV Golf event. He was coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago outside Boston.
Smith was No. 2 in the world when the 29-year-old Australian signed up with LIV Golf after the PGA Tour season ended, the highest-ranked player to join.
Johnson remains one of the most significant players to sign up, a two-time major champion who was No. 1 in the world longer than any player since Tiger Woods.
“He’s probably the one who you look at it feeling he’s going to be at the top of the leaderboard every week,” Smith said. “I hope he thinks the same of me, and hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Sergio Garcia, criticized last week for withdrawing from the BMW PGA Championship after one round and showing up on the sideline of the Alabama-Texas football game, had a 67 and tied for fourth with Joaquin Niemann (68).
The next LIV Golf event is in three weeks in Bangkok.
The series does not return to America until the final team event at Trump Doral near Miami the last weekend in October.
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More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-cameron-smith-wins-liv-golf-in-2nd-start-with-rival-league/
| 2022-09-21T07:51:53Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom struck out 13 batters — the most ever for a Mets pitcher who threw five or fewer innings — but didn’t factor into the decision Sunday, when the NL East leaders beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 to complete a four-game sweep.
The Mets scored four in the eighth to break the tie.
Terrance Gore pinch-ran in place of Tomas Nido, who hit a single off Robert Stephenson (2-2). Gore stole second after three throws to first by Manny Bañuelos, took third when catcher Jason Delay’s throw sailed into centerfield and scored on Brandon Nimmo’s bloop single.
Daniel Vogelbach added a one-out, two-RBI single and Eduardo Escobar had a run-scoring groundout.
Joely Rodríguez (1-4) struck out a career-high five in two perfect innings.
The Mets stranded 12 runners in the first seven innings. But Jeff McNeil had an RBI single in the first and drew a bases-loaded walk in the second, when Pete Alonso hit into a run-scoring forceout.
Mets pitchers combined to strike out 20 batters, tying the big league record for a nine-inning game.
DeGrom allowed a leadoff double to Oneil Cruz in the first before retiring the next 15 batters, 13 by strikeout. Sid Fernandez (June 30, 1986) and Oliver Perez (Sept. 12, 2006) each struck out 11 batters in five-inning starts for the Mets.
DeGrom threw 26 pitches in the first — his most since a 29-pitch fifth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 9, 2021 — but needed just 61 pitches between the second and fifth.
Zack Collins, making his third appearance with the Pirates since being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays, led off the sixth with his first hit for Pittsburgh and Delay followed with a single before Cruz homered just beyond the right-centerfield fence to chase deGrom.
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner set a big league record by allowing three earned runs or fewer for the 40th straight start, breaking a tie with Jim Scott (1913-14).
Pirates starter Johan Oviedo gave up three runs in four innings.
TENSIONS FLARE
The benches and bullpens cleared but no punches were thrown after Pete Alonso was hit on the left elbow by an Oviedo pitch in the first inning.
It marked the fifth time a Pirates pitcher plunked a Mets batter since Saturday. Oviedo and Alonso exchanged words and gestures and Jeff McNeil helped steer Alonso towards first base while players milled about. After a couple minutes, the teams began heading to their benches and bullpens while “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” played at Citi Field.
The plunking of Alonso marked 102nd time this season the Mets have been hit by a pitch, three shy of tying the major league record set by the Cincinnati Reds in 2021.
Words also appeared to be traded between Mets second baseman Luis Guillorme and Pirates designated hitter Bryan Reynolds after Reynolds — who reached base when he was hit by Seth Lugo — slid beyond the bag on an inning-ending forceout in the sixth. Several Mets and Ke’Bryan Hayes, who hit the grounder,— remained on the right side of the infield as Reynolds and Guillorme conversed from a distance.
JOAN HODGES
The Mets held a moment of silence prior to first pitch in memory of Joan Hodges, the widow of Hall of Famer and 1969 “Miracle Mets” manager Gil Hodges.
Joan Hodges died Saturday night at 95 years old, a little less than two months after Gil was officially enshrined in the Hall of Fame. She is survived by the couple’s three children.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP JT Brubaker (right arm inflammation), who exited his start after three innings Friday night, was placed on the 15-day injured list. Pittsburgh recalled RHP Luis Ortiz from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Mets: RHP Max Scherzer (left oblique) will be activated to start Monday night, when New York starts a road trip with the opener of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. … Manager Buck Showalter said RHP Drew Smith (right lat) could be activated as soon as Tuesday. Smith hasn’t pitched since July 24.
UP NEXT
Pirates: Have not yet announced a starter for Tuesday, when Pittsburgh continues its Big Apple swing with the opener of a two-game series against the Yankees.
Mets: Scherzer (9-4, 2.26 ERA), pitching for the first time since Sept. 3, will be making his fourth attempt at earning the 200th win of his career.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:08Z
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Aladja, Ogbe-Ijoh agree to sheathe swords over land dispute
After a life was lost last Friday during a renewed communal crisis over land ownership, leaders of Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh communities in Udu and Warri South West Local Government Areas of Delta State have agreed to sheathe their swords.
The truce was reached on September 17, at the Government House Annex, DBS Edjeba in Warri South Local Government Area of the state.
Recall that one person, Frank Amakiri, 36, was killed last Friday in a renewed boundary land dispute before security agents were drafted to the scene to halt further bloodletting.
At a meeting among leaders of Aladja, Ogbe-Ijoh, the Delta State Police Command and other stakeholders, the two warring communities agreed to cease fire.
They also agreed at the peace and security meeting that anyone caught breaching the peace of the area should henceforth be dealt with, accordingly.
Representatives of the two communities were Chief CC Whisky, Comrade Shell Okakota Godfruit and Chief Otto Ogbiru Vetah for Aladja; and Chief Anthony Jolomi, Hon. Deribofa Oweikpodor and Chief Lucky Oromoni for Ogbe-Ijoh.
Also in attendance were the local government chairman of Warri South-West, Taiye Duke Tuoyo and the vice chairman of UDU Local Government Area, Mr Eloho Awinoron.
Representing the Delta State Commissioner of Police at the meeting were the divisional police officers, including CSP Aliyu Shaba and SP Kabiru Audu.
It was further agreed that the ongoing boundary demarcation, which ignited the latest communal clash, be put on hold in the meantime.
While the demarcation was postponed for the moment, the communities also agreed to keep the peace among their members after expressing their grievances, adding that anyone caught on the wrong side of the law would be dealt with.
All arms and ammunition still being harboured in any of the communities were to be voluntarily submitted to the security agent was resolved.
Apart from the leaders of the feuding communities, other stakeholders present at the meeting were the Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Peace and Conflict Resolution, Chief Edwin Uzor, Police Area Commander Burutu and the representative of the Commanding Officer, 3 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Effurun.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution, Chief Uzor, has promised that the state government will compensate those who lost some parts of their properties to the ongoing boundary demarcation before commencement of the next phase of the demarcation.
The Commissioner of Police, Ari Muhammed Ali, who was represented at the meeting noted that any further escalation of the crisis between the communities will not be treated with levity, warning that whoever is found wanting will be duly prosecuted.
He assured them that at the end of the ongoing investigation, those behind the incident will have their day in court.
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ASUU, FG must find middle ground to end strike ― Gbajabiamila
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:12Z
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The Many Ways Fossil Fuel Companies Are Using Social Media to Greenwash Climate Inaction
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On display: an advertisement by a famous car brand, featuring young people from minority communities, cruising through serene, green vistas of the Italian countryside. It is as mystic as it is beautiful — the car, the people, and the brand merges into one aesthetic.
But the aesthetic is our collective undoing, betraying the extent to which corporate greenwashing — a tactic employed by powerful entities to disguise environmentally harmful or ineffective steps as sustainable sophisticatedly deceives people about climate action. A global investigation, conducted by Harvard researchers and published by Greenpeace recently, revealed the tricks of trade fossil fuel companies, airlines, and car brands use to present themselves as being climate conscious through their social media messaging.
The method to their “green” madness falls within a template, with companies freely employing visual imagery and linguistic codes to signal a faux commitment to things people care about. They abuse sustainability-related hashtags and terms like “green innovation,” are hyper–focused on individual carbon emissions, and seem to feature non-female presenting, non-binary, non-Caucasian people in their ads. The extent of misdirection is far more notorious and pernicious than people realize, seeping into the very nature of how we engage with our digital lives.
The report, titled Three shades of green(washing), presents a thorough review of the degrees and extent of greenwashing on social media. The researchers at Harvard University looked at some 2,325 posts made on the five horsemen of the apocalypse: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. The period observed was the summer of 2022, between 1st June and 31st July — the duration coinciding with debilitating heatwaves, floods, and extreme weather events in Europe and globally. The focus was on companies indicted for their carbon emissions in particular: 12 car brands (including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz), five airlines (Lufthansa and Air France, among others), and five of the largest fossil fuel companies (Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol).
“Our results show that, as Europe was experiencing its hottest summer on record, some of the companies most responsible for global heating stayed silent on social media about the climate crisis, opting instead to use language and imagery to strategically position themselves as green, innovative, charitable brands,” said Geoffrey Supran, research associate in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University and lead author of the research.
Social media, Supran cautioned, “is the new frontier of climate deception and delay.” According to previous surveys, Gen Z and millennial people on social media are more likely than previous generations to engage with climate change content on social media. This is a double-edged sword, for misinformation and deliberate manipulation by companies are diluting the knowledge. Research shows that Gen Z is struggling to distinguish fact from fiction online. This is also a group that cares more about sustainable buying decisions, an insight that companies and brands are wielding for profit.
Related on The Swaddle:
Why Retailers Rebranding as ‘Woke’ Is Disingenuous
67% of companies used social media to speak of “green innovation” without meaningfully acknowledging the climate crisis (only 0.3% of the companies explicitly referenced “climate change” or “global warming”). In this bandwagon of climate marketing, there was a haunting climate silence too.
And as many as one in five of these companies chimed in on issues about social justice, sports equity, and sustainable fashion to deflect attention from the profit-making nature of these organizations. “…many of these companies distort reality with more online airtime devoted to sports, social issues, and fashion than to their multibillion-dollar fossil-fuelled operations,” said Greenpeace senior campaigner Amina Adebisi Odofin. This is indeed a distortion, because what is sidelined is the fact that 20 fossil fuel companies (oil, gas, and coal) were directly responsible for more than a third of all carbon emissions. Airplane emissions of carbon dioxide are also expected to triple by 2050.
This is precisely the problem with misdirection as a greenwashing strategy: “it’s intended to shift the customer’s focus from a company’s appalling behaviors to something that’s peripheral,” as Jason Ballard, CEO of a sustainable home improvement brand, said back in 2017. The shift happens by using rhetorical strategies like whataboutery, free-rider excuses (that it is market failure, or the inefficient distribution of goods or services that is to blame, not the companies themselves), and making climate action an individual-helmed issue, where people are gaslit into believing it is their individual choices that are solely responsible for changing the world.
In multiple instances, by car brands, in particular, the social media posts didn’t even attempt to sell a product. The result is instant and evident: the companies most identifiably responsible for carbon emissions are positioning themselves as “green,” rather than actually selling anything. “Green intention” never meets behavior — it does, however, meet engagement, online reach, and even profits. Climate deception indeed makes for great marketing.
Greenwashing isn’t a new moral malaise. It was articulated in social discourse back in the 1980s, when scholar Jay Westerveld took issue with a resort’s marketing tactic that encouraged guests to reuse towels, in a bid to save the environment.
Around the same time, Chevron, one of the world’s leading energy corporations, ran an ad documenting a wondrous butterfly species that was able to thrive in a sanctuary owned by the company. The campaign went on to win an award for its altruistic impact, but the context was key to understanding this faux brand of climate consciousness. Chevron’s benevolent claims of protecting these lands “were mandated by law, and did not come from an altruistic sense of environmentalism. Plus, it’s not true, as many studies have shown the devastating side effects of oil and oil refineries in wildlife and its habitat,” as Angela Franco noted.
Related on The Swaddle:
Amazon, Nestlé Among 25 Major Companies Exaggerating Climate Action Efforts: Study
This pattern becomes more nefarious when one thinks about how deliberate and strategic the deception is. Previous reports suggest that some fossil fuel corporations knew about climate change and its devastating implications as far back as 1977, 11 years before it fully cemented into public discourse; instead of taking accountability, they began to fortify themselves against the impact while continuing to damage the planet. Supran, in 2017, demonstrated this by showing one of the largest oil companies ExxonMobil systemically misled people about climate science and its impact through internal company documents and paid, editorial-style advertisements in publications like The New York Times.
It was still easier to spot outrageous claims about capitalistic ventures made in the name of environmental goodwill. These played out through ads and marketing campaigns — like Coca-Cola claiming to recycle a bottle for each bottle it sells, despite the fact it is responsible for a large chunk of world’s plastic waste.
But as Franco pointed out, greenwashing was normalized due to a bunch of reasons: “nonexistent laws to codify and define the practice; consumers’ enthusiasm to do anything that may remotely sound or look like it’s helping the environment during these times of irreversible climate change; and corporations’ use of more strategic, vague language in marketing, which has made greenwashing harder to spot and why it is more prevalent than we think.”
The current investigtion shows a field manual of sorts of how climate deception is becoming part of a brand’s communication language on social media, blurring the lines between intent, representation, and exploitation. “Companies variously leveraged imagery of nature, female-presenting, non-binary-presenting non-caucasian-presenting people, youth, experts, sportspeople, and celebrities to strengthen their messages of greenwashing and misdirection,” the report also noted.
It may seem innocuous to have young people enjoying the countryside while endorsing a brand notorious for fraud diesel emission claims. It is anything but: for these social media posts, which may or may not reference the company’s products or the work, have the potential to influence people’s perception of the brand. Worse, it creates a false sense of complacency — one that echoes ad infinitum on social media — that climate action is happening. We’re being programmed into desiring performative and tokenistic acts, even confusing them with climate science.
“This clear sports- and woke-washing is boosting the sales of climate-wrecking products, as well as fuelling international conflict and human rights abuses across the globe. If we are serious about tackling the climate crisis we need a ban on fossil advertising,” Odofin argued.
Social media is just the new site of manipulating our understanding, and efforts, around the climate crisis. Greenwashing has always been about misdirection, but the manipulation is now happening at scale.
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:13Z
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The reaction to Putin's announcement is starting to see more notable moves, with some stops perhaps being triggered as cable falls to 1.1304 - its lowest level since March 1985 - to start European morning trade. It was a quick drop as the pair breached 1.1350 to hit a low of 1.1304 within a span of minutes.
We are seeing a light bounce back to 1.1330 now but it looks like sellers aren't waiting around for the Fed and are looking to make a play, chasing the next downside leg in the pair.
I don't want to go off ranting about how the pair still needs relative confirmation from a more hawkish Fed to really seal a breakthrough but a clean technical break here leaves little in the way of a steeper drop - at least from a technical predicament.
One can expect talks of a push towards parity to seep in with maybe 1.1000 and 1.0500 being key psychological levels to point towards for any relief next.
GBP/USD
GBP/USD
The GBP/USD is the currency pair encompassing the United Kingdom’s currency, the British pound sterling (symbol £, code GBP), and the dollar of the United States of America (symbol $, code USD). The pair’s rate indicates how many US dollars are needed in order to purchase one British pound. For example, when the GBP/USD is trading at 1.5000, it means 1 pound is equivalent to 1.5 dollars. The GBP/USD is the fourth most traded currency pair on the forex exchange market, giving it ample liquidity and a low spread. Whilst the spreads of currency pairs vary from broker to broker, generally speaking, the GBP/USD often stays within the 1 pip to 3 pip spread range, making it a decent candidate for scalping. The GBP/USD pair, also informally known as “cable” (due to transatlantic cables being used to transmit its exchange rate via telegraph back in the 19th century) has a positive correlation with the EUR/USD, and a negative correlation with the USD/CHF. Trading the GBP/USDWhilst a lot of traders and even brokers will assert that the best time to trade the GBP/USD is during its most active hours during London and New York, doing so can be a double-edged sword due to the often-unpredictable nature of the pair. Its volatility also fluctuates often, and so what could be a profitable looking strategy one month, may not be so productive in later months. In addition, purely technical traders can really struggle to be consistent with this pair, (i.e. by ignoring fundamentals), due to the unique political nature of the United Kingdom. The recent drama surrounding Brexit has added another layer of uncertainty to this currency pair. With a smooth resolution not in the cards for the foreseeable future, it is clear the GBP/USD will be influenced by any developments and negotiations with the European Union.
