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LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Wall says he considered taking his own life during a time in the last three years when he was dealing with a torn Achilles and the deaths of family members at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 31-year-old guard joined the Los Angeles Clippers this summer and is eager for a return to form this coming season. Wall has played just 40 games over the last three years because of injuries, COVID-19 and his former team, the Houston Rockets, not playing him before he joined the Clippers. Wall discussed his recent past at a garden dedication earlier this month for his late mother at the Salvation Army in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he’s from. His mother had been a volunteer at the Wake County location. “Darkest place I’ve ever been in,” Wall said. “At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide. I mean, just tearing my Achilles, my mom being sick, my mom passing, my grandma passed a year later, all this in the midst of COVID and at the same time, me going to chemotherapy, me sitting by my mom taking her last breaths wearing the same clothes for three days straight laying on the couch beside her.” Wall’s mother, Frances Pulley, died in December 2019 at the age of 58 after struggling with breast cancer. His grandmother died later. At the same time, Wall was dealing with rehabbing his Achilles injury. “We’re all going through times, nobody’s got it easy, but I don’t think a lot of people could get through what I went through,” Wall said. “And to me to get back on top where I want to be and seeing the fans still want me to play, having the support from my hometown, this important period means a lot. I went to find a therapist. A lot of people think, ‘I don’t need help, I can get through it at anytime,’ but you’ve got to be true to yourself and find out what’s best for you.” Wall said he has a strong support system that includes his team and the mother of his two children. His sons also motivate him. “I’m looking at all that and I’m like, ‘If I can get through this, I can get through anything in life,’” he said. Lakers superstar LeBron James’ production company tweeted, “@John Wall we got your back. Always.” James then tweeted, “And I mean ALWAYS!!!!!! Don’t ever question it bro!! Proud of you @JohnWall.” Wall said he’s happy to have a chance to play basketball again. “You can tell I’m kind of smiling a lot more, all those types of things,” he said. “I get an opportunity to play with two great players and the sky’s the limit.” ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-john-wall-says-he-considered-suicide-during-struggles/	2022-09-21T13:46:13Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-john-wall-says-he-considered-suicide-during-struggles/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run of the season but Shohei Ohtani also went deep during their MVP showdown, and the Los Angeles Angels held off the slumping New York Yankees 4-3 on Monday night. The top two candidates for AL MVP both delivered before a sellout crowd that included plenty of Yankees fans. Ohtani broke a 2-all tie in the fifth inning with his 29th homer, a two-run drive to right-center. Judge connected in the eighth for a 434-foot shot off reliever Ryan Tepera that made it 4-3. “It’s 50, and it’s August,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s hard to wrap your mind around just how incredible of a season he’s had to this point. The one time they pitch to him he hits it off a rock. It’s really special what he’s doing.” With his parents in the stands, the California-born slugger became one of 10 players in major league history with multiple 50-homer seasons. Judge smashed 52 long balls in 2017, setting a rookie record that was broken two years later when Pete Alonso hit 53 for the New York Mets. “It’s just another number,” Judge said. “It’s great, but I’m kind of upset we lost. It’s a close game we could’ve won.” The first-place Yankees tried to rally in the ninth, but three-time AL MVP Mike Trout went a long way to make a running catch in deep center on a drive by Oswaldo Cabrera with a runner on first for the final out. Judge, who received loud “MVP!” chants late in the game, was intentionally walked twice before going deep. He is chasing the single-season Yankees record of 61 home runs established by Roger Maris in 1961. “I’m not downplaying it,” Judge said. “I don’t like talking numbers.” New York, which leads the AL East by seven games over Tampa Bay, has lost three in a row — all on the road. The Angels, who have struggled mightily most of the season, have won four straight. Ohtani, the two-way star and last year’s AL MVP, is doing it all for Los Angeles. “Of course, it’s important for a player to be able to have a season like this,” he said through a team representative. “I want to be able to keep this pace and continue to play in games.” Angels starter Jose Suarez (5-6) held the Yankees to two runs and three hits in six innings. Jimmy Herget got two outs for his fourth save. Frankie Montas (4-11), obtained in a trade with Oakland at the beginning of the month, allowed three home runs in the loss. He gave up four earned runs and eight hits in six innings. “I thought I threw the ball pretty good, I just couldn’t keep it in the ballpark,” Montas said. Luis Rengifo and ex-Yankee Mike Ford homered for the Angels along with Ohtani. Anthony Rizzo also connected for New York. Rizzo, dropped to sixth in the batting order, hit a solo shot to right field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the fourth. The lead didn’t last long as Ford homered in the bottom half to tie it. It was his first of the season. Ford was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and made his major league debut with the team in 2019. Rengifo went deep in the second to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. It was his career-best 11th home run of the season. DJ LeMahieu used a sacrifice bunt — his first since 2019 — to bring in Isiah Kiner-Falefa with the tying run in the third. Kiner-Falefa drew a walk to start the inning. CROWD CONTROL There were a lot of Yankees fans in attendance, so many that Judge called it a “home away from home” and boos were audible each time the Angels walked him intentionally. But it was a fun atmosphere for Ohtani, too. Even if the MVP chants were for Judge. “It feels rewarding to be able to play in front of a crowd like this,” Ohtani said. “It doesn’t matter who they are cheering for, I was able to have a lot of fun playing.” BETWEEN A ROCK AND A BULLPEN Judge’s home run ball hit off the rock formation well beyond the left-center fence and took a fortunate bounce left toward the bullpens. Judge said someone got him the souvenir ball from one of the bullpens. BLAST FROM THE PAST There’s a video that’s gone viral on social media which shows Judge in a batting cage and predicting he’s going to hit 50 home runs. His prediction was right on the number, he just had the wrong year. “Man, that video is a couple years old,” Judge said. “I was a little late on that one. I missed it whatever year that was, might have been ’19. Like I said, I try not to think about it. The offseason, you can dream. You write down goals and stuff you want to accomplish during the year, but once the season starts you’re out here competing. It’s about trying to lock down as many wins as you can.” TRAINER’S ROOM Yankees: RHP Clay Holmes was reinstated from the injured list after recovering from back spasms. He entered with a runner on in the seventh and got three straight outs in his first appearance since Aug. 12. … LHP Nestor Cortes (groin) will throw a bullpen Wednesday and could throw again this weekend at the team’s training facility in Tampa, Florida. Angels: RHP Michael Lorenzen (right shoulder strain) said he feels 100% after a 70-pitch rehab start but might have another one. … INF Matt Duffy (lower back) was reinstated from the injured list. UP NEXT Yankees: RHP Jameson Taillon (12-4, 3.89 ERA) pitched well in Oakland last time out, allowing one earned run in six innings without a walk. Angels: RHP Mike Mayers (1-1, 4.46) tossed five scoreless innings in his last start at Tampa Bay. He gave up just two hits, but the Angels lost in 11 innings. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-judge-hits-50th-ohtani-also-goes-deep-as-angels-edge-yanks/	2022-09-21T13:46:21Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-judge-hits-50th-ohtani-also-goes-deep-as-angels-edge-yanks/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Aaron Judge is rolling toward September with Roger Maris firmly in sight. Two impressive homers at Angel Stadium have moved the Yankees slugger two steps closer to baseball history. Judge hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning for his 51st homer of the season, and New York snapped its three-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night. Judge connected for the second straight night at the Big A, driving a high fastball from Mike Mayers (1-1) into the elevated right-field stands. Judge has five homers in his last eight games, and leads the majors with 113 RBIs. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, who left after two innings when he was hit in the forearm by a line drive. “Feels like any time he’s out there, he’s got a chance to do something special. Doesn’t matter what scouting report you have, or whether you execute your pitch or not. He’s just so good that you can make a good pitch, and he can still hit it out and all over the park.” Judge had three hits and scored two runs in front of an Orange County crowd packed with Yankees fans who gave several ovations to the California-born slugger attempting to chase down Maris’ AL home run record of 61 set in 1961. He’s right on pace: Judge and Maris both had 51 homers through the Yankees’ first 130 games. “Got a pitch out over the plate, a couple of guys on, and drove it out of the park,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said. “That’s what he does. He’s in a groove right now. You just see, watching his swing from the side, how on time everything is.” Andrew Benintendi and Anthony Rizzo hit early solo homers for New York, which lost Taillon to a bruised right forearm when he was hit by Magneuris Sierra’s liner to end the second. “It’s not bad,” Taillon said. “It’s gotten a lot better. I was a little worried there at first. Had some pretty quick swelling in there. I was in some pain, and then got X-rays, found out it was negative, and I’m already seeing some improvement.” Six Yankees relievers finished, and 27-year-old rookie Greg Weissert (1-0) earned his first major league win. The Long Island-born Fordham product replaced Taillon and retired the next six Angels hitters in order. “It feels great to put it behind me,” Weissert said while thinking of his rough major league debut, in which he gave up three runs while getting one out in Oakland last week. “It was definitely something to think about, but I knew I got called up for a reason.” Max Stassi and Mike Ford homered for the Angels, whose four-game winning streak ended despite Touki Toussaint’s five innings of one-hit relief. Shohei Ohtani doubled and singled in his third consecutive multi-hit game for Los Angeles, which hasn’t won five straight since April. Mayers struggled in the converted reliever’s fifth career start, giving up eight hits and five earned runs in four innings. “He probably just left a few too many balls in the middle,” Nevin said. “He’s not afraid. He’s going right after hitters.” Benintendi homered in the first inning and Rizzo followed with his 30th homer of the season in the second, both left-handed batters connecting to right field. Stassi ended his 1-for-40 slump in the second with his eighth homer, his first since Aug. 5. But the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs in the third and scored two runs when Ford couldn’t field a bouncing throw from Luis Rengifo at first. TAILLON TAGGED Taillon yielded two hits and two runs in his abbreviated start, striking out two. He was hit in the head by a line drive in 2016 and again in 2019, but he feels optimistic after negative X-rays and decreased swelling. He’ll get treatment Wednesday, and hopes to make his next start. “We caught a nice break, it seems, for once in my career,” Taillon said. USED FORD Continuing his hot start with the Angels, Ford homered for the second straight night against the organization that employed him from 2012 until last season, when he was traded to Tampa Bay. Ford belonged to a whopping seven different teams in the ensuing 14 months, but he hadn’t hit any homers since the Yankees traded him until these two shots for the Halos. TRAINER’S ROOM Yankees: OF Harrison Bader is hitting off a tee and running. He could begin playing in games next week. The trade-deadline acquisition has yet to play for New York due to a foot injury that has sidelined him since June. Angels: RHP Michael Lorenzen will make one last rehab start before he returns, Nevin said. Lorenzen has been out since early July with discomfort in his pitching shoulder. UP NEXT The series concludes with two Orange County natives on the mound. Newport Beach’s Gerrit Cole (10-6, 3.31 ERA) returns to his boyhood stadium to face Mission Viejo’s Patrick Sandoval (4-9, 3.05), who will make his first career appearance against the Yankees after back-to-back excellent starts on the road. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-judge-hits-51st-hr-as-yankees-snap-skid-top-angels-7-4/	2022-09-21T13:46:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-judge-hits-51st-hr-as-yankees-snap-skid-top-angels-7-4/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw is set to come off the injured list and rejoin the rotation Thursday to face the New York Mets. Kershaw hasn’t pitched since Aug. 4, when he exited a start against San Francisco because of lower back pain. The 34-year-old three-time NL Cy Young Award winner spent five weeks on the IL with a back injury earlier this season. Kershaw felt good following a bullpen session Monday is ready to return in a game at Citi Field between NL division leaders. Manager Dave Roberts said inserting Kershaw into the rotation Thursday will allow the Dodgers to give Dustin May an extra day of rest before his third start following Tommy John surgery. May, who underwent the procedure in May 2021, is 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 11 innings. Kershaw is 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA in 15 starts. He tossed seven perfect innings before being pulled against the Minnesota Twins in his season debut April 13 and carried a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on July 15. Roberts said the Dodgers, who had hoped to go to a six-man rotation before Tony Gonsolin went on the IL on Monday with a right forearm strain, would stick with a five-man rotation for now. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if we reinstated someone at some point to give guys an extra day,” Roberts said. The Dodgers have the best record in the majors. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-kershaw-set-for-return-to-dodgers-rotation-thursday-vs-mets/	2022-09-21T13:46:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-kershaw-set-for-return-to-dodgers-rotation-thursday-vs-mets/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ATLANTA (AP) — Rory McIlroy set the tone for a contentious week at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship when he contemplated 18 players from Saudi-funded LIV Golf who have entered the European tour’s flagship event. In his news conference Sunday after winning the FedEx Cup, McIlroy was talking about why he doesn’t mind when he is looked upon as the PGA Tour’s strongest supporter as it tries to cope with LIV Golf. And then he took aim at LIV players. “I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do,” McIlroy said. “Like it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks’ time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.” The list includes Ryder Cup teammates Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Bernd Wiesberger and Martin Kaymer. Westwood made a strong and accurate defense of his desire to play a prestigious event like Wentworth. No other top European player has supported the home circuit as he has done over his career. Most curious are the Americans in the field, who often talk about the desire to play less as a reason — along with the money — for joining Greg Norman’s league. That list includes Talor Gooch, Kevin Na and Patrick Reed. Here’s the itinerary: Boston area this week. South of London next week. Back to the suburbs southwest of Chicago the following week. And that’s by choice. Then again, the PGA BMW Championship is a chance to earn world ranking points because LIV Golf has not been approved for points by the world ranking board. Any decision could be nine months away, at which point players will have fallen greatly. Gooch is No. 45, one spot ahead of new LIV player Harold Varner III. Patrick Reed, who once referred to himself as a top-5 player, is down to No. 50. Four LIV players were allowed to play in the Scottish Open under an emergency stay from a British court. The European tour has fined them what amounts to the equivalent of last-place money from LIV events until a full hearing early next week. Meanwhile, European tour CEO Keith Pelley sent a memo to players Tuesday about his own “strong opposition” to LIV players in the field at Wentworth. Pelley said in the memo, which was obtained by Golf Channel, that LIV players will not be required to play in the pro-am and will not be in any of the groups featured on streaming. COMING AND GOING LIV Golf signed up six more PGA Tour players, and with the fields capped at 48 players, some players are not in the Boston area for this week’s event. Most notable is the absence of Japanese players. Three players from Japan have been to all of LIV Golf Invitational events — Ryosuke Kinoshita, Jinichiro Kozuma and Hideto Tanihara. Now there is none. This comes after heavy courtship of former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who said after the Tour Championship on Sunday he was not going to LIV. Hennie Du Plessis of South Africa played in all three. He is No. 7 on the money list with just over $2.4 million and is not in the Boston-area event. Justin Harding and Travis Smyth also are not in the field, having played the previous three. Some players are event to event, with a multiyear contract. That would seem to be the case with Adrian Otaegui and Sihwan Kim. They are back for Boston after missing the previous LIV event in New Jersey. CHEVRON CHANGES Chevron takes over as title sponsor for the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year, moving it from the California desert to Houston and raising the prize fund to $5.1 million. Tournament officials also are revising eligibility criteria to create opportunities for amateurs from all over the world. Spots are being awarded to the winners of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Women’s British Amateur, Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, Women’s Latin America Amateur, Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Chevron Silverado Showdown. Also, Chevron is offering a $5,000 stipend to every player who misses the cut to help with travel costs. The tournament is April 20-23 — away from its previous date one week before the Masters — and will be held at The Club at Carlton Woods. KAPALUA BONUS Ten players are eligible to start next year at Kapalua on Maui for a Sentry Tournament of Champions that is no longer about current champions. One of the changes involving the “elevated events” with big purses was to expand the Kapalua field to include anyone from the Tour Championship. The PGA Tour also had that criteria for January 2021 because of a shorter season brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those at East Lake who have not won on the PGA Tour this year: Sungjae Im, Aaron Wise, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young, Brian Harman, Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Corey Conners, Sahith Theegala and Scott Stallings. The tour still has nine tournaments the rest of the year. As of now, Young and Theegala will be in the Tournament of Champions without ever having won. Two years ago, that applied to Scottie Scheffler and Abraham Ancer. MONEY MANNERS The 50 players who earn PGA Tour cards from the Korn Ferry Tour — either the regular season or the three-event finals series — can expect a $500,000 deposit to start the year. It’s one of the new programs Commissioner Jay Monahan announced last week. Everyone with a full card gets $500,000 that counts against their earnings so they don’t lose money. That’s a benefit for the bottom. This season, the PGA Tour had 163 players who made $500,000 or more. That compares with 42 players who made under $500,000 while playing at least 15 tournaments. For players who had 15 or more starts, Joshua Creel made only four cuts in 22 tournaments in his rookie season and earned $115,976. Kyle Stanley was not a returning member (he was top 125 the previous year). Stanley made $188,048 in 18 tournaments. At the end of the season, the tour would have paid him $311,952 under this program. DIVOTS Since the PGA Tour returned from the COVID-19 pandemic-caused shutdown in June 2020, Xander Schauffele has not had a final round over par in a regular PGA Tour event. … A big year is followed by a small break for Rory McIlroy. He is headed to England next week for the BMW PGA Championship, followed by the Italian Open to see the course that hosts the Ryder Cup next year. After a week off, he is playing the Dunhill Links in Scotland with his father. He would have two weeks off before the CJ Cup in South Carolina, which McIlroy won last year in Las Vegas. … Keita Nakajima and Rose Zhang are repeat winners of the Mark H. McCormack Medal for being the top-ranked amateurs for the most weeks this year. STAT OF THE WEEK The players who finished 1-2-3 at The Players Championship — Cameron Smith, Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey — are now part of LIV Golf. FINAL WORD “I know that my best stuff is good enough to win any tournament against anybody on any golf course. That’s something I can take away from today.” — Rory McIlroy after rallying from six shots behind to win the Tour Championship. ___ More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mcilroy-prepares-to-stomach-liv-golf-players-at-wentworth/	2022-09-21T13:46:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mcilroy-prepares-to-stomach-liv-golf-players-at-wentworth/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — Timmy Trumpet was all set to horn in on this most notable season for the New York Mets. The Australian-born musician was at Citi Field with trumpet in hand Tuesday night, ready if needed to pop onto the diamond and blare his song “Narco” live if Mets closer Edwin Díaz emerged from the bullpen. Díaz never got into the game as the Dodgers won 4-3 in a matchup of NL division leaders. Instead, Mets fans had to be content to sing along as Trumpet played a more muted version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” from just outside the Los Angeles dugout during the seventh-inning stretch. But minutes after attending his first major league game, Trumpet tweeted he’d back Wednesday night, hoping again to play Díaz’s wildly popular entrance song in person when the Mets hosted the Dodgers. “SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR ROUND 2 NYC,” he posted. “We got this!!” Hours before Tuesday night’s game, Trumpet put the instrument to his lips and blasted the instantly recognizable first notes of “Narco.” A blown song, not a blown save, in the mostly empty ballpark. “It’s actually really cool to be in a stadium where you can hear it echoing around like that. I’ve never been in a stadium this big before,” he said. Born Timothy Smith, he became fast friends with Díaz earlier this season after Trumpet reached out to the pitcher when the song went viral. With the crowd applauding Tuesday, the 40-year-old musician put on a jersey with Díaz’s No. 39 and the name Trumpet on the back and threw out the first ball, an arcing toss to Mets outfielder Tyler Naquin that barely reached the plate. “I hope I come into the game tonight,” Díaz, wearing a shirt with a blue-and-orange “Edwin” pictured above a trumpet, said before the first pitch. “Because he’ll perform for me and the fan base.” Díaz actually began using “Narco” — which Trumpet recorded with the Dutch DJ duo Blasterjaxx in 2017 — during his final season with the Seattle Mariners in 2018. He pivoted to “No Hay Limite” by Miky Woodz upon being traded to the Mets prior to the 2019 season, when he posted a 5.59 ERA and blew seven saves. He returned to “Narco” in 2020, when the Mets played to empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it took his dominance this season — Díaz is 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA, 28 saves and 99 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings — to vault the song into the rarefied air of all-time closer entrance songs alongside the likes of “Enter Sandman” (for Mariano Rivera) and “Hells Bells” (for Trevor Hoffman). The lights at Citi Field dim and the scoreboard goes dark as Díaz walks from the bullpen mound to the door. Upon his first step onto the field, the song starts and tens of thousands of people leap to their feet and begin clapping and miming trumpet actions as mascots Mr. and Mrs. Met pretend to play their own plastic trumpets. “I think what I like most so far is the fans — the people in the crowd, watching the video of them reacting to the track that Díaz picks is just insane, they’re wild,” Trumpet said. “It looks like a huge party and that was the intention of this song when we wrote it in the first place. So it’s a huge honor.” Mets manager Buck Showalter said earlier this month he delayed a trip to the bathroom to watch Díaz’s entrance. And his teammates have been among those sending “Narco” into the top five at Spotify, the Internet streaming service. “We all get excited for it, too,” Mets reliever Adam Ottavino said. “For whatever reason — the simplicity of it, just with the trumpets and everything, people really respond to that. You can see why it’s spread. I found myself searching for the song on Spotify at some point.” “It’s just pretty cool. The great ones have had iconic songs at times — Mariano and Trevor Hoffman, stuff like that — so this is really cool that he has that going,” he said. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a longtime friend and teammate of Hoffman’s in San Diego, said his favorite entrance song remains “Hells Bells.” He said he was aware of the sensation “Narco” has become. “Hopefully we don’t hear it over the next three days,” Roberts said with a grin. “Hopefully we can stand him up and he can just be here and not have to entertain tonight.” ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mets-closer-diaz-hoping-to-hear-timmy-trumpet-sound-off/	2022-09-21T13:46:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-mets-closer-diaz-hoping-to-hear-timmy-trumpet-sound-off/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell is certainly aware of the expectations that come with the family name. Noah is the youngest of the four Sewell brothers. Penei also went to Oregon and now plays for the Detroit Lions. Nephi went to Utah and spent the preseason with the New Orleans Saints this year. Gabriel played at Nevada and is with the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars. So yes, that pressure? It’s there. “I’ve just got to put a stamp on it. I gotta be the biggest Sewell out there. I’ve got to be the biggest name, since I’m the youngest, I’ve just got to do better than all the brothers before me,” Noah said. In his third season with the Ducks, Noah was named to The Associated Press preseason All-America first team. Oregon, ranked No. 11, kicks off the season against No. 3 Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta. Last season, Noah led all freshmen nationally and was second overall in the Pac-12 with 114 tackles and four sacks. Overall he has 159 total tackles with 15 tackles for loss and six sacks in 21 games. Gabriel and Arlene Sewell have five children, four sons and a daughter. From American Samoa, the family moved to Utah to help their kids pursue football. Noah followed his big brother Penei to Oregon. “When it came down to it, my decision was my brother. I just wanted to learn from my brother, his game, how he approached it. As you can see, he’s doing amazing things right now, and I still want to learn from him,” Noah Sewell said. Penei played for Oregon from 2018 to 2020. He won the Morris and Outland trophies as a sophomore in 2019, then sat out the coronavirus-shortened season in 2020 before declaring for the NFL draft. The seventh-overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Penei started 16 games for the Lions his rookie season. Noah and Nephi played on opposites sides last year when Utah routed Oregon 38-7 in the regular season, and again when the Utes beat the Ducks 38-10 in the Pac-12 championship game. Nephi, named to the AP All-Pac-12 first team, was picked up by the Saints in May as an undrafted free agent. There are other family ties spread across the Pac-12 this season: LAST BARTON Much like Noah is the last of the Sewell brothers, Utah freshman linebacker Lander Barton is the youngest of the Barton brothers, who were all Utes. Cody is a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson is an offensive tackle for the Las Vegas Raiders. Utah is truly a family affair for the Bartons: dad Paul also played football and baseball for the Utes and mom Mikki was a standout on the basketball and volleyball teams. Sister Dani Drews played volleyball for the Utes and was with the U.S. national team at the recent Pan American Cup. “He has all the tools,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told reporters during spring practice. “When we recruited him, we felt like we knew exactly what we were getting. He’s 6-4 and 230 pounds and runs really well. There’s nothing that’s surprising us, but it’s pretty impressive what he’s doing at such an early stage.” Lander is set to start Saturday when the No. 7 Utes visit the Florida Gators. STARTING SOELLES Arizona State brothers Kyle and Connor Soelle are starting at linebacker together for the first time this season. The Sun Devils open Thursday night at home against Northern Arizona. Kyle has been a starter the past two seasons and has been in the program since 2017. Connor has been in the program since 2019 and saw increased playing time last year before dealing with injuries. Oh, and they’re local kids. Both went to Saguaro High School in Scottsdale. But wait, there’s more: The Markham brothers, Keon and Kejuan, are defensive backs for the Sun Devils. ASU running back Daniyel Nagata is the brother of Clemson wide receiver Joseph Ngata and Sacramento State defensive lineman Ariel Ngata. The brothers are the sons of immigrants from Cameroon who settled in Nevada. SEEING DOUBLE UCLA has the Murphy twins — redshirt sophomores Gabriel and Grayson — who transferred from North Texas. Grayson had 8.5 sacks last season and Gabriel had 7.0. Gabriel was listed as one of the starters at OLB on the initial depth chart for Saturday’s opener against Bowling Green, with Grayson backing him up. Grayson joked that coaches refer to them both as the “Murphy Twin.” Gabriel said outside linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe is the best at telling the two apart. “He says (Grayson’s) structure’s a little bigger than mine, and mine’s a little skinnier, if you can tell that. He has a little scar behind his eye that a lot of people tell us by, so that’s some of the things,” Gabriel said. Washington State has a pair of 6-foot-5, 300-pound twin freshmen from Texas, Landon and Luke Roaten. Rival Washington has a pair of freshman twins, too: defensive linemen Armon and Jayvon Parker from Detroit. Armon missed fall camp with injury. ___ AP Sports Writers Joe Reedy and John Marshall contributed to this report. ___ More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-oregons-sewell-utahs-barton-carry-on-family-legacies/	2022-09-21T13:47:05Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-oregons-sewell-utahs-barton-carry-on-family-legacies/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — At the same time his teammates began practicing, Deshaun Watson headed off in another direction. Cleveland’s starting quarterback began serving his lengthy NFL suspension for alleged sexual misconduct on Tuesday, a punishment that will keep Watson away from the Browns until Oct. 10. Watson was placed on the reserve/suspended by commissioner list shortly before practice started as the Browns finalized their initial 53-man roster on cut-down day. Wearing a baseball cap, Watson emerged from the team’s facility a little after 3 p.m. EDT, got in his car and drove away. He had been required to leave by 4 p.m. in accordance with the suspension he agreed to in an Aug. 18 settlement with the league. A three-time Pro Bowler, Watson agreed to sit out 11 games, pay a $5 million fine and undergo mandatory treatment and counseling before he can rejoin the Browns. As long as he meets the requirements of the NFL settlement, he’ll be eligible to play in Week 13 — on the road against the Houston Texans. The 26-year-old was accused of sexual assault and harassment by two dozen women during massage therapy sessions when he played for the Texans. He has settled 23 of 24 civil lawsuits filed by the women. During the suspension, Watson can’t have contact with Browns personnel. Coach Kevin Stefanski met with Watson before the QB’s departure. While not providing specifics of their conversation, Stefanski said he is confident Watson will make the time away productive. “I think it’s a great opportunity for him right now while he is away from this building to go work on football, work on himself and work on a bunch of different things,” Stefanski said. Stefanski would not comment on whether Watson will stay in the Cleveland area during the ban. “I know he’s going to be away here for a couple of days at least to start,” Stefanski said. “I think he has a really good plan. Obviously, we can’t direct it and we can’t follow up with him. It’s really no contact with him until Oct. 10. I’m confident that he has a good plan to do some good work while he’s away from the building.” Watson has always denied any wrongdoing, and he maintained his innocence shortly after agreeing to the settlement worked out between the NFL and NFL Players Association following the league’s appeal of his original six-game suspension. In reviewing his case, Sue L. Robinson, a former federal judge appointed to handle league discipline, found Watson’s behavior “egregious” and “predatory.” As long as Watson abides by the league’s provisions, he can return to the Browns’ training facility roughly halfway through his suspension. He can resume practice Nov. 14 and be officially reinstated two weeks later. Per league rules, when Watson comes back he’ll be permitted to receive treatment from the team’s medical and athletic staffs. As part of his agreement, any massages must be scheduled by the Browns and only with club-mandated massage therapists. Stefanski said Watson plans to work with Quincy Avery, a well-known quarterback trainer. Watson played in Cleveland’s first preseason game at Jacksonville, his first live action since Jan. 3, 2021, after he sat out last season with Houston. By the time he plays for the Browns, who signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in March, Watson will have not played in a regular-season game in 700 days. Jacoby Brissett has moved into Watson’s starting spot and will try to keep the Browns competitive during the suspension. Brissett, who has made 37 career starts, will be backed up by Joshua Dobbs. Brissett sensed some relief in Watson that the suspension was starting. “I’m actually happy he’s able to get away a little bit,” Brissett said. “He’s been a great teammate in being able to show up to work every day in the midst of everything.” NOTES: QB Josh Rosen was the most notable player not to make Cleveland’s roster. A former first-round pick, Rosen had been signed early in camp. Stefanski said the team will sign a QB to its practice squad. … Rookie S D’Anthony Bell became the first undrafted rookie to make Cleveland’s roster in three years. ___ More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-qb-deshaun-watson-leaves-browns-as-nfl-suspension-begins/	2022-09-21T13:47:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-qb-deshaun-watson-leaves-browns-as-nfl-suspension-begins/	1	green-iguana-35	null
The Las Vegas Raiders waived offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood on Tuesday, the third of the club’s three first-round draft picks in 2020-21 to get dumped before the end of his second season. NFL teams had to cut their rosters to 53 players for the regular season by the Tuesday deadline, although some moves were procedural steps before bringing those players back. Most of the openings will be when players on the current roster are moved to injured reserve with the possibility of returning this season. Those players have to be on the 53-man roster first. Leatherwood was the 17th overall pick by the Raiders last year, and started all 17 games. Receiver Henry Ruggs III and cornerback Damon Arnette were drafted 12th and 19th overall, respectively, in 2020 before getting cut after off-field incidents last year. Mike Mayock was general manager and Jon Gruden was the coach for those picks. They have since been replaced by GM Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels. Leatherwood struggled to find consistency, as he was moved from tackle to guard during his rookie season under the previous coaching staff. McDaniels gave Leatherwood another chance at right tackle this offseason, but the former Alabama lineman seemingly regressed behind Brandon Parker and rookie Thayer Munford during training camp. The Cleveland Browns released quarterback Josh Rosen, a 2018 first-rounder by Arizona who was brought in as an extra arm in training camp while the team navigated Deshaun Watson’s situation. Rosen was a possible option as the backup while Jacoby Brissett starts during Watson’s 11-game NFL suspension. However, Joshua Dobbs had an excellent training camp and preseason, making Rosen expendable. The 25-year-old Rosen hasn’t lived up to expectations since being taken 10th overall by the Cardinals four years ago. He’s 3-13 as a starter in his NFL career, which also includes stops with Arizona, Miami, Tampa Bay, San Francisco and Atlanta. The Falcons protected receiver Jared Bernhardt on their initial roster. The undrafted former college lacrosse player at Maryland gave his current position a try after helping Ferris State win the Division II championship last season as an option quarterback. Carolina placed Zane Gonzalez (groin) on season-ending injured reserve, leaving the team temporarily without a kicker on their 53-man roster. The Panthers have already worked out Brian Johnson and Eddy Pineiro, and have more tryouts coming. Carolina’s most surprising move was cutting veteran safety Juston Burris, who started 20 games over two seasons. However, Burris lost his starting job last season after the Panthers signed free agent Xavier Woods, and the team went with younger backups Sam Franklin and Sean Chandler instead. The Panthers included quarterback Sam Darnold on the 53-man roster, but a move to IR with a chance to return is likely. He sustained a high ankle sprain in the preseason finale against Buffalo. Baker Mayfield is the starter, with P.J. Walker backing him up. Minnesota released backup quarterbacks Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond, who became expendable last week when the Vikings acquired Nick Mullens in a trade with Las Vegas. Mond was the first of four picks in the third round last year, but was simply deemed too raw as a rookie for any role other than No. 3 QB. Tennessee is going with rookie QB Malik Willis, the 86th pick overall out of Liberty, as Ryan Tannehill’s backup. The Titans released Logan Woodside, Tannehill’s backup the past two seasons. The Dallas Cowboys left all three backups to Dak Prescott off their initial roster, but Cooper Rush is expected to re-sign and assume that role again. Will Grier could return, possibly on the practice squad, if he clears waivers. Left tackle Tyron Smith (torn hamstring) and receiver James Washington (broken foot) are headed to IR. Kansas City released Josh Gordon, the once-elite and oft-suspended receiver who spent the past year trying to rebuild his career with the Chiefs. So was fellow receiver Corey Coleman, a 2016 first-round pick. Both played at Baylor. Seattle released veteran cornerback Justin Coleman, who returned to the Seahawks with the thought of being the nickel cornerback after thriving in that role in his previous stint with Seattle. But rookie Coby Bryant showed enough versatility to play in the slot. Coleman could be a candidate to return. Buffalo saved a roster spot by placing cornerback Tre’Davious White on the physically unable to perform list, sidelining him at least the first four games and giving him more time to rehab from a left knee injury. Miami did the same with cornerback Byron Jones, who had surgery on his lower leg in the offseason. The Bills released tight end O.J. Howard, a free agent pickup this year, but still have an opening at punter after waiving Matt Araiza over the weekend. Araiza is named in a civil lawsuit alleging he was involved with other San Diego State players in a gang rape of a teenager last fall. Miami’s wide receiver group was too crowded for Preston Williams, who earned a starting job as an undrafted free agent in 2019 before a knee injury ended his rookie season. He never quite returned to form, and struggled for an opportunity behind Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Cedrick Wilson. Hill and Wilson were offseason additions. Denver cut receiver Kendall Hinton, who was forced to play quarterback when the team had a COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. There were also a handful of trades on cutdown day, including Philadelphia acquiring defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson from New Orleans in a deal that otherwise involved draft picks. Saints coach Dennis Allen didn’t want to discuss whether the trade was tied to Gardner-Johnson’s contract, which expires after this season. ___ More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-raiders-leatherwood-browns-rosen-among-wave-of-nfl-cuts/	2022-09-21T13:47:27Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-raiders-leatherwood-browns-rosen-among-wave-of-nfl-cuts/	1	green-iguana-35	null
