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Believe it or not, there is this odd contingent of people who say baseball is not exciting. Yet, for this strange subset of dissenters, the American League playoffs thus far has made a regular point of proving them regularly not just wrong, but downright mentally stunted. It can be argued thus far that the treks of the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals toward the American League Championship Series have been the most exciting games played in the last few decades of the sport. Between the incredible, series-saving, comeback heroics of the Royals in Game 4 of their Division Series matchup with the Houston Astros, where over 40 minutes of one half-inning they ate up a four-run deficit and eventually turned it into a soul-crushing, 9-6 victory. This returned the series to KC, where a finally resurrected Johnny Cueto twisted the rest of the knife in the Astros' side and sent the Royals to a second consecutive ALCS. But even that paled in comparison to the extent of dramatics that the Blue Jays reached to find themselves where they currently stand, which is their first ALCS since the beginning of the Clinton administration (or, more accurately, the Campbell administration , for our friends up north). The Jays, who failed to win either of the first two home games in the series they hosted, staged a furious three-game comeback, starting by taking both games in Arlington over the Texas Rangers. Yet the game that will remain in postseason lore was the decisive game three, which saw one of the craziest innings of all time, marred by obscure rule challenges, incredible impacts made by errors and ultimately one of the most memorable series-clinching home runs of ever launched by Jose Bautista . And while it is arguable about whether the ball or his inconceivably incredible bat flip landed farther away , what's certain is that the American League Championship Series will see the league's top two clubs face off in a matchup of as different styles as could be imagined. The speed, pitching and defense-reliant Royals will pit their swarming will against the power conduit that is the Blue Jays, in a series that, if it stays the course of how both clubs arrived in it, could provide entertainment akin to the level of an "Avengers" sequel. With that, here are the promised five factors that will go into deciding where this rematch of the same clubs from the ALCS 30 years prior (which KC won en route to its only World Series, by the way) will decide itself. 1) Can Kansas City keep pace with a Toronto offensive explosion? The quick answer here is no because there is no team that can stand up in a slug fest with these Blue Jays . While the Jays hit only .228 as a team in the ALDS, they began to come to life on the second half the series and finished with a lot of life at the series' climax. Bautista's bomb sparked life back into the club, and if the Jays' full ensemble wakes up Ben Revere , Chris Colabello , Edwin Encarnacion and Ben Revere all hit .300 versus Texas, while Josh Donaldson and Bautista both clubbed a pair of home runs watch out. What the Royals can do, however, is play their game of steady run production, smart at-bats, and create advantageous opportunities and pile on a number of runs at a time by keeping the base paths busy. Offensively, this truly is a "Tortoise and the Hare" matchup. 2) Can the "wrap around" on the Royals keep feeding Morales? Unlike most teams, KC's power sources are grouped toward the bottom half of its lineup, with Kendrys Morales , Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez inhabiting the 5-7 slots of the order. However, this allows the Royals the unique ability to restart their lineup several times, with Alex Gordon , Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain all functioning in "kick-start" roles sprinkled throughout the lineup. With Ben Zobrist and Alex Rios sprinkled within, the key to the relentless nature of the Royals is causing havoc between the 8-3 slots and then hammering it home starting with Eric Hosmer and delivering a full plate for Morales to feast on. This arrangement has done its job so far, and if it continues to get improving returns from Hosmer and Gordon, it could be equally as imposing as the Jays' offense, albeit in a much different way. 3) Can Russell Martin slow the KC pace of play? While the Blue Jay pitching will share a sizable part of the load in limiting the Royals' offense, much of responsibility will also fall on the shoulders of catcher Russell Martin. KC likes to run and kick-start its offense by staying busy on the bases. Conversely, Martin is one of the best in the business at cutting down would-be base thieves, tying for the MLB-best this past season with a 44% kill rate. While much of the strength of the Royals is getting from first to third or second to home, there is a lot that Martin can do to cut off KC's potential offense at the hip if he stays the course 4) Is Johnny Cueto is truly "back"? Cueto's stay in the AL had been one of various returns headed into the postseason. He struggled to a 4-7 record with a 4.76 ERA in Royals blue, after posting his more traditional rate of a 2.62 mark with seven wins back in the National League. But he seemed to put his AL woes behind him in two Division Series starts vs. Houston, which he capped with a masterful performance en route to the series-clinching win, allowing two hits over eight innings and no runs after the second frame. If Cueto can carry this form into Toronto for Game 3 of the ALCS, as well as potentially Game 6 or 7, it will give the Royals a much-needed answer to the Jays' Marcus Stroman , who has been electric since returning from an Achilles injury that started his season in September. This is the part of the year that Cueto was acquired to create an advantage in, and the fact he is finally showing life is a huge pivot point for the Royals' road chances. 5) Can either team take the opposing crowd out of it?' Tis the season for the X-factor, and each home crowd is decisively one working in each club's favor. The fan bases for each of these long-starved postseason clubs WANTS IT, and they make it resoundingly known. This can play out to be a major advantage for either team making a surge in the game or trying to hold one off. It will be important for Kansas City to continue to make the most of its time at Kauffman Stadium, where the Royals are 8-3 over the past two postseasons and carried a .630 regular-season win percentage as well. The people of Toronto have rallied behind the Jays in the same fashion that the Royals' crowd did behind their sudden postseason run last year and have made the Rodgers Centre a true 49,000-person boom room that will host the bookends of the series. | 1 | 96,200 | sports |
When a man in Missouri contracted rabies, his symptoms mimicked those of a serious drug reaction, making it hard for doctors to figure out the real cause of his illness until it was too late. The case shows that "human rabies is a fatal disease, and we need to think out of the box" to diagnose the condition, said Dr. Bhavana Chinnakotla, a medical resident at the University of Missouri, who treated the patient. The 52-year-old man went to the emergency room when he felt sudden and severe pain in his neck, and a tingling feeling in his left arm, according to a new report of his case. Doctors thought he had muscle and joint pain, and gave him a muscle relaxant called cyclobenzaprine. But the next day, the man had a fever and was sweating and shaking all over, Chinnakotla said. The man was diagnosed with serotonin syndrome, a reaction that people can have after taking certain drugs including cyclobenzaprine that causes the body to release too much of the brain chemical serotonin . The condition can cause heavy sweating, increased body temperature and loss of coordination. The man's symptoms "fit to that picture," Chinnakotla said. During his first few days in the hospital, the man refused to drink liquids or have a small oxygen tube placed in his nose. The doctors didn't realize it at the time, but these are symptoms of hydrophobia (fear of water) and aerophobia (fear of air) that are sometimes seen in rabies patients , according to the case report. The man didn't get better with the treatment for serotonin syndrome, and so the doctors tested him for a slew of infectious diseases, including herpes virus, West Nile virus, syphilis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever . All of these tests came back negative. After speaking with the man's family, doctors learned that he lived in a trailer near the woods, and liked to photograph wild animals. Doctors then suspected rabies as a possible cause of the illness, which a test later confirmed. Doctors should consider that serotonin syndrome and other conditions that cause elevated body temperature, known as hyperthermia syndromes, "might be masquerading manifestations of rabies," Chinnakotla said. Unfortunately, once a person starts to show symptoms of rabies, the disease is almost always fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The man's condition grew progressively worse he went into shock and his kidneys stopped working. He was unresponsive, and tests showed that the man didn't exhibit even the most primitive reflexes, which are carried out by the brain stem. After nearly two weeks in the hospital, the family decided to discontinue life support, and the man died within 40 minutes of being taken off a ventilator. Rabies is rare in the United States the man's case was just the second reported in Missouri in the last 50 years, the researchers said. The condition is caused by a virus that can be transmitted by the bite of an infected animal, including a bat. This may have been the case with the Missouri man tests showed that he was infected with a strain of rabies linked with the tri-colored bat, the smallest bat species in North America. People who are bitten by any animal should get a medical evaluation, according to the CDC. There is a "post-exposure" vaccine that can prevent rabies from developing in people who have been exposed to the virus, and anyone with a bite or scratch from a bat should get the vaccine, the CDC says. But people who get rabies from a bat often don't realize they have been bitten, the researchers said. Bites from the tri-colored bat can be unnoticeable, Chinnakotla said. The study was presented this month at IDWeek2015, a meeting of organizations focused on infectious diseases. Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner . Follow Live Science @livescience , Facebook & Google+ . Original article on Live Science . | 5 | 96,201 | news |
A US Marine Corps study on the fighting ability of women , conducted before a national decision about opening all combat roles to female soldiers, is "fundamentally flawed", according to critics who received hundreds of pages of leaked data from the controversial trials. Related: Marine Corps' intention to bar women from combat roles at odds with Navy The same critics said the corps' decision to release only a four-page summary of its study, which focused on negative aspects of women as Marines while keeping the bulk of the study under wraps, was "hugely problematic". One of the report's released conclusions found that: "The integration of females … will add a level of risk in performance/effectiveness and cost … The bottom line is that the physiological differences between males and females will likely always be evident to some extent." But other pages from the report, seen by the Guardian, indicate that women were not expected to pose problems for ground-combat units, so long as clear standards, diligent screening of candidates and good training and leadership were in place. According to the data shared with the Guardian, the study also showed that some women excelled during tests such as hiking quickly with heavy loads and firing artillery under simulated enemy attack, while mixed Marine units showed superior morale and problem-solving and better discipline than units composed only of male Marines. Furthermore, though the report found all-male units were better at hiking, shooting, gorge-crossing and cliff-climbing, and males suffered fewer injuries, in one section of tests a mixed-sex unit out-marched three all-male units, progressing at five kilometres an hour (kph). The Marine Corps requirement is 4kph, carrying heavy packs and equipment. Elsewhere, the study found that gender integration across all units would "bring with it many of the general benefits of diversity that we experience across the spectrum of the workforce". The Marine Corps based its conclusions on averages, according to which women displayed poorer physical capability and target shooting averages than men, even though some individuals outperformed their male counterparts. "The Marine Corps has always been looking for data that would justify continued exclusion of women from the infantry," said Ellen Haring , a retired Army colonel and senior fellow at the equality lobbying group Women in International Security . "This study was fundamentally flawed." Haring added: "The way this study has been presented is hugely problematic. The four-page extract, undated, unsigned, was circulated around on Capitol Hill, I think looking for political support from members of Congress for continuing to exclude women. And the bulk of the data not being released." The Marine Corps has declined to comment on the leaks from its study. The unofficial disclosure of key details of the gender comparison trials is likely to deepen the rift between the Obama administration's Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Joseph Dunford, who was the commandant of the Marine Corps until he rose to become head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September. The two have clashed over the study and the issue of gender integration. The Marine Corps is believed to be the only branch of the US military to have recommended to the government it be excluded from the new defense policy, set to come on stream in 2016, that will open all combat roles to women. Military heads submitted their recommendations on integration to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter earlier this month. He will announce his decision by the end of the year. "I have no doubt that if you have valid standards not lower ones that there will be women who can meet those standards," Haring said. "It's not about how many women can make it through to the Marines infantry, for example: it's the fact that they are given an equal opportunity to compete for those jobs that is crucial." Haring and University of Sydney researcher Megan MacKenzie , author of Beyond the Band of Brothers: the US Military and the Myth that Women Can't Fight , were leaked the conclusions and 380 pages of the Marines' study after uproar greeted the four-page summary on its release in September. They believe the findings have been submitted to the government as part of the Marines' argument against allowing women access to frontline infantry and reconnaissance units. Haring dismissed the Marine Corps' study as biased from the start. "If women are not capable, of course I have no problem with them being excluded," she said. "But you need to set the standards and then whatever soldier or Marine meets them, they are the ones who should get the places in the units." The trials took place between 2013 and 2015, using 400 volunteers, of which 100 were women. They underwent selection, training in North Carolina and then combat-exercise testing in California, split into all-male and male-female clusters. After studying the data, MacKenzie said that overall, "there were some women who performed as well as the men and some outliers who blew away the men's performance." MacKenzie, a Canadian academic based in Australia, takes special interest in gender integration in the armed forces of the US and other nations. On her website, she published an analysis of the 380 pages of data she and Haring obtained. "The Marine Corps acknowledged that women do not have a negative impact on unit cohesion, contrary to some arguments you will hear," MacKenzie told the Guardian. "And if they had done proper physical screening, the women who were injured would not have been included in the study from the outset." MacKenzie also objected to the fact that the male Marines in the study had more combat-training experience than the women. The Marine Corps reviewed Canadian, Australian, Israeli and British military results during its study, all of which results except the British supported women being eligible for all combat roles. Haring said the fact American women have been effectively in combat during more than 13 years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, dying under hostile fire and bombs and winning bravery medals, has had a positive effect on respect and career prospects for women across the military. But women serving under orders on the frontline still violates US government policy, an issue which was only addressed when then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced in early 2013 that the government intended to open up combat roles to women. The various branches of the US military had until 1 October this year to request exemption before the new rules go into effect in 2016. Related: Women in combat: US military officially lifts ban on female soldiers In August, two women qualified as Army Rangers, regarded by many as the toughest Army unit. A third qualified in October, and Haring was attending a celebratory lunch for her at Fort Benning, Georgia. "Many men have never served with women, but when they do, many of them become their biggest advocates," she said. "I recently received an email from a young lieutenant who did not make the grade in the infantry, telling me he had not thought women were up to it until he saw them in action and saw them excelling, where he had not made it." The Navy SEALs announced in August that they would allow women to apply. Other special operations units have been gradually opening up to women. But the Marine Corps is regarded as one of the strongest bastions of maleness in the US military. The Marine Corps report acknowledged that "ground combat units have many years of historical bias, much of which will take time to eliminate". One point buried in the corps study and now highlighted by some sources states that among the study group there were reports of seven sexual assaults, though it was not specified at what point in each of the relevant Marines' careers the reports were made or what they involved. Even if it is assumed that all of the alleged victims of such assaults were among the female Marines, that is not an unusual rate of reports of sexual misconduct in the military, MacKenzie said. She added that the statistic even refuted the notion that women would be at elevated risk of being raped if they were serving at close quarters with men in a combat environment. "The military has a sexual assault problem, but the solution is not keeping women out, it's dealing with the sexual assault problem," MacKenzie said. Haring, who retired as a colonel after 30 years in the military, sued the Defense Department in 2012, alleging she was denied a job on the frontline in Afghanistan after being told on the eve of her deployment she "wasn't qualified". She withdrew the lawsuit after Panetta announced the end of the official ban on women in combat. "I wasn't looking to get anything out of the lawsuit except a change of policy," she said. "I wanted to make the military more welcoming to women. "I have a good, fulfilling career, but I just think the military will be better off if it selects the most capable citizens to serve." | 5 | 96,202 | news |
Editors weigh in on the places you need to hit for food after the dinner hour. Atlanta Austin Boston The Bar at Marcel, Atlanta. [Photo: Jonathan Phillips ] Charleston Chicago Dallas Denver Cart Driver, Denver. [Photo: Yelp/Cart Driver ] Detroit Houston Las Vegas Los Angeles Brite Spot, Los Angeles. [Photo: Facebook/Brite Spot ] Maine Miami Minneapolis Montreal Nashville High Noon, Portland. [Photo: High Noon PDX ] New Orleans Portland, OR San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC | 4 | 96,203 | lifestyle |
Things have just gone from bad to worse in the scandals surrounding FIFA. Both Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini could see their current 90-day suspensions extended to a whopping five years, according to a report in Germany. Exclusive: #FIFA ethics committee will decide about #Blatter and #Platini soon. Both are supposed to be banned for 5 years. @welt #UEFA Tim Röhn (@Tim_Roehn) October 17, 2015 FIFA's ethics committee already suspended over the issue of significant and "disloyal" payments from Blatter to Platini in 2011 -- which the pair claim was from a "gentleman's agreement" over work Platini did years before -- but also reserved the right to extend the term of their bans pending further investigation. Apparently, they've found something worth going for the throat over. If this report pans out and both Blatter and Platini are given five-year bans, it would represent a huge shift in the FIFA landscape. A year ago, even the short-term suspensions they're currently on would have been unthinkable. Even in the immediate wake of the corruption scandal that set us down the road we're on, figures as major as Blatter and Platini being given five-year bans seemed hilariously unlikely. The ethics committee still hasn't made a public decision, and we probably won't hear anything official until after the emergency meeting the FIFA executive committee called for early next week. If they are banned as reported, Blatter and Platini would be able to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS, for short) to appeal the decision. However, a positive result for them would be far from certain -- the FIFA ethics committee wouldn't be taking this kind of action against the presidents of FIFA and UEFA unless they had an airtight case. Stay tuned, folks. This one's going to get a lot more interesting before everything is said and done. | 1 | 96,204 | sports |