The GBP/USD is the currency pair encompassing the United Kingdom’s currency, the British pound sterling (symbol £, code GBP), and the dollar of the United States of America (symbol $, code USD). The pair’s rate indicates how many US dollars are needed in order to purchase one British pound. For example, when the GBP/USD is trading at 1.5000, it means 1 pound is equivalent to 1.5 dollars. The GBP/USD is the fourth most traded currency pair on the forex exchange market, giving it ample liquidity and a low spread. Whilst the spreads of currency pairs vary from broker to broker, generally speaking, the GBP/USD often stays within the 1 pip to 3 pip spread range, making it a decent candidate for scalping. The GBP/USD pair, also informally known as “cable” (due to transatlantic cables being used to transmit its exchange rate via telegraph back in the 19th century) has a positive correlation with the EUR/USD, and a negative correlation with the USD/CHF. Trading the GBP/USDWhilst a lot of traders and even brokers will assert that the best time to trade the GBP/USD is during its most active hours during London and New York, doing so can be a double-edged sword due to the often-unpredictable nature of the pair. Its volatility also fluctuates often, and so what could be a profitable looking strategy one month, may not be so productive in later months. In addition, purely technical traders can really struggle to be consistent with this pair, (i.e. by ignoring fundamentals), due to the unique political nature of the United Kingdom. The recent drama surrounding Brexit has added another layer of uncertainty to this currency pair. With a smooth resolution not in the cards for the foreseeable future, it is clear the GBP/USD will be influenced by any developments and negotiations with the European Union.
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https://www.forexlive.com/news/cable-sellers-not-waiting-on-the-fed-goes-hunting-for-a-firm-break-lower-20220921/
| 2022-09-21T07:52:24Z
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NAPA, Calif. (AP) — Max Homa knew he had no choice but to go for it on the par-5 18th hole if he wanted to defend his title at the Fortinet Championship. Trailing Danny Willett by a shot, he went for the green in two but ended up in a tough spot in a bunker short of the green. He blasted out but still wasn’t on the putting surface.
Homa stayed aggressive, and this time it paid off, ramming his chip from 33 feet into the hole for a closing birdie. Still, all Willett needed to do was convert his own birdie from short range — and he didn’t deliver.
Willett hit his 3-foot, 7-inch putt too hard. It grazed the lip and ran 4 feet, 8 inches by. Then his comebacker broke left, hit the lip and stayed out, too, completing a shocking collapse that made Homa the winner again in Napa.
“That was crazy. I still don’t really know what happened,” said Homa, a college star at California who now has three victories in the Golden State. “Just kind of one of those weekends you just had to hang around.”
Homa high-fived his caddie when his chip shot hit the flagstick and dropped. Moments later, he was a five-time winner on the PGA Tour.
“Them things happen. Luckily we’ve been in a good position all week and then unfortunate things happen when you feel like you need them most,” said Willett, who is winless in the United States since he took advantage of Jordan Spieth’s collapse to win the 2016 Masters.
Willett laid up 65 yards short of the 18th green green, then stuffed his approach close enough that closing out the tournament should have been routine.
“It’s a shame with how it finished but I’m pretty sure those are the only short putts we’ve missed all week. Just a shame to do it when I did. One of them things. At times you wish you could rewind time. We learn from it and move on,” he said.
Homa had struggled with his putter over the weekend but didn’t need it at the end.
“Today I hit it well, kept it around the hole where it needed to be, I just couldn’t get the ball to go to its home,” he said. “On 18 it decided to go home quickly, so that was quite a nice bonus.”
Homa closed with a 4-under 66 for a total of 16-under 272 and now heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, as a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup with three wins in the past 12 months. Willett shot 69. Taylor Montgomery was alone in third at 13 under after a closing 64.
Homa’s wife, Lacey, had no idea what he’d just done but hurried out to hug her husband. She is pregnant with their first child, a boy, due Nov. 2.
“I’m shocked right now,” she said. “I didn’t see what was happening.”
The leaders had their tee times pushed up by nearly four hours in an effort to get the round in before the North course at Silverado Resort & Spa became completely unplayable. Greens that had been hard and fast earlier in the week from the sun and wind were suddenly quite the opposite, slow and soft from all the water.
Justin Lower held a one-stroke lead going into the final day while chasing his first title after years of struggles just to secure his tour card. The 33-year-old American wound up tied for fourth with Byeong Hun An at 12 under after shooting a 1-over 73.
Willett birdied three holes on the front nine to take a three-stroke lead, only to miss a short par putt on the par-5 ninth as Lower birdied to pull back within a stroke.
Homa and Willett began the day one shot back of Lower. All three players birdied the par-4 10th.
On the par-4 14th, Willett made a miraculous birdie. His tee shot landed behind a tree, and then he whipped the ball around it to the back side of the fringe before sinking a 5-foot putt.
On the front nine, Willett birdied Nos. 1, 4 and 8 — making a 7-footer for birdie on the par-4 eighth while Lower made bogey.
The 34-year-old Willett, from Sheffield, England, stayed loose, laughed with his caddie and smiled between holes in far from ideal conditions in California’s famous wine country: wind and heavy rain the first three holes, a brief respite, then more rain. He regularly toweled off his clubs, wiped down his shoes before putting and took on and off his black sleeveless vest.
The weather made for an intimate gallery of umbrella-holding diehards willing to brave the elements.
“It’s what I came to California for,” Willett cracked with a grin in the early going of his final round.
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:23Z
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US futures have turned flat on the news while bond yields are on the retreat after Putin's announcement. 10-year Treasury yields are down 5 bps to 3.52% on the day while the dollar and yen are gaining slight ground in the major currencies space.
It is a step up in terms of the aggression by Russia and the playbook could well see things get much worse as time goes on. That said, all there is now for markets to work with is that there is going to be added uncertainty as Russia continues to maintain a solid focus on the conflict in Ukraine. That is enough to dampen the risk mood slightly so far today.
The worry here is that there could be significant escalation as things continue to play out and Putin did not shy away from warning about that, stating that nuclear technology remains an option if Russia remains under threat amid the situation.
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:43Z
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 58th and 59th home runs of the season to move within two of Roger Maris’ American League record with 16 games remaining and lead the New York Yankees over the Milwaukee Brewers 12-8 on Sunday.
Judge added a two-run double in the ninth as part of a four-hit day for New York (88-58), which hit five homers and avoided a three-game sweep. The Yankees opened a 5 1/2-game lead over second-place Toronto in the AL East and headed to the Bronx for a homestand against Pittsburgh and Boston that starts Tuesday.
“They’re going to be like over the edge, slapping at things, and beer is going to be flying everywhere,” pitcher Gerrit Cole predicted. “It’s probably not going to be a child-friendly environment in the bleachers. It’s going to be nuts.”
Judge’s 11th multihomer game tied the season record set by Detroit’s Hank Greenberg 1938 and matched by the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa in 1998.
Seeking a Triple Crown, Judge leads the major leagues in homers and with 127 RBIs. His .3162 batting average is just behind AL leader Luis Arraez of Minnesota at .317 and Boston’s Xander Bogaerts at .3164.
“We have some big games coming up,” Judge said. “That’s really the only thing on my mind right now. My focus is to go out there and win a game.”
Milwaukee (78-68) dropped two games behind San Diego, which played later Sunday, for the third and last NL wild card.
Judge’s homers totaled 857 feet. His first came on a sinker from Jason Alexander with a 2-0 count in the third inning, a 414-foot, opposite-field drive into the right field second deck.
Judge became the first player with five batted balls of 110 mph or more in a game since Statcast started tracking in 2015, the hardest at 115.4 mph.
“You have to come with your best stuff against him,” Alexander said. “I felt like I made some good pitches, and it’s tough when you can paint one on the outside and he still puts it 110 (mph) into the stands. It’s a really thin margin of error.”
Then in the seventh against Luis Perdomo, Judge pulled a slider with a 1-2 count for a 443-foot shot to left.
“This is his moment right now. When you make a mistake against him, he’s going to take advantage of it,” Perdomo said.
Judge also walked against Hoby Milner (3-3) leading off a four-run fifth as the Yankees went ahead to stay at 7-4.
Judge had not homered in his previous three games since going deep twice at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber is a distant second in the major leagues with 39 homers. Judge became the first player since Mookie Betts in 2018 to top 10 WAR by FanGraphs. Since 2012, only Betts, Mike Trout (twice) and Buster Posey had reached that mark
Maris hit 61 homers for the Yankees in 1961, one more than Babe Ruth in 1927.
Anthony Rizzo homered in his return from the injured list, his 31st of the season, and had three hits. Aaron Hicks and rookie Oswaldo Cabrera also went deep as the Yankees overcame 3-0 and 4-1 deficits.
New York had 16 hits and twice hit back-to-home homers: Judge and Rizzo in the third, then Hicks and Judge in the seventh.
Cole (12-7) gave up Kolten Wong’s three-run homer in the first and Tyrone Taylor’s solo shot in the second, Cole has allowed second-most in the majors and trailing only Washington’s Josiah Gray at 37.
“I don’t really have a good answer,” Cole said. “In some cases, it’s kind of remarkable. But I need to be better.”
Rowdy Tellez hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Clarke Schmidt. Milwaukee scored twice in the ninth and brought up the potential tying run with one out before Clay Holmes struck out Luis Urías and retired Keston Hiura on a groundout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Yankees: Boone said the team was waiting for doctors to review an MRI taken on RHP Frankie Montas’ throwing shoulder. … RHP Scott Effross (strained right shoulder) gave up a leadoff homer to Bobby Dalbec and a pair of doubles as he pitched the fifth inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Worcester. … RHP Albert Abreu (elbow inflammation) pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Somerset, striking out two and allowing one hit. … Boone said INF/OF Marwin Gonzalez was feeling better after being removed from Saturday’s game when struck on the helmet by a throw from Brewers catcher Victor Caratini while standing in the batter’s box. …C Jose Trevino was out of the starting lineup for a second consecutive day after leaving Friday’s game with a bruised right knee.
UP NEXT
Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (10-4, 2.70 ERA) will make his 26th start of the season.
Brewers: RHP Corbin Burnes (10-7, 2.97) gets the start as Milwaukee opens a three-game home series with the New York Mets. Burnes is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA against the Mets.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T07:52:46Z
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UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Las Vegas never had a professional sports champion — until Sunday.
Chelsea Gray scored 20 points to lead the Las Vegas Aces to their first WNBA title, and the city’s first pro title, in a 78-71 road win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 4.
Gray went 9 of 13 from the floor, and was named Finals MVP after averaging 18.3 points in the series.
Vegas finished on an 8-0 run. As the buzzer sounded, league MVP A’ja Wilson, who played every minute of the game, grabbed the ball and stomped the floor before being mobbed by her teammates.
“We champs! We champs! We champs!” Wilson screamed at teammates as they pulled on their championship hats and T-shirts before the trophy ceremony.
Riquna Williams had 17 points for Vegas, Kelsey Plum added 16 points, Jackie Young had 13 and Wilson added 11 points to go with her 14 rebounds.
Wilson hopes this is just the beginning for the franchise.
“You see it. You see it,” Wilson said in the on-court celebration. “This is what we’re building. This is what we’re doing. This is it. I’m so happy right now.”
Courtney Williams had 17 points to lead Connecticut and Alyssa Thomas had her second straight triple-double with 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Jonquel Jones added 13 points and DeWanna Bonner had 12.
“When you come up short it certainly, really hurts,” Sun coach Curt Miller said. “But that means that there was something that mattered, and something special among that group of players.”
For Aces coach Becky Hammon, who didn’t get a title in her standout WNBA career, the ring completed a decades-long quest. She left an assistant coach position with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs to take over in Las Vegas. The move paid off.
“They’re unbelievable on the court, but they’re unbelievable humans, first and foremost,” Hammon said. “They care about each other. They invest in each other. It’s been an absolute honor to be their coach. I saw excellence and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Hammon also paid tribute to former Aces coach Bill Laimbeer, who was on the floor for the ceremony: “He put this team together and saw the pieces.”
Aces owner Mark Davis, who also owns the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, wasn’t with his football team Sunday. He was in Connecticut to get a trophy. He hoisted it, then turned it over to gleeful players who did the same.
“Las Vegas, we are world champions,” Davis said.
The Aces led by two points at the half and four points after three quarters. They held a six-point lead in the fourth when Plum was called for a flagrant foul after running into Bonner while the Sun guard was attempting a 3-pointer and sending her to the floor holding her right ankle.
Bonner hit all three free throws before Jones’ short jumper cut the lead to a point. The Sun then tied the game at 67 on free throw by Courtney Williams and took a 71-70 lead on two fouls shots from Brionna Jones.
But Las Vegas had the answers.
Riquna Williams 3-pointer put the Aces back on top and Gray’s step-back jumper extended the lead back to 75-71 with under a minute left. A’ja Wilson then stole a pass and Plum hit a short jump shot to secure the win.
SCRAPPY GAME
As expected, it was a physical game — appropriately played on an NFL Sunday. The Sun got a scare when Bonner took an inadvertent elbow to the gut from Gray late in the first quarter and was on the floor for a few minutes before being helped to the bench. She came back into the game later in the half, apparently suffering no ill effects. Natisha Hiedeman and Plum got into a short pushing match in the second quarter, eliciting technical fouls for both players. That was all before Plum’s flagrant in the fourth.
NO GRAY AREA
Gray wasn’t a WNBA All-Star this season, nor was she a first-team all-league pick, and had voiced her displeasure about that. After scoring 21 points in each of the first two games of the Finals, she scored just 11 points in Game 3, but bounced back. Way back.
“They can keep that All-Star and first team,” Gray said. “I got the ring.”
INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Before the game, both coaches reflected on the makeup of organizations in the Final. The Aces are led by Hammon and two Black women executives in general manager Natalie Williams and Nikki Fargas, president of business operations. The Sun are owned by the Mohegan Tribe, have a woman president in Jen Rizzotti and are coached by Curt Miller, a gay man.
“Women’s basketball is such a story in terms of diversity and inclusion. I mean, our league defines it and I’m so proud to be a part of it,” Miller said, adding that he hopes to be an inspiration to any gay child “wondering if they can chase a career in sports.”
Hammon said she believes the diversity in her team’s front office has made it stronger.
“You can make a lot better picture with a box full of crayons than just a pencil,” she said.
VEGAS PRIDE AND PARADE
The start of the celebration was shown on the video screens at the Raiders’ stadium during the NFL game against Arizona on Sunday, with fans breaking into loud cheers.
They can cheer more in a few days: a parade on the Las Vegas Strip is planned for Tuesday night.
“What a team, what talent, what a victory! You have made Las Vegas so proud!” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a statement. “Thank you for your effort, discipline & focus. We can’t wait for the celebrations & a great parade!”
Wilson said after the game that paradegoers should be ready for a party: “When you come to the parade, you better be four shots in. If you ain’t four shots in, don’t come.”
TIP-INS
The Aces improved to 4-0 in this year’s playoffs with two days rest. … Vegas is the fourth WNBA team to win a title with both a league MVP and coach of the year … The Sun came up short after having been among the last four WNBA teams standing for each of the last four seasons, making it back to the Finals for the first time since 2019.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” Bonner said. “They expected us to lose to Chicago. They expected us to lose to Dallas. Despite all of that, we made it to the Finals.” ___
This story has been corrected to show the Aces’ general manager’s first name is Natalie.
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More WNBA playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-playoffs and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Bob MacIntyre might have just played his way onto Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
The Scottish lefty beat U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick on the first hole of a playoff to win the Italian Open on the Marco Simone course outside Rome that will host next year’s event against the United States.
“This is what I want. This is my only goal for the season — to make that Ryder Cup team,” MacIntyre said. “I think I’ve made a good start.”
Ryder Cup qualification points for Europe’s team started being awarded last week at Wentworth.
It was only the second victory of the 26-year-old MacIntyre’s career but it came against a quality field that included European tour leader Rory McIlroy, who finished fourth after hitting his tee shot on the drivable 16th into the water.
MacIntyre posted a 7-under 64 for the best finishing round Sunday and finished regulation tied at 14 under (270) with Fitzpatrick, who won his first major title at Brookline, Mass., in June.
In the playoff on the 18th hole, MacIntyre sunk a birdie putt from a few feet to clinch it after Fitzpatrick had gotten into trouble by driving into the rough.
“This means everything,” MacIntyre said. “I was down and out two or three months ago. I didn’t know what I was doing. Didn’t know where to go. But I spoke to the right people and there’s so much hard work gone into this.”
MacIntyre’s only previous win came nearly two years ago in Cyprus. He tied for fourth at the 2019 Italian Open at nearby Olgiata.