British Open champion Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann are among six players to leave the PGA Tour for Saudi-funded LIV Golf, which returns this week for a fourth tournament, this time outside of Boston. The signing of Smith, who had been deflecting questions about his imminent departure since the day he won the claret jug, gives Greg Norman his first player from the top 10 in the world. Smith, a 29-year-old from Australia, rose to No. 2 in the world ranking after winning at St. Andrews. He could have reached No. 1 with a victory at the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Now, that opportunity is gone. LIV Golf does not get ranking points, though it filed an application last month. The PGA Tour is suspending members as soon as they put a ball in play at LIV Golf events. Others to sign are Marc Leishman, a six-time PGA Tour winner from Australia who at age 38 has dropped out of the top 50 in the world, and three others who leave without ever having won on the PGA Tour — Americans Harold Varner III and Cameron Tringale and Anirban Lahiri of India. Smith and Niemann, who is from Chile, were among the eight qualifiers for the International team at the Presidents Cup, which will be played in a month at Quail Hollow. Leishman and Lahiri previously have played in the matches. Because the PGA Tour exclusively operates the Presidents Cup — unlike the Ryder Cup, which Europe operates on home soil — players who join LIV Golf are not eligible. Niemann, 23, considered joining the rival league in February until Phil Mickelson’s disparaging comments about the Saudis and the PGA Tour stalled the launch of LIV Golf. Niemann then won the Genesis Invitational at Riviera and cited the competition and history as reasons he wanted to stay on the PGA Tour. But all his best friends in golf have joined the rival series — Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer of Mexico, Sergio Garcia of Spain — and they often shared a house and brought in their own chef for the week. His manager, Carlos Rodriguez of GSE Worldwide, said Niemann still had not signed a LIV Golf deal when he flew to Boston on Monday. Along with winning the British Open for his first major, Smith won The Players Championship in March by one shot over Lahiri. Paul Casey was two shots behind, and now all three players have joined LIV Golf. Along with big signing bonuses — The Daily Telegraph reported $150 million for Smith — players complete for $25 million in prize money at each of the LIV Golf Invitational events. The Boston event is at The International, which about 45 minutes west of Boston. LIV Golf takes off next week because of the European tour flagship event at Wentworth in England, and then returns Sept. 16-18 to the Chicago suburbs. ___ More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-smith-niemann-among-players-to-join-saudi-backed-liv-golf/	2022-09-21T13:47:43Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-smith-niemann-among-players-to-join-saudi-backed-liv-golf/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Bostick’s official title at the University of Pittsburgh is “Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development, Major Gifts.” There’s an unofficial title that pops up fairly regularly for the quarterback who helped the Panthers pull off one of college football’s greatest upsets of the 21st century. “I joke sometimes people think when they see my face they think of a score before they think of my name,” Bostick said with a laugh. That’s because across a significant stretch of the Appalachians and western Pennsylvania foothills, “13-9” lives on forever. Pitt’s stunner over West Virginia in 2007 deflated a stadium, derailed a season, and redefined a rivalry, one that will be renewed for the first time in more than 10 years on Thursday night when the 17th-ranked Panthers host the Mountaineers in the return of “The Backyard Brawl.” Well over a decade removed from that cold December night in Morgantown, West Virginia, the details remain fresh in Bostick’s mind. The way Pitt’s bus swayed as West Virginia fans pushed against it as it made its way to Milan-Puskar Stadium. The sound of something heavy — a battery maybe, Bostick thinks — smacking against the bus’s frame over and over again. The way running back LeSean McCoy stood up and challenged his teammates to make the impossible possible. “It was supposed to be a coronation (for West Virginia),” Bostick said. “That team was really, really good.” It was. Just not on Dec. 1, 2007. Bostick remembers the feeling of disbelief as the Panthers poured onto the field with the Mountaineers’ hopes of crashing the BCS title game gone, soon to be followed by head coach Rich Rodriguez, who bolted for Michigan shortly thereafter. The renewal of the series after both teams left the Big East for more lucrative pastures — Pitt to the Atlantic Coast Conference, West Virginia to the Big 12 — has already produced a rare home sellout for the Panthers. It also required Bostick and others on both sides to spend the run-up serving as history professors of sorts. After all, the players who will participate in the 105th edition of the Brawl were in elementary school the last time Pitt and West Virginia shared the same field, a 21-20 victory by the Mountaineers in 2011. “I absolutely do feel a responsibility to share,” Bostick said. “It’s the same responsibility that the seniors had when I was a freshman. I’m also going to encourage them to enjoy it.” Maybe it’s because, as former Pitt running back LeSean McCoy put it, “nothing else matches up” to the Brawl. “The rivalry is something special,” said McCoy, who ran for 148 yards during the 2007 win and later embarked on a 12-year NFL career. A feeling embraced by all involved. For years former WVU linebacker Gary Stills tried to impart the significance of the Brawl to his son Dante, who admittedly didn’t particularly grasp it while growing up. He does now. Maybe because the Mountaineers’ defensive lineman will find himself thrust into it for the first time on Thursday night. “I wasn’t, like, locked in, because I’m a kid. I’m just playing around,” Dante Stills said. “I remember just people talking about it growing up as a kid: ‘We don’t like Pitt, we don’t like Pitt.’ But I’m a kid, so I’m like, ‘Why don’t you like Pitt?’ But now, I obviously know.” At least he thinks he knows. His father isn’t so sure his son will understand the Brawl until he experiences it first-hand. “That Backyard Brawl, that’s where the beast lives,” Gary Stills said. “I’m going to be excited to watch my son play with my number and with the bloodline still going.” Pitt has been relying on more than folklore to get emotionally ready. Quarterback Kedon Slovis, who will get the start after transferring from USC over the winter, hinted the Panthers have been familiarizing themselves with “Country Roads,” the iconic John Denver song that doubles as West Virginia’s unofficial state anthem. The anthem has made its way onto a playlist in Pitt’s weight room, a psychological ploy designed to offer a little extra motivation at the end of a workout. This isn’t the first time during Pat Narduzzi’s now eight-year tenure that the Panthers have revived a dormant series. Pitt and Penn State played annually from 2016-19. Nearly 70,000 crammed into what was then known as Heinz Field for the 2016 meeting, the biggest crowd to attend a Pittsburgh sporting event of any kind in the city’s history. Narduzzi declined to offer specifics on what he’s learned about how to prepare for what awaits in front of a packed stadium and a national television audience against essentially a blood rival. Yet he’s well aware of the stakes. “There’s a lot of hatred on their end — but there’s got to be a lot of hate on our end,” he said. “That’s what it comes down to in rivalry games.” Even if the hate doesn’t come from history but from happenstance. Pitt linebacker SirVocea Dennis grew up in upstate New York, far outside the specter of the Brawl and doesn’t really know any of the current Mountaineers. That won’t matter once the ball is kicked off. “Once we (put on) our jerseys and that Pitt script on our helmets,” Dennis said, “whoever they say we don’t like, we don’t like.” ___ AP Sports Writer John Raby in Morgantown, West Virginia contributed to this report. ___ More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-the-backyard-brawl-is-where-the-beast-lives-for-pitt-wvu/	2022-09-21T13:47:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-the-backyard-brawl-is-where-the-beast-lives-for-pitt-wvu/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — When you build a powerhouse program, it’s inevitable that others will try to copy your success. That means hiring people who work for you. Georgia coach Kirby Smart will see another familiar face on the opposing sideline Saturday when the reigning national champion Bulldogs open the season against No. 11 Oregon. Smart’s former defensive coordinator, Dan Lanning, is now guiding the Ducks. In his head coaching debut, he’ll take on the No. 3 Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in Atlanta. “There’s definitely some feelings of excitement for me to go play a team I care about and was a big part of for a long time,” Lanning said. “But that’s not the focus. My job, as well as the players’ job, is to focus on the task at hand.” As Smart heads into his seventh season as the Bulldogs’ boss, the list of assistants-turned-head coaches is growing. He is 2-0 against his ex-offensive line coach, Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, and last year beat South Carolina’s Shame Beamer, who was on Smart’s staff in 2016 and ’17. Now, the 36-year-old Lanning will become the third of Smart’s former staffers to take a shot at knocking off the old boss. There won’t be a bunch of warm, fuzzy feelings at the reunion. “I don’t think the game has anything to do with that,” Smart said. “Neither Dan nor I will be worried about each other during the game.” The opener, which will be played before what figures to be a very pro-Georgia crowd at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, will be an early indicator of where both programs stand. Georgia is looking to make another run at the national championship despite losing a record 15 players in the NFL draft — five of them first-rounders off a stellar defensive unit that carried the Bulldogs to their first title since 1980. With the Pac-12 in turmoil and speculation that they could soon be headed to the Big Ten, the Ducks hope to build on the success they had during Mario Cristobal’s four-year tenure, which featured a pair of conference championships. When Cristobal left for Miami, the Ducks quickly turned to Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator. They made a good choice, according to Smart, whose relationship with Lanning goes back to 2015 when both were on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. “I had a great relationship with Dan when he worked at University of Alabama, and had a lot of respect for how he went about doing his job,” Smart said. “He didn’t try to be somebody he wasn’t. He didn’t try to impress people. He just worked and he grinded, and he really did a good job of just doing what you asked him to do. I always thought he would be successful.” When Smart left for his first head coaching job at Georgia in 2016, he kept an eye on Lanning. The Bulldogs had an opening on their staff two years later and hired him as the outside linebackers coach. “It ended up being a no-brainer for us to bring Danny in because I knew the value he had,” Smart recalled. Lanning was promoted to co-defensive coordinator a year later after Mel Tucker left for Colorado, receiving much of the credit for building one of college football’s greatest defenses. “I knew he was going to do a great job,” Smart said. Lanning’s co-coordinator, Glenn Schumann, is still at Georgia. He’ll continue in that role along with former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp. Smart said it’s been a smooth transition, especially because Muschamp was already on the staff as special teams coordinator. “Dan would be the first to tell you he never would’ve had the success he had here if not for Glenn Schumann,” Smart said. “I felt comfortable Glenn would be able to take it over along with Will. It’s great when we have two guys that know the system and two guys that can share that responsibility.” Before he even coached a game, Lanning had to deal with tragedy within his new team. Tight end and social media star Spencer Webb died last month in an accidental fall at a popular swimming lake. The Ducks will wear a special decal on their helmets this season featuring Webb’s No. 4 inside a spider web. “Our team has a void,” Lanning said. “It’s something you certainly cannot replace. I’ve talked to our players about that moment and Spencer, how on your tombstone there’s a day you were born and a day when you passed, but what made Spencer special was how he lived that dash in between those two numbers.” In addition to an entirely new coaching staff, the Ducks have a bunch of newcomers on their roster. They brought in 21 players through the transfer portal, 15 of them from Power Five schools. Lanning has plenty of familiarity with Georgia’s defense. Of course, that works both ways. “Kirby Smart is not going to play a single snap on Saturday, and neither is Dan Lanning,” the Oregon coach said. “It doesn’t really matter what I know. It’s what my players know and how well they can execute.” ___ Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 ___ More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://bit.ly/3pqZVaF	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-ugas-smart-faces-former-assistant-lanning-in-season-opener/	2022-09-21T13:48:05Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/ap-ugas-smart-faces-former-assistant-lanning-in-season-opener/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SHREVEPORT, La (KMSS/KTAL) – Kim Mulkey made history in her return to Northwest Louisiana on Tuesday night, becoming both the first non-basketball player, as well as the first woman to be the featured speaker at the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Kickoff Dinner. The LSU Head Women’s Basketball Coach and member of the Louisiana Tech, Louisiana Sports, National Women’s Basketball, and National Basketball Hall of Fames was happy to back in the ArkLaTex on Tuesday. “It’s just good to be back home,” Mulkey said. “Good to see a lot of familiar faces, a lot of people who love women’s basketball and love our state.” As the Independence Bowl prepares for it’s 46th installment, Mulkey hopes the game can see longevity in Northwest Louisiana. “It’s something that I hope will always be like this,” said Muley. “The Independence Bowl is very important to our state and particularly to North Louisiana.” The Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl kicks off December 23rd at Independence Stadium.	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/local-sports/kim-mulkey-hopes-for-indy-bowl-longevity-at-kickoff-dinner-event/	2022-09-21T13:48:28Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/local-sports/kim-mulkey-hopes-for-indy-bowl-longevity-at-kickoff-dinner-event/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SHREVEPORT, La (KMSS/KTAL) – Every week during the 2022 season, the KTAL Sports Team will release weekly power rankings for each state in our coverage area. Here’s the power rankings presented by Signature Care (Texarkana) for our Texas teams after week one. 10. Liberty-Eylau Last week: Defeated Henderson, 26-22. Previously unranked. With a roster of nineteen seniors, the Leopards had high hopes entering the season and they got off to a good start with a 26-22 win over Henderson to push them into the top ten of our power rankings. Both Jay Jay Hampton and Cal Jones threw touchdowns for the Leopards in the win. Dequane Prevo’s 74-yard score provided the highlight of the night in the victory. The Leopards will look to move to 2-0 for the first time since 2010 when they open their home schedule against Paris on Friday -John Sartori (JS) 9. Waskom Last week: Defeated Redwater, 36-10. Previously unranked. The first week of the Greg Pearson era went according to plan for Waskom. The Wildcats easily took care of Redwater, 36-10. Not much is different at Waskom outside of their head coach. Pearson kept the same offensive and defensive scheme following the age old-mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This week, the Wildcats welcome the Paul Pewitt Brahma’s to the Texas/Louisiana border. Paul Pewitt fell flat in their opener against Winssboro, 51-29. -Wesley Boone (WB) 8. Marshall Last week: Defeated Tyler, 40-29. Ranked 10. The Mavericks make the biggest leap in our poll after snapping a losing streak against their rivals in Tyler that dates back to 1999. The Mavs did it behind an impressive performance on the ground: over 300 total yards rushing. J.Q. Davis had 153 yards while Byrd Robinson added 121 yards of his own. That physicality will come in handy this week as the Mavs welcome the perennial favorite to win it all in 5A, Longview, to town. Marshall has only defeated Longview twice since the turn of the century. Can the Mavs make it back-to-back weeks defeating old rivals? The 112th contest between these two will surely be one to watch. -WB 7. Daingerfield Last week: Defeated Gladewater, 14-13. Ranked 6. It’s tough to see a team fall in the rankings after winning, especially after defeating an opponent that won nine games the year before and is in a higher classification. The Tigers’ dip from 6 last week to 7 this week is in no way a shot at their performance against the Bears (Gladewater had one “chunk” play the entire night, while the Tigers defense mostly stymied the Bears new-look double wing offense). If anything, I think Coach Davin Nelson would say he expected more from his squad on Friday. The Tigers had five trips inside the Bears 20 yard line that equaled no points. This week, the Tigers will get a chance to host the now Whitney Keeling led Tatum Eagles. Expect sophomore Chase Johnson to take a big leap under center from last week for the Tigers in this East Texas showdown. -WB 6. Texas Last week: Lost Frisco (Lone-Star) 38-33. Ranked 3. The Tigers took one of the state’s best teams down to the wire in week 1, falling to Frisco-Lone Star 38-33. Senior quarterback Cody Reese took care of the football in the loss, throwing for 278 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. The story offensively was how well the Tigers ran the ball, gaining 133 yards on a total of 33 carries. The 38 points the Tiger defense surrendered are the most in a regular season game since their last regular season defeat, a 55-10 loss to Poteet in October of 2019. It doesn’t get any easier for Texas High, facing a Colleyville Heritage squad that took down Nimitz, 61-5, in week one.-JS 5. Timpson Last week: Defeated Beckville, 53-22. Ranked 7. Arguably no team had a more impressive first week in the ArkLaTex than Timpson. The Bears dismantled previously 8th-ranked Beckville on the Bearcats’ home turf, 53-22. Leading the way was Junior quarterback Terry Bussey. The four-star ATH prospect totaled six touchdowns, four passing and two rushing in the victory. Freshman Dacorian Johnson scored his first career touchdown on a pick-six as time expired in the first half as part of the Bears’ first half shutout of Beckville. In week two the Bears host Jefferson, who defeated New Boston, 43-0, in week one for their largest margin of victory since defeating Redwater 62-7 in November of 2018. –JS 4. Longview Last week: Defeated McKinney-Boyd, 36-10. Ranked 5. Longview opened 2022 with a complete performance on both sides of the ball in their 36-10 win over McKinney-Boyd. Senior quarterback Jordan Allen was nearly perfect, completing 15 of his 20 pass attempts for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Lobo ground attack may have been even more impressive. Taylor Tatum rushed for 144 yards and three scores in the 26-point victory. Jalen Hale showed why he’s one of the best wideouts in the nation, hauling in 6 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. The Lobos get a top ten matchup this week in the form of 10th-ranked Marshall, who are riding a wave of momentum following their week 1 win over John Tyler. – JS 3. Pleasant Grove Last week: Defeated Brock, 28-7. Ranked 4. Experience pays off. Pleasant Grove proved that on Friday night. Carrying a 7-0 deficit into the half against Brock, the Hawks leaned on Spencer Tanner, who racked up 132 rushing yards on 13 carries and the Hawks capped off their comeback, 28-7. It’s the kind of game that the Hawks hope to play in pre-district: a tough, hard fought contest against a credentialed opponent (Brock won 15 games last season, their only loss coming in the 3A Division I title game to Lorena). Next up for Pleasant Grove? A team that very much mirrors their physical style and aggressiveness: C.E. Byrd. The Hawks will be tested against the #2 team in our Louisiana Power Rankings in what will be one of (if not the) premiere matchups across the ArkLaTex. -WB 2. Gilmer Last Week: Defeated Chapel Hill, 51-27. Ranked 2. The Buckeyes flexed their muscles on Chapel Hill in the second half of their week one matchup with the Bulldogs. After leading 21-14 at the end of the first quarter, the defending Class 4A-II runners-up outscored the Bulldogs 30-13 over the final three quarters. In his first game as starting quarterback, Cadon Tennison threw the same number of touchdowns as incompletions. The Sophomore completed ten of twelve passes for 107 yards and 2 scores. Ashton Haynes got off to a good start in his senior year, rushing for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Buckeye defense forced four interceptions, two of which were made by TCU commit Rohan Fluellen. The Buckeyes will face Kilgore in week two. The Bulldogs lost to top-ranked Carthage 45-10 in week one. –JS 1. Carthage Last Week: Defeated Kilgore, 45-10. Ranked 1. Last year, Carthage found themselves down 17-0 to 5A state finalist Crosby in the first week of the season. The Bulldogs went on to win that game, 27-24, but it wasn’t without a fair share of drama. There was no such drama in the opening week this season. Carthage blasted Kilgore, 45-10, behind a stellar Connor Cuff performance for the ages (84% completion percentage, 329 yards, 4 touchdowns) and a defensive that held Kilgore to just 99 passing yards. The last time Carthage defeated Kilgore was during the 2020 season. The ‘Dogs are hoping that this season ends with the same result as that one: hoisting another state championship trophy. -WB	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/local-sports/nbc-6-blitz/ktal-sports-power-rankings-texas-week-1-presented-by-signature-care-texarkana/	2022-09-21T13:48:35Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/local-sports/nbc-6-blitz/ktal-sports-power-rankings-texas-week-1-presented-by-signature-care-texarkana/	1	green-iguana-35	null
FRISCO, TX (Silver Star Nation) – The Dallas Cowboys joined the rest of the teams in the NFL in cutting their 80-man rosters down to 53 active players before the NFL deadline Tuesday afternoon. Among the cuts are both backup quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Will Grier, as well as the team’s only kicker veteran Brett Maher. At least two, if not all three of those players could be named to the practice squad or re-signed under different contract terms as early as Wednesday morning. Quarterback Ben DiNucci and wide receiver TJ Vasher were also on the cut list, and are both likely to move on to other NFL clubs if they expect to be in the league this season. Two players with possible season ending injuries were waived injured. If either Aaron Shampklin or Issac Taylor-Stuart clear medical waivers, they could return to the team or the practice squad at some point in the season. The Cowboys will name their 16-player practice squad on Wednesday per league rules. Here is a list of the players waived by the team on Tuesday: Waived: - G Isaac Alarcon - DT Josiah Bronson - DE Markaviest Bryant - T Aviante Collins - S Tyler Coyle - RB Malik Davis - QB Ben DiNucci - WR Dontario Drummond - C James Empey - CB C.J. Goodwin - QB Will Grier - LB Storey Jackson - LB Malik Jefferson - G Braylon Jones - C Alec Lindstrom - K Brett Maher - TE Sean McKeon - LS Jake McQuaide - QB Cooper Rush - T Amon Simon - WR Brandon Smith - DE Mika Tafua - S Juanyeh Thomas - WR T.J. Vasher - DT Carlos Watkins Waived/Injured: - RB Aaron Shampklin - CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart Reserve/NFI: - LB Damone Clark	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/nfl/silver-star-nation/cowboys-roster-cut-to-53-active-players/	2022-09-21T13:48:50Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/sports/nfl/silver-star-nation/cowboys-roster-cut-to-53-active-players/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Herndon Magnet fourth-grader Aubrey Moss tells us about a hotter and drier day tomorrow and more rain on the way this weekend. Herndon Magnet fourth-grader Aubrey Moss tells us about a hotter and drier day tomorrow and more rain on the way this weekend.	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/kids-weather/kidscast-aubrey-moss-2/	2022-09-21T13:48:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/kids-weather/kidscast-aubrey-moss-2/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A lingering front will keep the ArkLaTex mostly cloudy today with scattered storms expected to impact some areas this afternoon. Sunrise temperatures will be in the low to mid-70s under mostly cloudy skies. There will be a mix of clouds and sunshine through the morning which will warm our temperatures into the mid-80s by noon. The warm and humid air combined with the lingering cold front will bring a chance of scattered storms this afternoon. The highest chance for rain will be in east Texas where the storm coverage will increase by the early afternoon. A few of these storms will spill into Louisiana and Arkansas, but most areas near and north of I-30 will be dry today. No severe weather is expected. Temperatures will be in the 80s for much of the day, but the areas that receive the most sunshine today and miss the rain will wind up in the low 90s. Areas that receive rain and see a few more clouds will be in the mid to upper 80s. Humidity will remain very high with a light breeze out of the southwest at 5 miles per hour. We will continue to dry out Wednesday as it will be a partly cloudy day with highs returning to the low 90s in most locations. There will be a 20 percent chance of a spotty rain shower tomorrow. An area of low pressure will develop across the ArkLaTex Thursday and Friday and this should boost our chance of rain on both days which will keep our highs in the 80s and low 90s. Tropical air will arrive in the ArkLaTex this weekend further increasing our chance for rain and storms through Labor Day. 1 to 3 inches of rain is expected over the next week which should continue to keep our temperatures below average. Get exclusive severe weather details on storms as they approach your area by downloading the Arklatex Weather Authority app, now available in the App Store and Google Play	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/scattered-storms-to-continue-through-labor-day/	2022-09-21T13:49:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/weather/scattered-storms-to-continue-through-labor-day/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Mercedes-Benz and parent automaker Daimler didn’t walk away from World War II unscathed. It was then-Daimler Chairman Wilhelm Haspel’s idea to take the Mercedes-Benz division back to motorsports in an effort to begin rebuilding the storied company. Foremost, Mercedes needed a race car. Enter the W194. The brand’s first new sports car after the war, the W194 coupe finished second in its first race the Mille Miglia. It then went on to win the Bern Sports Car Prize, the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Carrera Panamericana. While the W194 quickly became a decorated machine, it was not the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Instead, a prominent New York-based importer of European luxury vehicles named Max Hoffman suggested Mercedes-Benz needed to create a limited run of cars in the spirit of the W194. A year after the W194 took the world by surprise in motorsport, Mercedes-Benz’s General Director Fritz Konecke gave the order for 1,000 sports cars. Thus the 300 SL was born. In 1954, Mercedes-Benz revealed the W198-generation 300 SL at the International Motor Sport Show in New York. While an auto debut in New York isn’t strange today, it marked a shift for Mercedes-Benz. Typically, the German company revealed its cars at home or at the Geneva motor show. However, Hoffman convinced the luxury automaker it would be a grand idea to woo American buyers with a New York debut. They concurred, and suddenly, Mercedes-Benz had a hit on its hands. The 300 SL bowed as a coupe with a 3.0-liter overhead cam inline-6 engine. Yet, the 300 SL wasn’t only a sports car to change perceptions, it was a technological marvel. The engine ditched carburetors in favor of a Bosch-developed direct-fuel injection system. Recall, fuel injection was rare at the time and higher pressure direct injection wouldn’t become the standard for decades to come. The system helped boost power well over the W194 to 215 hp at the 300 SL’s launch. The race car made do with 175 hp. An upgraded camshaft option boosted output to 240 hp. The top speed could top 160 mph, making the 300 SL the fastest production car in the world. Mercedes built the 300 SL on a spaceframe or “birdcage” chassis. It featured a separate welded steel body, but the firewall, hood, doors, trunk lid, rocker panels, and floor and belly pans were aluminum. These advances, combined with radical “gullwing” doors and curvaceous body lines, helped turn the page for Mercedes-Benz. The company not only made stately luxury vehicles, but it was also capable of producing incredible performance machines. A total of 1,400 300 SL coupes were built from 1954 to 1957, and 29 of them were lightweight models with all-aluminum bodies that helped shave 187 lb. The 300 SL coupe gave rise to the 300 SL roadster in 1957, which remained in production in its first generation until 1963. Its successor still exists today and is now in its seventh generation, sold as the Mercedes-AMG SL. Like so many areas of the auto industry, some of the best things came from motorsport. Without a renewed commitment to racing following WWII, we may never have received a car like the 300 SL. And without the 300 SL, there may not be such a lineage of world-beating sports cars from Mercedes-Benz. —Senior Editor Kirk Bell contributed to this story Related Articles - Classic Car History Information: What You Need to Know - 2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE-Class spy shots and video: New nameplate to replace C- and E-Class coupes - Princess Diana’s 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo S1 sold at auction for $846K - Review: Mercedes’ Drive Pilot could safely free up time for freeway commuters - 1983 DeLorean DMC-12 with 5,397 miles for sale	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/1954-mercedes-benz-300-sl-100-cars-that-matter/	2022-09-21T13:52:28Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/1954-mercedes-benz-300-sl-100-cars-that-matter/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Nicola Materazzi, an Italian engineer largely unknown outside of automotive circles, passed away on Aug. 23 at the age of 83, Pledge Times reported. While you may not be familiar with the name, you’ll definitely be familiar with some of the cars he’s credited with helping develop. The list includes the Ferrari 288 GTO and F40, Bugatti EB110, and Lancia Stratos. Born in the Cilento region of southern Italy in 1939, Materazzi later studied engineering at the University of Naples before moving to Turin where he started his automotive career with Lancia. That was in the late 1960s, and it was at Lancia during the following decade where Materazzi helped develop the Stratos sports car built from 1973-1978, including Group 4 and Group 5 rally versions with their monster turbocharged engines. Materazzi’s talents caught the eye of Ferrari, as by the 1980s the engineer was working on engines for Ferrari’s Formula 1 race cars, helping to bring the Scuderia into the turbo era with 1981’s 126C F1 race car. He also worked on several Ferrari road cars, most notably as chief engineer for the F40 program. According to Pledge Times, Materazzi left Ferrari after the F40 program, and by 1988 was working with motorcycle manufacturer Cagiva, specifically on its racing program. That would only be a short stint as by 1991 Materazzi was helping Romano Artioli with the Bugatti EB110. However, Materazzi’s time at Bugatti would also be short. The company only managed to build 128 EB110s before financial issues (including debts incurred by Artioli after an investment in Lotus) sent it into bankruptcy. Materazzi’s work with the EB110 didn’t end there, however. He eventually joined B Engineering, which attempted to revive the EB110 in the early 2000s as a new model called the Edonis, using leftover EB110 chasses. B Engineering never had much luck with the revival, but Casil Motors picked up the baton in 2018 and unveiled an updated SP-110 Edonis Fenice, this time without Materazzi’s help. Related Articles - California votes to ban sale of internal-combustion cars and light trucks by 2035 - Self-driving cars: a primer - Big brother may put an end to speeding in New York - Gordon Murray: It took over $33M to make the T.33 street legal in the US - 2023 Geneva International Motor Show skips Switzerland for Qatar	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/nicola-materazzi-father-of-ferrari-f40-and-bugatti-eb110-dead-at-83/	2022-09-21T13:52:29Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/nicola-materazzi-father-of-ferrari-f40-and-bugatti-eb110-dead-at-83/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Princess Diana was apparently fond of the Ford Escort. The late Princess of Wales owned multiple examples of the humble compact, including this 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo Series 1 (S1), which was sold by Silverstone Auctions for £722,500 ($846,058 at current exchange rates) on Aug. 27. The third and final Escort owned by Princess Diana, this car was ordered with encouragement from the royal security service, according to the auction listing. The princess’ previous Escort—a red 1.6i Cabriolet—drew concerns because of its vulnerable canvas roof and attention-grabbing color. When Princess Diana decided on the then-new Escort RS Turbo, Ford public relations offered to paint the car a unique shade of black. All other RS Turbos had been white up to that point. The car was also fitted with a standard Escort grille rather than the RS piece for a stealthier appearance, as well as a radio (since removed) for the bodyguard that rode with Diana on each drive. The RS Turbo was the ultimate performance version of the third-generation Escort. As the name indicates, it added a turbocharger to the 1.6-liter inline-4 used in the previous XR3, XR3i, and RS 1600i performance models, boosting output to 130 hp. These hot Escorts were celebrated as performance cars for the people, so it’s a bit ironic that one ended up with a royal owner. Princess Diana’s RS Turbo was returned to Ford in May 1988 with about 6,800 miles on the odometer, per the sales listing. It changed hands a few times over the years and currently shows 24,961 miles. Another Escort owned by Princess Diana—a 1981 Ghia sedan—sold for $65,000 at an auction in 2021. An Audi 80 Cabriolet also previously owned by Diana sold for $80,000 at an auction the previous year. Note–This story was updated to reflect the car’s final sale price. Related Articles - Ford tests shape-projecting headlights - 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning strapped to dyno despite challenges - 1983 DeLorean DMC-12 with 5,397 miles for sale - Ford raised the price of the Mustang Mach-E by up to $8,300 for 2023 - Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Code Red is a 1,300-hp straight-line weapon for $209,995	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/princess-dianas-1985-ford-escort-rs-turbo-s1-heads-to-auction/	2022-09-21T13:52:42Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/princess-dianas-1985-ford-escort-rs-turbo-s1-heads-to-auction/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Toyota announced last week that it’s collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to provide a new proof point for hydrogen fuel-cell tech—in a megawatt-scale, multitasking power-generation package that might potentially be used for renewable energy storage and smoothing the grid. The project will include a consideration of how hydrogen might be created with energy from solar and wind sources, then stored, and used to generate electricity when needed. The three-year, $6.5 million project is being funded by the DOE and is aiming to “build, install, and evaluate” a 1-megawatt proton exchange membrane fuel-cell system at NREL’s Colorado campus. It’s part of the DOE’s H2@Scale initiative, aiming “to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization.” It’s not as controversial as the hydrogen hubs, for trucking and more, that were written into the 2021 infrastructure law. As Toyota points out, the system for the power plant that will be fully commissioned by the end of the year, generates about 15 times the power of a previous NREL demonstrator. Or that’s nearly 9,000 times the automotive-grade fuel cell stack used in the Toyota Mirai. In addition to the 1-mw fuel-cell generator, the project includes a 600-kg hydrogen storage system (more than 100 times the storage in the Mirai) and a 1.25-mw PEM electrolyzer. It’s part of a larger NREL project seeking to demonstrate “direct renewable hydrogen production, energy storage, power production and grid integration at the megawatt scale,” according to Toyota. With the project, researchers also plan to explore new applications for the technology and how it might integrate with other systems—potentially in industrial uses, or to combine in powering heavy-duty equipment. From this, in the future, such systems might be used to strategically store and release—with hydrogen—renewable energy like solar and wind, in place of large scale battery packs that would require more raw materials to build. It’s working with systems integrator Telios on the design of the plant, and they plan to “push the operational boundaries of the fuel cell system design” to get an understanding of the limitations and degradation. Toyota, which hasn’t embraced battery electric vehicles as rapidly as other automakers, but like Hyundai it has continued to expand its hydrogen fuel-cell plans for the U.S.—especially pushing the tech into larger vehicles. It has for years been using fuel-cell semis for Southern California port duty, and in an expansion of plans to use the tech for trucks and industrial uses it announced that it will make fuel-cell modules in the U.S. starting in 2023, in Kentucky. Toyota has even announced that it’s developing hydrogen combustion engines for racing. Related Articles - Toyota stops fighting California, recognizes state’s vehicle emissions authority - Toyota offering buyback of BZ4X EV as potential remedy for wheel recall - BMW is making room for hydrogen in next-generation Neue Klasse EV - 2023 Toyota Crown sedan debuts with Hybrid Max muscle and SUV duds - Toyota and Panasonic lead in solid-state battery patents	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/toyota-and-doe-look-at-how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-tech-could-help-smooth-the-grid/	2022-09-21T13:52:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/toyota-and-doe-look-at-how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-tech-could-help-smooth-the-grid/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Honda Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution on Monday announced plans to establish a joint venture company for making lithium-ion battery cells in the U.S. that will power “Honda and Acura EV models for the North American market,” according to the companies. The joint-venture plant will represent a combined investment of $4.4 billion and aims for a capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours per year. It will make pouch-type cells, to be supplied “exclusively to Honda facilities in North America,” a release from the companies said. That point underscores an important distinction as the company shifts toward a future electric vehicle lineup. Although the upcoming Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX electric vehicles will be based on General Motors’ Ultium battery ecosystem and separate Ultium Cells LLC joint venture with LG, the next generation of Honda EVs will be built on Honda’s own EV architecture, said to be arriving in the first vehicles in 2026. It appears the joint venture will fit right in with that timeline. The two companies plan to start construction—at a location not yet announced—in early 2023, with the start of mass production for cells by the end of 2025. The scale of the Honda platform could span beyond just Honda and Acura vehicles, ultimately. Honda hasn’t yet revealed whether EVs from a new joint venture with Sony will use the same building blocks, and details from the joint venture itself have been scant. Honda president and CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that the move is “aligned with our longstanding commitment to build products close to the customer.” Honda assembles many of its vehicles for the U.S. in North America—including engines. The move also fits with the much stricter raw materials and supply-chain requirements to be put in place as part of eligibility for the EV tax credit and its reboot set in motion by the recent Inflation Reduction Act. The companies did not confirm any similarities or differences between the Ultium Cells LLC products and those from the future Honda-LG venture. GM’s Ultium pouch cells are the largest such cells currently used in electric vehicles, so if Honda wants a format that could translate easily to small cars or sports cars for other markets, it might opt for a smaller form factor. Related Articles - Tesla, Genesis top study of in-vehicle tech experience - Researchers find original USPS analysis on electric mail trucks “significantly flawed” - SparkCharge expands its on-demand EV charging, reports new investment - Genesis prices Electrified G80 at $80,920, expands EV availability to more states - Geely’s Zeekr will deliver EVs with 600+ mile range, CATL battery tech in Q1 2023	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/us-based-honda-lg-battery-venture-will-power-future-evs-from-2026-on/	2022-09-21T13:52:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/us-based-honda-lg-battery-venture-will-power-future-evs-from-2026-on/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen drove brilliantly on Sunday at the 2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, moving from 14th on the grid to first place by the end of the race. Fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez came in second some 17.8 seconds behind to help bring home his team’s fourth one-two finish of the year, while pole-sitter Carlos Sainz finished third for Ferrari, approximately 26.8 seconds behind the winner. When the lights turned green at a sun-drenched Spa-Francorchamps, Sainz comfortably kept the lead despite the best attempts of Perez, who also started at the front of the grid. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes-Benz AMG’s Lewis Hamilton were soon able to pass Perez, but an aggressive move by Hamilton saw the Mercedes driver come into contact with Alonso. It was the end of the race for Hamilton on the first lap, and a lap later there was a safety car period after Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas spun out while trying to avoid the Williams of Nicholas Latifi. Meanwhile Verstappen, who topped Saturday’s qualifying, started the race at 14th due to a penalty for swapping in a new power unit. The reigning world champion was already in eighth place after the race resumed on lap three following the exit of the safety car, and by lap eight he was third, with Perez and Sainz still ahead. Perez later handed second position to Verstappen, and Sainz eventually lost the lead spot to Verstappen by lap 19. Sainz then also lost second place to Perez just two laps later due to the sheer pace of the Red Bull cars. Mercedes’ George Russell finished fourth after starting at fifth, while Alonso, despite his early setback, managed to finish the race in fifth. It was another bad day for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Debris entered one of his car’s brake ducts early in the race, causing an unscheduled pit stop and dropping the driver to 17th place. However, he was able to move up to sixth place by the end of the race. As a result of the weekend’s action, Verstappen’s lead in the 2022 Drivers’ Championship extended further, with the Red Bull driver now sitting on 284 points. Perez has moved back into second with 191 points, while Leclerc is now in third with 186 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull leads with 475 points, versus the 357 of Ferrari and 316 of Mercedes. The next race on the calendar is the Dutch Grand Prix scheduled for the coming weekend. Below are the full results from the 2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: 1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing +17.841 seconds 3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +26.886 seconds 4) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +29.140 seconds 5) Fernando Alonso, Alpine +73.256 seconds 6) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +74.936 seconds 7) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +75.640 seconds 8) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +78.107 seconds 9) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +92.181 seconds 10) Alexander Albon, Williams +101.900 seconds 11) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +103.078 seconds 12) Lando Norris, McLaren +104.739 seconds 13) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +105.217 seconds 14) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +106.252 seconds 15) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +107.163 seconds 16) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap 17) Mick Schumacher, Haas +1 lap 18) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +1 lap NC) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo – DNF NC) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG – DNF Related Articles - Farm to asphalt: Bridgestone creates tires with desert shrubs - Sauber F1 deal with Alfa Romeo ends after 2023, paving way for potential Audi partnership - Audi to enter F1 in 2026 - Jeff Gordon coming out of retirement for a single weekend - Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 contract with McLaren terminated after 2022	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/verstappen-moves-from-p14-to-winners-spot-at-2022-f1-belgian-grand-prix/	2022-09-21T13:53:05Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/verstappen-moves-from-p14-to-winners-spot-at-2022-f1-belgian-grand-prix/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Denmark’s Zenvo is developing a hybrid hypercar for launch next year. The information was revealed by the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jens Sverdrup, in an interview with Top Gear published last week. According to Sverdrup, the car’s powertrain will integrate a V-12 developed in-house and capable of 10,000 rpm as the internal-combustion component, meaning it should be a screamer. The V-12 will be turbocharged, feature electric motors to spool the turbos—just like in Formula 1—and come paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission. The engine will be capable of 1,200 hp on its own, but an electric motor integrated with the transmission will take combined power as high as 1,800 hp, Sverdrup said, adding that Zenvo is more focused on delivering a fun driving experience as opposed to huge numbers, meaning the final output may be lowered for production. Power will go to the rear wheels, but a more forgiving setup with an additional electric motor to power the front axle and form an all-wheel-drive system is planned for a GT-style version of the car, according to Sverdrup. The car will sport a next-generation design built on a newly developed carbon-fiber chassis that Zenvo could use for a second “junior” model powered by a V-8 related to the V-12, Sverdrup said. Carbon fiber will also be used for the body and the lightest version is expected to tip the scales at around 2,755 lb. Moving to a new chassis and powertrain is in contrast with Zenvo’s current TSR-S and TS1 GT hypercars whose designs and V-8s are similar to what the company offered in its original ST1 hypercar launched in 2008. Zenvo has managed to carve out a niche in a market that’s extremely small but dominated by big brands, including Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren. One major appeal of Zenvo is its relatively short delivery times of less than a year. Compare this to a rival like Pagani or Koenigsegg where waiting two years or more for a car to be delivered is common. That situation may change as Zenvo starts to expand its retail footprint, particularly in the U.S. The company last year completed certification for the sale of the TSR-S on these shores and signed its first local dealership, Zenvo of Denver, which is being managed by exotic car specialist 100 Oct. Zenvo has a long-term goal of increasing worldwide sales to about 30 cars per year, up from just a handful today, and aims for the U.S. to account for about half of its volume. This rate would put Zenvo on an equal footing with the likes of Koenigsegg and Pagani. Related Articles - Koenigsegg ups CC850 production to meet strong demand - Gordon Murray: It took over $33M to make the T.33 street legal in the US - Czinger 21C V Max optimizes 3D-printed hypercar for top speed and acceleration - KTM X-Bow GT-XR spy shots and video: New race car-derived supercar coming - Czinger Hyper GT aims for state-of-the high-speed luxury	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/zenvo-readies-v-12-hybrid-hypercar-for-2023/	2022-09-21T13:53:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/automotive/internet-brands/zenvo-readies-v-12-hybrid-hypercar-for-2023/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Louisiana State University (LSU) says new research shows that both LSU’s campus mounds are the oldest man-made structures in North America. “They started building at least one of them about 11,000 years ago,” stated LSU’s Department of Geology & Geophysics Professor Brooks Ellwood. And they are still here. It all started as class work for students but turned into 27 years of research. Ellwood explained these mounds hold history. “It indicates that this was a time when they weren’t around, they weren’t keeping it clean, and therefore these plants were growing up on it. That was a result of a meteorite hitting northern Greenland about 8200 years ago. And at that time, they abandoned the southern mount,” he said. To preserve the mounds, LSU has taken measures to protect them with gates and put new rules in place. Ellwood said you don’t have to be on the mounds to get inspired, you can do that by just walking by them. “And you’re thinking about your life. You need to understand that there the sky’s the limit. You can just do all kinds of things. And it is really exciting,” he said. You can enjoy the history of these mounds at any time on any day.	https://www.ktalnews.com/dont-miss/what-started-as-a-lsu-class-project-now-one-of-oldest-man-made-structures/	2022-09-21T13:53:27Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/dont-miss/what-started-as-a-lsu-class-project-now-one-of-oldest-man-made-structures/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CHICAGO (AP) — Two more accusers took the witness stand at R. Kelly’s child pornography and solicitation of minors trial Monday, bringing to three the total number of accusers to have testified to date at the federal trial in Chicago. The first accuser, who testified two weeks ago under the pseudonym “Jane,” is critical to another of the charges — that the R&B singer successfully rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threating witnesses and concealing video evidence. Kelly, 55, was handed a 30-year prison sentence by a federal judge in New York in June for convictions on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. In all, the prosecution cited five accusers in pre-trial filings, though it is unclear if both of the remaining accusers will testify before the government rests sometime this week. The trial was expected to last a month, wrapping up in mid-September. An accuser who used the pseudonym “Pauline,” told jurors Monday she was a middle school classmate of Jane’s and that Jane introduced her to Kelly in 1998 when they were 14 and Kelly was around 30. When she was at Kelly’s Chicago home later that year, Pauline said she was startled to walk in on Kelly and a naked Jane in a basement area. She said Kelly told her that “we all have secrets” and that this is “our secret.” Pauline several times told jurors she had loved Kelly. But, as a 37-year-old mom, she said she now had a different perspective. “If somebody did something to my kids, I’m killing ’em. Period,” she said. Kelly sexually abused her over 100 times, starting when she was 14, and they first had intercourse when she was 15, she testified. Under cross-examination, lead Kelly lawyer Jennifer Bonjean accused Pauline of being imprecise about how many times she had sex with Kelly when she was underage. “Whether it is once or twice, what’s wrong is wrong,” Pauline shot back. The second accuser to testify Monday, referred to only as Tracy, said she was introduced to Kelly when she was 16 by a boss at a record company she was interning for in 1998. Tracy told jurors she repeatedly rebuffed Kelly’s advances. At a room in Kelly’s Chicago studio, she recalled telling him after he began pulling her close to him, “You know I’m 16?” Minutes later, when he “exposed himself… I tried to pull back but he had a hold of my shirt,” Tracy testified. On another occasion, she described Kelly coming into a hotel room where Tracy was staying and yelling at her for having clothes on under her bathrobe. “I told him I didn’t want to have sex,” she testified. But she said Kelly ordered her to get into the bed with him anyway and that at several points used force to sexually abuse her. She said she first had intercourse with Kelly when she was 16, then dozens of times when she was 17 and 18. Tracy began to cry on the stand Monday as she began to tell jurors about the day Kelly walked into a room where Tracy had been waiting. Kelly arrived with Jane. “I was really confused and just really angry,” she recalled. “I just didn’t really think there was anyone else but me and Rob.” Kelly’s 2008 trial revolved around a video that state prosecutors said showed Kelly abusing Jane. But after acquitting Kelly in 2008, jurors said they had no choice because the girl did not take the witness stand at that trial. Jane did testify at the current trial, saying she was the child in the video and Kelly was the adult man.	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-2-more-r-kelly-accusers-testify-at-trial-in-chicago/	2022-09-21T13:53:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-2-more-r-kelly-accusers-testify-at-trial-in-chicago/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ATLANTA (AP) — A prosecutor on Monday announced a sprawling indictment targeting members of what she said is a violent street gang that has been targeting the Atlanta area homes of famous athletes, entertainers and others who flaunt expensive possessions on social media. Singer Mariah Carey, Marlo Hampton of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Atlanta United player Brad Guzan and the Atlanta Falcons’ Calvin Ridley all had their homes broken into, the indictment says. The 220-count indictment was filed Aug. 22 and charges 26 people, most of whom are accused of violating Georgia’s anti-gang and racketeering laws. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the crimes alleged in the indictment — carjacking, kidnapping, armed robbery, shootings, home invasions — were committed by members of the Drug Rich gang, which she said began to emerge in 2016 in a neighboring county. In addition to the celebrity targets, social media influencers were also victimized in home invasions and burglaries, Willis said. “What they do is target people who show their wealth on social media,” she said. “So I do have a message for the public: Where it is kind of fun to put your things on social media and show off, unfortunately these gangs are becoming more savvy, more sophisticated in the way that they target you.” But Willis also had a message for the alleged gang members: “If you thought Fulton was a good county to bring your crime to, to bring your violence to, you are wrong and you are going suffer consequences and today is the start of some of those consequences.” Willis said the indictment, filed last week, represented a collaboration between different law enforcement agencies working together. Cracking down on gangs is a priority for Willis, and she said she intends to pursue tough penalties for people involved with violent gang activity. “I am not going to negotiate with gang members. I am not going to allow pleas,” she said. “We are going to find you, we are going to convict you and we’re going to send you to the prison for the rest of your days, and I’m not apologizing for that.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-atlanta-prosecutor-gang-targeted-celebrities-influencers/	2022-09-21T13:53:41Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-atlanta-prosecutor-gang-targeted-celebrities-influencers/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PARIS (AP) — The woman was crumpled on the floor of a mangled Mercedes, unconscious and struggling to breathe. The French doctor had no idea who she was and just focused on trying to save her. Twenty-five years later, Dr. Frederic Mailliez is still marked by what happened in the Alma Tunnel in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997 — and the realization that he was one of the last people to see Princess Diana alive. “I realize my name will always be attached to this tragic night,” Mailliez, who was on his way home from a party when he came across the car crash, told The Associated Press. “I feel a little bit responsible for her last moments.” As Britain and Diana’s admirers worldwide mark a quarter-century since her death, Mailliez recounted the aftermath of the crash. That night, Mailliez was driving into the tunnel when he spotted a smoking Mercedes nearly split in two. “I walked toward the wreckage. I opened the door, and I looked inside,” he said. What he saw: “Four people, two of them were apparently dead, no reaction, no breathing, and the two others, on the right side, were living but in severe condition. The front passenger was screaming, he was breathing. He could wait a few minutes. And the female passenger, the young lady, was on her knees on the floor of the Mercedes, she had her head down. She had difficulty to breathe. She needed quick assistance.” He ran to his car to call emergency services and grab a respiratory bag. “She was unconscious,” he said. “Thanks to my respiratory bag (…) she regained a little bit more energy, but she couldn’t say anything.” The doctor would later find out the news — along with the rest of the world — that the woman he treated was Diana, Britain’s national treasure adored by millions. “I know it’s surprising, but I didn’t recognize Princess Diana,” he said. “I was in the car on the rear seat giving assistance. I realized she was very beautiful, but my attention was so focused on what I had to do to save her life, I didn’t have time to think, who was this woman.” “Someone behind me told me the victims spoke English, so I began to speak English, saying I was a doctor and I called the ambulance,” he said. “I tried to comfort her.” As he worked, he noticed the flash of camera bulbs, of paparazzi gathered to document the scene. A British inquest found Diana’s chauffeur, Henri Paul, was drunk and driving at a high speed to elude pursuing photographers. Mailliez said he had “no reproach” toward the photographers’ actions after the crash. “They didn’t hamper me having access to the victims. … I didn’t ask them for help, but they didn’t interfere with my job.” Firefighters quickly came, and Diana was taken to a Paris hospital, where she died a few hours later. Her companion Dodi Fayed and the driver also died. “It was a massive shock to learn that she was Princess Diana, and that she died,” Mailliez said. Then self-doubt set in. “Did I do everything I could to save her? Did I do correctly my job?” he asked himself. “I checked with my medical professors and I checked with police investigators,” he said, and they agreed he did all he could. The anniversary is stirring up those memories again, but they also come back “each time I drive through the Alma Tunnel,” he said. As Mailliez spoke, standing atop the tunnel, cars rushed in and out past the pillar where she crashed, now bearing a stencil drawing of Diana’s face. The Flame of Liberty monument nearby has become a memorial site attracting Diana fans of all generations and nationalities. She has become a timeless figure of emancipation and a fashion icon even for those born after her death. Irinia Ouahvi, a 16-year-old Parisian visiting the flame, said she knows Diana through TikTok videos and through her mother. “Even with her style she was a feminist. She challenged royal etiquette, wearing cyclist shorts and casual pants,” Ouahvi said. Francine Rose, a Dutch 16-year-old who stopped by Diana’s memorial while on a biking trip in Paris, discovered her story thanks to “Spencer,” a recent film starring Kristen Stewart. “She is an inspiration because she was evolving in the strict household, the royal family, and just wanted to be free,” Rose said. ___ This story corrects the name of the film starring Kristen Stewart to “Spencer.” ___ Nicolas Garriga and Jeffrey Schaeffer contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death at https://apnews.com/hub/princess-diana	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-dianas-last-moments-french-medic-recalls-tragic-night/	2022-09-21T13:53:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-dianas-last-moments-french-medic-recalls-tragic-night/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week. MOVIES — Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown star in the satirical comedy “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul,” that’s playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock on Friday. Brown plays husband to Hall and the pastor of a Southern Baptist megachurch that needs a big comeback in the aftermath of a scandal. The directorial debut of Adamma Ebo premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. “Jurassic World: Dominion” also makes its debut on Peacock on Friday. The third and, supposedly, final installment to the “Jurassic World” series invites original “Jurassic Park” stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum to join the Chris Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard crew. Though not the best movie of the bunch, there are moments, especially when DeWanda Wise is on screen. — In 1976, Maurice Flitcroft, a shipyard crane operator, entered the British Open without ever having played golf before and shot the worst qualifying round in the tournament’s history. His story gets a quirky, uplifting spin in “The Phantom of the Open,” starring Mark Rylance as Maurice and Sally Hawkins as his wife Jean, which is available on video on demand starting Tuesday. In her AP review, Jocelyn Noveck wrote that “The closing footage of the real Maurice is utterly fascinating and hints that perhaps his story wasn’t as sweet as the one we’ve just seen. But it’s hard to deny it’s been a darned enjoyable 18 holes.” — Also available on VOD on Tuesday is the documentary “Explorer,” which delves into the life of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who the Guinness Book of Records called “the world’s greatest living explorer.” That might have been in 1984, but according to his website he remains the only man alive ever to have travelled around the Earth’s circumpolar surface. And at 78, he’s getting more reflective than he ever has been before in director Matthew Dyas’ film. — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr MUSIC — Yungblud has new music but you likely already knew that if you’ve watched any of ESPN’s coverage of the new college football season — his single “The Emperor” is part of the official TV anthem. Yungblud said he wrote the song when he was 17 as “an outburst of unfiltered energy that I knew would have its moment one day.” On Friday, he will release his self-titled third studio album, which features the previously released singles “The Funeral,” “Memories” (featuring Willow) and “Don’t Feel Like Feeling Sad Today.” — Thrash metal icons Megadeth have put more than music on tap for their next sonic step. The band releases their 16th studio album, “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” on Friday and fans can watch the connected 7-minute “Night Stalkers: Chapter II,” the latest installment of a multi-part short film about troubled band mascot Vic Rattlehead. One of the tracks off the new album is “Soldier On!” and bandleader Dave Mustaine says it was inspired by “coming to the realization that you need to walk away from a relationship that’s very toxic, and how hard it can be to start down that road.” — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy TELEVISION — An epic battle of fantasy prequels is nigh. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” debuts Friday on Amazon Prime Video, on the heels of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.” which is set two centuries before “Game of Thrones.” The Amazon series takes place much earlier in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” novels, with evil a threat to peaceful Middle-earth. Whatever the dueling body counts may be, “House of the Dragon” set a high bar for viewership: Nearly 10 million tuned in to make it the most-watched series premiere in HBO history. Amazon’s early brag is that a “The Rings of Power” promotional spot during Super Bowl LVI was the game’s most-watched trailer ever. — The quartet of pals and business partners known as The Try Guys have gained a big YouTube following with their funny and offbeat willingness to venture into untested (for them) waters. They bring that approach to TV with “No-Recipe Road Trip with the Try Guys,” in which Ned Fulmer, Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang visit restaurants in Nashville; Los Angeles; Charleston, South Carolina; Atlanta; and Santa Barbara, California, and make each eatery’s signature dish minus instructions. The series begins Wednesday on the Food Network and streams on discovery+. — AP Television Writer Lynn Elber ___ Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-new-this-week-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-honk-for-jesus/	2022-09-21T13:54:04Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/ap-new-this-week-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-honk-for-jesus/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – An Illinois man visited a Bossier City animal shelter in 2016 while traveling for business and forged lifelong bonds with fellow animal lovers thousands of miles from home. Greg Rang drove over 13 hours from Harvard, Illinois, to Bossier City, Louisiana for business. While traveling for business, he was tasked with a request from his wife, she wanted him to find the most unadoptable dog in Louisiana and adopt it. He and his wife are animal lovers and have a soft spot for underdogs. Rang did not have much luck in finding his furry friend with the first animal rescue locations that he reached out to. He was not stopping until his task was complete. His last stop was Bossier City Animal Control, where he met the manager Kay, who introduced him to a little female dog that was scheduled to be euthanized. The dog had many health problems, but Greg didn’t care. It was a life, and he wanted to save it. He adopted Katie, but she was not the only one to come into his life that day, he also met Judy Stewart, an employee at animal control. They bonded over their love of animals and kept in touch over the years. Rang made many more trips from Illinois to Louisiana in support of the animal shelter, bringing supplies to help the dogs of Bossier City. Watch the Something Good digital bonus below: Judy Stewart took a position at the Bossier Parish Animal Control, and now her small department handles stray animals in the parish. She networks with rescues to save every life possible, and Greg is there to support her mission by making trips to the parish with van loads of supplies. The food, beds, bowls, and other supplies that he delivers can last up to six months. Greg usually makes two or more trips a year. Now, that’s Something Good!	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/something_good_with_lynn-vance-show/illinois-man-drives-a-thousand-miles-to-help-animals-in-bossier-parish/	2022-09-21T13:54:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/entertainment-news/something_good_with_lynn-vance-show/illinois-man-drives-a-thousand-miles-to-help-animals-in-bossier-parish/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese think tank issued a rare public disagreement Monday with the ruling Communist Party’s severe “zero COVID” policy, saying curbs that shut down cities and disrupt trade, travel and industry must change to prevent an “economic stall.” The Anbound Research Center gave no details of possible changes but said President Xi Jinping’s government needs to focus on shoring up sinking growth. It noted the United States, Europe and Japan are recovering economically after easing anti-disease curbs. “Preventing the risk of economic stall should be the priority task,” the think tank said in a report titled, “It’s Time for China to Adjust Its Virus Control and Prevention Policies.” Even such mild public disagreement with official policy is almost unknown in a politically sensitive year when Xi, China’s most powerful leader since at least the 1980s, is expected to try to extend his time in office. The report, dated Sunday, was posted on the Anbound Research Center’s accounts on the popular WeChat messaging platform and the Sina Weibo microblog service but was deleted from both on Monday afternoon. The anti-virus curbs are widely expected to stay in place at least until after a Communist Party meeting in October and November at which Xi is likely to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as leader. Economists warn that China needs to boost growth that sank to 2.5% over a year earlier in the first half of 2022, less than half the official annual target of 5.5%, after Shanghai and other industrial centers shut down starting in late March to fight virus outbreaks. “China’s economy is at risk of stalling” due to the “impact of epidemic prevention and control policies,” the think tank said. The economy also is under pressure from a plunge in real estate activity after Beijing tightened controls on the industry’s use of debt. Economists and public health experts have warned since mid-2021 that “zero COVID,” which aims to keep the virus out of China by isolating every case, is unsustainable. Officials respond that they have no alternative because letting the virus spread would overwhelm Chinese hospitals. A Shanghai physician with 3 million followers on social media, Zhang Wenhong, was shut down by official criticism and targeted by a plagiarism investigation in 2021 after he suggested China’s strategy could change and the world “needs to learn how to coexist with the virus.” Founded in 1993, Anbound says it has served the Communist Party’s Central Financial and Economic Leading Group and provided research to government agencies and financial institutions. Its report gave no indication whether it might represent the thinking of officials who are unhappy with the soaring economic and human cost of “zero COVID.” China’s policy has kept deaths and infection numbers low but led to a wave of business failures. News reports say local governments are cutting public services and wages for civil servants to pay for virus testing and anti-disease measures. The economic impact of repeated shutdowns of companies and neighborhoods is more severe than last year, the think tank said. It said that “freezing effect” might be even worse than when the outbreak began in 2020 and the whole economy shut down temporarily. On Monday, the southern city of Shenzhen, a center for technology and finance that borders Hong Kong, announced a three-day closure of some residential areas to contain an outbreak and shut down the world’s biggest electronics market. Also Monday, the government of Shenyang, the most populous city in the northeast, postponed the start of in-person classes this week for primary and high school students. China needs to “focus on economic recovery and gradually integrate with the world,” the Anbound report said. Travel curbs keep out most foreign visitors. The government has stopped replacing passports that expire and has called on the public to avoid going abroad. Last week, the U.S. government canceled 26 flights by Chinese airlines to China from the United States in a dispute over Beijing’s anti-virus controls. China earlier forced American carriers to cancel the same number of flights after some passengers tested positive for the virus.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-chinese-think-tank-virus-curbs-must-change-to-help-economy/	2022-09-21T13:54:18Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-chinese-think-tank-virus-curbs-must-change-to-help-economy/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A cup of tea just got a bit more relaxing. Tea can be part of a healthy diet and people who drink tea may even be a little more likely to live longer than those who don’t, according to a large study. Tea contains helpful substances known to reduce inflammation. Past studies in China and Japan, where green tea is popular, suggested health benefits. The new study extends the good news to the U.K.’s favorite drink: black tea. Scientists from the U.S. National Cancer Institute asked about the tea habits of nearly a half million adults in the United Kingdom, then followed them for up to 14 years. They adjusted for risk factors such as health, socioeconomics, smoking, alcohol intake, diet, age, race and gender. Higher tea intake — two or more cups daily — was linked to a modest benefit: a 9% to 13% lower risk of death from any cause vs. non-tea drinkers. Tea temperature, or adding milk or sugar, didn’t change the results. The study, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, found the association held up for heart disease deaths, but there was no clear trend for cancer deaths. Researchers weren’t sure why, but it’s possible there weren’t enough cancer deaths for any effect to show up, said Maki Inoue-Choi, who led the study. A study like this, based on observing people’s habits and health, can’t prove cause and effect. “Observational studies like this always raise the question: Is there something else about tea drinkers that makes them healthier?” said Marion Nestle, a professor of food studies at New York University. “I like tea. It’s great to drink. But a cautious interpretation seems like a good idea.” There’s not enough evidence to advise changing tea habits, said Inoue-Choi. “If you drink one cup a day already, I think that is good,” she said. “And please enjoy your cup of tea.” ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-tea-drinkers-enjoy-possible-health-benefits-study-suggests/	2022-09-21T13:54:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-tea-drinkers-enjoy-possible-health-benefits-study-suggests/	1	green-iguana-35	null
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Warning that Afghanistan faces deepening poverty with 6 million people at risk of famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief on Monday urged donors to restore funding for economic development and immediately provide $770 million to help Afghans get through the winter as the United States argued with Russia and China over who should pay. Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council that Afghanistan faces multiple crises — humanitarian, economic, climate, hunger and financial. Conflict, poverty, climate shocks and food insecurity “have long been a sad reality” in Afghanistan, but he said what makes the current situation “so critical” is the halt to large-scale development aid since the Taliban takeover a year ago. More than half the Afghan population — some 24 million people — need assistance and close to 19 million are facing acute levels of food insecurity, Griffiths said. And “we worry” that the figures will soon become worse because winter weather will send already high fuel and food prices skyrocketing. Despite the challenges, he said U.N. agencies and their NGO partners have mounted “an unprecedented response” over the past year, reaching almost 23 million people. But he said $614 million is urgently required to prepare for winter including repairing and upgrading shelters and providing warm clothes and blankets — and an additional $154 million is needed to preposition food and other supplies before the weather cuts access to certain areas. Griffiths stressed, however, that “humanitarian aid will never be able to replace the provision of system-wide services to 40 million people across the country.” The Taliban “have no budget to invest in their own future,” he said, and “it’s clear that some development support needs to be started.” With more than 70 percent of Afghan’s living in rural areas, Griffiths warned that if agriculture and livestock production aren’t protected “millions of lives and livelihoods will be risked, and the country’s capacity to produce food imperiled.” He said the country’s banking and liquidity crisis, and the extreme difficulty of international financial transactions must also be tackled. “The consequences of inaction on both the humanitarian and development fronts will be catastrophic and difficult to reverse,” Griffiths warned. Russia called the U.N. Security Council meeting on the eve of the first anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and its ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, sharply criticized the “ignominious 20-year campaign” by the United States and its NATO allies. He claimed they did nothing to build up the Afghan economy and their presence only strengthened the country’s status “as a hotbed of terrorism” and narcotics production and distribution. Nebenzia also accused the U.S. and its allies of abandoning Afghans to face “ruin, poverty, terrorism, hunger and other challenges.” “Instead of acknowledging their own mistakes and supporting the reconstruction of the destroyed country,” he said, they blocked Afghan financial resources and disconnected its central bank from SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions. China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun also accused the U.S. and its allies of “evading responsibility and abandoning the Afghan people” by cutting off development aid, freezing Afghan assets and imposing “political isolation and blockade.” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused the Taliban of imposing policies that “repress and starve the Afghan people instead of protecting them” and of increasing taxes on critically needed assistance. She asked how the Taliban — which has not be recognized by a single country — expect to build a relationship with the rest of the world when it provided a safe haven for the leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in downtown Kabul. He was killed by a U.S. drone strike on July 31. Nonetheless, Thomas-Greenfield said, the United States is the world’s leading donor in Afghanistan, providing more than $775 million in humanitarian aid to Afghans in the country and the region in the last year. As for Afghan frozen assets, President Joe Biden announced in February that the $7 billion in the U.S. was being divided — $3.5 billion for a U.N. trust fund to provide aid to Afghans and $3.5 billion for families of American victims of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. “No country that is serious about containing terrorism in Afghanistan would advocate to give the Taliban instantaneous, unconditional access to billions in assets that belong to the Afghan people,” Thomas-Greenfield said. To Russia’s claims that Afghanistan’s problems are the fault of the West and not the Taliban, Thomas-Greenfield asked, “What are you doing to help other than rehash the past and criticize others?” She said Russia has contributed only $2 million to the U.N. humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan and China’s contributions “have been similarly underwhelming.” “If you want to talk about how Afghanistan needs help, that’s fine. But we humbly suggest you put your money where your mouth is,” Thomas-Greenfield said. Russia’s Nebenzia took the floor again, calling the suggestion “stunning.” “We are being asked to pay for the reconstruction of a country whose economy was essentially destroyed by 20 years of U.S. and NATO occupation?” he asked. “You are the ones who need to pay for your mistakes. But first of all, you need to return to the Afghan people the money that has been stolen from them.” Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador, had the last word. “If the Russian Federation believes that there was an economy in Afghanistan to be destroyed, it’s been destroyed by the Taliban,” she said.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-un-warns-6-million-afghans-at-risk-of-famine-as-crises-grow/	2022-09-21T13:54:33Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/ap-un-warns-6-million-afghans-at-risk-of-famine-as-crises-grow/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(KRON) — Three residents of an assisted living facility were mistakenly served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice and one has since passed away, Nexstar’s KRON has learned. Saturday morning around 8:30 a.m., three ambulances were called to the Atria Park Senior Living facility in San Mateo to treat patients, according to San Mateo Consolidated Fire. Three people were taken to the hospital after “mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice,” Atria Park confirmed in a statement to KRON. KRON spoke with one family who said their loved one passed away following the incident. Marcia Cutchin said that her family first heard of the incident involving her mother, 93-year-old Gertrude Elizabeth Murison Maxwell, when an Atria staff member called to report that she had ingested a substance and an ambulance was being called. Atria told her family the substance was an “alkaline cleaning solution that eats protein,” when they were first informed of the incident. Cutchin explained Maxwell arrived at the hospital with “severe blistering of her mouth and throat and esophagus.” Upon her arrival at the hospital, Maxwell’s family was told there was nothing the medical team could do to treat the blistering. According to Cutchin, she and her family were told first responders believed the dementia patients had ingested the substance on their own. It would be impossible for Maxwell to do that, Cutchin said, because her mother couldn’t feed herself. “Many people, like my mother, you have to hold a cup to her mouth and tip it into her mouth,” Cutchin said. Maxwell leaves eight children and 20 grandchildren behind. KRON reached out to Atria Senior Living and received the following statement in response: “We can confirm three of our residents were recently transported to the hospital after mistakenly being served dishwashing liquid as drinking juice. We have been working with local authorities, who have informed us that one resident passed away. Our sincerest condolences are with the family. When this occurred, our staff immediately contacted authorities, and the residents were transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment. We are conducting our own internal investigation, and the employees involved have been suspended until this investigation concludes. We will continue working with the police and Department of Social Services to fully review and assess the incident, after which we will take additional actions as needed. The safety and well-being of our residents remain our top priorities at all times. Out of respect for the people involved, we cannot comment further.” Atria Senior Living As of Monday night, San Mateo Police are continuing to investigate the incident and have not shared any additional information. They say Atria Hillsdale is cooperating with the investigation.	