WACO, Texas Seth Russell did something for second-ranked Baylor only a Heisman Trophy winner had done before. Corey Coleman is well on the way to his goal of setting a standard for the Bears that will be hard to match. Russell became the only Baylor quarterback other than Robert Griffin III in 2011 to throw for 300 yards and run for 100 in the same game, and Coleman caught three more touchdowns break the single-season school record as the Bears got a measure of revenge with a 62-38 victory over West Virginia on Saturday. BOX SCORE: BAYLOR 62, WEST VIRGINIA 38 "The way he runs his routes, he's so dynamic, so explosive," Russell said. "You're going to have to double-team him, maybe the only way you can try to stop him." Coleman matched and then broke Kendall Wright's school record, his nation-leading 16th coming halfway through the regular season for the Bears (6-0, 3-0 Big 12). "I'm trying to make it elite," Coleman said. "I'm trying to make it unbreakable." West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen called Coleman "the best player in college football. You can put me on record for that." Coleman finished with 10 catches for 199 yards, his fourth consecutive game with multiple touchdowns and his seventh in a row with at least 100 yards receiving. The 5-foot-11 junior had catch-and-run plays of 50 and 42 yards without scoring. His 2-yard TD catch, a play after Baylor converted a fourth-and-1 midway through the first quarter, put the Bears ahead for good at 14-7 and matched Wright's school record 14. With an 11-yard score in the second quarter, Coleman surpassed Wright, the current Tennessee Titans receiver whose record season at Baylor came while catching passes from RG3. The Bears won their FBS-best 19th consecutive home game. Baylor's only regular-season loss last year was 41-27 at West Virginia, and the two-time defending Big 12 champion Bears wound up the first team left out of the initial College Football Playoff. "Really good win against really the only Big 12 team that we don't have a winning record against since 2011," coach Art Briles said. "That's a big deal for us as a program. We felt a lot of desire, a lot of need to clear our name. We didn't feel like we had a good name in West Virginia, so that was kind of our motivating factor." Russell was 20 of 33 for 380 yards and five TD passes, and ran 14 times for 160 yards with another score. His FBS-best 27 TD passes are well in range of Griffin's school record 37 in 2011. After Coleman added a 33-yard score early in the second half, on a short fourth-down pass when he quickly cut back and the defender slipped down trying to keep up, Russell threw two TD passes to Jay Lee in a span of just over 4 minutes to make it 48-24. Skyler Howard, from Fort Worth, Texas, less than 100 miles from the Baylor campus, threw four TD passes for West Virginia (3-3, 0-3). West Virginia needed only three plays to score after that, with Howard's 70-yard TD to Shelton Gibson, who was wide open near midfield by the Baylor sideline, then cut across the field and ran untouched to the end zone. That quickly brought back memories of the 2012 game, though they didn't keep up the pace of West Virginia's first conference game after moving into the league. The Mountaineers beat Baylor 70-63 at home then in the highest-scoring game in Big 12 history. "Against a team like Baylor, if you're not scoring every time, then there's a chance that they could turn out that way," said Howard, who finished 18 of 37 for 289 yards. Gibson added a 100-yard kickoff return with 1:05 left, right after Baylor surpassed 60 points for the fifth game in a row on backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham's 9-yard TD pass to tight end Trevor Clemons-Valdez. ------ AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org | 1 | 96,205 | sports |
Suspects were involved in fight that left Spencer Stone with multiple stab wounds | 8 | 96,206 | video |
The Saudi-led air coalition targeting Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen has mistakenly hit a pro-government position, killing at least 20 troops, security officials and witnesses say. At least another 20 people are thought to have been injured. The strike occurred between the southern Taiz and Lahj provinces, which have seen fierce clashes recently. "They thought the Houthis were still there," a pro-government security official told The Associated Press. The Saudi-led coalition is backing forces in Yemen loyal to the exiled President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Pro-Hadi forces retook Lahj and four other provinces in mid-July as part of a southern offensive. But fighting has raged for months in Taiz, which the rebels have held since last year and is seen as a gateway to the capital Sanaa. A separate coalition air strike on Saturday killed 13 Houthi rebels in the desert province of Jawf, AP reported, and three pro-government fighters were killed in rebel rocket shelling in Marib province east of Sanaa. Hundreds of Sudanese troops reportedly arrived in the southern port city of Aden on Saturday, the first batch of an expected 10,000 reinforcements for the Saudi-led coalition. Their mission is to secure Aden, which has seen a surge of assassinations of pro-government military leaders in recent weeks. On Friday, gunmen on a motorcycle killed an Saudi officer in a drive-by shooting. Around 4,500 civilians have been killed in the conflict since March, according to the UN. As well as those killed, nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict. The UN estimates that 13 million people face food shortages and 80% of the population need some form of aid. Why is there fighting in Yemen? Northern Shia Muslim rebels known as Houthis, backed by forces loyal to Yemen's ex-president, took over parts of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, and forced the government into exile in March The rebels accused the government of corruption and of planning to marginalise their heartland within a proposed federal system Forces loyal to the government and southern militias regained control of Aden in July, aided by Saudi-led coalition air strikes and troops The war the world forgot? Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe Who is fighting whom? Meeting the Houthis and their enemies | 5 | 96,207 | news |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. The Sacramento Police Department is asking for help in identifying two suspects involved in the stabbing of a U.S. airman hailed as a hero for helping to stop a terror attack on a Paris-bound train over the summer. The department on Saturday released two composite sketches that show what the suspects are believed to look like based on witnesses and surveillance video of the Oct. 8 attack against U.S. Air Force Airman Spencer Stone. The suspects are two "Asian or Filipino" men who on the day of the attack were wearing white shirts and blue jeans, police said. They were seen leaving the area in a late model Toyota Camry. Stone and two childhood friends from Sacramento Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler became celebrities in August when they tackled and disarmed a gunman with ties to radical Islam. Stone, 23, was knifed several times in the torso shortly after leaving a bar, where an hour earlier he was applauded by patrons. He was released Thursday from UC Davis Medical. | 5 | 96,208 | news |
Michigan got their first bit of snow. | 5 | 96,209 | news |
Demi "Cool for the Summer" Lovato is now a model, and as we already know, she can do nude and makeup-free. Today marks her Confident album's official release date, as well as the big announcement that Lovato's been signed with Wilhelmina Models. Lovato commented, "I'm thrilled to sign my first major modeling contract with Wilhelmina." She recently stunned in a nude, makeup free shoot for Vogue, which is a great indication of her future success in the industry. | 8 | 96,210 | video |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Jim Boeheim doesn't think the specter of NCAA sanctions, the loss of prized freshman Chris McCullough to a season-ending knee injury or a self-imposed post-season tournament ban were distractions for his Syracuse team last season. For Boeheim, entering his 40th year as head coach at alma mater, the explanation was simple. He just didn't think his 2014-15 team, which finished with un-Syracuse-like 18-13 record, was very good. ''Last year was last year. It's over,'' Boeheim said Friday at his team's media day. ''It's been well documented. It is what it is. You can have some very difficult problems some years and have a great year. There's no correlation between how many games you win and what kind of difficulties you have. I've had some difficult years off the court and had great seasons. We just didn't have a good team last year, I don't think. We had too many weaknesses. We just weren't good enough.'' One of those weaknesses was 3-point shooting. Syracuse finished 13th in the Atlantic Coast Conference, shooting 30 percent from beyond the arc and just 43 percent overall. Boeheim is hopeful that seniors Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije, the top 3-point shooters last year, an improved Kaleb Joseph, and sharpshooting freshmen Malachi Richardson and Tyler Lydon will help remedy that situation. ''We relied on Trevor. Mike made some 3s. This year we think those guys can make 3s. Kaleb has really improved his shooting, and we know Malachi and Tyler can shoot 3s,'' Boeheim said. ''I think we have five guys, legitimately, who we can try to get 3-point shots for. I think that is going to be a big key as to how successful we're going to be. ''If you shoot a lot of 3s and make them you're going to be good. If you don't make a lot of them it's going to be a problem,'' Boeheim added. ''That's the best way for this team to play and that's the most significant change I'd like to see this year.'' One of the big question marks entering the season is the health of junior center DaJuan Coleman, who hasn't played in nearly two years and sat out last season with a knee injury. The 6-foot-9, 255-pounder, out of Jamesville-DeWitt High School, just a short drive from the Carrier Dome, could be a big presence in the middle replacing the departed Rakeem Christmas, now with the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Christmas led last year's team in scoring at 17.5 points a game. ''DaJuan has practiced every day, has not missed any days,'' Boeheim said. ''Obviously, when you haven't played in two years you're going to be a little rusty. He's rusty.'' The Orange enter the season under the radar, and Boeheim agreed with that assessment. ''When you lose a guy like Rak (Christmas), your best player, and, obviously, didn't have a great year, I think the question marks that surround us are more than usual,'' he said. ''I think it's a fair rating.'' While many of the storm clouds from last season have cleared, Boeheim and his team will be dealing with the ramifications of NCAA sanctions handed down earlier this year. Boeheim has been suspended for nine ACC games, a penalty Boeheim feels is grossly unfair. ''As far as the nine games, whenever that happens, it'll be a difficult time. The one thing I do know is I believe the team will be 100 percent ready. If you have a good system and a good plan, there aren't a lot of changes that happen,'' Boeheim said. ''It'll be difficult because you can't talk to the players, which I think is crazy. It's one thing to punish the coach. I get that. But you punish the players because I brought them all here. They want to listen to me and they can't talk to me for nine games, which is a month. It's a pretty harsh penalty. It's a very severe punishment.'' Assistant coach Mike Hopkins, who will lead the Orange when Boeheim retires in three years, will lead the team for those games. | 1 | 96,211 | sports |
Sonita was only 10 years old when her mother first decided she would force her daughter to marry a stranger. | 8 | 96,212 | video |
NAPA, Calif. Brendan Steele felt no different about his game Friday than when he tied the course record with a 63 in his opening round at the Frys.com Open. The difference was seven shots. What didn't change was his position on the leaderboard. Steele had to settle for pars on the closing three holes at Silverado that tend to produce birdies, giving him a 2-under 70 on a course that was getting firmer and featured much stronger pin positions. MORE: Leaderboard All that mattered was a two-shot lead going into the weekend. "I expected today to be tough," said Steele, who was at 11-under 133. "And it's always tough to follow up a round like yesterday with anything even under par. I think we've seen guys over the years follow 63 up usually with something around par. If you can go lower than that, you probably have a pretty good-sized lead." He'll take the two-shot margin over Will Wilcox (67), Jhonattan Vegas (71), Graham DeLaet (68) and Harold Varner III, who missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his final hole that would have put him in the final group on the weekend in his rookie debut on the PGA Tour. Varner had a 70. One thing didn't change for Rory McIlroy. He can't seem to make a putt. McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the world, shot 71 and was six shots behind. Considering how many putts he missed, it felt like an even greater margin. "Not to be able to break 70 today is quite disappointing," McIlroy said. His only two birdies were on par 5s where he missed putts for eagles. And he ended his round by missing a birdie putt from just outside 12 feet, a familiar sight for him over two days at Silverado. "I think it's more mental than anything else," McIlroy said. "Whenever you don't see anything go in, it makes it harder and harder each and every hole that goes by. ... I don't expect to hole everything, but I expect to hole more than I am at the moment." And with that, he signed a few autographs and headed straight for the practice green. With tougher pins, Silverado played about one shot more difficult. It was just as tough to get some separation. The cut was set at 2-under 142, and a 54-hole cut was in play for Saturday because 81 players advanced to the weekend. That group includes Brandt Snedeker, who birdied his last two holes to make it on the number. Missing putts was a familiar sight for everyone. "I actually felt like from tee-to-green, I played way better than yesterday, to be honest," said Vegas, who followed his 64 with a 71. "I just couldn't buy any putts." This is a big week for Vegas, who received a sponsor's exemption after losing his card and needs to make the most of what limited tournaments he can play this year. And it's a big start for Varner, who joins Tiger Woods as the only players of black heritage on the PGA Tour this year. Varner made back-to-back birdies and was closing in on the lead when he had to settle for four straight pars at the end. It was nearly dark when Varner played his last hole, though he never considered coming back to finish Saturday morning. "Six hours of sleep is way more important than one putt, I think," Varner said. "I'm staying in American Canyon. It says it's 25 minutes, but it's yet to take me 25 minutes to get back. I'm going to get it tomorrow. I'm pretty excited." Steele opened his round with a birdie, which he thought might be a sign of another low score. He made two birdies in three holes to start his back nine and was thinking he might get a chance to pull away at 12 under, especially with a pair of par 5s and a short par 4 among the three closing holes. Plus, he ended that side with five straight birdies Thursday. It just didn't quite work out that way. Steele missed the green on the par-5 16th with a wedge in his hand. His tee shot on the short 17th settled in a divot. And then on the par-5 18th hole, he drove left into the rough, laid up in the group and missed the green again. "So those last three you think you can score on were kind of a struggle," he said. But he wasn't alone. Justin Thomas, coming off a strong rookie season and a 66 to start the new season, caught Steele with a 20-foot birdie putt at the turn and had his hopes ruined by missing the green at No. 4 with a wedge, and then taking double bogey on No. 6. A birdie on the last hole for a 70 put him in the group at 8-under 136 that included Justin Rose (69), Russell Henley (69 and Martin Laird (71). | 1 | 96,213 | sports |
Presidents are known for holding off on endorsing candidates until late in the primary season. | 5 | 96,214 | news |
The world's most-wanted drug boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, narrowly evaded security forces searching for him in the northwest of Mexico in recent days, sustaining injuries to his face and leg, the Mexican government said on Friday. Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, escaped from his high-security prison cell in July through a specially dug tunnel, causing a major embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. In a statement, the Mexican government said it had worked with international agencies to capture Guzman, and that in recent weeks, efforts had been focused on the northwest of the country, not far from Guzman's native turf of Sinaloa state. "As a result of these actions, and to avoid his capture, in recent days, the fugitive engaged in a hasty retreat, which, according to the information received, caused him injuries to one leg and the face," the government statement said. "It's important to clarify that these injuries were not a product of a direct clash," the statement added, without giving further information. In August, the acting head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said the U.S. government believed Guzman was still in Mexico. (Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Tomas Sarmiento; Editing by Ed Davies) | 5 | 96,215 | news |
You've probably read an article or two about the negative effects of staring at a screen before going to bed (hell, you've probably read one of them while in bed). But, a study recently published in Current Biology finds that we may be blaming our illuminated robots for no reason. Poor robots. Many "screens are bad for sleep" stories carry the assumption that before electricity, smartphones and laptops, people slept longer -- but it's difficult to pin down how long our ancestors spent in dream-land, The Economist says. To tackle this issue, two researchers observed three groups living pre-industrial lives: the Hadza of northern Tanzania, the Ju/'hoansi San of South Africa's Kalahari Desert and the Tsimané in Bolivia. After 1,165 days collecting data, researchers found the average sleep time among these groups was 6.5 hours a night. In industrial societies, the average is 7.5 hours per night, The Economist writes. So, scroll away, sleepy readers. Until the next study, at least. The Economist | 5 | 96,216 | news |
Egyptians abroad started voting on Saturday in their country's first parliamentary elections since the army deposed president Mohamed Morsi more than two years ago. Egyptians living in New Zealand and Australia were the first to cast ballots at their country's diplomatic missions there, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency reported. The voting is to be held over two consecutive days at Egypt's diplomatic missions in 139 countries around the world, the news agency reported. Egyptians residing abroad are estimated at around 9 million. Some 700,000 of them are registered voters. Polling inside Egypt is to start on Sunday. RELATED: Profile: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Some 568 seats are up for grabs in the parliamentary elections running through December. Final results are expected on December 4. President Abdel-Fatah el-Sisi has the authority to appoint 28 more members in the assembly, Egypt's first in more than three years. In 2012, Egypt's top court dissolved the Islamist-led parliament, sayings it had been elected on faulty rules. The vote will mark the final step in what has been billed as a transition to democracy. But critics say the next parliament is likely to be a rubber-stamp body that further solidifies the power of President Sisi, a former general who led Morsi's overthrow. | 5 | 96,217 | news |
WASHINGTON President Obama said Saturday that he'll launch a nationwide criminal justice tour next week, an effort that he says will "highlight some of the Americans who are doing their part to fix our criminal justice system." "Much of our criminal justice system remains unfair," Obama said in his weekly radio address Saturday morning. "In recent years, more of our eyes have been opened to this truth. We can't close them anymore. And good people, of all political persuasions, are eager to do something about it." The first stop in the tour will be in Charleston, W.V. next Wednesday, where he'll host a town hall-style meeting on the prescription drug abuse and heroin epidemic.The White House says Obama will talk about local, state and federal efforts as well as private sector initiatives addressing the crisis. Obama said he'll also meet in coming weeks with police chiefs and former prisoners. Details on those tour stops are expected to be released next week. In his radio address, Obama also threw his support behind bipartisan proposals in Congress to shorten mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenses and reward convicts who participate in prison programs with shorter sentences. "This is progress not liberal ideas or conservative ideas, but common-sense solutions to the challenges we face," Obama said. "Justice has never been easy to achieve, but it's always been worth fighting for. And it's something I'll keep fighting for as long as I serve as your president." | 5 | 96,218 | news |