Victor Perez of France finished third, one stroke behind, after missing a birdie putt on 18; and McIlroy ended up two strokes back.
Europe captain Luke Donald, who finished tied for 34th, was quick to praise MacIntyre.
“Massive congratulations,” Donald tweeted. “Showed a lot of guts and resolve in the playoff to get it done.”
“I played with Bob last week in Wentworth,” Donald told The Associated Press. “Looks like a strong player, but a strong mind — he looks very fearless on the golf course, which you’ll need in a Ryder Cup. It’s a pressure-packed situation.”
The U.S. romped to a record rout over Europe in Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, last year, and Donald appears interested in adding some new players to his team.
“There’s a lot of young talent out there,” Donald said. “It’s a great opportunity for them to show me what they have and to be a part of that team come 12 months.”
From Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, 2023, Marco Simone will become the third venue in continental Europe to host the Ryder Cup after Valderrama in Spain (1997) and Le Golf National in France (2018).
The hilly Marco Simone course was completely redesigned a few years ago with the Ryder Cup in mind and proved to be a serious test this week across all sorts of weather — including heat, rain, wind before Sunday’s perfect conditions.
“It’s been a really good test,” Donald said. “Obviously a very strong field and scoring has been not easy.
“Some of these guys who are likely to be in the Ryder Cup team next year would have seen everything this week. So I think that’s good that they’ll be very prepared.”
Thick rough and tall grass lining the narrow fairways were designed to favor Europe’s team.
“Start of this week, I didn’t think this was going to be (my) style of golf course,” MacIntyre said. “(But) I was able to control my golf ball with wedges and irons and even the hybrid that went into the bag last week.”
Coming from the whisky town of Oban on Scotland’s coast, MacIntyre also plays a local game called shinty that is similar to field hockey.
“It’s a sport that’s close to my heart. My family have all played it (for generations),” he said, adding that he feels “lucky” to have chosen golf as his primary sport.
Fitzpatrick nearly produced an albatross when his second shot on the par-5 12th from 212 yards hit the pin. While Fitzpatrick finished off his eagle from four feet, MacIntyre was starting to struggle a couple of holes ahead on 14 when he found the rough and bogeyed.
But MacIntyre pulled it back together and birdied on 18 to put the pressure on Fitzpatrick in regulation.
“I hit a terrible shot and was back against the wall, and again, just got a dogged attitude, never give up, if I get punched, I punch back,” MacIntyre said. “The birdies coming in were massive and thankfully I got in the playoff.”
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More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cooper Rush had no choice but to smile as he embraced offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after the winning kick for the Dallas Cowboys.
Dak Prescott’s backup now has a 2-0 career record filling in, with winning drives on his final possession both times. That was enough to let the emotion flow for the normally stoic Rush, at least for a few moments.
“It’s actually exciting to see him be excited after he won a game,” coach Mike McCarthy after a 20-17 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday. “To get a charge out of it because he is so, so consistent.”
Rush led the drive to Brett Maher’s 50-yard field goal as time expired, and the Cowboys held on after losing a two-touchdown halftime lead.
Joe Burrow got the defending AFC champion Bengals even at 17-17 by leading a 19-play, 83-yard drive in the fourth quarter, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins and finding Tyler Boyd for the 2-point conversion.
Cincinnati (0-2) erased the same 17-3 deficit in the opener against Pittsburgh, only to miss two chances to win on a PAT kick in the final seconds of regulation and a short field goal in overtime of the 23-20 loss.
Now the Bengals are the first defending AFC champion to start 0-2 since 1999, when Denver was coming off consecutive Super Bowl victories and started 0-4 after John Elway retired.
“You just can’t let it affect you,” said defensive end Sam Hubbard, who had the only sack of Rush. “People look to you and your demeanor, how you handle yourself and all you can do is go back to work. And I’m excited to get back to work.”
After the Cowboys stopped the Bengals with about a minute remaining, Rush got the defending NFC East champs in range for Maher. This after his only previous NFL start last year, when the sixth-year pro threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute of a 20-16 win at Minnesota.
Rush got the winning drive going with a 12-yard completion to Noah Brown, who had his first NFL touchdown on the opening drive and finished with a career-high 91 yards receiving. A 10-yarder to CeeDee Lamb put the Cowboys (1-1) in range for Maher, who kicked a 54-yarder in the first half.
“I felt like I put a good stroke on it to see it go in,” said Maher, a former Dallas kicker who rejoined the club late in training camp when both kickers competing for the job flopped. “It was just mayhem, to be honest with you.”
Prescott, who wore a headset with a long-sleeve shirt and frequently implored the crowd to make noise, just missed the one start last season with a strained calf. He will be out multiple games this time with a fracture near his right thumb.
Rush directed 75-yard touchdown drives on the first two possessions for Dallas after the Cowboys went without a TD in the opener against Tampa Bay. The Cowboys didn’t find the end zone again, but didn’t need to on the final possession after Trevon Diggs stopped Boyd 2 yards short on third-and-3, forcing a punt with 1:09 remaining.
“It got a little choppy, kinda got out of rhythm there in the third,” said Rush, who was 19 of 31 for 235 yards with a touchdown. “You just keep playing. When you’re out there, that’s all you’re really thinking about is next play, next play, next play.”
The Cowboys sacked Burrow six times in the first three quarters after he went down seven times in the opener against the Steelers. But the revamped offensive line protected him well enough to help the Bengals get even.
On the tying drive that consumed nearly nine minutes, Burrow converted a fourth-and-6 with a completion to Ja’Marr Chase after three third-down conversions.
“We’d like to start faster, but the defenses that we’re getting earlier are always different than the ones that are on the film,” said Burrow, who was 24 of 36 for 199 yards with a touchdown. “That probably plays a part in it, but we’ve just got to do a better job of adjusting faster.”
TRY, TRY AGAIN
Tony Pollard had a 46-yard catch on a shovel pass, taking the ball from behind the line of scrimmage to just inches shy of the goal line on a play that was originally ruled at touchdown. He got the short carry for a 14-3 Dallas lead in the first quarter.
TWO-FER SACKS
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons had two sacks along with Dorance Armstrong for Dallas. Parsons has at least two sacks in five of the first 18 games of his career, joining Mark Anderson, Joey Bosa, Elvis Dumervil, Clay Matthews and Aldon Smith among players with five such games among their first 20.
INJURIES
Bengals TE Drew Sample was ruled out with a right knee injury after going down awkwardly on a tackle on a catch for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … WR Tee Higgins played after being listed as questionable with a concussion.
UP NEXT
Bengals: At the New York Jets next Sunday. Cincinnati has lost 10 of its past 11 road games against the Jets.
Cowboys: The defending NFC East champs play their first division opponent, visiting the New York Giants (2-0) on Sept. 26.
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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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Kyle Busch deserved better than two failed Toyota engines in the first round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
But at least Busch knows what happened to end his night at Bristol Motor Speedway and leave him “flabbergasted” at being eliminated from the playoff field.
Martin Truex Jr.? He could only laugh as he stood in the garage alongside his disabled car as fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace came in for repairs.
“There’s another one,” he said with a smirk. Truex also referred back to Kevin Harvick’s words after his car caught fire in the opening playoff race at Darlington three weeks ago.
“What Harvick say?” Truex said of his own Saturday night issue. “Crappy parts.”
At least a dozen of the playoff drivers had some sort of problem with NASCAR’s new Next Gen car at Bristol, where the spec car that has leveled the playing field was exposed for myriad durability issues that have followed it in its entire debut season.
The Ford camp suffered a rash of blown tires, Toyota was plagued by power steering failures, drivers racing for the win were knocked from contention for any number of mechanical gremlins and passing was a most difficult task.
The 12 lead changes were the lowest in more than a dozen years at Bristol, and only four of those passes were under green.
“Just difficult to pass,” Harvick said. “The car is way too fast through the corners. Can’t race.”
Harvick was in position to contend for the victory until a wheel fell off his Ford during the final round of pit stops and knocked him from the playoffs.
Now there’s a new round of questions surrounding the Next Gen, an industry-wide project to develop a car of single-source parts that both contained costs and helped small teams close the gap on the powerhouse NASCAR organizations. It’s worked, as Chris Buescher on Saturday night became the record-tying 19th different Cup winner this season.
Buescher’s win marked the first time since this version of NASCAR’s playoffs were established that drivers not competing for the title swept the entire round. Erik Jones won at Darlington and Wallace at Kansas; neither is a playoff driver, nor is Buescher, who scored his second career victory in his 250th career start.
But Buescher won by stretching his final two-tire pit stop the last 61 laps of the 500-mile race, as a lack of tire wear (except for that rash of blown right fronts on the Fords) kept runner-up Chase Elliott on four new tires comfortably in his rearview mirror.
The Next Gen has been questioned over safety concerns since rumors of disastrous crash tests during the development phase, and those issues have only ratcheted since July when a crash in qualifying gave Kurt Busch a concussion that has kept him out of competition for nearly two months. Other drivers have reported they are feeling the force of impact during crashes far worse than ever before, and a spate of fires at Darlington led NASCAR to make a series of rules changes.
Now there’s a fresh batch of complaints following Bristol, where Harvick, Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were eliminated from the playoff field.
“We need NextGen 2.0. Just gotta figure out who’s gonna pay for it,” Denny Hamlin tweeted. Hamlin is part-owner of the 23XI Racing team that has been without Kurt Busch for nine races.
“Passing was just impossible,” Hamlin said after the race. He, too, had a blown tire at Bristol but felt the difficulty in passing was the larger problem.
“I would like to see the racing improve overall. Some lap time variation a little bit. We’re just running around there and it’s like we’re running faster in the corners than we are on the straightaways,” Hamlin said. “We had some steering issues, and it looks like our Toyota teammates also had steering issues.”
Yes, all six Toyotas had a problem, ranging from tires for Hamlin and Christopher Bell, steering issues for Truex, Wallace and Ty Gibbs, and Kyle Busch’s engine failure.
And it was a mixed night for Brad Keselowski, who won the first stage of the race for his first stage victory of the season and seemed in position to race for his first win of the season. Keselowski moved from Team Penske to RFK Racing this season to drive with an ownership stake in Jack Roush’s team, and he desperately wanted to give RFK its first win.
But then his tire blew while leading with 87 laps remaining and Keselowski’s trip to victory lane was to congratulate teammate Buescher. He acknowledged passing was tricky — but said it isn’t supposed to be easy — and said NASCAR must continue to work on the Next Gen.
“Would I like to see us continue to work on the cars? Absolutely. I’ve said this to NASCAR and I’ve said it to the media before and I’ll say it again: ‘If the Next-Gen car looks the same as it does this year, then we’ve failed,’” Keselowski said. “We should continue to grow. We should continue to learn. We should continue to make it better. There’s probably some car owners that don’t want to hear it because it costs money to change the cars.
“There’s the ‘everything is wrong with this car’ camp and there’s the ‘nothing is wrong with this car’ camp,” Keselowski added. “I’d like to keep working on it. It seems like much, like many things today, that polarization means there’s no room for middle ground. In my eyes, I’d like to see some small tweaks, but I’m thankful and proud of our sport and where the Next Gen car has taken us so far.”
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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-09-21T07:53:23Z
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DirecTV’s “NFL Sunday Ticket” package malfunctioned for the second straight week, causing fans trying to watch through the app or online to miss entire games.
DirecTV said via social media that customers trying to stream the 1 p.m. EDT games were unable to through the app. Shortly after 4 p.m. EDT, they said that the server problems were fixed and that streaming could resume.
That came too little, too late for those trying to view the seven early games. The outages did not affect customers watching via normal satellite service.
A DirecTV spokesman said the company will continue to monitor for server problems and apologized to customers for the inconvenience.
This is the final season that DirecTV will be the exclusive carrier of “Sunday Ticket.” Amazon and Apple are among the bidders for the package of out-of-market games after commissioner Roger Goodell said during the summer that he expected a new carrier.
DirecTV extended its contract in 2014 and pays $1.5 billion per season. The new package is expected to fetch at least $2.5 billion per year.
DirecTV is expected to remain in the running for a package that can be sold to bars and restaurants.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T07:53:30Z
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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Jones made sure the Green Bay Packers’ promise to get him the ball more often paid off.
Jones rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and caught a scoring pass from Aaron Rodgers, who continued his domination of the Chicago Bears by leading Green Bay to a 27-10 victory on Sunday night.
Jones had five carries for 49 yards and three catches for 27 yards in a season-opening 23-7 loss at Minnesota, and the Packers (1-1) vowed he’d have a bigger role.
“That just naturally put a smile on my face,” Jones said. “I knew I had to show up when my number was called. That just pushes me that much harder.”
Jones came through, gaining 8.8 yards per rush and leading the Packers’ 203-yard ground attack. He had 15 carries as well as three catches for 38 yards.
Green Bay beat the Bears (1-1) for a seventh straight time, matching its second-longest win streak in the 205-game history of the NFL’s oldest rivalry. The Packers won 10 straight over the Bears from 1994-98. They have two other seven-game win streaks in this series, from 1928-30 and 2000-03.
The Packers built a 24-7 halftime lead by dominating the second period, then made a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to thwart a Bears comeback attempt.
“Coming out with a disappointing loss like this, it hurts,” Bears quarterback Justin Fields said. “We’ve just got to respond.”
A week after he struggled to connect with his new crop of receivers, Rodgers was characteristically efficient, going 19 of 25 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. The Packers are 24-5 against the Bears in games Rodgers has started.
“Tonight was really about 28 (A.J. Dillon) and 33 (Jones), getting them the football,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t play great. I feel like the stats look a little better than the game. … I missed some throws that I should never miss. There were some opportunities for more points out there.”
Chicago’s David Montgomery rushed for 122 yards on 15 carries. Fields had a touchdown run and was 7 of 11 for 70 yards with an interception.
The Packers outscored the Bears 21-0 in the second quarter. Jones scored twice, both times catching pitches from Rodgers in the backfield and reaching the end zone.
The first was a backward pass that got ruled as a 15-yard carry. On the second touchdown, Jones went in motion, caught a flip pass in the backfield and scored from 8 yards out. Jones benefited from the return of right tackle Elgton Jenkins, playing for the first time since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament last Nov. 12.
“If he’s not in the lineup, we don’t win that game,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Jenkins. “It transcends his level of play, what he’s able to bring to us. For his first night out, I thought he did a great job.”
Even though the Packers had talked all week about getting the ball to Jones more often, the Bears couldn’t slow him down.
“It says a lot about our offense,” Jones said. “You know what’s coming, but you have to stop it. That’s not easy to do. I just say kudos to our whole offensive unit and our whole team for responding and bouncing back from last week.”
Jones’ second score was Rodgers’ 450th career touchdown pass. The only other players to reach that mark are Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
Rodgers added No. 451 in the final minute of the first half with a 5-yard completion to Allen Lazard, who sat out the Vikings game with an ankle injury.
Rodgers completed passes to eight receivers. None had more than three receptions, but Sammy Watkins turned his trio of catches into 93 yards.
The Bears made the game competitive in the second half by capitalizing on Green Bay’s mistakes.
Cairo Santos’ 44-yard field goal cut Green Bay’s lead to 24-10 after a fumbled exchange between Rodgers and Dillon gave the Bears the ball at their own 31.
The Packers’ next series got foiled when a snap from Josh Myers hit receiver Christian Watson, who was in motion, and got past Rodgers. Dillon recovered the fumble, but it put the Packers in a third-and-22 situation and led to a punt.
Chicago drove toward Green Bay’s end zone and had an apparent 6-yard touchdown run by Fields overturned when replays determined he was down before stretching his arm across the goal line. On the next play, Fields ran again on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, and officials ruled that Preston Smith and Jarran Reed stopped him just short of the end zone with a little over eight minutes left in the game.
“Who knows? If they get a touchdown there, the game could completely flip,” Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell said. “So I think we did a good job of winning situational football.”
INJURIES
Bears DB Dane Cruikshank hurt his hamstring in the first half.
UP NEXT
Bears: Host Houston on Sunday.
Packers: At Tampa Bay on Sunday.
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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T07:53:46Z
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Saints have scratched top running back Alvin Kamara from Sunday’s lineup against Tampa Bay because of a rib injury that has bothered him since New Orleans’ Week 1 victory at Atlanta.
Kamara, who was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report, is one of the New Orleans’ most productive players as both a runner and receiver.
Kamara left the Saints’ Sept. 11 game in the fourth quarter but initially said afterward that he believed he would be fine. After practicing on a limited basis on Wednesday, he sat out practices on Thursday and Friday.