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/woman-dead-after-residents-served-dishwashing-liquid-at-california-senior-living-facility/	2022-09-21T13:54:41Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/health/woman-dead-after-residents-served-dishwashing-liquid-at-california-senior-living-facility/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(The Hill) – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Sunday that he believes the Democrats have a “reasonable chance” to retain control of the upper chamber in the midterm elections. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” moderator George Stephanopoulos noted the legislative victories the Democrats have had over the summer, including the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act earlier this month. “I think there is a reasonable chance that Democrats will retain control over the Senate,” Sanders told Stephanopoulos. “I certainly hope we get more than 50 in the Senate that we got at least 52 so we can start going forward and protecting working people in a way we have not been able to do up to now,” he added. Sanders said issues including abortion rights may drive voters to support Democrats in November. His comments come after the Supreme Court earlier this year struck down Roe v. Wade, which gave the constitutional right to abortion to women, leading the way for multiple GOP-led states to implement their own abortion bans and restrictions on the matter. “I think that the American people are saying, ‘Excuse me, in America in the year 2022 women will make that decision,’ ” Sanders told Stephanopoulos “And I think that decision is going to reverberate very poorly for Republicans who think that women do not have a right to control their own bodies.” Vice President Harris has cast multiple tiebreaking votes in the Senate, which is now evenly split between Democrats and Republicans.	https://www.ktalnews.com/hill-politics/sanders-predicts-democrats-have-reasonable-chance-to-retain-senate-control/	2022-09-21T13:54:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/hill-politics/sanders-predicts-democrats-have-reasonable-chance-to-retain-senate-control/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(Loving Living Local) – Enoch’s Wine & Coffee House is located in the heart of Jefferson, Texas, and offers delicious wines, high-quality coffee, a tasting room, small plates, charcuterie, and pastries. This cozy shop opened in 2019 and is the 1st satellite location outside its original Enoch’s Vineyard and Winery in Harleton, Texas. The 2nd satellite location recently opened Enoch’s Wine and Coffee House in Tyler, Texas. Enoch’s Wine & Coffee House offers freshly brewed coffee, espressos, tea, and pastries. Stop by for a quick bite, meet up with friends, or knock out some work with an iced coffee and gourmet cupcake to keep you going. Their goal is to provide an elevated but relaxed experience for all to enjoy. Today the property boasts a tasting room, a coffee house, and a spacious back patio. Enoch’s wines have won many awards including the 2018 Best Dessert Wine in Texas. Stop by on a Saturday night and enjoy live music, or book one of their experiences to explore the world of wine. Book their fabulous wine experiences: - The Blending Experience -Hone Your Craft as a Winemaker by Blending Beautiful Wines - Enochs vs. The World Wine Experience -Enoch vs. “The World” Head-to-Head Wine Comparisons If you are looking for a venue to host your next fabulous event look no further! You can rent the back patio, tasting room, or entire venue for your events and parties. Availability is limited so do not wait. Enoch’s Wine & Coffee House is located at 116 North Polk Street in Jefferson, Texas. Hours: - Wednesday: 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm - Thursday – Saturday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm - Sunday: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm For more information visit them online or by phone at 903-918-4108	https://www.ktalnews.com/lovinglivinglocalnbc6/sponsored-content-enoch-stomps-wine-and-coffee-house-in-jefferson-tx/	2022-09-21T13:54:55Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/lovinglivinglocalnbc6/sponsored-content-enoch-stomps-wine-and-coffee-house-in-jefferson-tx/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(Loving Living Local) – Serios’ Feed and Seed is helping connect people and pets with the Clear the Shelters initiative. Serios’ Feed and Seed started in 1976 and is a 3rd generation family-owned store located in Bossier City that are proud sponsors of the Clear the Shelter. Clear the Shelters is teaming up with hundreds of shelters across the country to host Clear the Shelters, a nationwide pet adoption drive in August 2022 that helps find loving homes for animals in need. More than 703,048 pets have found their forever homes since 2015. “Just the effort to get the shelter, to find homes for all the animals that need, and trying to get people and pets together,” said owner James Serios of Serios’ Feed and Seed. “We’re gonna try to out service, that’s what we’re gonna do and we’re gonna know you and we’re gonna know your pet’s names and you know the little touches that make a difference and it’s kind of a boutique thing,” stated Serios. “It teaches you to take care of an animal. And that’s another thing that getting the pet out of the shelter does a tremendous way to give your kids responsibility,” said owner James Serios. Serios’ Feed and Seed offer products for wildlife, horses, chickens, and other companion animals including dog food. Other products that they carry: - Farm feed - Fencing Products - Attractants - Gardening Materials - Fertilizer - Repellents - Purina Mills product line of feed Serios’ Feed and Seed is located at 5109 East Texas Street in Bossier City. For more information visit them online, on Facebook, or by phone at 318-746-8559.	https://www.ktalnews.com/lovinglivinglocalnbc6/sponsored-content-serios-feed-seed-is-helping-clear-the-shelters/	2022-09-21T13:55:03Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/lovinglivinglocalnbc6/sponsored-content-serios-feed-seed-is-helping-clear-the-shelters/	1	green-iguana-35	null
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) — A 17-year-old soldier in the Pennsylvania National Guard has died several days after she collapsed during training in South Carolina. Pvt. Alyssa Cahoon died Thursday with her family around her, the 1st Battalion, 34th Regiment — a basic combat training battalion at Fort Jackson — said on its Facebook page Friday. Officials at the base in South Carolina said she had collapsed during physical training on Aug. 20, news agencies report. She had been training there with her twin sister, Brianna Cahoon, news outlets reported. Volleyball and basketball team rosters indicate Cahoon was a rising high school senior in Forest City, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania near Scranton, The Post and Courier reported. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family members and teammates of the deceased soldier,” said Fort Jackson Commander Brig. Gen. Patrick R. Michaelis. A battalion post on Saturday said Cahoon’s family is asking people to collect pull tabs and give them to local Ronald McDonald houses as a fundraiser in her memory. Cahoon’s death is being investigated, according to a statement released by Fort Jackson. The Cahoons were human resource specialists in the battalion’s Bravo Company, The State reported. Human resource specialists must undergo eight weeks and five days of advanced infantry training at Fort Jackson, the newspaper reported. Fort Jackson is the nation’s largest military training base, with more than 50,000 recruits assigned there every year.	https://www.ktalnews.com/military/national-guard-soldier-17-collapses-during-training-dies-days-later/	2022-09-21T13:55:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/military/national-guard-soldier-17-collapses-during-training-dies-days-later/	1	green-iguana-35	null
The familiar ingredients of a warming world were in place: searing temperatures, hotter air holding more moisture, extreme weather getting wilder, melting glaciers, people living in harm’s way, and poverty. They combined in vulnerable Pakistan to create unrelenting rain and deadly flooding. The flooding has all the hallmarks of a catastrophe juiced by climate change, but it is too early to formally assign blame to global warming, several scientists tell The Associated Press. It occurred in a country that did little to cause the warming, but keeps getting hit, just like the relentless rain. “This year Pakistan has received the highest rainfall in at least three decades. So far this year the rain is running at more than 780% above average levels,” said Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and a member of Pakistan’s Climate Change Council. “Extreme weather patterns are turning more frequent in the region and Pakistan is not a exception.” Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said “it’s been a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions.” Pakistan “is considered the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change,” said Moshin Hafeez, a Lahore-based climate scientist at the International Water Management Institute. Its rain, heat and melting glaciers are all climate change factors scientists warned repeatedly about. While scientists point out these classic climate change fingerprints, they have not yet finished intricate calculations that compare what happened in Pakistan to what would happen in a world without warming. That study, expected in a few weeks, will formally determine how much climate change is a factor, if at all. The “recent flood in Pakistan is actually an outcome of the climate catastrophe … that was looming very large,” said Anjal Prakash, a research director at India’s Bharti Institute of Public Policy. “The kind of incessant rainfall that has happened … has been unprecedented.” Pakistan is used to monsoons and downpours, but “we do expect them spread out, usually over three months or two months,” said the country’s climate minister Rehman. There are usually breaks, she said, and not as much rain — 37.5 centimeters (14.8 inches) falls in one day, nearly three times higher than the national average for the past three decades. “Neither is it so prolonged. … It’s been eight weeks and we are told we might see another downpour in September.” “Clearly, it’s being juiced by climate change,” said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts. There’s been a 400% increase in average rainfall in areas like Baluchistan and Sindh, which led to the extreme flooding, Hafeez said. At least 20 dams have been breached. The heat has been as relentless as the rain. In May, Pakistan consistently saw temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Scorching temperatures higher than 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) were recorded in places like Jacobabad and Dadu. Warmer air holds more moisture — about 7% more per degree Celsius (4% per degree Fahrenheit) — and that eventually comes down, in this case in torrents. Across the world “intense rain storms are getting more intense,” said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer. And he said mountains, like those in Pakistan, help wring extra moisture out as the clouds pass. Instead of just swollen rivers flooding from extra rain, Pakistan is hit with another source of flash flooding: The extreme heat accelerates the long-term glacier melting then water speeds down from the Himalayas to Pakistan in a dangerous phenomena called glacial lake outburst floods. “We have the largest number of glaciers outside the polar region, and this affects us,” climate minister Rehman said. “Instead of keeping their majesty and preserving them for posterity and nature. We are seeing them melt.” Not all of the problem is climate change. Pakistan saw similar flooding and devastation in 2010 that killed nearly 2,000 people. But the government didn’t implement plans to prevent future flooding by preventing construction and homes in flood prone areas and river beds, said Suleri of the country’s Climate Change Council. The disaster is hitting a poor country that has contributed relatively little to the world’s climate problem, scientists and officials said. Since 1959, Pakistan has emitted about 0.4% of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, compared to 21.5% by the United States and 16.4% by China. “Those countries that have developed or gotten rich on the back of fossil fuels, which are the problem really,” Rehman said. “They’re going to have to make a critical decision that the world is coming to a tipping point. We certainly have already reached that point because of our geographical location.” —- Borenstein reported from Kensington, Maryland, and Arasu from New Delhi. AP journalists Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Aniruddha Ghosal in New Delhi contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears and Sibi Arasu at @sibi123. ___ Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-explainer-pakistan-fatal-flooding-has-hallmarks-of-warming/	2022-09-21T13:55:19Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-explainer-pakistan-fatal-flooding-has-hallmarks-of-warming/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA called off the launch of its mighty new moon rocket on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard Monday after a last-minute cascade of problems culminating in unexplained trouble related to an engine. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest and could be delayed until mid-September or later. The mission will be the first flight in NASA’s Artemis project, a quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago. As precious minutes ticked away Monday morning, NASA repeatedly stopped and started the fueling of the Space Launch System rocket because of a leak of highly explosive hydrogen, eventually succeeding in reducing the seepage. The leak happened in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal in the spring. The fueling already was running nearly an hour late because of thunderstorms off Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Then, NASA ran into new trouble when it was unable to properly chill one of the rocket’s four main engines, officials said. Engineers struggled to pinpoint the source of the problem well after the launch postponement was announced. Mission manager Mike Sarafin said the fault did not appear to be with the engine itself but with the plumbing leading to it. Complicating matters, as engineers were trying to troubleshoot that problem on the launch pad, yet another hydrogen leak developed, this one involving a vent valve higher up on the rocket, Sarafin said. “This is a very complicated machine, a very complicated system, and all those things have to work, and you don’t want to light the candle until it’s ready to go,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Referring to launch delays, he said: “It’s just part of the space business and it’s part of, particularly, a test flight.” The rocket was set to lift off on a flight to propel a crew capsule into orbit around the moon. The six-week mission was scheduled to end with the capsule returning to Earth in a splashdown in the Pacific in October. The 322-foot (98-meter) spaceship is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA, out-muscling even the Saturn V that took the Apollo astronauts to the moon. The dummies inside the Orion capsule were fitted with sensors to measure vibration, cosmic radiation and other conditions during the shakedown flight, meant to stress-test the spacecraft and push it to its limits in ways that would never be attempted if humans were aboard. Asked about the possibility of another launch attempt on Friday, Sarafin said, “We really need time to look at all the information, all the data. We’re going to play all nine innings here.” Even though no one was on board, thousands of people jammed the coast to see the rocket soar. Vice President Kamala Harris and Apollo 10 astronaut Tom Stafford were among the VIPs who arrived. Assuming the shakedown flight goes well, astronauts will climb aboard for the second Artemis mission and fly around the moon and back as soon as 2024. A two-person lunar landing could follow by the end of 2025. The problems seen Monday were reminiscent of NASA’s space shuttle era, when hydrogen fuel leaks disrupted countdowns and delayed a string of launches back in 1990. Later in the morning, NASA also officials spotted what they feared was a crack or some other defect on the core stage — the big orange fuel tank with four main engines on it — but they later said it appeared to be just a buildup of frost in a crevice of the insulating foam. Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and her team also had to deal with sluggish communication between the Orion capsule and launch control. The problem required what turned out to be a simple fix. Even if there had been no technical snags, thunderstorms ultimately would have prevented a liftoff, NASA said. Dark clouds and rain gathered over the launch site as soon as the countdown was halted, and thunder echoed across the coast. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-nasa-fuels-moon-rocket-for-liftoff-on-1st-test-flight/	2022-09-21T13:55:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-nasa-fuels-moon-rocket-for-liftoff-on-1st-test-flight/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — A newly unsealed FBI document about the investigation at Mar-a-Lago not only offers new details about the probe but also reveals clues about the arguments former President Donald Trump’s legal team intends to make. A May 25 letter from one of his lawyers, attached as an exhibit to the search affidavit, advances a broad view of presidential power, asserting that the commander-in-chief has absolute authority to declassify whatever he wants — and also that the “primary” law governing the handling of U.S. classified information simply doesn’t apply to the president himself. The arguments weren’t persuasive enough to the Justice Department to prevent an FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this month, and the affidavit, in any event, makes clear that investigators are focused on more recent activity — long after Trump left the White House and lost the legal authorities that came with it. Even so, the letter suggests that a defense strategy anchored around presidential powers, a strategy employed during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation when Trump actually was president, may again be in play as the probe proceeds. It’s perhaps not surprising that Trump’s legal team might look for ways to distinguish a former president from other citizens, given the penalties imposed over the years for mishandling handling government secrets, including a nine-year prison sentence issued to a former National Security Agency contractor who stored two decades’ worth of classified documents at his Maryland home. But many legal experts are dubious that claims of such presidential power will hold weight. “When someone is no longer president, they’re no longer president. That’s the reality of the matter,” said Oona Hathaway, a Yale Law School professor and former lawyer in the Defense Department’s general counsel’s office. “When you’ve left office, you’ve left office. You can’t proclaim yourself to not be subject to the laws that apply to everyone else.” It’s not clear from the affidavit whether Trump or anyone might face charges over the presence of classified records at Mar-a-Lago — 19 months after he became a private citizen — and FBI officials are investigating who removed the records from the White House to the Florida estate and who is responsible for retaining them in an unauthorized location. The FBI recovered 11 sets of classified records during the Aug. 8 search, and the affidavit made public Friday said 184 documents with classified markings also were found in 15 boxes removed in January. The Justice Department, responding to a Trump team request for a legal special master to sort through the materials, said Monday that officials had completed their own review of potentially privileged documents. No matter the outcome of that latest issue, the affidavit makes clear that investigators are focused on potential violations of three felony statutes, including an Espionage Act provision that criminalizes the willful retention or transmission of national defense information. Another law punishable by up to three years in prison makes it a crime to willfully remove, conceal or mutilate government records. And a third law, carrying up to 20 years imprisonment, covers the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations. The Espionage Act statute regarding retention of national defense information has figured in multiple prosecutions. Past investigations have produced disparate results that make it hard to forecast the outcome of the Trump probe. But there have been convictions. Harold Martin, the ex-NSA contractor, pleaded guilty in 2019 to storing troves of classified information inside his home, car and storage shed, including handwritten notes describing the NSA’s classified computer infrastructure. Which is why the Trump legal team may look to play up his status as a former president. When it comes to handling government secrets, there are indeed some differences that could possibly be considered: Presidents, for instance, don’t have to pass background checks to obtain classified information, they’re not granted security clearances to access intelligence, and they’re not formally “read out” on their responsibilities to safeguard secrets when they leave office. “There’s no intelligence community directive that says how presidents should or shouldn’t be briefed on the materials,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA officer and senior director of the White House Situation Room. “We’ve never had to worry about it before.” The May 25 letter from Trump attorney M. Evan Corcoran to Jay Bratt, the head of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence section, describes Trump as the leader of the Republican Party and makes multiple references to him as a former president. It notes that a president has the absolute authority to declassify documents, though it doesn’t actually say — as Trump has asserted — that he did so with the records seized from his home. It also says the “primary” law criminalizing the mishandling of classified information does not apply to the president and instead covers subordinate employees and officers. The statute the letter cites, though, is not among the three that the search warrant lists as being part of the investigation. And the Espionage Act law at issue concerns “national defense” information rather than “classified,” suggesting it may be irrelevant whether the records were declassified or not. Corcoran did not return messages seeking comment Monday. It’s possible to “imagine a good faith mistake” or a president taking something sensitive without realizing it or because they needed it for a particular reason, said Chris Edelson, a presidential powers scholar, and American University government professor. But that argument could be complicated by the fact that the documents were not returned earlier in their entirety by Trump to the National Archives and Records Administration and that the FBI came to suspect — correctly — that there was still classified information at the property. “I think if he had simply returned the documents right away, he’d be in a much stronger position legally,” Edelson said. Ashley Deeks, a University of Virginia law professor and a former deputy legal adviser to President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, said in an email that the Trump team’s claims in the letter “seem to be more of a political argument than a legal argument.” She added, “The president’s defense team seems to be trying to point out the magnitude of proceeding with this case rather than articulating a clear legal defense.” _____ Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-trump-legal-team-advances-broad-view-of-presidential-powers/	2022-09-21T13:55:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ap-trump-legal-team-advances-broad-view-of-presidential-powers/	1	green-iguana-35	null
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three of the 12 unions negotiating with the nation’s biggest freight railroads have reached a tentative deal which will deliver 24% pay raises, in line with what a special presidential panel of arbitrators recommended earlier this month to resolve the stalemate before a strike could happen. The tentative five-year deal announced Monday covers more than 15,000 members of the International Association of Machinists, the Transportation Communications Union and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen unions. But the two biggest rail unions that represent engineers and conductors said over the weekend they still haven’t been able to reach a deal their members would accept. The railroads have until mid-September to reach agreements with all their unions before federal law would allow them to go on strike. If it gets to that point, however, Congress is expected to step in to keep the trains moving because a rail strike could be devastating to the economy. Lawmakers could impose terms on both sides or order arbitration. Roughly 115,000 workers are represented by all the railroad unions. Even though they have been negotiating jointly as a coalition, each individual union now has to reach its own agreement with the railroads that its members will vote on. CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern and a number of other railroads are represented by the National Carriers Conference Committee in the talks. “It is critical for all stakeholders — including customers, employees, and the public — that all parties promptly resolve the negotiations and prevent service disruptions,” the railroads said in a statement. The deal announced Monday closely follows the recommendations of an emergency board that President Joe Biden appointed last month. The board heard from both sides before issuing a 124-page report with recommendations. The railroads said they want to work out contracts based on those recommendations. “This comes after a long, tough process that began almost three years ago and led us through every step of the Railway Labor Act, including a Presidential Emergency Board,” said Josh Hartford with the Machinists Union’s Rail Division. The tentative deal includes one additional paid leave day a year. The raises in the deal are bigger than the 17% ones railroads were offering but not as generous as the 31% raises the unions sought. In addition to the 24% pay boost, the board also recommended five $1,000 bonuses in the five-year deal which is retroactive to 2020. Rail workers will see increases in their health insurance premiums each year as part of the deal, but their cost will be capped at 15% of the total cost of their health plans. The railroads have said the recommendations that the three unions associated with the Machinists agreed to Monday will deliver the biggest raises in decades and increase average railroad salaries up to $110,000 a year by the time the deal expires in 2025. The heads of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division union that represents conductors and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that represents engineers said in a joint statement Saturday that the railroads still hadn’t done enough to address their quality-of-life concerns. The unions have complained about strict attendance policies that railroads have imposed that make it hard to take any time off and about the increase in workload they have seen in recent years after freight railroads cut nearly one third of their workforces. In their recommendations, the presidential panel of arbitrators said the unions’ concerns about working conditions should be resolved through arbitration instead of being addressed in the new contract.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-3-of-12-rail-unions-announce-tentative-deal-with-24-raises/	2022-09-21T13:55:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-3-of-12-rail-unions-announce-tentative-deal-with-24-raises/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BERLIN (AP) — About 52 million tickets allowing people to use local public transportation across Germany for just nine euros (dollars) per month were sold over the summer, a group representing transit companies said Monday, days before the project ends and amid widespread calls for some kind of successor. The “9-euro ticket,” which was introduced for three months at the beginning of June, was part of a government program intended to help combat high inflation and fuel prices. The government had also lowered the tax on fuel, a discount that ends on Wednesday too. The ticket is valid on all local and regional transportation, though not on intercity trains, and has been a hit with day-trippers and others over the summer. The VDV group, which represents more than 630 German transportation companies, said that around 52 million of the tickets have been sold during the three-month period. On top of that, more than 10 million people who already had transport passes had the difference between their usual price and the nine-euro ticket reimbursed. Germany has 83 million inhabitants. VDV said a survey that it coordinated with national railway operator Deutsche Bahn, based on 6,000 interviews per week, found that 10% of trips with the ultra-cheap ticket replaced journeys that otherwise would have been made by car. The government has long made clear that it wouldn’t extend the measure beyond the end of August, but there has been a significant clamor to introduce some kind of discounted ticket — at national or regional level — after it expires. There have been several demonstrations calling for the nine-euro ticket to be retained in its current form. Berlin’s main governing party last week proposed a nine-euro monthly ticket just for the capital, though it’s uncertain that anything will come of the proposal. And there is an array of other ideas. But even proponents say the German transportation system needs more generous financing. The Verkehrsclub Deutschland group, which advocates greater use of public transportation for environmental reasons, argued that an extra 15 billion euros a year are needed to provide affordable fares and get the system in shape. Some people won’t miss the nine-euro ticket, notably Germany’s two main railway unions. Both have complained that the run on trains, which sometimes led to overcrowding and delays, heaped extra stress on employees.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-52-million-tickets-sold-for-ultra-cheap-travel-in-germany/	2022-09-21T13:55:57Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-52-million-tickets-sold-for-ultra-cheap-travel-in-germany/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in central China on Monday announced the arrests of 234 people involved in a scam to bilk people out of their savings with the false promise of high interest rates on deposits in obscure rural banks. The scandal drew national attention after investors seeking answers about where their money went were prevented from reaching the Henan provincial capital of Zhengzhou when the health status displayed on their mandatory COVID-19 cellphone apps was suddenly changed to red, preventing them from traveling. Multiple bank customers interviewed by the AP said they had been interrogated and threatened by police. Another attempt in July was met by gangs of unidentified men in white shirts who attacked depositors while police stood by. The statement from the Xuchang city government said the alleged mastermind, Lu Yiwei, and his associates had taken control of four county-level banks and lured investors with promises of interest rates as high as 18% annually. “At present, the public security organs have apprehended a large number of criminal suspects, among whom 234 were arrested,” the statement read. “Significant progress has been made in the recovery of stolen goods and damages. The investigation and handling of the case is being carried out in depth according to the law.” The statement said the originators of the scheme who later “absorbed” the funds had talked up the investments to other people who deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars, giving the scam the appearance of a Ponzi scheme. No mention was made of any suspected collusion between local officials, police and the suspects. The scam unfolded as thousands of customers opened accounts at six banks in Henan and neighboring Anhui province that offered relatively high interest rates. A sharp decline in China’s economic growth and miniscule returns on savings in state banks have prompted many Chinese to invest in unconventional and often risky or even fraudulent financial vehicles. The customers of the Henan banks later found they could not make withdrawals after news reports that the head of the banks’ parent company was wanted for financial crimes. A parent company linked to the banks is under investigation by police. Bank authorities have said they will give some bank customers their deposits back, but many are still waiting to find out when they will be reimbursed.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-china-announces-234-arrests-in-provincial-banking-scam/	2022-09-21T13:56:04Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-china-announces-234-arrests-in-provincial-banking-scam/	1	green-iguana-35	null
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark will increase its planned offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea to 3 gigawatts and hook it up to the German grid, a step toward weaning Europe off its reliance on Russian gas. When established in 2030, it should be able to supply electricity to up 4.5 million European homes. A 470-kilometer (292-mile) undersea cable will run via the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm to northern Germany, enabling the power to be sent directly to the German electricity grid and on to the rest of Europe. At present, Denmark and Germany have respective offshore wind energy capacities of 1.5 gigawatts and 1 gigawatt. German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck called it “a flagship project” and added that “with such projects among European partners, we achieve two key goals at the same time: European energy security and climate neutrality.” The deal was announced Monday in Copenhagen. Denmark’s energy minister, Dan Jørgensen, added that “international cooperation is more urgent than ever before” to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to make Europe independent from Russian gas and oil.” On Friday, Germany’s foreign minister said estimates show that wind from the Baltic Sea can produce “more than twice the installed capacity of all German coal-fired power stations.” The countries around the Baltic Sea “need to set the sails, work together and set course towards making our region more sustainable, more resilient and more secure,” Annalena Baerbock said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Germany remains committed to ending its greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, the earliest of any major industrialized nation. To meet the goal, his government has said it will close coal-fired power plants that were reactivated due to the war in Ukraine, end imports of Russian oil and coal this year and aim to stop using Russian gas within the next two years. Monday’s announcement comes a day before a meeting in Copenhagen to discuss ways “to make the Baltic Sea region free of Russian energy and at the same time pave the way for a significant green transition,” according to the Danish government. Those expected to attend include the president of the European Union’s executive commission, Lithuania’s president, the prime ministers of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Denmark, and several energy ministers. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the German minister was not visiting Copenhagen. ___ Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-danes-germans-back-baltic-wind-hub-to-offset-russian-gas/	2022-09-21T13:56:12Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-danes-germans-back-baltic-wind-hub-to-offset-russian-gas/	1	green-iguana-35	null
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Train services ground to a near standstill around Amsterdam on Monday as the latest in a series of strikes by railway workers hit the Dutch capital, halting international services and affecting lines to and from the busy Schiphol international airport. Eurostar, the company that runs trains between London and Amsterdam, said its trains would not run to Rotterdam or Amsterdam, and Thalys, whose trains run in France, the Netherlands and Belgium, warned travelers that its services would be disrupted. Schiphol said on its website that there was “limited to no train traffic possible” although two trains each hour would run from the airport to and from the central city of Utrecht. It is the latest blow to Schiphol that has seen a summer of disruptions and long lines to get through security checks because of a surge in post-pandemic travel and staff shortages. “Travelers to Amsterdam are advised to use alternative transport,” Schiphol said, and urged people using taxis to carpool or share their ride. Rail workers are striking to support their calls for higher wages and better working conditions. Union officials say that rail workers are under extreme pressure because of staff shortage at the national network and need a substantial pay rise because of the soaring inflation hitting the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-dutch-rail-strike-halts-rains-to-and-from-amsterdam/	2022-09-21T13:56:19Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-dutch-rail-strike-halts-rains-to-and-from-amsterdam/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BERLIN (AP) — The head of the European Union’s executive branch and Germany’s chancellor on Monday pledged a reform of the continent’s electricity market to help bring down power prices that have been pushed higher by skyrocketing gas prices. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech in Bled, Slovenia, that soaring electricity prices “are now exposing the limitations of our current electricity market design.” “It was developed for different circumstances,” von der Leyen said. “That is why we are now working on an emergency intervention and a structural reform of the electricity market.” The continent’s electricity market is underpinned by a “merit order” system in which the power stations offering the cheapest electricity are tapped first, but prices are determined by the last and most expensive power stations to be tapped — at present, those using gas, whose price has risen sharply following cuts in supplies by Russia to several European countries amid the war in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, visiting Prague on Monday, said that the question of how the European electricity market can be redesigned “so that we no longer have to bear these high prices we are currently seeing” took up much of his meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. He said that “we will act together quickly.” “It is necessary for us to make structural changes that contribute to prices sinking again quickly and there being a sufficient offer” of electricity, Scholz said at a news conference. He added that “there is great readiness to change something, and that seems to me to be very much mutual among the heads of state and government in Europe.” “Clearly what is currently being asked as a market price does not reflect supply and demand in the proper sense,” he said. Speaking earlier in Berlin, a German economy ministry spokeswoman said that the idea is to keep the principle of the “merit order” system, “but do away with the negative effects the merit order has, so that the high gas prices can no longer impact immediately and automatically on electricity prices.” The aim is for customers to benefit from cheaper production prices for renewable energy, for example, spokeswoman Beate Baron said. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-eu-german-leaders-pledge-reform-to-cut-electricity-prices/	2022-09-21T13:56:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-eu-german-leaders-pledge-reform-to-cut-electricity-prices/	1	green-iguana-35	null
STOCKHOLM (AP) — A fire was reported Monday on a passenger ferry carrying nearly 300 people from Sweden to Latvia but officials said the blaze — which they described as “limited” — was put out. No one was reported injured. The ferry was north of Sweden’s Baltic Sea island of Gotland when the fire broke out. No one was evacuated but one person on the ferry said passengers had gathered on the upper deck. The Swedish ferry company Stena Line said 241 passengers and 58 crew members were onboard the Stena Scandica that was traveling from Nynashamn in Sweden to Ventspils in Latvia. The fire was on a refrigerated truck. The vessel will be towed to Nynashamn with all its passengers, said Lisa Mjörning of the Swedish Maritime Administration, according to the Swedish news agency TT. Seven nearby ships and three helicopter were sent to the scene as a precaution. Earlier in the day, Stefan Elfström, a spokesperson for Stena Line, told Swedish broadcaster SVT that the company was informed about a fire “on a limited scale” with no reports of injuries. Norwegian newspaper VG quoted passenger Giedrius Didoras as saying that passengers all had gathered on the upper deck. “The ferry has stopped,” he said. “We can’t see any of the flames, but we can see smoke coming from both sides of the ferry.” The Goteborg, Sweden-based ferry company says it is one of the word’s largest ferry companies, with 38 vessels that take more than 25,000 trips a year. It has 4,300 employees across Europe.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-fire-on-baltic-sea-ferry-under-control-no-injuries/	2022-09-21T13:56:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-fire-on-baltic-sea-ferry-under-control-no-injuries/	1	green-iguana-35	null