JERUSALEM Palestinians in Jerusalem, more than a third of the city's population, have awoken to a new reality: Israeli troops are encircling Arab neighborhoods, blocking roads with concrete cubes the size of washing machines and ordering some of those leaving on foot to lift their shirts to show they are not carrying knives. The unprecedented clampdown is meant to halt a rash of stabbings of Israelis. Many of the attacks were carried out by residents of east Jerusalem, the sector captured and annexed by Israel in 1967 and claimed by Palestinians as a future capital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has portrayed the measures as temporary, in line with what his advisers say any police department in the U.S. or Europe would do quell urban unrest. But some allege he is dividing Jerusalem, something Netanyahu has said he would never do. Arab residents, who have long complained of discriminatory Israeli policies, say the latest closures are driving them to a boiling point and will trigger more violence. "They want to humiliate us," said Taher Obeid, a 26-year-old janitor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He spoke over the din of car horns, as drivers stuck at one of the new checkpoints vented their anger. Domestic critics say Netanyahu long opposed to any negotiated partition of Jerusalem into two capitals is effectively dividing the city along ethnic lines with his security measures. "The great patriots ... who don't go to bed at night before praying for a unified, undivided, greater Jerusalem, are now proposing to dissect it, divide it and return it back 48 years in time," commentator Nehemiah Strassler wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz. Some warn that recent events a rise in "lone wolf" attacks by Palestinians and Israeli crackdowns offer a taste of the constant hate-filled skirmishes that would likely prevail for years if there's no deal on setting up Palestine next to Israel. They say that due to the growth of Israeli settlements, the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River has effectively become a binational entity, with Israel ruling over several million Palestinians. "This is what the future looks like," said Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann. "It's the one-state reality." While Netanyahu has said he supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, there has been no progress in peace efforts during his six years in office, and expectations of a negotiated agreement have faded. Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, chipping away at territory sought for a future Palestine. Netanyahu says he wants to negotiate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but under tougher Israeli ground rules, with east Jerusalem off the table. Abbas refuses to engage under such conditions. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with both leaders separately in coming days to lower the temperature, but there is no sign the Obama administration will try another mediation mission after Kerry's failed attempt last year. Netanyahu, meanwhile, rejects the notion that Palestinian attackers, including those in Jerusalem, are driven by anger over decades of Israeli rule. He blames what he calls incitement to violence against Israel by Abbas and Palestinian Muslim leaders, including claims that Israel plans to erode Muslim-only prayer rights at a major Jerusalem shrine revered by Muslims and Jews. Netanyahu denies he intends to change the status quo, though senior coalition members have been pushing for Jewish prayer rights at the site. "With respect to the Palestinian population (in Jerusalem), Israel has a lot of work to do, as it does with the social needs of its Jewish population," senior Netanyahu adviser Dore Gold told The Associated Press. "But the primary problem here are the deliberate lies being spread" about the shrine, he said. The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, or home of their biblical Temples, and to Muslims as the Haram as-Sharif, marking the spot where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. "Israel has no interest in creating divisions in Jerusalem," Gold said of the dozens of road barriers that went up late last week. Israel "has a right to use the same security measures which every other city facing urban rioting has used," he added, suggesting the measures could be rolled back. The eastern part of the city, annexed by Israel after the 1967 war, has become a jumble of Arab and Jewish areas, a result of Israeli settlement policies over the years. This included building sprawling Jewish neighborhoods on annexed lands and permitting militant settlers to move into heavily guarded enclaves in Arab neighborhoods, such as the Muslim Quarter of the walled Old City. Palestinians make up 37 percent, or 316,000, of Jerusalem's total population of 850,000. Palestinians say they have suffered years of official discrimination, such as severe restrictions on building rights and the threat of residency rights being revoked if they move to the West Bank because the housing shortage in Arab areas. Meanwhile, Israel's West Bank separation barrier slices through Arab neighborhoods, leaving one-third of Jerusalem's Arab residents on the "West Bank side" and making it harder for them to reach jobs, schools and hospitals. In the past month, nine Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks and 41 Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israelis, including 20 labeled as attackers. That has led to Israeli troops setting up even more dividers. They have blocked roads to and from Arab neighborhoods with concrete cubes, forcing cars to squeeze through a few crossing points. There, soldiers stop each vehicle, ask for IDs and demand that some drivers and passengers lift their shirts and roll up pants legs to show they are not armed. Around midday Saturday, several dozen cars were held up at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the Issawiyeh neighborhood. The atmosphere was tense, with drivers honking and some saying they'd been stuck in line for more than two hours. Police were on edge, traded curses with the crowd; at one point, they threw a stun grenade into the line. On Sunday, troops set up six concrete slabs, each about 5 meters (16 feet) tall, between the Jewish neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv and the adjacent Arab area of Jabal Mukaber, home to some recent attackers. Police said the barrier is meant as a shield against stones and firebombs. In the past, similar obstacles billed as temporary have become permanent. The Qalandiya checkpoint between the West Bank and east Jerusalem, one of the main crossings through the separation barrier and a frequent bottleneck, started out 15 years ago as a roadside concrete cube manned by a few soldiers. Today, it is a terminal with five lanes for pedestrians, fortified by barbed wire and watch towers. Gold, the Netanyahu adviser, played down the extent of Palestinian frustration in the city, saying it is possible to create "patterns of co-existence and dialogue" once violence has subsided. Seidemann said Jerusalem is a binational city that has remained divided, even after 1967, and that Israel's latest security measures have simply given a physical expression to those rifts. Israel's hard-line leaders "can't possibly look this in the eye because they are committed ideologically to a mythical, united Jerusalem that does not exist in nature," he said. ___ Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Jerusalem contributed to this report. | 5 | 96,219 | news |
PETISOVCI, Slovenia (AP) Thousands of migrants surged into tiny Slovenia on Saturday as an alternative route opened in Europe for them after Hungary sealed its border for their free flow, adding another hurdle in their frantic flight from wars and poverty toward what they hope is a better life in Western Europe. The closure of Hungary's border with Croatia early Saturday caused redirection of thousands of people including women and small children soaked in cold rain further west toward Croatia's border with Slovenia. The small European Union-member state has limited capacity to process large numbers wishing to head toward richer European Union countries such as Germany, Austria or Sweden. This could leave thousands stranded in Croatia and further east and south in Serbia and Macedonia the countries on the so-called Balkan migrant corridor. The Hungarian border closure is the latest demonstration of EU's uncoordinated response to the flow of people reaching its borders. Several buses packed with migrants arrived in the Slovenian border town of Petisovci on Saturday from Croatia. A train carrying 1,800 people arrived to the border in the afternoon. Police said that after processing, most of them are transferred toward the Austrian border. The U.N. refugee agency said Slovenia has the capacity to accept some 7,000 migrants a day. Slovenian officials said, however, that they can permit up to 2,500 people a day, and will allow in new groups only after previous groups leave the country. Croatian police said more than 5,000 migrants have entered the country since Hungary closed its border, illustrating a possible backlog of those whom Slovenia would not admit. UNHCR spokeswoman Caroline Van Buren said at Slovenia's border with Croatia Saturday that "all is going well" as the first groups of migrants started arriving to the small Alpine nation. "We have been in cold since two in the morning in Serbia," said Omar Thaqfa, 33, from Mosul in Iraq. "We were sitting in the street. Very cold. Inshallah, I am going to Germany." Slovenia, the country of some 2 million people, has said it would beef up border controls and create entry points for migrants to manage the influx, but would keep accepting them as long as Austria and Germany kept their borders open. Croatia has said it will close its border with Serbia if Slovenia does the same with Croatia. Slovenia's government has cleared the way for the armed forces to assist police in managing the influx. Officials said the army would provide logistical support to the police, but won't have any authority over migrants. "We are going to focus even more on safety and security and order so our country can function normally," Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said, adding that Slovenia is a transit country for migrants and if "destination countries begin adopting stricter measures at the border, Slovenia will follow suit." Migrants had been transiting through Croatia to get to Hungary and then further west. But Hungary blocked that route after midnight when police pulled a barbed-wire fence over a passage on the border with Croatia where more than 190,000 migrants have passed since mid-September. Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said Hungary's decision won't stop the flow of hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa who have been surging into Europe. "Nobody can stop this flow without shooting," Ostojic said, adding that further closure of frontiers for migrants would cause "a domino effect and lot of troubles for all countries" that are on the migrant route. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced the decision to close the border after a meeting of the national security Cabinet on Friday. Hungary's right-leaning government decided to order the border clampdown after EU leaders who met Thursday in Brussels failed to agree on a plan backed by Hungary to send EU forces to block migrants from reaching Greece. Szijjarto said in a statement Saturday that the government was defending Hungary and its citizens from the "mass wave of unidentified, uncontrolled migrants." He has said normal border checkpoints with Croatia would remain open, though inspections will be tightened. Although Croatia is also a member of the EU, unlike Hungary it is not part of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel. Slovenia is in the Schengen zone. | 5 | 96,220 | news |
Joe Buck is appreciated by Fox Sports and was assigned to call the ALCS between the Royals and Blue Jays. Buck is not appreciated by the fans who reside in Kansas City. One fan was so upset by the announcement that he set up a petition on Change.org to ban the Emmy winner. Here's the personal note he sent to Fox Sports, via his petition. Please consider revising your plan to have Joe Buck provide commentary during the ALCS games. We feel that your audience would be far better served by someone less biased, with better knowledge of the game. The commentary he provided last year left a bad feeling with those forced to listen to it that persists even a year later. Well, Buck caught wind of the petition when the user sent a tweet saying, "If you hate Joe Buck as much as we do, please share this petition." Buck responded to the fan on Twitter. Only 26 retweets! Cmon people lets get behind this! Let's get to 30 by day's end. #wecanKC https://t.co/TdV2EapdqE Joe Buck (@Buck) October 15, 2015 The petition asked for 15,000 signatures and has 10,381 supporters as of this writing. Of course nothing will happen if the petition reaches 15,000 signatures, but that's not the point. The point is that a lot of people apparently don't like Joe Buck. Buck, however, has grown accustomed to the displeasure of fans. At this point he just embraces it. | 1 | 96,221 | sports |
McCOMB, Miss. (AP) Weeks after the June massacre of nine black worshippers in a Charleston church, South Carolina lawmakers slogged through an emotional debate before voting to remove a Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. Critics called for Mississippi to step up next and rip the rebel emblem from its state flag. While South Carolina acted, Mississippi dithered. Enmeshed in their own election-year politics and preferring to avoid the sticky subject of Old South symbolism, Mississippi's top elected officials have largely ignored the state flag that has flown since 1894, with the Confederate battle emblem in the upper left corner a blue X with 13 white stars, over a red field. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant is seeking a second term in the Nov. 3 election, and said he wouldn't call Mississippi legislators into special session this year to debate the flag. They ended their regular session in early April, more than two months before what police said was a racially motivated attack at Emmanuel African American Episcopal Church in Charleston. The white man charged in the slayings had previously posed for photos with the Confederate battle flag. "If the (Mississippi) Legislature had been in session at the time the Mother Emmanuel tragedy happened, I think the momentum and the pressure to remove the symbol at that time would have carried the day," said Susan Glisson, director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi. "The emotion and the shock of that was very powerful. ... It's easy for emotions to subside." A few politicians called for change, including, Philip Gunn, Mississippi's first Republican House speaker since Reconstruction. Gunn is a leader in his local Baptist church, and said faith caused him to see the flag as "a point of offense that needs to be removed." Flag supporters, including some Sons of Confederate Veterans, responded with yard signs and bumper stickers emblazoned with "Keep the Flag. Change the Speaker." Several Mississippi cities and counties that have stopped flying the state flag in the past four months, citing it as a racially divisive symbol in a state where nearly 38 percent of the 2.9 million residents are African-American. A Jackson resident is starting a petition drive to put a change-the-flag initiative on the statewide ballot, and flag supporters hope to start their own keep-the-flag initiative but the earliest either proposal could go to voters is in 2018. Many are hoping for some sort of resolution to the public debate before then. Bryant and Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves are challenged by Democrats running low-budget campaigns, and both incumbents say if the flag design is to be reconsidered, it should be done by a statewide vote, and not by legislators. Both Democrats are calling for change. "I've never had a company say, 'We can't come to Mississippi because of the flag,'" Bryant said. Robert Gray, a truck driver who won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination after not even voting for himself, said the Confederate emblem on the state flag is like a sign for people to stay away. "If you have 50 bottles of wine and you take a warning label and put it on one of the bottles, which one could people go to first? They're not going to go to the bottle with the warning label on it, at all," Gray said. Tim Johnson, a former state senator who switched from Republican to Democrat to run for lieutenant governor, said he voted to keep the Confederate emblem in 2001 but now thinks it should be removed: "You don't hold onto something that's holding you back." Lt. Gov. Reeves, like Bryant, said the flag has never been an obstacle to job creation. "The people of Mississippi voted, overwhelmingly, in 2001 to keep our state flag as it currently exists. And I believe the only way the flag should be changed is if the people of our state decide to change it," Reeves said. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the flag, while widely used, had not been enshrined in state law since code books were updated in 1906. A flag commission and held several public hearings that devolved into shouting matches in the fall of 2000. After that, legislators put the matter to a statewide vote in April 2001, with two choices: the 1894 flag and an alternative that would have replaced the rebel emblem with circles of stars to represent Mississippi as the 20th state. By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, voters kept the old flag. Fourteen years later, some Mississippi residents still embrace the Confederate-themed banner. "I think it should stay the same. It's part of our heritage," said Cynthia Moak, a 33-year-old white homemaker in the southern Mississippi city of McComb. Others say it's beyond time to find a unifying flag. "This is a new era now. That flag kind of reminds us of the past," said Myrtle Alexander, 45, of McComb, who is black and works as a district manager for a food company. McComb, a small city about 80 miles south of Jackson, has a significant civil-rights history. For much of the 1950s and '60s, McComb was controlled by Ku Klux Klan and earned a reputation as a bombing capital because of violent resistance to black voting rights and integration. Alexander said her parents remained in McComb through those times, but, "it was very hard for them." The Mississippi flag still flutters outside McComb City Hall. "Whenever you see that flag," Alexander said, "it kind of brings back bad memories." ____ Follow Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus. | 5 | 96,222 | news |
A dust storm has been caught on camera as it rolls across Phoenix in the US state of Arizona. | 8 | 96,223 | video |
Justin Bieber and One Direction are in a humorous battle to see which artist will top the charts after the release of their respective new albums. The What Do You Mean? singer and British boy band just happen to share a release date, Nov. 13. | 8 | 96,224 | video |
LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- Utah State entered Friday night having lost 12 straight games to No. 21 Boise State with its last victory over the Broncos coming 18 years ago. That streak was all but officially over after two quarters. Utah State upset their Mountain West Conference rival 52-26 thanks to seven first-half turnovers, including a 90-yard interception return by Marwin Evans as time expired in the half. The Aggies scored 21 points in the final 85 seconds of the first half thanks to two fumbles and the interception. BOX SCORE: UTAH STATE 52, BOISE STATE 26 The 52 points are the most Boise State has ever allowed as a ranked team. "I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it in the first half," said Utah State coach Matt Wells, who called it "maybe the greatest win in program history. "... It's huge. I make no bones about it. I've been saying it -- out of respect -- the road to the championship goes through Boise. Till someone knocks them off the throne, it's theirs. "I told our guys on Sunday, this isn't the championship game, but it puts you in the driver's seat." Utah State (4-2, 3-0) holds onto a share of first place in the Mountain Division with the win. Boise State (5-2, 2-1) falls out of first with its first conference loss of the season. Air Force (3-2, 2-0) is at Colorado State (2-4, 0-2) on Saturday. Utah State hasn't won a championship in any sport since joining the Mountain West in 2013. The Aggies lost 50-19 in this meeting last year. "I wanted to beat Boise State so bad since last year," Utah State quarterback Kent Meyers said. "We really wanted revenge." The Broncos served up four fumbles and three interceptions in the first half, including Evans' score at the end of the half. The Aggies defense ruled the day with a historic effort. The eight total turnovers were the most since forcing seven many against Arkansas State in 2003 -- and matched that in the first half. Boise State receiver Thomas Sperbeck fumbled the ball away on the second snap of the second half. "You try to stop the bleeding as fast as possible," Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said. "You've got to go make plays. You've got to hang onto the football. "We needed guys to work together. We needed to pus some field position in our favor. It just didn't go that way." Harsin called Utah State's Kyler Fackrell one of the best in the country earlier in the week and the senior linebacker didn't disappoint. He finished with 11 tackles, 2.5 for loss. He also forced a fumble and recovered two. Fellow linebacker Nick Vigil had a game-high 14 tackles, nine in the first half, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. "I've never been a part of anything like that, that was amazing," Vigil said of the turnovers. "Even our defensive coordinator said, `I don't even know what to say right now.' "This is obviously a huge win, but it doesn't mean nothing if we don't do anything the rest of the season." Jalen Davis, Torrey Green and Evans all picked off Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien in the first half. The Broncos had 10 first downs and the seven turnovers in the first half and allowed 35 points off those turnovers. The Boise State offensive line was simply overwhelmed in the first 30 minutes and Rypien was regularly under pressure. Meyers threw for 157 yards and a career-high three touchdowns and added 63 yards rushing and a touchdown. Hunter Sharp caught two touchdown passes. Rypien threw for 299 yards with three interceptions. He entered the game with one interception in four games. Sperbeck had a game-high 156 yards receiving on six catches. Running back Kelsey Young ran for 60 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos. "We didn't protect the ball," Boise State safety Darian Thompson said. "The only thing we can do is get back to work." | 1 | 96,225 | sports |