With Kamara out, veteran Mark Ingram is expected to get the bulk of the work at running back, backed up by Dwayne Washington and Tony Jones Jr.
Kamara is among several established skill players ruled out for the game, including Tampa Bay receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Chris Godwin (hamstring), as well as Saints receiver Tre’Quan Smith (shoulder), who returned to practice this week after sitting out in Week 1.
New Orleans also scratched second-year defensive end Payton Turner, a 2021 first-round draft choice who blocked the Falcon’s 63-yard field goal attempted at the end of regulation in Week 1. He was not on this week’s injury report.
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More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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| 2022-09-21T07:53:53Z
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BALTIMORE (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 469 yards and six touchdowns, four of which came during a spectacular fourth quarter, and the Miami Dolphins rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 42-38 on Sunday.
Tagovailoa’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle with 14 seconds left completed the incredible comeback after Miami (2-0) trailed 35-14 with under 13 minutes remaining.
Tyreek Hill had touchdown catches of 48 and 60 yards during that rally, the latter of which tied the game with 5:19 to play.
Justin Tucker kicked a 51-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining to put Baltimore ahead, but that was far too much time for Miami’s offense, which the Ravens (1-1) didn’t come close to stopping in the final quarter.
The Dolphins overcame a spectacular performance by Jackson, who threw three first-half touchdown passes and then gave Baltimore its 21-point lead with a 79-yard TD run in the third. Jackson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns.
The Ravens got into position for Jackson to throw a desperation pass at the very end, but that fell incomplete.
Tagovailoa was intercepted twice in the first half, but he more than made up for that. Waddle had 11 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill had 11 for 190 yards and his two TDs.
Devin Duvernay returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and the Ravens never trailed until the final seconds.
They would have scored a TD on all four of their offensive possessions in the first half if not for a fumble near the Miami goal line.
The Dolphins couldn’t recreate their exceptional defensive effort of a season ago, when their blitz wreaked havoc on the Baltimore offense. The Ravens lost that game 22-10 in their lowest-scoring game of the season.
Jackson put the Ravens up 14-7 with a short pass over the middle that Rashod Bateman turned into a 75-yard touchdown. Later in the second quarter, he threw for TDs of 1 yard to Mark Andrews and 12 yards to Demarcus Robinson.
Then Jackson’s most spectacular play came near the end of the third, when he faked a handoff and breezed through a big hole up the middle and past the Miami secondary. The touchdown was the longest run of Jackson’s career, and it also put him over 100 yards rushing, a record 11th time he’s done that. He previously shared the mark for quarterbacks with Michael Vick, who had 10 100-yard games on the ground.
Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history with both a touchdown pass and a touchdown run of at least 75 yards in the same game. He finished with 119 yards on nine carries.
Duvernay, who caught two touchdown passes in a season-opening win over the New York Jets, showed why he’s been an All-Pro returner, taking the kickoff 103 yards to open the scoring. Tagovailoa drove the Dolphins into Baltimore territory, but Marcus Williams created a turnover with a remarkable display of concentration. He jumped in front of Hill to break up a pass, and while lying on the ground, he reached out to catch the falling ball before it hit the ground.
The Ravens drove to the 1-yard line, but after a third-down touchdown run by Jackson was overturned on replay, the Baltimore quarterback lost control of the ball on what looked like a quarterback sneak attempt on fourth down.
Miami drove 94 yards and tied it at 7 on Tagovailoa’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Waddle.
With the Ravens up 21-7, Tagovailoa’s deep pass was picked off — again by Williams — and that gave Baltimore a chance to score once more before halftime.
Tagovailoa threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki to make it 28-14 in the third, and his 2-yarder to River Cracraft in the fourth made it 35-21.
INJURIES
Baltimore LB Steven Means was carted off in the second quarter with an ankle injury, and Duvernay entered concussion protocol late in the game.
UP NEXT
Dolphins: Host the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.
Ravens: At the New England Patriots on Sunday.
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Texas Tech linebacker Bryce Ramirez remained hospitalized Sunday, a day after suffering a gruesome left leg injury in the Red Raiders’ loss at 12th-ranked North Carolina State.
Sports medicine staff from Texas Tech were with Ramirez at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will stay with the fourth-year junior until he is able to safely travel back to Lubbock.
Ramirez fractured his lower left leg in the first half Saturday night when he tackled Wolfpack running back Jordan Houston. The pile rolled over Ramirez’s leg, which was planted in the turf. It bent below the knee and was twisted abnormally as he laid on the grass.
Trainers covered the leg with a towel when they began treating him on the field, and ESPN chose not to show a replay of when the injury. The game was stopped for roughly 10 minutes before Ramirez was put on a motorized cart and then transported to the hospital.
In a tweet from his personal account Sunday, Ramirez thanked Texas Tech fans for their support, and ended his message with a red heart and then a black one — the school’s primary colors.
“I appreciate all you guys for all the prayers, love, and support!!! I love you Red Raider Nation!!!” Ramirez tweeted.
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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2
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| 2022-09-21T07:54:15Z
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HOUSTON (AP) — Working closely with Framber Valdez, Houston catcher Martin Maldonado has enjoyed a front-row seat for the journey that has turned the left-hander into one of baseball’s top pitchers in his fifth season.
“It is a lot of calm, a lot of confidence and a lot of maturity from him,” Maldonado said. “He knows what he can do good. Listening more and taking pride in the work, less emotional on the mound. So I’ve seen a lot of stuff going into (his growth).”
Valdez set a major league record with his 25th straight quality start, and Yordan Alvarez and Maldonado had four RBIs apiece in the Astros’ 11-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
Alvarez, who ranks second in the AL with 37 homers, drove in three runs with a double in Houston’s five-run third inning. He tacked on an RBI double in the sixth.
Alvarez extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games. He piled up nine hits, four homers and nine RBIs in the series, helping Houston take three of four.
Valdez (16-5) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings to pass Jacob deGrom (24 in 2018) for the most consecutive quality starts in a single season in MLB history. Valdez, who threw his first career shutout in his last start, is 15-4 during his streak, which began April 25.
“It’s one of those things that just goes down on your résumé, and to be able to have a record like that does mean a lot for me,” he said through a translator.
Valdez’s career-high 16 wins rank second in the AL behind teammate Justin Verlander (17) and his 2.57 ERA is sixth.
Manager Dusty Baker raved about the consistency Valdez has brought to the team this season.
“That’s a remarkable streak,” Baker said. “There have been some some great pitchers that he surpassed by breaking this record and I’m just glad that he accomplished it and we won the ballgame.”
Maldonado tied a career high with his first four-hit game since 2015, and he scored four times for the first time in his 12-year career. He singled three times before smacking a three-run homer to left with two outs in the seventh.
Oakland rookie Ken Waldichuk (0-2) was tagged for five runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings in his fifth career start.
Dermis Garcia hit a two-run double in the sixth, but the Athletics couldn’t get much else going offensively as they lost for the fourth time in six games.
“This team has competed all year,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We fight. We have shown that. We’re playing some good baseball teams right now that are going to be in the postseason. … It’s a test, and we are going to continue to grind.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: OF Ramón Laureano was placed on the injured list with a strained right hamstring. INF Jordan Diaz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to take his spot on the roster. Diaz made his major league debut and got his first hit on a single with one out in the seventh.
UP NEXT
Athletics: JP Sears (2-2, 5.13 ERA) starts Tuesday night for Oakland in the opener of a three-game series against Seattle.
Astros: Luis Garcia (12-8, 4.04 ERA) opposes Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen (10-5, 2.77) in the opener of a three-game series Monday night.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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SHREVEPORT, La (KMSS/KTAL) – This week on the Sunday Night Sports Blitz, we bring you the top six plays from an exciting weekend of high school football, announce this week’s Rebath Game of the Week, and show you how Louisiana Tech honored a Clemson football player.
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cooper Rush had no choice but to smile as he embraced offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after the winning kick for the Dallas Cowboys.
Dak Prescott’s backup now has a 2-0 career record filling in, with winning drives on his final possession both times. That was enough to let the emotion flow for the normally stoic Rush, at least for a few moments.
“It’s actually exciting to see him be excited after he won a game,” coach Mike McCarthy after a 20-17 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday. “To get a charge out of it because he is so, so consistent.”
Rush led the drive to Brett Maher’s 50-yard field goal as time expired, and the Cowboys held on after losing a two-touchdown halftime lead.
Joe Burrow got the defending AFC champion Bengals even at 17-17 by leading a 19-play, 83-yard drive in the fourth quarter, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins and finding Tyler Boyd for the 2-point conversion.
Cincinnati (0-2) erased the same 17-3 deficit in the opener against Pittsburgh, only to miss two chances to win on a PAT kick in the final seconds of regulation and a short field goal in overtime of the 23-20 loss.
Now the Bengals are the first defending AFC champion to start 0-2 since 1999, when Denver was coming off consecutive Super Bowl victories and started 0-4 after John Elway retired.
“You just can’t let it affect you,” said defensive end Sam Hubbard, who had the only sack of Rush. “People look to you and your demeanor, how you handle yourself and all you can do is go back to work. And I’m excited to get back to work.”
After the Cowboys stopped the Bengals with about a minute remaining, Rush got the defending NFC East champs in range for Maher. This after his only previous NFL start last year, when the sixth-year pro threw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute of a 20-16 win at Minnesota.
Rush got the winning drive going with a 12-yard completion to Noah Brown, who had his first NFL touchdown on the opening drive and finished with a career-high 91 yards receiving. A 10-yarder to CeeDee Lamb put the Cowboys (1-1) in range for Maher, who kicked a 54-yarder in the first half.
“I felt like I put a good stroke on it to see it go in,” said Maher, a former Dallas kicker who rejoined the club late in training camp when both kickers competing for the job flopped. “It was just mayhem, to be honest with you.”
Prescott, who wore a headset with a long-sleeve shirt and frequently implored the crowd to make noise, just missed the one start last season with a strained calf. He will be out multiple games this time with a fracture near his right thumb.
Rush directed 75-yard touchdown drives on the first two possessions for Dallas after the Cowboys went without a TD in the opener against Tampa Bay. The Cowboys didn’t find the end zone again, but didn’t need to on the final possession after Trevon Diggs stopped Boyd 2 yards short on third-and-3, forcing a punt with 1:09 remaining.
“It got a little choppy, kinda got out of rhythm there in the third,” said Rush, who was 19 of 31 for 235 yards with a touchdown. “You just keep playing. When you’re out there, that’s all you’re really thinking about is next play, next play, next play.”
The Cowboys sacked Burrow six times in the first three quarters after he went down seven times in the opener against the Steelers. But the revamped offensive line protected him well enough to help the Bengals get even.
On the tying drive that consumed nearly nine minutes, Burrow converted a fourth-and-6 with a completion to Ja’Marr Chase after three third-down conversions.
“We’d like to start faster, but the defenses that we’re getting earlier are always different than the ones that are on the film,” said Burrow, who was 24 of 36 for 199 yards with a touchdown. “That probably plays a part in it, but we’ve just got to do a better job of adjusting faster.”
TRY, TRY AGAIN
Tony Pollard had a 46-yard catch on a shovel pass, taking the ball from behind the line of scrimmage to just inches shy of the goal line on a play that was originally ruled at touchdown. He got the short carry for a 14-3 Dallas lead in the first quarter.
TWO-FER SACKS
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons had two sacks along with Dorance Armstrong for Dallas. Parsons has at least two sacks in five of the first 18 games of his career, joining Mark Anderson, Joey Bosa, Elvis Dumervil, Clay Matthews and Aldon Smith among players with five such games among their first 20.
INJURIES
Bengals TE Drew Sample was ruled out with a right knee injury after going down awkwardly on a tackle on a catch for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … WR Tee Higgins played after being listed as questionable with a concussion.
UP NEXT
Bengals: At the New York Jets next Sunday. Cincinnati has lost 10 of its past 11 road games against the Jets.
Cowboys: The defending NFC East champs play their first division opponent, visiting the New York Giants (2-0) on Sept. 26.
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brett Maher kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired, and the Dallas Cowboys held on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-17 on Sunday after losing a two-touchdown halftime lead.
Joe Burrow got the Bengals even at 17-17 by leading a 19-play, 89-yard drive in the fourth quarter, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins and finding Tyler Boyd for the 2-point conversion.
After the Cowboys stopped the Bengals with about a minute remaining, Cooper Rush got the Cowboys in range for Maher to help Dallas win for the second time in his two career starts filling in for an injured Dak Prescott.
Rush got the winning drive going with a 12-yard completion to Noah Brown, who had his first career touchdown on the opening drive. A 10-yarder to CeeDee Lamb put the Cowboys (1-1) in range for Maher, who kicked a 54-yarder in the first half.
The defending AFC champion Bengals (0-2) erased the same 17-3 deficit in the opener against Pittsburgh, only to miss two chances to win on a PAT kick in the final seconds of regulation and a short field goal in overtime of the 23-20 loss.
Rush directed 75-yard touchdown drives on the first two possessions for Dallas after the Cowboys went without a TD in the opener against Tampa Bay. The Cowboys didn’t find the end zone again, but didn’t need to on the final possession after Trevon Diggs stopped Boyd 2 yards short on third-and-3, forcing a punt with 1:09 remaining.
The Cowboys sacked Burrow six times in the first three quarters after he went down seven times in the opener against the Steelers. But the revamped offensive line protected him well to help the Bengals get even.
Burrow converted a fourth down with a completion to Ja’Marr Chase after three third-down conversions on a drive that consumed nearly nine minutes.
Tony Pollard had a 46-yard catch on a shovel pass, taking the ball from behind the line of scrimmage to just inches shy of the goal line on a play that was originally ruled at touchdown. He got the short carry for a 14-3 Dallas lead in the first quarter.
Rush is now 2-0 as an NFL starter, the other win coming when he threw the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of a 20-16 victory at Minnesota. Prescott was out with a strained calf. The star quarterback will miss multiple weeks this time with a fracture near his right thumb.
The Bengals are the first defending AFC champion to start 0-2 since Denver was coming off consecutive Super Bowl victories and started 0-4 in 1999 after John Elway retired.
VIDEO BOARD REPLAY, OR NOT
At first, it appeared a punt had hit the bottom of the giant video board hanging over the center of the field for the second week in a row. Instead, a replay review determined the punt didn’t hit the board.
Dallas’ Bryan Anger was the punter, and all the players stayed on the field expecting a re-kick until the replay determined otherwise.
Tampa Bay’s Jake Camarda struck the board in the opener, and he ended up punting three times on the same sequence after a penalty on the second kick.
TWO-FER SACKS
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Micah Parsons had two sacks along with Dorance Armstrong for Dallas. Parsons has at least two sacks in five of the first 18 games of his career, joining Mark Anderson, Joey Bosa, Elvis Dumervil, Clay Matthews and Aldon Smith among players with five such games among their first 20.
INJURIES
Bengals: TE Drew Sample was ruled out with a right knee injury after going down awkwardly on a tackle on a catch for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … WR Tee Higgins played after being listed as questionable with a concussion.
Cowboys: TE Dalton Schultz left late in the fourth quarter with an apparent right leg injury. He was holding and flexing the leg after an incompletion.
UP NEXT
Bengals: At the New York Jets next Sunday. Cincinnati has lost 10 of its past 11 road games against the Jets.
Cowboys: The defending NFC East champs play their first division opponent, visiting the New York Giants (2-0) on Sept. 26.
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| 2022-09-21T07:54:51Z
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ROBELINE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana Highway 120 near the new bridges in Robeline was closed for almost three hours due to downed power lines.
NPSO deputies say a single-vehicle crash that involved a utility pole resulted in low-lying power lines across Highway 120.
SWEPCO was notified and informed NPSO deputies that it would take two-to-three hours to clean up the mess and open the roadway.
There were no reported injuries in the crash.
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| 2022-09-21T07:54:58Z
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The latest Talk Business & Politics – Hendrix polling data took center stage on Capitol View this week.
Host Roby Brock shared insights from the poll, which shows how Arkansas residents feel about the job being done by Pres. Joe Biden and how they view former Pres. Donald Trump.
Brock was also joined by analysts Dr. Jay Barth and Robert Coon to break down these poll numbers and to see what the poll said about statewide races in Arkansas.
To see the entire program, click on the video player at the top of this page.
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| 2022-09-21T07:55:04Z
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22 mins ago - Science
Ferocious Hurricane Fiona now a Category 4 storm
Hurricane Fiona strengthened into a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130mph as it moved away from the Turks and Caicos Islands toward Bermuda on Wednesday morning, per the National Hurricane Center.
