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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Hard work definitely paid off for father-daughter duo Paul and Sarah Miracle. The pair is in Los Angeles to watch the Cincinnati Bengals play Super Bowl 56 — all thanks to generous donors.
“I don’t know, I might just lose my mind. I might just lose complete control. When they come out on the field it’s gonna be something,” said Paul.
Paul Miracle was diagnosed with ALS in 2019. He is a die-hard Bengals super fan. His daughter Sarah successfully launched GoFundMe pages for her dad this football season, which ultimately got her dad to multiple playoff games. Now Sarah has done it again, raising enough money to send she and her dad to the Super Bowl.
“Very thankful. I appreciate all of the support. People are like excited. Even now that it’s done, they’re like pumped. They’re like are you packed? They wanna know all the details. They’re just pumped. They wanna take the journey with us,” said Sarah.
The original goal to get Sarah and Paul to the Super Bowl was $30,000. However, their GoFundMe page blew up and is now sitting at nearly $38,000. Sarah says Delta Airlines is also flying the pair to and from LA in first class free of charge.
“It’s quite quite amazing to me how people have reacted for our journey with ALS. How many people have been touched by it and made aware of the disease,” said Paul.
Something else that’s amazing to Paul is his daughter’s dedication which has gotten them this far.
“I never would’ve ever been able to afford to go to this without my daughters ambition or help. There really is no words. No words…that I can explain how important that is,” said Paul.
|
https://www.ktsm.com/sports/the-big-game/bengals-fan-with-als-makes-it-to-super-bowl/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:28
|
en
| 0.97658
|
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/ap-news/2022/02/13/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl-5/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:33
|
en
| 0.958391
|
The Cincinnati Bengals are the home team Sunday in the Super Bowl — technically. The home-field advantage belongs all to the Los Angeles Rams.
The NFC champions (15-5) will dress and work out of their usual locker room after spending the night before the big game in their usual hotel. The Rams’ logo is plastered all around and inside SoFi Stadium even with the banners making it clear this is the Super Bowl.
Yes, the Bengals (13-7) are represented inside the stadium with their name and “Who Dey!” mantra opposite the Rams.
This is the second straight Super Bowl where the home team has gotten to play on its own field after Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won a championship a year ago in Raymond James Stadium. Before that, the NFL went 54 years without a team playing a Super Bowl in its home stadium.
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https://www.ktsm.com/sports/the-big-game/bengals-home-team-in-rams-own-la-house/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:34
|
en
| 0.955026
|
BEIJING (AP) — At a hotel in Beijing’s Olympic Park, two signs compete for attention, draped across a fence against a deep blue backdrop. “Together for a shared future,”says one, trumpeting the 2022 Winter Games’ official slogan. Directly to its left, in big white letters, another warns: “Closed loop area. Don’t cross the line.”
“You can’t go that way,” says a black-clad guard outside the China National Convention Center Hotel. “Everything’s separate.”
Visitors may find this ironic — hypocritical, even. It’s not. For Beijing, the capital of a nation where the characters for “city” and “wall” can overlap, it has become part of the DNA.
It’s the latest incarnation of something that has typified the Chinese capital for centuries, since the days emperors occupied the Forbidden City: At its core, Beijing is a compartmentalized metropolis of tiny gated, fenced and subdivided ecosystems that developed both organically and by design — but that made this town strangely appropriate as the site of a locked-down, tightly regulated, bubbled-in COVID Olympics.
Beijing, which can still feel like a smaller town in places, has lived out a modular existence for a long, long time. “The whole interior of the city is laid out in squares like a chessboard with such masterly precision that no description can do justice to it,” wrote a 13th-century visitor from Italy, a man named Marco Polo.
And today, between the outsized architecture of commerce, ideology and Olympics, sits a city still in some ways a chessboard full of odd-sized squares.
Exhibit A, spotted from the in-the-bubble bus: Many of the hotels housing visitors during the Games are compact, fortified compounds, inside fences festooned with Olympic signage and guarded by both staff and a formidable police presence to keep occupants inside the closed-loop “bubble.”
Like many urban Chinese hotels, they are intended to function as islands once the gates are shut. In such an ecosystem, you can almost forget that the rest of the city exists — the ideal sensibility for encouraging and enforcing Winter Games COVID protocols.
Everywhere you look in Beijing, you can spy evidence of such compartmentalization. It’s an eclectic, economically and politically driven patchwork that tells the story of decades of overplanning and no planning, of chaos and control — of tight, fenced-in spaces that push in around the city’s renowned open avenues and squares.
Begin with the ancient hutong — narrow, winding lanes full of courtyard residences called siheyuan whose roots date to the 1200s when informal encampments went up just east of the emperor’s Forbidden City during the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty. They grew into an intricate, sometimes hierarchical system around the city.
Though hutongs still dot Beijing today, some of them well preserved, many were demolished in the 21st century’s first decade during a construction boom that preceded — and was partially caused by — the first Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The overall sensibility, though — self-contained Lego pieces that snapped into a larger whole, some meticulously controlled and others a bit renegade — runs very deep in the city.
For centuries, Beijing was governed by security concerns, fears of prying eyes and traditional Confucian notions about hierarchy. The city was surrounded by fortified gates and walls to separate itself from the countryside; inside town, things were divided into the outer and inner cities.
Inside the inner city sat the Imperial City, essentially its own community that served the dynastic court. And at the very center was the Forbidden City, sequestered even more, where the most elite interacted with the palace and the emperor himself. A closed-loop bubble, if you will, with access determined by influence rather than credentials and negative PCR tests.
“Every wall, gate, temple, palace, street and courtyard had its specially designated place,” historian Mingzheng Shi writes in “Rebuilding the Chinese Capital: Beijing in the Early 20th Century,” a 1998 essay.
Old Beijing long ago gave way to new Beijing. And after more than a century of two governments struggling to impose order onto creeping planning incoherence, it’s a very different city. Nevertheless, some key characteristics of today’s Chinese capital — built and accrued over seven decades of Communist Party rule and, more recently, assertive capitalism — echo the old.
The layout of modern Beijing — arranged since the 1980s around a series of “ring roads” that segment it and control ingress and egress — functions as an unspoken callback to the old city’s walls, to which the innermost ring corresponds. This approach continues; Seventh Ring Road, on Beijing’s far outskirts and connecting it with other cities, opened less than four years ago.
Even as Beijing became a modern metropolis, compartmentalization and control stayed front and center, always competing with chaos. Main roads are crowded with various apparatus to prevent people from crossing where they’re not supposed to; thanks to fences that look innocuous but are highly effective, jaywalking is not only illegal but operationally implausible.
In Beijing, even vast spaces that give the appearance of utter openness — parts of Olympic Park, for instance, and the iconic and politically sensitive Tiananmen Square — are equipped with features that carefully control entrance and exit. Beijingers remain accustomed to sudden rerouting based on strange fences, walls or even buildings that appear unexpectedly. Sometimes it’s the government behind this stuff, sometimes not.
And some of the organizational sensibility of the “work unit,” ubiquitous in Chinese society from the 1950s through the 1980s, remains, too — the notion of the workplace as a walled-off mini-community with its own ecosystem, sometimes complete with residences, medical clinics and distinctive rules.
Cap it off with the official Chinese position about Hong Kong, the “special administrative region” it got back from colonizer Britain in 1997 and is obligated on paper to treat differently than the rest of the country until 2047.
In China, that governing principle is called “one country, two systems” — a segmented approach to governing that echoes across the Beijing Olympics, where this month’s juxtaposition of citizens outside the bubble with those within feels decidedly like one city, two systems.
Beijing’s city walls belong to yesterday; only fragments of them remain. But for the capital of a country that built a Great Wall to keep invading outsiders on the other side, the Olympics offer a chance to dust off the chessboard-squares approach that has been part of the city since its earliest days.
Osvald Sirén, a Swedish art historian and author of “The Walls and Gates of Peking,” said this about the capital in 1924: “The life of the whole city becomes concentrated at the gates; everything that goes out of or in to it must pass these narrow openings.”
That’s an apt characterization of the Beijing of centuries past. It also describes, perfectly, a swath of the city right now — pandemic Olympic Beijing, circa February 2022, a place of narrow openings, pledging to bring people together for a shared future but making sure, at every closed-loop juncture, that the wrong people don’t cross the line.
___
Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, is the AP’s former director of Asia-Pacific news and covering his seventh Olympics. He lived in Beijing as a child in 1979-80 and as a journalist from 2001-2004. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anthonyted
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/beijing-diary-a-segmented-city-ideal-for-pandemic-olympics/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:34
|
en
| 0.957546
|
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
|
https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-110-p-m-est-6/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:40
|
en
| 0.82511
|
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Aliyah Boston is making double-doubles look as automatic as South Carolina’s wins.
Boston scored 18 points with 12 rebounds and No. 1 South Carolina coasted after a strong start to beat No. 17 Georgia 72-54 on Sunday for their 11th consecutive win.
Boston posted her 17th consecutive double-double and 18th overall in 24 games. Destanni Henderson added 15 points for the Gamecocks (23-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference), who led by 30 points in the first half.
South Carolina kept its lead in double figures despite being outscored in the third and fourth periods.
“It’s just a hole that’s too big to dig yourself out of when you’re playing a team as talented as they are,” said Georgia coach Joni Taylor.
South Carolina is unbeaten since losing at Missouri in overtime to open its conference schedule on Dec. 30.
Georgia (17-7, 6-6) suffered its third consecutive loss despite Jenna Staiti’s 15 points and 10 rebounds.
South Carolina, which had to hold on late to win at Kentucky 59-50 on Thursday night, was dominant in another road game against Georgia.
Staiti went to the bench with two fouls midway through the opening period. Soon after Staiti’s exit, teammate Maiury Bates was called for her second foul.
Boston and the Gamecocks immediately seized the advantage, finishing the first period with an 18-2 run, including the final 10 points, for a 29-10 lead.
When Staiti returned early in the second period, South Carolina led 32-11.
“Before the game we said we’ve got to get points in the paint,” Boston said. “Jenna is a very good post player so it just worked out for us.”
Boston blocked two shots and had two steals.
The Gamecocks attacked with an impressive inside-outside balance. South Carolina was good on each of its four 3-pointers in the first period while also building an advantage near the basket.
“I think it starts on the defensive side of the basketball,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “… If we can hit our shots, coupled with what we do on the defensive side of the ball, we can get out to a pretty big lead.”
South Carolina stretched its lead to 30 points in the second period and led 51-25 at halftime.
Georgia scored the final six points of the third period and the first six points of the final period to pull to within 15 points at 61-46.
Que Morrison, who had 11 points, provided a highlight for Georgia in the third period when she went behind her back for a fancy layup despite being fouled by Henderson. Morrison sank the free throw for the three-point play.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks look postseason ready. They improved to 10-0 against Top 25 teams with their 15th consecutive win over Georgia since 2013. Following the hot start on long-range jumpers, South Carolina missed its last eight 3s.
Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t come close to their first win over a top-ranked team since beating Tennessee in the semifinals of the 2004 SEC tournament. They’re left with a three-game losing streak that includes two home losses. The sudden downturn has dropped Georgia to .500 in the SEC and in danger of taking a fall in the Top 25.
SHORT-HANDED BUT SURE-HANDED
South Carolina won easily despite playing without its top two reserves. Forwards Laeticia Amihere and Kamilla Cardoso are competing with their national teams, Canada and Brazil, respectively, in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournament.
TURNOVER WOES
South Carolina scored 32 points off Georgia’s 19 turnovers.
“You give a team like that momentum like that, they’re going to take advantage of it,” Staiti said.
Taylor said the Lady Bulldogs must address the problem in their final four regular-season games.
“Taking care of the basketball has got to be No. 1,” said Taylor when asked her goals before the postseason.
UP NEXT
South Carolina hosts Auburn on Thursday. Amihere and Cardoso are expected to be back with the team.
Georgia hosts Missouri on Thursday when it will look for its first win since Feb. 3 against Vanderbilt.
___
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Poll: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll
|
https://www.wowktv.com/sports/boston-leads-no-1-south-carolina-past-no-17-georgia-72-54/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:41
|
en
| 0.96656
|
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
|
https://www.ktsm.com/sports/the-big-game/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:40
|
en
| 0.961012
|
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
|
https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-1148-a-m-est-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:46
|
en
| 0.82511
|
The knock on Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.
The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.
Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston on Saturday. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier in the week and have won five straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.
“We came in locked and focused all week,” Hardaway said. “I was trying to keep the guys focused on Tulane, but I could tell they were antsy to get to this game because Houston has been the standard in our league.”
Hardaway has secured some of the nation’s best recruiting classes during his four seasons in Memphis, but has yet to turn all that talent into consistent results. Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament in each of Hardaway’s first three seasons despite winning at least 20 games in each.
The Tigers entered this season with plenty of hype, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 and with a roster that included the nation’s top recruiting class.
Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.
Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (14-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars’ 37-game home winning streak.
There’s still work to do, but the Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
RISING FAST
Rutgers (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten). An overtime loss to Northwestern hurt the Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament chances, but three straight wins over ranked opponents was massive.
North Carolina (18-7, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels were blown out by rival Duke but have won six of seven, including a blowout of Florida State. Avoid any big slipups and they could find themselves in the bracket in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach.
Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference). The Vols have bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to No. 5 Kentucky with seven straight SEC wins. Tennessee gets another shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday.
SMU (18-5, 9-2 American Athletic Conference). The Mustangs have rallied from a couple of shaky early-season losses to win seven of their past eight games. Knocking off No. 6 Houston was huge.
FADING HOPES
Oregon (16-7, 9-3 Pac-12). The Ducks typically get better as the season progresses under coach Dana Altman. That appeared to be the case when Oregon reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, but a lackluster 78-64 loss to California on Saturday may have put it back on the edge of the bubble.
Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten). A win over then-No. 2 Purdue was a huge boost. The Wolverines followed that up with a loss to No. 16 Ohio State. A team that was once No. 4 in the country, Michigan may need a strong finish to the season to get into the field of 68.
Iowa State (16-,9 3-9 Big 12). Once 12-0, the Cyclones are now last in the Big 12 and on a four-game losing streak after an overtime loss to Kansas State. They need to get it turned around in a hurry to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.
Utah State (15-11, 6-7 Mountain West). The Aggies have some shaky losses on their resume and are middle of the pack in the Mountain West. There are still chances to boost their resume with road games against San Diego State and Boise State, along with a home game against Colorado State.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/bubble-watch-memphis-rounding-into-form-at-right-time/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:47
|
en
| 0.97261
|
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
|
https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-1248-p-m-est-6/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:52
|
en
| 0.82511
|
BEIJING (AP) — American skier Tommy Ford thought the cascading wall of large white flakes during the first snowy Alpine race of the Beijing Olympics left the slope for Sunday’s giant slalom with a handful of “grippier” spots and “a little chatter here and there.”
His U.S. teammate, River Radamus, described the course known as “The Ice River” as “a little bit bouncy.” To Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, the precipitation rendered the hill “quite aggressive.”
A day earlier and a half-mile away on “The Rock” course at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center, Italy’s Elena Curtoni offered an assessment after the first women’s downhill training session that was entirely in her native language, with the exception of this English word: “Grip.”
Asked if there is a counterpart for that term in Italian, she shook her head. “Actually,” Curtoni explained, “we use ‘grip.'”
As in many sports, and plenty of other fields, Alpine skiing has a lingua franca — words and phrases that allow folks from various places to communicate in a shared language. In this instance, much of it has to do with snow and the way it can be affected by aspects of the weather.
“There’s a lot of terminology about the feel that skiing gives you when you’re on a course. If a course ‘pulls,’ it’s bringing you to the gate sooner than you would expect. If the snow is ‘reactive,’ it means it’s easier to make a turn. There’s subtleties you pick up along the way,” said Ryan Cochran-Siegle, whose silver in the men’s super-G on Tuesday is the only Alpine medal for the U.S. so far in China. “That’s when you learn them: When you’re with your friends and learning skiing. Sometimes you make up your own lingo. But there’s a common understanding.”
WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?
Let’s allow some American ski racers to explain what some of these things mean:
Grippy: “Dry, hard snow. We call it ‘grippy’ because it really grabs at your edges. So, it’s really easy to turn on. Sometimes it’s easy to overturn on. But it also can be unforgiving with mistakes. You can easily catch edges. Grippy snow is your classic Colorado snow. It doesn’t have to be manmade, but often it’s manmade.” (Breezy Johnson)
On the edge: “Pretty much all of your weight is on a single edge on your (ski). … (Or) if you make a mistake, it’s going to be game over.” (Bryce Bennett)
Chatter: “When your ski is vibrating a little. … Like rumble strips on the interstate.” (Cochran-Siegle)
Getting bounced: “When your ski hits a bump and then it kicks you off-line. It’s not like a clean turn. You’ll hit a bump and then you’ll be off-line and you’re in a different place than where you want to be.” (Bennett)
Sugary: “It’s soft snow but it’s not new. Just straight-up soft. Sometimes at the bottom of the ski slope, if it’s kind of warm, but dry, then at the bottom, where people walk around in their boots, it’s sugary snow. … There’s no purchase on sugary snow. You try to turn on it and you just trench in and it’s not very fun. … We hate sugary.” (Johnson)
Rattling: “When there’s small, micro bumps within the turns and it’s not smooth. It’s bumpy underfoot.” (Bennett)
WHY DO THESE WORDS MATTER?
They allow skiers to get a grasp of elements that can change the way they approach a race.
Often, these terms are used in course reports coaches or competitors relay to those who have yet to come down the hill.
“They do represent real things. They’re not just slang and, like, ‘Oh, I was shredding!’ They really are critical to understanding the circumstance you’re trying to convey to the other people,” said Bode Miller, whose six Olympic Alpine medals are an American record. “It’s … specific and accurate terminology, because there’s a big difference between ‘chalky’ and ‘grippy.’”
Johnson, the runner-up at three World Cup downhills this season and considered a strong Beijing medal contender until surgery kept her home, split the lingo into two basic categories: snow conditions and surface conditions.
“You have icy, grippy, soft, bally, sugary and slushy. Those are the six main snow conditions,” she said. “And then you have surface conditions. Chattery, bumpy, smooth, I guess, are probably basically your three there.”
DOES IT ALWAYS MAKE SENSE?
Not necessarily. Markus Waldner, the men’s World Cup race director, is annoyed whenever he hears skiers talk about snow being “aggressive” — meaning, as with “grippy,” that there can be a strong connection between the skis themselves and the surface underneath.
Except Waldner points out that such variations have more to do with the equipment a racer uses than with the snow itself.
“Snow is never aggressive. The crystals of the snow can be different; there are 1,000 different (types of) crystals. But the snow is never aggressive,” Waldner said. “I tried to explain it to them: ‘My friends, the snow is not aggressive. The snow can be hard, soft, wet. Big crystals. More crystals. And so on. But not aggressive.’”
A racer’s technician can alter skis to allow for better contact.
One example: If the snow is “grippier,” Miller explained, “your technician might dull your skis back a little bit — take a gummy stone to the tip and tail of your skis to make them less aggressive — because the snow is going to be more responsive than it was on previous days on the same turn.”
WHO UNDERSTANDS THIS JARGON?
In a word: Everyone. No matter the country — and there are 83 represented in Alpine competition at the 2022 Olympics.
“Oh, yeah. Their English is a lot better than my German or French or Italian. Some of the Norwegians probably have better English than we do,” Cochran-Siegle said with a smile. “We’re fortunate. We come across as a little not-as-well-educated with a lack of understanding of other languages.”
___
AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf and Pat Graham contributed to this report.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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| 2022-02-13T20:43:53
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/ap-top-entertainment-news-at-136-p-m-est-6/
| 2022-02-13T20:43:58
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| 0.82511
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BEIJING (AP) — Halfway through the world’s second pandemic Olympics, lots has happened. We have a doping scandal out of Russia, an American skier who faltered unexpectedly, and a lot of people in full protective medical gear managing — perhaps against the odds — to keep COVID contained through the Games’ first week.
What are the most noteworthy things to think about so far? Here, AP’s interim global sports editor, Howie Rumberg, breaks it down.
WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU THE MOST?
Despite all the restrictions and COVID protocols and a general lack of that Olympic spirit that engulfs a host city during the Games, the athletes are still enthralling. Nathan Chen’s short program, Eileen Gu’s third run at big air, Ayumu Hirano soaring out of the halfpipe and Shaun White’s elegant exit from snowboarding come immediately to mind. On the other end of the spectrum, the Russian doping case is heartbreaking. Kamila Valieva is just 15 years old.
HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE RUSSIAN DOPING SITUATION?
Very. Not only has it ensnared the heavy favorite for gold in the marquee event of the Games, women’s figure skating, it involves, once again, Russia, which isn’t even technically here because of sanctions imposed after being caught running a massive state-sponsored doping program at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. It’s to be seen if the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency try to extend Russia’s mostly toothless ban from international competition for two years. Russian athletes compete under the name Russian Olympic Committee, but they still wear the Russian red and most fans couldn’t tell the difference.
Also, what makes this potentially more significant is that the United States could pursue prosecution of Valieva’s team — for example, Russian coaches, doctors or trainers — under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, passed by Congress in 2020. Under the law named for Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Russian anti-doping lab in Moscow during the Sochi Games who became a whistleblower, U.S. prosecutors can go after doping schemes at international events in which Americans are involved as athletes, sponsors or broadcasters.
HAVE COVID RESTRICTIONS MADE THESE GAMES VERY DIFFERENT? ARE THEY EVEN DIFFERENT FROM TOKYO LAST SUMMER?
The severity of the COVID restrictions and the “closed-loop” system all Olympics stakeholders are living under make these Winter Games very different, even from last summer’s Tokyo Games, the first pandemic Olympics. Other than the athletic achievements — not to be diminished — this doesn’t feel much like an Olympics. In Tokyo, there at least seemed to be a lot of local interest, and we were only limited in our movements for the first 14 days in Japan. Also, being fenced in to this extent is completely demoralizing. It feels oddly like an in-between: We are in Beijing, but at the same time we are not.
WHAT’S LEFT FOR US TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS COMING WEEK?
There is plenty of action left at the Olympics. In addition to the women’s figure skating, Eileen Gu has two more events in freestyle skiing, the snowboard big air competition with the industrial setting as a backdrop and a potential gold-medal U.S.-Canada rematch in women’s hockey. There’s also curling gold to decide. Bobsledding and speedskating, too. ___
Howie Rumberg, the AP’s interim global sports editor, has covered four Olympics. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hrum
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| 2022-02-13T20:44:00
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| 0.944395
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By BEATRICE DUPUY
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Family has always held an important place in Brandon Maxwell’s fashion shows, but never more than in his latest — a deeply emotional tribute to his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, and the prominence of family in his life and career.
Saturday night’s show in a dimly lit theater near Union Square also featured a return to the runway of supermodel Karlie Kloss, who both opened and closed the proceedings.
Unlike past shows past brimming with bold colors, psychedelic patterns, blaring music and even a pink runway, Maxwell’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection featured neutral tones and warm, comforting ensembles like chunky fisherman sweaters paired with satiny long skirts and lush shawls.
The vibe was intentionally quiet and intimate, with the focus on his 84-year-old grandmother, affectionately called Mammaw. Maxwell said he’d found his way to fashion through his grandmother’s closet of treasures.
“We go on this road of going, going, moving forward,” Maxwell said in a post-show interview. “In the end, we are lucky if we have one person that really just sits by the bedside with us.”
The designer opened his show with a video montage asking “Who is Brandon Maxwell?” and the sound of Siri reading his Wikipedia page. Videos and photos of his family, friends and especially Mammaw filled the screen before it cut to black and her own words, “We had a good time, didn’t we?” echoed into the darkness.
Maxwell noted that he had told his models before the show about the significance of his collection. “I said to them before the show that this is the one chance I get to honor her life,” he said.
To Brandi Carlile’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — a nod to his hometown of Longview, Texas — models walked in tailored jackets paired with flowing dresses and those knitted fisherman sweaters over ballgown skirts. Maxwell also brought back his signature ready-to-wear red carpet looks and showcased figure-hugging floor-length dresses.
Kloss made a return to the runway to open and close Maxwell’s show. The two have become close over the years after appearing on “Project Runway” together as judges.
A big hit of the night was the feathered shawls that draped the models’ shoulders as they wound their way around the catwalk.
The last sounds of the show, fittingly, came from Maxwell’s grandmother. He was heard asking her what she wanted him to remember most about their relationship. “Just remember how much I loved you,” came the reply.
“I’ve done a lot of shows where I was thinking about the process of what everybody else would think,” Maxwell said after the show, “and this was probably the first one where I did not consider it.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/brandon-maxwell-pays-emotional-tribute-to-his-grandmother-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:05
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| 0.977827
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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ryan Fox secured the biggest title of his career by winning the Ras Al Khaimah Classic by five shots on Sunday.
It was the 211th-ranked New Zealander’s first victory in a 72-hole format on the European tour. His only other title was in a Super 6 tournament in 2019 that featured a six-hole knockout format following 54 holes of strokeplay.
Fox went into the final round in Abu Dhabi with a six-shot lead — on 19 under — and a load of nerves.
He bogeyed two of his first six holes to allow the field to close in, but played the final 11 holes in 4 under and wound up shooting 3-under 69 for 22 under overall.
“Sleeping on a six-shot lead, I didn’t sleep very well last night,” Fox said. “Obviously a couple of the guys came at me early. I was a bit nervous. I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach all day.”
“But I’m very happy with how I played. A couple of great shots coming down the stretch and it was certainly nice walking down the last with putter in hand with so many putts to win.”
Ross Fisher finished in second place after a closing 66 at Al Hamra Golf Club, the latest stop on the tour’s “Desert Swing.”
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/fox-wins-ras-al-khaimah-classic-for-biggest-career-title/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:07
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| 0.975803
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By BEATRICE DUPUY
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Family has always held an important place in Brandon Maxwell’s fashion shows, but never more than in his latest — a deeply emotional tribute to his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, and the prominence of family in his life and career.
Saturday night’s show in a dimly lit theater near Union Square also featured a return to the runway of supermodel Karlie Kloss, who both opened and closed the proceedings.
Unlike past shows brimming with bold colors, psychedelic patterns, blaring music and even a pink runway, Maxwell’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection featured neutral tones and warm, comforting ensembles like chunky fisherman sweaters paired with satiny long skirts and lush shawls.
The vibe was intentionally quiet and intimate, with the focus on his 84-year-old grandmother, affectionately called Mammaw. Maxwell said he’d found his way to fashion through his grandmother’s closet of treasures.
“We go on this road of going, going, moving forward,” Maxwell said in a post-show interview. “In the end, we are lucky if we have one person that really just sits by the bedside with us.”
The designer opened his show with a video montage asking “Who is Brandon Maxwell?” and the sound of Siri reading his Wikipedia page. Videos and photos of his family, friends and especially Mammaw filled the screen before it cut to black and her own words, “We had a good time, didn’t we?” echoed into the darkness.
Maxwell noted that he had told his models before the show about the significance of his collection. “I said to them before the show that this is the one chance I get to honor her life,” he said.
To Brandi Carlile’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — a nod to his hometown of Longview, Texas — models walked in tailored jackets paired with flowing dresses and those knitted fisherman sweaters over ballgown skirts. Maxwell also brought back his signature ready-to-wear red carpet looks and showcased figure-hugging floor-length dresses.
Kloss made a return to the runway to open and close Maxwell’s show. The two have become close over the years after appearing on “Project Runway” together as judges.
A big hit of the night was the feathered shawls that draped the models’ shoulders as they wound their way around the catwalk.