Julie Lythcott-Haims noticed a disturbing trend during her decade as a dean of freshmen at Stanford University. Incoming students were brilliant and accomplished and virtually flawless, on paper. But with each year, more of them seemed incapable of taking care of themselves. At the same time, parents were becoming more and more involved in their children's lives. They talked to their children multiple times a day and swooped in to personally intervene anytime something difficult happened. [ How helicopter parents are ruining college students. ] From her position at one of the world's most prestigious schools, Lythcott-Haims came to believe that mothers and fathers in affluent communities have been hobbling their children by trying so hard to make sure they succeed, and by working so diligently to protect them from disappointment and failure and hardship. [ Another viewpoint: Why those annoying "helicopter parents" aren't so bad after all. ] Such "overhelping" might assist children in developing impressive resumes for college admission. But it also robs them of the chance to learn who they are, what they love and how to navigate the world, Lythcott-Haims argues in her book "How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success." "We want so badly to help them by shepherding them from milestone to milestone and by shielding them from failure and pain. But overhelping causes harm," she writes. "It can leave young adults without the strengths of skill, will and character that are needed to know themselves and to craft a life." Lythcott-Haims is one of a growing number of writers including Jessica Lahey ("The Gift of Failure") and Jennifer Senior ("All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood") who are urging stressed-out helicopter parents to breathe and loosen their grip on their children. "Don't call me a parenting expert," she said in an interview. "I'm interested in humans thriving, and it turns out that overparenting is getting in the way of that." She cites reams of statistics on the rise of depression and other mental and emotional health problems among the nation's young people. She has seen the effects up close: Lythcott-Haims lives in Palo Alto, Calif., a community that, following a string of suicides in the past year, has undertaken a period of soul-searching about what parents can do to stem the pressure that young people face. Her book tour is taking her to more school auditoriums and parent groups than bookstores. She tells stories about over-involved mothers and fathers, and shares statistics about rising depression and other mental health problems in young people, that she hopes will spark change in communities around the country where helicopter parents are making themselves, and their kids, miserable. "Our job as a parent is to put ourselves out of a job," she said. "We need to know that our children have the wherewithal to get up in the morning and take care of themselves." So are you a helicopter parent? Here are some of Lythcott-Haims's simple tests: Check your language. "If you say 'we' when you mean your son or your daughter as in, 'We're on the travel soccer team' it's a hint to yourself that you are intertwined in a way that is unhealthy," Lythcott-Haims said. Examine your interactions with adults in your child's life. "If you're arguing with teachers and principals and coaches and umpires all the time, it's a sign you're a little too invested," she said. "When we're doing all the arguing, we are not teaching our kids to advocate for themselves." Stop doing their homework. Enough said. And how can parents help their children become self-sufficient? Teach them the skills they'll need in real life, and give them enough leash to practice those skills on their own, Lythcott-Haims said. And have them do chores. "Chores build a sense of accountability. They build life skills and a work ethic." [ I tried to help my kids have a great school year by helping less. ] Lythcott-Haims said many parents ask how they can unilaterally deescalate in what feels like a college-admissions arms race. How can they relax about getting their child into Harvard if every other parent is going full speed ahead? She said colleges could help tamp down on the admissions craze by going test-optional, leaving it up to students whether to submit SAT or ACT scores. And perhaps top-tier schools could agree to limit the number of such schools that each student may apply to, she said. [ Bombed the SAT or the ACT? Here are colleges that are 'test-optional.' ] She urges families to think more broadly about what makes for a "good" college. There are excellent educational experiences to be had at schools that aren't among U.S. News and World Report's top 20, she says, and there are schools that will accept students who don't have a perfect resume. Parents need to see that even children who succeed in doing the impossible getting into Stanford, or Harvard, or other elite schools bear the scars of the admissions arms race. "They're breathless," Lythcott-Haims said. "They're brittle, they're old before their time." | 5 | 96,226 | news |
Over the past 12 months, shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) have risen by more than 80% while shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) have fallen by about 25%. The recent collapse in Wal-Mart stock added about 10% to that decline in just one day. Yet, Wal-Mart's revenues in the fiscal second quarter totaled $120.3 billion, compared with Amazon's $23 billion, and Wal-Mart's operating income totaled $6.07 billion, compared with $464 million at Amazon. Wal-Mart also pays a dividend yield of nearly 3% while Amazon pays no dividend. One might argue that Wal-Mart is a blue-chip stock and its value is determined by providing steady returns to investors. Amazon is a growth stock, or at least it's as much a growth stock as it can be after 20 years of selling goods over the Internet. According to Morningstar, Amazon's total return to date for 2015 is nearly 65% while Wal-Mart's total return is a negative 22.8%. In 2014, Wal-Mart's total return was about 11.6%, compared with a total return at Amazon of negative 22.2%. Over the past five years, Wal-Mart has outperformed Amazon twice, but the value of a $10,000 investment in Amazon would now be worth nearly $38,000 while a similar investment in Wal-Mart would be worth around $14,000. Since 2010, Amazon has averaged total return growth of more than 25%, compared with 6.7% for Wal-Mart. Amazon is set to report third-quarter results on October 22, and analysts expect the company to post a net loss of $0.13 per share on revenues of $24.91 billion. Wal-Mart, which reports its third-quarter results on November 17, is expected to report earnings per share of $0.98 on revenues of $117.95 billion. Can Amazon add another 25% to its share price due to the flubs at Wal-Mart? Amazon's big advantage is its diversity. The company's Web services division posted operating income of $391 million last quarter, up from $77 million a year ago. That is practically the definition of a cash printing press. Wal-Mart has nothing like it, and trying to compete with Amazon in online commerce is not a winning strategy. There is little profit there, as Amazon has amply demonstrated. ALSO READ: 6 Big Companies That Severely Stung Shareholders This Past Week Wal-Mart has said it is investing some $2 billion in its online business over the next two years, but all that is likely to do is add pressure on profits. Investors judge Wal-Mart as a large and lumbering brick-and-mortar business while Amazon is viewed as a large and nimble technology conglomerate. Which would you rather invest in? | 3 | 96,227 | finance |
KANSAS CITY There were no monster home runs from Jose Bautista on Friday. No memorable bat flips either. Officially, he was just 0-for-1 with three walks. He was a major presence nonetheless, and may have to become an even bigger one in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup if Edwin Encarnacion is sidelined by a sore middle left finger that forced him out of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series in the eighth inning. The powerful Blue Jays, who produced more runs than any team in the majors since 2009, went on to get shut out 5-0 by Edinson Volquez and the Kansas City Royals bullpen. Though unexpected, the outcome was not terribly worrisome for a team that dropped the first two games of the division series at home, only to come roaring back with three consecutive victories to knock off the Texas Rangers. A bigger issue may be Encarnacion's finger, which has been bothering the Jays' designated hitter much of the year and got bad enough Friday that he required X-rays after leaving for pinch-hitter Justin Smoak with two runners on and Toronto trailing 3-0. "It's definitely a concern. He's one of our better hitters,'' shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said of Encarnacion, who finished with 39 homers and 111 RBI. "For him to come out of the game, his finger was probably bothering him pretty good. But we've seen it all year that he's responded well, so hopefully he's ready to go tomorrow.'' The Blue Jays have plenty more firepower in the lineup, including AL MVP favorite Josh Donaldson, but Encarnacion's absence may put more of an onus on Bautista, a six-time All-Star and twice the AL's home run champion. Now in his 12th season, Bautista is getting a taste of the playoffs for the first time, and he's not one to shy away from attention. He was animated during his ALCS debut, interacting with the Royals fans, rowdy and courteous alike. At one point he pretended to throw a ball into the stands after catching the third out of the fifth inning, only to pull it back. "With the majority it was friendly bickering, with the exception of one guy who got a little fresh but settled down after I spoke sternly to him,'' Bautista told USA TODAY Sports in Spanish. "Sometimes you have to let them know that just because they buy a ticket doesn't mean they have a right to insult you.'' If not quite insults, Bautista unleashed a torrent of reaction after hitting the decisive three-run homer in Game 5 of the division series, then capping that career-defining moment with the bat flip to end all bat flips. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons believes Bautista has the rare knack for rising to the occasion at dramatic times. "I think this is a coming-out party for Jose,'' Gibbons said. "He's been one of the top players in baseball for the last five or six years. But we never got to the postseason, so I don't think he's had a chance to show off how good he is.'' Bautista did not get much of a chance on Friday either. Volquez has had his number in the past, holding him to three hits in 17 at-bats, but naturally pitched the slugging right fielder carefully. Bautista also avoided the common pitfall of trying to play the hero when the opportunity doesn't present itself, walking thrice rather than chasing pitches outside the strike zone. But Volquez did not yield much more than that. Surprising the Blue Jays with a fastball that often hit 96 mph and then dropping in gorgeous curveballs, Volquez pitched brilliantly over six innings, allowing two hits as Toronto finished with just three, its lowest total ever in a postseason game. Volquez finally attached a win to an ugly playoff ledger that showed three losses and an 8.76 ERA in three starts coming in. Today it will be David Price who gets a chance to reverse a playoff history that goes counter to his mostly outstanding regular-season work. The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner is 2-6 with an unsightly 5.04 ERA in his career for the postseason, and as far as the Blue Jays are concerned, he could not pick a better time to start turning those numbers around. He'll oppose hard-throwing right-hander Yordano Ventura. "I'll take my chances with that guy. I heard he's pretty good,'' Toronto first baseman Chris Colabello said of Price. "His reputation precedes him regardless of what his track record is. It's good to have him going for us.'' GALLERY: ALCS - BLUE JAYS vs. ROYALS | 1 | 96,228 | sports |
Iran's semi-official FARS news agency said on Saturday that two people were killed and two wounded in a drive-by shooting attack at a Shiite Muslim mourning ceremony. Unknown assailants in a car with no license plates were said to have approached a crowd of Shiites in the city of Dezful, in the south-western province of Khuzestan. They opened fire at around 2230 (1900 GMT) on Friday, the report said. "Investigators are reviewing the matter and will announce the results as soon as possible," said police official Colonel Rahman Mousavi. The incident comes during the Ashura holiday, when Shiite Muslims mark the killing of Imam Hussein in 680 AD. His death is central to the schism between the Shiite and Sunni directions of Islam. Recent years have seen an increase in the number of attacks on Ashura ceremonies by Sunni extremist groups, which regard Shiites as heretics. Hours earlier, Saudi officials gave details of an attack on a Shiite meeting hall in the Qatif area of Eastern Province, that killed five people and wounded six. Worshippers there had also been marking Ashura. Gunmen fired at random The gunman "started to shoot randomly" at a Shiite hussainiya, a building used for commemorations, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said Friday. The attack took place in the city of Saihat, in the predominantly Shiite region of the Sunni kingdom. "As result of his shooting, five citizens... were killed, including a woman. Nine others were wounded," the Saudi interior ministry said in a statement. Saudi security forces said the gunman was killed and two people suspected of involvement in the attack, in Saihat city, were arrested. The Sunni terror group "Islamic State" (IS) claimed responsibility in an online statement. Security has been tight at Shiite facilities in Saudi Arabia since May, when mosque bombings there killed 25 people. Earlier on Friday, Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, named the group as an enemy of Islam. "The reality is that they are shedding Muslim blood and destroying Islam. There is no good in them," he said during weekly prayers at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh. | 5 | 96,229 | news |
Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images If Taylor Swift wasn't busy writing you catchy pop songs, she'd be busy writing you marketing copy, the singer told GQ for its November cover story. GQ's Chuck Klosterman asked Swift about a ton of things, including what she'd be doing if she wasn't famous. Swift replied that she'd be doing something with words, and noted that she wrote a book when she was 14 titled "A Girl Named Girl." She also thinks she'd be in marketing if she was just a normal 25-year-old. "I would still be involved with music in my spare time," Swift told Klosterman. "But I would have gone to college, and I would probably be involved with a form of business where words and ideas are at the forefront. Such as marketing." NOW WATCH: Lil Wayne says Drake is getting screwed out of money by his record label | 6 | 96,230 | entertainment |
OPATOVAC, Croatia/LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Migrants and refugees streaming across the Balkans reached Slovenia on Saturday, diverted overnight by the closure of Hungary's border with Croatia in the latest demonstration of Europe's disjointed response to the flow of people reaching its borders. Hungary's right-wing government declared its southern frontier with Croatia off limits to migrants, blocking entry with a metal fence and razor wire just as it did a month ago on its border with Serbia. Croatia began directing migrants west to Slovenia, which said some 300 had arrived and would be registered before continuing their journey to Austria and Germany, the preferred destination of the vast majority, many of them Syrians fleeing war. But their movement had slowed visibly, with dozens of buses lined up at Serbia's border with Croatia through the night and into Saturday as Croatian police controlled their entry, a Reuters reporter said. Slovenia suspended rail traffic with Croatia. Aid agencies are concerned about backlogs of migrants building in the Balkans, battered by autumn winds and rain as temperatures drop before winter. Hungary said it had reinstated border controls on its frontier with Slovenia, effectively suspending Europe's Schengen system of passport-free travel. Both Slovenia and Hungary are part of the Schengen Area while Croatia is not. A government spokesman said Budapest had taken the step because "migrants appeared" on the Slovenian side of the border. Slovenia, a small country of two million people, says it can accommodate up to 8,000 migrants per day. Both Ljubljana and Zagreb say they will not restrict the flow so long as Austria and Germany keep their doors open. The first 100 migrants in this new wave had reached Austria, a spokesman for the police in Austria's southeastern province of Styria, which borders Slovenia, said on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds more were expected later in the day, he added. 'DOMINO EFFECT' Hungary says it is duty-bound to secure the borders of the European Union from mainly Muslim migrants threatening, it says, the prosperity, security and "Christian values" of Europe. Budapest is among several ex-Communist members of the EU that oppose an EU plan to share out 120,000 refugees among its members. That is only a small proportion of the 700,000 migrants expected to reach Europe's shores by boat and dinghy from North Africa and Turkey this year, many of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the EU offered Turkey a possible three billion euros ($3.4 billion) in aid and the prospect of easier travel visas and "re-energized" talks on joining the bloc if it would help stem the flow of migrants across its territory. But Hungary said this fell short of Budapest's demands, which include formation of a common force to protect the borders of Greece, where most migrants arrive across the Aegean Sea from Turkey before heading north through Macedonia and Serbia. Asked what would happen if Germany was to close its doors, Croatia's interior minister warned of a "domino effect." "It will be a lot of trouble for all countries and I cannot predict what will happen in this situation," Ranko Ostojic, speaking in English, told reporters at a migrant camp in the eastern Croatian village of Opatovac. "They are risking their lives and nobody is able to stop this flow...without shooting." | 5 | 96,231 | news |
Fox announced earlier this week that Joe Buck will call the American League Championship Series, and many Royals fans who feel that Buck ignored their team and was partial in last year's World Series are upset. According to some Royals fans, Buck was far too preoccupied with the performance of Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (who happened to have one of the greatest performances in postseason history), and didn't pay enough attention to Kansas City. One fan started a Change.org petition to have Buck removed from the broadcast, which has more than 10,000 supporters by Saturday morning. "On October 29th, 2014, Joe Buck said Bumgarner 87 times, Giants 56 times, San Francisco 24 times, Kansas City 13 times, and Royals 8 times. Our opinion is clear and simple, why not have someone that will call the game evenly and without a preconceived love for either team?" Buck helped promote the petition on Twitter. @Buck I'm curious, do you really not realize how completely unprofessional you were in that series? Tera (@teranelson) October 15, 2015 Before I answer that, are you holding or being held in your picture? https://t.co/rPgUFNBmgZ Joe Buck (@Buck) October 15, 2015 @Buck It's a serious ? Maybe you just didn't realize? Did you watch it back and think, gee, I did talk about SF 80% of the time, my bad? Tera (@teranelson) October 15, 2015 Royals fan Rob Riggle, for one, is #TeamBuck. I'm not on board w/ this. Joe @Buck is an outstanding broadcaster & a good man. Worry about other stuff #BeRoyal https://t.co/I8qWFE1GZD Rob Riggle (@RobRiggle) October 15, 2015 | 1 | 96,232 | sports |
An Army veteran who ran from building to building to warn fellow college students that a gunman was loose on their Oregon campus has posted his story on Facebook, describing being shot by a man who acted "like he was playing a video game and showed no emotion." Chris Mintz, who has been credited with helping to save other Umpqua Community College students, was shot five times and is recovering. Nine of his classmates were killed during the Oct. 1 shooting rampage and nine more were injured. The gunman, Chris Harper Mercer, killed himself as police closed in on him. "The shots knocked me to the ground and felt like a truck hit me," Mintz, 30, wrote in a Facebook post dated Thursday. "He shot me again while I was on the ground and hit my finger, and said, 'That's what you get for calling the cops.'" At one point, the gunman pointed his weapon at Mintz's face. "He leaned further out of the classroom and tried to shoot my phone," Mintz wrote. "I yelled 'It's my kid's birthday, man.' He pointed the gun right at my face and then he retreated back into the class. I'm still confused at why he didn't shoot me again." Mintz said he began to see police officers coming toward him as he lay immobilized by pain. He said he was thinking of his 6-year-old son, Tyrik. "A friend came out of the classroom and kneeled down beside me, traumatized and crying," he wrote." I think she tried to pray with me. The only thing I could say was, 'It's my son's birthday, please call my son's mom and tell her I can't pick him up from school today.' " Mintz said he was in his writing class listening to his teacher talk about assignments when gunfire broke out and the students took off running out of the building. "A counselor kept screaming that someone needed to tell the people in the library, and I told her I'd do it," Mintz wrote. "I ran in and told everyone they needed to leave and go to the other side of the campus...I ran back towards Snyder (Hall) and people across campus were walking around like nothing was going on, so I continued yelling at them to get out of there...I saw a young girl who seemed to just be showing up to school and I yelled at her, 'You can't be here, there's somebody shooting, you need to leave.' Her face, it changed, she seemed so scared." Mintz said he then started making his way towards a classroom. "I got to a classroom and looked into the door because it had a glass slate," he wrote. "A guy that was further away and hiding behind cars startled me and yelled, 'Don't man, he's going to shoot you man.' I stepped back a little bit and noticed a lady's foot wedged in the door...there was so much blood and it was so dark." Mintz said he nudged the door closed. "I could only see one of the students through the door, she was screaming, and yelling and covered in blood," he wrote. "I heard the sirens coming down and yelled to the guy in the parking lot, 'You need to go get the cops, tell them where we're at.' He couldn't hear me so I had to repeat it a few times. All of a sudden, the shooter opened the classroom door beside the door to my left, he leaned half of his torso out and started shooting as I turned toward him." Mintz wrote that he decided to tell his story on Facebook because "I'm not doing this for publicity and I don't want any media outlet to alter it in any way." "This isn't about politics, this isn't about me, this is about a community healing," he wrote. "I am so happy with how the community has bonded and supported everyone during this healing." He said the real heroes are the first-responders and the doctors and nurses at the hospital. "They saved us," he wrote. Mintz said he was shot in the left leg, which broke his femur. He also was shot in the right leg, which broke his tibia and fibula. One bullet pierced his abdomen and exited through his right hip. Another bullet struck the top of his shoulder blade and is still lodged in his back. He said it missed his aorta by about an inch. His left ring finger also was shattered by a bullet. "I am recovering well and thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers," he wrote. | 5 | 96,233 | news |