The big picture: The storm that's been linked to at least two deaths in Puerto Rico and another in the Dominican Republic became on Tuesday morning the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.
- It knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in the Dominican Republic and the entire island of Puerto Rico earlier this week. Nearly 1.7 million residents were still without power on Tuesday night, according to poweroutage.us.
What to expect: Fiona was forecast to continue tracking north on Wednesday before turning toward the north-northeast with "an increase in forward speed" expected by Thursday, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory issued at 2am Wednesday.
- "On the forecast track, the center of Fiona will continue to move away from the Turks and Caicos today, and approach Bermuda late on Thursday," the NHC said.
Go deeper: Puerto Rico requests FEMA assistance from Biden admin
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| 2022-09-21T08:03:11Z
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| 2022-09-21T08:03:17Z
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| 2022-09-21T08:03:23Z
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| 2022-09-21T08:03:29Z
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(Our Auto Expert) — The motor city’s fighting spirit is still evident as the North American international auto show returns after three years. Recovery is slow for the show and for auto sales, down 17 percent, due to parts shortages.
This has not stopped automakers from introducing new groundbreaking vehicles. Ford used the Detroit show as the opportunity to introduce a new generation of the best-selling sports coupe in the world. The new Mustang.
Sold in 70 countries, this new Mustang will surprise and delight you. The most powerful the company has ever made. You can rev it from the key fob and drift it.
The drama and razzmatazz are back at auto shows. Jeep has got it all, and they rolled out a 30th Anniversary Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. It’s been 30 years since they broke the glass famously In Detroit as they rolled out the original Grand Cherokee.
President Biden made a memorable trip to Detroit after the automaker confirmed it would build its new electric Jeeps in the United States. Jeep also announced it would build a Wrangler Willy’s 4xe plug-in hybrid and a luxury Jeep Wagoneer 4xe plug-in hybrid.
Jim Morrison is head of the Jeep brand in North America he had this to say: “we listen to our customers, and I have to say thanks to our customers for driving us that way, right? It’s listening to Grand Cherokee customers over the years. They’ve helped us refine this. At every step of the way,”
Tim Kuniskis is head of Dodge and looks to the future of their brand with electrics, he stated: “looking for emotion, excitement, performance. And we’ve been very clear. We said the only way we’re going to get people to come into the space, muscle car contenders, to come into this space is if we give them something better than what they have today” The North American auto show was a success. We can’t wait to see what the future of electric cars holds.
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| 2022-09-21T08:10:54Z
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Honda has confirmed a 40-mpg combined rating for the redesigned 2023 CR-V Hybrid, and it’s priced the entire CR-V lineup, which now includes CR-V Hybrid Sport and Hybrid Sport Touring versions that essentially position the hybrid as the sportier choice in the lineup.
The 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport starts at $33,695 in front-wheel-drive form, including the $1,245 destination charge, or $35,195 in its all-wheel-drive version. The top-of-the-lineup Hybrid Sport Touring includes all-wheel drive and costs $39,845.
The top 40-mpg rating is 2 mpg better than last year’s CR-V Hybrid, but it’s because Honda has introduced front-wheel-drive versions of the Hybrid that are better on gas. The CR-V Hybrid achieves EPA ratings of 43 mpg city, 36 highway, 40 combined in front-wheel-drive form.
Last year’s all-wheel-drive CR-V Hybrid returned 38 mpg combined, versus 37 mpg combined in all-wheel-drive form for the 2023 model. But the redesigned CR-V lineup is bigger and possibly a bit heavier than the outgoing 2022 model.
Honda first introduced a CR-V Hybrid in the U.S. for 2020. With the introduction of a fourth-generation version of Honda’s two-mode hybrid system, the CR-V Hybrid should provide a somewhat sportier drive; it now makes 204 hp and 247 lb-ft of torque, versus 212 hp and 232 lb-ft of torque in the outgoing version. Honda says that the new model features a more refined 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle inline-4, so expect it to be smoother and quieter. In our testing of its predecessor, the CR-V Hybrid drove more like an EV at low speeds than rival models.
The competition in this corner of the market is strong. Toyota does offer more modestly equipped versions of its RAV4 Hybrid. The most affordable 2023 RAV4 Hybrid LE costs $30,910; the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Blue starts at $31,045. But the CR-V Hybrid EX is positioned below similarly equipped versions of the $32,380 RAV Hybrid XLE and $33,645 Tucson SEL Convenience.
The base price of the 2022 Honda CR-V Hybrid EX was $33,035, so for shoppers who don’t mind giving up the idea of all-wheel drive it’s only a slight price hike. The Hybrid Sport gets gloss-black exterior accents, Berlina Black 18-inch wheels, and rectangular exhaust finishers. It now includes adaptive cruise control, active lane control, a 9.0-inch touchscreen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatibility, wireless device charging, heated front seats, heated mirrors, and a sunroof.
The top Sport Touring adds 12-speaker Bose audio, a navigation system, and a wi-fi hotspot, plus 19-inch wheels and tires.
The CR-V is Honda’s top-selling U.S. model, and Honda expects CR-V Hybrid sales to account for about 50% of the annual CR-V total. Whether or not it charms buyers largely depends on whether the hybrid delivers on the mid-market sweet spot shoppers have seen in the CR-V for decades.
Related Articles
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- Jeep adds plug-in hybrid value with Wrangler Willys 4xe, Grand Cherokee 4xe special edition
- Review: 2023 Lexus RX 450h+ plug-in hybrid falls short of prime mover
- US-based Honda-LG battery venture will power future EVs from 2026 on
- Report: 2024 Ford Mustang Hybrid nixed, but entire Mustang lineup going electric in five years
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:02Z
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To make tire production more sustainable, Bridgestone is turning to a desert shrub called guayule as a source of natural rubber.
Native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, guayule is a heat-tolerant source of natural rubber that can be used to make tires, Bridgestone said in a recent press release. Natural rubber can be extracted from guayule’s branches, bark, and roots, and it can be farmed with existing crop-row equipment, according to the company.
Cultivating guayule helps diversify the world’s natural rubber supply, allows Bridgestone to produce more rubber locally for the U.S. market, and contributes to the tire maker’s sustainability goals. Bridgestone aims to achieve carbon neutrality and make tires from 100% renewable materials by 2050.
To meet those goals, Bridgestone is looking at both increased recycling of end-of-life tires and alternatives to non-renewable materials like oil, silica and virgin carbon black currently used in tires. That’s where guayule comes in.
Bridgestone started its guayule research in earnest in 2012, when it broke ground on a guayule processing and research center in Mesa, Arizona. Tires made with the plant were used for the first time in IndyCar racing earlier this year. Bridgestone hopes to commercialize guayule natural-rubber tires by 2030 in passenger cars and other applications.
Other companies are also looking for ways to make tires more sustainable.
Goodyear is working on reducing the amount of petroleum that goes into tires, and has shown a prototype tires made from 70% sustainable materials. It wants to make a tire from 100% sustainable materials by 2030. Hyundai and Michelin are also partnering on a project to help make tires more environmentally friendly.
Tire makers have in the past experimented with an ingredient from orange peels, mixed with natural rubber. All of these efforts are important because, as EVs eliminate tailpipe emissions, the environmental impact from other areas must be considered.
Meanwhile, there’s growing concern about the microplastics in tires, and what happens when they get ground up as a result of tire wear. A series of controversial study results suggests that the weight gain of EVs could create a colossal increase of microplastic particulate emissions.
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- VW details major over-the-air update for ID.4 EV, promises more American software development
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:17Z
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A new Guinness World Record has been set for the fastest mile driven in reverse, with a time of 1:15.18.
The record was set June 15, 2022, by Scot Burner at NCM Motorsports Park, the racetrack attached to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Burner drove a C7 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with a manual transmission. He used a manual because its speed in reverse isn’t governed, and instead maxes out when the engine reaches its maximum revolutions per minute. Automatic cars are speed-governed in reverse.
Burner has a YouTube channel called Always in Reverse where he drives various cars in reverse to see how fast they’ll go. He averaged 52.1 mph during his record run. In a Corvette video he made last November driving the same car, he hit 54 mph in reverse on a public road.
According to the entry for the record on the Guinness World Records website, Burner realized he could break the record after noticing the previous record was a time he had already unofficially beaten. One of his videos shows him hitting a slightly faster top speed of 56 mph—in a Kia Sorento.
At least one other driver has gone faster in reverse without officially claiming the fastest-mile record. Then Audi Formula E driver Daniel Act hit 130 mph in Schaeffler Group’s electric Audi RS 3 touring car in 2018, but apparently no one timed him over a mile.
It’s possible to go too fast in reverse, at least as far as safety regulators are concerned. In 2017, the Mercedes-AMG G65 was recalled because the software that limited top speed in reverse wasn’t properly calibrated, potentially allowing vehicles to exceed the 16 mph deemed safe. Powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.5-liter V-12, the G65 was capable of a claimed 0-60 mph in 5.3 seconds while going forward, so it was probably a good idea to rein it in while backing up.
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- 2023 Lexus IS, Lightyear 0, Grand Wagoneer EV conversion: Car News Headlines
- Lightyear 0 achieves record low drag coefficient
- Preview: 2024 Subaru Crosstrek treads evolutionary path
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:24Z
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German racing team ByKolles has provided a first look at its new hypercar derived from the Le Mans Hypercar race car it is expected to enter the 2023 World Endurance Championship.
This week the hypercar started testing near ByKolles’ headquarters in Greding, Germany, where these photos were taken.
ByKolles plans to enter its LMH race car in the Hypercars class of the WEC under the branding of historic British racing team Vanwall, though it isn’t entirely certain whether the car will actually race under that name, especially as there’s a separate effort in the U.K. to revive the Vanwall name.
The original Vanwall was a British racing team that counted the likes of Stirling Moss and Lotus founder Colin Chapman among its drivers, and was the winner of the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship in 1958.
Despite the ambiguity of the use of the Vanwall name, ByKolles is pushing ahead with the development of its LMH race car under Vanwall branding. The car is officially known as the Vanwall Vandervell LMH. The road-going version goes by the name Vanwall Vandervell 1000, the number signifying a targeted 1,000-hp output.
ByKolles hasn’t provided any information alongside the photos of the Vanwall Vandervell 1000 posted to social model. The team has previously announced plans to launch a version of its LMH race car for track enthusiasts, and another for road use. The track car was previously announced to run the same engine as the race car, a Gibson V-8, and it was also said to be coming with a weight of just 2,094 lb due to a lack of ballast the race car would need to carry under Balance of Performance rules. The road car was said to be coming with a V-8 augmented by a hybrid system to generate a total 1,000 hp.
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- Watch Max Verstappen drive the 2023 Honda Civic Type R in new ad
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:31Z
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Wind-tunnel testing has proven that the Lightyear 0 is the most aerodynamic production car in the world, Lightyear claims.
Testing conducted at the FKFS wind tunnels in Stuttgart, Germany, under WLTP protocols confirmed a 0.175 coefficient of drag (Cd) for the solar-assisted electric car, Lightyear said Thursday in a press release.
That figure puts the Lightyear 0 ahead of the Lucid Air, Tesla Model S, and Mercedes-Benz EQS, all at 0.20 to 0.21. Each of those are much larger than the Lightyear 0, however, and will likely be produced in higher volumes. Lightyear has said it only plans to sell 150 cars (priced at about $260,000 each), with a “high-volume” model to follow.
Lightyear’s claim is an impressive achievement for even a low-volume production car, however.
The Mercedes EQXX achieves just 0.17, but it’s not production-bound. The concept is a showcase of ideas to improve EV efficiency, and did a real-world range run of 746 miles from Stuttgart to Silverstone, England, on a single charge—with enough energy to spare for some victory laps.
Launched in 2013, the Volkswagen XL1 achieved a 0.189 Cd. The slim coupe used a plug-in hybrid diesel powertrain that seemed like a good idea in the days before the VW emissions scandal, and was actually produced in very limited numbers. Just 200 were sold out of a planned run of 250 cars exclusively for the European market, where the Lightyear 0 will also be available.
The production General Motors EV1 had a Cd of 0.195, but that was achieved with a fairly impractical two-door body shell. The EV1 wasn’t a high-volume car, either. GM built 1,117 and leased them to customers in California and a handful of other locations. Most were recalled and destroyed after California changed its zero-emission vehicle laws, allowing the EV1 to be withdrawn without the threat of penalties.
The EV1, XL1, EQXX, and now the Lightyear 0 have shown that cutting drag requires a radically different shape to conventional cars. Does that make sedans obsolete? At the very least, designers and engineers attempting to make a three-box sedan with leading-edge aero face some tough challenges.
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- $25,000 Tesla or not, executive says EV maker will need a more affordable model
- Honda plans 10 new electric motorcycle models by 2025, including one for kids
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:39Z
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Jeep plans to launch an electric Wagoneer in 2024 and previewed the vehicle last week with the near-production Wagoneer S concept.
However, fans of the original SJ Grand Wagoneer can also jump on the EV bandwagon thanks to Michigan startup company The Ghost Garage, which is working on an electric conversion for the SUV icon.
Full details are still forthcoming as the conversion won’t be available until next year, but The Ghost Garage has already confirmed a range of more than 250 miles and peak output of 500 hp. The company will use Grand Wagoneers from model years 1989-1991, the last for the SJ generation.
Order books are now open and the price for a turnkey vehicle starts from $290,000. While that’s certainly steep, The Ghost Garage will perform a full restoration of the vehicle in addition to swapping in the electric powertrain. The restoration will extend to the interior of the vehicle and include safety upgrades, the company said. It will also come with a warranty.
The Ghost Garage was co-founded by Tim Smith, who is CEO of Osirius, a Detroit-based engineering company specializing in vehicle development, process integration, and tooling integration, and whose team of specialists will work on the Grand Wagoneer and future conversions for The Ghost Garage.
“A new generation of buyers are entering the classic vehicle market and looking for a blend of tradition and technology,” Smith said in a statement. “The Ghost Garage was conceived to break through the hobby-shop approach to restomods by offering the levels of quality and efficiency associated with luxury automotive brands.”
A number of electric conversion companies have sprung up in recent years as the popularity of EVs continues to grow, with names such as Everrati and Lunaz making headlines of late. Even the major automakers are getting in on the act, with the likes of Ford, Jaguar, Mini, and Volkswagen all offering options for some of their classics.
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- Hennessey Velociraptor 6×6 pickup returns with 558 hp
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:46Z
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The Nissan Titan and Nissan Frontier pickup trucks equipped with a 9-speed automatic transmission are being recalled because the trucks can slip out of “Park” and roll away, the NHTSA disclosed this week. This is an expansion of a previous recall.
An issue with the transmission can prevent the parking pawl from being engaged, so when a driver shifts the truck into Park it may not actually be in Park. If the driver doesn’t engage the emergency parking brake, the truck could roll away without warning.
The issue affects more than 203,000 newer Nissan trucks. The bulk of the recall encompasses more than 92,000 units of the redesigned Nissan Frontier mid-size pickup truck from the 2022-2023 model years. Yet its predecessor from the 2020-2021 model years is also included because Nissan put the new engine in its old truck. Nearly 59,000 Nissan Titan full-size pickup trucks have been recalled from the 2020-2023 model year.
Most of the affected trucks had been recalled in June, but that recall had been limited to models produced from late 2019 to June 14, 2022. After that fix, Nissan uncovered another issue of the trucks not engaging in Park, and expanded the recall under “an abundance of caution,” Nissan explained in paperwork filed with the NHTSA. During the expanded investigation, Nissan also scrutinized the 2023 Nissan Z sports coupe, but it has not been included in the current, expanded recall.
Other Nissan and Infiniti vehicles equipped with the widespread 9-speed automatic transmission could be affected, with Nissan admitting the ongoing investigation does not have a remedy at the moment. In the meantime, Nissan will advise owners to engage the emergency parking brake until a fix is finalized.
Owners can expect notification by mail as early as Nov. 1. For more info, call Nissan’s customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or visit the brand’s dedicated recall hub.
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- 2023 Nissan Kicks increases $300 to start at $21,585
- Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator recalled for fires under the glovebox
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| 2022-09-21T08:11:54Z
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The Lexus IS sport sedan enters the 2023 model year with only minor tweaks, though there’s a new Special Appearance Package available for the IS 350 F Sport and IS 500 F Sport Premium. It sees the latter adopt a striking shade of orange paint called Molten Pearl.