The last sounds of the show, fittingly, came from Maxwell’s grandmother. He was heard asking her what she wanted him to remember most about their relationship. “Just remember how much I loved you,” came the reply.
“I’ve done a lot of shows where I was thinking about the process of what everybody else would think,” Maxwell said after the show, “and this was probably the first one where I did not consider it.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/brandon-maxwell-pays-emotional-tribute-to-his-grandmother-4/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:11
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| 0.977878
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BEIJING (AP) — Erin Jackson bolted off the line, her powerful legs attacking the ice, her destiny awaiting at the end of a frenetic dash around Beijing’s magnificent speedskating oval.
She didn’t view herself as some sort of trailblazer. She didn’t think about the slip that could’ve snatched away her spot on the U.S. Olympic team. She simply wanted to go faster than everyone else.
“I came here to win,” the 29-year-old said.
Mission accomplished.
Jackson became first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Olympics — and it was the best color of them all.
Gold.
“A lot of shock, a lot of relief and a lot of happiness,” Jackson said after her victory in the 500 meters.
It was an immensely personal moment for an inline skating champion from balmy Ocala, Florida, who traded her wheels for blades in order to chase an improbable Olympic dream.
But it meant so much more than that.
Jackson’s skin color makes her an anomaly at the speedskating oval. She joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win long-track medals at the Olympics.
“I just hope that it will do something for the sport,” Jackson said of her groundbreaking victory. “Hopefully, more people will see this and be like, ‘Ohhh, maybe I should try some of these winter sports.’”
Back in Florida, Jackson’s longtime inline coach, Renee Hildebrand, cheered her on at an early-morning watch party thrown by one of her roller sport sponsors, Bont.
Hildebrand, too, hopes that Jackson’s victory will bring some much-needed diversity to skating — no matter if it’s wheels or blades.
“She’s such a fantastic role model,” Hildebrand said in a telephone interview. “Maybe little girls and little boys who are not all about roller skating or ice skating will see her and say, ‘Hey, people my color are there. She looks like me.’”
The coach noted the impressive accomplishments of Davis, who won two golds and two silvers at the Olympics, and now Jackson.
“There’s not a lot of African Americans in speedskating, but the ones who are have been are really, really good,” Hildebrand said. “If others will come, they’ll be good.”
Jackson won with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games, its first individual medal since 2010, and its first victory in the women’s 500 since Bonnie Blair in 1994.
Jackson’s gold came after she slipped at the U.S. trials and shockingly finished third, putting her spot on the Olympic team in jeopardy.
But teammate Brittany Bowe, another Ocala skater who finished first at the trials, gave up her spot in the 500 to ensure Jackson would get to compete in Beijing.
“She made a really big sacrifice for me,” Jackson said. “I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
As it turned out, the Americans received a third slot in the 500 when the final allocations were made, so Bowe got to skate as well. She finished 16th.
The two close friends embraced after Jackson clinched the gold.
“She hugged me and we cried,” the winner said. “She said she’s really proud of me and I said a lot of thank-yous.”
Jackson skated in the next-to-last of 15 pairs with the time of 37.12 — set about a half-hour earlier in the fourth pairing by Japan’s Miho Takagi — in her sights.
She didn’t think at all about that slip at the U.S. trials.
“It’s not something to really focus on,” Jackson said. “That was a fluke.”
Jackson darted off the line and and essentially won the gold in the first 100 meters, before she negotiated the first turn. Her opening split was 10.33 seconds, compared to 10.41 for Takagi.
That was the margin at the end, too.
“When it comes to the 500, it’s a matter of hundredths and sometimes thousandths of a second,” said Ryan Shimabukuro, Jackson’s coach when she’s on ice. “I knew she had the speed and it was going to come down to the opener. When I saw she opened in 10.3, which is pretty much the fastest she’s ever done, I knew we had a chance for the gold.”
Jackson kept up her speed through the first turn, down the crossing straight and on through the final turn, even though every stride brought more and more pain. Both arms were swinging furiously as she came down the final straightaway of speedskating’s shortest race.
As soon as her skates crossed the line, Jackson’s head turned toward the scoreboard.
She broke into a big smile when she saw the “1” beside her name, her time a scant 0.08 faster than Takagi’s. Shimabukuro pumped his arms and slapped hands with Jackson as she glided by.
There was still one pair left to skate, but Jackson knew she could do no worse than bronze.
A few minutes later, the gold was hers.
“You’re an Olympic champion,” Shimabukuro told her.
Jackson sat on the padding along the infield, shedding a few tears with her head bowed.
She was no doubt reflecting, as well, on her remarkable journey.
Making the switch from inline to ice just months before the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Jackson was such a fast study that she earned a spot on the U.S. team. She finished 24th in the 500, but it was clear that she had barely tapped into her potential.
During the current World Cup season, Jackson suddenly emerged as one of the world’s best sprinters. She won four of eight 500 races — the first Black woman to earn one of those titles, as well — and came to the Olympics as one of the favorites.
“When I won the first World Cup, I was like, ‘OK that’s strange. Let’s see where it goes,’” Jackson recalled. “Then I won another and I was like, ‘Well, maybe I can do this.’”
She lived up to the billing in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to win an individual speedskating medal since 2002.
“Words cannot explain how proud I am of her,” Bowe said. “I knew she had the chance to do something really special, and she just showed the world why she deserved to be here.”
Jackson grabbed an American flag and did a victory lap around the Ice Ribbon oval, the stars and stripes fluttering above her head.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she said, “but that makes it even sweeter.”
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 and find his work at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
___
More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/golden-moment-jackson-1st-black-woman-speedskating-medalist/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:14
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| 0.980313
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By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees.
“Death on the Nile,” Branagh’s follow-up to the 2017 hit “Murder on the Orient Express,” led all films with $12.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Produced under 20th Century Fox before its acquisition by the Walt Disney Co., “Death on the Nile” had been delayed by the pandemic and by scandal that engulfed one of its stars, Armie Hammer.
Last March, Hammer was put under investigation by Los Angeles police in a sexual assault. Hammer has denied the allegation.
After considering other avenues, reportedly including reshooting parts of the film without Hammer, Disney opted to release “Death on the Nile” as it was — albeit with less fanfare on a weekend the film industry often yields to football. The $90 million film, which also stars Gal Gadot, Emma McKay and Branagh, reprising his role as detective Hercule Poirot, had once seemed a reliable money-maker. “Murder on the Orient Express” launched with $28.7 million in 2017 and ended up grossing $352.8 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. “Death on the Nile” added $20.7 million in international receipts.
Hollywood’s biggest pitch to moviegoers over the weekend wasn’t in theaters but in television ads. After two years of the pandemic, a heavy-hitting lineup of blockbusters were set to roll out trailers during the Super Bowl broadcast and try to lure still-reluctant moviegoers back to theaters. Last year, when many theaters were still shuttered and few films were being released, Hollywood largely sat out the game. Jordan Peele’s “Nope” kicked off the day with its first trailer early Sunday.
“Marry Me” opened with $8 million while simultaneously streaming on Peacock. The Universal Pictures release, which was timed to Valentine’s Day on Monday, stars Lopez as a pop star who, after finding out her fiancé has been cheating, marries a stranger (Owen Wilson) at one of her concerts. In recent years, streaming platforms have increasingly been the rom-com’s primary home. Netflix, in particular, has pumped out a constant stream of new entries in the genre. On Friday, Amazon Prime Video debuted its own: “I Want You Back,” with Charlie Day and Jenny Slate.
The lukewarm performance of “Marry Me” allowed last week’s top film, “Jackass Forever,” to narrowly edge it for second place. Johnny Knoxville’s sequel dropped a steep 65% from last weekend, coming in with an estimated $8.1 million for Paramount Pictures. Its grossed $37.4 million in total.
Another once dependable ticket-seller at the box office — a Liam Neeson thriller — also struggled. Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Blacklight,” a poorly reviewed action film starring the 69-year-old Neeson as a shadowy government agent, opened with $3.6 million.
Few films were set to capitalize in theaters on Tuesday’s Academy Awards nominations. As nominations came later than usual this year, most Oscar contenders — a field that Netflix led with 24 nominations — have been available for weeks, if not months, in the home. But a few films sought a post-nominations lift at the box office, even if the once expected “Oscar bump” is all but dead.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” up for three awards including best picture, had its widest week of release in its 12th week of release, playing in 1,977 theaters. It managed $922,500 in ticket sales, bringing its cumulative total to $14 million.
Branagh’s other film in release, “Belfast,” followed up its seven nominations by playing in 928 theaters and adding $285,000 to its $7.9 million gross. Other best-picture contenders — “Nightmare Alley” ($85,000) and “West Side Story” ($235,000) — made only minor blips.
The biggest bumps out there may have been for a few of the international contenders. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” which is nominated for four Oscars including best picture, saw a 92% spike in grossing $192,000 from 127 theaters. Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” nominated for best original screenplay and best international film, earned $255,395 on 49 screens in its second weekend.
The film expected to lead the box office next weekend — Sony’s video-game adaptation “Uncharted,” staring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg — began its release overseas, where it took in $21.5 million in 15 territories.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Death on the Nile,” $12.8 million.
2. “Jackass Forever,” $8.1 million.
3. “Marry Me,” $8 million.
4. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $7.2 million.
5. “Blacklight,” $3.6 million.
6. “Sing 2,” $3 million.
7. “Moonfall,” $2.9 million.
8. “Scream,” $2.8 million.
9. “Licorice Pizza,” $922,500.
10. “The King’s Man,” $433,000.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/entertainment/2022/02/13/death-on-the-nile-tops-a-quiet-box-office-weekend/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:17
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| 0.952225
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Miley Cyrus has only been alive for about half the Super Bowls ever played, but her setlist on the eve of the 56th spanned the whole history of the big game and then some.
Cyrus and mashed up songs from the 60s, 80s and 90s with her own at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old was the co-headliner with Green Day on the third and final night of the festival at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the LA Rams play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The annual festival, which also featured Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and Mickey Guyton, prides itself on bringing together artists from across genres, but Cyrus did that all by herself, blending country and pop rock, dance pop and alternative rock.
She sang Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” from 1966 — the year before the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — as an intro to her own 2007 “See You Again.”
“I hope this show is a representation of how you never need to choose who you want to be. You can be everything and anything,” Cyrus said as she donned a cowboy hat and pulled an oversized sportscoat over the futuristic Gucci tracksuit she took the stage wearing. “You may look ridiculous, like you’re wearing workout attire from 3033 and a cowboy hat. It’s just how I feel tonight.”
She opened the show with her 2013 hit “We Can’t Stop,” and blended it with the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” from 1988, the year Washington beat Denver in the Super Bowl in San Diego.
She pulled the same trick in her first encore, blending her “Wrecking Ball” with the Prince-penned Sinead O’Connor hit “Nothing Compares 2 U” from 1990, the year Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers beat John Elway’s Denver Broncos.
She thrilled the crowd with Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” from 1989 — the last year the Bengals were in the big game — turning her backup singers into a small gospel choir.
She also mixed in music from Stevie Nicks and her godmother Dolly Parton, and closed the night with the fitting-for-Super-Bowl-weekend “Party in the USA.” Cyrus owns her own past along with that of her musical forbears.
The members of Green Day focused on their hits of the 1990s and early 2000s. They opened with a rousing rip through 2004’s “American Idiot.”
“Los Angeles!” lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, who turns 50 on Thursday, shouted during the song. “Super Bowl!” he later yelled, in the only real mention the game got during the night.
They brought their own bit of 1966 with a cover of “I Fought The Law,” whose most famous version was released that year by the Bobby Fuller Four.
The 20,000-seat Crypto.com Arena was nearly full for all three nights. Fans had to show proof of vaccination to get in. Most ditched their masks once they were inside the main hall.
The night was the end of a week of pre-Super Bowl entertainment events as the LA area hosts the game for the first time in nearly 30 years, featuring its shiny new stadium and the hometown team favorites.
Drake was playing a set across town in West Hollywood on the second night of a party known as “Homecoming Weekend.” Justin Bieber sang and danced on the first night. And John Mayer and Shaquille O’Neal each had their own events earlier in the week.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/miley-cyrus-green-day-span-decades-in-pre-super-bowl-show/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:20
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| 0.964483
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Milwaukee police officer Herbert Davis is cheering on the Cincinnati Bengals at the Super Bowl in Los Angeles!
You can read more about Officer Davis and his surprise trip to the Super Bowl, courtesy of WTMJ and parent company Good Karma Brands, by clicking here.
Great meeting @MilwaukeePolice Officer Herbert Davis and his father yesterday in LA! @620wtmj @ESPNMilwaukee and Good Karma Brands sent him to the #SuperBowl incredible story! Enjoy the game! pic.twitter.com/8p9tGZOZZr
— Keyshawn Johnson (@keyshawn) February 13, 2022
He sent these pictures of his journey to WTMJ and Good Karma Brands.
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| 2022-02-13T20:44:23
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| 0.939289
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BEIJING (AP) — Erin Jackson has never viewed herself as some sort of trailblazer. She just likes to skate really, really fast, whether it’s on wheels or blades.
Yet the 29-year-old from balmy Ocala, Florida knew this moment was special, her chance to really make an impact on the generations that follow.
She’ll forever be known as the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics — and a gold one, at that.
“Hopefully, this has an effect,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, we’ll see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying these winter sports.”
Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games and first individual medal since 2010.
But this was much more than a needed boost to a sport that has produced more medals than any other for the U.S. in the history of the Winter Games.
The 29-year-old Jackson, a former inline skater who switched to the ice shortly before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win long-track speedskating medals at the Olympics.
Now, she wants others to follow their path into a sport that draws scant attention in the United States.
“I just hope it will do something for the sport,” she said. “I always try to be a good example.”
The silver went to Miho Takagi of Japan, while Angelina Golikova of the Russian team took the bronze.
Jackson’s gold came after she slipped at the U.S. trials and shockingly finished third, putting her spot on the Olympic team in jeopardy.
But teammate Brittany Bowe, another Ocala skater who finished first at the trials, gave up her spot in the 500 to ensure Jackson would get to compete in Beijing.
“She made a really big sacrifice for me,” Jackson said. “I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
As it turned out, the Americans received a third slot in the 500 when the final allocations were made, so Bowe got to skate as well. She finished 16th.
The two close friends embraced after Jackson clinched the gold.
“She hugged me and we cried,” the winner said. “She said she’s really proud of me and I said a lot of thank yous.”
Jackson skated in the next-to-last of 15 pairs with Takagi’s time of 37.12 — set about a half-hour earlier in the fourth pairing — in her sights.
She didn’t think at all about that slip at the U.S. trials.
“It’s not something to really focus on,” Jackson said. “That was a fluke.”
Jackson bolted off the line and was under Takagi’s time as she veered powerfully into the first turn. She kept up her speed through the crossing straight and into the final turn, swinging both arms furiously as she came to the finish of speedskating’s shortest race.
As soon as her skates crossed the line, Jackson’s head turned toward the scoreboard.
She broke into a big smile when she saw the “1” beside her name. Her coach, Ryan Shimabukuro, pumped his arms and slapped hands with her as she glided by.
There was still one pairing left, but Jackson knew she could do no worse than bronze.
A few minutes later, the gold was hers.
“You’re an Olympic champion,” Shimabukuro told her.
Jackson sat on the padding along the infield, shedding a few tears with her head bowed.
She was no doubt reflecting, too, on her remarkable journey.
The inline and roller derby skater knew she would have to trade her wheels for blades if she wanted to go for Olympic glory.
Making the switch just months before the Pyeongchang Games, she was such a fast study that she earned a spot on the U.S. team. She finished 24th in the 500, but it was clear that she had barely tapped into her potential.
During the current World Cup season, Jackson suddenly emerged as one of the world’s best sprinters. She won four of eight 500 races — the first Black woman to earn one of those titles, as well — and came to the Olympics as one of the favorites.
“When I won the first World Cup, I was like, ‘OK that’s strange. Let’s see where it goes,'” Jackson recalled. “Then I won another and I was like, ‘Well, maybe I can do this.’”
She lived up to the billing in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to win an individual Olympic medal since 2002.
“Words cannot explain how proud I am of her,” Bowe said. “I knew she had the chance to do something really special, and she just showed the world why she deserved to be here.”
Jackson grabbed an American flag and did a victory lap around the Ice Ribbon oval, the stars and stripes fluttering above her head.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she said, “but that makes it even sweeter.”
___
More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 and find his work at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/no-slip-this-time-jackson-wins-olympic-speedskating-gold/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:28
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| 0.983089
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MYSTIC, Conn. (AP) — The second of five whales brought from Canada to Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium last year for research purposes has died.
The aquarium announced on its website that the female had been receiving intensive care for the past several months for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning. A necropsy was to be performed to determine the cause of death.
“Veterinarians and animal care experts at Mystic Aquarium, with the support of veterinarians and animal husbandry members from other aquariums worldwide, devoted the full capacity of their expertise to the whale, providing round-the-clock medical treatment, testing, and 24-hour monitoring,” the aquarium said in a statement.
A male beluga named Havok, who had a preexisting gastrointestinal issue, died in August. The two whales were among five brought to Mystic last spring from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, after a lengthy battle to obtain permits from both the United States and Canada.
Animal rights activists had sued unsuccessfully to block the transport, alleging a permit granted by the U.S. Commerce secretary and National Marine Fisheries Service didn’t adequately address the potential harm to the belugas from being moved to Mystic.
The whales, which ranged in age from 7 to 12 at the time of the transport, were born in captivity, and officials say they cannot safely be released into the ocean. Mystic officials said at the time that the five whales left an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other Belugas in Canada.
The Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based animal protection advocacy organization, called for an investigation into the deaths in a statement on its website.
In the aquarium’s statement, Dr. Stephen Coan, the aquarium’s president and CEO, said Mystic has addressed issues raised during a visit last fall by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the first whale died. Those included the handling of animals with vision challenges, certain fluctuations in water quality and shade for animals.
“Inspections, investigations when an animal dies, and accreditation processes are essential learning tools to advance the care and welfare of animals,” Coan said. “We are constantly seeking to evolve and learn in our mission to provide the best possible care for animals.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/2nd-of-5-whales-brought-from-canada-to-mystic-aquarium-dies/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:29
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| 0.968318
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BEIJING (AP) — The Winter Olympics finally look like, well, the Winter Olympics.
Real snow fell in Beijing on Sunday for the first time since the Olympics began, giving the city the appearance and feel of a real Winter Games. There was fresh snow in the mountains as well, where all events have been contested on artificial snow.
While the snow was mostly a welcome sight, up in the mountains it affected visibility and made it tougher for ski racers to make it down the hill, especially in the first run of the two-leg giant slalom.
Marco Odermatt of Switzerland handled the snow and poor visibility better than anyone else and won his first Olympic gold medal.
“I really risked everything in the second run because I wanted not just the medal, I wanted the gold medal,” Odermatt said. ”It’s difficult because you can lose everything but today it paid off.”
While a light snow fell Saturday, it came down a lot harder on Sunday, the first time it snowed during an Alpine race during the Beijing Olympics. The heavy snow forced the second run to be postponed by 1 hour, 15 minutes. During the delay, workers cleared snow from the course with snow blowers and shovels.
“It was a hard day, with the conditions, with such a long wait between the two runs,” Odermatt said. “It was more than five hours for me, it was such a long time to re-think everything and it was hard to stay focused. I tried to sleep some minutes in between.
“I actually never dreamt about it but now it still feels like a dream.”
Many other skiers had a rough day on the course known as The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center.
“It’s a shame what the weather is like. I was hoping for the sun, like on all the other days. Couldn’t see anything,” said Luca de Aliprandini of Italy, who was sixth after the first run but skied off course and didn’t finish the second run. “When I was going down, the flakes were big.”
American skier Tommy Ford came in 12th.
“It’s great conditions on the course, but you can’t see it,” Ford said.
“It was difficult for everyone,” said Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, who was eighth overall.
A second women’s downhill training run scheduled for Sunday was canceled.
CROSS-COUNTRY RELAY
The snow affected the men’s cross-country relay ski race so much that workers used leaf blowers to clear it out of the tracks. The snow made the ski tracks slow, especially on the first two classic ski legs.
Just like in the women’s race, the Russian team opened a lead on the first leg and then held on for the gold medal. Sergey Ustiugov maintained more than a minute lead on the last lap over the two-man chasing group of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway and Maurice Manificat of France.
Ustiugov grabbed a flag on his way to the finish line and won the 10-kilometer relay 1 hour, 54 minutes, 50.7 seconds. By comparison, the winning time in the four-man relay at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics was more than 20 minutes quicker.
GU’S RACE ON HOLD
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu has to wait a day to try to win a second gold medal at the Beijing Games after gusty wind and snow postponed the qualifying round for women’s slopestyle.
Qualifying was pushed back to Monday and the final to Tuesday. The switch avoids putting the gold-medal round directly against the Super Bowl, which is also being televised by NBC.
The men’s slopestyle qualification also was switched from Monday to Tuesday, with its final now set for Wednesday.
The 18-old-year Gu was at the top of the hill stretching and getting ready for some warmup runs in the blustery conditions when qualifying was postponed. The snow was blowing sideways and the flags on the bottom of the course were whipping in all directions. Visibility also was low, which makes landing jumps off the massive kickers along the course dangerous.
Gu was born and raised in the United States but chose to compete for China, her mother’s home country. Her victory in big air last Tuesday was hugely popular in China.
RUSSIAN DOPING
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva continued to practice in the hours before the Court of Arbitration for Sport was to decide whether she will be allowed to compete this week. An expedited hearing was scheduled for Sunday, with a ruling expected sometime Monday.
A decision by CAS is expected roughly 24 hours before the 15-year-old Valieva is due on the ice at Capital Indoor Stadium for the short program on Tuesday. The overwhelming favorite, she drew the 26th starting spot Sunday among the 30 in the event.
Valieva has yet to miss a scheduled practice since a drug test taken in December was flagged last Monday for traces of a banned heart medication. That was the same day the reigning European champion helped the Russian skaters win team gold with a dynamic free skate in which she became the first woman to land a quad in Olympic competition.
On several occasions since then, the stress appeared to have gotten to Valieva, including a moment during Saturday’s practice session when she fell during a triple axel and eventually skated to the boards and tearfully hugged her embattled coach, Eteri Tutberidze.
JACKSON’S HISTORIC GOLD
Erin Jackson won gold in the 500 meters to become the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics. With a time of 37.04 seconds, she gave the Americans their first speedskating medal at the Beijing Games. The 29-year-old Jackson joins fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win Olympic speedskating gold medals.
ROEISELAND’S TRIPLE GOLD
Marte Olsbu Roeiseland held her focus in the blowing snow and shot cleanly in the last standing stop to win the women’s biathlon 10-kilometer pursuit race. It was her third gold medal of the Beijing Olympics and fourth medal overall.
The Norwegian started the race with a lead because of her win in the sprint race and hit 19 of her 20 targets. She won in 34 minutes, 46.9 seconds.
In the men’s race, Quentin Fillon Maillet of France hit all 20 of his targets despite howling wind and skied to his second Olympic gold, and fourth medal overall, in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/skiers-struggle-as-real-snow-falls-on-winter-olympics/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:34
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| 0.977255
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ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Felix Auger-Aliassime won his first career title at the ninth attempt, upsetting top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in the Rotterdam final on Sunday to deny his opponent an eighth title.
Victory at the indoor tournament came as a relief for the 21-year-old Canadian after losing his previous eight finals dating back to 2019.
“It has not been the smoothest road since my first final,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It is an amazing day for me to get my first title and especially here. I played my first ATP main draw here a couple of years ago, so it is right I won my first title here.”
The third-seeded Auger-Aliassime hit seven aces and won 93% of his first serve points, compared to just one ace for Tsitsipas.
The big-serving Greek was unusually poor on his serve with four double-faults and only 31 of 55 first serves landing in. His second serve let him down, too, and he won only 33% of points on it.
It was Auger-Aliassime’s third win in eight matches against Tsitsipas, and he did not face a break point in a dominant performance where he broke Tsitsipas three times.
“He was playing very good tennis, producing good shots and serving incredibly well throughout the match. I wasn’t able to respond,” Tsitsipas said. “I wasn’t able to respond. I wasn’t able to serve well today and my percentages were so low.”
The 23-year-old Tsitsipas dropped to 7-11 in finals.
___
More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/auger-aliassime-beats-top-seeded-tsitsipas-to-win-1st-title-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:35
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| 0.975843
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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Hard work definitely paid off for father-daughter duo Paul and Sarah Miracle. The pair is in Los Angeles to watch the Cincinnati Bengals play Super Bowl 56 — all thanks to generous donors.
“I don’t know, I might just lose my mind. I might just lose complete control. When they come out on the field it’s gonna be something,” said Paul.
Paul Miracle was diagnosed with ALS in 2019. He is a die-hard Bengals super fan. His daughter Sarah successfully launched GoFundMe pages for her dad this football season, which ultimately got her dad to multiple playoff games. Now Sarah has done it again, raising enough money to send she and her dad to the Super Bowl.
“Very thankful. I appreciate all of the support. People are like excited. Even now that it’s done, they’re like pumped. They’re like are you packed? They wanna know all the details. They’re just pumped. They wanna take the journey with us,” said Sarah.
The original goal to get Sarah and Paul to the Super Bowl was $30,000. However, their GoFundMe page blew up and is now sitting at nearly $38,000. Sarah says Delta Airlines is also flying the pair to and from LA in first class free of charge.
“It’s quite quite amazing to me how people have reacted for our journey with ALS. How many people have been touched by it and made aware of the disease,” said Paul.
Something else that’s amazing to Paul is his daughter’s dedication which has gotten them this far.
“I never would’ve ever been able to afford to go to this without my daughters ambition or help. There really is no words. No words…that I can explain how important that is,” said Paul.
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/the-big-game/bengals-fan-with-als-makes-it-to-super-bowl/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:40
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| 0.97658
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By CHARLES ODUM
AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Aliyah Boston scored 18 points with 12 rebounds and No. 1 South Carolina coasted after a strong start to beat No. 17 Georgia 72-54 on Sunday.
Boston posted her 18th double-double in 24 games. Destanni Henderson added 15 points for the Gamecocks, who led by 30 points in the first half.
South Carolina (23-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 11 consecutive games since losing at Missouri in overtime to open its conference schedule on Dec. 30.
Georgia (17-7, 6-6) suffered its third consecutive loss despite Jenna Staiti’s 15 points and 10 rebounds.
South Carolina, which had to hold on late to win at Kentucky 59-50 on Thursday night, was dominant in another road game against Georgia.
Staiti went to the bench with two fouls midway through the opening period. Soon after Staiti’s exit, teammate Maiury Bates was called for her second foul.
South Carolina immediately seized the advantage, finishing the first period with an 18-2 run, including the final 10 points, for a 29-10 lead.
The Gamecocks attacked with an impressive inside-outside balance. South Carolina was good on each of its four 3-pointers in the first period while also building an advantage near the basket.
South Carolina stretched its lead to 30 points in the second period and led 51-25 at halftime.
Georgia scored the final six points of the third period and the first six points of the final period to pull to within 15 points at 61-46.
South Carolina won easily despite playing without its top two reserves. Forwards Laeticia Amihere and Kamilla Cardoso are competing with their national teams, Canada and Brazil, respectively, in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournament.
Que Morrison, who had 11 points, provided a highlight for Georgia in the third period when she went behind her back for a fancy layup despite being fouled by Henderson. Morrison sank the free throw for the three-point play.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks look postseason ready. They improved to 10-0 against Top 25 teams with their 15th consecutive win over Georgia since 2013.
Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t come close to their first win over a top-ranked team since beating Tennessee in the semifinals of the 2004 SEC tournament. They’re left with a three-game losing streak that includes two home losses. The sudden downturn has dropped Georgia to .500 in the SEC and in danger of taking a fall in the Top 25.