LOS ANGELES (AP) A section of Southern California found itself waist-deep in mud as the weekend arrived, and a highway overtaken by flowing debris looked like a buried junkyard of hundreds of cars that would likely take days to dig up. The worst of the thunderstorms had passed, but the continued chance of rain could dampen cleanup and relief efforts in northern Los Angeles County's Antelope Valley, where the most serious slides occurred. On Friday, rescuers and those stranded in the highway debris flow described a chaotic scene that somehow left no reported injuries or deaths. "It was terrifying," 51-year-old Rhonda Flores of Bakersfield told The Associated Press. "It was a raging river of mud. I've never experienced anything like it, ever." Rescuers threw ladders and tarps across mud up to 6 feet deep to help the hundreds of trapped people from cars that got caught in the roiling river of mud along State Route 58 about 30 miles east of Bakersfield, a major trucking route, California Highway Patrol officials said. They were rescued in darkness about 10 hours after the storm hit and taken to three shelters. Flores said she, her mother and her stepfather were driving back to Bakersfield from her sister's funeral in Utah when the storm hit out of nowhere. Sgt. Mario Lopez, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol, was at the scene as people were being rescued and said it was sheer chaos. "I've never seen anything like this before," Lopez said. "The whole side of the hill just came down onto State Route 58 ... There's no highway." The storms unleashed flash flooding and debris flows along the 58, Interstate 5 and in two small mountainside communities, where at least a dozen homes were reported damaged. Lopez said it will take days to reopen State Route 58, a mile of which is choked with mud between 2 and 6 feet deep. About 200 cars and semi-trucks were trapped in the now-hardened mud, frozen in place at odd angles. Emergency crews were working to dig out head-high mounds of mud from the 58 and Interstate 5, which was also shut down as hundreds of cars were trapped in the mud Thursday. All lanes were reopened by Friday night. Lake Hughes, a tiny mountainside community in northern Los Angeles County, also was in the path of Thursday's storm. Melissa Nuesca said she and her husband had just picked up their two children from school in the Lake Hughes area when they found themselves surrounded by mud and water. They fled their car in pelting rain and hail, climbed onto the roof, and eventually found their way to safety. "It was really scary," said Nuesca's 11-year-old daughter, Sarah. "Me and my brother both thought we were going to die that night." Nuesca said the family got out of the car "just in time" after she reassured the children, "We're not going to die." The mud covered their car, solidifying inside and filling up the front seat up to the dashboard. Sheriff's deputies checked on the occupants of nearly 800 homes in the area to make sure everyone inside was safe, their department said in a statement. At least a dozen homes in the area were damaged by the mud flows, said Kerjon Lee, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. He said more than that could be damaged, but crews had to bust through blocked roads before they could get an exact count. The county department was going to have to move about 300,000 cubic yards of mud and debris, the sheriff's statement said. Bill Wells, a local rancher, was walking through the area looking for his livestock on Friday morning. "I think my livestock was swept away and penned against the fence. I think they're all dead," said Wells, who was near tears. The thunderstorms were powered by a low pressure system pulling in moisture from the south. As much as 1.45 inches of rain fell in a quick span of time near where the most intense flooding occurred. It's too early to say whether the storm was connected to the El Nino phenomenon that experts say has formed in the Pacific Ocean, National Weather Service meteorologist Robbie Munroe said. Historically, he said, an El Nino brought on by a warming of Pacific Ocean waters doesn't usually bring heavy rain to Southern California before November. This El Nino has been forecast to bring above-average precipitation to Southern California during January, February and March. ___ Associated Press reporters Christine Armario, Sue Manning and John Rogers contributed to this report from Los Angeles, and Raquel Dillon contributed from Lake Hughes, Calif. | 5 | 96,234 | news |
After many visits to Kauai, my daughter, her godfather and I decided to add some new adventures this summer to the usual snorkeling, biking, hiking, kayaking and eco-touring. With Nora's daredevil boyfriend, Emile, at the wheel, we survived a bumpy side-by-side all-terrain vehicle ride over roots and ruts in the back country where scenes from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Descendants" were filmed. We also enjoyed a moderately bumpy spin in a helicopter that took us close to Manawaiopuna Falls, the 360-foot-tall gusher known as "Jurassic Falls" for its picturesque turn in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park." And, to make our trip complete, we got a dog fix, thanks to the Kauai Humane Society, a shelter for domestic animals just west of Lihue. The program allows residents and tourists to take adoption-ready canines for a day of frolicking at the beach, on a trail or in an arboretum. The dogs must be at least 6 months old, fully vaccinated and spayed or neutered. Shelter staff works with them to make sure they're ready to be good citizens once they're away from the cages and exercise yards. The shelter provides a towel, bottled water, poop bags and a collar, leash and vest with a bright "Adopt Me" sign. After a slow start in 2012, the program has caught on in a big way. Each month, shelter dogs venture out on a couple of hundred field trips. Since January 2014, 165 dogs have been adopted through the program, said Penny E. Cistaro, the shelter's executive director. "It gives them exercise and socialization and breaks up the monotony of being in the kennel," Cistaro said. Although she acknowledged concerns about liability, Cistaro has become a fan. "It's a little scary that we're letting a shelter dog go out with perfect strangers where anything could happen," she said. "[But] the benefits far outweigh any risks." Following Kauai's lead, the Maui Humane Society began a similar program, Beach Buddies, two days a week. About 170 dogs have participated so far, and a handful of adoptions have resulted, said Jerleen Bryant, the shelter's chief executive. In July, just days after returning from Kauai, I attended a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, and was intrigued to see an "Adopt Me" vest on a dog in Ketchum. I learned that the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley has for years offered two programs - Paws Around Town and Hikin' Buddies - to give residents and summer visitors a chance to spend time with furry fauna and maybe fall in love. Hundreds of adoptions have resulted, said Jenny Gardenswartz, volunteer coordinator. Throughout the nation, "shelters are doing remarkable things to increase exposure of pets," said Inga Fricke, director of shelter and rescue group services for the Humane Society of the United States. The Arizona Animal Welfare League, for example, has a "slumber party" program that lets families welcome dogs into their homes for a few days for a trial visit. We heard about the Kauai program on the local visitors information channel. None of us was in the market for a new pet. But we were missing the three dogs and the feral feline we had collectively left behind. Ralph, a 2-year-old, coarse-haired West Highland terrier mix who had recently been neutered, became our companion for the day. He was timid and quiet but turned out to be an intrepid trekker. With Ralph trotting along on his four little legs, we hiked the Mahaulepu Heritage Trail that skirts the Poipu Bay Golf Course. There we photographed him in front of a tumble-down heiau (a possible ancient religious site made of lava rock). We then toured Old Koloa Town, which opened its first sugar mill in 1835. Shops now fill the old plantation buildings. At a cafe, a man recognized Ralph and said: "I used to feed him when he lived outside the Foodland." After several hours, we returned Ralph to the shelter - and instantly started to miss him. I was relieved to hear from Cistaro that he had found a home with Gary and Susan Bennett and their daughter, Ashleigh, in Granite Bay in Northern California. In late July, Susan and Ashleigh took him for a hike in Waimea Canyon, after which Ashleigh successfully lobbied for adoption. In August, Ralph, now named Toby, flew to Oakland aboard an Alaska Air cargo plane. He recently graduated from his training program and is starting to overcome his insecurity. "He's a happy little camper," Susan said. The Bennetts keep a scrapbook for him. I'm selfishly hoping they'll include the shot I sent them of Ralph (OK, Toby) by the heiau. And I know they'll include the one they sent me of Toby the graduate wearing mortar board and red tassel - and a lime-green lei with pink flowers purchased at the Kauai Humane Society. :: If you go THE BEST WAY TO LIHUE, HAWAII From LAX, American, Delta and United offer nonstop service to Lihue, and Hawaiian offers connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $574, including taxes and fees A HELPING HAND Kauai Humane Society, 3-825 Kaumualii Highway, Puhi; (808) 632-0610, www.kauaihumane.org. Visitors who want to participate in the dog field-trip program must be at least 18 years old and sign a liability waiver. TO LEARN MORE Kauai Visitors Bureau, www.kauaidiscovery.com [email protected] | 2 | 96,235 | travel |
Spanish National Police say they recovered dozens of hard drives and computers in a massive nationwide crackdown on child porn. | 5 | 96,236 | news |
Edinson Volquez and the Kansas City Royals warmed up for the American League Championship Series by dispatching one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball. And one game in, that's proving to be ample practice for the most dangerous offense in baseball. Especially for Mr. Volquez. The veteran right-hander was at the forefront of a dominant pitching attack that paced the Royals to a 5-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday. He hurled six shutout innings, striking out five and allowing only six baserunners on two hits and four walks. From there, Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar combined to allow just one more hit and one more walk. Like that, a Blue Jays offense that scored 127 more runs than any other in 2015 was made to look decidedly petty. . @Royals ' bats back battling Edinson Volquez to take #ALCS Game 1: http://t.co/moOyomjDS8 #OwnOctober pic.twitter.com/xcgl20LO6d MLB (@MLB) October 17, 2015 Apart from the dominant pitching attack, it was a fairly typical night for the Royals offense. Salvador Perez provided one big boom with a solo home run in the fourth inning, but the Royals otherwise got their runs by stringing hits together in the third and eighth innings. Though Game 1 looks like a total team victory from the Royals from a wider perspective, in the moment there was little question that Volquez was the night's primary entertainment. And in the aftermath, you can't help but wonder if the Royals just picked up a major weapon for their quest to capture the World Series title that eluded them in 2014. Volquez hadn't had much luck in three career postseason starts prior to Game 1, posting an 8.76 ERA in just 12.1 innings. But by the end of Friday's action, he had notched a performance that, as MLB .com's Jordan Bastian notes, no Royals pitcher had ever achieved before him: Edinson Volquez is 1st KC pitcher with 6+ shutout innings and no more than 2 hits allowed in the team's postseason history. Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) October 17, 2015 This is surprising in light of Volquez's track record and how he was a good-not-great pitcher in racking up a 3.55 ERA in this year's regular season. Within the context of Game 1 alone, however, it was clear from the very start that there was something different about Volquez. Volquez, 32, is a hard thrower to begin with, as FanGraphs put his average fastball velocity for 2015 at just under 94 miles per hour. But he came out in the first inning sitting 95-96 miles per hour and even touching 97 twice. As Daren Willman of Baseball Savant noted, he hit 97 more times in the first inning than he had all season. And that proved to be an appetizer for the other five innings Volquez had in him. According to Willman, Volquez lit up the radar gun better than he had in three years: Edinson Volquez had an average fastball velocity of 94.77 MPH tonight. That's the highest average FB velocity he's had in a game since 2012 Daren Willman (@darenw) October 17, 2015 To be sure, velocity isn't everything. It definitely helps expand a pitcher's margin for error, but movement and location are also good things to have. Thing is, though, Volquez had those two things as well. Volquez's pitch of choice was, as always, his two-seam fastball. And in addition to extra velocity, it had extra movement. The raw PITCHf/x data at Brooks Baseball put its average horizontal movement at 9.62 inches, blowing away his season average of 8.85. And even despite this extra movement and velocity, he was generally able to work on the edges of the strike zone . Including, but not limited to, when he absolutely needed to. Volquez's final pitch of the night was this nasty two-seamer that caught Troy Tulowitzki looking for strike three: That was just #TuNasty . pic.twitter.com/MJ1hjesMg8 Royals (@Royals) October 17, 2015 With a two-seamer as nasty and well-located as that, Volquez didn't need much help from his secondaries to tame the Blue Jays. But he did get quite a bit of help from his changeup. It was moving all over the place, and it picked up three of his five whiffts. One of those came on a particularly nasty changeup (see the 0:50 mark in the above video) that struck out Tulowitzki to end the fourth inning. What did we see, exactly? According to JJ Cooper of Baseball America , basically the best possible version of Volquez: That was Edinson Volquez at his best, premium velocity, solid secondary pitches and edge of dangerous command/control. JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) October 17, 2015 Volquez's explanation? According to Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com , it was simple: "I feel sexy tonight." And given the kind of stuff he was featuring, that comes off as a surprisingly reasonable explanation. But whatever the case may be, it suffices to say that watching Volquez mow down Blue Jays hitters is a very welcome sight for the Royals. They're going to need as much pitching as they can get to keep Toronto's vaunted offense at bay, and Volquez may indeed be able to pull that trick off again in this series if he can keep firing stuff like that at them. And if Johnny Cueto can maintain his excellent form from Game 5 of the ALDS while Yordano Ventura continues to throw fiery seeds at hitters, a Royals rotation that very recently seemed to be lacking in impact starters will suddenly have three. And that bodes well not just for the Royals' chances of beating the Blue Jays in the ALCS, but also of winning the World Series. Though they're likely not looking too far ahead just yet, the Royals are surely aware that a trip to the World Series will mean a matchup against two teams that pitch very well. The Chicago Cubs have their gruesome twosome of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, and the New York Mets have a foursome of starters who throw nothing but gas. To match up against either club, the Royals will need, well, pretty much the same thing they need against Toronto: as much pitching as they can get. For now, the Royals still have a ways to go. They scored a crucial victory Friday night, but that's no excuse to bury the Blue Jays. Make no mistake, they're still a very, very dangerous team. But after what Volquez did to them in Game 1, here's thinking we can take at least one thing for granted: If and when the Blue Jays face Volquez again in this series, they won't be underestimating him. Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter. | 1 | 96,237 | sports |
Two Palestinians who attempted to stab Jews in separate incidents have been killed, Israeli forces say. The army said the first incident, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, saw an Israeli settler shoot dead a youth who attacked him. In East Jerusalem, police reported that a Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces when he tried to stab a soldier at a checkpoint. Violence between the two sides has recently spiralled. There have been near-daily stabbings by Palestinians of Israelis this month. Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in the stabbings and some gun attacks. At least 39 Palestinians, including several of the attackers, have been killed in the growing unrest. The upsurge in violence began last month when tensions at a flashpoint holy site in East Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims boiled over amid rumours Israel planned to relax long-standing rules to strengthen Jewish rights at the complex. Israel has repeatedly denied such claims. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Friday on the upsurge of violence. Opening the meeting, UN Assistant Secretary-General Taye-Brook Zerihoun welcomed repeated assurances by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the status quo at the flashpoint holy compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, would not change. But he said that "reckless statements made by Palestinian and Israeli extremist elements reinforced by some mainstream voices as well" had created a different impression. A second factor behind the recent escalation in violence was the "heavy handed approach by the Israeli security services", he said. The Israeli deputy ambassador to the UN, David Roet, defended Israel's approach, saying it faced an enemy "willing to die in order to kill" and was "responding proportionately". US President Barack Obama said he was "very concerned about the outbreak of violence" and urged leaders on both sides to "try to tamp down rhetoric that may feed violence or anger or misunderstanding". What is happening between Israelis and Palestinians? There has been a spate of stabbings of Israelis - several of them fatal - by Palestinians since early October, and one apparent revenge stabbing by an Israeli. The attackers have struck in Jerusalem and central and northern Israel, and in the occupied West Bank. Israel has tightened security and its security forces have clashed with rioting Palestinians, leading to deaths on the Palestinian side. The violence has also spread to the border with Gaza. What's behind the latest unrest? After a period of relative quiet, violence between the two communities has spiralled since clashes erupted at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site in mid-September. It was fuelled by rumours among Palestinians that Israel was attempting to alter a long-standing religious arrangement governing the site. Israel repeatedly dismissed the rumours as incitement. Soon afterwards, two Israelis were shot dead by Palestinians in the West Bank and the stabbing attacks began. Both Israel and the Palestinian authorities have accused one another of doing nothing to protect each other's communities. Is this a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising? There have been two organised uprisings by Palestinians against Israeli occupation, in the 1980s and early 2000s. With peace talks moribund, some observers have questioned whether we are now seeing a third. The stabbing attacks seem to be opportunistic and although they have been praised by militant groups, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said Palestinians are not interested in a further escalation. What is driving the latest violence? | 5 | 96,238 | news |
Philippine authorities cancelled flights and urged people to move to safer ground as typhoon Koppu approached the main island of Luzon. Rough cut - subtitles (no reporter narration) | 5 | 96,239 | news |