The IS 350 features a new F Sport Design grade, which adds the exterior styling details of the IS 350 F Sport model to the regular sedan. Anyone upgrading to the IS 350 F Sport receives a Handling Package, which adds an adaptive suspension, a drive mode selector with custom modes, and a Torsen limited-slip rear differential (rear-wheel-drive models only). A set of 19-inch BBS wheels in black can also be added to this package.
There’s also the Special Appearance Package for the IS 350 F Sport that adds a gray exterior paint called Incognito, in combination with a black hood and roof. Black is also used for the interior trim. The package also includes 19-inch Enkei wheels with a dark finish. Just 480 units of the Special Appearance Package will be available to IS 350 F Sport buyers.
Further up is the IS 500 F Sport. This grade gets the 19-inch Enkei wheels as standard, with black 19-inch BBS wheels available as an alternative.
The Special Appearance Package for the IS 500 F Sport is limited to the better-equipped IS 500 F Sport Premium and includes a black interior, plus floor mat accents and a key wrap color-matched to the Molten Pearl exterior. Only 150 units will be available.
There’s been no change to the powertrains of the IS lineup for 2023. The range starts off with a 241-hp 2.0-liter turbo-4 in the IS 300, a 311-hp 3.5-liter V-6 in the IS 350 F Sport, and a 472-hp 5.0-liter V-8 in the IS 500 F Sport. Drive is to the rear wheels only as standard, though all-wheel drive can be added to the IS 300 and IS 350 F Sport. An 8-speed automatic is the transmission for rear-wheel-drive models and a 6-speed is fitted to those with all-wheel drive.
The IS comes standard with an 8.0-inch touchscreen, though a more practical 10.3-inch touchscreen is available on vehicles equipped with navigation or the Mark Levinson Premium Audio Package.
The 2023 IS goes on sale in the fall. Full pricing is listed below:
2022 Lexus IS 300 – $40,585
2022 Lexus IS 300 AWD – $42,585
2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport Design – $43,660
2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport – $44,910
2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport Design AWD – $45,660
2022 Lexus IS 350 F Sport AWD – $46,910
2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport – $58,270
2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Premium – $62,770
All figures include a $1,150 destination charge.
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- 2023 Chrysler 300C brings back big V-8 power before production ends
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:01Z
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The Jeep Wrangler 4xe was the bestselling plug-in hybrid in the U.S. over the first half of 2022, and no other plug-in hybrid came close. At nearly double the sales of the production-limited Toyota RAV4 Prime, it only accounts for about 20% of new Wrangler sales. Yet its success has an outsized influence as the brand bridges its combustion-engine past to its electric future.
For 2023, Jeep expands its 4xe lineup with a Grand Cherokee 4xe special edition and a new Jeep Wrangler Willys 4xe that offers a more affordable entry point to the Wrangler 4xe lineup. Consider the 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain the north star of Jeep’s transition to having a fully electric lineup by 2030 in Europe, and in the U.S. for half of its sales to derive from electric vehicles. For now, Jeep subsists on plug-in hybrids (PHEV) without a full battery electric vehicle (BEV) in the lineup. For now.
The first electric Jeeps to arrive in the U.S. will be a BEV version of the Wagoneer full-size SUV and an electric alternative to the Jeep Wrangler called the Recon. The Wagoneer S will be smaller than its gas sibling, more of a mid-sized SUV like the Grand Cherokee, and will likely be the aspirational (read: expensive) model in the Jeep EV family, with specs teased at 600 hp, a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, and a range of 400 miles.
The Recon promises the off-road capability of the Wrangler, and features removable doors and a removable top. Both vehicles are planned to debut in 2023 as 2024 models. A third model called the Avenger will slot under the Renegade as Jeep’s smallest vehicle, but it’s unknown if it will come to North America after European sales start early next year.
For the 2023 model year, Jeep carries its sales momentum forward as parent company Stellantis’s bestselling U.S. brand, mostly on the backs of its large and larger Grand Cherokee and Wagoneer SUVs. Here’s what’s new for 2023.
2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L
– Redesigned in 2022, the Grand Cherokee mid-size SUV and the larger Grand Cherokee L three-row SUV carry over with minor updates.
– The off-road Trailhawk only comes as a 4xe plug-in hybrid, powered by a 2.0-liter turbo-4 with two electric motors for a total system output of 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. It can tow 6,000 lb or it provides 25 miles of electric-only range, but only a 23-mpg combined rating when the juice runs out.
– A new 30th Anniversary edition exclusive to the 4xe adds adds black body accents, black 20-inch wheels, and body color-matched lower moldings, rocker panels, and fender flares. Finer features include a dual-tip exhaust, a dual-pane sunroof, Capri leather trim, cooled front seats, a 9-speaker Alpine audio system, a wireless charging pad for mobile devices, a digital rearview mirror, a surround-view camera system, and a 10.1-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration. It’s a package costing $4,700, but Jeep hasn’t yet disclosed model pricing for the 2023 Grand Cherokee.
– Top trims come with a 10.1-inch touchscreen, and can be had with a 9-speaker Alpine audio system (Limited trim) or a 19-speaker McIntosh system (Overland and Summit grades).
2023 Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer
– Launched new for 2022, the full-size SUVs get even fuller sized with Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L models that are one foot longer and have a 7.0-inch longer wheelbase than the already large regular models. It’s no coincidence that they measure exactly one inch longer than the 2022 Chevy Suburban. The second and third rows remain the same, with enough head and leg room to fit adults, but the cargo room behind row three expands another 15.8 cubic feet to 44.2 cubic feet.
– The base engine remains a 5.7-liter V-8 that makes 392 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque, but most models including the Wagoneer L get a standard twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-6 that makes 420 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque. The Grand Wagoneer L punches out to 510 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque. An 8-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive come standard, with three different four-wheel-drive systems available and the same 10,000-lb towing capacity as the V-8.
– Wagoneer Series II models can be equipped with a Carbide Package that blacks out the 20-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, badges, and grille trim. The black theme carries over inside.
2023 Jeep Wrangler
– New for 2023 is a Freedom special edition that plays to the U.S. military with an American flag decal, an Oscar Mike “on the move” badge, and a $250 donation from Jeep for every Wrangler and Gladiator Freedom model purchased. It comes with steel rock rails and a steel front bumper to equip a winch.
– A new entry-level Willys trim costs at least $600 less than last year’s entry-level Sahara 4xe, and it comes well equipped. Standard running gear includes LED headlights, 17-inch wheels, mud-terrain tires, rock rails, a limited-slip differential, a 9-speaker Alpine audio system, and all-weather floor mats. Popular features like a power retractable roof and 8.4-inch infotainment screen are available.
– It comes standard with a full-time 4-wheel-drive system, heavy-duty Dana 44 axles, and a lift kit with 10.1 inches of ground clearance. Like other 4xe models, the Wrangler 4xe uses a 2.0-liter turbo-4 and pair of electric motors to generate up to 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. A 17.3-kwh battery feeds the two motors to deliver 21 miles of electric range.
2023 Jeep Gladiator
– The pickup truck version of the Wrangler still comes with a 3.6-liter V-6 that makes 285 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, and a 6-speed manual transmission or available 8-speed automatic. An available 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 returns, with 260 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque, and an 8-speed automatic. Towing maxes out at 7,700 lb.
– New for 2023 is a Freedom special edition, with similar equipment to that in the same package in the Wrangler.
– All but the base Sport models come with keyless entry, remote start, and a 7.0-inch instrument cluster.
2023 Jeep Cherokee
– Jeep launched a new X off-road trim last year on its five-seat crossover, but the 2023 model is expected to carry over.
2023 Jeep Compass
– Expect the compact crossover to carry over after last year’s update.
2023 Jeep Renegade
– Jeep’s smallest crossover SUV carries over unchanged.
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- Off-road grades: SUV trims muddle the line between off-road intenders and soft-road pretenders
- 2023 Nissan Pathfinder SUV price increases $1,735, Rock Creek crests $44,000
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:16Z
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A local toddler born with Down Syndrome is about to make it to a very big screen: a Jumbotron in Times Square.
Oliver Schwab is an 18-month-old twin. He and his brother, Parker, were born five weeks early in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Oliver was born with Trisomy 21, which is down syndrome and he had two heart defects, so he had two different holes in his heart,” said his mother, Kelsey Schwab.
Not too long after he was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Oliver had to have open heart surgery at just six weeks old.
“He’s very strong,” says Kelsey.
In April, Kelsey submitted a picture of Oliver to the National Down Syndrome Society as he marked one year since his heart repair.
A few months later, she learned it was chosen to be featured on the Jumbotron in Times Square on Saturday.
The video will be featured as part of the National Down Syndrome Society’s annual NYC Buddy Walk.
“We had, I think, this year close to over 2,500 submission that are sent through photos of their loved ones with Down Syndrome,” said National Down Syndrome Society President & CEO Kandi Pickard. “We have to narrow that down to 500, which is very challenging and very difficult to do.”
Oliver’s father, a teacher at C.E. Byrd High School, says they all had a really tough year, so the selection couldn’t have come at a better time.
“A reward I guess, for having gone through what we had to go through,” Nathan Schwab. “We’re not trying to say that we are special or anything, a lot of Down Syndrome parents have similar issues. We feel very lucky this opportunity came our way.”
But now Kelsey and Nathan can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“He’s just healthy and happy,” says Kelsey.
“The blessing that goes along with it is, it may not be what you want, but it’s definitely what you need,” Nathan said.
The Times Square video will run alphabetically by last name.
You can watch it live on the National Down Syndrome Society Facebook page Saturday morning.
Oliver will be on the big screen from 10:10 to 10:20 ET.
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:24Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — The wave of attempted book banning and restrictions continues to intensify, the American Library Association reported Friday. Numbers for 2022 already approach last year’s totals, which were the highest in decades.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “It’s both the number of challenges and the kinds of challenges. It used to be a parent had learned about a given book and had an issue with it. Now we see campaigns where organizations are compiling lists of books, without necessarily reading or even looking at them.”
The ALA has documented 681 challenges to books through the first eight months of this year, involving 1,651 different titles. In all of 2021, the ALA listed 729 challenges, directed at 1,579 books. Because the ALA relies on media accounts and reports from libraries, the actual number of challenges is likely far higher, the library association believes.
Friday’s announcement is timed to Banned Books Week, which begins Sunday and will be promoted around the country through table displays, posters, bookmarks and stickers and through readings, essay contests and other events highlighting contested works. According to a report issued in April, the most targeted books have included Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir about sexual identity, “Gender Queer,” and Jonathan Evison’s “Lawn Boy,” a coming-of-age novel narrated by a young gay man.
“We’re seeing that trend continue in 2022, the criticism of books with LGBTQ subject matter,” Caldwell-Jones says, adding that books about racism such as Angie Thomas’ novel “The Hate U Give” also are frequently challenged.
Banned Books Weeks is overseen by a coalition of writing and free speech organizations, including the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Authors Guild and PEN America.
Conservative attacks against schools and libraries have proliferated nationwide over the past two years, and librarians themselves have been harassed and even driven out of their jobs. A middle school librarian in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has filed a legal complaint against a Facebook page which labeled her a “criminal and a pedophile.” Voters in a western Michigan community, Jamestown Township, backed drastic cuts in the local library over objections to “Gender Queer” and other LGBTQ books.
Audrey Wilson-Youngblood, who in June quit her job as a library media specialist in the Keller Independent School District in Texas, laments what she calls the “erosion of the credibility and competency” in how her profession is viewed. At the Boundary County Library in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, library director Kimber Glidden resigned recently after months of harassment that included the shouting of Biblical passages referring to divine punishment. The campaign began with a single complaint about “Gender Queer,” which the library didn’t even stock, and escalated to the point where Glidden feared for her safety.
“We were being accused of being pedophiles and grooming children,” she says. “People were showing up armed at library board meetings.”
The executive director of the Virginia Library Association, Lisa R. Varga, says librarians in the state have received threatening emails and have been videotaped on the job, tactics she says that “are not like anything that those who went into this career were expecting to see.” Becky Calzada, library coordinator for the Leander Independent School District in Texas, says she has friends who have left the profession and colleagues who are afraid and “feel threatened.”
“I know some worry about promoting Banned Books Week because they might be accused of trying to advance an agenda,” she says. “There’s a lot of trepidation.”
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:31Z
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NEW YORK (AP) — Novelist Gayl Jones is a fiction nominee for the National Book Award, the rare established name on a list of 10 that features eight debut works of fiction.
Jones was cited Friday for “The Birdcatcher,” an exploration of race, art and marriage in which a Black American writer journeys to the island of Ibiza and stays with her married friends, one of whom is trying to kill the other. Jones, 72, is herself the author of one of the most acclaimed debut books in recent memory, the novel “Corregidora,” which came out in 1975. She has published sporadically in the decades following and last year broke a 20-year hiatus with the novel “Palmares,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, announced long lists of 10 earlier this week for young people’s literature, poetry, literature in translation and nonfiction. The competitive categories will be narrowed to lists of five on Oct. 4, with winners announced during a Nov. 16 ceremony that will include honorary prizes for cartoonist Art Spiegelman and for Tracie D. Hall, executive director of the American Library Association.
The lists are judged by panels of authors, critics and other members of the literary community. Among the books bypassed by fiction judges: Jennifer Egan’s “The Candy House,” Lydia Millet’s “Dinosaurs,” Andrew Sean Greer’s “Less Is Lost” and Yiyun Li’s “The Book of Goose.”
Besides Jones, Jamil Jan Kochai is the only nominee who had previously published fiction. He was cited Friday for the collection “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories.” The fiction list also includes two filmmakers: Fatimah Asghar, author of “If They Come for Us,” is the writer and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated “Brown Girls”; Ramona Emerson, who wrote and directed the documentary “The Mayors of Shiprock,” is a National Book Award nominee for “Shutter.”
Three of the debut books are story collections: Leigh Newman’s “Nobody Gets Out Alive,” Marytza K. Rubio’s “Maria, Maria & Other Stories” and Jonathan Escoffery’s “If I Survive You,” an interlinked series of stories.
The other nominees are Sarah Thankam Mathews’ ”All This Could Be Different,” Tess Gunty’s “The Rabbit Hutch” and Alejandro Varela’s “The Town of Babylon,” released by Astra Publishing House, which was founded just two years ago.
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:37Z
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MUNICH (AP) — Oktoberfest is back in Germany after two years of pandemic cancellations — the same bicep-challenging beer mugs, fat-dripping pork knuckles, pretzels the size of dinner plates, men in leather shorts and women in cleavage-baring traditional dresses.
But while brewers are more than glad to see the return of the Bavarian capital’s sudsy tourist centerpiece, both they and visitors are under pressure from inflation in a way that could scarcely be imagined the last time it was held in 2019.
For one thing, the 1-liter (2-pint) mug of beer will cost between 12.60 and 13.80 euros ($12.84 and $14.07) this year, which is an increase of about 15% compared with 2019, according to the official Oktoberfest homepage.
The event opens at noon Saturday when Munich’s mayor taps the first keg and announces “O’zapft is,” or “It’s tapped” in Bavarian dialect.
For Germany’s brewers, rising costs go much deeper than simply the price of a round at the festival’s long wooden benches. They are facing higher prices all along their chain of production, from raw ingredients like barley and hops to finishing touches such as beer caps and packing material.
It’s a mirror of the inflation running across the economy: Sky-high natural gas prices caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine are boosting what businesses and consumers have to pay for energy, while recovering demand from the pandemic is making parts and raw materials hard to come by.
Brewing equipment is often fueled by natural gas, and prices for barley malt — or grain that has been allowed to germinate by moistening it — have more than doubled, to over 600 euros a ton. Glass bottles have risen by 80%, as glassmakers pay more for energy. Bottle caps are up 60%, and even glue for labels is in short supply.
“Prices for everything have changed significantly this year,” said Sebastian Utz, head technician at Munich’s historic Hofbraeu Brewery, which traces its roots in the city to 1589. “To brew beer you need a lot of energy … and for refrigeration. And at the same time, we need raw materials — barley malt, hops — where procurement has increased in price.”
The costs of everything — cardboard, stainless steel for barrels, wood pallets, cleaning supplies to keep the brewing tanks spotless — have gone up.
“These are prices that the German brewing industry has never seen before,” said Ulrich Biene, spokesman for the historic family-owned Veltins Brewery in Grevenstein, which is not one of the brands sold at Oktoberfest.