DETROIT (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board has reversed a Trump-era decision by finding that Tesla can’t stop factory employees from wearing clothing with union insignia while on the job. The board, in a 3-2 decision released Monday, overruled a 2019 NLRB decision involving Walmart and union clothing. The board wrote that a 1945 Supreme Court decision established the precedent for allowing the clothing. It ordered Tesla to stop enforcing an “overly broad” uniform policy that effectively stops production workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory from wearing black shirts with the United Auto Workers union’s logo. The board said by ruling against Tesla, it reaffirmed a longstanding precedent that it is “presumptively unlawful” for employers to restrict union clothing without special circumstances that justify the ban. The board majority determined that Tesla failed to establish any special circumstances that would allow banning the UAW clothing. “The board reaffirms that any attempt to restrict the wearing of union clothing or insignia is presumptively unlawful and — consistent with Supreme Court precedent — an employer has a heightened burden to justify attempts to limit this important right,” Chairman Lauren McFerran said in a statement. Messages were left Monday seeking comment from Tesla and the auto workers union. It’s the second defeat at the NLRB for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. Tesla is appealing a ruling from last year that found the company and Musk engaged in unfair labor practices in 2018. A year ago, the labor relations board found that in a May 20, 2018 tweet, Musk unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock options if they chose to be represented by the UAW. Board members ordered Tesla to make Musk delete the tweet and stop threatening employees with loss of benefits for supporting a labor organization. Tesla also was required to post a notice addressing unfair labor practices at the 10,000-worker Fremont plant, and post a notice dealing with the tweet at all its facilities nationwide. In April of 2021, Tesla appealed the NLRB ruling to a federal appeals court in New Orleans. Among other things, the lengthy March 2021 NLRB ruling also ordered Tesla to reinstate an employee who was fired for union-organizing activity and to give him back pay. Musk tweeted in May of 2018: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.” In Monday’s ruling, the NLRB wrote that Tesla had a policy requiring “team wear” for production workers that included black cotton shirts with the Tesla logo and black cotton pants with no buttons, rivets or exposed zippers. Tesla provided clothing for the workers. During a UAW organizing campaign in the spring of 2017, some production workers began wearing black cotton shirts with a small union logo on the front and a larger one on the back. Before August of 2017, workers often wore shirts that weren’t black or had logos that weren’t related to Tesla. But at that time, the company began to strictly enforce the team-wear policy, the NLRB wrote. On Aug. 10, 2017, supervisors threatened to send two workers home for wearing union clothing, the board wrote. Tesla did allow workers to wear union stickers on the required clothing.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-labor-board-rules-tesla-must-let-workers-wear-union-clothing/	2022-09-21T13:56:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-labor-board-rules-tesla-must-let-workers-wear-union-clothing/	1	green-iguana-35	null
A humanitarian program aimed at helping Central American children reunite with family members in the United States has gotten off to a slow start under the Biden administration despite an attempt to revive the program from its Trump-era cancellation, according to a new report from the International Refugee Assistance Project. Bottlenecks, long wait times and lack of attorney support that have plagued the program since the start have yet to be resolved, the report found. Earlier this year, the White House touted the restart and expansion of the program as part of its strategy to address humanitarian need and promote access to legal access to immigration in the US. The Trump administration announced the termination of the program in 2017. The Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program (CAM program), which was relaunched in March 2021, allows certain parents and legal guardians in the US to apply to have their children or other eligible family members in Honduras, Guatemala or El Salvador join them in the US. As a result of the administration's inability to fix longstanding issues, "many eligible families are unable to even submit a CAM application and thousands are left waiting indefinitely to reunite with their families in the United States," the report says. The report comes as migrant encounters along the US-Mexico border have already topped 2 million so far this fiscal year and several Republican governors have taken it upon themselves to move migrants north as an act of political defiance. The CAM program was conceived during the Obama administration as a way to lessen the desire for at-risk migrant children to make a dangerous trip north. Since March 2021, when the program was restarted, only a few hundred of the nearly 3,800 eligible families have had their cases completed, according to the report. Those were all from applications filed before former Trump ended the program. "At current processing rates, it will likely be more than a decade before all of those who applied between 2014 and 2017 have their cases processed," the report concluded. Since phase two launched, allowing new applications, IRAP is not aware of anyone who filed a new application that has been reunited with their family in the US through the program. CNN reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of State and the White House about the report. "It's really positive that the Biden administration restarted this program and continues to defend it. But now it needs to make it functional," Lacy Broemel, policy analyst at IRAP, a refugee advocacy and legal aid organization, which is supportive of the CAM program. Bottlenecks Bottlenecks start at the very beginning of the application process, which requires one of nine resettlement agencies across the US to submit the initial application form to the Department of State -- meaning parents cannot apply on their own. Most of the time, the resettlement agencies receive no funding for the work they do on these applications due to administrative reasons. These agencies are already facing funding and staffing shortages and are unable to provide sufficient access for the number of requests they receive, according to the report, which noted that some agencies had waitlists of more than 300 to 500 persons to file an initial application. Children waiting more than a year for a decision IRAP says it is aware of several children who have waited approximately a year for a decision. Delays in DNA testing and other issues have slowed the time it takes to come to a decision and reunite children with their parents. During the first iteration of the program, close to 2,000 cases were being interviewed quarterly and the average case processing time was 331 days from the time an application was filed with the State Department to travel to the United States, according to the report. Comparable data was not available, IRAP found, partly because of the limited number of applications that have been filed and processed. Lack of transparency about the program is one of the main concerns IRAP has heard from parents, Broemel told CNN. For example, parents do not know when the child may be interviewed or how long they will have to wait after an interview to have their child reunited with them in the US, according to Broemel. "There's a very, very huge gap in terms of transparency with parents that's causing a lot of concern, fear," she said. Legal help wanted Children in Central America are not permitted to have an attorney present in their interviews with US Citizenship and Immigration Officers, which IRAP believes can lead to unfair outcomes. The advocacy organization hopes that access to counsel could also help address some of the transparency concerns, so parents could better understand timelines and what to expect in the process, Broemel. Broemel noted that the Biden administration has said it would like to increase access to counsel for all refugees who are going through a resettlement process. The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.	https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/us-humanitarian-program-for-central-american-children-is-slow-moving-under-biden-report-finds/article_e9cebf32-e9a4-5159-819c-9774d004666f.html	2022-09-21T13:56:54Z	local3news.com	control	https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/us-humanitarian-program-for-central-american-children-is-slow-moving-under-biden-report-finds/article_e9cebf32-e9a4-5159-819c-9774d004666f.html	1	green-iguana-35	null
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Angela Williams’ first year as United Way Worldwide’s president and CEO has been marked with challenges: rising inflation, the war in Ukraine driving increased demand for charitable services, and the need to rebuild public trust in her organization. As the first Black leader of United Way Worldwide, the former Air Force attorney and former head of Easterseals feels she is ready to lead the organization, once known for its blockbuster workplace giving fundraisers, into its next era. “Being in situations over my lifetime where I have been the first or only woman or Black person and breaking what I call not just glass ceilings, but concrete ceilings and breaking through” has prepared her to deliver on this promise of more equitable services, Williams said. She plans to bring this uniquely American institution’s focus back to the communities, listening to individuals to shape solutions to their problems with the help of United Way’s considerable resources. In 2020, the organization gave more than $168 million in grants. Williams has kept a low public profile in her first year, opting for a listening tour of United Way affiliates around the world and reexamining the organization’s commitments and priorities. “My vision for United Way Worldwide is to create equitable solutions in communities,” Williams said, adding that people experiencing problems should have a voice in solving them. United Way’s national 211 call line connecting people to services has seen an increase in requests in the last couple of months, with people needing help accessing food, paying their utility bills or rent, and finding housing, she said. “I feel this real sense of urgency,” Williams told The Associated Press in an interview. “Whether it’s government, whether it’s the nonprofit sector, whether it’s philanthropy, foundations, individuals — we have to come together because there is so much pressing need.” Williams took over United Way Worldwide after three former employees accused it of tolerating a culture of sexism and misconduct and retaliating against them for speaking out. An outside investigation commissioned by the organization found in February 2021 there was no evidence of “actionable harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.” The three women who filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told The Associated Press at the time that the law firm conducting the investigation had not contacted them. The organization’s CEO Brian Gallagher resigned shortly after. During the Second World War, local United Ways consolidated their hold over workplace giving, by allowing employees to donate a portion of their paycheck automatically to the organization. The United Way would then regrant the pooled funds to local human service nonprofits like the YMCA or Salvation Army. The model initially served a number of constituencies. It consolidated charitable requests directed to corporations and created a new group of middle-class donors who felt positively about giving to organizations that supported others in the place they lived. But starting in the 1970s, several forces challenged workplace giving and United Way’s dominance as a distributor of large amounts of funding. The nature of work began to change, with the decline of large manufacturing employers and a transition to service work. That decline was compounded by growing social movements for civil rights, women’s rights and the protection of the environment, for example, creating new communities that donors identified with and wanted to support. “From that point on, the United Way has struggled to get as much money and to stay relevant as this kind of centralized, trusted entity between donors and the charitable recipients,” said Emily Barman, a professor of sociology at Loyola University Chicago, who wrote a book about the organization. To adapt, local United Ways, which pay membership dues to United Way Worldwide but are incorporated as separate nonprofits, sought to reduce their overhead and many chose to fund a smaller number of key partners instead of giving smaller amounts to a larger number of nonprofits. Laurie Paarlberg, who studies community foundations at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, said affiliates also looked to governments and foundations for funding while others tried to establish endowments, solicit larger gifts from long-term donors and create giving circles around identities groups. “The United Way has now been buffeted by a whole storm of connecting events that have influenced their role in their community, their revenue generation and then ultimately, their perceived legitimacy,” Paarlberg said. The maelstrom that Williams stepped into also includes a large outlay of cash initiated under her predecessor as part of a partnership with Salesforce to create a software product, Philanthropy Cloud. United Way Worldwide’s tax filings show it paid more than $40 million between 2017 and 2020 to the company and a related contractor. The software, which United Way Worldwide had the exclusive right to resell, competes with other programs that allow employees to donate from their paycheck to the charity of their choice (not just United Way) and to find volunteer opportunities. Asked whether she thought the investment was worth the cost, Williams said it was a good start but that technology was a means to an end and not a solution by itself. “My team and I are in the process of reevaluating a number of investments as part of a larger effort to right the ship and ensure that United Way Worldwide is sustainable and impactful for years to come,” Williams said. Another change Williams made was recruiting a new leadership team that she called one of the most diverse in the sector and an important element in the organization’s focus on equity. She also convened an advisory council of leaders from local affiliates, meant to give them a direct line to her leadership team. Despite its recent issues, United Ways retain the trust of many corporations and of local governments, Williams said. When Congress allocated emergency funds for rental assistance to localities during the pandemic, mayors often turned to the local affiliate, Williams said. “They called the United Way because they knew we had the mechanism for granting funds. They knew we had call centers. We had the ability to screen people, do the intake. We knew how to be a referral service,” she said. “So as that trusted advisor and partner, that’s a unique role we play,” she said. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-new-united-way-ceo-wants-local-focus-after-turbulent-years/	2022-09-21T13:56:56Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-new-united-way-ceo-wants-local-focus-after-turbulent-years/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Almost 40 years ago, U.S. News & World Report asked more than 1,300 college presidents to rate their peer institutions and published the results in its inaugural "Best Colleges'' rankings. The publication's easy-to-digest hierarchy of undergraduate institutions -- based solely on reputation -- was an effort to best competitors Time and Newsweek. It proved massively popular -- "Best Colleges" soon became a yearly feature and spawned a college rankings industry. Since that first list in 1983, the formula U.S. News uses to calculate its college rankings has evolved considerably, though the schools that dominate have remained much the same. Despite mounting criticism over the methodology and criteria U.S. News uses to assess an institution's quality, as well as the emergence of other such lists, the annual publication of its rankings is something of an event in higher education -- as seen with last week's release. The influence of the U.S. News rankings is undeniable. Universities tout their rank in press releases and campus brochures, and declare that they want to improve their positions in their strategic plans. Current students and alumni check the rankings to see how their school fared, and high school students consult them to determine what colleges they should strive to get into. "There is kind of a culture around rankings that is unhealthy," said Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling at Khan Lab School and co-author of "The Truth About College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together." Still, the rankings endure in popularity. They feed into a fixation on status The college application process today is riddled with pressure and anxiety, and rankings feed into that, experts say. For a certain subset of high school students in middle and upper class communities, getting into a "good" school is the ultimate goal -- the reason they load up their schedules with rigorous AP classes, extracurricular activities and SAT prep. What's considered a "good" school? More often than not, it's Ivy League institutions and other prestigious universities -- in other words, the schools that perform well in the U.S. News rankings and similar lists. As getting into elite universities becomes increasingly harder, getting a spot at one is a status symbol of sorts, Barnard said. It comes with bragging rights, and opens doors to opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach. It can sometimes push people to go to great lengths to get their children into a desirable school. Perhaps the best example of this is the "Operation Varsity Blues" scandal, which saw wealthy parents, including Hollywood actors, charged with trying to get their children into prestigious institutions through fraudulent means. "We live in a brand-obsessed society, and so there's a little bit of fear and a little bit of 'Keeping Up with the Joneses' built in there," Barnard said. Research suggests rankings can affect where students apply to college and how competitive freshmen classes are. A 2014 study published in the journal of the American Educational Research Association found that colleges that made the top 25 on the U.S. News rankings saw a 6% to 10% increase in applications. And in a 2019 survey of incoming first-year students, 15% of respondents named rankings as "very important" in choosing the school that they did. While that number may sound small, Barnard said that rankings may have more of an influence than many students and families care to admit. "I don't think we're always honest with ourselves about how much we're placing weight in the rankings," he added. They offer easy answers in a daunting process Not everyone looking to the rankings is status-obsessed, though. What college a student attends is often framed as one of the most important decisions a young person will make, and given the hefty price tag that now comes with it, students and families want to be sure that they're making the smartest investment. Navigating the college admissions process, however, can be daunting and few families have the resources to guide them through it, said Barnard. Just one-third of public high schools have a counselor dedicated to college advising, and the shortage is even worse for schools with high poverty rates, Education Week reported in 2018. "Left to their own devices and with this information overload, families don't know where to start," Barnard said. "So they default to this third party system of telling them what's good and what's not." Students and families turn to rankings to narrow down hundreds of potential colleges and universities and identify which might be worth applying to, said Robert Kelchen, a professor and head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also a data editor at Washington Monthly, which publishes an alternative college ranking that rewards social mobility, research and public service. The issue is that the U.S. News rankings -- which remain the most well-known by virtue of being around the longest -- are based in part on criteria such as selectivity and reputation, which may not suit the needs of most students, Kelchen said. In other words, while they offer enticingly simple conclusions, they aren't one-size-fits-all. Bob Morse, the chief data strategist who developed most of the U.S. News ranking methodology, previously told CNN that the rankings are valuable to students and families, equipping them data and information to help inform their college search. He also said that outcomes -- such as graduation rates and social mobility -- now account for 40% of a school's rank. But Kelchen still sees limitations. "U.S. News is focused on 'How do you get the best outcome for one individual student?' and getting the student into an Ivy is a wonderful thing," Kelchen said. "But thinking more broadly about the public good, there are so few spaces at Ivies that it's also important to identify colleges that do a really good job getting students farther along in life." But the conversation is slowly shifting In today's hyper-competitive, status-driven society, it's perhaps no surprise that the U.S. News rankings continue to retain such a grip on students and universities -- they speak to the desires of students to get ahead. Attending a top-ranked school provides a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, as well as a degree of advantage. On some levels, that allure will always remain. But there are signs of a culture shift. Policymakers and professionals in higher education have for years dismissed the U.S. News rankings -- even if that sentiment hasn't fully trickled down to students and families. "There's a growing recognition of the importance of post-secondary value," said Piper Hendricks, vice president of communications and external affairs for the Institute for Higher Education Policy. "I'm hopeful that that momentum will continue and that it will reach the point where families and students and individuals are able to really make the decisions based on answers that they deserve to have." Barnard encourages students and families to dig deeper into the data (or lack thereof) on which U.S. News rankings and similar lists are based, and to explore alternatives that might better reflect their values. Degree Choices and Third Way, for example, are based on what schools offer a higher chance of economic success. "What we need is more granular detail, and for families to really understand what's the secret sauce to making the methodology around the rankings," he added. Rankings, by design, offer simple answers to a complex decision. But if people are going to consult them, Barnard and others said, they might as well be discerning about it. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.	https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/why-were-still-fascinated-by-college-rankings/article_3488c05e-39b0-11ed-8096-cf138b4e862e.html	2022-09-21T13:57:01Z	local3news.com	control	https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/why-were-still-fascinated-by-college-rankings/article_3488c05e-39b0-11ed-8096-cf138b4e862e.html	1	green-iguana-35	null
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Monday it will launch sweeping military drills in the country’s east that will involve forces from China — a show of increasingly close defense ties between Moscow and Beijing amid tensions with the West over the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise will be held Sept. 1-7 in various locations in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops, over 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships. The ministry released a video of Chinese troops arriving in Russa in preparation for the exercise. The drills will be conducted at seven firing ranges in far eastern Russia and will engage troops from several ex-Soviet nations, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria. The ministry said that units of Russian Airborne troops, long-range bombers and military cargo planes will take part in the drills along with other forces. While first announcing the exercise last month, the Russian military emphasized that it’s part of planned combat training that is continuing despite Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. It hasn’t disclosed the number of troops engaged in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” there. The ministry noted that as part of the maneuvers, the Russian and Chinese navies in the Sea of Japan will “practice joint action to protect sea communications, areas of marine economic activity and support for ground troops in littoral areas.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Fomin specified that the naval drills would take part in the northern and central part of the Sea of Japan. “The exercise isn’t directed against any specific countries or military alliances and is purely defensive,” Fomin said at a meeting with foreign military attaches. The drills reflect increasing defense ties between Moscow and Beijing, which have grown stronger since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. China has pointedly refused to criticize Russia’s action, blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking Moscow, and has blasted punishing sanctions imposed on Moscow. Russia, in turn, has strongly backed China amid the tensions with the U.S. that followed a recent visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speaking earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin drew parallels between U.S. support for Ukraine and Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, charging that both were part of alleged American efforts to foment global instability. Russia and China have held a series of joint war games in recent years, including naval drills and patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Last year, Russian troops for the first time deployed to Chinese territory for joint maneuvers. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have developed strong personal ties to bolster a “strategic partnership” between the former Communist rivals as both Moscow and Beijing face increasing tensions with the West. Even though Moscow and Beijing in the past rejected the possibility of forging a military alliance, Putin has said that such a prospect can’t be ruled out. He also has noted that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies with China that helped significantly bolster its defense capability. While first announcing the drills last month, the Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that it’s part of planned combat training that is continuing despite Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. It hasn’t disclosed the number of troops engaged in what the Kremlin calls the “special military operation” there.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-russia-to-hold-sweeping-joint-war-games-with-china-others/	2022-09-21T13:57:04Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-russia-to-hold-sweeping-joint-war-games-with-china-others/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish opposition parties on Monday filed legal complaints to press Turkish prosecutors into investigating corruption allegations made by a fugitive mafia boss against people close to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party. In a series of tweets over the weekend, Sedat Peker — a crime boss-turned-whistleblower — accused the former head of the Turkish Capital Markets Board, a ruling party legislator, a presidential adviser and others of being part of a network allegedly seeking bribes from companies trading on the stock market. Peker alleged that members of the group sought bribes from a businesswoman in the guise of “consultancy fees,” to resolve a problem faced by her company. The businesswoman confirmed the allegations to the Halk TV news channel on Saturday. The mafia boss further claimed that Serhat Albayrak — the head of the pro-government Turkuvaz Media group and the brother of Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayarak — coordinated the alleged bribery scheme. Albayrak’s lawyer denied the allegation and said he would take legal action against the “completely untrue” accusations. Other officials have also denied the claims. On Monday, at least five opposition parties, including the main opposition Republican Peoples Party, or CHP, filed criminal complaints demanding that the judiciary — which they accuse of being subservient to Erdogan’s nationalist government — take action over the allegations. “We know that the judiciary is currently in the service of the government,” said Mustafa Yeneroglu of the opposition Democracy and Progress Party, or DEVA. “However, we will file a criminal complaint … in order for it to go down in history. One day, there will be responsible prosecutors who will go after these disgraces.” Peker, a 51-year-old fugitive crime boss, once openly supported Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party. He became a social media phenomenon last year after he posted a series of videos from his stated base in the United Arab Emirates making scandalous accusations against Turkish political figures. More recently, he has been making corruption allegations through his Twitter account, after he was reportedly advised to stop recording videos for security reasons.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-turkish-opposition-seeks-probe-into-bribery-allegations/	2022-09-21T13:57:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-turkish-opposition-seeks-probe-into-bribery-allegations/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart filed a motion on Monday to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that accuses the nation’s largest retailer of allowing its money-transfer services to be used by scam artists. The motion calls the FTC’s June lawsuit an “egregious instance of agency overreach.” The FTC alleges in its lawsuit that for years, Walmart failed to properly secure the money-transfer services offered at its stores, stealing “hundreds of millions of dollars” from customers. The agency said Walmart didn’t properly train its employees, failed to alert customers, and used procedures that allowed fraudsters to cash out at its stores. The FTC had asked the court to order Walmart to return money to consumers and to impose civil penalties on the company. In a 41-page document, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, Walmart laid out a number of what it called legally flawed claims, including that the agency lacked “constitutionally valid authority to sue for money or injunctive relief.” It said that the FTC is trying to hold Walmart liable for the criminal actions of completely unrelated third-party fraudsters, even as Walmart has embraced a number of steps to stop such scamming. Walmart argued that the agency is trying to contort a regulation called the Telemarketing Sales Rule that was aimed to go after telemarketers and those who actively help them, of which Walmart is neither. The retailer also took issue with the FTC’s claim that Walmart allegedly engaged in an “unfair” act or practice, or any ongoing or imminent misconduct under Section 5 of the FTC Act. “To be clear, Walmart is now — and always has been — dedicated to its customers and shares the FTC’s goal of protecting customers from fraudsters,” the Walmart filing said. “But this lawsuit is an egregious instance of agency overreach.” Walmart stores let shoppers to transfer money using three providers — MoneyGram, Ria Financial Services, and Western Union Co. Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said it has developed and implemented a host of anti-fraud measures — including customer warnings and employee trainings. Based on data available to Walmart, of nearly 200 million money-transfer transactions processed at its U.S. namesake stores between 2015 and 2020, fewer than 0.08% were reportedly the product of fraud, according to the Walmart filing. And it said that some of that reported fraud may not be fraud at all, making the actual fraud rate even smaller. In its argument that the FTC overreached in its authority, Walmart cited a April 2021 Supreme Court case that makes it difficult for the agency to engage in a long-time practice of seeking to recover ill-gotten gains from individuals or companies that steal from consumers. As a result of the ruling, the agency will now have to rely on other lengthier and more complicated legal maneuvers to recoup dollars from defrauded individuals. FTC spokesman Jay Mayfield declined to comment on Walmart’s motion but said the agency will file its response on Oct. 5. _____ Follow Anne D’Innocenzio: http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-walmart-seeks-to-dismiss-lawsuit-by-ftc-over-money-transfers/	2022-09-21T13:57:19Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/business/ap-walmart-seeks-to-dismiss-lawsuit-by-ftc-over-money-transfers/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(WGHP) — Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, is officially a dad. On Sunday, Kaepernick’s partner Nessa Diab, better known simply as “Nessa,” took to Instagram to announce that the couple became parents “a few weeks ago” when their child was born. “I thought long and hard about sharing our life changing news today,” Diab said. “I decided to do so because today is the first day in a few weeks where I stepped out for work with a new life title – MOM!” Kaepernick and Diab have been together since 2015, according to People. The two co-founded Know Your Rights Camp, a nonprofit, and Ra Vision Media, a media company. Both projects are dedicated to supporting Black and brown communities. “Recovering after delivery has been a journey (more on that later) and honestly I wasn’t going to share anything because this is sooooo personal to us and I realized I’m a complete mama bear!” Diab said. “Colin is the most amazing dad and I’m soooo grateful that he is by our side for every moment of this journey.” Kaepernick last played in the NFL during the 2016 season, when he finished with 2,241 yards passing, 468 yards rushing, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 starts, going 1-10 in those starts. More notable than his on-field performance that season was Kaepernick’s controversial decision to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem before games in protest of police brutality. The protest sparked a wide range of reactions, from overwhelming support to strong condemnation, most notable of which was from then-President Donald Trump, who suggested that the NFL should “fire” any player who protested during the national anthem. Kaepernick has failed to make it back into the league since the 2016 season. Diab got her start as host of MTV’s “Girl Code” before going on to host other programs such as “The Real World,” “Teen Mom,” “Snooki & J Woww” after-show specials and “The Challenge” reunions, according to People. She hosts “Nessa On Air” at the New York City radio station Hot 97, a program that is syndicated across more than 15 markets.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/colin-kaepernick-nessa-diab-announce-birth-of-first-child/	2022-09-21T13:57:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/colin-kaepernick-nessa-diab-announce-birth-of-first-child/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Three people are dead after a shooting at the Forum shopping center in Bend, police confirmed late Sunday. The Central Oregon Daily in Bend reported police responded to a shooting near the Safeway next to Costco along Highway 20. The initial investigation showed “at least one shooter” was firing shots in the parking lot of the shopping center. That shooter went into Safeway through the west entrance and shot someone inside, who died. The shooter kept firing inside the store, “shooting and killing an additional person,” Bend police said. A third person, “believed to be the shooter” was found dead by police inside the store. At a 10:30 p.m. press conference, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz confirmed that the suspected shooter “is a male,” but knocked down social media reports about a second or third shooter. Krantz said they are aware of the social media reports and actively looked into them, but police have not found any evidence of a second or third shooter. The suspected shooter used an AR-15 style rifle and also had a shotgun, Krantz said. His name has not yet been released. The chief said he learned that one other person was wounded but the injuries “are not fatal.” No Bend police officer fired shots, authorities said. Heather Thompson told Central Oregon Daily she heard 5-8 shots and she thought it was backfire. “And then less than a minute later there were 10-20 shots and then another 10-20 shots. I told my dad to get away from the window and there were people running out of Safeway,” she said. The police arrived “in a matter of, like, 5 seconds.” Thompson said she called 911 at 7:08 p.m. She did not see anyone who was injured, nor did she she anyone with a gun, but she said it sounded like the gunshots came from outside the store. “We ask that our community be patient” as the investigation unfolds, Chief Krantz said. “It’s still a very active scene, still ongoing” and it will take time to complete the investigation. KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/3-dead-including-shooter-at-bend-shopping-center/	2022-09-21T13:57:33Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/3-dead-including-shooter-at-bend-shopping-center/	1	green-iguana-35	null