On a spring evening last year, Debra Davidson flipped on the television to watch the local news. When an item came on about her longtime physician, she perked up and leaned forward. Then she screamed. Her husband rushed into the living room to see if everything was O.K. Everything was not O.K. The report said that her cardiologist, Dr. Arvind Gandhi, had been sued by two former patients who accused him of performing unnecessary operations. Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter Mrs. Davidson had been treated by Dr. Gandhi for more than three decades. She first saw him for an irregular heartbeat when she was 27. For years, she took the medication he prescribed. When Dr. Gandhi said she needed open-heart surgery in 2011, she scheduled it immediately. When he subsequently inserted mesh stents three times to remove blockages from her arteries, she never questioned the procedures. Only last year did she resist one of Dr. Gandhi's recommendations: to implant a pacemaker. Instead, he inserted a heart monitor under her skin but asked her to reconsider her resistance to a pacemaker. Mrs. Davidson is now one of 293 patients around Munster, Ind., who have filed lawsuits against Dr. Gandhi and two other doctors in his practice claiming that they performed needless procedures. The Indiana state Medicaid program has started an investigation, and one doctor not named in the litigation said he had received a subpoena from the United States attorney's office and provided the medical charts of several former patients of Dr. Gandhi and his colleagues that he has since treated. Lawyers for Dr. Gandhi and his practice, Cardiology Associates of Northwest Indiana, said they had not received any subpoenas, and the doctors denied any wrongdoing. In recent years, federal officials have brought several prominent cases against cardiologists and hospitals, accusing them of performing unnecessary procedures like inserting stents into coronary arteries. While medical professionals say there is no indication that cardiology has more unnecessary procedures than, say, orthopedics, they do note that the specialty has come under increased scrutiny by regulators because the procedures tend to be reimbursed by Medicare and private insurance at significantly higher levels than those in many other specialties. "Cardiology, whether we like it or not, is generally a big moneymaker for hospitals," said Dr. Steven Nissen, chief of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and the former president of the American College of Cardiology. "We are still a fee-for-service system, and that creates, in my view, misaligned incentives among some physicians to do more procedures and among some institutions, particularly in areas where there is not tight medical supervision, to turn a blind eye and enjoy the high revenue stream." While there are various industry and federal guidelines describing when it is appropriate for a patient to undergo certain procedures Medicare, for instance, says a patient's arteries must be 70 percent blocked to justify the use of a stent in the real world, interpretations vary. In extreme cases, physicians have been accused of falsifying medical records, saying arteries were more blocked than they really were. Last year, a hospital system in eastern Kentucky paid nearly $41 million to settle allegations, without admitting wrongdoing, that it billed for unnecessary coronary stents and catheterizations after a group of area doctors falsified patient records to justify the procedures. The hospital system, Ashland Hospital Corporation, faces 120 private lawsuits from patients who claim they underwent unnecessary procedures. At Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., Dr. Gandhi was a star. For decades, he ran a prominent practice in the bedroom suburb of 23,000 people about 30 miles southeast of Chicago. He and his partners not only ran the most popular cardiology practice in Munster but were also the highest-paid heart doctors in the state in terms of Medicare reimbursements, records show. The lawsuits against him have divided the town's medical community, with some doctors finding themselves in the unusual position of speaking against a fellow doctor, working with the medical malpractice lawyers who are their usual foes. Besides the doctors, the malpractice lawsuits also name Community Hospital, through the foundation that oversees its operations, as a defendant. Dr. Gandhi was a high-ranking member of the medical staff at the hospital, and the lawsuits charge that the superfluous procedures were done "with the authority and consent" of Community Hospital, one of the largest and most respected institutions in Munster. Lawyers for the hospital deny any wrongdoing. Some doctors said there had been repeated warnings over the years about Dr. Gandhi's practice, but those concerns were largely ignored. When Dr. Mark Dixon, then the medical director of Community Hospital's electrophysiology lab, where defibrillators were implanted, raised concerns to a hospital executive in 2005 about whether Dr. Gandhi and other physicians were qualified to implant the devices, he said he was shut down. "The response to me was, 'I understand your concern, but we have a very large producer here who wants the privilege,' " Dr. Dixon said last year in a deposition in a lawsuit. He said he was later told to stop reviewing implants performed at the hospital by the nurse manager of the lab. Dr. Dixon did not return calls seeking comment. In an email responding to questions, the hospital said Dr. Dixon was never told that Dr. Gandhi was a large revenue generator whose practice was too lucrative to curb, nor was he told to stop reviewing the implants. Lawyers for Dr. Gandhi, his practice and the hospital, say the lawsuits are without merit. The legal actions, they say, are being driven by envious physicians eager to take patients from Dr. Gandhi and by greedy lawyers seeking a big settlement. "The physicians at Cardiology Associates have exemplary records as outstanding cardiologists and leaders in their field," the lawyers said in a statement. Last fall, Dr. Gandhi retired. Dr. Arvind Gandhi moved to Munster in 1981 after completing a cardiology fellowship in Chicago. In more than 30 years of practice in the area, he gained a reputation for an attentive but efficient bedside manner. He did not lack for confidence. His mantra was "I saved your life," several former patients said. "He was supposed to be the best cardiologist in the area," said Phil Probus, 86, a retired railroad worker and World War II veteran. In 2013, Mr. Probus had a defibrillator implanted by Dr. Gandhi that a paid consultant later told him was unnecessary, and he is now one of the plaintiffs. "I never questioned anything he did." Medicare reimbursement records show that Dr. Gandhi and his partners, Dr. Wail Asfour and Dr. Satyaprakash Makam, received nearly $5 million in combined Medicare payments in 2012, making them the three most reimbursed cardiologists in Indiana. How much they earned from treating patients who had private insurance is not in the public record. The partners invested in real estate, including luxury apartments in Chicago, and a local restaurant. Dr. Makam was often seen driving around Munster in a blue Porsche with the license plate "Tick Doc." "It was a nice car," said David Wiening, a retired road construction inspector and patient of Dr. Makam's who is a plaintiff. Over five years, Dr. Makam performed 24 procedures on Mr. Wiening's legs. Pulling up his pant legs, Mr. Wiening shows off his "ugly walking sticks," two legs that are bloated and hairless, covered in parts with small lesions. A vascular surgeon paid by the plaintiffs' lawyers in the case told Mr. Wiening he did not need many of the procedures performed on him. When asked why the three highest-billing Medicare cardiologists in the state would be found in the same town and the same practice, lawyers for Cardiology Associates of Northwest Indiana said the population in the area was older and sicker than in larger Indiana cities. Munster's population is older than those of Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. But David Malenka, a professor of Medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, said an examination done at the request of a reporter by researchers of inpatient and outpatient claims for defibrillator implants, adjusted for age, sex and race, showed that Munster's rate per capita was in the top 10 percent for the country for 2010, 2011 and 2012. The region showed up with some of Indiana's highest rates per capita for cardiac catheterizations and coronary angioplasties, procedures that, in many cases, can be elective. When investigators at the Dartmouth Institute studied rates per capita for procedures that must be treated a hip fracture, for instance Munster was below average in the state. "What that says is that for procedures that are more discretionary, they are at the top," Dr. Malenka said. Community Hospital, a nonprofit institution, benefited immensely from the flourishing cardiology practice. As at other hospitals, heart procedures are one of its leading revenue engines, according to the 2012 tax filings for the foundation that oversees the hospital. The foundation that oversaw Community and two other, smaller local hospitals was controlled by one of Munster's most prominent families. Until his death in April at the age of 95, Donald S. Powers, a local real estate developer, was the foundation's chief executive. For years, Dr. Gandhi was one of Mr. Powers's personal cardiologists and treated him after a heart attack. "Dr. Gandhi controlled his medications, did testing and performed several procedures on Mr. Powers," the hospital said in a statement. The Powers family still oversees the foundation, the Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana. Mr. Powers's daughter, Frankie Fesko, is the foundation's chairwoman, and his grandson, Donald P. Fesko, is the chief executive of Community Hospital in Munster. The hospital declined to make any of its executives or members of the Fesko family available for this article. While one of the foundations, doing business as Community Hospital, is named in the malpractice litigation, no members of the Fesko family have been accused of any wrongdoing in the lawsuits. A whistle-blower lawsuit brought by a physician and a hospital employee against the hospital, Dr. Gandhi and his practice in 2008 raised similar accusations that the hospital had billed for unnecessary defibrillator and pacemaker implantations that were performed by doctors without the proper credentials to implant the devices. But the suit, eventually joined by the United States attorney's office in Hammond, Ind., just north of Munster, was settled without anyone admitting wrongdoing. The hospital paid a $48,942 settlement. The hospital and the doctors say that the settlement shows that the issues have been investigated and that they have been absolved of many of the same allegations contained in the current malpractice suits. A little more than a decade ago regulators expanded approval for a combination pacemaker-defibrillator device that, overnight, practically made pacemakers obsolete. Since then, there has been a growing battle over the qualifications necessary to implant the device, which is connected with electrodes to the heart and can send electrical pulses to restore a normal heart rhythm. A study published in 2009 showed about 71 percent of the new defibrillators were implanted by electrophysiologists cardiologists who have received specific training in the rhythms of the heart. But, like other hospitals, Community Hospital allowed its medical staff to set credentialing requirements, and it allowed doctors who were not electrophysiologists to implant the devices. "It's quite questionable to have complex electrophysiology procedures being done by people who are not formally trained," said Dr. Nissen, who said he was not aware of the particulars in Munster. In 2005, after Dr. Gandhi had obtained privileges to implant combination pacemaker-defibrillators, Dr. Mark Dixon, then the director of the electrophysiology program at Community, reviewed some of Dr. Gandhi's cases. He found several cases in which the patient's indications, or test readings, did not meet national guidelines for necessity, according to a deposition Dr. Dixon provided last fall for one of the patient lawsuits. Dr. Dixon said he reported Dr. Gandhi to the hospital's quality assurance committee. That committee, according to the hospital, had been set up to improve documentation, but not to question whether procedures were necessary. In its statement, the hospital said Dr. Dixon never brought any complaints regarding Dr. Gandhi's quality of care or appropriateness of implants to the quality committee's attention. "None of the records were being reviewed for medical necessity of the implant," the hospital said. Sitting in the corner of a Starbucks near Community Hospital, Dr. Scott Kaufman nervously sipped a Frappuccino. An electrophysiologist, Dr. Kaufman had concerns about Dr. Gandhi dating back more than seven years when he encountered Gloria Sargent in an emergency room of a nearby hospital. Ms. Sargent was in rough shape, vomiting and with a sustained rapid heart rate. In late 2006, Dr. Gandhi upgraded Ms. Sargent's pacemaker-defibrillator device from a more basic one implanted by another doctor just a few months earlier. Dr. Kaufman turned off the device's pacing, which sends an electrical shock to the heart to convert it to a normal heartbeat. He studied her electrocardiogram in the emergency room, and it showed she had normal electrical impulses going to her heart's lower chamber. "She did not qualify for the upgrade and all of the surgeries she went through," Dr. Kaufman asserted. Ms. Sargent became patient zero in the litigation against Dr. Gandhi. Last fall, after the plaintiffs' lawyers handling her case began holding news conferences and running ads in the local newspaper, former patients of Dr. Gandhi began trickling into Dr. Kaufman's office. So he began working with a group of medical malpractice lawyers, the same lawyers who had twice sued him. Those cases were settled; the Indiana Medical Review Panel found that Dr. Kaufman had done nothing wrong. "I'm O.K. with working with these guys," Dr. Kaufman said. "I just want this to stop." Dr. Kaufman says that of the 15 former patients of Dr. Gandhi and the Cardiology Associates doctors he has seen, at least 11 did not need the various procedures performed on them. One of those is Angela Webb, 52, who had a pacemaker implanted by one of Dr. Gandhi's associates when she was in her 40s. After Dr. Kaufman observed her for a few months, he removed it. "When they took the pacemaker out, they couldn't understand how I recovered so quickly," said Ms. Webb, who said she could finally pick up her grandson and have the magnetic resonance imaging tests needed to treat her multiple sclerosis. "I was so happy to have it out." Lawyers for Cardiology Associates say Ms. Webb's lawsuit and others are riddled with errors, including, in her case, pages of accusations against Dr. Gandhi, who was not her physician, and lists of procedures that she did not undergo. When asked how her pacemaker could have been removed without medical problems, they said that in cases where devices had been removed because of infection, the devices did not need to be reimplanted in 25 percent of the cases. The lawyers also note that Dr. Kaufman and Dr. Dixon work together at a practice owned by another hospital. It will take years for the lawsuits to wend their way through the legal system. In Indiana, each individual case must first go through a medical review panel, a process that can take more than two years. So far, however, the first two cases heard by the panel of physicians, including Ms. Sargent's case, found Dr. Gandhi and Cardiology Associates "failed to comply with the appropriate standard of care" and that conduct "was a factor in the patient undergoing unnecessary procedures." The panel did not find Community Hospital negligent. Debra Davidson is still searching for answers. Doctors and medical consultants paid for by the malpractice lawyers have now told her she did not need the many angiograms or stents because her heart had no blockages. When she stopped taking the medication she had been on for decades, she lost 30 pounds and began to feel better, she said. "But did I need this?" she asked, her hand hovering over the five-inch scar on her breastbone where surgeons entered for her open-heart surgery. Mrs. Davidson was sitting in her kitchen, and one of the lawyers present responded with a sad shrug. A physician who had reviewed her medical charts said it is unclear. It does not appear a stress test was done, which could have indicated whether her heart was getting adequate blood flow and whether the surgery was necessary. She now has advice for friends and family with medical problems. "If they have a feeling that they don't believe what the doctor is doing for them is for the best, don't do what I did and depend on the doctor," Mrs. Davidson said. "Get a second opinion." | 5 | 96,240 | news |
If you're still on the fence about the iPhone 6S, then watch me give it the '5 Reasons To Buy' treatment in my latest video. If you're not familiar with my buying guides, then don't forget to check out my Sony Xperia Z5 Premium , Xperia Z5 , iPhone 6S , Samsung Galaxy Note 5 , Samsung Galaxy Note Edge+ , Moto X Pure and OnePlus 2 . If you're still looking for answers, then don't forget to check out Ian Morris' video review of the iPhone 6s below. | 3 | 96,241 | finance |
The funeral of Ayad Awawdeh, a Palestinian who stabbed an Israeli soldier in Hebron on Friday before being shot by Israeli security forces, took place Saturday in the Palestinian villages of Dura. | 8 | 96,242 | video |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Amid all the preseason gushing over Yordano Ventura's virtues and the mid-season hysteria over the acquisition of Johnny Cueto, through the backlash of frantic concerns about their slumps and the pendulum swinging back to their recent resurgence, Edinson Volquez all along has stood tall as the Royals' most dependable starter. As such, he unleashed his most dynamic performance of the season at the most meaningful time in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Friday at Kauffman Stadium, where he subdued the prolific attack of the Toronto Blue Jays to zero runs and two hits over six innings in the Royals' 5-0 victory. RELATED: Royals blank Blue Jays in ALCS opener His tenacious 111-pitch effort was punctuated by a 37-heave sixth inning that started with two nine-pitch walks, suggesting it would be prudent for the Royals to move on to reliever Kelvin Herrera. But with a little help from a sellout crowd chanting, "Ed-die, Ed-die," it ended with Volquez inducing a flyout sandwiched by two strikeouts looking the second of which included a 96-mph fastball on the 109th pitch against Troy Tulowitzki. This from a man who usually maxes out between 93 and 94 mph. "Adrenaline, I think," Volquez told FOX reporter Ken Rosenthal after the game. "The fans were calling my name, chanting, 'Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die!' " All of which served to tame the Blue Jays and menacing sluggers like Josh Donaldson, whom Volquez called "a little baby" after their kerfuffle in Toronto on Aug. 2, and Jose Bautista, he of the celebrated macho bat-flip on Tuesday against Texas. Neither managed a hit against Volquez, who by holding Toronto hitless through the first three innings extended the Royals' streak to 10 straight innings without allowing one a run dating back to the second inning of Game 5 of the ALDS against Houston. While Volquez had tried to douse any thoughts that there were lingering issues with Toronto, calling Donaldson a great hitter and saying it was time to move forward, he also let it be known he intended to attack inside. And his churning effort reflected an aggressive mindset, whether it was stoked by the Blue Jays themselves, the tone-setting stakes of Game 1 or the combination of both. Between that intensity and his charged secondary pitches, the effect was to leave the brawny, blustery Blue Jays off-balance and muttering to themselves. That was perhaps best exemplified by Bautista squawking at a called strike that froze him in the fourth and effectively pouting out the at-bat before striking out. Beyond it being an end in itself, the Royals' third straight postseason win was the latest indication that the largely volatile and worrisome starting pitching might be taking hold at last. Cueto was tremendous in their last game, Game 5 of the ALDS, allowing just two runs and two hits against the Astros to propel the Royals into this series. Ventura, excellent down the regular-season stretch, was good enough to keep a rally manageable in Game 4 of the ALDS. He surrendered three runs and struck out eight in a game the Royals won 9-6 after trailing 6-2 in the eighth. And, of course, Volquez himself had largely performed well in Game 3, striking out eight and allowing three runs in 5.2 innings. This fine span notwithstanding, it still was a reach from this to what manager Ned Yost seemed to be proposing before the game Friday. "I kind of relate it back to the days when I was with the Atlanta Braves," Yost said, "and you had (Greg) Maddux, (Tom) Glavine and (John) Smoltz." But Yost wasn't comparing the Royals' trio from the Dominican Republic to the triumvirate of Hall of Famers, exactly. He simply was referring to the way they'd motivate each other. "One of those guys would have a big start, and the other ones would always have the mindset, 'Well, I'm going to go out and do just as good or better than he did,' " Yost said. "It's always kind of like an inner competition within the competition, because they are so close. They all want to continue to hold up their end and pitch good baseball games. "What Johnny did the other day was huge for us, but I think Volqy thinks, 'I want to go out and do the same thing.' " In this particular case, sure. But hidden in plain view, all season it's been Volquez establishing the baseline for Ventura and Cueto. | 1 | 96,243 | sports |
Even Jupiter has to deal with shrinkage. Jupiter's famed Great Red Spot, arguably the solar system's most famous attraction, is getting smaller. New images released this week from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope confirm that the Great Red Spot continues to shrink and become more circular, as it has been doing for years. Photos: Hubble Telescope's top shots The Great Red Spot is a monstrous storm, one that roars at wind speeds of up to 340 mph, according to NASA. The storm is about 150 miles smaller in diameter than it was last year, NASA said. Though that seems like a lot, the area is still about 10,000 miles in diameter, enough to fit about two or three Earths. Could it eventually vanish altogether? "At this point, we don't know when, or even if, the Great Red Spot will disappear," NASA planetary scientist Amy Simon said in an email to USA TODAY. Photos: Big moments in space exploration "The most likely case is that it will stabilize at a smaller size than it is now," she said. "It could reach that point in the next decade. It has been there since at least the late 1870s and was much bigger then." The Great Red Spot is more orange than red these days, and its core, which typically has more intense color, is less distinct than it used to be, NASA reported. Photos of our solar system from the Hubble continue to amaze and awe scientists back here on Earth. Related: More than 8,400 Apollo photos from the moon now online "Every time we look at Jupiter, we get tantalizing hints that something really exciting is going on," Simon said. "This time is no exception." Also see: Has Kepler spotted an 'alien megastructure?' Another Earth may be 500 light years away NASA's Kepler spacecraft spots planet 'somebody else might call home' Scientists discover glacier-like ice on Pluto Astronomers spot young, 'Jupiter-like' planet | 5 | 96,244 | news |