UP NEXT
South Carolina hosts Auburn on Thursday. Amihere and Cardoso are expected to be back with the team.
Georgia hosts Missouri on Thursday when it will look for its first win since Feb. 3 against Vanderbilt.
___
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Poll: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/boston-leads-no-1-south-carolina-past-no-17-georgia-72-54/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:42
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| 0.961762
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
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https://www.wowktv.com/sports/the-big-game/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:46
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| 0.961012
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By BEATRICE DUPUY
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Family has always held an important place in Brandon Maxwell’s fashion shows, but never more than in his latest — a deeply emotional tribute to his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, and the prominence of family in his life and career.
Saturday night’s show in a dimly lit theater near Union Square also featured a return to the runway of supermodel Karlie Kloss, who both opened and closed the proceedings.
Unlike past shows brimming with bold colors, psychedelic patterns, blaring music and even a pink runway, Maxwell’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection featured neutral tones and warm, comforting ensembles like chunky fisherman sweaters paired with satiny long skirts and lush shawls.
The vibe was intentionally quiet and intimate, with the focus on his 84-year-old grandmother, affectionately called Mammaw. Maxwell said he’d found his way to fashion through his grandmother’s closet of treasures.
“We go on this road of going, going, moving forward,” Maxwell said in a post-show interview. “In the end, we are lucky if we have one person that really just sits by the bedside with us.”
The designer opened his show with a video montage asking “Who is Brandon Maxwell?” and the sound of Siri reading his Wikipedia page. Videos and photos of his family, friends and especially Mammaw filled the screen before it cut to black and her own words, “We had a good time, didn’t we?” echoed into the darkness.
Maxwell noted that he had told his models before the show about the significance of his collection. “I said to them before the show that this is the one chance I get to honor her life,” he said.
To Brandi Carlile’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — a nod to his hometown of Longview, Texas — models walked in tailored jackets paired with flowing dresses and those knitted fisherman sweaters over ballgown skirts. Maxwell also brought back his signature ready-to-wear red carpet looks and showcased figure-hugging floor-length dresses.
Kloss made a return to the runway to open and close Maxwell’s show. The two have become close over the years after appearing on “Project Runway” together as judges.
A big hit of the night was the feathered shawls that draped the models’ shoulders as they wound their way around the catwalk.
The last sounds of the show, fittingly, came from Maxwell’s grandmother. He was heard asking her what she wanted him to remember most about their relationship. “Just remember how much I loved you,” came the reply.
“I’ve done a lot of shows where I was thinking about the process of what everybody else would think,” Maxwell said after the show, “and this was probably the first one where I did not consider it.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/brandon-maxwell-pays-emotional-tribute-to-his-grandmother-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:48
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| 0.977878
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BEIJING (AP) — It’s a big day for rematches at the Beijing Olympics: The United States faces Finland in women’s hockey, and Max Parrot takes on Mark McMorris in snowboarding.
The U.S. beat Finland 5-2 to start the tournament, and the teams will clash again in the semifinals, live on USA Network on Monday at 8 a.m. EST. Parrot beat McMorris in slopestyle — McMorris took issue with the judging — and now they compete again in big air. NBC plans to air that final live during its late-night coverage.
During prime time, NBC will have live coverage of the women’s downhill, which could be quite a comeback story for defending champ Sofia Goggia of Italy. Also, the freestyle skiing slopestyle event featuring Eileen Gu was pushed back because of the weather. The final is now set to be shown live Monday night on USA Network.
Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):
HOCKEY
It was a slow start for Finland in the women’s hockey tournament. The 2018 bronze medalists had to open against the U.S. and Canada and lost those games by a combined 16-3. The Finns then lost to Switzerland.
Now, however, they enter the semifinals on the heels of a 7-1 rout of Japan.
Although USA Network will carry the U.S.-Finland rematch live, it will also be on that same channel at 3 p.m.
TAKE TWO
Gu is a U.S native who competes for China, where her mother is from. She’s become one of the stars of the Beijing Games, winning gold in big air already.
Qualifying for her rescheduled slopestyle event will be on NBC in the afternoon. The first run of the final is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. USA Network is showing live coverage of the final, and NBC plans to show it during its late-night slot.
SNOWBOARDING
After Parrot took the gold in slopestyle, McMorris said: “Obviously would have been nice to have a different shade of medal. But knowing that I kind of had the run of the day and one of the best rounds of my life and the whole industry knows what happened — pretty, pretty crazy.”
McMorris later apologized to Parrot, who said it was no big deal. The two both compete for Canada.
USA Network plans to show men’s big air qualifying between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. NBC is set to show the final live during late-night coverage.
NBC will also have live coverage of the women’s big air final in prime time.
ALPINE SKIING
Mikaela Shiffrin is still seeking her first medal of these Games. The downhill is by no means the American star’s strongest event, if she ends up racing in it.
Goggia is coming off a pre-Olympic crash that left her with a sprained left knee, a partially torn cruciate ligament, a fracture of the fibula bone in her leg, as well as some tendon damage. She still managed to make it to the Beijing Games and participate in training for the downhill.
“For me, Olympic Games are everything, the place that you want to be to achieve your childhood dream,” Goggia said. “There is no place I’d rather be than here. I don’t care about my condition.”
ALSO OF NOTE
NBC is planning to show the men’s team ski jumping competition on the large hill in the afternoon. … The women’s freestyle aerials will air live early in the morning on USA Network, with an encore presentation on NBC in prime time. … USA Network will have the men’s and women’s team pursuit finals in speedskating live as part of late-night coverage.
___
Follow Noah Trister at https://www.twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
|
https://www.wowktv.com/sports/what-to-watch-big-rematches-in-womens-hockey-snowboarding/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:52
|
en
| 0.96321
|
By BEATRICE DUPUY
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Family has always held an important place in Brandon Maxwell’s fashion shows, but never more than in his latest — a deeply emotional tribute to his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, and the prominence of family in his life and career.
Saturday night’s show in a dimly lit theater near Union Square also featured a return to the runway of supermodel Karlie Kloss, who both opened and closed the proceedings.
Unlike past shows past brimming with bold colors, psychedelic patterns, blaring music and even a pink runway, Maxwell’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection featured neutral tones and warm, comforting ensembles like chunky fisherman sweaters paired with satiny long skirts and lush shawls.
The vibe was intentionally quiet and intimate, with the focus on his 84-year-old grandmother, affectionately called Mammaw. Maxwell said he’d found his way to fashion through his grandmother’s closet of treasures.
“We go on this road of going, going, moving forward,” Maxwell said in a post-show interview. “In the end, we are lucky if we have one person that really just sits by the bedside with us.”
The designer opened his show with a video montage asking “Who is Brandon Maxwell?” and the sound of Siri reading his Wikipedia page. Videos and photos of his family, friends and especially Mammaw filled the screen before it cut to black and her own words, “We had a good time, didn’t we?” echoed into the darkness.
Maxwell noted that he had told his models before the show about the significance of his collection. “I said to them before the show that this is the one chance I get to honor her life,” he said.
To Brandi Carlile’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — a nod to his hometown of Longview, Texas — models walked in tailored jackets paired with flowing dresses and those knitted fisherman sweaters over ballgown skirts. Maxwell also brought back his signature ready-to-wear red carpet looks and showcased figure-hugging floor-length dresses.
Kloss made a return to the runway to open and close Maxwell’s show. The two have become close over the years after appearing on “Project Runway” together as judges.
A big hit of the night was the feathered shawls that draped the models’ shoulders as they wound their way around the catwalk.
The last sounds of the show, fittingly, came from Maxwell’s grandmother. He was heard asking her what she wanted him to remember most about their relationship. “Just remember how much I loved you,” came the reply.
“I’ve done a lot of shows where I was thinking about the process of what everybody else would think,” Maxwell said after the show, “and this was probably the first one where I did not consider it.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/brandon-maxwell-pays-emotional-tribute-to-his-grandmother/
| 2022-02-13T20:44:54
|
en
| 0.977827
|
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer
The knock on Penny Hardaway early in the season was that he could recruit talent to Memphis, just not win with it.
The Tigers seem to be rounding into form — finally.
Shaking off some ugly early-season losses, Memphis put itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble with a marquee win over No. 6 Houston on Saturday. The Tigers beat Tulane earlier in the week and have won five straight as all those talented young players have begun to find their way.
“We came in locked and focused all week,” Hardaway said. “I was trying to keep the guys focused on Tulane, but I could tell they were antsy to get to this game because Houston has been the standard in our league.”
Hardaway has secured some of the nation’s best recruiting classes during his four seasons in Memphis, but has yet to turn all that talent into consistent results. Memphis missed the NCAA Tournament in each of Hardaway’s first three seasons despite winning at least 20 games in each.
The Tigers entered this season with plenty of hype, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 and with a roster that included the nation’s top recruiting class.
Memphis won its first five games, including a victory over Virginia Tech, before a stretch of five losses in six games. Then the Tigers lost three straight last month, digging a deeper hole as injuries mounted.
Things have started to change over the past three weeks. Memphis (14-8, 8-4 American Athletic Conference) has played more cohesively and picked up a huge Quadrant 1 win, beating Houston 69-59 to end the Cougars’ 37-game home winning streak.
There’s still work to do, but the Tigers have put themselves in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
RISING FAST
Rutgers (15-9, 9-5 Big Ten). An overtime loss to Northwestern hurt the Scarlet Knights’ NCAA Tournament chances, but three straight wins over ranked opponents was massive.
North Carolina (18-7, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels were blown out by rival Duke but have won six of seven, including a blowout of Florida State. Avoid any big slipups and they could find themselves in the bracket in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach.
Tennessee (18-6, 9-3 Southeastern Conference). The Vols have bounced back nicely from a blowout loss to No. 5 Kentucky with seven straight SEC wins. Tennessee gets another shot at the Wildcats on Tuesday.
SMU (18-5, 9-2 American Athletic Conference). The Mustangs have rallied from a couple of shaky early-season losses to win seven of their past eight games. Knocking off No. 6 Houston was huge.
FADING HOPES
Oregon (16-7, 9-3 Pac-12). The Ducks typically get better as the season progresses under coach Dana Altman. That appeared to be the case when Oregon reeled off 10 wins in 11 games, but a lackluster 78-64 loss to California on Saturday may have put it back on the edge of the bubble.
Michigan (13-10, 7-6 Big Ten). A win over then-No. 2 Purdue was a huge boost. The Wolverines followed that up with a loss to No. 16 Ohio State. A team that was once No. 4 in the country, Michigan may need a strong finish to the season to get into the field of 68.
Iowa State (16-,9 3-9 Big 12). Once 12-0, the Cyclones are now last in the Big 12 and on a four-game losing streak after an overtime loss to Kansas State. They need to get it turned around in a hurry to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament.
Utah State (15-11, 6-7 Mountain West). The Aggies have some shaky losses on their resume and are middle of the pack in the Mountain West. There are still chances to boost their resume with road games against San Diego State and Boise State, along with a home game against Colorado State.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/bubble-watch-memphis-rounding-into-form-at-right-time-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:01
|
en
| 0.970239
|
By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees.
“Death on the Nile,” Branagh’s follow-up to the 2017 hit “Murder on the Orient Express,” led all films with $12.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Produced under 20th Century Fox before its acquisition by the Walt Disney Co., “Death on the Nile” had been delayed by the pandemic and by scandal that engulfed one of its stars, Armie Hammer.
Last March, Hammer was put under investigation by Los Angeles police in a sexual assault. Hammer has denied the allegation.
After considering other avenues, reportedly including reshooting parts of the film without Hammer, Disney opted to release “Death on the Nile” as it was — albeit with less fanfare on a weekend the film industry often yields to football. The $90 million film, which also stars Gal Gadot, Emma McKay and Branagh, reprising his role as detective Hercule Poirot, had once seemed a reliable money-maker. “Murder on the Orient Express” launched with $28.7 million in 2017 and ended up grossing $352.8 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. “Death on the Nile” added $20.7 million in international receipts.
Hollywood’s biggest pitch to moviegoers over the weekend wasn’t in theaters but in television ads. After two years of the pandemic, a heavy-hitting lineup of blockbusters were set to roll out trailers during the Super Bowl broadcast and try to lure still-reluctant moviegoers back to theaters. Last year, when many theaters were still shuttered and few films were being released, Hollywood largely sat out the game. Jordan Peele’s “Nope” kicked off the day with its first trailer early Sunday.
“Marry Me” opened with $8 million while simultaneously streaming on Peacock. The Universal Pictures release, which was timed to Valentine’s Day on Monday, stars Lopez as a pop star who, after finding out her fiancé has been cheating, marries a stranger (Owen Wilson) at one of her concerts. In recent years, streaming platforms have increasingly been the rom-com’s primary home. Netflix, in particular, has pumped out a constant stream of new entries in the genre. On Friday, Amazon Prime Video debuted its own: “I Want You Back,” with Charlie Day and Jenny Slate.
The lukewarm performance of “Marry Me” allowed last week’s top film, “Jackass Forever,” to narrowly edge it for second place. Johnny Knoxville’s sequel dropped a steep 65% from last weekend, coming in with an estimated $8.1 million for Paramount Pictures. Its grossed $37.4 million in total.
Another once dependable ticket-seller at the box office — a Liam Neeson thriller — also struggled. Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Blacklight,” a poorly reviewed action film starring the 69-year-old Neeson as a shadowy government agent, opened with $3.6 million.
Few films were set to capitalize in theaters on Tuesday’s Academy Awards nominations. As nominations came later than usual this year, most Oscar contenders — a field that Netflix led with 24 nominations — have been available for weeks, if not months, in the home. But a few films sought a post-nominations lift at the box office, even if the once expected “Oscar bump” is all but dead.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” up for three awards including best picture, had its widest week of release in its 12th week of release, playing in 1,977 theaters. It managed $922,500 in ticket sales, bringing its cumulative total to $14 million.
Branagh’s other film in release, “Belfast,” followed up its seven nominations by playing in 928 theaters and adding $285,000 to its $7.9 million gross. Other best-picture contenders — “Nightmare Alley” ($85,000) and “West Side Story” ($235,000) — made only minor blips.
The biggest bumps out there may have been for a few of the international contenders. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” which is nominated for four Oscars including best picture, saw a 92% spike in grossing $192,000 from 127 theaters. Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” nominated for best original screenplay and best international film, earned $255,395 on 49 screens in its second weekend.
The film expected to lead the box office next weekend — Sony’s video-game adaptation “Uncharted,” staring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg — began its release overseas, where it took in $21.5 million in 15 territories.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Death on the Nile,” $12.8 million.
2. “Jackass Forever,” $8.1 million.
3. “Marry Me,” $8 million.
4. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $7.2 million.
5. “Blacklight,” $3.6 million.
6. “Sing 2,” $3 million.
7. “Moonfall,” $2.9 million.
8. “Scream,” $2.8 million.
9. “Licorice Pizza,” $922,500.
10. “The King’s Man,” $433,000.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/death-on-the-nile-tops-a-quiet-box-office-weekend-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:07
|
en
| 0.952225
|
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer
BEIJING (AP) — Erin Jackson has never viewed herself as some sort of trailblazer. She just likes to skate really, really fast, whether it’s on wheels or blades.
Yet the 29-year-old from balmy Ocala, Florida knew this moment was special, her chance to really make an impact on the generations that follow.
She’ll forever be known as the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics — and a gold one, at that.
“Hopefully, this has an effect,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, we’ll see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying these winter sports.”
Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games and first individual medal since 2010.
But this was much more than a needed boost to a sport that has produced more medals than any other for the U.S. in the history of the Winter Games.
The 29-year-old Jackson, a former inline skater who switched to the ice shortly before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win long-track speedskating medals at the Olympics.
Now, she wants others to follow their path into a sport that draws scant attention in the United States.
“I just hope it will do something for the sport,” she said. “I always try to be a good example.”
The silver went to Miho Takagi of Japan, while Angelina Golikova of the Russian team took the bronze.
Jackson’s gold came after she slipped at the U.S. trials and shockingly finished third, putting her spot on the Olympic team in jeopardy.
But teammate Brittany Bowe, another Ocala skater who finished first at the trials, gave up her spot in the 500 to ensure Jackson would get to compete in Beijing.
“She made a really big sacrifice for me,” Jackson said. “I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
As it turned out, the Americans received a third slot in the 500 when the final allocations were made, so Bowe got to skate as well. She finished 16th.
The two close friends embraced after Jackson clinched the gold.
“She hugged me and we cried,” the winner said. “She said she’s really proud of me and I said a lot of thank yous.”
Jackson skated in the next-to-last of 15 pairs with Takagi’s time of 37.12 — set about a half-hour earlier in the fourth pairing — in her sights.
She didn’t think at all about that slip at the U.S. trials.
“It’s not something to really focus on,” Jackson said. “That was a fluke.”
Jackson bolted off the line and was under Takagi’s time as she veered powerfully into the first turn. She kept up her speed through the crossing straight and into the final turn, swinging both arms furiously as she came to the finish of speedskating’s shortest race.
As soon as her skates crossed the line, Jackson’s head turned toward the scoreboard.
She broke into a big smile when she saw the “1” beside her name. Her coach, Ryan Shimabukuro, pumped his arms and slapped hands with her as she glided by.
There was still one pairing left, but Jackson knew she could do no worse than bronze.
A few minutes later, the gold was hers.
“You’re an Olympic champion,” Shimabukuro told her.
Jackson sat on the padding along the infield, shedding a few tears with her head bowed.
She was no doubt reflecting, too, on her remarkable journey.
The inline and roller derby skater knew she would have to trade her wheels for blades if she wanted to go for Olympic glory.
Making the switch just months before the Pyeongchang Games, she was such a fast study that she earned a spot on the U.S. team. She finished 24th in the 500, but it was clear that she had barely tapped into her potential.
During the current World Cup season, Jackson suddenly emerged as one of the world’s best sprinters. She won four of eight 500 races — the first Black woman to earn one of those titles, as well — and came to the Olympics as one of the favorites.
“When I won the first World Cup, I was like, ‘OK that’s strange. Let’s see where it goes,'” Jackson recalled. “Then I won another and I was like, ‘Well, maybe I can do this.’”
She lived up to the billing in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to win an individual Olympic medal since 2002.
“Words cannot explain how proud I am of her,” Bowe said. “I knew she had the chance to do something really special, and she just showed the world why she deserved to be here.”
Jackson grabbed an American flag and did a victory lap around the Ice Ribbon oval, the stars and stripes fluttering above her head.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she said, “but that makes it even sweeter.”
___
More AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 and find his work at https://apnews.com/search/paulnewberry
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/erin-jackson-of-us-1st-black-woman-to-win-speedskating-gold-6/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:13
|
en
| 0.981496
|
By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s former president on Sunday called a White House order to unfreeze $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the U.S. for families of 9/11 victims an atrocity against the Afghan people.
Former President Hamid Karzai at a packed news conference sought the help of Americans, particularly the families of the thousands killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to press President Joe Biden to rescind last week’s order. He called it “unjust and unfair,” saying Afghans have also been victims of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden was brought to Afghanistan by Afghan warlords after being expelled from Sudan in 1996. Those same warlords would later ally with the U.S.-led coalition to oust the Taliban in 2001. However, it was Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar who refused to hand over bin Laden to the U.S. after the devastating 9/11 attacks that killed thousands.
“The people of Afghanistan share the pain of the American people, share the pain of the families and loved ones of those who died, who lost their lives in the tragedy of September 11,” said Karzai. “We commiserate with them (but) Afghan people are as much victims as those families who lost their lives. … Withholding money or seizing money from the people of Afghanistan in their name is unjust and unfair and an atrocity against Afghan people.”
President Biden’s order signed last Friday freed $7 billion in Afghan assets currently held in the United States, to be divided between 9/11 victims and humanitarian aid to Afghans.
Sept. 11 victims and their families have legal claims against the Taliban and the $7 billion in the U.S. banking system. The $3.5 billion was set aside for a U.S. court to decide whether it can be used to settle claims by families of 9/11 victims. U.S. courts would also have to sign off before the release of humanitarian assistance money.
We “ask the U.S. courts to do the opposite, to return the Afghan money back to the Afghan people,” said Karzai. “This money does not belong to any government ,,, this money belongs to the people of Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, Biden’s order calls for the $3.5 billion allocated to humanitarian aid to be put into a trust and be used to assist Afghans, bypassing their Taliban rulers.
But Karzai demanded all $7 billion be returned to Afghanistan’s central bank to further its monetary policy. He argued against giving Afghan reserves to international aid organizations to provide humanitarian aid.
“You give us our own money so that it can be spent for those foreigners who come here, to pay their salaries, to give it to (non-governmental organizations),” he said.
Afghanistan’s economy is teetering on the brink of collapse after international money stopped coming into the country with the arrival in mid-August of the Taliban. Last month, the United Nations made a $5 billion appeal for Afghanistan. The U.N. warns that 1 million children are in danger of starving and 90% of Afghans live below the poverty level of just $1.90 a day.
Karzai was Afghanistan’s first democratically elected president after the U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban in 2001. He served until 2014 before Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country on Aug. 15, leaving the doors open for the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Karzai was highly regarded as embracing all of Afghanistan’s many ethnic groups but his administration, like subsequent Afghan administrations, was dogged by charges of widespread corruption.
Karzai spoke to a packed press conference inside his sprawling compound in the capital of Kabul. Dozens of Afghanistan’s Pashto- and Persian-language journalists jockeyed for space in a second-floor conference room with more than a dozen television cameras.
Karzai used the news conference to press the country’s Taliban rulers and their opponents to find a way to come together. He lobbied for the traditional Afghan grand council, or loya jirga, as a means to find consensus and establish a more representative administration.
“We, as Afghans, and the current acting Islamic government must do our best to not give America or any other country any excuse to be against us,” he said.
Anger has been growing in Afghanistan since Friday’s White House announcement. Demonstrators marched again in Kabul on Sunday demanding the money be returned to Afghanistan. However, the Taliban, who have also condemned Biden’s order, dispersed protesters as they tried to gather near the city’s Eid Gah mosque.
Meanwhile the United Nations Assistance Mission in a tweet late Sunday said four women activists who disappeared more than two weeks ago have returned home.
In late January Tamana Zaryabi Paryani, and her three sisters disappeared, allegedly seized by a group of men after they participated in a demonstration against the forced wearing of the Islamic hijab.
The Taliban denied taking them.
“The UN welcomes the encouraging reports that the four ‘disappeared’ Afghan women activists, some missing for weeks, are being enabled to return home. Their well-being and safety is of paramount concern,” the U.N. agency said.
International media, however, has reported that several British nationals and an American are still being held by the Taliban, including freelance cameraman Peter Jouvenal, a dual British and German citizen who has covered Afghanistan for more than 40 years. He has been missing since December and the Taliban have not responded to queries by the Associated Press.
His wife, an Afghan, has issued a plea for his release.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday on CNN’s `State of the Union,’ that an American was in Taliban custody along with “a number of U.K. nationals.” He gave no further information, saying only that Washington was “ actively working to get his release.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/ex-afghan-president-biden-order-on-frozen-funds-an-atrocity-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:19
|
en
| 0.967633
|
By THOMAS ADAMSON
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — A conservative politician vying to become France’s first female leader is hoping to boost her declining fortunes in the campaign so far with her first major rally.
Less than 60 days from the April 10 first round of France’s presidential election, Valérie Pécresse, 54, is struggling to take off in the polls — despite having had an initial boost last year when she was picked to be the French conservatives’ first female presidential candidate.
The fact that Pécresse has not held any major launch rallies like other candidates, owing to earlier concerns over soaring omicron infections, seems to have hurt her. She is stalling in popularity behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen and frontrunner President Emmanuel Macron, who has still not officially declared his candidacy. All potential candidates must do so by March 4.
On Sunday in the Zenith Arena in Paris, Pécresse, tried to reverse that stall. To chants of “Valerie” and “We will win!” the head of the Paris region and former conservative minister brandished her credentials for France’s top job to thousands of supporters.
“Even if you fail, it means you’ve tried … I’m this indomitable French woman. Nothing will stop me!” she said to cheers.
An experienced politician, Pécresse has been the French minister for higher education, for the budget and was a government spokesperson under former President Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.
In the often tough-talking speech, she again backed a hard stance on immigration, apparently seeking backing from both conservatives and the far right. She said the symbol of France, Marianne, “was not veiled” and has said that people who entered the country illegally should be deported.
On Sunday, she went even further in her rhetoric, defending the idea of building “walls” to seal off the borders of the 27-nation European Union.
“If we have to build walls like some states do, I would support them. I want us to fight together against immigration that leads to areas beyond France. If a country refuses to take back its illegal immigrants, with me there will be zero visas,” she said.
A supporter of the EU, Pécresse left The Republicans party in 2019 amid leadership divisions after the party had a poor showing in EU elections. She rejoined the party last year.
She also tried to cast herself as strong on families, promising a substantial increase in small pensions and pledging to slash inheritance taxes for many and hire an extra 25,000 caregivers. Pécresse said her first action as president would be to end France’s 35-hour workweek so employees can work and earn more.
If elected, Pécresse vowed again to break with the centrist policies of incumbent Macron, who is expected to seek a second term. She has also warned voters against backing far-right candidates, arguing that only the conservatives can unite the French people and ease political tensions in the country.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/french-conservative-pecresse-holds-big-presidential-rally-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:26
|
en
| 0.968351
|
By THOMAS ADAMSON
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — A conservative politician vying to become France’s first female leader is hoping to boost her declining fortunes in the campaign so far with her first major rally.
Less than 60 days from the April 10 first round of France’s presidential election, Valérie Pécresse, 54, is struggling to take off in the polls — despite having had an initial boost last year when she was picked to be the French conservatives’ first female presidential candidate.
The fact that Pécresse has not held any major launch rallies like other candidates, owing to earlier concerns over soaring omicron infections, seems to have hurt her. She is stalling in popularity behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen and frontrunner President Emmanuel Macron, who has still not officially declared his candidacy. All potential candidates must do so by March 4.
On Sunday in the Zenith Arena in Paris, Pécresse, tried to reverse that stall. To chants of “Valerie” and “We will win!” the head of the Paris region and former conservative minister brandished her credentials for France’s top job to thousands of supporters.
“Even if you fail, it means you’ve tried … I’m this indomitable French woman. Nothing will stop me!” she said to cheers.
An experienced politician, Pécresse has been the French minister for higher education, for the budget and was a government spokesperson under former President Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.
In the often tough-talking speech, she again backed a hard stance on immigration, apparently seeking backing from both conservatives and the far right. She said the symbol of France, Marianne, “was not veiled” and has said that people who entered the country illegally should be deported.
On Sunday, she went even further in her rhetoric, defending the idea of building “walls” to seal off the borders of the 27-nation European Union.
“If we have to build walls like some states do, I would support them. I want us to fight together against immigration that leads to areas beyond France. If a country refuses to take back its illegal immigrants, with me there will be zero visas,” she said.
A supporter of the EU, Pécresse left The Republicans party in 2019 amid leadership divisions after the party had a poor showing in EU elections. She rejoined the party this year.
She also tried to cast herself as strong on families, promising a substantial increase in small pensions and pledging to slash inheritance taxes for many and hire an extra 25,000 caregivers. Pécresse said her first action as president would be to end France’s 35-hour workweek so employees can work and earn more.
If elected, Pécresse vowed again to break with the centrist policies of incumbent Macron, who is expected to seek a second term. She has also warned voters against backing far-right candidates, arguing that only the conservatives can unite the French people and ease political tensions in the country.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/french-conservative-pecresse-holds-big-presidential-rally/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:32
|
en
| 0.968488
|
By COLLIN BINKLEY
AP Education Writer
America’s elite colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least.