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A vegan woman convicted of murder in the malnutrition death of her young son was sentenced Monday to life in prison. Sheila O’Leary, 38, whose family followed a strict vegan diet, was convicted in June on six charges — first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse, and two counts of child neglect — in the death of Ezra O’Leary. Her sentencing in Lee County, Florida, had previously been postponed four times. Her husband, Ryan Patrick O’Leary, remains in jail while awaiting trial on the same charges. Investigators said the couple told them the family ate only raw fruits and vegetables, although the toddler also was fed breast milk. The 18-month-old boy weighed 17 pounds (8 kilograms) and was the size of a 7-month-old baby when he died in September 2019, a police report said. The Cape Coral couple had two other children, ages 3 and 5, who also were malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child had been returned to her biological father during an earlier malnutrition case in Virginia, court records show.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/ap-vegan-mom-gets-life-in-prison-for-starvation-death-of-son/	2022-09-21T13:57:41Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/ap-vegan-mom-gets-life-in-prison-for-starvation-death-of-son/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Bossier City police sergeant and police union president arrested Sunday by the FBI is accused of fraudulently obtaining controlled dangerous substances (CDS), according to information revealed in court documents Monday. BCPD Sgt. Harold “BJ” Sanford, who also has occasionally served as a spokesman for the police department, was handcuffed and shackled in a red CCC jumpsuit when he made his first appearance in federal court at 2 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Hornsby. Sanford’s wife, brother-in-law, and pastor were also in the courtroom. According to the affidavit for Sanford’s arrest, the Shreveport FBI office began investigating Sanford and Mitchell Morehead in January after receiving several tips that they were running both real and fake fundraisers and taking money for personal use. In addition, the affidavit alleges that Sanford has an opioid addiction and Morehead often provides prescription pain pills to Sanford. In late June, a US District Judge authorized “the interception of wire and electronic communication on Morehead’s telephone.” The affidavit includes transcripts from a June 24 telephone call between Morehead and another person identified as Jamie Lnu, who he tells he has to go to a local doctor to get pills for a person who he describes using a disparaging name that the affidavit claims is Sanford based on the context of this and other calls. In these conversations, Morehead refers to the narcotic called Percocet, which he says is all he gets. He also says he keeps three and gives the other person believed to be Sanford 25. Morehead says Sanford then “knocks a hundred dollars off my debt so that’s fine with me.” The affidavit continues with a litany of phone calls and texts between Morehead, Jamie, and Sanford that include discussions about Morehead obtaining legal prescriptions that included Percocet, as well as Oxycodone-Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen. The document recounts surveillance operations that found Morehead riding around in a taxi, obtaining prescriptions from a physician and a nurse practitioner for himself, then selling them to Sanford, after keeping a few for himself and his taxi driver Virgil, “for riding me around…,” and then meeting Sanford at various places around Bossier City to obtain the pills. The affidavit also includes the transcript of a July 6 telephone call between Sanford and Morehead in which Sanford tells Morehead he’s “headed to the chief’s office,” which, he adds, “Used to be a bad thing, now it’s a good thing.” Morehead offers, “Well, yeah, used to be “desk patrol,” to which Sanford replies, “Yeah, every time I went in there I knew I was gonna get in trouble, how every time I go in there I know it’s gonna be something good.” The exchange appeared to be in reference to the removal of then-Bossier City Police Chief Shane McWilliams, who was reassigned to reception desk duty one day after newly elected Mayor Tommy Chandler took office. McWilliams retired in January 2022 and Chandler in April tapped provisional police chief Chris Estess to take over permanently. During Monday’s hearing, Assistant US Attorney Alex VanHook, who is prosecuting the case, requested that Sanford remain in custody until a pretrial detention hearing is held at 2 p.m. Thursday. Because Sanford was arrested on a criminal complaint rather than an indictment, a Preliminary Examination (PE) also will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday. At that hearing, federal prosecutors will lay out their case, which will include the testimony of agents involved in the investigation, along with witnesses. Hornsby will then decide whether to hold Sanford over for trial or dismiss the charges. Sanford was taken into federal custody Sunday after FBI agents executed a search warrant at police headquarters at the municipal complex on Benton Road seeking records related to the Bossier City Police Local 645 International Union of Police Association, according to a statement released Sunday evening by the Bossier City Police Department. 📲 Download the KTAL NBC 6 News app to stay updated on the go. 📧 Sign up for KTAL Breaking News email alerts 💻 Find today’s top stories from Shreveport-Bossier and across the ArkLaTex on KTALNews.com. Witnesses in Sanford’s North Bossier subdivision tell KTAL/KMSS agents were spotted at his home Sunday afternoon around the same time the FBI was executing the search warrant at BCPD. It’s not clear whether that is where Sanford was taken into custody Sunday or whether agents searched his home.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/bossier-city-officer-arrested-after-fbi-raid-set-to-appear-in-court/	2022-09-21T13:57:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/bossier-city-officer-arrested-after-fbi-raid-set-to-appear-in-court/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport police are investigating a domestic shooting in the Ingleside neighborhood that happened Monday evening. Around 8:00 p.m., officers were called to the scene on Walker St. near Regent St., where they say a woman was shot multiple times. She was taken to Ochsner LSU Health for treatment. They report she is in stable condition. Multiple children were reported to be in the home. Detectives are interviewing witnesses at the station to determine how the shooting happened. This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/police-investigating-domestic-shooting-in-ingleside/	2022-09-21T13:57:55Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/police-investigating-domestic-shooting-in-ingleside/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CASS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — Multiple law enforcement agencies are working together to search for a man who escaped from the Cass County Jail Monday evening. Officials said that 44-year-old Charles Obin Spraberry broke out of the jail on Monday night around 7:45 p.m. and is considered armed and dangerous. Police say Spraberry produced a knife that he made in jail, assaulted a male jailer, then made his way to the booking area in an area in front of the facility. He then forced a female employee to open the door leading to outside and fled on foot. Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers and Cass County Deputies were called to the jail and established a perimeter to search for Spraberry. Track dogs with TDPS were not able to find a solid trail to follow and the United States Marshals were called to aid in the search. Spraberry was arrested in March in relation to the shooting death of two people found shot to death in a burned-out trailer home. He was found in Beauregard Parish following a two-day manhunt. Spraberry was charged with multiple felonies that include sexual assault, assault by strangulation, assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, and kidnapping. Authorities said he was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and white boxer shorts If you see Spraberry or have any information, authorities say to call 911 immediately.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/police-searching-for-escaped-prisoner-in-cass-co/	2022-09-21T13:58:03Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/police-searching-for-escaped-prisoner-in-cass-co/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport police have identified a second suspect in a shooting earlier this month in Allendale that left a woman wounded. Police say 20-year-old Tydarrien Porter is wanted in connection with the shooting in the 2600 block of Myrtle Ave. on Sunday, Aug. 21, that sent the 32-year-old victim to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to her hand and neck. According to SPD, investigators identified Porter after releasing security camera footage seeking to identify suspects in the case. Porter is now wanted on warrants for one count of illegal use of a firearm during violence and one count of possession of a firearm by a person convicted of domestic abuse battery. Bond on the warrants for Porter total $175,000. The first suspect identified in the shooting, 30-year-old Deshawn Kemp, remains wanted on a warrant charging him with illegal use of a firearm. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Kemp or Porter is asked to contact Shreveport Police at 318-673-7300 #3 or submit tips anonymously via Caddo Crime Stoppers at 318-673-7373.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/shreveport-police-id-second-suspect-in-allendale-shooting/	2022-09-21T13:58:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/crime/shreveport-police-id-second-suspect-in-allendale-shooting/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(WGNO) — Sunday night, it is the first impression of the ‘Brian Kelly Show’ at the Caesars Superdome. It will be the first of many, but there’s no doubting the significance of the game. It is in LSU’s backyard – against a team that won fewer games than the Tigers last season. First games are often foretelling the entire season. Think back to 2018 against Miami, a year later against Texas. And then there was last year’s loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. It snowballed downhill after that. No getting around it, Sunday night in the Superdome, is huge. Watch live on WGNO and ABC. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ed-itorial-nole-doubt-about-it/	2022-09-21T13:58:18Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/ed-itorial-nole-doubt-about-it/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(WXIN) — Kellogg’s is offering a cash incentive to switch out the casserole for a bowl of cereal. The company will pay five people $5,000, plus a year’s supply of cereals like Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops and Frosted Mini-Wheats, as part of a new sweepstakes. “Kellogg’s cereals shine as stars of the breakfast table, but morning isn’t the only time cereal can bring the fun,” said Sadie Garcia, director of Brand Marketing at Kellogg All Family Cereal. Cereal connoisseurs are invited to share on Instagram how they enjoy Kellogg’s cereal for dinner under #KelloggsCerealforDinnerEntry. People can submit a post once a day leading up to National Breakfast Day on Sept. 26. Each week for five weeks, one winner will be randomly selected. No purchase is necessary. For more information, follow Kellogg on Instagram @KelloggsUS and visit www.kelloggs.com/en_US/Giveaway.html for official rules.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/kelloggs-will-pay-you-5000-for-having-cereal-for-dinner/	2022-09-21T13:58:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/kelloggs-will-pay-you-5000-for-having-cereal-for-dinner/	1	green-iguana-35	null
It's a tight labor market so maybe it's not a big surprise that Wal-Mart doesn't want to ramp up seasonal hiring this year but it also speaks volumes about how much business they expect to do at Christmas. Demand is clearly slowing and large US retailers have an inventory-overhang issue that they're trying to clean up. I don't think anyone truly knows the strength of the US consumer right now but a year ago, companies were preparing for sales to be strong. Now they're preparing for sales to be weak. That kind of behaviour can be self-fulfilling.	https://www.forexlive.com/news/wal-mart-will-higher-40k-seasonal-workers-compared-to-150k-last-year-20220921/	2022-09-21T13:58:34Z	forexlive.com	control	https://www.forexlive.com/news/wal-mart-will-higher-40k-seasonal-workers-compared-to-150k-last-year-20220921/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CADDO PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Deputies are looking for answers after a car was engulfed in flames near Oil City late Sunday night. Around 11:50 p.m., the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office received a call to the scene on Clyde Place Vivian Rd. near Hwy 170, northeast of Oil City. Deputies found the car fully engulfed in fire when they arrived. Firefighters put out the flames, and deputies searched the area but did not find anyone. CPSO says no one was hurt in the fire. Deputies are working to discover the owner of the car. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. If anyone has information on the fire, they can reach the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office at (318) 681-0611. This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/local-news/fire-destroys-vehicle-near-oil-city/	2022-09-21T13:58:33Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/local-news/fire-destroys-vehicle-near-oil-city/	1	green-iguana-35	null
If you don't know your risk. If you don't know where the bias shifts from bearish to bullish of bullish to bearish, you are not prepared. Today, with the FOMC decision looming, knowing the levels in play that will shift bias is important. IN the morning video, Greg Michalowski looks at 4 major currencies and tells you where the risk is/where the bias shifts and explains why as well. The major pairs covered include: - EURUSD (0:36) - GBPUSD (3:30) - USDJPY (5:18) - USDCAD (7:09) Read Adam's post on Putin and his state of mind HERE.	https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/its-fomc-day-that-means-you-need-to-know-the-levels-that-will-shift-the-bias-watch-here-20220921/	2022-09-21T13:58:36Z	forexlive.com	control	https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/its-fomc-day-that-means-you-need-to-know-the-levels-that-will-shift-the-bias-watch-here-20220921/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(The Hill) – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued notices to 15 states for failure to submit plans for air pollution reduction, four months after a lawsuit on the matter from a coalition of environmental groups. In the lawsuit, originally filed in April, four organizations charged that the EPA had neglected to enforce the Clean Air Act’s Regional Haze rule by failing to notify states that had missed the deadline to submit an air pollution reduction plan. Plaintiffs included the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Parks Conservation Association. In a series of notices last week, the agency alerted the states that they had missed the deadline, officially starting the clock on a two-year window to either submit a late plan or accept an EPA-written plan. The EPA rule requires all states to develop a plan to reduce air pollution that has an impact on visibility in wildlife refuges or national parks. In 2017, the deadline was extended to July 2021, meaning the states hit the six-month failure-to-submit threshold on Jan. 31. The states receiving notices are Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. “The air pollution that causes haze in our national parks originates from sources that are often in the middle of communities that have suffered from decades of environmental injustices,” Holly Bender, senior director for energy campaigns at Sierra Club, said in a statement. “EPA Administrator Regan saw these facilities and heard from these communities during his Journey to Justice. Enforcing environmental laws, and stepping in where states have failed to step up, is an important way for Administrator Regan to keep his commitment to these communities.” A Sierra Club spokesperson told The Hill the group is still evaluating its options on the future of the lawsuit.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/national/epa-tells-15-states-they-missed-air-pollution-plan-deadline/	2022-09-21T13:58:41Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/national/epa-tells-15-states-they-missed-air-pollution-plan-deadline/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MAGNOLIA, Ark. (KTVE/KARD)– U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a week-long tour where he visited farmers across the Natural State. “Agriculture is our state’s leading industry, so it is important to hear directly from Arkansas farmers and ranchers about how Washington can address their needs, particularly as we begin writing the next farm bill. As the lead Republican on the Senate agriculture committee, I want to ensure the next farm bill has the input of Arkansas’s growers, private forestland owners, nutrition professionals, and rural communities. I look forward to visiting with our producers on this tour, finding out what is working and what needs to be fixed, and sharing their experiences when I return to Washington to strengthen and support food and fiber production in the Natural State,” said Boozman. 777 Farms is located in Magnolia, Arkansas, and is owned by the family of Chad and Jamie Daniel. 777 Farms U.S. Senator Boozman speaking with owners of 777 Farms The family says Invitro Fertilization is an instrumental part of their breeding program. IVF allows them to maximize the potential of donors in their herd and also offers donor housing in addition to IVF services for breeders of all breeds in the community. “A lot of people don’t know this is out here or how it can help their herd or impact their herd. That’s our challenge is education and getting it out there to people and see what it can do for them,” said Daniel. For more information about 777 Farms, you can reach them at (870) 904-3070.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/politics/magnolia-farm-gets-visit-from-u-s-senate-john-boozman/	2022-09-21T13:58:48Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/politics/magnolia-farm-gets-visit-from-u-s-senate-john-boozman/	1	green-iguana-35	null
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)- August 29 will forever be a day that Louisiana residents will remember. Three hurricanes have made landfall on this day. Three storms severely altered our geography and lives, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser reflects on the anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina, Isaac, and Ida. Most of us remember exactly where we were, what we were doing, and how it felt to ride out one or all of these hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina blew through Louisiana 17 years ago today. Then in 2012, on the night of August 28 and early hours of August 29, Hurricane Isaac made landfall. One year ago on this day, we were in the midst of yet another deadly, dangerous disaster; Hurricane Ida, probably the most vivid memories still in our minds. For many Louisiana residents, today will be an emotional day as we mark the anniversary of when several storms hit our area. A year later, families are still living in FEMA trailers, from the sky, many towns look like a sea of blue as tarps drape over roofs, and skylines look a lot different than they once did with a lot fewer trees. On anniversaries like these, we often look back at what happened and ask questions about what went wrong and how can we do better. The hope of looking back is that we learn from what happened so that we can plan for a better future. Officials across the state today will be doing just that. Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser stopped by the WGNO Studios to discuss the importance of marking these anniversaries. He also shared his ideas for solutions to some of the problems many Louisiana residents are still facing a year after Hurricane Ida hit. “Disaster preparation has been a lot better, both by the state and federal government,” said Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. “…I think here in Louisiana, we’re going to have to find a way to house our people better and not wait for FEMA trailers. We are working with our state parks to put in ground sewage so that we can get some rental cabins or something, so these people have some way to stay close to home as the rebuilding begins.” Lt. Governor Nungesser spent the rest of the day down in St. Bernard Parish at the Katrina Memorial.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/august-29-a-day-in-history-that-forever-changed-louisianas-geography-and-residents-lives-in-2005-2012-and-2021/	2022-09-21T13:58:56Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/august-29-a-day-in-history-that-forever-changed-louisianas-geography-and-residents-lives-in-2005-2012-and-2021/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CALHOUN, La. (KTVE/KARD) — The Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office needs assistance locating 14-year-old Keara Thomas. Thomas was last seen at her residence in Calhoun, La., wearing blue jeans with a black t-shirt and carrying a bag of clothing at the time. Thomas is described as a Black female, standing five foot and seven inches, and weighing 100 pounds. According to deputies, she is believed to possibly be in the eastern area of Ouachita Parish, La. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Thomas, please contact the sheriff’s office at 318-329-1200.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/missing-teen-ouachita-parish-sheriffs-office-searching-for-14-year-old-runaway/	2022-09-21T13:59:03Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/missing-teen-ouachita-parish-sheriffs-office-searching-for-14-year-old-runaway/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEAUREGARD PARISH, La. (KLFY) – The bodies of three adults and a four-year-old boy have been recovered after all four went missing Friday during a rescue attempt on the Sabine River in Beauregard Parish, according to the sheriff’s office. According to Beauregard Parish Sheriff Mark Herford, the three adults were attempting to rescue the four-year-old boy after a mishap on the water. Herford told the Associated Press that particular part of the river is dangerous because water levels change daily and the current is very strong. The three adults have been identified as Austin Scott of DeRidder, Troy M. McCollough of the Junction community, and Kelly Bailey of Hornbeck. The Lake Charles American Press reported that the relationships among the four were unclear Sunday. The child has been identified as Bentley Lane Fountain, 4, according to a GoFundMe posted for his funeral expenses. The bodies of Scott, McCollough, and Bailey were found on Sunday, Aug. 28. Fountain’s body was recovered shortly after 8:30 a.m. this morning, Aug. 29, according to KPLC-TV.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/rescue-attempt-of-boy-ends-with-4-dead-on-sabine-river/	2022-09-21T13:59:11Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/state-news/louisiana/rescue-attempt-of-boy-ends-with-4-dead-on-sabine-river/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Elon Musk’s legal team is demanding to hear from Twitter’s whistleblowing former security chief, who could help bolster Musk’s case for backing out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company. Former Twitter executive Peiter Zatko — also known by his hacker handle “Mudge” — received a subpoena Saturday from Musk’s team, according to Zatko’s lawyer and court records. The billionaire Tesla CEO has spent months alleging that the company he agreed to acquire undercounted its fake and spam accounts — and that he shouldn’t have to consummate the deal as a result. Zatko’s whistleblower complaint to U.S. officials alleging Twitter misled regulators about its privacy and security protections — and its ability to detect and root out fake accounts — might play into Musk’s hands in an upcoming trial scheduled for Oct. 17 in Delaware. Zatko served as Twitter’s head of security until he was fired early this year.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-elon-musk-subpoenas-twitter-whistleblower-ahead-of-trial/	2022-09-21T13:59:19Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-elon-musk-subpoenas-twitter-whistleblower-ahead-of-trial/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have sued a data broker they accuse of selling sensitive geolocation data from millions of mobile devices, information that can be used to identify people and track their movements to and from sensitive locations, including reproductive health clinics, homeless shelters and places of worship. The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued Idaho-based Kochava Inc. amid a charged debate over the privacy of individuals who may be seeking an abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June ending the constitutional protections for abortion. Although it’s not the first case the FTC has brought against a data broker, experts say it is the first one involving health care data and referencing reproductive health clinics. “This is potentially a big deal,” Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group, said of the FTC’s action. “They’ve placed a stake in the ground.” The data-broker industry, which gathers, sells or trades location data from mobile phones, has come under increased scrutiny from Congress and regulators following the Supreme Court decision. Lawmakers have asked the top executives of major tech companies, as well as smaller data brokers, for information about their handling of consumers’ location data from mobile phones, and what steps they have taken to protect the privacy rights of individuals seeking information on abortion. The FTC this month announced it was looking at drafting rules to crack down on what it sees as harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security by tech companies and others. In its lawsuit against Kochava filed in federal court in Idaho, the FTC alleges that by selling tracking data, the company enables other parties to identify individuals and exposes them to threats of stigma, stalking, discrimination, job loss and even physical violence. The agency is seeking to halt Kochava’s sale of “sensitive geolocation data” and to compel the company to delete the geolocation data it has collected. “Where consumers seek out health care, receive counseling, or celebrate their faith is private information that shouldn’t be sold to the highest bidder,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau. “The FTC is taking Kochava to court to protect people’s privacy and halt the sale of their sensitive geolocation information.” The company filed a suit against the FTC earlier this month, after the agency sent Kochava a proposed complaint indicating that it could take the company to court. On Monday, the company said the FTC’s lawsuit is a sign the agency does not understand the company’s operations or other data businesses. “”Kochava operates consistently and proactively in compliance with all rules and laws, including those specific to privacy,” said Brian Cox, general manager of Kochava Collective. The company describes itself as the world’s largest independent mobile data marketplace, enabling marketers to “purchase mobile audiences.” Before the legal proceedings with the FTC began, Kochava unveiled a new capability to block geo data from sensitive locations, Cox said. That effectively removed that data from the data marketplace, and is currently in the implementation process, he said. “We are constantly monitoring and proactively adjusting our technology to block geo data from other sensitive locations,” he said. Concerns over consumers’ online privacy deepened last week when allegations surfaced from Twitter’s former security chief that the influential social network misled regulators — including the FTC — about its cyber defenses and efforts to control fake accounts. Among Peiter Zatko’s most serious accusations is that Twitter violated the terms of a 2011 FTC settlement by falsely claiming that it had put stronger measures in place to protect the security and privacy of its users. In a landmark privacy action, Sephora Inc., one of the world’s largest cosmetics retailers, last week settled a California lawsuit alleging the company sold customer information without proper notice in violation of the state’s consumer privacy law.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-ftc-accuses-data-broker-of-selling-sensitive-location-data/	2022-09-21T13:59:26Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-ftc-accuses-data-broker-of-selling-sensitive-location-data/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TOKYO (AP) — Major South Korean battery maker LG and Japanese automaker Honda are investing $4.4 billion in a joint venture in the United States to produce batteries for Honda electric vehicles in the North American market, the two companies said Monday. The plant’s site is still undecided, but construction will begin in early 2023, with mass production of advanced lithium-ion battery cells to start by the end of 2025, they said. It’s likely to be near Marysville, Ohio, or Greensburg, Indiana, where Honda has huge factories that make its most popular models such as the Accord, CR-V and Civic. The joint venture is to be set up this year, with the closing of the deal subject to regulatory approval. “Our joint venture with Honda, which has significant brand reputation, is yet another milestone in our mid- to long-term strategy of promoting electrification in the fast-growing North American market,” said LG Energy Solution Chief Executive Youngsoo Kwon. The plant will produce batteries exclusively for Honda vehicles assembled in North America, including the company’s Acura luxury brand, according to a joint statement. Honda’s joint venture plant is part of a larger trend of automakers announcing U.S. battery factories as they try to establish a domestic supply chain for the next generation of vehicle propulsion. Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Hyundai-Kia, Stellantis and VinFast have announced plans for 10 U.S. battery plants. A new U.S. law gives them even more incentive to build batteries in North America. It includes a tax credit of up to $7,500 that could be used to defray the cost of purchasing an electric vehicle. But to qualify for the full credit, the electric vehicle must contain a battery built in North America with 40% of the metals mined or recycled on the continent. “Honda is working toward our target to realize carbon neutrality for all products and corporate activities the company is involved in by 2050,” said Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe. LG, a leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and power systems, already makes them in joint ventures with U.S. automakers General Motors and Ford Motor Co., as well as South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, but has operations across the world, including the U.S., China and Australia. Demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow in the U.S. and many other nations because of concerns about climate change and pollution, as well as rising gas prices. All of the world’s top automakers are strengthening their EV lineups. LMC Automotive, a Detroit-area consulting firm, expects EVs to be 5.6% of U.S. new vehicle sales this year, rising to more than 36% by 2030. Globally, LMC says 8.6% of new vehicle sales will be electric this year, and that will jump to 33% by 2030. Honda is working with GM to co-develop electric vehicles including a Honda and Acura SUVs. The Honda is expected to go on sale in early 2024, followed soon by the Acura luxury brand. Honda also has said it plans to make its own electric vehicles later this decade. ____ AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed from Detroit.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-lg-honda-to-set-up-us-joint-venture-to-make-ev-batteries/	2022-09-21T13:59:34Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-lg-honda-to-set-up-us-joint-venture-to-make-ev-batteries/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Greenland’s rapidly melting ice sheet will eventually raise global sea level by at least 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) — more than twice as much as previously forecast — according to a study published Monday. That’s because of something that could be called zombie ice. That’s doomed ice that, while still attached to thicker areas of ice, is no longer getting replenished by parent glaciers now receiving less snow. Without replenishment, the doomed ice is melting from climate change and will inevitably raise seas, said study co-author William Colgan, a glaciologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. “It’s dead ice. It’s just going to melt and disappear from the ice sheet,” Colgan said in an interview. “This ice has been consigned to the ocean, regardless of what climate (emissions) scenario we take now.” Study lead author Jason Box, a glaciologist at the Greenland survey, said it is “more like one foot in the grave.” The unavoidable ten inches in the study is more than twice as much sea level rise as scientists had previously expected from the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet. The study in the journal Nature Climate Change said it could reach as much as 30 inches (78 centimeters). By contrast, last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected a range of 2 to 5 inches (6 to 13 centimeters) for likely sea level rise from Greenland ice melt by the year 2100. What scientists did for the study was look at the ice in balance. In perfect equilibrium, snowfall in the mountains in Greenland flows down and recharges and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges. But in the last few decades there’s less replenishment and more melting, creating imbalance. Study authors looked at the ratio of what’s being added to what’s being lost and calculated that 3.3% of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt no matter what happens with the world cutting carbon pollution, Colgan said. “I think starving would be a good phrase,” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan said. One of the study authors said that more than 120 trillion tons (110 trillion metric tons) of ice is already doomed to melt from the warming ice sheet’s inability to replenish its edges. When that ice melts into water, if it were concentrated only over the United States, it would be 37 feet (11 meters) deep. The figures are a global average for sea level rise, but some places further away from Greenland would get more and places closer, like the U.S. East Coast, would get less. Although 10.6 inches may not sound like much, this would be over and above high tides and storms, making them even worse, so this much sea level rise “will have huge societal, economic and environmental impacts,” said Ellyn Enderlin, a geosciences professor at Boise State University, who wasn’t part of the study. “This is a really large loss and will have a detrimental effect on coastlines around the world,” said NYU’s David Holland who just returned from Greenland, but is not part of the study. This is the first time scientists calculated a minimum ice loss — and accompanying sea level rise — for Greenland, one of Earth’s two massive ice sheets that are slowly shrinking because of climate change from burning coal, oil and natural gas. Scientists used an accepted technique for calculating minimum committed ice loss, the one used on mountain glaciers for the entire giant frozen island. Pennsylvania State University glaciologist Richard Alley, who wasn’t part of the study but said it made sense, said the committed melting and sea level rise is like an ice cube put in a cup of hot tea in a warm room. “You have committed mass loss from the ice,” Alley said in an email. “In the same way, most of the world’s mountain glaciers and the edges of Greenland would continue losing mass if temperatures were stabilized at modern levels because they have been put into warmer air just as your ice cube was put in warmer tea.” Time is the key unknown here and a bit of a problem with the study, said two outside ice scientists, Leigh Stearns of the University of Kansas and Sophie Nowicki of the University of Buffalo. The researchers in the study said they couldn’t estimate the timing of the committed melting, yet in the last sentence they mention, “within this century,” without supporting it, Stearns said. Colgan responded that the team doesn’t know how long it will take for all the doomed ice to melt, but making an educated guess, it would probably be by the end of this century, or at least by 2150. Colgan said this is actually all a best case scenario. The year 2012 (and to a different degree 2019 ) was a huge melt year, when the equilibrium between adding and subtracting ice was most out of balance. If Earth starts to undergo more years like 2012, Greenland melt could trigger 30 inches (78 centimeters) of sea level rise, he said. Those two years seem extreme now, but years that look normal now would have been extreme 50 years ago, he said. “That’s how climate change works,” Colgan said. “Today’s outliers become tomorrow’s averages.” ___ Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears ___ Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-zombie-ice-from-greenland-will-raise-sea-level-10-inches/	2022-09-21T13:59:41Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/tech-news/ap-zombie-ice-from-greenland-will-raise-sea-level-10-inches/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(The Hill) — Two people were fatally shot on Sunday night by a gunman who opened fire at an Oregon grocery store before he was found dead, authorities said. Police responded around 7 p.m. to reports of a shooting at the Forum Shopping Center in the city of Bend, which is about three hours outside of Portland, according to the Bend Police Department. Officials said the gunman, armed with an A-15-style rifle, began firing in the parking lot before entering a Safeway and fatally shooting a person at the entrance, adding that the gunman kept firing and killed a second person. Bend officers arrived and heard more gunshots before finding the apparent gunman dead inside the grocery store, authorities said, noting that the rifle and other weapons were scattered nearby. Police said the investigation is ongoing. The identity of the gunman was not released. A witness told the Bend Bulletin the shooter walked down every aisle, spaying bullets at shoppers. She said she grabbed her handgun but ended up retreating through the back door, where employees were getting shoppers out of the building.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/2-fatally-shot-at-oregon-grocery-store-suspect-found-dead-authorities/	2022-09-21T13:59:49Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/2-fatally-shot-at-oregon-grocery-store-suspect-found-dead-authorities/	1	green-iguana-35	null
(NewsNation) — Alabama Pastor Michael Jennings was asked by his neighbor to water their flowers while they were away from their home. Jennings was doing just that when police arrested him. Police can be seen on body camera footage approaching Jennings in late May while he was watering the flowers, telling him he “wasn’t supposed to be” there, then placing him under arrest in an incident Jennings told NewsNation he knows was racial profiling by the Childersburg, Alabama, police. Police said they were responding to a report of a “suspicious vehicle.” Jennings did not have his ID but did tell the officers who he was and why he was there, he told Nexstar’s WIAT in the days after the incident. The original neighbor who called police told officers that she made a mistake and begged them not to arrest Jennings once she realized it was her friend and neighbor. The woman’s account is detailed in the incident report. Jennings was arrested for obstruction. According to the police incident report obtained by WIAT, officers claimed Jennings was belligerent and walking away from police and threatened a lawsuit for racial profiling. The longtime clergy leader admitted he was not happy, but said none of his actions warranted an arrest. “It’s outrage, it’s shame,” Jennings said on “NewsNation Prime.” “I felt dehumanized with what happened to me. It’s embarrassing, humiliating and everything else because of what they did.” Jennings had an idea the police were going to approach him when he saw their car driving very slowly on a road behind the house. “I don’t think they were trying to stop anything, they were trying to catch something,” Jennings said. “When they approached me and started talking to me, it seemed surreal. … Is this really going to happen over flowers?” Charges against Jennings were dropped a week later. Still, the incident left Jennings hurt. “As a person, it hurt my feelings, it was an insult to me, it dehumanized me,” Jennings said. “I would like for people just to be aware of the society and the state of mind that people are in now. Racism is at its highest. It is just ludicrous and ridiculous the way people are treating other people for no reason.” Jennings is still considering a racial-discrimination lawsuit against Childersburg Police. He told NewsNation Prime that he is seeking justice. WIAT’s Drew Taylor and Michael Clark contributed to this report.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/alabama-pastor-calls-arrest-while-watering-flowers-racial-profiling/	2022-09-21T14:00:09Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/alabama-pastor-calls-arrest-while-watering-flowers-racial-profiling/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A Charleston International Airport flight ran into an unusual delay on the taxiway over the weekend. Delta passenger John Moroney said his flight from Atlanta landed in Charleston, South Carolina, around 7 p.m. Saturday, shortly after which the pilot announced a delay. An alligator was passing across the taxiway. The pilot briefly held the plane to let the gator pass. According to the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, alligators move around the most when they are breeding, typically in spring and summer. “If you see an alligator on the move, leave it alone and let it pass on through,” the lab advises.