INCHEON, South Korea (AP) -- Lydia Ko and Sung Hyun Park rebounded to top the crowded leaderboard Saturday in the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship. In position to take the top spot in the world, the second-ranked Ko overcame a double bogey with two late birdies in a 3-under 69. Park bounced back from a second-round 74 with a 67 to match Ko at 13 under 203 on Sky 72's Ocean Course. "You might not even get one day out of the 365 days in a year where you hit it perfect," Ko said. "I always say I love golf, because there is no perfect." Ko made the double bogey on the par-4 14th, driving left into the water and missing a 4-foot putt. The 18-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander rallied, driving the short par-4 15th to set up a two-putt birdie and making a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. "There's still a long day ahead of me," Ko said. "But if I am holding the trophy at the end, it will be very special. To win at your birthplace, it's hard to do. To be able to win in front of the Korean fans and my family and relatives who have flown over from Jeju Island, I think it would be a very special moment." Park birdied three of the last four holes, also driving the 15th, holing a 20-footer on 17 and chipping to 2 feet on the par-5 18th. Making her first career LPGA Tour start, the 22-year-old South Korean player opened with a course-record 62. She would earn an LPGA Tour card with a victory. "Actually, I had this conversation with my mom and we were just talking about it," Park said. "I told her, `If I should win this championship, I still don't think I'm ready for the LPGA Tour.' And even if I don't win tomorrow, I think I would be quite satisfied with the results of the championship so far." Ranked 54th, Park won the Korea LPGA's Se Ri Pak Invitational two weeks ago for her third victory of the season. She won the Korea Women's Open in June. "To be really honest, I don't think I ever really thought about winning, and so I wasn't really confident coming into this week," Park said. "I was more worried and nervous, but I'm quite proud of myself." Ko would take the No. 1 ranking from Inbee Park with a victory Sunday and also could move up with a second- or third-place finish depending on where her South Korean rival finishes. Inbee Park was tied for 18th at 5 under after a 70. Ko tied for second last week in the LPGA Malaysia after winning her previous two starts in Canada and France, where she became the youngest major champion. Ko and Inbee Park, a two-time major winner this year, are tied for the tour victory lead with four. American Lexi Thompson and South Korea's Mirim Lee each birdied the 18th to pull within a stroke of the lead. Thompson had a 69, and Lee shot 67. "I just know I need to make birdies, focus on myself and control my game," Thompson said. "That's all I can do. Lydia is playing great and she's going to make birdies, we all know that. But it's not just her." Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn and South Korea's Yoon-Ji Cho were two strokes back at 11 under. Jutanugarn holed out from 110 yards for eagle on the par-5 fifth in a round of 67, and Cho had a 69. Taiwan's Yani Tseng (69) was 10 under, and Norway's Suzann Pettersen (68) was 9 under along with China's Shanshan Feng (71). Pettersen won the event in 2007 and 2012. | 1 | 96,245 | sports |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Firefighters expect to have favorable weather this weekend to help contain a rural Texas wildfire that has destroyed about 50 structures and consumed more than 7 miles of scorched and bone-dry forestland. Some residents have been unable to return to their homes on barricaded roads in Bastrop County. But officials said Friday that the fire that began Tuesday and grew big enough to waft smoke into downtown Austin, some 40 miles away from the fire, now appears to be getting under control. "Barring some totally unforeseen circumstance, we're on the downhill side of this fire," Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported. The Hidden Pines Fire is 40 percent contained, , up from 15 percent on Thursday. About 200 firefighters from across Texas have battled the blaze during daylight, and on Friday, a DC-10 jet tanker flown in from Tennessee dropped nearly 12,000 gallons of retardant on the smoldering area. The fire has been fueled partly by hot, dry weather, but a cool front moved into Central Texas on Friday. The fire is chewing much of the same area that was devastated in 2011 by a far more massive wildfire that wiped out 1,600 homes and killed two people. But this time, winds have paled to the 50 mph gusts that overwhelmed firefighters four years ago. Pape said a preliminary investigation found that an accident during a "farming operation" may have caused the fire. He told the Austin American-Statesman that a rancher was pulling a shredder through grass when an overheated bearing ignited grass clippings. A line of fire was created before the rancher discovered what had happened. About 400 homes have been evacuated since the fire began. Most of the structures destroyed are believed to be houses. About 200 residents have checked into local shelters, though authorities say few have stayed overnight as most slept in motels or the homes of friends. | 5 | 96,246 | news |
Officiating is 'stricter than a World Series umpire.' 343 Industries's latest update , about 10 days from the launch of Halo 5: Guardians , concerns the multiplayer policies and structures outlining new features, skill ratings and "a banhammer stricter than an MLB World Series Umpire." Edit: Because this author is a moron, a previous edition of this story misidentified the maker of Halo 5: Guardians. It's 343 Industries. " Halo 5: Guard ians is engineered to detect and track" a variety of misbehavior, including betrayals, intentional suicides, quits and excessive disconnects, and idling. "If you repeatedly engage in negative behaviors such as (these) you will receive a ban and be prevented from entering matchmaking," 343 wrote . Ban durations depend on the severity of the offense, and increase with each repeat offense. 343 didn't specify the lengths it has in mind, of course. The rest of the post outlines the game's Competitive Skill Rating system meant to pair players of equivalent skill in matchmaking. The final ranks for this system have been renamed since Halo 5: Guardians ' Arena multiplayer beta in December. They are now Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx and Champion, and the first 10 matches a player completes in Halo 5: Guardians will determine his or her initial ranking. The "Seasons" feature, which will not be present at launch but will arrive later this year, also gets a brief rundown. A Season is effectively a monthlong playlist where players' ranking reset at the beginning, letting them start fresh and try to better their performance over the last run. More is available at the link. The Xbox One-exclusive Halo 5: Guardians launches Oct. 27 and it plans on getting serious about eSports . For more on the game's multiplayer, see our hands-on preview from September . Worldmap is Polygon's Friday podcast recapping the week's top video game and pop culture news, with staff writers adding perspective and commentary. Check it out here: | 5 | 96,247 | news |
Sir Tom Jones Sir Tom Jones doesn't think he'll be able to sing anymore if his wife was to die. The 'Sex Bomb' hitmaker, who has had a number of dalliances with other woman during his five decades in the music business, has admitted he would consider giving up his career if Melinda Trenchard - nicknamed Linda - was to pass away because he dedicates a lot of his songs to her. Speaking on the 'Jonathan Ross Show', which airs tonight (10.17.15) on ITV at 10.15pm, he said: "A lot of the songs that I do, the love songs that I do, of course it's Linda is there and yes, she is the one. "I don't want to go on about it but she wasn't well a while ago and she got close to... we didn't know whether she was going to make it or not and I said to Mark [my son] I said, 'If your mother doesn't make it, I don't know whether I can sing' because a lot of the songs that I do, I think of her when I do it so it would be hard if she wasn't there to be able to sing." The 75-year-old singer married Linda after he got her pregnant - the pair were just 16 years old at the time - and he believes their strong love for one another got them through the drama that has come their way over the years. He explained: "She loves being married to me and I love being married to her so whatever happened..." | 6 | 96,248 | entertainment |
The Federal Reserve decided to forgo raising interest rates this September, but many economists still believe a hike is coming either in late 2015 or early next year. Once the central bank does decide to make its move, consumers should expect it to get more expensive to buy a new home . In fact, the Mortgage Bankers Association is forecasting the average interest rate on a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage in 2016 will be 4.8%, up from a forecast of 3.9% in 2015 and 4.2% in 2014. The rate increases are just one small piece of the housing market puzzle. "Employment, household formation rates, and other economic fundamentals make a more significant impact" on overall market conditions, Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA, said in an email. For example, housing prices are likely to rise next year, too, as improvements in the job market enable more people to purchase homes and deplete the current surplus of properties in many areas. Overall, however, "it is true that if a consumer who is ready to buy a home can move now during a period of low rates, that consumer will see a benefit," Fratantoni said. But that's not to say the potential rate hike should expedite everyone's housing search. There are also personal factors prospective homebuyers should consider when deciding to buy, he said. Getting Ready to Move in (on a Mortgage) Generally, consumers should be thinking about buying a home if they plan to stay in one place for at least five years and their financial house is in order. Before you go out shopping for a mortgage, you may want to make sure you can meet down payment requirements, handle monthly mortgage payments and safely cover other ancillary costs, like real estate agent fees, property taxes, home insurance and repairs, to name a few. You also want to be sure your credit score is in peak condition. Scores of 740 and over generally earn the best terms and conditions on a mortgage, so, if you fall below that line, you may want to work on improving your standing before filling out mortgage applications . You can pull your free annual credit reports each year at AnnualCreditReport.com. Ultimately, if you decide you aren't ready to move forward with a home purchase now, you shouldn't feel too bad about the missed opportunity. "It is important to keep in mind that even after an increase, rates are likely to remain near these historical lows for the near term," Fratantoni said. This article originally appeared on Credit.com . | 3 | 96,249 | finance |
Mexican officials say escaped drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman suffered multiple injuries after authorities attempted to recapture him. | 5 | 96,250 | news |
By Andreas Cremer, Bruce Wallace and Paul Lienert Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) made several versions of its "defeat device" software to rig diesel emissions tests, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, potentially suggesting a complex deception by the German carmaker. During seven years of self-confessed cheating, Volkswagen altered its illegal software for four engine types, said the sources, who include a VW manager with knowledge of the matter and a U.S. official close to an investigation into the company. Spokespersons for VW in Europe and the United States declined to comment on whether it developed multiple defeat devices, citing ongoing investigations by the company and authorities in both regions. Asked about the number of people who might have known about the cheating, a spokesman at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, said: "We are working intensely to investigate who knew what and when, but it's far too early to tell." Some industry experts and analysts said several versions of the defeat device raised the possibility that a range of employees were involved. Software technicians would have needed regular funding and knowledge of engine programs, they said. The number of people involved is a key issue for investors because it could affect the size of potential fines and the extent of management change at the company, said Arndt Ellinghorst, an analyst at banking advisory firm Evercore ISI. Brandon Garrett, a corporate crime expert at the University of Virginia School of Law, said federal prosecution guidelines would call for the U.S. Justice Department to seek tougher penalties if numerous senior executives were found to have been involved in the cheating. "The more higher-ups that are involved, the more the company is considered blameworthy and deserving of more serious punishment," said Garrett. VW, Europe's biggest carmaker, has been criticized by some lawmakers and analysts for blaming a small number of individuals for the banned software installed in up to 11 million vehicles worldwide, even while investigations continue. Its U.S. chief, Michael Horn, told U.S. lawmakers earlier this month that he believed "a couple of software engineers" were responsible, while a letter dated Oct. 8 from VW to the European Parliament blamed "the misconduct of a few people." MANY CHANGES VW admitted publicly on Sept. 18 to using software that could tell when a diesel vehicle was being tested and temporarily lower its toxic emissions to pass U.S. regulations. The scandal has wiped around a quarter off its stock market value and forced out its long-time chief executive. When it started using defeat device software in 2008, VW installed it with the EA189 diesel engine. The software was subsequently added to the newer EA288 engine. "VW would have had to reconfigure the software for each generation of engines," said the U.S. official close to an ongoing investigation into VW. A U.S.-based expert on diesel engines and testing said the defeat device software also had to be altered when VW changed the emissions control system in its engines. In older diesel models, VW used so-called Lean NOx Traps designed to reduce toxic nitrogen oxides in engine exhaust. From around 2012, it introduced a more sophisticated and expensive system called Selective Catalytic Reduction. VW's Horn told U.S. lawmakers on Oct. 8 that different software was developed for Europe as well. "Since the standards are different, my understanding is that the defeat devices in those (European) cars are as well," he said, without elaborating. Horn added VW was withdrawing its application for regulatory certification of 2016 diesel models because it contained another software feature that had not been disclosed as required by the authorities. [ID:nL1N1271US] (Additional reporting by Laurence Frost, Joel Schectman, Gilles Guillaume and Joe White; Writing by Mark Potter; Editing by Janet McBride) | 9 | 96,251 | autos |
Beijing sought to soothe tensions over its South China Sea claims Saturday, saying it will avoid the use of force in the region as the US ponders sending warships close to territory claimed by the Asian giant. Speaking at the Xiangshan regional defence forum in Beijing, Fan Changlong, vice-chair of China's Central Military Commission, pledged that the country would "never recklessly resort to the use of force, even on issues bearing on sovereignty". "We have done our utmost to avoid unexpected conflicts," he added. The US says that China's transformation of South China Sea reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities presents a threat to freedom of navigation, and defence officials have hinted they may soon use naval forces to test Chinese claims. But Fan said that the projects were mainly intended for civilian use and "will not affect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea". "Instead, they will enable us to provide better public services to aid navigation and production in the South China Sea." The argument is one Beijing has made many times before, but satellite images of the islands published by the US think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies have shown as many as three runways on the islands that could accommodate fighter jets, raising concerns about China's true intentions. Speaking in Washington this week, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said the US would continue to sail wherever international law allowed. While no American officials spoke at the event, the country's retired Chief of Naval Operations Gary Roughead used his time on a morning panel to take China to task for its behaviour. "The rapid expansion of land features in the vital sea lanes of the South China Sea heightens suspicion and presents the potential for miscalculation," he said. The construction, he added, "raises legitimate questions regarding militarisation". "I do not see an influx of tourists clamouring to visit these remote islands," he said. - 'Unintentional incidents' - The dispute between the two goliaths, the region's largest military and economic powers, has unnerved members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who are caught in the middle of the standoff. Speaking to reporters after Fan's remarks, Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the US has briefed him on its plans, but "counterreaction by major powers in the region sometimes is beyond the control of small nations". "My concern is unintended, accidental, unintentional incidents in the high sea, especially between two major powers," he said. Hussein was one of several cabinet-level participants attending the event from the 10-member ASEAN bloc, which includes Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, all of which have rival South China Sea claims. Taiwan, a non-ASEAN member, is also a claimant. Fan's "statement was reassuring to us all", Hussein said in remarks during a morning session, but cautioned that the best way to address concerns was the establishment of a code of conduct for claimants in the region. ASEAN has for years called on China to negotiate such an agreement, which would put into place a binding set of rules aimed at preventing actions that lead to conflict. The Xiangshan forum is a security dialogue China has recently pushed as part of a broader effort to increase its global influence. Vietnam's Defence Minister will address maritime security issues during a panel Sunday. An official from the Philippines will also appear during the conference. Hanoi has repeatedly accused China of ramming its fishing boats as they ply local waters, while Manila has infuriated Beijing by taking their dispute to a United Nations tribunal. | 5 | 96,252 | news |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Houston can only hope its final six games as a ranked team this season go as comfortably as its first. Greg Ward Jr. ran for three touchdowns and threw for another to help No. 24 Houston beat Tulane 42-7 on Friday night. BOX SCORE: HOUSTON 42, TULANE 7 Playing as a ranked team for the first time since 2011, the Cougars (6-0, 3-0 American Athletic) won by at least 21 points for the fourth time this season. Houston took a half-game lead over Memphis and Navy in the conference's West Division. Despite three starting offensive linemen sitting out with injuries and losing its starting center to illness early, Houston piled up 461 total yards, including 239 on the ground, and went 7 of 15 on third down. Ward completed 17 of 25 passes for 222 yards and had 14 carries for 77 yards. "This was the best defensive front four that we've played all year, including Louisville," first-year Houston coach Tom Herman said. "With the makeshift offensive line, they were getting good push. We were getting guys open. "He was having a tough time finding some windows to throw and probably scrambled around a little bit because of that. When he does scramble, good things usually happen." Tulane safety Darion Monroe agreed with Herman's assessment of Ward after failing to stop the quarterback time and again. "He's good," Monroe said. "That's why he's getting votes right now for the Heisman. He does things with his legs that other quarterbacks can't do. If you blitz him and you miss him, he can go for a touchdown." But as good as the Cougars' offense was Friday night, Houston's defense matched the performance. Houston held Tulane (2-4, 1-2) to 262 total yards, forced 11 punts and held the Green Wave to fewer first downs (11) than penalties (12). Devin Powell completed 11 of 28 passes for 88 yards. He got the start for the Green Wave with Tanner Lee out after he sustained a concussion a week ago against Temple. "We knew it was going to be a new quarterback coming into the game so we knew it was going to be a lot of quick passes," Cougars linebacker Elandon Roberts said. "His reading wasn't going to be all the way through, but we prepared for him like he was a starter." Houston's sixth-ranked offense took just one offensive play to score. Chance Allen ran past a stumbling defensive back and Ward lofted a pass that hit the receiver in stride for a 49-yard touchdown. Ward put the Cougars up 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter with a 12-yard run. Tulane's Nico Marley was called for roughing the passer on a third-and-14 play to keep the drive alive. Tulane answered with Dontrell Hilliard's 3-yard touchdown run on a drive that featured Rob Kelley's 43-yard run on a fake punt. Ward scored again on a 5-yard run on Houston's next drive, and Demarcus Ayers' 15-yard touchdown run on an end around made it 28-7 late in the second quarter. Ward's third touchdown run of the game, a 2-yard scamper in the third quarter, and Ayers' 73-yard punt return capped the scoring. | 1 | 96,253 | sports |
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Anibal Godoy slid in a goal early in the second half and the San Jose Earthquakes beat Sporting Kansas City 1-0 on Friday night to move into a fifth-place tie in the Western Conference. San Jose (13-12-8) is tied with Portland and Seattle with 47 points, while Sporting KC (13-10-9) is alone in fourth place with 48 points. In the 47th minute, Shea Salinas sent a cross to Chris Wondolowski, who one-touched it across goal to an open Godoy at the far post. San Jose is undefeated at home in its last five games and has not lost to Sporting KC at home since Aug. 16, 2000. David Bingham recorded his 12th shutout of the season to tie Vancouver's David Ousted for second-best in the MLS. Sporting KC's best scoring chance came when Benny Feilhaber chipped the defense, but Mikey Lopez's wide open header went just over the crossbar in the 71st. | 1 | 96,254 | sports |