Fueled by the national reckoning with racial injustice, opponents say they are gaining momentum in the battle over the contentious policy of legacy preferences.
Ivy League students are pressing administrators to abandon the policy. Yale’s student government took a stance against the practice in November. A recent vote of Harvard students found that 60% oppose it. Hundreds of students and alumni across 30 colleges have promised to withhold financial donations over the issue.
Civil rights groups are increasingly adding their support, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which is tackling legacy preferences as part of a campaign against systematic racism.
And a bill in Congress aims to eliminate the practice.
The proposal from Democrats would outlaw preferences for children of alumni or donors at colleges that receive federal money. It’s being pushed by the party’s progressive wing but has gained support from some conservative activists who want college admissions to be based on merit alone.
Legacy preferences give an extra boost to predominantly white and wealthy legacy students, while “leaving out millions of Black and brown kids,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a sponsor.
“There has been a shift in the consciousness of the country around issues of inequity and inequality,” Bowman said in an interview. “There’s a real yearning to right the wrongs of our past.”
In the heavily guarded world of college admissions, it’s hard to know exactly how many legacy students get a nudge. But at some of the most selective colleges, students with family ties make up 10% to 20% of the latest incoming class, according to data released by colleges in response to an Associated Press request.
On many campuses, the opposition is being led by students of color and those who are the first in their families to attend college. They say legacy status is one more advantage for students who are already more likely to have access to tutoring, test prep and other help applying to college.
Zoe Fuad, a junior at Brown University, said it reinforces a “cycle of inequity” that was designed to serve wealthy white men.
“By perpetually giving advantages to their descendants, we’re ensuring that those who were systemically favored continue to be favored,” said Fuad, 20, who leads a student group that’s challenging the practice at Brown.
Many prestigious colleges defend legacy admissions, saying it helps build an alumni community and encourages donations. Officials at Harvard and other schools argue that legacy status is just one of many factors considered in admissions, along with grades, test scores and pursuits outside school. At most, they say, it can provide a slight tip in a student’s favor.
Still, two colleges have ended the practice recently, giving opponents hope that others will follow.
Amherst College in Massachusetts dropped the policy in October, saying it “inadvertently limits educational opportunity.” Johns Hopkins University announced in 2020 that it had phased out legacy preferences. Since then, the school has drawn growing numbers of Black and Hispanic students, along with those from low-income families.
The pushback against legacy preferences is advancing amid a broader debate over fairness in college admissions.
Last month the Supreme Court agreed to review whether colleges can consider applicants’ race as a way to expand diversity. The court will take up lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic students.
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, the conservative strategist behind those suits voiced support for the Democrats’ bill against legacy benefits. In a statement, Edward Blum said too many colleges “lower the admissions bar for the children of their alumni.”
Most schools are not required to disclose how many legacy students they enroll, and many keep it private. Among the nation’s 30 most selective colleges, only eight provided basic data on the subject in response to an AP request.
At those colleges, the share of legacy students in this year’s freshman class averaged 12%. The lowest share was at Rice University in Houston, where 4% of this year’s first-year class had legacy status. The University of Notre Dame said legacy students have averaged 23% of the student body over the past decade.
Legacy students outnumbered Black students in freshman classes at four schools: Notre Dame, Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Southern California. At Brown, the share of legacy and Black students was about even.
Harvard refused to disclose details, but data made public during its trial over affirmative action showed that family ties carry outsize weight. From 2014 to 2019, the acceptance rate for legacy applicants was 34%, compared with 6% for applicants without legacy status, according to an analysis by the suit’s plaintiffs.
Critics of the practice say it contributes to persistently low numbers of Black students at top colleges. During the racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd by police, hundreds of students at Georgetown University signed a letter calling for an end to legacy preference, saying it “relegates qualified Black students to second-tier status.”
Historians have traced legacy preference to the 1920s as elite colleges sought to limit the number of Jewish students. It continued for decades at a time when the vast majority of college students in the U.S. were white men.
At many schools with legacy preferences, Black students were not admitted until the 1960s, said Michael Dannenberg, a vice president at the Education Reform Now think tank.
“White applicants have between eight and 16 generations of ancestors on which to establish an alumni connection,” said Dannenberg, who has opposed the practice since he was an aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, the late Massachusetts Democrat, two decades ago. “For the vast majority of Black and Latino applicants, there’s maybe one or two generations.”
On college campuses, student activists say they continue to face resistance from school leaders who defend the policy. But at a time of rising populism in the United States, colleges are unlikely to find allies in Congress and other halls of power, said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank in Washington.
Especially in the wake of the Varsity Blues admissions scandal, he said, it’s becoming more difficult for colleges to defend policies that benefit the wealthy.
“They are clearly vulnerable on this issue,” he said.
In the wake of that scandal, Colorado became the first state in the nation to outlaw legacy preferences at public colleges. California lawmakers required colleges to disclose how many legacy students get accepted.
Among campus activists, there’s a driving desire to change the perception that top colleges are ivory towers reserved for the wealthy. When Viet Andy Nguyen applied to Brown University as a low-income, first-generation student, he knew he was competing against wealthier students with alumni connections. It made him question whether Brown was really a place for people like him.
After graduating from Brown in 2017, he launched the nonprofit EdMobilizer with the goal of expanding access to college and ending legacy preferences. He has orchestrated a donation boycott at schools across the U.S., and he’s helping students fight the practice on scores of campuses.
It isn’t lost on him that he’s challenging a policy that could benefit his future children. He has faced resistance from some students of color who wonder why he wants to end it now, when campuses are more racially diverse than ever. But to him, the goal is to open doors for students who have been excluded, not to create “an elite lineage of people of color.”
“My kids will be fine,” he said. “They don’t need an additional bump just for being my offspring.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/from-campus-to-congress-colleges-urged-to-end-legacy-boost-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:38
|
en
| 0.965524
|
By COSTAS KANTOURIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LARISSA, Greece (AP) — Greek farmers say they are determined to shut down all the country’s major highways to protest rising energy costs.
At a gathering south of the city of Larissa in central Greece, they decided Sunday to demand a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
As all of Europe is facing rising energy costs, Greek farmers are demanding subsidies to reduce their fuel costs and an end to the electricity price adjustment cost, which reflects changes in the price of oil and natural gas imports.
Greece has among the highest taxes on fuel in the 27-nation European Union, accounting for about two-thirds of the price.
“Diesel costs about 1.60 euros (per liter), while in other European countries it is 70 cents,” Asterios Tsikritsis, president of the farmers’ union in the city of Tirnavos, north of Larissa, told The Associated Press.
Greek farmers have already been blocking a major road connecting Larissa to the city of Kozani to the northwest for about ten days. On Sunday, they spilled milk on the road as part of their protest.
“At present, it is questionable whether us and our flocks will survive,” said Argiris Bairachtaris, president of the Tirnavos animal farmers’ union.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/greek-farmers-threaten-to-block-highways-in-energy-protest-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:44
|
en
| 0.931781
|
By COSTAS KANTOURIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LARISSA, Greece (AP) — Greek farmers, taking a page from the Canadian truckers’ protest handbook, say they are determined to shut down all the country’s major highways to protest rising energy costs.
At a gathering south of the city of Larissa in central Greece, they decided Sunday to demand a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
As all of Europe is facing rising energy costs, Greek farmers are demanding subsidies to reduce their fuel costs and an end to the electricity price adjustment cost, which reflects changes in the price of oil and natural gas imports.
Greece has among the highest taxes on fuel in the 27-nation European Union, accounting for about two-thirds of the price.
“Diesel costs about 1.60 euros (per liter), while in other European countries it is 70 cents,” Asterios Tsikritsis, president of the farmers’ union in the city of Tirnavos, north of Larissa, told The Associated Press.
Greek farmers have already been blocking a major road connecting Larissa to the city of Kozani to the northwest for about ten days. On Sunday, they spilled milk on the road as part of their protest.
“At present, it is questionable whether us and our flocks will survive,” said Argiris Bairachtaris, president of the Tirnavos animal farmers’ union.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/greek-farmers-threaten-to-block-highways-in-energy-protest/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:51
|
en
| 0.929851
|
By ROB GILLIES and COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing on Sunday, trying to end a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralyzed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.
Windsor police said about 12 were peacefully arrested and seven vehicles were towed just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge that links their city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.
It was not immediately clear when the bridge might be opened but Windsor’s Mayor Drew Kiklens said he hoped it would be Sunday.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” he added later. “Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination.
Only a few protesters had remained after police on Saturday persuaded demonstrators to move their pickup trucks and others cars that they used to block a crossing that sees 25% of all trade between the two countries.
In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said were 4,000 demonstrators on Saturday. The city has seen similar expansions on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January.
“The whole city is furious at being abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect us. They have completely abandoned the rule of law. @OttawaPolice have lost credibility. #OttawaPoliceFailed,” tweeted Artur Wilczynski, a senior government national security official at Canada’s Communications Security Establishment.
A former minister in Trudeau’s Cabinet also blasted her former federal colleagues as well as the province and city for not putting an end to the protests.
“Amazingly, this isn’t just Ottawa. It’s the nation’s capital,” Catherine McKenna tweeted. “But no one — not the city, the province or the federal government can seem to get their act together to end this illegal occupation. It’s appalling. … Just get your act together. Now.”
Trudeau has so far rejected calls to use the military, but had said that “all options are on the table” to end the protests that have slowed industries on both sides of the border. Trudeau has called the protesters a “fringe” of Canadian society. Both federal and provincial politicians have said they can’t order police what to do.
Ottawa police said in a statement late Saturday that a joint command center had been established with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They said that would beef up enforcement capabilities that had been limited by “safety concerns — arising from aggressive, illegal behavior by many demonstrators — limited police enforcement capabilities.”
Police earlier issued a statement calling the protest an unlawful occupation and saying they were waiting for reinforcements before implementing a plan to end the demonstrations.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency last week for the capital, where hundreds of trucks remained in front of the Parliament Buildings and demonstrators have set up portable toilets outside the prime minister’s office where Trudeau’s motorcade usually parks.
Even after protesters’ vehicles were removed early Saturday, hundreds more arrived to bolster the crowd and settled into a faceoff with police about two blocks away, waving flags and yelling.
On Friday, a judge ordered an end to the blockade of mostly pickup trucks and cars, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency allowing for fines of 100,000 Canadian dollars and up to one year in jail for anyone illegally blocking roads, bridges, walkways and other critical infrastructure.
With the bridge closed, auto plants on both sides have been forced to shut down or reduce production. The standoff came at a time when the industry is already struggling to maintain production in the face of pandemic-induced shortages of computer chips and other supply-chain disruptions.
“We are protesting the government taking away our rights,” said Windsor resident Eunice Lucas-Logan. “We want the restrictions removed. We have to wait to find out.”
The 67-year-old has been out supporting the protest for the past four days. She said she appreciated that police have been patient.
In Ottawa, 31-year-old Stephanie Ravensbergen said she turned out to support her aunt and uncle who have parked their semi in the streets since the beginning of the protest. She opposes vaccine and mask requirements, and said it’s important for schoolchildren to be able see their friends’ faces and emotions.
“We want the right to choose,” Ravensbergen said. “We want the right to be able to do what everybody else can do.”
On the other side of the country, protesters disrupted operations at another border crossing between Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington, but officials said it was not blocked. A border crossings in Alberta remained shut down as well.
While the protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions, many of Canada’s public health measures, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants and theaters, are already falling away as the omicron surge levels off.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter there than in the U.S., but Canadians have largely supported them. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
____
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Ted Shaffrey in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/police-arrest-protesters-who-remained-at-us-canada-bridge-5/
| 2022-02-13T20:45:57
|
en
| 0.971872
|
By ROB GILLIES and COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing on Sunday, ending a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralyzed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.
Windsor police said about 12 were peacefully arrested and seven vehicles were towed just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge that links their city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.
It was not immediately clear when the bridge might be opened but Windsor’s Mayor Drew Kiklens said he hoped it would be Sunday.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” he added later. “Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination.
Only a few protesters had remained after police on Saturday persuaded demonstrators to move their pickup trucks and others cars that they used to block a crossing that sees 25% of all trade between the two countries.
In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said were 4,000 demonstrators on Saturday. The city has seen similar expansions on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January.
“The whole city is furious at being abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect us. They have completely abandoned the rule of law. @OttawaPolice have lost credibility. #OttawaPoliceFailed,” tweeted Artur Wilczynski, a senior government national security official at Canada’s Communications Security Establishment.
A former minister in Trudeau’s Cabinet also blasted her former federal colleagues as well as the province and city for not putting an end to the protests.
“Amazingly, this isn’t just Ottawa. It’s the nation’s capital,” Catherine McKenna tweeted. “But no one — not the city, the province or the federal government can seem to get their act together to end this illegal occupation. It’s appalling. … Just get your act together. Now.”
Trudeau has so far rejected calls to use the military, but had said that “all options are on the table” to end the protests that have slowed industries on both sides of the border. Trudeau has called the protesters a “fringe” of Canadian society. Both federal and provincial politicians have said they can’t order police what to do.
Ottawa police said in a statement late Saturday that a joint command center had been established with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They said that would beef up enforcement capabilities that had been limited by “safety concerns — arising from aggressive, illegal behavior by many demonstrators — limited police enforcement capabilities.”
Police earlier issued a statement calling the protest an unlawful occupation and saying they were waiting for reinforcements before implementing a plan to end the demonstrations.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency last week for the capital, where hundreds of trucks remained in front of the Parliament Buildings and demonstrators have set up portable toilets outside the prime minister’s office where Trudeau’s motorcade usually parks.
Even after protesters’ vehicles were removed early Saturday, hundreds more arrived to bolster the crowd and settled into a faceoff with police about two blocks away, waving flags and yelling.
On Friday, a judge ordered an end to the blockade of mostly pickup trucks and cars, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency allowing for fines of 100,000 Canadian dollars and up to one year in jail for anyone illegally blocking roads, bridges, walkways and other critical infrastructure.
Partial closures at the bridge started on Feb. 7 and by midweek the disruption was so severe that automakers began shutting down or reducing production. The standoff came at a time when the industry is already struggling to maintain production in the face of pandemic-induced shortages of computer chips and other supply-chain disruptions.
“We are protesting the government taking away our rights,” said Windsor resident Eunice Lucas-Logan. “We want the restrictions removed. We have to wait to find out.”
The 67-year-old has been out supporting the protest for the past four days. She said she appreciated that police have been patient.
In Ottawa, 31-year-old Stephanie Ravensbergen said she turned out to support her aunt and uncle who have parked their semi in the streets since the beginning of the protest. She opposes vaccine and mask requirements, and said it’s important for schoolchildren to be able see their friends’ faces and emotions.
“We want the right to choose,” Ravensbergen said. “We want the right to be able to do what everybody else can do.”
On the other side of the country, a major truck border crossing between Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington, was closed on Sunday, a day after Canadian authorities said a few vehicles had breached police barricades and a crowd entered the area by foot.
The RCMP issued a statement saying that while no one had been injured, the actions were dangerous and being investigated.
A border crossing in Alberta remained shut down as well.
While the protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions, many of Canada’s public health measures, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants and theaters, are already falling away as the omicron surge levels off.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter there than in the U.S., but Canadians have largely supported them. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
____
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Ted Shaffrey in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/police-arrest-protesters-who-remained-at-us-canada-bridge-6/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:03
|
en
| 0.97367
|
By ROB GILLIES and COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing on Sunday, ending a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.
Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralyzed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.
Windsor police said about 12 were peacefully arrested and seven vehicles were towed just after dawn near the Ambassador Bridge that links their city — and numerous Canadian automotive plants — with Detroit.
It was not immediately clear when the bridge might be opened but Windsor’s Mayor Drew Kiklens said he hoped it would be Sunday.
“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” he added later. “Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so and I defer to police and border agencies to make that determination.
Only a few protesters had remained after police on Saturday persuaded demonstrators to move their pickup trucks and others cars that they used to block a crossing that sees 25% of all trade between the two countries.
In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said were 4,000 demonstrators by Saturday, and a counter-protest of frustrated Ottawa residents attempting to block the convoy of trucks from entering the downtown emerged Sunday.
The city has seen similar expansions of the protest on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January.
“The whole city is furious at being abandoned by the people who are supposed to protect us. They have completely abandoned the rule of law. @OttawaPolice have lost credibility. #OttawaPoliceFailed,” tweeted Artur Wilczynski, a senior government national security official at Canada’s Communications Security Establishment.
A former minister in Trudeau’s Cabinet also blasted her former federal colleagues as well as the province and city for not putting an end to the protests.
“Amazingly, this isn’t just Ottawa. It’s the nation’s capital,” Catherine McKenna tweeted. “But no one — not the city, the province or the federal government can seem to get their act together to end this illegal occupation. It’s appalling. … Just get your act together. Now.”
Trudeau has so far rejected calls to use the military, but had said that “all options are on the table” to end the protests. Trudeau has called the protesters a “fringe” of Canadian society. Both federal and provincial politicians have said they can’t order police what to do.
Ottawa police said in a statement late Saturday that a joint command center had been established with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They said that would beef up enforcement capabilities that had been limited by “safety concerns — arising from aggressive, illegal behavior by many demonstrators.”
Police earlier issued a statement calling the protest an unlawful occupation and saying they were waiting for reinforcements before implementing a plan to end the demonstrations.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency last week for the capital, where hundreds of trucks remained in front of the Parliament Buildings and demonstrators have set up portable toilets outside the prime minister’s office where Trudeau’s motorcade usually parks.
On Friday, a judge ordered an end to the blockade at the crossing in Windsor and Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency allowing for fines of 100,000 Canadian dollars and up to one year in jail for anyone illegally blocking roads, bridges, walkways and other critical infrastructure.
Partial closures at the bridge started on Feb. 7 and by midweek the disruption was so severe that automakers began shutting down or reducing production. The standoff came at a time when the industry is already struggling to maintain production in the face of pandemic-induced shortages of computer chips and other supply-chain disruptions.
“We are protesting the government taking away our rights,” said Windsor resident Eunice Lucas-Logan. “We want the restrictions removed. We have to wait to find out.”
The 67-year-old has been out supporting the protest for the past four days. She said she appreciated that police have been patient.
In Ottawa, 31-year-old Stephanie Ravensbergen said she turned out to support her aunt and uncle who have parked their semi in the streets since the beginning of the protest. She opposes vaccine and mask requirements, and said it’s important for schoolchildren to be able see their friends’ faces and emotions.
“We want the right to choose,” Ravensbergen said. “We want the right to be able to do what everybody else can do.”
On the other side of the country, a major truck border crossing between Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington, was closed on Sunday, a day after Canadian authorities said a few vehicles had breached police barricades and a crowd entered the area by foot.
The RCMP issued a statement saying that while no one had been injured, the actions were dangerous and being investigated.
A border crossing in Alberta remained shut down as well.
While the protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions, many of Canada’s public health measures, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants and theaters, are already falling away as the omicron surge levels off.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter there than in the U.S., but Canadians have largely supported them. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
____
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Ted Shaffrey in Ottawa, Ontario, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/police-arrest-protesters-who-remained-at-us-canada-bridge-7/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:09
|
en
| 0.972783
|
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan responded to claims on Sunday that the United States is sparking panic in Ukraine about a potential Russian invasion, stressing that it is Russia’s closing in of the smaller nation that is “the source of the alarm.”
The intelligence official appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” where he spoke to host Jake Tapper about what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. The U.S. recently announced plans to evacuate most of its diplomatic staff from Kyiv and ordered 3,000 troops to Poland on top of the 1,700 who are on their way there in demonstration of American commitment to worried NATO allies.
At a press conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “the best friend for enemies is panic in our country. And all this information helps only to create panic. It doesn’t help us.”
When asked whether the U.S. is dangerously sparking panic in Ukraine, Sullivan said the White House is trying to “be transparent to American citizens that they should leave Ukraine immediately, because there will not be a military evacuation in the event of an invasion.”
“Only one country has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine. It’s not the United States. It’s Russia. That is the source of the alarm,” Sullivan said. “And we are trying to tell Ukrainians to prepare and be ready for this as well, as well as coordinate with our NATO allies and partners, so that we are able to defend NATO territory and deter any further Russian aggression should they move on Ukraine.”
“But fundamentally, our view is that we’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” he continued. “We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can, and share that information as widely as we can. That’s what we have done. That’s what we will continue to do.”
Sullivan recently also warned that U.S. intelligence shows that Russia could invade Ukraine within days, and before the Winter Olympics in Beijing end on Feb. 20. The national security adviser told reporters on Friday that intelligence shows military action could start with missile and air attacks, followed by a ground offensive. Russia has continued to deny that it plans to invade, despite its continued buildup of firepower on three sides of Ukraine.
“The hysteria of the White House is more indicative than ever,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, according to The Associated Press. “The Anglo-Saxons need a war. At any cost. Provocations, misinformation and threats are a favorite method of solving their own problems.”
The Defense Department has publicly warned that Russian operatives were planning a false-flag operation, a plan in which the country would stage a fake attack on itself to have an excuse to intervene in Ukraine. Earlier this month, intelligence officials alleged there is a Russian plot to fabricate a graphic video ― allegedly staged with explosions and corpses ― as pretext for an attack on Ukraine.
The claim received scrutiny from some reporters who called out the White House for not providing evidence for such a strong allegation.
“First, we’re not putting forward this intelligence to start a war, which has happened in the past, Jake. We are putting forward this intelligence to stop a war. And I think that fundamentally gives it, at the outset, a different level of credibility,” Sullivan said Sunday, adding that a false-flag operation is “consistent with the Russian playbook.”
Russia indeed has a history of using false-flag operations, one example being in 1968 when the Kremlin used its intelligence service to create false-flag incidents to justify Soviet military intervention in Czechoslovakia.
“And then, third, if you look at Russian media, they are laying the groundwork for a potential pretext by raising the possibility of attacks by Ukrainian forces on either Russians themselves or Russia’s proxy forces in the Donbass,” he continued.
“And then, finally, what we have said, stood at the podium and shared with our allies that we have information that we have gathered through intelligence that indicates that there is active planning for this. And it’s not just the United States saying it. We have our NATO allies stepping out and saying it as well, because they have been able to review that intelligence, assess its credibility and reach the same conclusion we have reached. So, I do think the world should be prepared for Russia staging a pretext and then launching a potential military action,” he said.
On Saturday, President Joe Biden held an hourlong call with Vladimir Putin in which the White House said he told the Russian president that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios.”
“There was no fundamental change in the dynamic that has been unfolding now for several weeks, but we believe that we have put ideas on the table that would be in our and our allies’ interest to pursue, that would enhance European security, and that would also address some of Russia’s stated concerns, just as we have been clear that we are committed to upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the rights of states to choose their own security arrangements,” said a senior administration official who briefed reporters about the call.
“But it remains unclear whether Russia is interested in pursuing its goals diplomatically as opposed to through the use of force,” the official said.
Russia has been in aggressive conflict with Ukraine since 2014, when the latter nation’s Kremlin-friendly leader was ousted by a popular uprising that has demanded a democracy more aligned with the West. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
France and Germany helped broker a 2015 peace deal that helped halt large-scale battles. However, regular clashes have continued with efforts to reach a political settlement having stalled. The current tensions with Russia come as NATO countries deliberate whether to allow Ukraine to enter the alliance ― a move Russia sees as a major security threat due to its shared borders with Ukraine.
|
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-security-adviser-jake-sullivan-russia-us-alarm-ukraine_n_6209405be4b0ccfb3e56b643
| 2022-02-13T20:46:13
|
en
| 0.971585
|
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah has added another month to its streak of record cargo volumes amid a surge that’s forced U.S. seaports to scramble to meet demand.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported nearly 480,000 container units of imports and exports moved across Savannah’s docks last month. That’s an increase of 4% compared with January 2021, when cargo volumes were already unusually high.
Business has been booming at U.S. seaports as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, retailers rush to keep their inventories stocked and online shopping continues to grow.
The port authority reported last month that Savannah saw a 20% increase in shipping containers for all of 2021, when it handled a record total of 5.6 million container units.
Port officials said Savannah posted record container numbers for all 12 months of last year.
To alleviate traffic jams last fall that kept ships waiting at sea and containers piling up on land, the port authority added workers and new equipment. The agency also set up inland sites to temporarily store cargo and free up space at Savannah’s container terminal.
The Port of the Savannah is the fourth-busiest U.S. seaport for cargo in shipping containers, giant metal boxes used to transport goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/port-of-savannah-reports-record-cargo-volumes-for-january-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:15
|
en
| 0.927529
|
BEIJING (AP) — Across two pandemic Olympics set in Asian countries, Asian American women fronting the Games have encountered a whiplashing duality — prized on the global stage for their medal-winning talent, buffeted by the escalating crisis of racist abuse at home.
The world’s most elite and international sporting event, which pits athletes and countries against each other, underscores along the way the crude reality that many Asian women face: of only being seen when they have something to offer.
“It’s like Asian American women can’t win,” says Jeff Yang, an author and cultural critic. “Asian American female athletes, like most Asian American women in many other spaces, are seen as worthy when they can deliver … and then disposed of otherwise.”
The issue is playing out at the Beijing Winter Games, the third straight Olympics set in Asia and the second held during the unrelenting global coronavirus crisis — and playing out, too, during a rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
Here, U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim and China’s freestyle skier Eileen Gu are the latest additions to the list of American women of Asian descent who have been “It Girls” of the Winter Games, joining icons like American figure skaters Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan.
When Kim and Gu earned their gold medals in Beijing, it was the perfect bow on professional narratives that have been covered incessantly leading up to the actual event. Their star power and talent made them two of the de facto spokeswomen for the Olympics.
Meanwhile, other Asian American women like figure skaters Karen Chen and Alysa Liu of the U.S. team and Zhu Yi of the China team have also been promoted by their national teams and scrutinized — sometimes harshly — by Olympic fans.
Commentators have mocked Yi for falling in the team event, as if she deserved the mistake after giving up her U.S. citizenship to compete for her ancestral homeland. Others are angry that she “stole” the Olympic spot from an actual China-born athlete.
Even the winners struggle to feel fully embraced in America.
Kim, who won the halfpipe at the Beijing and Pyeongchang Olympics, has revealed she was tormented online daily. She says she was consumed by fear that her parents could be killed whenever she heard news about another brutal assault on an Asian person.
There have been more than 10,000 reported anti-Asian incidents — from taunts to outright assaults – between March 2020 and September 2021, according to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that gathers data on racially motivated attacks related to the pandemic.
“The experience of hate is withering, and it takes a huge mental health toll,” says Cynthia Choi, the coalition’s co-founder. “When we think about the Olympics, it’s really incredibly powerful to have taken place in Asia three times in a row. That context is very significant, and to have Asian Americans and Asians representing the United States in these games is more than symbolic.”
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country have endured racist verbal, physical and sometimes deadly attacks for two years now, fueled by the pandemic.
Some perpetrators have based their hate on the fact that the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. Adding to the mix: former President Donald Trump, who regularly talked about COVID-19 in racial terms.
Gu, the daredevil freestyle skier who placed first in the big air competition, said she’d never been as scared as when a man directed a tirade about the coronavirus’ Chinese origins against her and her immigrant grandmother at a San Francisco pharmacy.
The San Francisco native, fashion model and social media figure has also been criticized with anti-China rhetoric for switching from the U.S. team to the China team. Conservative Fox News personalities Tucker Carlson and Will Cain even dedicated a segment to berating Gu, saying she was “ungrateful” and is “betraying her country.”