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/alligator-delays-flight-on-runway-at-charleston-airport/	2022-09-21T14:00:17Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/alligator-delays-flight-on-runway-at-charleston-airport/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Kulwinder Singh Soni’s voice quavered as he recounted the day in March 2020 when an Islamic State gunman burst into a Sikh gurdwara’s prayer hall in Kabul, hurling grenades and firing assault rifles. Among the 25 people killed were Soni’s father, sister-in-law and 4-year-old niece. Police later warned the family not to attend their funerals because terrorists had planted land mines outside the temple. They were ultimately able to attend, but only after officers did a sweep and cleared them to enter the shrine. “That’s when we decided we needed to leave Afghanistan,” Soni said. “There was absolutely no future for our family in that country.” After a two-year struggle to make an exit, including nearly a year under restored rule of the fundamentalist Taliban group, Soni and 12 family members including his mother, siblings, nieces and nephews, arrived in the United States last month. They are settling in Hicksville, on New York’s Long Island, a community that has come to be a growing refuge for not only Afghan Sikhs but also Hindus, both of them religious minorities that have increasingly suffered discrimination and persecution in their home country. Sikhs and Hindus make up only a tiny fraction of the population of Afghanistan, which is almost entirely Muslim. Under the Taliban in the late 1990s, they were asked to identify themselves by wearing yellow armbands or badges, reminiscent of Nazi Germany, and in recent years they have been repeatedly targeted by extremists. In July 2018 an ISIS suicide bomber ambushed a convoy of Sikhs and Hindus as they were on their way to meet President Ashraf Ghani in the eastern city of Jalalabad, killing 19. On June 16 of this year, an ISIS gunman attacked a gurdwara, or house of worship, in Kabul, killing one worshipper and wounding seven others. Sikhs have also faced challenges with cremating their dead, which they consider a sacred belief but Islam views as sacrilegious. As the Aug. 30 one-year anniversary of U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan approaches, a recent report by the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warns of “a rapid decline and near extinction of the already small Afghan Hindu and Sikh communities” in Afghanistan, in addition to persecution of other religious minorities. In October 2021, the report says, the Sikh community shared videos of alleged Taliban members vandalizing and ransacking their gurdwara in the neighborhood of Karte Parwan, which is home to the remaining 100 or fewer Sikhs and Hindus in Kabul. Soni, now 27, still has fresh memories of the 2020 gurdwara attack that ultimately drove the family from the country. When the assailants stormed the prayer hall early that morning, he was in the next room at the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib, where his father was the chief granthi, or ceremonial reader of the Sikh sacred text. He saw men running into the temple with shoes, something that is prohibited. As he darted out to stop them, Soni spotted the bodies of a security guard and a teen in a pool of blood right where devotees usually washed their feet before entering. He retreated with two siblings to a room, where they locked the door and hunkered down for several hours. When the siege ended, Afghan special forces had killed the assailants and rescued at least 80 worshippers. Soni rushed to the prayer hall, where he found his three relatives dead and his mother and older brother wounded. “My mom told me (the gunman) kept shooting and throwing bombs even as people tried to hide,” Soni said. “My brother heard his daughter’s voice calling out to him to help her. He was helpless.” In late August of last year, after the Taliban took over Kabul, Soni, one of the few English speakers in his community, assumed the role of a spokesperson and negotiator working to secure their exit from Kabul. He tried to talk the Canadian government into evacuating about 250 Sikhs and Hindus, including his family. After an ISIS suicide bombing at the airport scuttled that plan and fears escalated under Taliban rule, the women and children in Soni’s family moved to New Delhi and the men shuttled between India and Kabul to care for their sacred shrine. It then took months of struggle and daily communication between the U.S. State Department; the Sikh Coalition, a Sikh American advocacy group; and Afghan Sikhs in Hicksville to get the entire family of 13 to the U.S. Paramjit Singh Bedi, a longtime community leader who moved to the United States in 1984 and was instrumental in bringing them over, is now hoping to help them get housing, work permits and medical insurance, and the children enrolled in school. “This family has been through a lot,” Bedi said. “But we are a resilient people and we are strong and steadfast in our faith. I know they will be OK.” Bedi has advocated for the permanent resettlement of the Afghan Sikh community here, and estimates there are about 200 of them living on Long Island. There are also about 800 Afghan Hindus in the area, according to Doulat Radhu Bathija, a leader of that community. Back in Afghanistan, gurdwaras and temples always stood side by side, and Bathija is thrilled that is also the case thousands of miles away on Long Island; in Hicksville, the Guru Nanak Darbar gurdwara is located right next to the Asa’Mai Hindu Temple. Bathija said he sees the Hindu and Sikh communities as “the same,” and they visit each other’s places of worship and celebrate together Diwali, the festival of lights. “We get together for weddings and funerals,” he said, “like a family.” Sikhs and Hindus are not recent migrants to Afghanistan but have hundreds of years of history there. Sikh texts speak of a time when Guru Nanak, the religion’s founder, visited Afghanistan in the 1500s. Yet they are often viewed as infidels, said Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, a professor of Sikh Studies at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. Women, in particular, have been subjected to severe restrictions under the Taliban. While as recently as the 1970s there were about 200,000 Sikhs in Afghanistan, Jhutti-Johal anticipates that by the end of this year there may be none left. Over the years, most have moved to India or the West. Jhutti-Johal believes the West may be the best home for these communities since their Afghan ethnic identity and meager social services in India make things more complicated there. “They are also going to need access to mental health services after everything they have been through,” she said. Soni’s family is now trying to win formal asylum in the U.S., and supporters say they have a strong case. “There is an overwhelming and compelling amount of evidence for how this family experienced religious persecution in Afghanistan because they are Sikhs,” said Mark Reading-Smith, senior managing director of programs for the Sikh Coalition. “They’ve lost more than we can ever imagine.” The family is slowly recovering. But Soni said he’s not even sure what “normal” life looks like, having grown up bullied and beaten in school and on the street for being Sikh. By comparison, Long Island feels a lot more welcoming. Soni has been praying at the gurdwara. He loves seeing his little nieces and nephews smile. And his mother does not panic anymore whenever he leaves home. “She now tells us to go out and enjoy life,” Soni said. “Here, I think, we have the opportunity to become who we want to become.” ___ 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.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-attacked-at-home-afghan-sikhs-find-community-on-long-island/	2022-09-21T14:00:25Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-attacked-at-home-afghan-sikhs-find-community-on-long-island/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities said Monday that 28 people have been charged and 15 officials including police are being investigated for corruption two months after a brutal attack on several women in the northern city of Tangshan that sparked outrage and safety concerns. The investigation has gone beyond the actual attack to encompass broader allegations of criminal activity and police corruption in the area. In June, a group of men attacked four women in a barbecue restaurant, after one of the men had his advances rebuffed. In graphic video footage circulated online, the men threw a chair at the women, and later dragged one of them out before hitting and kicking her and the others who tried to help her, authorities said. The assault and the public outcry renewed a conversation about misogyny and mistreatment of women in China. The attackers were suspected to be part of a gang, and local media reported at the time of the attack that the police response had been slow, prompting concerns that corruption was involved. On Monday, authorities from the Hebei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection said they were investigating 15 officials over corruption that involved “evil organizations,” including those associated with the attackers. The 15, including the director of Tangshan’s public security bureau and officers from several police stations, are suspected of abuse of power, bribery and other job-related crimes. Eight of them have been detained during the investigation. Separately, prosecutors said Monday that 28 people, including the men beating up the women in the video, had been charged recently. At least nine were arrested shortly after the attack. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the charges had been brought on Friday. The 11 offenses against them include opening casinos, robbery, assisting in cybercrime activities, picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Two of the women who were attacked were hospitalized for at least 11 days, while the others had minor injuries. Prosecutors also dismissed rumors involving the case, including that the four women had been sexually assaulted, pushed off a building or run over by a car, stating that these rumors were proven false after investigation.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-china-charges-28-probes-corruption-after-attack-on-women/	2022-09-21T14:00:33Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-china-charges-28-probes-corruption-after-attack-on-women/	1	green-iguana-35	null
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Students in Ohio’s largest school district returned Monday to classrooms after members of the union representing teachers and other employees approved a contract, ending a strike that began a week ago. The Columbus Education Association’s nearly 4,500 teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, psychologists and other education professionals on Sunday voted 71% to 29% to approve the new three-year contract with Columbus City Schools. The pact calls for 4% raises each year of the contract. It includes plans for building improvements to ensure that spaces are climate-controlled, reduces class sizes and offers innovative paid leave benefits. “More than 4,000 of our members stood strong on the picket line, our community joined the fight, and we won victories on all three of these issues that will impact every one of the nearly 50,000 students in Columbus City Schools,” union spokesperson Regina Fuentes said in a statement. The president of the school board, Jennifer Adair, said the agreement puts children first. Union members went on strike Aug. 22 for the first time since 1975 and a “conceptual agreement” had been reached Thursday, tentatively ending the strike. The district’s 47,000 students began the school year remotely last week.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-columbus-students-returning-after-striking-teachers-ink-deal/	2022-09-21T14:00:54Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-columbus-students-returning-after-striking-teachers-ink-deal/	1	green-iguana-35	null
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Hours before Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared “a major step forward to secure our border” with the installation of 130 double-stacked shipping containers, hundreds of migrants found their way around them, belying his claim. They walked through tribal lands to the edge of a towering wall built during Donald Trump’s presidency to surrender to border agents waiting outside the reservation, expecting to be released in the U.S. to pursue asylum. Families, young parents carrying toddlers, elderly people and others easily waded through the knee-deep Colorado River before dawn Wednesday, many in sandals with shopping bags slung over their shoulders. The wall isn’t the issue it was in 2018 when Congress denied Trump funding for one of his top priorities, prompting the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. But last week’s events in Yuma are a reminder of obstacles that the government faces with border barriers: difficulty building on tribal land, most notably in the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, and opposition from landowners, especially in Texas, where, unlike other border states, much property is privately owned. Ducey’s critics have seized on images from Univision network showing two containers that toppled during 11 days of construction for unknown reasons. Gary Restaino, the top federal prosecutor in Arizona, used a bilateral meeting in Mexico City to needle the governor Friday, tweeting, “We’re not dumping a bunch of shipping containers in the desert and calling it a wall to get cheap press.” Ducey retorted that ”we’ve taken matters into our own hands” because the federal government hasn’t done enough. Migrants continue to avoid barriers by going around them — in this case, through a 5-mile (8-kilometer) gap in the Cocopah Indian Reservation near Yuma, a desert city of about 100,000 people between San Diego and Phoenix that has become a major spot for illegal crossings. President Joe Biden halted wall construction his first day in office, leaving billions of dollars of work unfinished but still under contract. Trump worked feverishly in his final months to reach more than 450 miles (720 kilometers), nearly one-fourth of the entire border. The Biden administration has made rare exceptions for small projects at areas deemed unsafe for people to cross, including four gaps in Yuma. It expects to award a contract for Yuma this fall and take up to 28 months to complete work. When U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced its Yuma plans in July, Ducey said he couldn’t wait. Like fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, he has sparred with the Democratic administration over immigration policies, often suing and recently offering free bus rides to the East Coast for asylum-seekers who are released in the United States to pursue their cases. “Arizona did the job the federal government has failed to do — and we showed them just how quickly and efficiently the border can be made more secure – if you want to,” Ducey said to celebrate installation of the containers, which run the length of 13 football fields in five locations combined. A string of 44 double-stacked containers ends abruptly in an open desert expanse. Farther north, at the Morelos Dam, containers plug several openings in an area that had become less traveled in recent months. The day Ducey declared his project complete, the Border Patrol encountered a fairly typical count of about 850 migrants entering the country illegally in its Yuma sector. Most were dropped off by bus or hired vehicle on the Mexican side and walked through the reservation in darkness under a crescent moon. Migrants used vehicle barriers, dirt roads and flashlights on their phones to guide them to Border Patrol agents outside tribal lands to be taken into custody. CBP hasn’t commented on Ducey’s containers but says its plan to plug gaps in the Trump-style barrier of steel poles topped with a metal plate up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) high will make a difference by funneling traffic to fewer areas. “If Yuma has 10 gaps and people were crossing all 10 gaps, it’s much more difficult for us to deal with than if Yuma has one or two gaps and the majority of traffic is crossing through those gaps,” said John Modlin, chief of the Border Patrol’s Tucson, Arizona, sector. Asked for comment, the Cocopah Indian Tribe referred to a May 2020 letter to CBP expressing strong opposition to a wall, saying it would cut access to the river and tribal members in Mexico. The tribe also released video showing its interim police chief, Arlene Martinez, outlining other cooperative measures with the Border Patrol, such as surveillance cameras and ground sensors. “Cocopah supports efforts to secure the border and always has,” she said.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-containers-are-no-hindrance-for-migrants-on-arizona-border/	2022-09-21T14:01:07Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-containers-are-no-hindrance-for-migrants-on-arizona-border/	1	green-iguana-35	null
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Dutch soldiers wounded in a downtown Indianapolis shooting that killed another member of their commando unit could soon return to the Netherlands, city police said Monday while providing no new information on the search for the other people involved. The 26-year-old member of the Dutch Commando Corps died of his injuries “surrounded by family and colleagues” after the shooting early Saturday, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The Marion County coroner’s office in Indianapolis identified the victim as Simmie Poetsema but didn’t immediately release any additional information. Poetsema and the two other soldiers were shot after what Indianapolis police believe was a disturbance outside the hotel where they were staying about 3:30 a.m. Saturday near several downtown bars and nightclubs, authorities said. The soldiers were in the U.S. for training exercises at a southern Indiana military base. Indianapolis police on Monday described the injuries to the two surviving soldiers as “non-life-threatening” and the Dutch Defense Ministry said they were conscious. City police said they were working with U.S. and Dutch agencies to coordinate family members coming to Indianapolis and returning the victims to the Netherlands. Police, however, released no additional information Monday about the circumstances of the shooting nor made any police officials available for interviews. No arrests have been announced. The agency said in a statement that detectives were working to identify those involved in the shooting and that “the release of certain investigative information could negatively impact the ability to obtain justice in this case.” The Indiana National Guard said the soldiers had been training at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, a 1,000-acre (405-hectare) complex about 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of the downtown Indianapolis shooting scene. The Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-dutch-soldier-shot-in-indianapolis-dies-of-his-injuries/	2022-09-21T14:01:39Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-dutch-soldier-shot-in-indianapolis-dies-of-his-injuries/	1	green-iguana-35	null
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Safeway employee who was one of two people killed in a Bend, Oregon, supermarket shooting had time to flee but instead hid behind a produce cart and attacked the assailant with a produce knife, an action that likely saved lives, authorities said Tuesday. Surveillance video shows that 66-year-old Donald Ray Surrett Jr., a two-decade U.S. Army veteran, waited in his hiding spot until the gunman looked the other way. Surrett then emerged with the knife that he drew from his hip, police spokeswoman Sheila Miller said. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Ethan Blair Miller, on Sunday evening fatally shot Surrett and then killed himself as police closed in. Officers found an AR-15-style rifle and a shotgun near his body and police said he had four 30-round magazines for the rifle on his body when he died. Surveillance video also shows two people going back into the Safeway as the shooting unfolded to pull out the other victim, 84-year-old Glenn Edward Bennett, who had been shot just inside the store’s entrance. “Bend Police are extremely thankful to our community members for the efforts they made during this incident,” Miller said. Authorities continued to collect evidence from the crime scene. More than 100 bullet casings have been recovered so far, police said. Authorities also confirmed Tuesday that the gunman had worked at the Safeway for a short time in recent years; one high school acquaintance told The Associated Press he saw him gathering up carts in the parking lot in 2020. The shooter lived in an apartment complex behind The Forum Shopping Center. He fired shots into his own car on Sunday evening as soon as he left the complex and continued firing as he entered the shopping complex’s parking lot and then went into the Safeway. Bennett was killed at the store’s entrance, police said, and the shooter then moved through the aisles “spraying shots” from the assault rifle until Surrett confronted him. Police entered the supermarket from the front and rear as shots were still being fired. The entire incident, from the first 911 calls to the gunman’s suicide, lasted just four minutes, police have said. In addition to the guns in the store, the shooter had a sawed-off shotgun and three Molotov cocktails in his car, police said. Fifty shotgun shells total were found between his car and apartment and 150 additional rounds of ammunition were in his apartment. All the guns were purchased legally, authorities said. Police have previously said the gunman had no criminal history and police had not been contacted about him prior to the shooting. After the shooting, acquaintances recalled the gunman as a loner who was passionate about mixed martial arts and was known for getting into fights at the high school where he graduated in 2020. Police have previously said they are also investigating the “shooter’s writings” but have declined to comment further on postings on several online platforms that appear to have been written by him in recent months. In posts on several sites, someone who appears to be the gunman says he’s struggled to recover from the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, expresses hatred for himself and indicates he planned to attack his alma mater next week, but couldn’t wait until then because “the Rage has become uncontrollable.” Authorities sought a search warrant for digital devices found at the gunman’s apartment and it will take several days to go through those materials and develop a clearer picture, said Police Chief Mike Krantz. “A lot of people sent us follow-up information about what has been posted on social media or other outlets and our investigators will sift through that information and make those connections — if it’s truly connected— and ensure that we have accurate information,” he said. About 150 people gathered in a Bend park on Monday night for a vigil to remember the victims. A church choir sang and a pastor and city officials spoke as people laid flowers. Craig Van Bruggen attended the vigil and told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he was in the Safeway on the phone with his wife when the shooting began. He believes Surrett’s actions helped him escape without injury. “Sounds like Donald potentially slowed down the shooter enough to save some lives, and he’s a hero,” Van Bruggen said. Debora Jean Surrett, the ex-wife of the Safeway employee killed in the attack, told AP in a phone interview that Surrett served in the Army for 20 years as a combat engineer. He wasn’t deployed to active combat zones, but during the 20 years they were married from 1975 to 1995, they were stationed in Germany three times and lived on military bases across the U.S. The shooter graduated from Mountain View High School in Bend in 2020, according to online records, and classmate Isaac Thomas remembered him as an extremely combative person who had few friends. Thomas said he was suspended for a week as a freshman for fighting with the gunman. The gunman held onto a grudge from that fight and once threatened to shoot him, Thomas told AP. “At one point he said he was going to shoot me and I was like, ‘Get over yourself’ because I didn’t think he had a gun, but I guess I was wrong,” Thomas said. Thomas recalled running into the shooter in 2020 in the parking lot of the Safeway, where the gunman was gathering up carts as part of his job. He recognized him and threatened him again although several years had gone by, Thomas said. Bend is a city of about 97,000 approximately 160 miles (257 kilometers) southeast of Portland, Oregon. ___ Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-ex-classmates-recall-safeway-gunman-as-angry-liked-to-fight/	2022-09-21T14:01:51Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-ex-classmates-recall-safeway-gunman-as-angry-liked-to-fight/	1	green-iguana-35	null
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Before three Dutch soldiers were shot, one fatally, in downtown Indianapolis, they were training in a southern Indiana military camp where international soldiers enter highly specialized urban combat simulations they might not be able to get in their own country. Simmie Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his injuries from the shooting Saturday outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The two other soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, according to officials. But police did not release additional information Tuesday about the circumstances of the shooting. No arrests have been announced. Before the shooting, which the Indianapolis mayor said came after a scuffle at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour to the southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center. WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA? Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter. At Muscatatuck — where the three Dutch Commando Corps members involved in the shooting were training — “everything in the city and surrounding property, including the people, is ‘in play,'” its website says. It’s a 1,000-acre (405-hectare) complex that trumpets hyper-focused training across land, air, water, technology and space. The number of international soldiers training at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesperson Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on unit needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said. “The training they will do will revolve around urban operations which could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to evade and capture,” Lowry said. Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel, said Muscatatuck is “essentially a small city” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capacity for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they could fight in, he said. “Europeans have things like that,” he said, but U.S. facilities are “more elaborate, in part because we have more money, and probably because we have more space, and larger forces.” WHAT EXACTLY IS AT MUSCATATUCK? The Muscatatuck complex had been a state-operated center for people with developmental disabilities since the 1920s, with more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005. Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels — in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities — as an ideal place to replicate an urban territory for military training, including chemical or biological attacks. “Our primary intent is to simulate real-world, urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” then-Indiana Guard Adjutant General Martin Umbarger said in announcing the creation of the Muscatatuck center in 2004. The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.” A spokesman did not respond to an interview request. Those materials detail a training environment that mimics a city — with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features — as well as bits of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as downed aircraft, searchable “rubble buildings,” a caved-in parking garage and a collapsed rail trestle. WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE? The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where troops usually stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It’s not clear whether the Dutch soldiers had been staying on the installation during any of their training. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-explainer-why-dutch-soldiers-were-at-indiana-military-camp/	2022-09-21T14:02:01Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-explainer-why-dutch-soldiers-were-at-indiana-military-camp/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers voted Monday for a parliamentary investigation into the tapping by the country’s secret service of an opposition party leader’s phone. The scandal has plunged Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right government into a political storm. Mitsotakis has denied any prior knowledge of the surveillance, which he said was wrong, and pledged to overhaul the EYP secret service. On Monday, 142 lawmakers voted for the parliamentary investigation, easily exceeding the 120-vote threshold needed. All 157 government lawmakers attending the ballot voted present. One lawmaker in the 300-seat house was absent. The commission — where government lawmakers will have a majority — will have at least a month to carry out the probe. The committee will also examine allegations that phones belonging to officials in Greece’s communist party were tapped in 2016, under a previous left-wing government. The current scandal broke after revelations that Nikos Androulakis, a European Parliament member and head of Greece’s third-largest political party, was put under surveillance for three months last year when he was running for his PASOK party’s leadership. A financial journalist also was under surveillance. Mitsotakis, who faces reelection next year, has insisted he was unaware of what he has called the legal wiretapping of Androulakis but said he would not have approved the move had he known about it. He has not revealed the reasons for Androulakis being under surveillance, citing national security concerns. The head of EYP and a close aide to Mitsotakis have resigned over the scandal.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-greek-parliament-votes-to-investigate-wiretapping-scandal/	2022-09-21T14:02:23Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-greek-parliament-votes-to-investigate-wiretapping-scandal/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BAGHDAD (AP) — An influential Shiite cleric announced Monday that he would resign from Iraqi politics, prompting hundreds of his angry followers to storm the government palace and sparking clashes with security forces. At least 15 protesters were killed. Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries. Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet sessions in response to the violence. Medical officials said dozens of protesters were wounded by gunfire and tear gas and physical altercations with riot police. As night fell, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr clashed with the Popular Mobilization Forces security group. A small force from the special forces division and Iraqi Army’s 9th Division also joined to contain the militants as the clashes continued for hours inside the Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government. At least one soldier from the special forces division, which is responsible for security in the Green Zone, was killed. Many others, including a civilian woman, were wounded, two security officials said. Several mortar rounds were heard. The crackle of machine gun fire echoed throughout central Baghdad. The PMF is an umbrella group composed of state-sanctioned paramilitary groups, the most powerful of which are aligned with al-Sadr’s rivals in the Iran-backed political camp. Security officials said mortars and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the clashes, a culmination of intractable political impasse between the rival camps. Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government. His refusal to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shiite rivals and subsequent exit from the talks has catapulted the country into political uncertainty and volatility amid intensifying intra-Shiite wrangling. Iraq’s majority Muslim population is split into two sects, Shiites and Sunnis. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shiites were oppressed until the U.S.-led invasion reversed the political order. Now the Shiites are fighting among themselves, with the dispute centering around power and state resources but also influence over the Shiite street. To further his political interests, al-Sadr has wrapped his rhetoric with a nationalist and reform agenda that resonates powerfully among his broad grassroots base of supporters who hail from Iraq’s poorest sectors of society and have historically been shut out from the political system. Many were first followers of his father, a revered figure in Shiite Islam. They are calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections without the participation of Iran-backed Shiite groups, which they see as responsible for the status quo. During Monday’s clashes, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr gathered in the capital’s Tahrir Square to “protect” protesters, one of its commanders said. A senior medical official confirmed at least 15 protesters were killed by gunfire. Iraq’s caretaker premier said he would open an investigation into the shootings and said the use of live ammunition against protesters was forbidden. Protests also broke out in the Shiite-majority southern provinces, with al-Sadr’s supporters burning tires and blocking roads in the oil-rich province of Basra and hundreds demonstrating outside the governorate building in Missan. Iran considers intra-Shiite disharmony as a threat to its influence in Iraq and has repeatedly attempted to broker dialogue with al-Sadr. In July, Al-Sadr’s supporters broke into the parliament to deter his rivals in the Coordination Framework, an alliance of mostly Iran-aligned Shiite parties, from forming a government. Hundreds have been staging a sit-in outside the building for over four weeks. His bloc has also resigned from parliament. The Framework is led by al-Sadr’s chief nemesis, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. This is not the first time al-Sadr, who has called for early elections and the dissolution of parliament, has announced his retirement from politics — and many dismissed Monday’s move as another bluff to gain greater leverage against his rivals amid a worsening stalemate. The cleric has used the tactic on previous occasions when political developments did not go his way. But many are concerned that it’s a risky gambit and are worried how it will affect Iraq’s fragile political climate. By stepping out of the political process, al-Sadr is giving his followers, most disenfranchised from the political system, the green light to act as they see fit. Al-Sadr also commands a militia and maintains a great degree of influence within Iraq’s state institutions through the appointments of key civil servant positions. His Iran-backed rivals also have militia groups. Iraq’s military swiftly called on the cleric’s supporters to withdraw immediately from the heavily fortified government zone and to practice self-restraint “to prevent clashes or the spilling of Iraqi blood,” according to a statement. “The security forces affirm their responsibility to protect government institutions, international missions, public and private properties,” the statement said. Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also demanded that al-Sadr call on his followers to withdraw from government institutions. The U.N. mission in Iraq said Monday’s protests were an “extremely dangerous escalation” and called on demonstrators to vacate all government buildings to allow the caretaker government to continue running the state. It urged all to remain peaceful and “refrain from acts that could lead to an unstoppable chain of events.” “The very survival of the state is at stake,” the statement said. Al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from politics in a tweet, and ordered the closure of his party offices. Religious and cultural institutions will remain open, it said. The true motivations behind al-Sadr’s announcement appeared to be a reaction to the retirement of Shiite spiritual leader Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, who counts many of al-Sadr’s supporters as followers. In a surprise announcement Sunday, al-Haeri said he would be stepping down as a religious authority for health reasons and called on his followers to throw their allegiance behind Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than the Shiite spiritual center in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf. The move was a blow to al-Sadr, who despite harboring ambitions to be a religious authority lacks the scholarly credentials to be an ayatollah. Al-Haeri, who resides in the Iranian holy city of Qom, once provided him with the legitimacy he lacked by designating al-Sadr as his representative in Iraq. He cut ties shortly after with the cleric, but continued to enjoy the support of his followers. By calling on his followers to side with Khamenei, al-Haeri brought on a crisis of legitimacy for al-Sadr. In his tweet, al-Sadr said al-Haeri’s stepping down “was not out of his own volition.”	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-in-plot-twist-iraqi-shiite-cleric-announces-retirement/	2022-09-21T14:02:43Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-in-plot-twist-iraqi-shiite-cleric-announces-retirement/	1	green-iguana-35	null
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Nearly a half million people crowded into camps after losing their homes in widespread flooding and the climate minister warned Monday that Pakistan is on the “front line” of the world’s climate crisis after unprecedented monsoon rains wracked the country since mid-June, killing more than 1,130 people. The rains stopped more than two days ago, and floods in some areas were receding. But Pakistanis in many parts of the country were still wading through waters that filled their homes or covered their town’s streets as they struggled with how to deal with the damage to homes and businesses. Climate Minister Sherry Rehman and meteorologists told The Associated Press that new monsoons were expected in September. Monsoons have hit earlier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer, officials say — most recently with massive rains last week that affected nearly the entire country. Pakistan is accustomed to monsoon rains and flooding, Rehman said, but not like this. “What we saw recently in the last eight weeks is unrelenting cascades of torrential rain that no monsoon has ever brought with it ever before,” she said. The heavy rains are the latest in a series of catastrophes that Rehman said are exacerbated by climate change, including heatwaves, forest fires and glacial lake outbursts. The damage reflects how poorer countries often pay the price for climate change largely caused by more industrialized nations. Since 1959, Pakistan is responsible for only 0.4% of the world’s historic CO2 emissions. The U.S. is responsible for 21.5%, China for 16.5% and the EU 15%. “Climate knows no borders and its effects can be disproportionately felt,” Rehman said. “When you see low pressure systems coming from the Bay of Bengal, they hit us before anyone is. So we’re on the front line of a global crisis.” The National Disaster Management Authority said floods this summer have killed more than 1,136 people and injured 1,636 as well as damaging 1 million homes. At least 498,000 people in the country of 220 million are in relief camps after being displaced, it said. Many more displaced are believed to be living with relatives, friends or outside. International aid was starting to flow into Pakistan, and the military was helping distribute aid to remote areas and evacuate those who had lost their homes. Authorities were starting the long effort of rebuilding roads and restarting railways. The floods destroyed more than 150 bridges and numerous roads have been washed away, making rescue operations difficult. In the southeastern town of Shikar Pur not far from the Indus River, Rehan Ali dug up bricks from the collapsed walls of his home, nearly completely destroyed by lashing storms and waters that raged through. His family’s possessions were strewn around outside. The 24-year-old laborer said he cannot rebuild without government help and can’t work now because of the turmoil. “I don’t even have anything to feed my family. I lost everything. I don’t know where to go. God help me,” he said. Arif Ullah, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told the AP that more rains will continue to lash parts of Pakistan next month. Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif on Monday said the rains so far have been the heaviest Pakistan has seen in three decades. “I saw floodwater everywhere, wherever I went in recent days and even today,” Sharif said in the town of Charsadda in the northeast of the country. Some 180,000 people in the town have been evacuated after the Swat River overflowed and swamped nearby communities. Sharif has said the government would provide housing to all those who lost their homes. But many of the displaced have lost not just homes, but also crops and businesses. “I am sitting with my family in a tent, and how can I go out to work? Even if I go out in search of a job, who will give me any job as there is water everywhere,” asked Rehmat Ullah, a flood victim in Charsadda. Zarina Bibi said soldiers evacuated her by boat. She broke down in tears as she recounted how her house collapsed in the floods. “We were given a tent and food by soldiers and volunteers,” she said. “Floodwater will recede soon, but we have no money to rebuild our home.” At least 6,500 soldiers were deployed to help, and authorities said they were using military planes, helicopters, trucks and boats to evacuate people from marooned people and deliver aid to them. However, many displaced complained they were still waiting for help. Some said they got tents but not food. Pakistani authorities say this year’s devastation is worse than in 2010, when floods killed 1,700 people. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s military chief, said Sunday that his country may take years to recover. He appealed to Pakistanis living abroad to generously donate to the flood victims. Cargo planes from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates began the flow of international aid, landing in Islamabad on Sunday with tents, food and other daily necessities. The United Nations will launch an international appeal for Pakistani flood victims on Tuesday in Islamabad. The flood wreckage has hit Pakistan at a time when the country faces one of its worst economic crises, narrowly avoiding a default. Later on Monday, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved the release of a much-awaited $1.17 billion for Pakistan, Pakistan’s Information Minister Maryam Aurangez told the AP. The announcement was a big relief for the country. Pakistan and the IMF originally signed the bailout accord in 2019. But the release of a $1.17 billion tranche had been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal’s terms under former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government. Last week, the United Nations in a statement said that it has allocated $3 million for U.N. aid agencies and their partners in Pakistan to respond to the floods and this money will be used for health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas, focusing on the most vulnerable. ___ Associated Press writers Mohammad Farooq in Shikar Pur, Sindh and Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this story.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-international-aid-reaches-flood-ravaged-pakistan/	2022-09-21T14:02:52Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-international-aid-reaches-flood-ravaged-pakistan/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president warned Monday that any roadmap to restore Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers must see international inspectors end their probe on man-made uranium particles found at undeclared sites in the country. In a rare news conference marking his first year in office, President Ebrahim Raisi also issued threats against Israel and tried to sound upbeat as Iran’s economy and rial currency has cratered under the weight of international sanctions. Despite the international attention on the deal as talks in Vienna hang in the balance, it took Raisi well over an hour before fully acknowledging the ongoing negotiations. Tehran and Washington have traded written responses in recent weeks on the finer points of the roadmap, which would see sanctions lifted against Iran in exchange for it restricting its rapidly advancing nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency for years has sought for Iran to answer questions about man-made uranium particles found at undeclared sites. U.S. intelligence agencies, Western nations and the IAEA have said Iran ran an organized nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran long has denied ever seeking nuclear weapons. As a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran is obligated to explain the radioactive traces and to provide assurances that they are not being used as part of a nuclear weapons program. Iran found itself criticized by the IAEA’s Board of Governors in June over its failure to answer questions about the sites to the inspectors’ satisfaction. Raisi mentioned the traces — referring to its as a “safeguards” issue using the IAEA’s language. “Without settlement of safeguard issues, speaking about an agreement has no meaning,” Raisi said. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Tehran could enrich uranium to 3.67%, while maintaining a stockpile of uranium of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) under constant scrutiny of IAEA surveillance cameras and inspectors. Then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, setting the stage for years of rising tensions. As of the last public IAEA count, Iran has a stockpile of some 3,800 kilograms (8,370 pounds) of enriched uranium. More worrying for nonprofileration experts, Iran now enriches uranium up to 60% purity — a level it never reached before that is a short, technical step away from 90%. Those experts warn Iran has enough 60%-enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least one nuclear bomb. Amid the tensions, Israel is suspected in carrying out a series of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear sites, as well as a prominent scientist. On Monday, Raisi directly threatened Israel. Raisi said if Israel decides to carry out its threats to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, “they will see if anything from the Zionist regime will remain or not.” At his first news conference, Raisi famously simply said “no” when asked if he would meet with President Joe Biden. Asked again Monday as the U.N. General Assembly looms next month, Raisi stuck to his earlier answer. “There is no benefit for a meeting between us and him,” the president said. “Neither for the Iranian nation nor for the interests of our great nation.” ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-iran-president-no-way-back-to-nuclear-deal-if-probe-goes-on/	2022-09-21T14:03:02Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-iran-president-no-way-back-to-nuclear-deal-if-probe-goes-on/	1	green-iguana-35	null