Inflation hit an annual 7.9% in Germany in August, and a record 9.1% in the 19 countries that use the euro currency. Rising consumer prices in Europe have been fueled above all by Russia restricting supplies of natural gas, driving prices through the roof. That feeds through to electricity, because gas is used to generate power, and to the cost of a host of industrial processes that run on gas, such as making fertilizer, glass and steel. Farmers also are seeing higher costs for heating buildings and fertilizing crops.
All that gets built into the prices of things people buy, and those higher prices cut into their purchasing power.
Inflation is “running red hot in Germany” and could approach 10% by year’s end, said Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank. The rate should fall next year as consumer demand weakens — but that is small consolation today.
In any case, Oktoberfest is a much-needed boost for Munich’s hotels and food service industry.
“It’s beautiful,” Mayor Dieter Reiter said. “You can see the enthusiasm has returned.” He downplayed concerns about such a big event during the pandemic, saying the spread of COVID-19 is “no longer the decisive factor” and adding, “Let’s see how it goes.”
Some 487 beer breweries, restaurants, fish and meat grills, wine vendors and others will serve revelers at Oktoberfest, and opening hours will be even longer than in the past, with the first beer tents opening at 9 a.m. and closing at 10:30 p.m. The last orders will be taken at 9:30 p.m.
In the years before COVID-19, about 6 million people visited the celebrations annually, many of them dressed in traditional Bavarian garb — the women in Dirndl dresses, the men in Lederhosen, or knee-length leather trousers.
Oktoberfest, first held in 1810 in honor of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese, has been canceled dozens of times during its more than 200-year history due to wars and pandemics.
___
AP Business Writer David McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.
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| 2022-09-21T08:12:43Z
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal jury on Friday convicted a former star of the St. Louis-based reality TV show “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” of arranging the shooting death of his nephew.
The jury deliberated about 17 hours over three days before reaching its verdict in the murder-for-hire case against James “Tim” Norman, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Norman and his nephew, Andre Montgomery, both starred in the long-running OWN reality show about a popular soul-food business founded in the St. Louis area by Robbie Montgomery — Norman’s mother and Andre’s grandmother.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty but Norman could be sentenced to up to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Dec. 15.
Federal prosecutors said Norman, 43, hired two people to kill the 21-year-old Montgomery on March 14, 2016, then tried to cash a $450,000 life insurance policy taken out on his nephew months earlier.
Defense attorney Michael Leonard said after the verdict that he and Norman were “extremely surprised and disappointed in the outcome” of the case. He said they plan to appeal and that Norman continues to be optimistic that he will eventually prevail.
Leonard said the testimony during the trial of two co-conspirators was shown to be “extremely non-credible.” And he said Norman testified well during the trial, noting he was not cross-examined.
U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said she was “very, very pleased” with the verdict but that her office would make no further statements until after the sentencing.
During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Angie Danis said Norman was the architect of the plan to kill Montgomery.
“This plan doesn’t exist but for Tim Norman’s greed,” Danis said.
Leonard argued in his closing argument that the murder plot presented by prosecutors was a “made up theory.”
Prosecutors said Norman paid $10,000 to an exotic dancer, Terica Ellis, to lure his nephew to the site where he was shot and paid $5,000 to Travell Anthony Hill to shoot Montgomery.
Ellis and Hill both testified for the prosecution in the case. They have both pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme.
In testimony during the trial, Norman said he helped his nephew move to St. Louis about 18 months before he was killed and supported him financially because he was trying to watch out for Montgomery. He said he sought to be a “father figure” to his brother’s son.
Former Sweetie Pie’s employees and other character witnesses testified that Norman and his nephew had a close relationship.
Danis said all the testimony from the scheme’s co-conspirators was backed up in trial by texts, call records and location data.
She said Norman created “an image of being a mentor and a father figure to all these people, but it’s fiction.”
Leonard said during his closing argument that Ellis testified to get a shorter sentence and said Hill admitted he was a heavy drug user and that he was “hopped up on drugs that day.”
Norman testified Tuesday that he took out the life insurance policy on his nephew to give a longtime customer of the family restaurants, Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam, some business.
Yaghnam pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and wire fraud in the case.
Montgomery left St. Louis after at least $220,000 in cash, jewelry and other items were stolen in a June 2015 burglary at Robbie Montgomery’s home.
Norman told jurors he and his mother hired a private investigator to find and confront his nephew about the robbery but he had no intention of hurting him.
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| 2022-09-21T08:13:01Z
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President Biden will travel to Florida later this month to rally with Democrats, with leading Senate and gubernatorial races on the ballot there in November.
Biden will travel to Orlando on Sept. 27, the White House announced Friday. He will attend a Democratic National Committee rally while there, the latest instance of Biden addressing a gathering of Democrats ahead of the midterms.
It will mark Biden’s second trip to the state as president. He previously visited to tour the site of the Surfside Condo collapse.
Biden has held recent events in Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to boost Democrats, though not every member of the party on the ticket in November has opted to appear alongside him.
In Florida, where Biden lost in 2020 by nearly 400,000 votes in part due to an erosion of support among Hispanic voters, Democrats are hoping to win up and down the ticket.
Rep. Val Demings (D) is running against Sen. Marco Rubio (R), while former Rep. Charlie Crist (D), the onetime governor of the state, is running against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Polls show Republicans ahead in both races, but Democrats believe that momentum from the Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, as well as DeSantis’s growing and controversial national profile, could help them pull an upset.
DeSantis made headlines in recent days by flying a group of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, which the White House decried as a “cruel” political stunt.
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| 2022-09-21T08:13:15Z
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ORLANDO, Fla. (The Hill) – Ron DeSantis’s decision to fly dozens of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard marked the latest — and one of the most dramatic — efforts by the Florida governor to court conservatives at home and nationally as he positions himself for a 2024 presidential run.
The arrival of two planeloads of migrants — most of whom appear to be from Venezuela — in the elite Massachusetts resort town signaled a drastic escalation of a tactic used by several Republican state officials in recent months to protest the rise in illegal immigration under the Biden administration.
For DeSantis, a rising Republican star, the stunt appeared tailor-made to woo the GOP’s conservative base as he seeks a second term in the governor’s mansion and weighs a potential White House run. But the move could also carry political risks, especially in a state that has long been a destination for migrants fleeing oppressive governments in Latin America.
“I do think it’s a miscalculation. There are a lot of people coming here that are fleeing desperate conditions, whether it’s Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans,” said Thomas Kennedy, a Democratic National Committee member from Florida.
“These Republican politicians are constantly talking about people trying to escape communism in their home countries, but when they come here looking for a better life, they’re treated like this.”
While the stunt may play well among conservatives nationally, Kennedy said, it could give Democrats an opening to regain lost ground among Florida Latinos, who have drifted increasingly toward the GOP in recent years.
“We are definitely going to do the work to remind these communities that these people don’t stand with you,” Kennedy said. “When it comes to the issue of democracy in Cuba or Venezuela, have these Republicans delivered freedom? Nope.”
Still, illegal immigration remains a top issue for Republican voters nationally.
Not only was it one of the issues that helped propel former President Donald Trump to prominence in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, but a recent poll from Pew Research found that roughly 9 in 10 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe that increasing security along the U.S. southern border should be an important priority.
And while Florida is far from the U.S.-Mexico border, DeSantis has repeatedly shown a willingness to wade into politics beyond his home state. In just the past month alone, he’s traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania to stump for Republican candidates, intensifying speculation that he’s moving toward a 2024 White House bid.
DeSantis, of course, isn’t the only Republican governor to get behind the effort to ship migrants out of red states and into Democratic strongholds. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has led an effort to bus migrants out of Texas to places like New York City and Chicago for more than a month.
DeSantis has floated a similar idea for months; earlier this year, he got the Florida state legislature to set aside $12 million for the effort and has even suggested sending migrants who end up in Florida to Delaware, President Joe Biden’s home state. But the arrival of the roughly 50 migrants in Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday marked the first time he has taken credit for such an act.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for DeSantis said that blue states like Massachusetts should have to bear the brunt of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden Administration’s open border policies,” said Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’s communications director.
But even Republicans have said it is hard to view the move as separate from the Florida governor’s presidential ambitions. He has quickly emerged as an early favorite for the 2024 GOP nomination, with most public polls showing him as the clear runner-up for the nod should Trump forgo another White House bid.
“He’s running for president,” one Republican donor said. “He’s playing for a national audience of Republican primary voters. He wants to be able to get up on the debate stage with any other Republican candidate and say, ‘I stood up against illegal immigration.’”
Still, the move compounds a line of criticism that has only grown louder since last month when Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, a Cuban American and DeSantis’s running mate, suggested in a Spanish-language radio interview that Cuban migrants who were in the state illegally should be bused elsewhere.
Nuñez later sought to address the controversy after facing blowback from many in Florida’s vast Cuban community, arguing that there’s a difference between immigrants who enter the country illegally for economic reasons and those who are fleeing repressive governments.
Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeo, who’s challenging Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) for her Miami-area House seat this year, slammed DeSantis and Nuñez on Thursday and described DeSantis’s decision to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard as a misuse of taxpayer dollars to fund “a political stunt by a governor who wants to be president.”
“It’s something that the extreme Trumpian base loves,” Taddeo told The Hill in a brief interview on Thursday. “You can’t be talking about anti-communism and be talking about freedom in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and all these other countries if you’re going to do this: mistreat people when they come here fleeing oppressive regimes.”
Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor of Florida and DeSantis’s Democratic opponent this year, said that DeSantis’s actions were akin to those of a “dictator,” going as far as to compare the Florida governor to Fidel Castro, the late Cuban dictator whose reign forced a mass exodus of Cubans to Florida over his decades in power.
“He’s a political animal. That’s crystal clear,” Crist told reporters on Thursday. “And unfortunately he’s using human beings to try to make political points like he’s already a dictator.”
DeSantis defended the move on Thursday, saying that his administration was simply stepping up to the plate on illegal immigration because of a lack of action from the White House.
“We take what’s happening at the southern border very seriously, unlike some and unlike the president of the United States who has refused to lift a finger to secure that border and you’ve had millions and millions of people pouring in illegally,” he said.
Nevertheless, Taddeo cast the move as nothing more than an attempt to placate DeSantis’s conservative political base and said that it should be a “wake-up call” for Florida voters — and Latinos, in particular — about his true intentions.
“Will this be an issue in this election?” Taddeo asked. “Absolutely.”
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| 2022-09-21T08:13:29Z
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Michelle Obama’s voter registration and engagement initiative is making a push to get Black voters to the polls for this November’s midterm elections.
The former first lady and Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul teamed up for a video released Friday — timed to coincide with National Black Voter Day, which was launched in 2020 by BET and the National Urban League — encouraging Black voters to get registered and head to the ballot boxes.
“It’s great news that more Black Americans were eligible to vote in the last presidential election than ever before,” Obama said in the video produced by When We All Vote, the organization she formed in 2018.
“But, at the same time, eligibility doesn’t mean those ballots will actually be cast — especially when in some places, it’s getting harder and harder to vote,” Obama said.
“We’re seeing polling places closed down, early voting hours cut, folks being purged from the voting rolls,” Paul said.
“Who would have thought that in 2022, our right to vote would still be under threat?” the NBA star exclaimed.
More than 15 states either passed or enacted restrictive voting rights laws following President Biden’s 2020 White House win. Data analysis from TargetSmart found that from November 2020 until July 2021, more than 8.6 million voters were purged from official registration lists nationwide.
“Luckily, we still have the chance to show up and show that the power still lies in our hands,” Paul, a When We All Vote co-chairman, added.
When We All Vote also announced Friday it would partner with the Black dating app BLK to launch an “in-app election center.”
The election center, When We All Vote said, is a “digital hub designed to shift the culture of voting and politics in the Black community, amplify voices of Black voters and drive Black voter registration.”
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| 2022-09-21T08:13:44Z
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Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated what state Robert Kennedy was from. He was from New York.
The November midterm elections are fast approaching, and with them the unofficial start of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Prospective candidates may begin announcing their plans to run for the White House at any time now, or mere days or weeks after Election Day.
Questions have lingered about if President Biden plans to run for reelection given his age and that his approval rating — though improving recently — has remained below 50 percent for the past year. Biden, who is the oldest president the United States has had, would be 82 on Inauguration Day in 2025 if he runs for a second term.
Biden has maintained that, like most first-term commanders in chief, he plans to run for reelection, but historical precedent exists for those who have declined to do so.
Three presidents have completed one full term and declined to run for a second. Three others completed the remainder of their predecessor’s term and then were elected to one in their own right before deciding against running in a second election.
Here are the presidents who have chosen not to stand for a second term in office, from most recent to the earliest case:
Lyndon B. Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson was the most recent president to choose not to run for reelection in 1968. Johnson’s presidency, which he had sought to focus on Civil Rights and expanding the social safety net under the “Great Society,” had become consumed by the Vietnam War, fiercely dividing the country.
Johnson ascended to the presidency in 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits presidents to serve no more than two full terms or a total of 10 years, so Johnson was eligible for reelection in 1968 to a second four-year term because he served less than two years in finishing Kennedy’s term.
Johnson was widely expected to run and easily win the Democratic nomination in 1968 despite declining approval ratings below 50 percent. Johnson did receive a primary challenge from Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.), who ran in opposition to the war.
LBJ narrowly won the New Hampshire primary in March of that year, but McCarthy nearly upset the president with winning more than 40 percent of the vote. Johnson’s competition increased a few days later when Sen. Robert Kennedy (D-N.Y.) announced his candidacy.
Johnson gave a televised address to the country on March 31, 1968, in which he announced he would not seek or accept his party’s nomination for another term, pledging to spend the rest of his administration on efforts to reach an end to the war.
Harry Truman
President Harry Truman was the last president who was not term-limited under the 22nd Amendment, with the amendment having been ratified during his administration. Truman completed most of President Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth term after he died in office in 1945 and won a close, upset victory in the 1948 election for his own term.
Truman is considered among the best presidents in recent presidential ranking polls. But as the Korean War lingered in a virtual stalemate and inflation rose, he had poor approval ratings, receiving the lowest recorded approval rating in a Gallup poll in February 1952 at 22 percent.
The president’s name was entered into the New Hampshire primary but finished in second place to Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-Tenn.). Primaries did not play the role in selecting the eventual nominee that they do today, but the loss was not a positive sign.
Truman announced three weeks later that he would not seek reelection.
Calvin Coolidge
President Calvin Coolidge was only the second person to ascend to the presidency upon the death of his predecessor and then be elected to a full term, after Theodore Roosevelt. He was serving as vice president and became president when Warren Harding died in 1923 and won the 1924 election in a landslide victory over his Democratic opponent.
Coolidge’s presidency was defined by the Roaring Twenties, during which business boomed as the country came out of World War I. He was wildly popular among the American people at the time, leading to a great deal of surprise when he announced he did not plan to seek reelection in 1928.
Coolidge handed out handwritten strips of paper to reporters that said “I do not choose to run” during his summer vacation in 1927, according to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
Coolidge never fully explained his reasoning behind deciding against running again, but he wrote in his autobiography that he was ready to be “relieved of the pretensions and delusions of public life,” according to the Miller Center.
Rutherford B. Hayes
President Rutherford Hayes was elected president in the contentious election 1876, becoming the second president to win the presidency through the Electoral College while losing the popular vote.
Hayes had promised during the 1876 campaign to only serve one term while running for office, stating his intention in his letter accepting the Republican nomination, according to the Miller Center.
He was a leader of a faction of the Republican Party that supported reforming the civil service, to have it based on merit instead of political patronage.
Hayes said in his letter that he believed reform could most likely be accomplished by a president who is “under no temptation to use the patronage of his office, to promote his own re-election,” according to his presidential library and museum’s website.
James Buchanan
President James Buchanan’s term began as the country was hurdling toward the Civil War. He was elected president in 1856 with a comfortable plurality of the popular vote but failed to receive a majority.
He hoped the issue of slavery on the national level would fade away, saying in his inaugural address that the issue of allowing slavery in new territories was a “matter of but little practical importance,” according to the National Constitution Center.
The Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, which declared a few days after Buchanan’s inauguration that enslaved Black people were not citizens and therefore did not have the rights of citizens, further divided the country.
Buchanan did little to hold the country together or solve the slavery issue nationally, supporting the popular sovereignty of states to decide whether to allow slavery. It was clear that Buchanan would not be a candidate for reelection by 1860, according to the Constitution Center.
Upon meeting with his successor, Abraham Lincoln, Buchanan allegedly said to him, “My dear sir, if you are as happy in entering the White House as I shall feel on returning to Wheatland, you are a happy man indeed,” according to the Library of Congress. Wheatland was the name of his home.