Those racist denunciations have been called out on social media for being hypocritical. Phil Yu, who runs the popular Angry Asian Man blog, tweeted succinctly: “Oh sure, it’s always ‘go back to your country’ but not ‘go back to your country and win a gold medal.’”
The dichotomy of the Asian American woman’s existence is not limited to Winter Olympians, though. In October, Hmong American gymnast Sunisa Lee said she was pepper sprayed by someone shouting racist slurs while driving by in a car. At the time, she was standing outside with a group of Asian American friends in Los Angeles while filming the “Dancing with the Stars” TV show.
Lesser-profile Olympians from the Tokyo Games like golfer Danielle Kang and karateka Sukura Kokumai spoke about their experiences with anti-Asian hate last summer.
Kang said she’s fought racism all her life and urged for a broader social studies curriculum that could better capture today’s multicultural America.
“I’ve been told to go back to China. I don’t know why they think China is the only Asian country,” said the Korean American athlete. “I also have heard, ‘Do you eat dogs for dinner?’ It’s nothing new to me. However, the violence was very upsetting. But the violence also has been around. I’ve gotten into fist fights. I’ve grown up like this.”
Kokumai, who is Japanese American, was angry to discover that the same man who had harassed her in April with racist slurs also assaulted an elderly Asian American couple.
Equally painful: colleagues’ silence when the incident was reported. She said Japan’s coach called her about it before members of her U.S. team did.
“It was really hurtful that it took so long for my side of the federation to address it,” Kokumai said last summer.
In July, when Lee became the surprise breakout star of the Tokyo Olympics by winning gold in the all-around event and bronze on uneven bars, Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, said she felt conflicted about seeing Lee on a pedestal given the way Hmongs have been marginalized.
“I’m really wrestling with this idea that we’re all ‘American’ only when it comes to us being excellent and winning medals for the country,” Choimorrow said. “Asian American women are hyper-visible in ways that dehumanize us and completely invisible in the ways that humanize us.”
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/olympics-asian-american-women-hate_n_62094c2ae4b0e224afc8d4f0
| 2022-02-13T20:46:19
|
en
| 0.97287
|
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah has added another month to its streak of record cargo volumes amid a surge that’s forced U.S. seaports to scramble to meet demand.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported nearly 480,000 container units of imports and exports moved across Savannah’s docks last month. That’s an increase of 4% compared with January 2021, when cargo volumes were already unusually high.
Business has been booming at U.S. seaports as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, retailers rush to keep their inventories stocked and online shopping continues to grow.
The port authority reported last month that Savannah saw a 20% increase in shipping containers for all of 2021, when it handled a record total of 5.6 million container units.
Port officials said Savannah posted record container numbers for all 12 months of last year.
To alleviate traffic jams last fall that kept ships waiting at sea and containers piling up on land, the port authority added workers and new equipment. The agency also set up inland sites to temporarily store cargo and free up space at Savannah’s container terminal.
The Port of the Savannah is the fourth-busiest U.S. seaport for cargo in shipping containers, giant metal boxes used to transport goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/port-of-savannah-reports-record-cargo-volumes-for-january/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:22
|
en
| 0.927529
|
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Saudi Arabia views Cyprus as a “bridge” between the Middle East and the European Union, helping the 27-nation bloc “understand what’s going on” in the region, the Saudi foreign minister said Sunday.
Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, speaking after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides, said that Cyprus helps “really focus the attention” on all the opportunities and challenges in the Middle East.
Cyprus has ramped up its outreach to Gulf states in recent years to act as a broker as the closest EU-member country to the region.
The Saudi top diplomat said both his country and Cyprus have a “very, very strong alignment” regarding regional stability and terrorism “whether it is (Yemen’s) Houthis or others.”
He said both countries agree in the primacy of international law.
“If we do not all agree that international law is the primary guide of state relations, we risk the instability for all,” Al Saud said. “I think it’s important that we all stand together to defend the primacy of international law or state sovereignty, a rejection of interventionism of all sorts.”
A coalition led by the Saudis entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to try and restore the country’s internationally recognized government, which had been ousted by the Iran-backed Houthis the year before. The conflict has turned into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with international criticism of Saudi airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians and targeted the country’s infrastructure.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have used child soldiers and indiscriminately laid landmines across the country.
Some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians, have been killed in the Yemen conflict, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/saudi-sees-cyprus-as-bridge-between-europe-middle-east/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:28
|
en
| 0.950784
|
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities ... made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-avocados-mexican-super-bowl_n_62095cd7e4b0328e00280391
| 2022-02-13T20:46:28
|
en
| 0.961171
|
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) — Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a government plan to inject more than 150 million francs (about $163 million) into broadcast and print media every year, including support for early-morning newspaper delivery and online media to the tune of 70 million francs (nearly $76 million) a year, according to exit polls.
Some 56% of voters rejected the measure, public broadcaster SRF reported.
Opponents of the plan, which had been passed by Swiss lawmakers in June, had pulled together enough signatures in a petition to put the issue before the public, part of Switzerland’s particular form of democracy that gives voters in the country of 8.5 million a direct say in policymaking.
Foes of the plan had said the cash injection would waste taxpayer money, benefit big newspaper chains and the media moguls who run them and hurt journalistic independence by making media outlets more dependent on state handouts and thus less likely to criticize public officials. They also said it was discriminatory, since free newspapers wouldn’t benefit.
“A media subsidized by the state is a media under control. As the adage goes: ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,’” wrote the opponents who pressed for the referendum. They say big print-media groups together took in more than 300 million in profits in 2020, even during the COVID-19 crisis.
Many other countries in Europe and beyond offer support to newspapers through postal fee discounts, tax breaks and other measures.
Supporters of the cash injection had countered that journalism, especially in local areas ill-served by big media groups, should be considered a public service, as are many public radio and television broadcasters in Switzerland and around Europe.
“Media groups are fighting to survive. Ad revenues for print press haven’t stopped declining or are getting swallowed up by giants like Facebook and Google, and subscriptions aren’t enough,” the Swiss Green party, which supported the measure, had argued before the vote.
Proponents said more than 70 papers have disappeared since 2003. Advertising revenue in all print publications plunged 42% between 2016-2020 in Switzerland.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/swiss-voters-reject-public-aid-plan-for-newspapers-media-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:34
|
en
| 0.966338
|
By JIM HEINTZ and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine’s president played down intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence, even as the U.S. warned Sunday of more Russian troops pressing closer to Ukraine’s borders and some airlines canceled or diverted flights there.
The White House said President Joe Biden would talk later in the day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader’s repeated statements urging calm among his people — while Russian forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what Russia insists are military exercises — grew this weekend to Zelenskyy questioning strident warnings from U.S. officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.
The U.S. picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a U.S. official familiar with the findings. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.
“We’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the U.S. warnings.
“We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can,” he said.
The U.S. largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing.
The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that Russia had well over 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders, “and actually, over the last few days, even more.”
Kirby cited “a mosaic of intelligence” the U.S. had gathered, but gave no details. “We have good sources of intelligence and they’re telling us that, you know, that things are sort of building now to some crescendo opportunity for Mr. Putin.”
Zelenskyy’s comments this weekend indicated frustration at the warnings from Washington, as he tries to minimizes damage to Ukraine’s economy during the crisis.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said in a live broadcast. “If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”
In an hourlong call Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.
Reflecting the West’s concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said.
Dutch sensitivity to potential danger in Ukrainian airspace is high following the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian jetliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as it flew over a part of eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed rebels. All 298 people aboard died, including 198 Dutch citizens.
The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau after the plane’s Irish lessor said it was banning flights in Ukrainian airspace.
Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov told The Associated Press that Ukraine has not closed its airspace.
But Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea to be a “zone of potential danger” and recommended that planes avoid flying over the sea Feb. 14-19.
The Putin-Biden conversation, following a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday to meet with the presidents in those capitals.
While the U.S. and its NATO allies have no plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, an invasion and resulting punishing sanctions could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.
In a sign that American officials are preparing for a worst-case scenario, the United States announced plans to evacuate most of its staff from the embassy in Kyiv and urged all American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. Britain joined other European nations in telling its citizens to leave.
Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO’s eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The U.S. Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.
Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.
“My family has always been prepared, we have all the stuff gathered for like a couple of years now. Honestly, I’m not afraid because the war wouldn’t start like in a week,” 21-year-old Yuliia Zaets said at a pro-government rally on Saturday.
___
Knickmeyer reported from Washingon. Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/ukraines-leader-asks-for-evidence-on-new-invasion-warnings/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:40
|
en
| 0.96536
|
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, JIM HEINTZ and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s president urged calm amid intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence of that, even as the U.S. reported Sunday that Moscow positioned more of its troops closer to Ukraine’s borders and some airlines canceled or diverted flights to the capital of Kyiv.
President Joe Biden spoke for about 50 minutes Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and renewed promises of what the West says will be tough economic sanctions against Moscow and a NATO buildup in the event of “any further Russian aggression” against Ukraine, the White House said. They agreed to pursue both deterrence and diplomacy in the crisis, it added.
The U.S. updated its estimate for how many Russian forces were now staged near Ukraine’s borders to more than 130,000, up from the 100,000 the U.S. has cited publicly in previous weeks. A U.S. official gave the estimate, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s conclusion.
Zelenskyy’s repeated statements playing down the U.S. warnings — while Moscow’s forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what the Kremlin insists are military exercises — grew this weekend to his questioning the increasingly strident statements from U.S. officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.
While Zelenskyy has urged against panic that he fears could undermine Ukraine’s economy, he and his civilian and military leaders also are preparing defenses, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the U.S. and other NATO members.
Zelenskyy wore military olive drab at a drill with tanks and helicopters near Ukraine’s border with Russian-annexed Crimea this weekend. In the nearby city of Kalanchak, some expressed disbelief that Russian President Vladimir Putin would really send the troops poised along Ukraine’s borders rolling into the country.
“I don’t believe Russia will attack us,” said resident Boris Cherepenko. “I have friends in Sakhalin, in Krasnodar,” he said, naming Russian locations. “I don’t believe it.”
The U.S. picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a U.S. official familiar with the findings. The official, who also was not authorized to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.
“We’re not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the U.S. warnings.
“We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can,” he said.
The U.S. largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing.
The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.
Zelenskyy’s comments this weekend indicated frustration at the warnings from Washington.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,” he said in a live broadcast. “If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.”
In an hourlong call Saturday with Putin, Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.
Reflecting the West’s concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said.
Dutch sensitivity to potential danger in Ukrainian airspace is high following the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian jetliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as it flew over a part of eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed rebels. All 298 people aboard died, including 198 Dutch citizens.
The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau after the plane’s Irish lessor said it was banning flights in Ukrainian airspace.
Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov told The Associated Press that Ukraine has not closed its airspace.
But Ukraine’s air traffic safety agency Ukraerorukh issued a statement declaring the airspace over the Black Sea to be a “zone of potential danger” and recommended that planes avoid flying over the sea Feb. 14-19.
The Putin-Biden conversation, following a call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day, came at a critical moment for what has become the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. officials believe they have mere days to prevent an invasion and enormous bloodshed in Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday to meet with the presidents in those capitals.
While the U.S. and its NATO allies were had plans to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, an invasion and resulting punishing sanctions could reverberate far beyond the former Soviet republic, affecting energy supplies, global markets and the power balance in Europe.
Preparing for a worst-case scenario, the United States was pulling most of its staff from the embassy in Kyiv and urged all American citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. Britain joined other European nations in telling its citizens to leave.
Biden has bolstered the U.S. military presence in Europe as reassurance to allies on NATO’s eastern flank. The 3,000 additional soldiers ordered to Poland come on top of 1,700 who are on their way there. The U.S. Army also is shifting 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania, which like Poland shares a border with Ukraine.
Russia is demanding that the West keep former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons near its border and to roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly leader was driven from office by a popular uprising. Moscow responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula and then backing a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has killed over 14,000 people.
A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany helped halt large-scale battles, but regular skirmishes have continued, and efforts to reach a political settlement have stalled.
“My family has always been prepared, we have all the stuff gathered for like a couple of years now. Honestly, I’m not afraid because the war wouldn’t start like in a week,” 21-year-old Yuliia Zaets said at a pro-government rally on Saturday.
___
Heintz reported from Moscow. Yuras Karmanau and Nebi Qena in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Oleksandr Stashevsky in Kalanchak, Ukraine, contributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/us-over-130000-russian-troops-now-staged-outside-ukraine/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:47
|
en
| 0.964224
|
NEW YORK (AP) — Family has always held an important place in Brandon Maxwell’s fashion shows, but never more than in his latest — a deeply emotional tribute to his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, and the prominence of family in his life and career.
Saturday night’s show in a dimly lit theater near Union Square also featured a return to the runway of supermodel Karlie Kloss, who both opened and closed the proceedings.
Unlike past shows brimming with bold colors, psychedelic patterns, blaring music and even a pink runway, Maxwell’s Fall-Winter 2022 collection featured neutral tones and warm, comforting ensembles like chunky fisherman sweaters paired with satiny long skirts and lush shawls.
The vibe was intentionally quiet and intimate, with the focus on his 84-year-old grandmother, affectionately called Mammaw. Maxwell said he’d found his way to fashion through his grandmother’s closet of treasures.
“We go on this road of going, going, moving forward,” Maxwell said in a post-show interview. “In the end, we are lucky if we have one person that really just sits by the bedside with us.”
The designer opened his show with a video montage asking “Who is Brandon Maxwell?” and the sound of Siri reading his Wikipedia page. Videos and photos of his family, friends and especially Mammaw filled the screen before it cut to black and her own words, “We had a good time, didn’t we?” echoed into the darkness.
Maxwell noted that he had told his models before the show about the significance of his collection. “I said to them before the show that this is the one chance I get to honor her life,” he said.
To Brandi Carlile’s cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — a nod to his hometown of Longview, Texas — models walked in tailored jackets paired with flowing dresses and those knitted fisherman sweaters over ballgown skirts. Maxwell also brought back his signature ready-to-wear red carpet looks and showcased figure-hugging floor-length dresses.
Kloss made a return to the runway to open and close Maxwell’s show. The two have become close over the years after appearing on “Project Runway” together as judges.
A big hit of the night was the feathered shawls that draped the models’ shoulders as they wound their way around the catwalk.
The last sounds of the show, fittingly, came from Maxwell’s grandmother. He was heard asking her what she wanted him to remember most about their relationship. “Just remember how much I loved you,” came the reply.
“I’ve done a lot of shows where I was thinking about the process of what everybody else would think,” Maxwell said after the show, “and this was probably the first one where I did not consider it.”
|
https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/brandon-maxwell-pays-emotional-tribute-to-his-grandmother/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:48
|
en
| 0.981199
|
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extortion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to rein in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl-3/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:48
|
en
| 0.958391
|
NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees.
“Death on the Nile,” Branagh’s follow-up to the 2017 hit “Murder on the Orient Express,” led all films with $12.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Produced under 20th Century Fox before its acquisition by the Walt Disney Co., “Death on the Nile” had been delayed by the pandemic and by scandal that engulfed one of its stars, Armie Hammer.
Last March, Hammer was put under investigationby Los Angeles police in a sexual assault. Hammer has denied the allegation.
After considering other avenues, reportedly including reshooting parts of the film without Hammer, Disney opted to release “Death on the Nile” as it was — albeit with less fanfare on a weekend the film industry often yields to football. The $90 million film, which also stars Gal Gadot, Emma McKay and Branagh, reprising his role as detective Hercule Poirot, had once seemed a reliable money-maker. “Murder on the Orient Express” launched with $28.7 million in 2017 and ended up grossing $352.8 million worldwide against a $55 million budget. “Death on the Nile” added $20.7 million in international receipts.
Hollywood’s biggest pitch to moviegoers over the weekend wasn’t in theaters but in television ads. After two years of the pandemic, a heavy-hitting lineup of blockbusters were set to roll out trailers during the Super Bowl broadcast and try to lure still-reluctant moviegoers back to theaters. Last year, when many theaters were still shuttered and few films were being released, Hollywood largely sat out the game. Jordan Peele’s “Nope” kicked off the daywith its first trailer early Sunday.
“Marry Me” opened with $8 million while simultaneously streaming on Peacock. The Universal Pictures release, which was timed to Valentine’s Day on Monday, stars Lopez as a pop star who, after finding out her fiancé has been cheating, marries a stranger (Owen Wilson) at one of her concerts. In recent years, streaming platforms have increasingly been the rom-com’s primary home. Netflix, in particular, has pumped out a constant stream of new entries in the genre. On Friday, Amazon Prime Video debuted its own: “I Want You Back,” with Charlie Day and Jenny Slate.
The lukewarm performance of “Marry Me” allowed last week’s top film, “Jackass Forever,” to narrowly edge it for second place. Johnny Knoxville’s sequel dropped a steep 65% from last weekend, coming in with an estimated $8.1 million for Paramount Pictures. Its grossed $37.4 million in total.
Another once dependable ticket-seller at the box office — a Liam Neeson thriller — also struggled. Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Blacklight,” a poorly reviewed action film starring the 69-year-old Neeson as a shadowy government agent, opened with $3.6 million.
Few films were set to capitalize in theaters on Tuesday’s Academy Awards nominations. As nominations came later than usual this year, most Oscar contenders — a field that Netflix led with 24 nominations — have been available for weeks, if not months, in the home. But a few films sought a post-nominations lift at the box office, even if the once expected “Oscar bump” is all but dead.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” up for three awards including best picture, had its widest week of release in its 12th week of release, playing in 1,977 theaters. It managed $922,500 in ticket sales, bringing its cumulative total to $14 million.
Branagh’s other film in release, “Belfast,” followed up its seven nominations by playing in 928 theaters and adding $285,000 to its $7.9 million gross. Other best-picture contenders — “Nightmare Alley” ($85,000) and “West Side Story” ($235,000) — made only minor blips.
The biggest bumps out there may have been for a few of the international contenders. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” which is nominated for four Oscars including best picture, saw a 92% spike in grossing $192,000 from 127 theaters. Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” nominated for best original screenplay and best international film, earned $255,395 on 49 screens in its second weekend.
The film expected to lead the box office next weekend — Sony’s video-game adaptation “Uncharted,” staring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg — began its release overseas, where it took in $21.5 million in 15 territories.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Death on the Nile,” $12.8 million.
2. “Jackass Forever,” $8.1 million.
3. “Marry Me,” $8 million.
4. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” $7.2 million.
5. “Blacklight,” $3.6 million.
6. “Sing 2,” $3 million.
7. “Moonfall,” $2.9 million.
8. “Scream,” $2.8 million.
9. “Licorice Pizza,” $922,500.
10. “The King’s Man,” $433,000.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/death-on-the-nile-tops-a-quiet-box-office-weekend/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:54
|
en
| 0.953732
|
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extorsion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
The import ban came on the day that the Mexican avocado growers and packers association unveiled its Super Bowl ad for this year. Mexican exporters have taken out the pricey ads for almost a decade in a bid to associate guacamole as a Super Bowl tradition.
This year’s ad shows Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, soothing their apparently violent differences by enjoying guacamole and avocados.
The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports. However, avocados for this year’s Super Bowl had already been exported in the weeks prior to the event.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The avocado ban was just the latest threat to Mexico’s export trade stemming from the government’s inability to reign in illegal activities.
On Thursday, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico for failing to stop illegal fishing to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.
The office said it had asked for “environment consultations” with Mexico, the first such case it has filed under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade pact. Consultations are the first step in the dispute resolution process under the trade agreement, which entered into force in 2020. If not resolved, it could eventually lead to trade sanctions.
Mexico’s government has largely abandoned attempts to enforce a fishing-free zone around an area where the last few vaquitas are believed to live in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Nets set illegally for another fish, the totoaba, drown vaquitas.
And on Monday, Mexican fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico were “prohibited from entering U.S. ports, will be denied port access and services,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, in response to years of Mexican boats illegally poaching red snapper in U.S. waters in the Gulf.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
|
https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl-4/
| 2022-02-13T20:46:54
|
en
| 0.958474
|
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Among the stars, Drake still shined the brightest.
In an all-white outfit, the multi-Grammy winner had many concertgoers jostling for position to watch him perform at the Super Bowl eve party dubbed “Homecoming Weekend” on Saturday night. He made a dramatic entrance, darting down an aisle before performing center stage under an airy tent at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California.
The crowd included many entertainers and athletes: Issa Rae, a mask-wearing Mike Tyson, Lil Wayne, Paul Pierce, Derrick Henry, Ricky Gervais, Jon Hamm, Nicole Scherzinger, Cedric the Entertainer, Karrueche Tran and Flava Flav.
While waiting for Drake, attendees mingled for a couple hours. Once he arrived, many flocked toward the stage and pulled out their phones to capture his 45-minute set.
Drake told the crowd that he was initially asked to deliver around five songs, but felt compelled to triple that amount because of where he traveled from.
“They flew me out of like three feet of snow for this, so I got to perform for you,” said Drake, who went on to perform bangers including “No Friends in the Industry” and “Girls Want Girls” from his recent album “Certified Lover Boy.”
The rap star talked about being able to perform in person and showed appreciation to everyone in attendance.
“I’m sure at one point we’re all sitting at home – maybe a little depressed, maybe a little frustrated, maybe a little confused,” he said. “I want to make a toast to how grateful I am for being in this (expletive) room with each and every one of you. I wasn’t sure how and when we would be able to do this again. But cheers to each and everyone of you. More life.”
Drake went on to perform hits including “Controlla,” “God’s Plan,” “Too Much” and “Passionfruit.” He surprised the crowd with a guest appearance by Future, who performed “Way 2 Sexy” with Drake before his uber-popular “March Madness.”
At the end, Drake paid homage to Lil Wayne – who watched from a VIP section – before closing out his set by playing “I Will Always Love You,” the Dolly Parton song that Whitney Houston made famous. He sang every word along with many in the crowd.
Proof of vaccination was required of the 1,500 guests. Only a few wore masks, including Tyson.
The “Homecoming Weekend” show helped cap a full week of entertainment events leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the first in the Los Angeles area in nearly three decades, with the hometown Rams facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Justin Bieber sang and danced on the first night of the event, presented by The h.wood Group, REVOLVE, PLACES.CO and Uncommon Entertainment.
Staffers were dressed in football uniforms, making the rounds with fancified versions of stadium food, including plant-based chicken bites, garlic fries and tiny pizzas.
Miley Cyrus and Green Day performed across town at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
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https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/drake-was-a-star-among-a-listers-at-homecoming-concert/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:00
|
en
| 0.969243
|
By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.
The surprise suspension was confirmed late Saturday on the eve of the Super Bowl, the biggest sales opportunity of the year for Mexican avocado growers.
Avocado exports are the latest victim of the drug cartel turf battles and extorsion of avocado growers in the western state of Michoacan, the only state in Mexico fully authorized to export to the U.S. market.
The U.S. government suspended all imports of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threatening message, Mexico’s Agriculture Department said in a statement.
“U.S. health authorities … made the decision after one of their officials, who was carrying out inspections in Uruapan, Michoacan, received a threatening message on his official cellphone,” the department wrote.
Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.
It was only in 1997 that the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados that had been in place since 1914 to prevent a range of weevils, scabs and pests from entering U.S. orchards.
The inspectors work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services.
It is not the first time that the violence in Michoacan — where the Jalisco cartel is fighting turf wars against a collection of local gangs known as the United Cartels — has threatened avocados, the state’s most lucrative crop.
After a previous incident in 2019, the USDA had warned about the possible consequences of attacking or threatening U.S. inspectors.
In August 2019, a U.S. Department of Agriculture team of inspectors was “directly threatened” in Ziracuaretiro, a town just west of Uruapan. While the agency didn’t specify what happened, local authorities say a gang robbed the truck the inspectors were traveling in at gunpoint.
The USDA wrote in a letter at the time that, “For future situations that result in a security breach, or demonstrate an imminent physical threat to the well-being of APHIS personnel, we will immediately suspend program activities.”
Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.
On September 30, 2020, a Mexican employee of APHIS was killed near the northern border city of Tijuana.
Mexican prosecutors said Edgar Flores Santos was killed by drug traffickers who may have mistaken him for a policeman and a suspect was arrested. The U.S. State Department said investigations “concluded this unfortunate incident was a case of Mr. Flores being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/us-suspends-mexican-avocado-imports-on-eve-of-super-bowl/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:01
|
en
| 0.961207
|
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Miley Cyrus has only been alive for about half the Super Bowls ever played, but her setlist on the eve of the 56th spanned the whole history of the big game and then some.
Cyrus and mashed up songs from the 60s, 80s and 90s with her own at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old was the co-headliner with Green Day on the third and final night of the festival at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the LA Rams play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The annual festival, which also featured Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton and Mickey Guyton, prides itself on bringing together artists from across genres, but Cyrus did that all by herself, blending country and pop rock, dance pop and alternative rock.
She sang Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” from 1966 — the year before the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — as an intro to her own 2007 “See You Again.”
“I hope this show is a representation of how you never need to choose who you want to be. You can be everything and anything,” Cyrus said as she donned a cowboy hat and pulled an oversized sportscoat over the futuristic Gucci tracksuit she took the stage wearing. “You may look ridiculous, like you’re wearing workout attire from 3033 and a cowboy hat. It’s just how I feel tonight.”
She opened the show with her 2013 hit “We Can’t Stop,” and blended it with the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” from 1988, the year Washington beat Denver in the Super Bowl in San Diego.
She pulled the same trick in her first encore, blending her “Wrecking Ball” with the Prince-penned Sinead O’Connor hit “Nothing Compares 2 U” from 1990, the year Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers beat John Elway’s Denver Broncos.
She thrilled the crowd with Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” from 1989 — the last year the Bengals were in the big game — turning her backup singers into a small gospel choir.
She also mixed in music from Stevie Nicks and her godmother Dolly Parton, and closed the night with the fitting-for-Super-Bowl-weekend “Party in the USA.” Cyrus owns her own past along with that of her musical forbears.
The members of Green Day focused on their hits of the 1990s and early 2000s. They opened with a rousing rip through 2004’s “American Idiot.”
“Los Angeles!” lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, who turns 50 on Thursday, shouted during the song. “Super Bowl!” he later yelled, in the only real mention the game got during the night.
They brought their own bit of 1966 with a cover of “I Fought The Law,” whose most famous version was released that year by the Bobby Fuller Four.
The 20,000-seat Crypto.com Arena was nearly full for all three nights. Fans had to show proof of vaccination to get in. Most ditched their masks once they were inside the main hall.
The night was the end of a week of pre-Super Bowl entertainment events as the LA area hosts the game for the first time in nearly 30 years, featuring its shiny new stadium and the hometown team favorites.
Drake was playing a set across town in West Hollywood on the second night of a party known as “Homecoming Weekend.” Justin Bieber sang and danced on the first night. And John Mayer and Shaquille O’Neal each had their own events earlier in the week.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/miley-cyrus-green-day-span-decades-in-pre-super-bowl-show/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:06
|
en
| 0.964483
|
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
BEIJING (AP) — It’s a big day for rematches at the Beijing Olympics: The United States faces Finland in women’s hockey, and Max Parrot takes on Mark McMorris in snowboarding.
The U.S. beat Finland 5-2 to start the tournament, and the teams will clash again in the semifinals, live on USA Network on Monday at 8 a.m. EST. Parrot beat McMorris in slopestyle — McMorris took issue with the judging — and now they compete again in big air. NBC plans to air that final live during its late-night coverage.
During prime time, NBC will have live coverage of the women’s downhill, which could be quite a comeback story for defending champ Sofia Goggia of Italy. Also, the freestyle skiing slopestyle event featuring Eileen Gu was pushed back because of the weather. The final is now set to be shown live Monday night on USA Network.
Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):
HOCKEY
It was a slow start for Finland in the women’s hockey tournament. The 2018 bronze medalists had to open against the U.S. and Canada and lost those games by a combined 16-3. The Finns then lost to Switzerland.
Now, however, they enter the semifinals on the heels of a 7-1 rout of Japan.
Although USA Network will carry the U.S.-Finland rematch live, it will also be on that same channel at 3 p.m.
TAKE TWO
Gu is a U.S native who competes for China, where her mother is from. She’s become one of the stars of the Beijing Games, winning gold in big air already.
Qualifying for her rescheduled slopestyle event will be on NBC in the afternoon. The first run of the final is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. USA Network is showing live coverage of the final, and NBC plans to show it during its late-night slot.
SNOWBOARDING
After Parrot took the gold in slopestyle, McMorris said: “Obviously would have been nice to have a different shade of medal. But knowing that I kind of had the run of the day and one of the best rounds of my life and the whole industry knows what happened — pretty, pretty crazy.”
McMorris later apologized to Parrot, who said it was no big deal. The two both compete for Canada.
USA Network plans to show men’s big air qualifying between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. NBC is set to show the final live during late-night coverage.
NBC will also have live coverage of the women’s big air final in prime time.
ALPINE SKIING
Mikaela Shiffrin is still seeking her first medal of these Games. The downhill is by no means the American star’s strongest event, if she ends up racing in it.
Goggia is coming off a pre-Olympic crash that left her with a sprained left knee, a partially torn cruciate ligament, a fracture of the fibula bone in her leg, as well as some tendon damage. She still managed to make it to the Beijing Games and participate in training for the downhill.
“For me, Olympic Games are everything, the place that you want to be to achieve your childhood dream,” Goggia said. “There is no place I’d rather be than here. I don’t care about my condition.”
ALSO OF NOTE
NBC is planning to show the men’s team ski jumping competition on the large hill in the afternoon. … The women’s freestyle aerials will air live early in the morning on USA Network, with an encore presentation on NBC in prime time. … USA Network will have the men’s and women’s team pursuit finals in speedskating live as part of late-night coverage.
___
Follow Noah Trister at https://www.twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/national/2022/02/13/what-to-watch-big-rematches-in-womens-hockey-snowboarding/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:07
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| 0.960182
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For more information on Accunet Mortgage, visit their website.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/shows/accunet/2022/02/13/the-accunet-mortgage-realty-show-2-13-22/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:08
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en
| 0.906217
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US: Over 130,000 Russian troops now staged outside Ukraine
Ukraines president urged calm amid intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence of that, even as the U.S. reported Sunday that Moscow positioned more of its troops closer to Ukraines borders and some airlines canceled or diverted flights to the capital of Kyiv.President Joe Biden spoke for about 50 minutes Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and renewed promises of what the West says will be tough economic sanctions against Moscow and a NATO buildup in the event of any further Russian aggression against Ukraine, the White House said.
- Country:
- United States
Ukraine's president urged calm amid intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence of that, even as the U.S. reported Sunday that Moscow positioned more of its troops closer to Ukraine's borders and some airlines canceled or diverted flights to the capital of Kyiv.
President Joe Biden spoke for about 50 minutes Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and renewed promises of what the West says will be tough economic sanctions against Moscow and a NATO buildup in the event of “any further Russian aggression” against Ukraine, the White House said. They agreed to pursue both deterrence and diplomacy in the crisis, it added.
The U.S. updated its estimate for how many Russian forces were now staged near Ukraine's borders to more than 130,000, up from the 100,000 the U.S. has cited publicly in previous weeks. A U.S. official gave the estimate, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's conclusion.
Zelenskyy's repeated statements playing down the U.S. warnings — while Moscow's forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what the Kremlin insists are military exercises -- grew this weekend to his questioning the increasingly strident statements from U.S. officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.
While Zelenskyy has urged against panic that he fears could undermine Ukraine's economy, he and his civilian and military leaders also are preparing defenses, soliciting and receiving a flow of arms from the U.S. and other NATO members.
Zelenskyy wore military olive drab at a drill with tanks and helicopters near Ukraine's border with Russian-annexed Crimea this weekend. In the nearby city of Kalanchak, some expressed disbelief that Russian President Vladimir Putin would really send the troops poised along Ukraine's borders rolling into the country.
“I don't believe Russia will attack us,'' said resident Boris Cherepenko.
“I have friends in Sakhalin, in Krasnodar,” he said, naming Russian locations. ''I don't believe it.” The U.S. picked up intelligence that Russia is looking at Wednesday as a target date, according to a U.S. official familiar with the findings. The official, who also was not authorized to speak publicly and did so only on condition of anonymity, would not say how definitive the intelligence was.
“We're not going to give Russia the opportunity to conduct a surprise here, to spring something on Ukraine or the world,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told CNN on Sunday, about the U.S. warnings. “We are going to make sure that we are laying out for the world what we see as transparently and plainly as we possibly can,'' he said.
The U.S. largely has not made public the evidence it says is underlying its most specific warnings on possible Russian planning or timing. The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast.
Zelenskyy's comments this weekend indicated frustration at the warnings from Washington.
“We understand all the risks, we understand that there are risks,'' he said in a live broadcast.
''If you, or anyone else, has additional information regarding a 100% Russian invasion starting on the 16th, please forward that information to us.” In an hourlong call Saturday with Putin, Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said. It offered no suggestion that the call diminished the threat of an imminent war in Europe.
Reflecting the West's concerns, Dutch airline KLM has canceled flights to Ukraine until further notice, the company said.
Dutch sensitivity to potential danger in Ukrainian airspace is high following the 2014 shooting down of a Malaysian jetliner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur as it flew over a part of eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed rebels. All 298 people aboard died, including 198 Dutch citizens.
The Ukrainian charter airline SkyUp said Sunday its flight from Madeira, Portugal, to Kyiv was diverted to the Moldovan capital of Chisinau after the plane's Irish lessor said it was banning flights in Ukrainian airspace. Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov told The Associated Press that Ukraine has not closed its airspace.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1921387-us-over-130000-russian-troops-now-staged-outside-ukraine
| 2022-02-13T20:47:08
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| 0.968832
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police were searching Sunday for a gunman who shot four people after a brawl erupted outside a Los Angeles restaurant hosting a party that followed a Justin Bieber concert, authorities said.
Detectives are asking witnesses to come forward to help them identify the suspect in the shooting early Saturday outside The Nice Guy restaurant.
The victims’ names were not released, but NBC News reported rapper Kodak Black was among the wounded. Four men ages 60, 24, 22 and 19 were hospitalized in stable condition, LA police Officer Mike Lopez said.
Videos posted on TMZ.com and on social media show Black, 24, posing for photos with a group of people outside the restaurant when the brawl broke out. Black is among several people involved in the fight before shots rang out, sending everyone running for cover.
Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Black, whose legal name is Bill Kapri, was among the people shot. A message to his publicist at Atlantic Records has not been returned.
The party followed Bieber’s private concert at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood as part of a Super Bowl-week party dubbed “Homecoming Weekend.” The guests at the star-studded event included Jeff Bezos, TV host Lauren Sánchez, “Hamilton” actor Anthony Ramos and NFL Hall-of-Famer Tony Gonzalez.
Bieber and his wife Hailey Baldwin, Drake, Khloe Kardashian and Tobey Maguire were also among the celebrities seen entering the afterparty, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/police-seek-suspect-in-shooting-outside-la-super-bowl-party/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:12
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| 0.968765
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/ap-top-sports-news-at-1157-a-m-est-12/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:14
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| 0.82511
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U.S. says Canadian authorities to reopen key bridge
- Country:
- United States
The White House said on Sunday that Canadian authorities plan to reopen a key bridge to the United States, after clearing protesters and vehicles from the vital trade route between the two countries.
"Canadian authorities intend to reopen the Ambassador Bridge today after completing necessary safety checks. We stand ready to support our Canadian partners wherever useful in order to ensure the restoration of the normal free flow of commerce can resume," White House Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- United States
- The White House
- Canadian
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1921388-us-says-canadian-authorities-to-reopen-key-bridge
| 2022-02-13T20:47:16
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| 0.93767
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MADRID (AP) — Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” was the big winner of Spain’s most prestigious film awards, winning six prizes including best picture and best actor for Javier Bardem.
Shortlisted for an Oscar in international feature film category, the workplace satire of an owner set on winning a business prize also earned León de Aranoa the award for best director and original screenplay, and also picked up prizes for editing and best score at Saturday’s gala.
“The Good Boss” entered the night with a record 20 nominations for the Spanish Academy’s Goya awards.
Blanca Portillo beat out Penelope Cruz for best actress for her role in “Maixabel,” the true story of the widow of a politician who was assassinated by the Basque separatist group ETA.
Cruz will have another shot for her in role Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” after being nominated for best actress for the Academy Awards. Bardem, her husband, will also compete for an Oscar for his part in “Being the Ricardos.”
The Goyas gala of over three hours was held in Valencia with all the traditional pomp after last year’s edition was broadcast virtually due to the pandemic.
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https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/the-good-boss-starring-bardem-big-winner-at-spains-goyas/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:18
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| 0.968161
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/ap-top-sports-news-at-1249-p-m-est-11/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:21
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| 0.82511
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Ukraine launches guarantee fund for flights through its airspace
- Country:
- Ukraine
Ukraine's government on Sunday allocated 16.6 billion hryvnia ($592 million) to guarantee the continuation of flights through Ukrainian airspace, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.
Shmygal said on social media that the funds "were allocated to ensure flight safety in Ukraine for insurance and leasing companies."
"This decision will stabilise the situation on the market of passenger air transportation and will guarantee the return to Ukraine of our citizens who are currently abroad," he said. ($1 = 28.0414 hryvnias)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1921391-ukraine-launches-guarantee-fund-for-flights-through-its-airspace
| 2022-02-13T20:47:24
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| 0.949804
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah has added another month to its streak of record cargo volumes amid a surge that’s forced U.S. seaports to scramble to meet demand.
The Georgia Ports Authority reported nearly 480,000 container units of imports and exports moved across Savannah’s docks last month. That’s an increase of 4% compared with January 2021, when cargo volumes were already unusually high.
Business has been booming at U.S. seaports as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic, retailers rush to keep their inventories stocked and online shopping continues to grow.
The port authority reported last month that Savannah saw a 20% increase in shipping containers for all of 2021, when it handled a record total of 5.6 million container units.
Port officials said Savannah posted record container numbers for all 12 months of last year.
To alleviate traffic jams last fall that kept ships waiting at sea and containers piling up on land, the port authority added workers and new equipment. The agency also set up inland sites to temporarily store cargo and free up space at Savannah’s container terminal.
The Port of the Savannah is the fourth-busiest U.S. seaport for cargo in shipping containers, giant metal boxes used to transport goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/business/port-of-savannah-reports-record-cargo-volumes-for-january/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:24
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| 0.934749
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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2022 Good Karma Brands Milwaukee, LLC.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/ap-top-sports-news-at-154-p-m-est-20/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:27
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| 0.82511
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ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Felix Auger-Aliassime won his first career title at the ninth attempt, upsetting top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in the Rotterdam final on Sunday to deny his opponent an eighth title.
Victory at the indoor tournament came as a relief for the 21-year-old Canadian after losing his previous eight finals dating back to 2019.
“It has not been the smoothest road since my first final,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It is an amazing day for me to get my first title and especially here. I played my first ATP main draw here a couple of years ago, so it is right I won my first title here.”
The third-seeded Auger-Aliassime hit seven aces and won 93% of his first serve points, compared to just one ace for Tsitsipas.
The big-serving Greek was unusually poor on his serve with four double-faults and only 31 of 55 first serves landing in. His second serve let him down, too, and he won only 33% of points on it.
It was Auger-Aliassime’s third win in eight matches against Tsitsipas, and he did not face a break point in a dominant performance where he broke Tsitsipas three times.
“He was playing very good tennis, producing good shots and serving incredibly well throughout the match. I wasn’t able to respond,” Tsitsipas said. “I wasn’t able to respond. I wasn’t able to serve well today and my percentages were so low.”
The 23-year-old Tsitsipas dropped to 7-11 in finals.
___
More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/auger-aliassime-beats-top-seeded-tsitsipas-to-win-1st-title-4/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:28
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| 0.975843
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U.S.-Canada bridge to reopen Sunday after police clear protesters
Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario following a court order on Friday. The blockade https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/truckers-ambassador-bridge-perfect-spot-threaten-us-canada-trade-2022-02-11 has choked the supply chain for Detroit's carmakers, forcing Ford Motor Co, the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp to cut production.
North America's busiest trade link will reopen for traffic on Sunday, ending a six-day blockade, a top U.S. official said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions. Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario following a court order on Friday.
The blockade https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/truckers-ambassador-bridge-perfect-spot-threaten-us-canada-trade-2022-02-11 has choked the supply chain for Detroit's carmakers, forcing Ford Motor Co, the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp to cut production. "Canadian authorities intend to reopen the Ambassador Bridge today after completing necessary safety checks," White House Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement.
The bridge carries about $360 million a day in two-way cargoes - 25% of the value of all U.S.-Canada goods trade. "We stand ready to support our Canadian partners wherever useful in order to ensure the restoration of the normal free flow of commerce can resume," the statement added.
Windsor Police said in a statement on Sunday they arrested several people on a charge of mischief, without saying how many. Police also seized vehicles within the demonstration area, the statement added. Police stepped up their presence on Sunday with more than 50 vehicles, including cruisers, buses and an armoured car, as the number of protesters dropped to around 45 from roughly 100 on Saturday. Windsor Police tweeted "there will be zero tolerance for illegal activity".
In Ottawa, counter protests started blocking vehicles trying to join the protests on Sunday, with residents losing patience over the three-week-old demonstrations. The "Freedom Convoy" protests https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/how-ottawas-anti-vaccine-mandate-protests-are-spreading-globally-2022-02-09, started in the national capital Ottawa by Canadian truckers opposing a vaccinate-or-quarantine mandate for cross-border drivers, entered its 17th day on Sunday. But it has now morphed into a rallying point against broader COVID-19 curbs, carbon tax and other issues, with people joining in cars, pick-up trucks and farm vehicles.
"We’re fed up, we’re tired. We want Ottawa to be boring again,” said an Ottawa resident at a counter protest in front of the city’s police headquarters. The Canadian government has discussed whether to invoke special emergency powers to deal with the protests in the capital, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told CBC News on Sunday. Blair said the lack of police enforcement in Ottawa was "inexplicable." The rarely used Emergencies Act would allow the federal government to override the provinces and authorize special temporary measures to ensure security during national emergencies anywhere in the country. It has only been used once in peacetime -- by Trudeau's father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau -- in 1970.
Strangling bilateral trade, protests have spread to three border points, including in Alberta and Manitoba. Canadian police have said the protests have been partly funded by U.S. supporters, and Ontario froze funds donated via one U.S. platform GiveSendGo on Thursday. The estimated loss so far from the blockades to the auto industry alone could be as high as $850 million, based on IHS Markit's data, which puts the 2021 daily flow in vehicles and parts at $141.1 million a day.
"Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end," Windsor City Mayor Drew Dilkens said in a tweet. In Europe, a convoy of 150 cars protesting COVID-19 restrictions left Paris on Sunday morning and headed towards Brussels, protesters told Reuters.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALSO READ
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Ottawa’s use of location data raises big surveillance and privacy concerns
Health News Roundup: AstraZeneca China summoned over suspected fraud; U.S. orders 100 million additional COVID-19 tests to give out and more
Malaysian firms facing U.S. bans over forced labour summoned by ministry
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1921401-us-canada-bridge-to-reopen-sunday-after-police-clear-protesters
| 2022-02-13T20:47:31
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| 0.933928
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By CHARLES ODUM
AP Sports Writer
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Aliyah Boston scored 18 points with 12 rebounds and No. 1 South Carolina coasted after a strong start to beat No. 17 Georgia 72-54 on Sunday.
Boston posted her 18th double-double in 24 games. Destanni Henderson added 15 points for the Gamecocks, who led by 30 points in the first half.
South Carolina (23-1, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 11 consecutive games since losing at Missouri in overtime to open its conference schedule on Dec. 30.
Georgia (17-7, 6-6) suffered its third consecutive loss despite Jenna Staiti’s 15 points and 10 rebounds.
South Carolina, which had to hold on late to win at Kentucky 59-50 on Thursday night, was dominant in another road game against Georgia.
Staiti went to the bench with two fouls midway through the opening period. Soon after Staiti’s exit, teammate Maiury Bates was called for her second foul.
South Carolina immediately seized the advantage, finishing the first period with an 18-2 run, including the final 10 points, for a 29-10 lead.
The Gamecocks attacked with an impressive inside-outside balance. South Carolina was good on each of its four 3-pointers in the first period while also building an advantage near the basket.
South Carolina stretched its lead to 30 points in the second period and led 51-25 at halftime.
Georgia scored the final six points of the third period and the first six points of the final period to pull to within 15 points at 61-46.
South Carolina won easily despite playing without its top two reserves. Forwards Laeticia Amihere and Kamilla Cardoso are competing with their national teams, Canada and Brazil, respectively, in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournament.
Que Morrison, who had 11 points, provided a highlight for Georgia in the third period when she went behind her back for a fancy layup despite being fouled by Henderson. Morrison sank the free throw for the three-point play.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks look postseason ready. They improved to 10-0 against Top 25 teams with their 15th consecutive win over Georgia since 2013.
Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t come close to their first win over a top-ranked team since beating Tennessee in the semifinals of the 2004 SEC tournament. They’re left with a three-game losing streak that includes two home losses. The sudden downturn has dropped Georgia to .500 in the SEC and in danger of taking a fall in the Top 25.
UP NEXT
South Carolina hosts Auburn on Thursday. Amihere and Cardoso are expected to be back with the team.
Georgia hosts Missouri on Thursday when it will look for its first win since Feb. 3 against Vanderbilt.
___
More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Poll: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/boston-leads-no-1-south-carolina-past-no-17-georgia-72-54-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:35
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| 0.961762
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – CNM and Rio Rancho Public Schools are teaming up to provide more career training opportunities for middle and high school students. The agreement will expand career technical education training to fill in-demand jobs in the region.
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Rio Rancho Public Schools recently purchased property that will serve as a place for job training. CNM will offer more dual credit opportunities for students at Rio Rancho schools and the district will open up facilities for CNM students and community members.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/education/rrps-students-to-gain-job-training-courtesy-of-cnm/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:38
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| 0.946897
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Ukraine pledges funds to keep airspace open amid Russia standoff
Its CEO Dmytro Seroukhov said the airline was "working together with state authorities to find solutions." NO SIGNS OF EXODUS The United States, its Western allies and other nations have been scaling back or evacuating embassy staff and have advised their citizens not to travel to Ukraine amid the standoff. Washington says the Russian military, which has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, could invade at any moment https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-putin-speak-ukraine-warnings-mount-2022-02-12.
Ukraine pledged funds on Sunday to try to keep its airspace open to commercial flights, as some carriers reviewed their services to the country after the United States warned that Russia could invade at any time. Dutch airline KLM - part of Air France - said https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-putin-speak-ukraine-warnings-mount-2022-02-12 it would stop services to Ukraine and Germany's Lufthansa said it was considering suspending flights.
Two third of the 298 passengers killed when Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were Dutch citizens. Ukraine's infrastructure ministry said airlines were continuing to operate "without any restrictions", and Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said the government had allocated 16.6 billion hryvnia ($592 million) to guarantee the continuation of flights through its airspace.
He said the funds would "ensure flight safety in Ukraine for insurance and leasing companies." "This decision will stabilise the situation on the market of passenger air transportation and will guarantee the return to Ukraine of our citizens who are currently abroad," he said, without specifying how the funds would be allocated.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, earlier said he saw no point closing its airspace in response to Moscow's troop build-up. Scheduling reconfigurations by individual carriers had "nothing to do with the decisions or policies of our state," he told Reuters.
"The most important point is that Ukraine itself sees no point in closing the sky ... And, in my opinion, that would somewhat resemble a kind of partial blockade." News agency Interfax Ukraine said Ukrainian insurance companies had received a notification from reinsurers that airlines were not covered for war risks.
Ukrainian carrier SkyUp said it had to divert a flight from Portugal to Ukraine on Saturday after the plane's owner barred it from entering Ukrainian airspace. Its CEO Dmytro Seroukhov said the airline was "working together with state authorities to find solutions."
NO SIGNS OF EXODUS The United States, its Western allies and other nations have been scaling back or evacuating embassy staff and have advised their citizens not to travel to Ukraine amid the standoff.
Washington says the Russian military, which has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, could invade at any moment https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-putin-speak-ukraine-warnings-mount-2022-02-12. Moscow denies having any such plan and has described such warnings as "hysteria". At Kyiv's Borispil Airport, the largest in Ukraine, there was little sign on Saturday of an exodus.
Oksana Yurchenko was travelling back to Australia with her child. "We were visiting our family here in Ukraine. We were planning to stay a bit longer but this situation is a bit scary," the chef and a beauty salon owner said. Australia has advised its citizens to leave Ukraine and said on Sunday it was evacuating its embassy.
Ricky, a Scotsman who lives in Ukraine, said he saw no sign of public anxiety on the streets. "I do not see anyone in fear in Ukraine, everyone is just getting on with their life," he said at the airport as he waited for a flight to go on holiday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/1921402-ukraine-pledges-funds-to-keep-airspace-open-amid-russia-standoff
| 2022-02-13T20:47:39
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| 0.97713
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By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
BEIJING (AP) — It’s a big day for rematches at the Beijing Olympics: The United States faces Finland in women’s hockey, and Max Parrot takes on Mark McMorris in snowboarding.
The U.S. beat Finland 5-2 to start the tournament, and the teams will clash again in the semifinals, live on USA Network on Monday at 8 a.m. EST. Parrot beat McMorris in slopestyle — McMorris took issue with the judging — and now they compete again in big air. NBC plans to air that final live during its late-night coverage.
During prime time, NBC will have live coverage of the women’s downhill, which could be quite a comeback story for defending champ Sofia Goggia of Italy. Also, the freestyle skiing slopestyle event featuring Eileen Gu was pushed back because of the weather. The final is now set to be shown live Monday night on USA Network.
Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):
HOCKEY
It was a slow start for Finland in the women’s hockey tournament. The 2018 bronze medalists had to open against the U.S. and Canada and lost those games by a combined 16-3. The Finns then lost to Switzerland.
Now, however, they enter the semifinals on the heels of a 7-1 rout of Japan.
Although USA Network will carry the U.S.-Finland rematch live, it will also be on that same channel at 3 p.m.
TAKE TWO
Gu is a U.S native who competes for China, where her mother is from. She’s become one of the stars of the Beijing Games, winning gold in big air already.
Qualifying for her rescheduled slopestyle event will be on NBC in the afternoon. The first run of the final is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. USA Network is showing live coverage of the final, and NBC plans to show it during its late-night slot.
SNOWBOARDING
After Parrot took the gold in slopestyle, McMorris said: “Obviously would have been nice to have a different shade of medal. But knowing that I kind of had the run of the day and one of the best rounds of my life and the whole industry knows what happened — pretty, pretty crazy.”
McMorris later apologized to Parrot, who said it was no big deal. The two both compete for Canada.
USA Network plans to show men’s big air qualifying between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. NBC is set to show the final live during late-night coverage.
NBC will also have live coverage of the women’s big air final in prime time.
ALPINE SKIING
Mikaela Shiffrin is still seeking her first medal of these Games. The downhill is by no means the American star’s strongest event, if she ends up racing in it.
Goggia is coming off a pre-Olympic crash that left her with a sprained left knee, a partially torn cruciate ligament, a fracture of the fibula bone in her leg, as well as some tendon damage. She still managed to make it to the Beijing Games and participate in training for the downhill.
“For me, Olympic Games are everything, the place that you want to be to achieve your childhood dream,” Goggia said. “There is no place I’d rather be than here. I don’t care about my condition.”
ALSO OF NOTE
NBC is planning to show the men’s team ski jumping competition on the large hill in the afternoon. … The women’s freestyle aerials will air live early in the morning on USA Network, with an encore presentation on NBC in prime time. … USA Network will have the men’s and women’s team pursuit finals in speedskating live as part of late-night coverage.
___
Follow Noah Trister at https://www.twitter.com/noahtrister
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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https://wtmj.com/sports/2022/02/13/what-to-watch-big-rematches-in-womens-hockey-snowboarding-2/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:41
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| 0.960182
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MYSTIC, Conn. (AP) — The second of five whales brought from Canada to Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium last year for research purposes has died.
The aquarium announced on its website that the female had been receiving intensive care for the past several months for multiple health issues but died early Friday morning. A necropsy was to be performed to determine the cause of death.
“Veterinarians and animal care experts at Mystic Aquarium, with the support of veterinarians and animal husbandry members from other aquariums worldwide, devoted the full capacity of their expertise to the whale, providing round-the-clock medical treatment, testing, and 24-hour monitoring,” the aquarium said in a statement.
A male beluga named Havok, who had a preexisting gastrointestinal issue, died in August. The two whales were among five brought to Mystic last spring from Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, after a lengthy battle to obtain permits from both the United States and Canada.
Animal rights activists had sued unsuccessfully to block the transport, alleging a permit granted by the U.S. Commerce secretary and National Marine Fisheries Service didn’t adequately address the potential harm to the belugas from being moved to Mystic.
The whales, which ranged in age from 7 to 12 at the time of the transport, were born in captivity, and officials say they cannot safely be released into the ocean. Mystic officials said at the time that the five whales left an overcrowded habitat with about 50 other Belugas in Canada.
The Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based animal protection advocacy organization, called for an investigation into the deaths in a statement on its website.
In the aquarium’s statement, Dr. Stephen Coan, the aquarium’s president and CEO, said Mystic has addressed issues raised during a visit last fall by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the first whale died. Those included the handling of animals with vision challenges, certain fluctuations in water quality and shade for animals.
“Inspections, investigations when an animal dies, and accreditation processes are essential learning tools to advance the care and welfare of animals,” Coan said. “We are constantly seeking to evolve and learn in our mission to provide the best possible care for animals.”
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/national/2nd-of-5-whales-brought-from-canada-to-mystic-aquarium-dies/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:44
|
en
| 0.971874
|
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https://wtmj.com/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news/2022/02/13/2-13-22-sunday-sip-bruces-team/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:47
|
en
| 0.779154
|
Machine Gun Kelly offers himself as muse in Berlinale semi-biopic 'Taurus'
Colson Baker, the actor better known as rapper-turned-rockstar Machine Gun Kelly, said he hoped his semi-autobiographical film about the final days of Cole, a troubled rapper, would inspire others with turbulent lives. In "Taurus", director Tim Sutton teamed up with Baker for a film that blurs reality and fiction, casting Baker as Cole, in a study of superstardom and its pitfalls.
Colson Baker, the actor better known as rapper-turned-rockstar Machine Gun Kelly, said he hoped his semi-autobiographical film about the final days of Cole, a troubled rapper, would inspire others with turbulent lives.
In "Taurus" , director Tim Sutton teamed up with Baker for a film that blurs reality and fiction, casting Baker as Cole, in a study of superstardom and its pitfalls. The similarities between Baker and Cole are certainly no coincidence. "We almost were shying away from it being autobiographical," he told a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival. "It felt like ... it just became me."
Like Baker in his earlier career, Cole is successful but struggles with substance abuse. Maddie Hasson plays Ilana, the protagonist's personal assistant, who tries to keep him on track while enduring his manic episodes. But between skipped meetings, constant drunkenness and cocaine addiction, Cole's life spirals out of control. And the film was the therapy he never had, Baker said.