BEIRUT (AP) — The granddaughter of a former Lebanese president Monday announced her bid for the cash-strapped country’s upcoming presidential elections on a platform critical of the Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah. The country’s political woes are compounded by its crippling economic crisis, which the World Bank says is one of the worst worldwide in over a century. The Lebanese pound has lost over 90% of its value against the dollar, with three-quarters of its population living in poverty. Tracy Chamoun, 61, has not yet received a formal endorsement from any of Lebanon’s ruling parties in parliament, whose 128 legislators are tasked with voting for the country’s president. Chamoun, the granddaughter of late former president Camille Chamoun, called for key reforms to rescue Lebanon’s comatose economy and reestablish trust with international donors. But she especially criticized Hezbollah’s influential role in politics and security, its arms and its impact on Lebanese relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. “Lebanon cannot continue without its independence and sovereignty and without a clear defense strategy,” Chamoun said at a press conference in Beirut. “Lebanon cannot be ruled by one group, and its decisions related to peace and war can only be done through its institutions.” Chamoun comes from a prominent Christian political family. Her grandfather, the late president, founded the right-wing National Liberal Party. She also is the daughter of Dany Chamoun, who led the party’s “Tigers” militia in the Lebanese civil war, which went on from 1975 until 1990. Five gunmen assassinated her father in 1990 alongside his second wife Ingrid, and their sons, ages 5 and 7. The couple’s youngest daughter, 11 months old, survived. Tracy Chamoun, then 30, was living in London. Chamoun was Lebanon’s ambassador to Jordan from 2017 until her resignation in August 2020, days after the Beirut Port explosion that killed over 200 people and wounded over 6,000 others. Chamoun would be the second woman to officially announce her candidacy in Lebanese presidential elections, after lawyer and civil society activist Nadine Moussa in 2014. The term of the incumbent president, retired military general and Hezbollah-allied Michel Aoun, ends Oct. 31.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-lebanon-presidential-candidate-on-anti-hezbollah-platform/	2022-09-21T14:03:10Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-lebanon-presidential-candidate-on-anti-hezbollah-platform/	1	green-iguana-35	null
Then there were six. And the Giants are among them. This teaser, back on Labor Day, likely would have elicited groans from fans braced for another season riding in the non-contender lane. To ask then what exclusive club most would have expected the Giants to be in two games into the season likely would have generated a resounding response: Teams looking for their first wins? General manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll may have ushered in a feeling of competence and started building a promising vision for the future, but both also noted this is a situation in which process is going to trump production. This is going to take time, they warned. But perhaps not as much as anyone expected. The Giants are one of six teams with a perfect 2-0 record, joining some expected fast starters (Bills, Buccaneers, Chiefs) and some unexpected (Dolphins, Eagles). The Giants would love to be judged by the company they keep. The situation brings to mind the words franchise patriarch Wellington Mara uttered on Jan. 14, 2001. His Giants were two-point underdogs that day, but routed the Vikings, 41-0, in the NFC Championship Game. With the Giants Stadium crowd still whipped into a frenzy for the post-game trophy presentation, Mara stepped to the microphone and delivered quite the oration: “This team was referred to as the worst team ever to win the home-field advantage in the National Football League. And today, on our field of painted mud, we proved we’re the worst team ever to win the NFC championship. In two weeks, we’re going to try to become the worst team ever to win the Super Bowl.” Well, it did not turn out that way. Two weeks later in Tampa in Super Bowl XXXV, the “worst team’’ theme hit a bit too close to home for the Giants after their 34-7 loss to the Ravens. This season is not that one, of course. The Giants are, indeed, 2-0 for the first time in seven seasons, but no one should entertain the illusion they will be able to hang with the big boys as the leaves begin to fall. It is not unfair to declare they are the worst 2-0 team in the league. That doesn’t mean this surprising start won’t have the potential value of helping Daboll set a firm foundation for the future. And though there is really nothing not to like about this group, the roster does not possess the quality needed to remain in rarified air. There may be no better illustration of that fact than in looking at the six undefeated teams’ passing games. Tom Brady, naturally, is part of the pack. So are young and gifted talents Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Top-5 draft pick Tua Tagovailoa is finally getting in gear with the Dolphins, and leads the NFL with 739 passing yards. And Jalen Hurts in Philly is proving doubters wrong in his second year, evolving into a legitimate pass-run threat. And there’s Daniel Jones. The stats tell the rest of the story. The Giants are averaging 20 points a game, pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the league (15th of 32). Their 318 net passing yards per game ranks 31st. Yes, Jones made plays down the stretch in victories over the Titans in Nashville (21-20) and the Panthers in the Giants’ home opener (19-16). And he has three touchdown passes and one interception while clocking in with a passer rating of 99.4, eighth-best in the NFL. But he is 28th in ESPN’s QBR — an adjusted total quarterback rating that considers the strength of the opposing defenses faced by a quarterback. To be fair, Jones’ primary targets were Richie James, Sterling Shepard and David Sills, which is troubling. Even more worrisome is that two games in, Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay were non-factors. Toney played seven snaps in the opener. Golladay played two snaps in Week 2. The meritocracy Daboll espouses is a big part of the culture he is instilling, and there is nothing wrong with that. But extracting the most out of the best players is also a skill, and the rookie head coach needs to get more out of Toney and Golladay for the passing attack to rise from near the bottom of the pile. Golladay has been in some sort of funk since training camp. He is being paid $13 million this season and counts for $21.2 million against the salary cap. It can go one of two ways for him: Either he snaps out of it and his playing time increases, or he slides into the ignominy of becoming a healthy scratch on game days. It’s also possible something else might be at work here. Golladay, 28, might be physically limited after coming off a hip injury in 2020 with the Lions and dealing with several leg issues last season with the Giants. Coming off of a disappointing rookie season, Toney sounds more mature and honed in when he is sitting at his locker. That is all well and good, but the Giants need him to look great on the field after spending a first-round pick on him a year ago. Whatever the reasons, Daboll has yet to show any trust in Golladay and Toney because if he did they would be receiving the bulk of the snaps. So far, the running game has picked up the slack. The Giants are fifth in the NFL in rushing at 170.5 yards per game (which bodes well for Saquon Barkley in his contract year). But with teams such as the Browns, Eagles, Lions and 49ers ahead of the Giants in team rushing, it suggests that the top running teams are not always the top teams. Jones, of course, is also in his contract year, as this new regime did not pick up his fifth-year option. The marching orders for quarterbacks start with winning the game, and two games in, Jones is 2-0. His offensive line clearly is not impervious, but it is improved. Barkley is healthy and a force. Thus far, Jones has done more to win the games than to lose them. But the receivers need to pick it up, especially Toney. Moving forward, the pitch-and-catch aspect of the offense has to get better, by a whole lot. Serving notice In a strange quirk of the schedule, the Giants do not face the Eagles, a team in their own division, until Dec. 11 during Week 14. They then face their rival again four weeks later to close out the season. Out of sight does not mean out of mind. The Eagles put on a show Monday night in their 24-7 beatdown of the Vikings, and joined the Giants atop the NFC East. A case can be made that the Giants might be able to hang in the division race with the Cowboys losing quarterback Dak Prescott for a while and the Commanders seemingly stuck in mediocrity again. The way Hurts played in Week 2, though, might be a warning shot that the Eagles are the team to beat. He completed 84 percent of his passes for 333 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more TDs. His legs and athletic ability were never in question in his first two NFL seasons. If his arm and decision-making are going to be big pluses in Year 3, the Eagles do not appear to have many holes. “He’s put in so much work,’’ Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “[The game is] slowing down. But it should — right? — at this point. He is further into his process, and we’re talking about getting better every day and he lives that. He’s one of our captains, one of our leaders, and he lives the theory of getting better every day. That’s why you’re seeing major improvements. It’s because of the type of person and the type of player he is.’’ Asked and answered Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible: It seems as if the defensive backfield is playing well. Has anyone surprised you back there? We all suspected the safeties were solid, and perhaps much better than that. So far, Xavier McKinney and Julian Love have not disappointed. We also suspected the No. 2 cornerback and the slot corner might be areas for concern, and, two games in, that remains the case, though Darnay Holmes has shown signs he can handle the job as the nickel back — as long as he stops committing holding penalties late in games. One player who has been excellent is one player who must be excellent: Adoree’ Jackson. He is CB1, but he entered the season surrounded by questions of whether he could fill that role. Well, he has not missed a snap in two games and his speed has flashed several times. What comes as a surprise is how aggressive Jackson has been, especially in his tackling in run support. He never was known for this when he played for the Titans or last year in his Giants debut. Perhaps this is the Wink Martindale effect. The new defensive coordinator demands physical play from everyone on the field, and Jackson has obliged. He gave up one catch against the Titans and none in four targets against the Panthers. Pretty darn good. Will the defense look dramatically different when Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Oljuari return from injuries? Thibodeaux (knee) has a chance to play Monday night against the Cowboys. It looks as if Ojulari (calf) is at least another week away. The Giants are anxious to get these two young outside linebackers on the field. Martindale has done a decent job getting pressure on the opposing quarterback, but he needs real edge rushers to win at the line of scrimmage and collapse the pocket more quickly than the Giants have been able to do the first two games. At this point, there are only a few players who are every-snap or almost-every-snap players on defense: Love, McKinney, Jackson and defensive end Jihad Ward. The return of Thibodeaux should decrease Ward’s workload. Martindale loves Ward from their time together with the Ravens, and Ward is an excellent run defender who can set the edge. Thibodeaux’s return also should help cover for the absence of defensive lineman Leonard Williams (knee), who it appears will be out for at least a few weeks. Still, it’s important to remember Thibodeaux is a rookie and there will be a learning curve. Do not expect a sack parade from Day 1. But he also was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and the Giants believe he can be a difference-maker as a pass rusher.	https://nypost.com/2022/09/21/the-glaring-issue-in-the-giants-surprise-undefeated-start/	2022-09-21T14:03:13Z	nypost.com	control	https://nypost.com/2022/09/21/the-glaring-issue-in-the-giants-surprise-undefeated-start/	1	green-iguana-35	null
STOCKHOLM (AP) — An employee of an animal park in southwestern Sweden was gored to death by an eland, Swedish media reported Monday. The man, a foreign national, was taking the antelopes into stables after the park had closed, police spokesman Robert Loeffel told Swedish broadcaster SVT. The goring happened late Sunday at the Oland Animal and Entertainment Park on the southwestern island of Oland. Police said the case is being considered a “workplace accident,” which is standard procedure. It was not known precisely what happened inside the enclosure. The identity and citizenship of the deceased employee was not given. The eland is the world’s largest antelope. As of Monday, the park had closed for the season, according to its website.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-man-gored-to-death-by-antelope-in-swedish-animal-park/	2022-09-21T14:03:27Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-man-gored-to-death-by-antelope-in-swedish-animal-park/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Palau’s vice president and her eight-member delegation have been quarantined in Taiwan after two of them tested positive for the coronavirus. Palau is one of the 14 countries still maintaining formal relations with Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has relentlessly sought to isolate internationally by depriving it of diplomatic partners. Vice President J. Uduch Sengebau Senior arrived for an official five-day visit on Saturday and was due to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen. The delegation from the Pacific nation had PCR tests on Sunday, with two of them positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. The conditions of their quarantine remain unclear. Taiwan generally mandates several days of quarantine in a hotel or private home. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said their schedule has been suspended for the time being. In a statement, the ministry gave no details on who in the delegation had tested positive or how long they would remain in Taiwan, but said it would “continue to provide them with the proper care.” Taiwan has gradually relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions, but testing and quarantine restrictions for foreign arrivals remain in place. Upon her arrival, Senior, who is also her country’s justice minister, said she looked forward to “strengthening bilateral relations with the Taiwan government and the Ministry of Justice in Taiwan, in the areas of justice, maritime security and public safety.” “The Republic of Palau and the Republic of Taiwan share similar beliefs in human rights, justice, the rule of law,” Senior said. Taiwan this week is also hosting Foreign Minister Mario Bucaro of Guatemala, another of its dwindling number of diplomatic allies. The visits come amid heightened tensions between Taiwan and China, following China’s threatening military exercises and missile launches staged in retaliation for a trip to the island earlier this month by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. With a population of just over 18,000, Palau has recorded 5,348 cases of COVID-19 and six deaths. Taiwan, with 23 million people, has reported more than 5 million cases and close to 10,000 deaths. Quarantine rules remain flexible and reports say the government plans to further relax them beginning Thursday.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-palau-vp-delegation-quarantined-in-taiwan-after-2-get-virus/	2022-09-21T14:03:45Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-palau-vp-delegation-quarantined-in-taiwan-after-2-get-virus/	1	green-iguana-35	null
TUBAS, West Bank (AP) — At least 85 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year as Israeli forces have carried out nightly raids in cities, towns and villages, making it the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2016. The military says the vast majority were militants or stone-throwers who endangered the soldiers. The tally, from the Palestinian Health Ministry, includes Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks inside Israel. But it also includes several civilians, including a veteran journalist and a lawyer who apparently drove unwittingly into a battle zone, as well as local youths who took to the streets in response to the invasion of their neighborhoods. The length and frequency of the raids has pulled into focus Israel’s tactics in the West Bank, where nearly 3 million Palestinians live under a decades-long occupation and Palestinians view the military’s presence as a humiliation and a threat. Israeli troops have regularly operated across the West Bank since Israel captured the territory in 1967. Israel says it is dismantling militant networks that threaten its citizens, and that it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians. Palestinians say the raids are aimed at maintaining Israel’s 55-year military rule over territories they want for a future state — a dream that appears as remote as ever, with no serious peace negotiations held in over a decade.. Israel stepped up the operations this past spring after a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis killed 17 people, some carried out by militants from the West Bank. There have been no deadly attacks since May, but the relentless military operations have continued. The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported 85 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem since the start of the year. With four months to go this year, that already is the highest number since 2016, the tail-end of a previous wave of violence, when 91 Palestinians were killed, according to yearly data compiled by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. The ministry’s tally includes attackers and known militants, but also the veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and a 58-year-old man who was shot in the head outside a bakery earlier this month. The Israeli military says both might have been hit by Palestinian gunfire but has not provided evidence to substantiate its claims. The dead include 17 teens under the age of 18, as well as six women, according to the ministry. Israel says that teenagers and women are often involved in violence, while critics accuse the army of using excessive force in many cases. Israel is also holding more than 600 Palestinians without charge or trial in what’s known as administrative detention — the highest in six years. Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general who now heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said the heightened pace of operations is the result of the recent wave of attacks and the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to crack down on militants in the areas it administers. “The Israeli forces always operate on the basis of very accurate intelligence,” he said. “They operate only to apprehend terrorists that we know are involved in terror or are planning to attack Israelis.” The Palestinian Authority is mired in a crisis of legitimacy largely stemming from its cooperation with Israel on security matters. Palestinian officials say they will not help police the occupation, especially if there is no hope that doing so will lead to independence. Rights groups say that while some Israeli missions are aimed at combatting specific threats, others are intended as a show of force, or to protect the growing population of Jewish settlers. Ori Givati is the director of advocacy at Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group opposed to the occupation that gathers testimonies of former Israeli soldiers. Some soldiers recall carrying out mock arrests, in which fully armed soldiers raid a home in the middle of the night — for training purposes. Even more common, Givati says, are so-called “stimulus and response” operations. Testimonies describe how Israeli troops patrol Palestinian areas, sometimes with lights and speakers on, hoping to lure stone-throwers or gunmen into the streets so they can arrest or confront them. “The way we occupy the Palestinians is by creating more and more friction, making our presence felt,” Givati said. “We invade their towns, their cities, their homes.” In a statement, the army denied the allegations, saying it acts “solely against threats and terrorist operatives who pose a security threat” in Israel and the West Bank. Israel says it investigates all cases in which Israeli troops are suspected of killing civilians, but rights groups say most of those investigations are quietly closed with soldiers rarely facing serious repercussions. There were two notable exceptions this year. The killing of Abu Akleh, a veteran on-air correspondent, prompted numerous independent investigations that concluded she was likely killed by Israeli fire. Israel denies targeting her and says it is still investigating. There was also the death in January of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old who died shortly after Israeli soldiers bound and blindfolded him and left him in the cold. In that case, senior officers were reprimanded and stripped of leadership roles. Both were American citizens, and the U.S. raised both cases with Israel. Last week, Israel discharged four soldiers after they were caught on camera beating and kicking two detained Palestinians. There was no such uproar over Salah Sawafta, who was shot outside the bakery as he returned from dawn prayers in the West Bank town of Tubas earlier this month. Israeli troops, who had gone to arrest suspected militants, were engaged in a firefight with Palestinian gunmen. His family believes he was killed by an Israeli sniper in a building across the street. Zakreya Abu Dollah, the bakery owner who witnessed the shooting, said he saw Israeli soldiers fanned out on the street but no Palestinian gunmen or stone-throwers in the immediate area. The military says it is investigating and that Sawafta might have been hit by a stray bullet fired by Palestinian militants. Jehad Sawafta said his late brother, who made a living trading animal feed, had no connection to any political faction or militant group. Salah had a son and four daughters, one of whom was engaged to be married this past Friday. The father of the bride was killed a week before the wedding. “His second daughter was supposed to be married on Aug. 26, but then everything got turned upside down,” Jehad said. “Those girls adored their father because he provided a good and dignified life for them.” ___ Krauss reported from Ottawa, Ontario. Associated Press reporter Ami Bentov in Caesarea, Israel, contributed.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-palestinian-toll-mounts-as-israel-steps-up-west-bank-raids/	2022-09-21T14:03:53Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-palestinian-toll-mounts-as-israel-steps-up-west-bank-raids/	1	green-iguana-35	null
SEO Headline (Max 60 characters) Michigan State Distinguished Professors Back President Nearly 100 distinguished, endowed chair and distinguished professors emeriti are the latest to publicly voice support for Dr. Samuel Stanley Jr. as president of Michigan State University, The Lansing State Journal reported. They issued a joint letter with their view. “As distinguished professors at the university, and emeriti faculty who care deeply about MSU, we value an environment that allows us to produce our best work,” the professors wrote. “Continued recognition at national and international levels enhances our reputation as an institution, which in turn allows us to attract talented faculty, students, staff, and administrators to join MSU. Reputational damage threatens those efforts. We are grateful to President Stanley for improving campus culture during his three years here and moving us towards a safer and more productive space, conducive to enhancing our academic strengths. We are also indebted to him for his leadership throughout the COVID pandemic, which resulted in a safe community during these last two years. His commitment to excellence in every university endeavor is clear and greatly appreciated. We strongly support the consistent actions President Stanley has taken since arriving at MSU to protect the health and safety of all members of the MSU community. We look forward to President Stanley’s continued leadership of MSU.” Some Michigan State trustees are trying to push the president out for reasons that remain unclear. Trending Stories THE Campus Resources for faculty and staff from our partners at Times Higher Education. - Classroom management techniques you don’t get taught - Braiding creative threads through higher education using the arts - Linguistic racism can take a high toll on international students - Blocks for building a stronger student community - How professional practitioners help connect crime theory with real-world investigations	https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/09/21/michigan-state-distinguished-professors-back-president	2022-09-21T14:04:09Z	insidehighered.com	control	https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/09/21/michigan-state-distinguished-professors-back-president	1	green-iguana-35	null
HOUSTON (AP) — Robin Ahrens was getting ready to go to work at a doughnut shop in the middle of the night when he heard what sounded like fireworks coming from the back parking lot of his apartment house in southwest Houston. Ahrens, 53, walked down a hall to investigate around 1 a.m. Sunday. He looked out a window and saw one of his neighbors at the complex standing behind a car and firing a shotgun at other neighbors who were fleeing a fire that police say the gunman had started to lure them out of their rooms. Minutes later, Michael James, who had worked late at a restaurant, came home to the apartment house and found his room ablaze. After trying to call 911, James, 62, began walking away when he was shot in the back. The gunman ended up shooting five neighbors, killing three of them. Bleeding, James fled to the front of the apartment house, where he found Houston police. Officers found the gunman across the street in the parking lot of a medical supply store, where he was fatally shot. “I don’t know what happened to him. He just went on a rampage,” James said Monday, as he stood in front his burned room, still wearing the green medical scrub shirt he had been given while briefly hospitalized a day earlier. The apartment house’s owner, who identified the gunman as Roy Cravin, along with neighbors and police said the shooting might have been set off by the man’s Saturday eviction, which had been preceded by his financial difficulties during the pandemic and a recent colon cancer diagnosis. Authorities on Monday had not released the name of the shooter or the three people who were killed. The deadly shooting in Houston was one of several in the U.S. this past weekend, including in Detroit and Portland, Oregon, in which people were confronted by random gun violence while at home or at a store or walking their dog. Tony Mercurio, the owner of the Houston apartment house, said Cravin had been a tenant for nine years and he considered him a friend. But Mercurio said he made the difficult decision to evict Cravin after he had not paid rent in a year. Mercurio said there seemed to be no hard feelings when he went to Cravin’s room at around 8 a.m. Saturday and got his keys. Cravin had worked as a bouncer at a club but lost his job when the business was shut down during the pandemic, Mercurio said. “Something happened in his head that I’m not sure what it was,” Mercurio said. Ahrens said Cravin first fatally shot the apartment house’s manager, who live onsite. He also wounded the man’s dog, a German shepherd named Duke. The dog, who had an injured foot, ran away but was later found. Cravin then fatally shot two others, police said. Two other men, including James, were shot, and wounded and another had minor injuries. “Those were good people that got killed,” Mercurio said of his residents and his manager, who had worked for him since 1989. When firefighters arrived at the scene, the gunman opened fire on them and they were forced to take cover until police fatally shot him, said Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. No firefighters or officers were wounded. Mercurio said the fire destroyed eight of the 16 units but he planned to rebuild the apartment house, which offers residents shared bathrooms and kitchens. Displaced residents would be offered vacant rooms at other apartment houses owned by Mercurio. Ahrens said he doesn’t want to move because he wouldn’t be able to pay for transportation as he doesn’t have a car and usually walks to work. James said he is focused on trying to rebuild after losing everything in the fire. On Monday, he wore gray pants that someone had given him as all his clothes were burned. The American Red Cross had given each of the apartment house’s residents a $500 gift card to help them replace what they lost. “Every little bit helps,” Ahrens said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-police-evicted-houston-man-kills-3-sets-fire-to-lure-them/	2022-09-21T14:04:08Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-police-evicted-houston-man-kills-3-sets-fire-to-lure-them/	1	green-iguana-35	null
CAIRO (AP) — Sixteen rights groups on Monday urged Yemen’s Houthi rebels to end their siege of the country’s third-largest city. The groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, said in a joint statement the Houthi blockade of Taiz has severely restricted freedom of movement and impeded the flow of essential goods, medicine, and humanitarian aid to the city’s residents. “Houthi restrictions have forced civilians to use dangerous and poorly maintained mountain roads that are the only connection between Taiz city’s besieged population and the rest of the world,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. The Houthis have imposed a siege on the government-held Taiz, the capital of the province by the same name, since March 2016. The southwestern city of is the junction of two crucial highways: an east-west road leading to the coastal city of Mocha on the Red Sea, and another north-south, to Sanaa via Dhamar and Ibb provinces. The joint statement said Houthi-manned checkpoints prevented residents from bringing in essential items such as fruit, vegetables, cooking gas, dialysis treatment packets, and oxygen cylinders. They also “unlawfully confiscated some of these items,” it said. “The siege of Taiz has become nothing more than a card on the negotiating table,” said Radhya Al-Mutwakel Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights. Reopening the roads of Taiz and other provinces are part of the U.N.-brokered truce between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government, which initially took effect earlier in April and extended twice till earlier September. Several rounds of U.N.-facilitated negotiations in the Jordanian capital of Amman failed to produce an agreement to ease the Houthi blockade of Taiz. In July, the rebels have rejected a U.N. proposal of a gradual reopening of Taiz roads, according to the U.N. mission in Yemen. The blockade is part of Yemen’s brutal civil war since 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try restore the internationally recognized government to power. The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and over the years turned into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. More than 150,000 people have been killed, including over 14,500 civilians.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-rights-groups-urge-yemens-houthis-to-end-taiz-blockade/	2022-09-21T14:04:15Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-rights-groups-urge-yemens-houthis-to-end-taiz-blockade/	1	green-iguana-35	null
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top security agency on Monday identified a second Ukrainian that it alleged was involved in the killing of the daughter of a Russian nationalist ideologue. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency, said that Ukrainian national Bogdan Tsyganenko helped prepare the killing of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Alexander Dugin, who was described by some in the West as “Putin’s brain.” The FSB charged that Tsyganenko provided the main suspect, Natalya Vovk, with a fake ID and fake license plates, and helped her assemble an explosive device that was planted in Dugina’s car. Tsyganenko, 44, arrived in Russia via Estonia on July 30 and left the country the day before the killing, the FSB said. Dugina, a 29-year-old commentator with a nationalist Russian TV channel, died when a remotely controlled explosive device planted in her SUV blew up on the night of Aug. 20 as she was driving on the outskirts of Moscow, ripping the vehicle apart and killing her on the spot, authorities said. Both she and her father, who is a philosopher, writer and political theorist, ardently supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine. The FSB said Dugina’s killing was “prepared and perpetrated by the Ukrainian special services” and accused Vovk of carrying out the killing and then fleeing to Estonia. Vovk, according to the FSB, arrived in Russia in July with her 12-year-old daughter and rented an apartment in the building where Dugina lived in order to shadow her. The agency alleged that Vovk and her daughter were at a nationalist festival that Dugin and his daughter attended just before the killing. The FSB said Vovk used a license plate for Ukraine’s Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region to enter Russia and a Kazakhstan plate in Moscow before switching to a Ukrainian one to cross into Estonia. It released video and photos of the suspect from surveillance cameras at the border crossings, while driving the car in Moscow and at the entrance to the Moscow apartment building. The agency said Monday that Tsyganenko provided Vovk with a Kazakh license plate and Kazakh ID documents belonging to a real person named Yulia Zaiko. It didn’t offer any details as to how Vovk obtained other license plates and whether those were fake, too. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement in Dugina’s death. Estonian authorities said they have not received any formal requests or inquiries from Russia regarding Vovk.	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-russia-identifies-2nd-suspect-in-death-of-nationalist-dugina/	2022-09-21T14:04:23Z	ktalnews.com	control	https://www.ktalnews.com/news/u-s-world/ap-russia-identifies-2nd-suspect-in-death-of-nationalist-dugina/	1	green-iguana-35	null
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin on Tuesday railed against what he called “revenge politics,” as liberals in the House and Senate team up with Republicans to oppose his plan to speed permits for natural gas pipelines and other energy projects. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, secured a commitment from President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders to include the permitting package in a stopgap government-funding bill in return for his support of a landmark law to curb climate change. But in the weeks since Biden signed so-called Inflation Reduction Act last month, Democrats and environmental groups have lined up to oppose the permitting plan, calling it bad for the country and the climate. Climate hawks such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, along with dozens of House members, say the permitting plan should be excluded from the must-pass spending bill. Many Republicans agree. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate energy panel, called the permitting deal a “political payoff” to Manchin, whose vote on the climate bill was crucial to the law’s passage. Manchin’s actions on the climate — including secret negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — “engendered a lot of bad blood” among Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. “There’s not a lot of sympathy on our side to provide Sen. Manchin a reward.” At a news conference Tuesday, Manchin expressed bewilderment at such sentiment, saying he’s “never seen” such an example of “revenge politics,” with Sanders and the “extreme liberal left siding up with Republican leadership” to oppose his plan. “It’s revenge towards one person — me,” Manchin said. “I’m hearing that the Republican leadership is upset,” he added. “They’re not going to give a victory to Joe Manchin. Well, Joe Manchin is not looking for a victory.” Replying Tuesday on Twitter, Sanders was defiant. “Defeating the Big Oil side deal is not about revenge,″ he said. “It’s about whether we will stand with 650 environmental and civil rights organizations who understand that the future of the planet is with renewable energy and energy efficiency not approving the Mountain Valley Pipeline,″ a nearly-completed natural gas pipeline from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. Manchin’s plan would expedite the pipeline and steer legal challenges to a different federal court. While legislative text of his permitting plan has not been made public, Manchin called the bill “a good piece of legislation that is extremely balanced” and does not “bypass any environmental review.″ Instead it would accelerate a timeframe that can take up to 10 years for a major project to win approval. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has released a similar plan that would speed environmental permitting, but Manchin said his plan should have broader appeal, since it would streamline environmental reviews for renewable energy projects as well as fossil fuels. Manchin’s plan has support from Biden and other Democratic leaders. But a letter signed by more than 70 House Democrats slams the proposal as a “dirty side deal being negotiated behind closed doors, outside of proper government process and the view of our families and communities who it will deeply impact.” If passed, “this deal will only make it easier for the fossil-fuel industry to site polluting projects in our communities and perpetuate the industry’s practice of concentrating destructive pollution projects in communities of color and poor communities,” said the letter, led by House Natural Resources Chairman Raul Grijalva of Arizona. The fissure among Democrats could complicate the party’s efforts to keep the focus on this summer’s major legislative victories — including the climate bill and a separate law to boost the semiconductor industry and create more high-tech jobs in the United States — heading into the midterm elections to determine which party controls the House and Senate. More immediately, the divide is testing the ability of Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep enough Democrats in line to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month. Schumer has said he will attach Manchin’s proposal to the stopgap funding bill, a promise Manchin said Tuesday he expects Schumer to keep. The permitting plan “is going to be in the” funding bill to avert a government shutdown Sept. 30, Manchin said. If opponents are willing to close down the government “because of a personal attack on me, this is what makes people sick about politics,” he added. “It makes me sick about it.” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., did not directly answer when asked whether Manchin’s permitting proposal would make it harder to pass the government funding bill, known as a continuing resolution. “We’re going to pass the CR, and we’re going to be here as long as it takes,” Hoyer said Tuesday. ___ Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.	https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/ap-manchin-rails-against-revenge-politics-on-permit-plan/	2022-09-21T14:04:27Z	wpri.com	control	https://www.wpri.com/business-news/ap-business/ap-manchin-rails-against-revenge-politics-on-permit-plan/	1	green-iguana-35	null

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