James K. Polk
President James Polk is considered to arguably be one of the most successful one-term presidents at accomplishing their goals. He won a close election in 1844, running on four key platform points and accomplished all four while in office.
Polk oversaw the reduction of tariffs, the reestablishment of an independent U.S. Treasury, the acquisition of California and other southwestern territories from Mexico and a deal to secure control of the Oregon Territory.
He promised to only run for one term during the 1844 campaign and kept his promise four years later. He wrote in his diary that he felt “exceedingly relieved” to be free from public duty, according to the Miller Center.
Updated 8:33 a.m.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Mariana Llanos dreams in two languages. She speaks a combination of Spanish and English and writes brilliantly in both.
Born and raised in Lima, Peru as the youngest daughter of journalists, Mariana was raised on books and news.
“What I remember the most is growing up a little bit afraid of things because, you know, the world was scary,” Llanos said. “The only thing I could control at that moment, I realized, was my words and my writing. I have written since I was very young.”
Mariana moved to Oklahoma 21 years ago.
She started a family here and built a life in Oklahoma City.
“I consider myself an Oklahoma, a Peruvian, a Limena. So I think you can be more than one thing, and I try to embrace them all.”
When her own children were young, Mariana took up writing again.
This time, in English.
“There are so many kids who grew up in a bilingual household, and they need books that are written also in the language of their parents. I think being bilingual is very cool.”
Mariana’s books are all published in both English and Spanish.
In fact, most of her stories contain a mix of both languages.
Her latest work Run, Little Chaski is a story about an Inka messenger boy.
The tale incorporates many words and phrases in Quechua, which is the ancient tongue of the Inkas.
“I used words in Quechua because I wanted it to feel authentic with the setting of the story.”
A Peruvian-born author, this immigrant has been honored in Oklahoma for her story about a big-hearted boy in the Andes mountains.
Her award-winning career is a celebration of culture on two continents.
“Spanish is such an important language in the United States,” Llanos said. “It just makes me proud to be able to write in both languages.”
Mariana Llanos and her protagonist, Little Chaski, share this mission; the delightful delivery of an important message: on every journey, be true to your heart.
In 2017, Mariana Llamos was selected as the best Latino artist by the Hispanic Arts Council of Oklahoma.
Earlier this year, her book Run, Little Chaski was honored as the 2022 Oklahoma Children’s Book of the Year.
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BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — In the Rio Grande Valley, having cafecito and pan (coffee and sweet bread) every morning is a staple in Hispanic culture.
South Texas is home to countless panaderias or bakeries, and De Ayala Bakery in Brownsville has had a close relationship with the community for over 20 years.
“There’s pretty much fresh bread all throughout the day, so anytime you come in, you will find fresh bread,” said owner Ricardo Ayala.
De Ayala Bakery has always been known for doing things the hard way when it comes to baking fresh pan dulce. The bakery opened back in 1999. Ayala said baking, which runs in his family, is a special skill to have.
“My dad had started his business back in 1988-89, so I started in 1999. So it’s been in the family business for quite a while,” Ayala said.
Every morning, Ayala, along with his employees, comes in early, working up to 12 hours to make everything by hand.
“It takes quite a while to mix the dough, prepare the dough and then bake it,” Ayala said. “Then you still have to sugar it or if you have to ice it, so there are hours before you have the end product.”
Once the end product is made, De Ayala Bakery takes pride in doing it the old-fashioned way.
“It’s a custom from Mexico. I mean, you have sweet bread in the morning with coffee and la merienda for the evening,” Ayala said. “It’s just Mexican culture that is very popular here since we are so close to the border.”
But besides taking pride in baking, it is the relationship with customers that has kept the business alive.
“They get to tell you a lot of their stories. You hear them out and you try to support everything they do. They support us as well,” Ayala said.
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DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — Scroll Origin Mexico’s Instagram, and you will see vibrant hand-painted hats, handwoven shoes and embroidered dresses. You will also see the hope in the eyes of the women making them.
It is part of Origin Mexico’s brand, which promises to invite customers into the lives of these women. Owner and founder Yazmin Castaneda said she works directly with Mexican women, offering them a path to financial independence by selling their goods to the U.S. market.
“A lot of the women I work with, they don’t benefit from the educational or financial resources that we do,” Castaneda explained.
Castaneda is first generation Mexican American and said her grandparents from Durango, Mexico rose out of humble beginnings. She said her grandparents, who were business owners, influenced her entrepreneurial spirit.
During the pandemic she rediscovered her passion for her culture, and she saw a need.
“The tourism had declined during the pandemic, and they were not selling, and this was their livelihood,” Castaneda said.
So, she leaned into her gut, left her corporate job and started her business out of her Dripping Springs home.
“I’ve developed a lot of friendships with them, and I see that they not only have thrived, but they are succeeding, and they are now fully independent,” Castaneda said about her artisan partners.
Castaneda maintains relationships with her artisan partners by traveling to Mexico and chatting with them by phone in between visits. One woman she spoke to is also a working mother who learned her skills from her own mother. She told us she is grateful to U.S. buyers.
Castaneda works with a Mexican nonprofit to help the artisan women become financially independent. It’s called Fundacion en Via, which helps women through microfinance and responsible tourism.
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QUEENS (PIX11) — Roberto Clemente was a Major League Baseball icon who made a massive impact on and off the field.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the death of Clemente. On Thursday, hundreds of people spent the day giving back in his name for the 21st Roberto Clemente Day.
The day celebrates both his on-field excellence (15-time All-Star, four-time batting champion) and selflessness in the community. He died in a plane crash on his way to bringing emergency supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua.
Clemente said that if you have a chance to help others and fail to do so, you’re wasting your time on this earth. Volunteers came to CitiField in Queens to carry on that message. Together, they packed 10,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger.
Fourteen former MLB players were among the volunteers. Each of them were recipients of the Roberto Clemente Award. Winning the award remains one of the proudest moments of former outfielder’s Curtis Granderson’s career.
On the field, the Mets and Pirates will honor Clemente by wearing his number 21 during Thursday night’s game. And before the game, Clemente’s grandson, Roberto Clemente III, will throw out the first pitch using a ball that was painted by one of Clemente’s nieces.
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shriners Children’s Hospital in Shreveport will be celebrating its 100 years of providing life-changing care to children on Friday.
“Obviously, this anniversary is very important to us,” says Shriners Children’s Shreveport Director of Marketing and Communications Christian H. Berg. “So, our facility right here in Shreveport is celebrating 100 years.”
Shriners Children’s Shreveport opened on Sept. 16, 1922, becoming the first facility in the Shriners Children’s System.
“We provide care specifically for kids with orthopedic conditions, cleft palate, sports medicine, and fractures,” said Berg.
Friday’s event will include tours, historical displays, and an anniversary program featuring remarks from various patients, representatives, and guests.
“We’re going to have an open house, a type of event here that begins with historical displays from featuring artifacts from the early years from our hospital, as well as guided tours and things like that.”
Berg says Friday’s celebration would not have been possible without members of the Shreveport community.
“We want to thank the Shreveport community for everything that they’ve done for us for over 100 years now,” said Berg adding, “We look forward to being a part of this community for at least another one hundred years to come.”
The anniversary gathering will be at their location on Samford Ave. from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For those who want to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Shriners children’s Shreveport, you can also match up to $100,000 in donations for an endowment that will help the hospital in the future.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court Friday to lift a judge’s order that temporarily barred it from reviewing a batch of classified documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump‘s Florida home last month.
The department told the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta that the judge’s hold, imposed last week, had impeded the “government’s efforts to protect the nation’s security” and interfered with its investigation into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago. It asked the court to remove that order so work could resume, and to overturn a judge’s directive forcing the department to provide the seized classified documents to an independent arbiter for his review.
“The government and the public would suffer irreparable harm absent a stay,” department lawyers wrote in their brief to the appeals court.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s appointment of a so-called special master to review the documents, and the resulting legal tussle it has caused, appear certain to slow by weeks the department’s investigation into the holding of classified documents at the Florida property after Trump left office. It remains unclear whether Trump, who has been laying the groundwork for a potential presidential run, or anyone else might be charged.
The FBI says it took about 11,000 documents, including roughly 100 with classification markings found in a storage room and an office, while serving a court-authorized search warrant at the home on Aug. 8. Weeks after the search, Trump lawyers asked a judge to appoint a special master to perfrom an independent review of the records.
Cannon last week directed the department to halt its use of the records until further court order, or until the completion of a report of an independent arbiter who is to do his own inspection of the documents and weed out any covered by claims of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
On Thursday night, she assigned Raymond Dearie, the former chief judge of the federal court based in Brooklyn, to serve as the arbiter — also known as a special master. She also declined to lift an order that prevented the department from using for its investigation about 100 seized documents marked as classified, citing ongoing disputes about the nature of the documents that she said merited a neutral review.
“The Court does not find it appropriate to accept the Government’s conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party in an expedited and orderly fashion,” she wrote.
The Justice Department on Friday night told the appeals court that Cannon’s injunction “unduly interferes with the criminal investigation,” prohibiting investigators from “accessing the seized records to evaluate whether charges are appropriate.”
Cannon has said investigators were free to do other investigative work that did not involve a review of the documents, but the department said Friday that was largely impractical. Noting the discovery of dozens of empty folders at Mar-a-Lago marked classified, it said the judge’s hold appeared to bar it from “further reviewing the records to discern any patterns in the types of records that were retained, which could lead to identification of other records still missing.”
The department also asked the appeals court to reject Cannon’s order that it provide the newly appointed special master with the classified documents, suggesting there was no reason for the arbiter to review highly sensitive records that did not raise questions of legal privilege.
“Plaintiff has no claim for the return of those records, which belong to the government and were seized in a court-authorized search,” department lawyers wrote. “The records are not subject to any possible claim of personal attorney-client privilege. And neither Plaintiff nor the court has cited any authority suggesting that a former President could successfully invoke executive privilege to prevent the Executive Branch from reviewing its own records.”
Cannon has directed Dearie to complete his work by Nov. 30 and to prioritize the review of classified documents. She directed the Justice Department to permit the Trump legal team to inspect classified records with “controlled access conditions” — something government lawyers said Friday was needless and harmful.
On Friday, Dearie, a former federal prosecutor, scheduled a preliminary conference with Trump lawyers and Justice Department lawyers for Tuesday afternoon.
_____
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Maryland company announced Friday it will build a natural gas power plant designed to capture climate-changing carbon in northern West Virginia. Officials said it was made possible by a recently signed law embraced by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin that gives tax breaks for alternative energy projects.
Competitive Power Ventures of Silver Spring, Maryland, will construct the 1,800-megawatt plant in Doddridge County, a top producer of natural gas in the state. More than 1,000 union jobs will be used in the construction of the combined-cycle plant, and the natural gas used by the facility will support hundreds of additional jobs, the company said.
“CPV is pleased to work closely with West Virginia to bring this project to fruition in the coming years,” company CEO Gary Lambert said in a statement.
The company said the extensive regulatory approval process has already started for the $3 billion project and officials expect it to go into operation later this decade.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation last month that will invest $375 billion to fight climate change over the next 10 years. In addition to addressing health care costs and prescription drug prices, it will direct spending, tax credits and loans to bolster technology like solar panels, consumer efforts to improve home energy efficiency, emission-reducing equipment for coal- and gas-powered power plants, and air pollution controls for farms, ports and low-income communities.
The signed measure is a slimmed-down version of a more ambitious plan that Biden and Democrats unveiled early last year but was deemed too costly by Manchin.
“I’m pleased Competitive Power Ventures is investing in the Mountain State and look forward to seeing the benefits of this investment — including long-term, good-paying jobs and supporting our regional economies — for years to come,” Manchin said in the statement.
Some states are transitioning away from carbon dioxide-emitting fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stave off the worst effects of a warming planet.
In late 2020, a study by researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found over 80% of 39 projects that have sought to commercialize carbon capture and storage ended in failure. The study cited lack of technological readiness as a top factor. Critics say carbon capture would require more energy to power the equipment, resulting in more air pollution because the technology can only catch a portion of the carbon emitted by a facility.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill earlier this year that established rules for companies using carbon sequestration.
“This is an outstanding day for West Virginia,” Justice said in the statement. “Competitive Power Ventures and the innovation they bring to the energy industry is amazing.”
CPV develops low-carbon electrical generation and conducts asset management services in the North American market. CPV is a subsidiary of Israel-based OPC Energy and was acquired in 2020.
CPV said it has combined gas and steam turbine projects in operation in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and a wind farm in western Oklahoma. Another combined-cycle facility is being built in northern Illinois, and solar power facilities are under development in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
Earlier this week, Justice announced that a firm owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett has partnered with the state to buy and develop more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares) in Ravenswood for a $500 million industrial park powered by renewable energy sources.
In February, the Republican governor signed a bill eliminating the state’s 26-year-old ban on nuclear power plants.
West Virginia is the nation’s second-largest coal producer, behind Wyoming, and accounted for 5% of the nation’s total energy production in 2019, ranking fifth among the states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But West Virginia has lost thousands of coal jobs in the past decade as companies and utilities explore using other energy sources such as natural gas, solar and wind.
In 2020, coal-fired electric power plants accounted for 88% of West Virginia’s electricity generation. Renewable energy resources, primarily hydroelectric power and wind energy, contributed almost 6% and natural gas provided more than 3%.
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Wall Street closed out the stock market’s worst week in three months with more losses Friday, as a stark warning from FedEx about rapidly worsening trends in the economy rattled already anxious investors.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, with all but two of its 11 company sectors ending in the red. The benchmark index sank 4.8% for the week, with much of the loss coming from a 4.3% rout on Tuesday following a surprisingly hot report on inflation. The last time it posted a bigger weekly decline was the week ended June 17.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies took the heaviest losses, falling 1.5%.
All the major indexes have now posted losses four out of the past five weeks.
FedEx sank 21.4% for its biggest single-day sell-off on record after warning investors that profits for its fiscal first-quarter will likely fall short of forecasts because of a dropoff in business. The package delivery service is also shuttering storefronts and corporate offices and expects business conditions to further weaken.
Industrial giant General Electric also helped put traders in a selling mood after its chief financial officer said the company is still bogged down by supply chain problems that were raising costs. GE shares fell 3.7%.
The worrisome corporate updates hit a market already on edge because of stubbornly high inflation as well as the higher interest rates being used to fight it, which will slow the economy. Wall Street is bracing for another hefty interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week following a meeting of central bank policymakers.
“Based on this week’s market results there’s no question that investors are going into the weekend, No. 1 very concerned about the U.S. economy looking into the balance of this year and No. 2, with all eyes focused on next week’s Fed action,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO at AXS Investments.
The S&P 500 fell 28.02 points to 3,873.33. It’s now down 18.7% so far this year.
The Dow dropped 139.40 points to 30,822.42 and the Nasdaq slid 103.95 points to 11,448.40. The Russell 2000 gave up 27.04 points to 1,798.19.
Technology stocks, banks and energy firms had some of the biggest losses. Adobe fell 3.1%, Bank of America dropped 1.1% and Chevron slid 2.6%.
Makers of household goods, which are typically considered less risky investments, held up better than the rest of the market. Campbell Soup rose 1.3%.
The Federal Reserve is aggressively raising interest rates in an effort to cool the hottest inflation in four decades, but that has raised worries that it could hit the brakes too hard and slide the economy into a recession. The central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year and economists expect another jumbo increase of three-quarters of a point when the Fed’s leaders meet next week.
Higher interest rates tend to weigh on stocks, especially the pricier technology sector. Technology stocks within the S&P 500 are down more than 26% for the year and communications companies have shed more than 34%. They are the worst performing sectors within the benchmark index so far this year.
The housing sector is also hurting as interest rates rise. Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates climbed above 6% this week for the first time since the housing crash of 2008. The higher rates could make an already tight housing market even more expensive for homebuyers.
Reports this week from the government showed that prices for just about everything but gas are still rising, the job market is still red-hot and consumers continue to spend, all of which give ammunition to Fed officials who say the economy can tolerate more rate hikes.
“The market is really looking at data in terms of what the Fed is going to do next year and how far they’ll have to go,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “I think they’ll be in a good spot after September, where they’ll have plenty of flexibility to get where they want to be by the end of the year.”
Treasury yields eased a bit Friday after a report showed expectations for inflation among U.S. households are falling to their lowest levels since last year. That’s a positive for markets because the Fed fears a rise in such expectations would make inflation much tougher to fight. But the survey also showed uncertainty remains very high among households about where inflation is heading.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.85% from 3.92% shortly before the report’s release. The 10-year yield fell to 3.45% from 3.49%.
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