"I got to have ... on-screen therapy for things that I never really dealt with," said Baker, who previously worked with Sutton on the 2021 Western "The Last Son". Baker's fiancee Megan Fox makes a brief appearance in the film, playing Cole's ex-wife.
The film's production title was "Good News", but the new title was chosen to match Baker's star sign. "I'm more hoping that people can watch it and I'm the muse for someone to find their own inspiration and finding a will to live," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Baker
- Colson Baker
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|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/1921399-machine-gun-kelly-offers-himself-as-muse-in-berlinale-semi-biopic-taurus
| 2022-02-13T20:47:47
|
en
| 0.979625
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https://wtmj.com/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news/2022/02/13/duane-dudeks-entertainment-spotlight-2-13-22/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:48
|
en
| 0.777977
|
Minneapolis Police Chief Amelia Huffman was taking questions about the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Amir Lockewhen a reporter challenged the police account that Locke’s gun was pointed toward officers serving a search warrant. Huffman’s attempt to explain was too much for one local activist.
“ This is what I would call the anatomy of a cover-up,” Nekima Levy Armstrong said, striding forward to confront Huffman and Mayor Jacob Frey at the news conference. “Amelia, you’re saying you want to be the chief. Then act like it. … Don’t cover up for what those cops did.”
The exchange underscores the fraught situation that Huffman — named interim chief just weeks ago and a candidate to take the job permanently — faces as she attempts to steer a department in tatters since George Floyd’s killing20 months ago shattered community trust.
Huffman, who joined the department in 1994, built a wide-ranging resume before Frey tapped her to replace the retiring Medaria Arradondo. Huffman investigated financial crimes, crimes against children and Internal Affairs cases, served as a department spokeswoman and commanded units including Homicide.
A police spokesman didn’t respond to a request to interview Huffman. In a 2019 interview with a Minneapolis weekly, Huffman, of Springfield, Ohio, described studying constitutional law at Smith College before joining the police department.
“Minneapolis was looking to hire people who had backgrounds in things other than law enforcement,” Huffman told the paper. “I wanted to do something that would make a difference — not just pushing meaningless papers from one place to another.”
John Swenson, the director of public safety in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, worked with Huffman in Minneapolis’ Internal Affairs division for about a year in the early 2000s. Both sergeants, they handled investigations within the department and for agencies that needed an outside perspective.
He recalled teaming with her on an investigation into an allegation of sexual assault against a police officer in rural Minnesota. Huffman’s compassion while interviewing both the victim and the suspect as well as her attention to detail stuck out, he said.
“She’s an incredibly smart individual who cares a tremendous amount about her work product and being professional, and wants to see the organization and our profession continue to move forward,” Swenson said.
While homicide chief in 2007, Huffman, who is white, clashed with a high-profile Black investigator over her public suggestion that a man’s murder was connected to a drug purchase — upsetting the victim’s family and the investigator.
Then-Chief Tim Dolan backed Huffman and transferred the sergeant to another department. Dolan said in an interview that the investigating sergeant undermined Huffman by going public with his opposition to her comments and had been warned before.
“But you have to decide whether you back the commander or you back the sergeant,” Dolan said. (Huffman) “is bright, fair and capable. She deserves my support.”
Arradondo, who is Black, had worked with Frey on a raft of policy changes aimed at overhauling the department’s policies and culture following Floyd’s death. He also came out publicly against a voter referendum in November to replace the department with a new public safety unit, which was defeated. But soon after, he announced he would retire anyway.
Reaction to Huffman’s interim appointment was largely muted, with Levy Armstrong and other activists saying they didn’t know her well. Much of the anger since Locke’s death has focused on the department for executing a no-knock warrant — Locke’s parents said body-camera video suggested Locke had been startled awake and then “executed” by officers swarming into the apartment — and for its initial account of events, including a news release that called Locke a “suspect” even though he wasn’t named in the search warrants.
For the activists, those actions fit the pattern of a department focused on protecting its own.
“She stepped into that role knowing that we are still grappling with the impacts of the murder of George Floyd … knowing the expectations for accountability and transparency,” Levy Armstrong said this week. “That is the standard you are held to. I don’t feel that she rose to the occasion.”
Michelle Gross, president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, said she initially questioned whether Huffman had the ability to transform the department and considers the interim chief’s handling of Locke’s death confirmation of that fear.
“Own the mistake, apologize for it and tell us it’s not going to happen again,” Gross said. “She did none of that.”
When Huffman was made inspector of the Fifth Precinct spanning southwest Minneapolis, the city was still reeling from the 2017 fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damondby a police officer. In the 2019 interview on taking that new position, Huffman pledged that she and officers in the area would focus on being out in the community, creating low-pressure opportunities to get to know people.
“Healing that chasm is going to take time and work,” Huffman said. “We need to engage with folks during the course of their regular life.”
But she was also focused on bread-and-butter policing, saying residents were unlikely to see major changes in priorities and specifically listed a focus on drug and property crimes including burglary and theft.
Floyd’s murder put the city’s police force under a microscope again the following year. While many large protests in Minneapolis remained peaceful, some people looted and vandalized businessesin the Uptown neighborhood, within the precinct Huffman oversaw.
Jill Osiecki, executive director of the Uptown Association, said those attacks were “catastrophic” for some businesses and credited Huffman for making one-on-one visits to each affected place and never rushing those conversations.
“It was so impressive to see somebody rise to that occasion in such a difficult time,” Osiecki said. “For many reasons, it’s very difficult to be a police officer in Minneapolis. I truly feel she is a compassionate human being.”
Huffman became part of Arradondo’s leadership team in February 2021 as a deputy chief overseeing professional standards, including training. Her interim chief appointment was announced in December and she took over on Jan. 15.
Frey credited her with steering the department’s adoption of training that emphasizes officers’ responsibility to intervene when a coworker is putting someone in danger and reforming its field training officer program.
“She has an encyclopedic knowledge of policy, procedure, and training — the building blocks of enacting a culture shift across the department and keeping our city safe,” Frey said when he announced Huffman as interim chief.
Asked about activists’ calls to fire Huffman, Frey stood by her this week without any commitment for the future.
“I didn’t appoint interim Chief Huffman to serve as interim chief only in good times,” he told Minnesota Public Radio News, adding that the city is “moving forward with a national search to make sure we end up with the best possible person in our police department.”
___
Find AP’s full coverage of the death of Amir Locke at: https://apnews.com/hub/amir-locke
___
Foody reported from Chicago.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/national/barely-in-job-new-chief-feels-heat-from-amir-locke-shooting/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:50
|
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| 0.975688
|
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https://wtmj.com/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news/2022/02/13/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news-2-13-22/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:55
|
en
| 0.77672
|
Nuclear talks more difficult as West "pretends" to take initiative - Iran official
- Country:
- United Arab Emirates
A senior Iranian security official said on Monday progress in talks to salvage Iran's 2015 nuclear deal was becoming "more difficult" as Western powers only "pretended" to come up with initiatives.
"The work of Iranian negotiators towards progress is becoming more difficult every moment...while Western parties 'pretend' to come up with initiatives to avoid their commitments," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Twitter.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1921404-nuclear-talks-more-difficult-as-west-pretends-to-take-initiative---iran-official
| 2022-02-13T20:47:54
|
en
| 0.968336
|
NEW YORK (AP) — Parishioners worshipping at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Harlem are greeted by a framed portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. — a Baptist minister named after a rebellious 16th century German priest excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
The Rev. Bryan Massingale, who sometimes preaches at St. Charles, pursues his ministry in ways that echo both Martin Luthers.
Like King, Massingale decries the scourge of racial inequality in the United States. As a professor at Fordham University, he teaches African American religious approaches to ethics.
Like the German Martin Luther, Massingale is often at odds with official Catholic teaching — he supports the ordination of women and making celibacy optional for Catholic clergy. And, as a gay man, he vocally disagrees with the church’s doctrine on same-sex relations, instead advocating for full inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics within the church.
The Vatican holds that gays and lesbians should be treated with dignity and respect, but that gay sex is “intrinsically disordered” and sinful.
In his homily on a recent Sunday, Massingale – who became public about being gay in 2019 — envisioned a world “where the dignity of every person is respected and protected, where everyone is loved.”
But the message of equality and tolerance is one “that is resisted even within our own faith household,” he added. “Preach!” a worshiper shouted in response.
Massingale was born in 1957 in Milwaukee. His mother was a school secretary and his father a factory worker whose family migrated from Mississippi to escape racial segregation.
But even in Wisconsin, racism was common. Massingale said his father couldn’t work as a carpenter because of a color bar preventing African Americans from joining the carpenters’ union.
The Massingales also experienced racism when they moved to Milwaukee’s outskirts and ventured to a predominately white parish.
“This would not be a very comfortable parish for you to be a part of,” he recalled the parish priest saying. Thereafter, the family commuted to a predominantly Black Catholic church.
Massingale recalled another incident, as a newly ordained priest, after celebrating his first Mass at a predominantly white church.
“The first parishioner to greet me at the door said to me: ‘Father, you being here is the worst mistake the archbishop could have made. People will never accept you.‘”
Massingale says he considered leaving the Catholic Church, but decided he was needed.
“I’m not going to let the church’s racism rob me of my relationship with God,” he said. “I see it as my mission to make the church what it says it is: more universal and the institution that I believe Jesus wants it to be.”
For Massingale, racism within the U.S. Catholic Church is a reason for the exodus of some Black Catholics; he says the church is not doing enough to tackle racism within its ranks and in broader society.
Nearly half of Black U.S. adults who were raised Catholic no longer identify as such, with many becoming Protestants, according to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center. About 6% of Black U.S. adults identify as Catholic and close to 80% believe opposing racism is essential to their faith, the survey found.
The U.S. Catholic Church has had a checkered history with race. Some of its institutions, such as Georgetown University, were involved in the slave trade, and it has struggled to recruit African American priests.
Conversely, Catholic schools were among the first to desegregate and some government officials who opposed racial integration were excommunicated.
In 2018, U.S. bishops issued a pastoral letter decrying “the persistence of the evil of racism,” but Massingale was disappointed.
“The phrase ‘white nationalism’ is not stated in that document; it doesn’t talk about the Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “The problem with the church’s teachings on racism is that they are written in a way that is calculated not to disturb white people.”
At Fordham, a Jesuit university, Massingale teaches a class on homosexuality and Christian ethics, using biblical texts to challenge church teaching on same-sex relations. He said he came to terms with his own sexuality at 22, upon reflecting on the book of Isaiah.
“I realized that no matter what the church said, God loved me and accepted me as a Black gay man,” he said.
His ordination in 1983 came in the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that disproportionately affected gay men and Black Americans. Among his first funerals as a priest was that of a gay man whose family wanted no mention of his sexuality or the disease.
“They should have been able to turn to their church in their time of grief,” Massingale said. “Yet they couldn’t because that stigma existed in great measure because of how many ministers were speaking about homosexuality and AIDS as being a punishment for sin.”
Pope Francis has called for compassionate pastoral care for LGBTQ Catholics. However, he has described homosexuality among the clergy as worrisome, and Vatican law remains clear: same-sex unions cannot be blessed within the church. Some dioceses have fired openly LGBTQ employees.
Massingale has a different vision of the church: one where Catholics enjoy the same privileges regardless of sexual orientation.
“I think that one can express one’s sexuality in a way that is responsible, committed, life giving and an experience of joy,” he said.
Massingale has received recognition for his advocacy from like-minded organizations such as FutureChurch, which says priests should be allowed to marry and women should have more leadership roles within the church.
“He is one of the most prophetic, compelling, inspiring, transforming leaders in the Catholic Church,” said Deborah Rose-Milavec, the organization’s co-director. “When he speaks, you know very deep truth is being spoken.”
Along with his many admirers, Massingale has some vehement critics, such as the conservative Catholic news outlet Church Militant, which depicts his LGBTQ advocacy as sinful.
At Fordham, Massingale is well-respected by colleagues, and was honored by the university with a prestigious endowed chair. To the extent he has any critics among the Fordham faculty, they tend to keep their misgivings out of the public sphere.
He says he receives many messages of hope and support, but becoming public about his sexuality has come at a cost.
“I have lost some priest friends who find it difficult to be too closely associated with me because if they’re friends with me, ‘what will people say about them?’” he said.
Massingale remains optimistic about gradual change in the Catholic Church because of Pope Francis and recent signals from bishops in Europe who expressed a desire for changes, including blessing same-sex unions.
“My dream wedding would be either two men or two women standing before the church; marrying each other as an act of faith and I can be there as the official witness to say: “Yes, this is of God,” he said after a recent class at Fordham. “If they were Black, that would be wonderful.”
___
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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https://www.krqe.com/news/national/black-gay-priest-in-nyc-challenges-catholicism-from-within/
| 2022-02-13T20:47:56
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en
| 0.982888
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https://wtmj.com/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news/2022/02/13/wwmn-interview-diane-wellhouse-from-nari-2-13-22/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:01
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en
| 0.783428
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Saudi sees Cyprus as bridge between Europe, Middle East
I think its important that we all stand together to defend the primacy of international law or state sovereignty, a rejection of interventionism of all sorts. A coalition led by the Saudis entered Yemens civil war in 2015 to try and restore the countrys internationally recognised government, which had been ousted by the Iran-backed Houthis the year before.
- Country:
- Cyprus
Saudi Arabia views Cyprus as a “bridge” between the Middle East and the European Union, helping the 27-nation bloc “understand what's going on” in the region, the Saudi foreign minister said Sunday.
Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, speaking after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides, said that Cyprus helps “really focus the attention” on all the opportunities and challenges in the Middle East.
Cyprus has ramped up its outreach to Gulf states in recent years to act as a broker as the closest EU-member country to the region.
The Saudi top diplomat said both his country and Cyprus have a “very, very strong alignment” regarding regional stability and terrorism “whether it is (Yemen's) Houthis or others.” He said both countries agree in the primacy of international law.
“If we do not all agree that international law is the primary guide of state relations, we risk the instability for all,” Al Saud said. “I think it's important that we all stand together to defend the primacy of international law or state sovereignty, a rejection of interventionism of all sorts.” A coalition led by the Saudis entered Yemen's civil war in 2015 to try and restore the country's internationally recognised government, which had been ousted by the Iran-backed Houthis the year before. The conflict has turned into the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with international criticism of Saudi airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians and targeted the country's infrastructure. The Houthis, meanwhile, have used child soldiers and indiscriminately laid landmines across the country. Some 130,000 people, including over 13,000 civilians, have been killed in the Yemen conflict, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Project.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1921389-saudi-sees-cyprus-as-bridge-between-europe-middle-east
| 2022-02-13T20:48:02
|
en
| 0.962945
|
America’s elite colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least.
Fueled by the national reckoning with racial injustice, opponents say they are gaining momentum in the battle over the contentious policy of legacy preferences.
Ivy League students are pressing administrators to abandon the policy. Yale’s student government took a stance against the practice in November. A recent vote of Harvard students found that 60% oppose it. Hundreds of students and alumni across 30 colleges have promised to withhold financial donations over the issue.
Civil rights groups are increasingly adding their support, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which is tackling legacy preferences as part of a campaign against systematic racism.
And a bill in Congress aims to eliminate the practice.
The proposal from Democrats would outlaw preferences for children of alumni or donors at colleges that receive federal money. It’s being pushed by the party’s progressive wing but has gained support from some conservative activists who want college admissions to be based on merit alone.
Legacy preferences give an extra boost to predominantly white and wealthy legacy students, while “leaving out millions of Black and brown kids,” said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., a sponsor.
“There has been a shift in the consciousness of the country around issues of inequity and inequality,” Bowman said in an interview. “There’s a real yearning to right the wrongs of our past.”
In the heavily guarded world of college admissions, it’s hard to know exactly how many legacy students get a nudge. But at some of the most selective colleges, students with family ties make up 10% to 20% of the latest incoming class, according to data released by colleges in response to an Associated Press request.
On many campuses, the opposition is being led by students of color and those who are the first in their families to attend college. They say legacy status is one more advantage for students who are already more likely to have access to tutoring, test prep and other help applying to college.
Zoe Fuad, a junior at Brown University, said it reinforces a “cycle of inequity” that was designed to serve wealthy white men.
“By perpetually giving advantages to their descendants, we’re ensuring that those who were systemically favored continue to be favored,” said Fuad, 20, who leads a student group that’s challenging the practice at Brown.
Many prestigious colleges defend legacy admissions, saying it helps build an alumni community and encourages donations. Officials at Harvard and other schools argue that legacy status is just one of many factors considered in admissions, along with grades, test scores and pursuits outside school. At most, they say, it can provide a slight tip in a student’s favor.
Still, two colleges have ended the practice recently, giving opponents hope that others will follow.
Amherst College in Massachusettsdropped the policy in October, saying it “inadvertently limits educational opportunity.” Johns Hopkins University announced in 2020 that it had phased out legacy preferences. Since then, the school has drawn growing numbers of Black and Hispanic students, along with those from low-income families.
The pushback against legacy preferences is advancing amid a broader debate over fairness in college admissions.
Last month the Supreme Court agreed to review whether colleges can consider applicants’ race as a way to expand diversity. The court will take up lawsuits alleging that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminate against Asian American applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic students.
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, the conservative strategist behind those suits voiced support for the Democrats’ bill against legacy benefits. In a statement, Edward Blum said too many colleges “lower the admissions bar for the children of their alumni.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., a sponsor of the bill, said it aims to level the playing field for minority students and those from working-class families.
“More and more of the good-paying jobs in America require a college education,” he said. “It’s important that ordinary students from regular backgrounds have a fair chance to go to these institutions.”
Most schools are not required to disclose how many legacy students they enroll, and many keep it private. Among the nation’s 30 most selective colleges, only eight provided basic data on the subject in response to an AP request.
At those colleges, the share of legacy students in this year’s freshman class averaged 12%. The lowest share was at Rice University in Houston, where 4% of this year’s first-year class had legacy status. The University of Notre Dame said legacy students have averaged 23% of the student body over the past decade.
Legacy students outnumbered Black students in freshman classes at four schools: Notre Dame, Cornell, Dartmouth and the University of Southern California. At Brown, the share of legacy and Black students was about even.
Harvard refused to disclose details, but data made public during its trial over affirmative action showed that family ties carry outsize weight. From 2014 to 2019, the acceptance rate for legacy applicants was 34%, compared with 6% for applicants without legacy status, according to an analysis by the suit’s plaintiffs.
Critics of the practice say it contributes to persistently low numbers of Black students at top colleges. During the racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd by police, hundreds of students at Georgetown University signed a letter calling for an end to legacy preference, saying it “relegates qualified Black students to second-tier status.”
Historians have traced legacy preference to the 1920s as elite colleges sought to limit the number of Jewish students. It continued for decades at a time when the vast majority of college students in the U.S. were white men.
At many schools with legacy preferences, Black students were not admitted until the 1960s, said Michael Dannenberg, a vice president at the Education Reform Now think tank.
“White applicants have between eight and 16 generations of ancestors on which to establish an alumni connection,” said Dannenberg, who has opposed the practice since he was an aide to Sen. Ted Kennedy, the late Massachusetts Democrat, two decades ago. “For the vast majority of Black and Latino applicants, there’s maybe one or two generations.”
On college campuses, student activists say they continue to face resistance from school leaders who defend the policy. But at a time of rising populism in the United States, colleges are unlikely to find allies in Congress and other halls of power, said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank in Washington.
Especially in the wake of the Varsity Blues admissions scandal, he said, it’s becoming more difficult for colleges to defend policies that benefit the wealthy.
“They are clearly vulnerable on this issue,” he said.
In the wake of that scandal, Colorado became the first state in the nation to outlaw legacy preferences at public colleges. California lawmakers required colleges to disclose how many legacy students get accepted.
Among campus activists, there’s a driving desire to change the perception that top colleges are ivory towers reserved for the wealthy. When Viet Andy Nguyen applied to Brown University as a low-income, first-generation student, he knew he was competing against wealthier students with alumni connections. It made him question whether Brown was really a place for people like him.
After graduating from Brown in 2017, he launched the nonprofit EdMobilizer with the goal of expanding access to college and ending legacy preferences. He has orchestrated a donation boycott at schools across the U.S., and he’s helping students fight the practice on scores of campuses.
It isn’t lost on him that he’s challenging a policy that could benefit his future children. He has faced resistance from some students of color who wonder why he wants to end it now, when campuses are more racially diverse than ever. But to him, the goal is to open doors for students who have been excluded, not to create “an elite lineage of people of color.”
“My kids will be fine,” he said. “They don’t need an additional bump just for being my offspring.”
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/national/from-campus-to-congress-colleges-urged-to-end-legacy-boost/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:03
|
en
| 0.966347
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WWMN Interview: Mark Kass 2-13-22
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https://wtmj.com/wisconsins-weekend-morning-news/2022/02/13/wwmn-interview-mark-kass-2-13-22/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:07
|
en
| 0.781645
|
Former Sudanese transitional council member Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman arrested - family source
All three men were part of a power-sharing arrangement between civilians and military men set up after the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The military dissmissed the body, known as the Sovereign Council, in a coup last October.
A former member of Sudan's dissolved transitional council, Mohamed Al-Faki Suleiman, has been arrested, a family source said on Sunday.
His arrest follows the detention of two other prominent politicians, Wagdi Salih and Khalid Omer Yousif, last week. All three men were part of a power-sharing arrangement between civilians and military men set up after the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
The military dissmissed the body, known as the Sovereign Council, in a coup last October. The three men, who were held in detention for about one month after the coup, had engaged in a war of words with military leaders prior to the takeover. Yousif, Salih, and Suleiman were also part of a task force working to dismantle Bashir's political and financial network.
The public prosecutor's office could not be reached for comment on the latest arrest.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Omar al-Bashir
- Sovereign Council
- Sudan
- Salih
- Bashir
|
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1921390-former-sudanese-transitional-council-member-mohamed-al-faki-suleiman-arrested---family-source
| 2022-02-13T20:48:09
|
en
| 0.971562
|
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who was shot twice and whose home was destroyed by a police bomb is forgoing, for the time being, his plan to rebuild at the scene of the standoff.
Michael Grendell, 65, won a $400,000 settlement in November 2020 after suing members of the Maine State Police and one member of the state attorney general’s office. That’s the maximum allowed under statute for suing government entities.
Grendell says he was in the midst of a mental health crisis on June 28, 2018, when police arrived at his home after a neighbor reported that Grendell shot at him the day before in Dixmont.
Officers shot Grendell after the 20-hour standoff when they drew him out of the house by detonating an explosive. It was the first time in Maine that police detonated explosives using a robot to end a standoff.
Grendell, who was shot in the face and torso, spent several months in the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
Grendell said previously that he wanted to rebuild on the property where the home was blown up, the Bangor Daily News reported.
But records indicate he purchased a home last year in Bangor, and it’s unclear what will happen to the property in Dixmont. He still owns the Dixmont property, the town clerk told The Associated Press.
Grendell’s attorney, N. Laurence Willey, said a confidentiality agreement prevented him from discussing the matter with The Associated Press. Grendell didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
State police have not employed the tactic of using a robot to deliver an explosive since using the tactic on Grendell.
The attorney general’s office has not yet completed its report on the tactics employed in the standoff, a spokesperson said.
Grendell’s lawsuit indicated that he had mental health problems and that the neighbor alerted police to his deteriorated mental health and implored police not to hurt him, according to court documents.
Things quickly went downhill when police used a bullhorn to order him out of the house, according to court documents. Grendell emerged in his underwear and asked if they were the “real police.”
Later, he emerged with his dog on a leash and a Civil War-type rifle strapped to his shoulder, and he exchanged fire with troopers when state police used a robot to break a window in his home.
Police later detonated a bomb called an “explosive breaching charge” that was supposed to knock down a wall — but the blast obliterated the house and caused the roof line to fall to the ground.
Grendell pleaded no contest to reckless conduct with a firearm, and all other charges were dismissed in 2018.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/national/man-whose-home-was-bombed-by-police-holds-off-on-rebuilding/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:10
|
en
| 0.980093
|
HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — Two teenage boys, ages 16 and 17, are both charged with attempted murder after a Feb. 5 shooting incident, police said Friday. The off-duty officer was shot in the foot while attending a vigil for a community member at a West Harlem building, police said.
The officer, who is a member of the city’s Housing Bureau, was at the Manhattanville Houses on Broadway when he heard shots ringing out. He was shot once while investigating the shots.
The unnamed teens are both charged with attempted murder. Additionally, the 17-year-old boy is charged with assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon and criminal possession of a weapon.
|
https://www.krqe.com/news/national/teens-charged-in-shooting-of-off-duty-officer-in-harlem-nypd/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:18
|
en
| 0.97911
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BJP candidate Sucha Ram Ladhar injured after attack on his car in Punjab
- Country:
- India
BJP candidate from Punjab’s Gill constituency Sucha Ram Ladhar was injured and hospitalised after unidentified persons allegedly attacked his car Sunday evening, police said.
The attack took place when he was returning from a village in his constituency in Ludhiana after campaigning.
Some people hurled bricks at Ladhar’s car and he sustained injuries in the attack, a police official from the area where the incident took place said over the phone.
Ladhar was taken to Ludhiana civil hospital, he said, adding his condition is stable.
''Further investigations are on,'' the police official said.
Ladhar, a 63-year-old retired bureaucrat, is contesting from Ludhiana's reserved Gill assembly constituency for the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.
Earlier in the day, he was present in a poll rally in Ludhiana which was addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Punjab will go to the polls on February 20 and the counting will take place on March 10.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- READ MORE ON:
- Ladhar
- Union Home
- Punjab
- Sucha Ram Ladhar
- Ludhiana
- Amit Shah
- Gill
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Cong releases 3rd list of candidates for Punjab polls, fields CM Channi from 2 seats
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1921392-bjp-candidate-sucha-ram-ladhar-injured-after-attack-on-his-car-in-punjab
| 2022-02-13T20:48:17
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The list of Republicans willing to support President Joe Biden’s forthcoming nominee to the Supreme Court “is longer than you would initially imagine,” the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat recently teased to reporters.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin declined to name names. But it’s clear that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is near the top of the list.
Graham, who tethered himself to former President Donald Trump, is among a handful of Republicans declaring their willingness to break party lines and vote for the yet-to-be-announced White House choice to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
Whether Graham or any Republican ends up backing Biden’s eventual nominee in the 50-50 Senate will be a new test for the president’s long stated and rarely achieved ambitions to see Washington embrace a more bipartisan approach after the bitterness of the Trump era.
Democrats say obtaining a bipartisan vote is a top priority during the upcoming confirmation battle. “It will be great for the Senate. It will be great for the Supreme Court,” Durbin said after a White House meeting Thursday. “I hope we can achieve that goal.”
That effort will make Graham a senator to watch.
Whether Democrats can win Graham’s vote — and that of other Republicans such as Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — remains to be seen. Enduring bitterness over the way Republicans steamrolled their way to a Supreme Court majority under Trump is still a dividing line.
Graham has at times signaling a willingness to partner initially with Democrats, only to retreat to a partisan corner.
Graham led efforts in the Senate to defend Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee for the high court, from accusations of sexual assault, and it was Graham who brazenly abandoned a promise to refrain from confirming a justice in a presidential election year. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he helped to seat Amy Coney Barrett on the court just days before Biden’s election win in November 2020.
But Graham also has a history of working with Democrats and has long said lawmakers should show deference to a president’s picks. He was the only Republican on the committee to vote for two of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees. Graham also has voted against only a handful of Biden’s judicial nominees while supporting about 30.
“I’m playing the game different than everybody else,” Graham told The Associated Press in explaining his votes.
While some in the GOP have mocked Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman, a historic first, Graham was quick to defend it. “Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America,” he said.
But there’s a catch. Graham wants the choice to be a fellow South Carolinian, U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs, and has said his vote will be “much more problematic” if it isn’t her. He calls Childs someone “I can see myself supporting — if she does well here” and argues that she could win the most GOP support.
“She has a hell of a story, and she would be somebody I think that could bring the Senate together and probably get more than 60 votes,” Graham said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
The White House says Childs, who had been nominated for a federal appeals court at the time Breyer made his retirement announcement, is under consideration even as some liberal advocacy groups and labor unions question her record.
While Durbin has not endorsed a specific candidate, he said he appreciates Graham’s strategy. “Starting off with one or two Republican votes is a good start for any nominee,” he said, adding that “Lindsey is and will always be an independent.”
Part of Graham’s pitch on Childs is that — unlike all the current Supreme Court justices other than Barrett — she didn’t go to an Ivy League school. Matt Moore, a GOP strategist who served as a consultant for Graham in his 2020 campaign, said promoting Childs also appeals to voters back home.
“There’s a certain amount of state pride seeing someone from South Carolina considered for the Supreme Court,” Moore said.
While Graham has supported many Democratic judicial nominees, he also has hewed to the party line in two critical moments — the first in blocking now-Attorney General Merrick Garland from even getting a hearing when he was nominated for the Supreme Court during the final year of Barack Obama’s presidency. Then, four years later, he did an an about-face as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and shepherded Barrett’s nomination through just days before the presidential election.
Those stands helped secure a 6-3 conservative majority on the high court, an ideological balance of power that will remain in place even after Breyer’s replacement is confirmed.
But it was Graham’s defense of Kavanaugh that stands as perhaps the senator’s defining moment. Graham erupted at Democrats during a hearing where Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school. Kavanaugh denied the charges.
Anger in his voice, Graham upbraided Democrats for their treatment of Kavanaugh in a viral moment that was celebrated by conservatives.
“Boy, you all want power,” Graham said, turning to the Democrats on the committee. “God, I hope you never get it. … I hate to say it because these have been my friends.”
Now, there are signs senators want a détente. Mindful of the vote to come once Biden makes his pick, Democrats are reluctant to focus on the times that Graham has angered them.
“I think he’s looking at the merits of these individuals and their qualifications, which is to be commended,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who serves with Graham on the committee.
Democratic leaders also praised Graham this past week for his work on a bill ending forced arbitration for sexual assault and sexual harassment claims in the workplace. Durbin called him a “vital partner” on it. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was even more effusive.
“When he gets behind something, it gets done,” Schumer said. “So I want him behind more things with us in the future.”
Still, some won’t be surprised if Graham ends up opposing Biden’s choice.
Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee who has worked with Graham in the past, said “pretty much whatever Lindsey does, the back and forth and all that, no longer shocks me, which is too bad. Because I think Lindsey is a far, far better person than these kinds of flip flops indicate.”
Graham was first elected to the Senate in 2002, about a decade after the Senate had voted 96-3 for the liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the Supreme Court, and about 16 years after the Senate voted 98-0 for the conservative Antonin Scalia. Graham said the overwhelming confirmation of ideological opposites shows what has been lost.
“One is very conservative, the other is very liberal, but they were clearly qualified,” Graham said. “That’s the way it used to be. Now, it’s all about tribal politics and people are worried about primaries.”
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https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/graham-becomes-early-player-to-watch-in-supreme-court-drama/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:24
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Madhya Pradesh: Two labourers dead, 7 rescued after tunnel collapses
- Country:
- India
The bodies of two labourers were pulled out Sunday night from the rubble of an under-construction tunnel that caved in at Sleemanabad in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.
After rescuing seven people, rescuers pulled out the bodies of Goralal Kol (30), hailing from Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, and Supervisor Ravi Masalkar (26), a native of Nagpur in Maharashtra, additional superintendent of police Manoj Kedia said.
The health condition of the seven workers pulled out of the debris and admitted to the Katni district hospital, located about 30 km from the spot, was stated to be fine, officials said.
Nine labourers got trapped after the tunnel of the Bargi dam canal project caved in late Saturday night in Sleemanabad, located about 450 km from the state capital Bhopal.
Madhya Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora who monitored the rescue operation from Bhopal told PTI that teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and other personnel took part in the rescue efforts.
Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to the Katni district collector and the superintendent of police about the incident.
Chouhan directed officials to make arrangements for providing treatment to the injured labourers, Rajora said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1921396-madhya-pradesh-two-labourers-dead-7-rescued-after-tunnel-collapses
| 2022-02-13T20:48:25
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| 0.952796
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján, who is recovering from a stroke in January, says he plans to be back at work in “just a few short weeks” to vote on President Joe Biden’s forthcoming Supreme Court nominee.
In a video released Sunday by his office, the New Mexico senator said he is at the University of New Mexico Hospital after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and soon will go to an inpatient rehabilitation facility for “a few more weeks.”
“I’m doing well. I’m strong. I’m back on the road to recovery, and I’m going to make a full recovery,” the 49-year-old Luján said in the video, which showed him seated next to two of his doctors. “I’m going to walk out of here, I’m going to beat this, and I’m going to be stronger once I come out.”
“Now I’m proud to report, then I’ll be back on the floor of the United States Senate in just a few short weeks to vote on important legislation and to consider a Supreme Court nominee,” he added.
According to his office, the Luján began experiencing dizziness and fatigue on Jan. 27 and checked himself into a hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Luján was transferred to the hospital in Albuquerque for further evaluation and treatment.
His absence from the Senate came as Biden considers a nominee to replace the retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Biden has said he wants to announce a pick by the end of February.
In a 50-50 Senate, Luján’s vote would be critical if Democrats wanted to confirm Biden’s nominee without the help of Republicans.
“Rest assured, New Mexicans can know they will have a voice and a vote during this process,” Luján said in the video. “That has never changed.”
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https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/lujan-plans-return-to-senate-in-weeks-for-supreme-court-vote/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:30
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| 0.975791
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2 labourers killed in tunnel cave-in in Madhya Pradesh
- Country:
- India
Two labourers were killed and seven were rescued after an under-construction tunnel caved in at Sleemanabad in Madhya Pradesh's Katni district, officials said on Sunday.
Rescuers pulled out the bodies of Goralal Kol (30), hailing from Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, and Supervisor Ravi Masalkar (26), a native of Nagpur in Maharashtra, from the rubble Sunday night, additional superintendent of police Manoj Kedia said.
Seven of the trapped labourers rescued earlier were admitted to the Katni district hospital, located about 30 km from the spot, and their condition was stated to be fine, officials said.
Nine labourers got trapped after the tunnel of the Bargi dam canal project caved in late Saturday night in Sleemanabad, located about 450 km from the state capital Bhopal.
Madhya Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora who monitored the rescue operation from Bhopal told PTI that teams of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Emergency Response Force and other personnel took part in the rescue efforts.
Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to the Katni district collector and the superintendent of police about the incident.
Chouhan directed officials to make arrangements for providing treatment to the injured labourers, Rajora said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1921400-2-labourers-killed-in-tunnel-cave-in-in-madhya-pradesh
| 2022-02-13T20:48:33
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| 0.966394
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AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic candidate for Texas governor, continues his “Keeping the Lights On” tour of Texas on Thursday in San Antonio, where he unveiled his five-pronged policy proposal for fixing the state’s electric grid.
His proposals include the following, according to his campaign:
- Require gas companies to weatherize their infrastructure “with a clear, enforceable standard”
- Lower Texans’ utility bills through direct assistance and energy efficiency programs
- Connect Texas to the national grid
- Establish an independent market monitor to investigate future price gouging and market manipulation
- Sue the oil and gas companies that made $11 billion in one week
His tour came as an ice freeze swept across the state last weekend, in what many considered as the first big test of the grid after the 2021 winter storm. While there were local outages, Gov. Greg Abbott touted the grid as being “more reliable and more resilient” than ever before, crediting the changes in weatherization requirements he helped spearhead.
O’Rourke rejected that notion in an interview with Nexstar’s Monica Madden.
“Thankfully, last week’s weather was mild compared to last year’s winter storm. And if we saw severe or extreme weather like we had last February, this grid is not up to the task because Abbott has not winterized the gas supply,” he said.
Natural gas producers were not required to weatherize to the same extent power generators have. The Railroad Commission, which oversees Texas’ natural gas providers, did pass a rule that designates critical natural gas infrastructure to keep the largest suppliers flowing gas during winter weather. However, the weatherization deadlines aren’t until later this year.
O’Rourke also stopped Wednesday night in Austin as part of his tour that is scheduled for 12 days and will travel 2,100 miles around Texas to detail his plan to avoid future blackouts and grid failures like the one in February 2021.
Following the statewide blackouts due to the 2021 February winter storm, Gov. Greg Abbott signed two bills into law that overhauled the state’s electric administrators, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. It reduced the board of directors for ERCOT from 15 to 11 and it allowed other Texas leaders to have a say on board appointments, rather than just the governor.
The tour began Feb. 4 in El Paso, O’Rourke’s hometown, and ends Feb. 15 in Houston — one year after millions of Texans lost power due to what O’Rourke said was a “preventable grid collapse.”
The other bill forced electric providers and generators who operate in the ERCOT grid to weatherize their plants and improve communication during emergency situations and outages with an alert system.
Abbott also campaigned in San Antonio Thursday in a meeting with business leaders. His campaign has sharply rebuked O’Rourke’s tour, accusing the El Paso Democrat of fear-mongering.
“Beto O’Rourke is at it again, this time lying to Texans about the resiliency of the power grid as a result of the bipartisan reforms passed by the Legislature last year,” said Mark Miner, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement. “…[He] is instead attempting to mislead voters in a pathetic attempt to prop up his flailing campaign.”
When Nexstar asked for O’Rourke’s response to this criticism, he said he’s “standing up for Texans” who suffered during last year’s storm.
“This message is resonating, because they know they’ve been let down by the governor. They know the grid is not fixed. And they know that we need justice in Texas. That’s why we’re running,” he said.
“I welcomed a terrorist into my congregation” – Rabbi calls on Congress to add funding for security at houses of worship
Last month’s attack on a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas is bringing new calls for steps to protect houses of worship. A gunman entered Congregation Beth Israel, then held people hostage for 11 hours before Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker helped them escape.
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker says January 15th started out as any normal Saturday. He and a volunteer were setting up for sabbath service at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Then a stranger appeared at the door.
Cytron-Walker let the man come inside, not knowing what he would do next.
“I welcomed a terrorist into my congregation,” Cytron-Walker said.
For the next 11 hours, that man held the rabbi and three members of the reform Jewish synagogue hostage. It wasn’t until Cytron-Walker threw a chair at the gunman that they were able to escape. The gunman was killed moments later as law enforcement entered the synagogue.
On Tuesday, Cytron-Walker asked Congress to double federal funding for security for worshippers. The current program allows houses of worship to apply for grants of up to $100,000. The funds can be used for security measures like fences, cameras, or hiring guards.
New Jersey Democratic congressman Tom Malinowski says because of budget limits, only about half of the non-profits who applied last year actually received funding.
“We do not have enough resources and the numbers bear that out. Fully 45% of applications right now are rejected,” Malinowski said.
To fix that, Democrats and and Republicans agree the program needs more than the $180 million dollars in the current budget.
Progress with paper plate fix at Texas DMV
Emerging from an hours-long closed session, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board promised a fix to the state’s paper tag problem.
“We want to get this right,” said TxDMV board member Brett Graham. “We want to get it right for you. We want to get it right for the citizens of this state.”
Some of the changes the board has made are already working so far, according to law enforcement. Det. Mike Bradburn with Travis County Constable Pct. 3 says he used to see “25,000” fraudulent paper tags a week. Now, it’s in the “low hundreds.”
“There’s an immediate impact,” said Bradburn.
He says some crooks are now reverting back to trying to produce tampered tags instead of infiltrating the TxDMV’s system to print real ones. In 2018, the agency implemented new security features — like watermarks — to cut down on counterfeiting.
The board said Thursday it hopes to vote on fingerprinting new and existing car dealers in the coming months to cut down on phony dealerships created using stolen identification.
At the Jan. 27 board meeting, TxDMV enforcement division attorney Brian Ge was asked if vehicle identification numbers longer than 17 digits could be entered into its system.
Seventeen digits became the standard in 1981.
In December, Sgt. Jose Escribano with Travis County Constable Pct. 3 purchased a temporary tag in KXAN’s name, registering it to the Dallas Cowboys stadium with a VIN containing periods.
Law enforcement says characters that aren’t allowed in VINs — like periods and exclamation marks — are no longer able to be entered but VINs of any length can be.
“Has the programming been corrected so that only a 17-digit VIN, and it has to be the correct format of an actual VIN, has that been corrected?” asked board Vice Chair Tammy McRae.
“Yes it has,” responded Ge. “It was corrected when it was first brought up several years ago. And then when we noticed a defect that was brought to our attention in December and that was corrected the day after.”
But Central Texas sheriff’s deputy David Kohler says he has proof that isn’t entirely true.
“There is still another issue with VIN verification that has still yet to be resolved,” said Kohler.
Five days ago, he was able to register VINs with 15 and 18 characters — two below and one above the standard of 17. He says the VINs the TxDMV is allowing would be rejected on websites like CARFAX.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” said TxDMV board member Stacey Gillman.
“We do not have VIN decoding software on the system,” said TxDMV Acting Interim Executive Director Shelly Mellott. “It’s definitely something we’re looking at and we think it’s a great idea.”
Mellott says some states, and older cars or trailers can use longer VINs. The board is considering VIN verification tools to verify what is being input into the system is legitimate — something Kohler says is crucial to keep law enforcement, and the public, safe.
“[The car] could have been involved in a kidnapping or a homicide or could be a stolen car,” said Kohler. “Or it could have been involved in a hit-and-run where there’s a fatality…and you have no way of knowing.”
All of this is coming at a time of uncertainty for the agency now with general counsel Tracey Beaver resigning just days after executive director Whitney Brewster, amid a series of KXAN investigations and turmoil over the agency’s handling of the state’s paper license plate problem.
Brewster’s name still appeared on Thursday’s agenda, which is a reflection of her sudden decision to depart the agency abruptly. Both Kohler and Sgt. Jose Escribano with Travis County Constable Pct. 3 says it’s even more surprising given that Brewster offered to meet with them at the Jan. 27 meeting in an effort to improve communication with law enforcement.
“It was too sudden for me. Where did that come from?” he asked. “I have questions on that…I don’t know what to say…that was just sudden and you’re gone? Your counsel? I have questions.”
Escribano said he is happy with the changes made so far by the TxDMV but also worries the sudden shakeups at the agency will slow down the progress made so far.
He says law enforcement is ready to help the agency if asked.
“We are not going to stop,” he said. “Until we fix this.”
New CDL rules come at challenging time for Texas trucking industry
There are new rules of the road for those looking to get their first commercial driver license, and they come at a challenging time for the industry in Texas and across the nation.
This week, long-delayed federal regulations kicked in, requiring would-be drivers and those looking to upgrade their licenses to complete minimum federal training requirements before being permitted to take certain CDL tests.
The rules, known as Entry Level Driver Training (ELDT), took effect Monday.
They affect anyone applying for a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time, upgrading an existing CDL to a Class A or B, or obtaining a school bus (S), passenger (P), or hazardous materials (H) endorsement for the first time.
Delbert Crawford, the director of Austin’s Changing Lanes CDL School, welcomes the changes.
“It will make the roads safer,” he told KXAN. “They should have come out with this rule a long time ago instead of delaying it.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation had to hold off on its rollout of ELDT for two years as the government worked to set up the technical infrastructure to keep track of student certifications and the schools cleared to provide the training.
Roy Hawkins, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Southern Careers Institute in Austin, told KXAN the requirements could “help the industry in the future.”
“Having standardized curriculum and outcomes across the United States for people who are entry level drivers is a very good thing,” Hawkins said.
But training comes with a cost — several thousands of dollars, depending on the school.
“That’s not a small sum of money for a lot of people, said Ken Snipes, the director of Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), the city’s waste management utility.
“People won’t be able to now just walk up to someone who has a truck and say, ‘Hey, can you teach me how to drop your truck?’ Now you will be required to go to a school for formalized training,” he said. “It could pose a barrier.”
Snipes said ARR provides its own training for CDL drivers.
As KXAN has reported, the utility has been dealing with a shortage of drivers and truck operators, impacting some collections services in the city.
“Staffing is problematic across the industry,” he said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of last summer, roughly 33,000 CDL jobs remained unfilled from pre-pandemic levels, and there was already a shortage even before COVID-19.
“It’s not just COVID, there is an aging population in the trucking industry,” Hawkins said. “People are exiting the industry to retire, and there are not enough people coming in.”
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https://www.krqe.com/news/politics/state-of-texas-the-grid-is-not-fixed-beto-orourke-touts-energy-reform-in-campaign-tour/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:36
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| 0.964421
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Canada protests sound common refrain: 'We stand for freedom'
We believe that it should be everyones personal decision what they inject into their bodies. The refrain isnt new to a pandemic-weary world, two years after the COVID-19 virus prompted curfews and closures, face-mask mandates and debates over vaccine requirements.
- Country:
- Canada
Canadians who have occupied downtown Ottawa, disrupted travel and trade with the U.S. and inspired copycat protests from New Zealand to the Netherlands sound a common note when asked about their motivation: Decisions about their health shouldn't be made by the government.
“We stand for freedom,” said Karen Driedger, 40, who home-schools her kids and attended protests in Ottawa and Windsor. “We believe that it should be everyone's personal decision what they inject into their bodies.” The refrain isn't new to a pandemic-weary world, two years after the COVID-19 virus prompted curfews and closures, face-mask mandates and debates over vaccine requirements. Though it comes just as many of the toughest pandemic-era restrictions are being lifted across Canada, the U.S. and Europe — and experts say antipathy toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is also a significant force.
Still, the in-your-face protests of some truck drivers and others who have shut down the Canadian capital, and a vital economic link between Windsor and Detroit, have fueled frustrations around the country and world, aided by publicity and support from far-right and anti-vaccine groups.
Influential Americans such as former U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk have rallied behind the protesters, and they've received publicity and support from far-right and anti-vaccine groups.
Trudeau has labelled the protesters a “fringe,” and authorities have braced for violence because some have expressed hope that the rally will become the Canadian equivalent of last January's riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. The Canadian “freedom convoy” was announced last month by a group founded by a QAnon conspiracy theory supporter and other organizers, and includes the ex-leader of Alberta's far-right Maverick Party.
Protesters who spoke to The Associated Press this week defended their actions and argued that they represent many more frustrated residents. Don Stephens, a 65-year-old retired graphic designer, said he's come into Ottawa twice to show support for protesters there. He views them as representatives of a “silent majority that had been longing to have their voice heard.” Mat Mackenzie, a 36-year-old trucker from Ontario, said he's been among the protesters in Ottawa for 15 days, feeling “a duty” to show his opposition. Citizens should be in charge of making decisions around masks, vaccines and other COVID mitigation efforts, not government officials, he said.
“I can tell you 90% of truckers here are likely vaccinated. We're here for freedom of choice,'' Mackenzie said. ''And that's what we're here to fight for.” Michael Kempa, a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, said there are two faces of the protest. It isn't just about vaccine mandates and other COVID restrictions; organizers have said they want to oust Trudeau's Liberal government and be part of forming a new one, he said. “In many ways, the friendly face protesters are acting as the foot soldiers of the organizers,” Kempa said. “We are seeing a huge amount of misinformation. People who are legitimately angry are being manipulated by the protest leadership.” Many Canadians have been outraged over the crude behavior of some demonstrators. Some urinated on the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, while others carried signs and flags with swastikas and used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, sparking widespread condemnation.
Most Canadians have been supportive of the pandemic restrictions, which health officials have stressed are necessary to protect the public from a virus that has killed at least 5.8 million people globally. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
The images of protests across Canada have ignited copycats elsewhere.
In Paris, police prevented a threatened blockade of the French capital on Saturday. But a few dozen vehicles were able to disrupt traffic on the famed Champs-Elysees, prompting police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd. ''The convoys are for the restoring of our liberties,” said Pierre-Louis Garnier, a 64-year-old who attended a protest in Paris on Friday to welcome an anticipated convoy that never materialised.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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New Zealand PM Ardern isolating, journalist case highlights tough COVID curbs
WRAPUP 2-NATO concerned over Europe's energy security amid standoff with Russia
WRAPUP 1-NATO calls on Europe to diversify energy supply amid standoff with Russia
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1921395-canada-protests-sound-common-refrain-we-stand-for-freedom
| 2022-02-13T20:48:41
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| 0.964439
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The desert in the southwest is filled with strange, historical, and downright odd things. This past week, two properties with quite a salacious and scandalous history appeared on the market.
For sale is Dennis Hof’s Love Ranch brothel in the tiny community of Crystal, Nevada. In Sandy Valley, the former Nevada Sun Rancho nudist ranch is also up for grabs.
LOVE RANCH BROTHEL
The brothel in Crystal is located just over 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and Sandy Valley is about 45 miles to the southwest directly on the Nevada-California border.
The Love Ranch might now be best known as the brothel where Lamar Odom overdosed in 2015. It is also where its owner, Dennis Hof, died in 2018.
In the $1.2 million listing, the Love Ranch sale includes much more than the brothel, which has 15 one bedroom suites, two new kitchens and a new bar. A backhoe, track hoe, advertising truck and limousine are included as well, plus 75 acres of land.
The sale also includes another newly remodeled bar, two manufactured homes and another 21 developed lots ready to build on in Crystal and Pahrump.
NEVADA SUN RANCHO/LAS VEGAS SUN CLUB
Drive about 65 miles south on Highway 160 and a few miles through the desert and you get to Sandy Valley, population about 1,700.
It is in Sandy Valley where the property once known as the Nevada Sun Rancho and before that as the Las Vegas Sun Club is for sale. The property was a nudist ranch for at least 12 years from 1989 to 2007.
The ranch is listed for $475,000 and is described as a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom property, covering 2.25 acres.
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https://www.krqe.com/news/weird/brothel-nudist-ranch-up-for-sale-near-las-vegas/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:42
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(ABC4) – Samantha Custer and her husband Dave were faced with one of life’s greatest obstacles and then one of life’s greatest gifts just weeks apart. In an article published by the Cleveland Clinic’s Newsroom, Mrs. Custer explains she was 25 weeks pregnant, nearly two months away from her due date, when doctors informed her she would have to undergo surgery to save her unborn baby’s life.
The Custers were frantic as everything up until that point had gone smoothly with the pregnancy.
In speaking to Newsroom, Dr. Darrell Cass, Director of the clinic’s Fetal Surgery and Fetal Care Center explained: “What we saw was a very large tumor, and this tumor was sitting exactly in the wrong area, where it was squishing the left side of the heart.”
According to Cass, the Custers needed to move quickly to save their son.
“We felt probably the best treatment – if we were going to do anything – would be to try open fetal resection of this tumor,” Cass told Newsroom. Days later, he found himself prepping Mrs. Custer for surgery with the help of his team.
One of the surgeons who aided in Mrs. Custer’s surgery, Dr. Hani Najm, Chair of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at the clinic, said, “I was able to examine and get into a very nice plane of dissection, as we call it in surgical terms, and I was able to literally enucleate the entire tumor and remove it.”
“Once the tumor was off, it was amazing. Basically, the left atrium in the heart opened up and you could see blood flow change,” added Dr. Cass.
Soon enough, baby Rylan was placed back in the uterus, only to be born via c-section 10 weeks later.
The Custer family is reportedly doing well and feels extremely grateful for the doctors who made the birth of their son possible.
“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Mrs. Custer said, while her husband – overjoyed by Rylan’s arrival – simply stated, “He’s a little miracle.”
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https://www.krqe.com/news/weird/unborn-baby-undergoes-heart-surgery-in-womb-after-doctors-detect-tumor/
| 2022-02-13T20:48:48
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BJP Assam to file sedition cases against Rahul Gandhi over his 'India exists from Gujarat to Bengal' remark: Sources
At least a thousand sedition cases will be lodged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam on Monday against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his tweet saying "India exists from Gujarat to West Bengal" thereby conceding to Chinese demand of Arunachal Pradesh, top sources revealed to ANI.
- Country:
- India
By Payal Mehta At least a thousand sedition cases will be lodged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam on Monday against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his tweet saying "India exists from Gujarat to West Bengal" thereby conceding to Chinese demand of Arunachal Pradesh, top sources revealed to ANI.
The Wayanad MP, in a tweet on February 10, had said that there is a strength in our Union. "There is strength in our Union. Our Union of Cultures. Our Union of Diversity. Our Union of Languages. Our Union of People. Our Union of States," Rahul Gandhi had said.
In the same tweet, he had further mentioned that this union from "Gujarat to West Bengal". Following the tweet, Chief Ministers of Assam, Tripura and Manipur pointed out that the Congress leader missed mentioning the northeast. "From Kashmir to Kerala. From Gujarat to West Bengal. India is beautiful in all its colours. Don't insult the spirit of India," Rahul Gandhi had said.
The sources say that Rahul Gandhi deliberately ignored the northeast and thereby conceded to the demand of the Chinese for Arunachal Pradesh. On February 10, taking a dig at the Congress leader, Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "India is far beyond just a union. We are a proud Nation. Bharat cannot be held hostage to your tukde tukde philosophy. What is your problem with Nation, Nationality and Nationalism? And hello- beyond Bengal, we North east exist."
Launching a blistering attack on the Wayanad MP, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that his ignorance is the reason for Congress' wipe out from the region. "In order to preach, Mr. Rahul Gandhi has forgotten our beautiful North Eastern states. Just like his great grandfather, he excluded our region? We are also a proud part of India. Your ignorance is the reason of your party's total wipe out from Northeast," Tripura Chief Minister said.
In the poll-bound state of Manipur, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that he is baffled over the ignorance by a senior Congress leader of the region and questioned how the party is asking the people of the state to vote for them in the upcoming Assembly elections. "It baffles me when a senior @INCIndia leader ignores the existence of North East India in their statements. When the existence of this region is not even acknowledged, how is Congress asking for votes to the people of Manipur for the upcoming election? Who's dividing the Nation?" Manipur Chief Minister had tweeted.
Certainly, it was not only the Chief Ministers of the northeastern state who did not receive Rahul Gandhi's remark well. Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik also called Gandhi's remark the "real insult" and said that the Congress has and will continue to ignore the northeastern states. "The real insult is Rahul Gandhi completely ignoring the states of North-East India even in his criticisms. This reflects Congress Party's true intent. They have and will always neglect the people of North-East!" she had tweeted.
Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, BJP's National General Secretary (Organization) BL Santosh said, "For @INCIndia & its leader, the 7 sisters of North East are not even worth mentioning The filing of the sedition case against the Congress leader comes at a time when Congress' student wing has launched protests against the Assam Chief Minister for his remark against Rahul Gandhi asking whether the BJP had ever demanded proof of him being the "son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi".
Addressing a rally in Uttarakhand, the Assam Chief Minister recently criticised Rahul Gandhi and said, "He seeks proof from our Army of the surgical strike, did we ever ask you for proof of whether you are Rajiv Gandhi's son or not? What right do you have to demand proof from my Army?" Following the incident, Congress had filed complaints against Sarma across the country and even demanded him to be immediately sacked from the post.
The Congress' demand also resonated with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who was once a bitter critic of the grand old party. (ANI)
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/politics/1921397-bjp-assam-to-file-sedition-cases-against-rahul-gandhi-over-his-india-exists-from-gujarat-to-bengal-remark-sources
| 2022-02-13T20:48:48
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