WASHINGTON Both of the top candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination are trying to appeal to everyday Americans as they pledge to help the many struggling in a still faltering economy. But an analysis of how the candidates raised their money shows that Bernie Sanders is the only one riding that populist wave when it comes to cash. At least a third of Hillary Clinton's money came from a network of influential Americans who collected vast sums for her campaign. More than three-quarters of the contributions to her chief rival, Bernie Sanders, were from people who gave less than $200. "We're tired and Bernie can see that; he realizes that we are struggling out here," said Sally Anderson, 49, an ultrasound technician from Tacoma, Wash., who donated $35 to Sanders in the last fundraising period, bringing her year-to-date total to $279. "We are America ... just a lot of people going to work every single day who are tired and struggling to send their kids to college, put food on the table, save for retirement and maybe fix your car every once in a while." A whopping 77 percent of Sanders' donations $31 million came from Americans who gave less than $200, according to forms his campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission late Thursday. Only 17 percent of Clinton's donations $13 million came from small donors, according to her forms. Most of her money comes from large donors or has been collected by a network of backers cultivated over more than three decades in public life. Nearly 250 volunteers have collected more than $23.3 million for Clinton, according to interviews and an analysis of her campaign forms. That amounts to more than 30 percent of her total receipts. Dubbed "Hillraisers" by her campaign, 210 bundlers each raised at least $100,000, according to her campaign. They included 10 federal lobbyists who together accounted for at least $2.1 million. Another 35 lobbyists raised lesser amounts. The list of bundlers includes many familiar names to Democratic politics: Vogue editor Anna Wintour Erskine Boyce Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton Steven Rattner, a leading member of President Barack Obama's task force guiding the bailout of the U.S. auto industry after the 2008 financial crisis New York hedge fund leader Marc Lasry, who hired Chelsea Clinton, Bill and Hillary Clinton's daughter John Morgan, a Florida lawyer who collected about $1 million for Clinton at a fundraiser at his home, said he understands that donating a few dollars to Sanders might make a frustrated American feel better, but insisted they're wasting their money on a candidate who will not win. "In the end, they are p*****g money down a rat hole," Morgan said. Jim Hodges, the former governor of South Carolina, said he collected money for Clinton at a Charleston fundraiser because he has "known the Clintons for years." He estimates he helped collect a "couple hundred thousand dollars." In total, Clinton has raised a record a $76 million in the nearly six months she has been running. Sanders raised a total of $41 million. Clinton had nearly $33 million in the bank as of Sept. 30, the final day of the fundraising quarter, more than any other candidate in either party. Sanders had $27 million in the bank as of Sept. 30. "It gives me concern some of her big donors are Goldman Sachs and others. She's tied into these interests and that has to have an effect," said Michael Tenzer, a veterinarian from Miami who contributed $700 to Sanders' campaign online with donations as small as $10. Clinton has found herself in an increasingly tight race with Sanders, who casts himself as a crusader against the "billionaire class." The former secretary of state still leads nationally, but the independent senator from Vermont has tied her in some recent polls in the crucial early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Sanders' has drawn 1.3 million small donations from Americans his campaign said were "responding to his call for a political revolution to stand up for the middle class." They averaged $30. Only 270 of Sanders' 650,000 donors gave the maximum $2,700 permitted under campaign finance law, according to his campaign. More than 16,000 of Clinton individual donors have contributed the maximum $2,700 to her primary election campaign, according to her forms. Sanders' total receipts from political action committees for companies or other special interests since he began his campaign: $200. He has, however, received more than $18 million in small donations channeled through ACTBLUE, a fundraising group for progressive causes. Clinton is the only Democratic candidate to release the names of her bundlers. Republican Jeb Bush identified his bundlers this quarter for the first time. Jay Riestenberg, a researcher with Common Cause who is studying the fundraising numbers, said the question now for Sanders is how long he can remain competitive when Clinton is "collecting and stockpiling million-dollar checks." Sanders pledges not to accept support from any of the political action committees that can raise unlimited sums from corporations, unions, associations and individuals. Lobbyists did not collect money for him. A pair of independent groups supporting Clinton, Priorities USA Action and American Bridge 21st Century, raised more than $20 million in the second quarter. They do not have to further disclose their fundraising total until early next year. Three others are running for the Democratic presidential nomination, but their fundraising was dwarfed by Clinton and Sanders. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley raised $1.3 million while former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb raised about $697,000 and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee raised about $15,000. (Vera Bergengruen and Iana Kozelsky contributed to this report.) | 5 | 96,255 | news |
Nothing's been simple about Matt Harvey's comeback season, so why should the pitching plan for him in the National League Championship Series be easy to comprehend? With Harvey gearing up to start Game 1 against the Cubs Saturday at Citi Field, it's unclear what his role in the series will be after that. While both Terry Collins and Harvey clearly believe Harvey will start more than once, here's how GM Sandy Alderson addressed that issue: "As we've said all along, it's a matter of appearance to appearance and how he feels. So that's a determination we'll make after his first start. We'll see. But certainly starting him in Game 1 creates a certain presumption that he'll pitch more than once in the series, but that's not a decision we've made. LIVE BLOG: FOLLOW THE NLCS BETWEEN THE METS AND CUBS "We're comfortable with running any one of four guys out there, so you know, it's not a decision that we have to make immediately, but certainly he's lined up for Game 1, and we'll see how he comes out of that." That's a bit different than Collins' answer to this question: Do you plan on pitching Matt more than Game 1 this series? "Absolutely," Collins replied. Whatever happens, one thing is certain. Harvey, who missed all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery and has endured innings-limits controversy this season, is eager for another postseason opportunity. And he loves the idea of potentially having more of an impact on this best-of-seven series than he did with a single start in the five-game first round. FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS SPORTS ON FACEBOOK. "LIKE" US HERE "I think that was part of the reason why I wanted to get in Game 5," said Harvey, who had told Collins he wanted to be available in relief. "Obviously, now going into a seven-game series and having the opportunity to line up for two games, I couldn't be happier and more ready for it." In his first taste of postseason pitching, Harvey beat the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLDS. But he lasted only five innings, giving up three runs (two earned). Certainly not the stuff of boyhood dreams, which makes him hungrier to shine now. Both he and Collins were buoyed by the idea that Harvey will be on a more regular routine heading into his matchup with the Cubs' Jon Lester. Down the stretch and before his NLDS outing, rest was more irregular as the Mets tried to limit his workload, though he still threw 189.1 innings in compiling a 13-8 record and 2.71 ERA. METS - CUBS MATCHUPS: POSITION-BY-POSITION LOOK AT NLCS "I'm not using 10 days off as an excuse," Harvey said. But, he added, "As a starting pitcher, to get into a routine with that going on, it's a little bit difficult. "I think I was mostly excited to get a chance to get back out there again and have a normal routine, normal rest period, and I'm definitely looking forward to (Game 1)." If he thrives, he perhaps can steer the conversation away from innings limits and his Tommy John recovery. He'd like that. "I think everybody kind of had enough talk and discussion about that whole ordeal," Harvey said. "I'll be the last person to ever bring that one up again." Still, it's part of his season. At the very least, how he's handled it all got him some praise from Alderson Friday. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Matt and what he has accomplished this year, and coming back from that surgery, pitching as much as he has, as well as he has, and his determination to pitch in the postseason. There was a little tumult along the way, and I think he's learned a lot from the experience, and he's probably a much better pitcher and person as a result. "But it wasn't going to be smooth throughout that's what seasons are about. They're long and involve ups and downs. I can understand a certain reservation on his part as he got closer to what some people felt was a large number, and he got through that, and I think he has confidence now in his physical capacity, which is important for his mental approach. So I think he's come through it really well, and I'm very proud of what he's been able to accomplish this season." | 1 | 96,256 | sports |
The Duke Blue Devils had a helluva run last season. The 2014-15 season materialized into another Final Four appearance, which led to another birth in the National Championship game, and thus another National Championship. Hey, it's about time to expect that kind of result when you have Mike Krzyzewski coaching your team, right? Coach K has done a lot for that program. He's sent many players to the NBA, and that didn't stop last season. Guys like Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and many more all were drafted, and now they'll try their hand at the NBA. But their time under Coach K was special. Though Coach K seems to produce a lot of special moments with Duke. The trophy case is stocked with accolades and hardware. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself. Duke finally added their 2015 championship trophy to the collection with a brand-new glass case. Brand new glass case for National Championship trophy No. 5! #HallofFame #LetsGoDuke pic.twitter.com/9Or9ZwT9Xd Duke Basketball (@dukeblueplanet) October 16, 2015 The 2015-16 season will see Duke go at it again with another batch of highly talented freshmen. Some names to keep an eye on this season are Chase Jeter, Luke Kennard and Brandon Ingram. Plus, we can't forget about the high-flying Grayson Allen who had a breakout NCAA Tournament last year. Duke is looking pretty good, but what else is new? | 1 | 96,257 | sports |
FRANKFORT, Ky. A defiant Rand Paul is brushing off weak fundraising and weaker poll numbers as would-be donors and home state Republicans push him to abandon an uphill presidential bid to focus on his Senate re-election. While showing some frustration, the first-term Kentucky senator this week claimed his superior political organization would prove wrong those doubting his chances in the White House contest. At the same time, he released fundraising numbers that place him squarely in the bottom tier of the GOP's 2016 class over the last three months, a painful symbol of stalled momentum for the libertarian favorite who was considered a major presidential contender earlier in the year. Despite the early hype, Paul has failed to tap into the national anti-establishment sentiment that fueled his father's national ambitions just four years ago. "Rand's missed his opportunity," said Gary Heavin, a Texas billionaire who accompanied Paul on a three-day humanitarian mission to Haiti over the summer. "I wanted to support him because he's the real deal, but his strategy is just awful," continued Heavin, the founder of the health club franchise Curves. "He is going to be a very, very effective senator." Specifically, Heavin said Paul went after rival Donald Trump so aggressively that he alienated anti-establishment voters who might have supported him. But back in Kentucky, a growing chorus of Republicans suggested that Paul's Senate re-election was by no means guaranteed, despite the state's strong GOP leanings and the lack of a clear Democratic challenger. "He could lose both positions," said Patricia Vincent, chairwoman of the Graves County Republican Party. "He just needs to work a little bit more to make sure he still has a seat in the Senate." While Paul's national numbers hover in the low single digits, he continues to divert resources from his Senate campaign to his presidential bid. Last month, he raised $250,000 for the state GOP to fund a presidential caucus instead of its usual primary. The switch to a caucus allows Paul to run for president and Senate at the same time. Doug Stafford, Paul's chief strategist, released a memo on Thursday pushing back on what he called the "false narrative" that Paul's campaign is struggling. He cited Paul's recent straw poll victories in New Hampshire and polls from national conservative groups, adding that Paul "always comes in first when people are actually voting." Straw polls and opinion polls, however, are not the same as actual voting, which begins with the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. Indeed, pollsters have struggled to predict results for recent elections. Some suspect that polling showing high support for real estate mogul Donald Trump, for example, includes many respondents who won't show up on Election Day. But that's a hard sell for some Republicans in Kentucky. "I can't see what he's holding out for," said Casey County Republican Party Chairman William Wethingon. "If I were in his position, I think, looking at the numbers, I think I would focus more on my Senate seat." National Republicans agree. The GOP is deeply concerned about retaining its eight-seat Senate majority. Forced to defend 24 incumbents seven of them in states President Barack Obama won in 2012 the party cannot afford to spend money on what should be an easy Kentucky victory next fall. Some fear that his focus on the presidential contest leaves him more vulnerable than he realizes. Even Matt Bevin, Kentucky's Republican nominee for governor, said he would vote for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson over Paul. Fellow Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, however, says he's behind Paul. Not everyone's concerned. "Nobody thinks that his seat is in jeopardy," said Damon Thayer, the majority floor leader of the Kentucky state Senate. He noted that Paul has no Democratic opponent, as the most likely candidates are tied up in re-election campaigns for their state offices. But that election is Nov. 3, clearing the way for a Democrat, such as state Auditor Adam Edelen, to challenge Paul. With Paul having a nearly perfect attendance record in the Senate, his team suggests he's been fulfilling his responsibility to Kentucky voters despite a hectic presidential campaign schedule. His Senate campaign does have a finance and communications team in place, with a plan to begin hiring more staff next month. For now, Stafford is pulling double duty advising both of Paul's campaigns. Paul ultimately plans to hire a separate campaign manager for his Senate race. Dave Compton, vice chairman of the Pike County Republican Party, said it's not time to panic about either one of Paul's 2016 campaigns. "Right now I think he's pretty safe in the Senate," Compton said. "If he doesn't turn it around within the next month or month and a half, that would probably be a good decision to make, to drop out." | 5 | 96,258 | news |
A strengthening typhoon is threatening to bring massive flooding to the Philippines. CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis reports. | 8 | 96,259 | video |
MEXICO CITY Leonel Mendoza fishes every day in a reservoir surrounded by forest and mountains in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas. But in recent days, he also has been ferrying curious passengers out to see the remains of a colonial-era church that has emerged from the receding waters. A drought this year has hit the watershed of the Grijalva river, dropping the water level in the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir by 25 meters (82 feet). It is the second time a drop in the reservoir has revealed the church since it was flooded when the dam was completed in 1966. In 2002, the water was so low visitors could walk inside the church. "The people celebrated. They came to eat, to hang out, to do business. I sold them fried fish. They did processions around the church," Mendoza recalled during a telephone interview Friday. The church in the Quechula locality was built by a group of monks headed by Friar Bartolome de la Casas, who arrived in the region inhabited by the Zoque people in the mid-16th century. The church is 61 meters (183 feet) long and 14 meters (42 feet) wide, with walls rising 10 meters (30 feet). The bell tower reaches 16 meters (48 feet) above the ground. "The church was abandoned due the big plagues of 1773-1776," said architect Carlos Navarete, who worked with Mexican authorities on a report about the structure. It depended on the nearby monastery of Tecpatan, founded in 1564. Navarrete believes that based on architectural similarities, it is the work of the same builder at very nearly the same time. Its importance was derived from its location on the King's Highway, a road designed by Spanish conquistadors and still in use until the 20th century. "At that time we still found the wood from the chorus loft and the roof beams," he said. "Also a large ossuary of the victims of the plague that depopulated the area." "It was a church built thinking that this could be a great population center, but it never achieved that," Navarrete said. "It probably never even had a dedicated priest, only receiving visits from those from Tecpatan." | 5 | 96,260 | news |
Take a look at Friday's craziest moments, including Karri Ramo's breathtaking save between the pipes and Troy Tulowitzki's crazy double play. | 1 | 96,261 | sports |
Odell Beckham Jr. on Thursday shrugged off some pointed criticism from New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie about how he's a "one-year wonder." The second-year New York Giants wide receiver admits he hears the many criticisms sent his way, but insists he couldn't care less what Cromartie has to say about him. "There is so much stuff that goes on, it doesn't really faze me … It doesn't motivate me. It doesn't do anything," he said, via NJ.com. "No effect." Odell Beckham Jr. Career Receiving Yards and TDs | PointAfter Cromartie's comments came last week during an appearance on ESPN. After he was asked to name his top three wide receivers in the NFL, Cromartie explained why the Giants wideout didn't make the cut. "Right now, [he's] a one-year wonder," Cromartie said. "I'm just being honest. It's just one year. I need to see it on an every-game basis, not him getting penalties, or something like that, or sucker-punching somebody." The Jets corner is of course referring to how Beckham Jr. was fined $8,681 for throwing a punch at Buffalo Bills safety Duke Williams during a Giants' 24-10 win two weeks ago. The Giants wideout is again dealing with a hamstring injury, something that temporarily derailed his sensational rookie season and hampered his preparations for this season during training camp. Beckham Jr., unlike in this situation, bristled at the criticism levied upon him during camp over his hamstring issues … from his Giants teammates . Comments like those from Cromartie obviously involve some semblance of gamesmanship and smack talk, something players always try to use in an effort to get under an opponent's skin. And opponents certainly seem to relish trying to rattle Beckham Jr. It was suggested by teammate Victor Cruz that Jacksonville Jaguars defenders were "gunning" for the second-year wide receiver during a game earlier this season. The young wide receiver vowed to "turn the other cheek" in such situations. It appears he's keeping his word in response to Cromartie's critical words. | 1 | 96,262 | sports |
Fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman eluded an operation to recapture him in northwestern Mexico in recent days, injuring his leg and face, authorities said, as the manhunt heats up. Authorities said Friday that efforts to nab Guzman, who embarrassed President Enrique Pena Nieto with his brazen July jailbreak, have focused on the northwest region in the past few weeks after foreign governments shared intelligence. "Due to these actions and to avoid his arrest, the fugitive escaped in a hurry (in recent days), which according to the information that was collected, caused him injuries to his leg and face," the government said in a statement. "It is important to specify that these injuries were not the product of a direct clash," it said, without specifying the extent of the injuries or how authorities know he was hurt. Authorities also did not say exactly where and when the operation took place, but raids have reportedly occurred in the neighboring states of Durango and Sinaloa. The government said it was continuing operations to capture the Sinaloa drug cartel boss, who has been captured and escaped prison twice, most recently on July 11 by crawling down a hole in his cell's shower that led to a huge tunnel. The governor of Sinaloa said Wednesday that special forces had conducted raids in Tamazula, Durango. US Drug Enforcement Administration officials have told AFP that they believe Guzman fled to the rugged mountain region of his home state stronghold of Sinaloa following his jailbreak. The states of Durango, Sinaloa and Chihuahua meet in a drug-producing region known as the Gold Triangle, a bastion of Guzman's drug cartel. US law enforcement officials say Guzman, 58, likely fled there because he enjoys the support of the local population. American authorities have been working with Mexican security forces in the hope of extraditing him to the United States. - Ranch raid - US network NBC News reported that Mexican marines closed in on Guzman last week after US drug agents intercepted cellphone signals suggesting he was hiding at a ranch near Cosala, Sinaloa state, in the Sierra Madre mountains. Citing three sources with knowledge of the operation, NBC said the marines raided the ranch in helicopters, but turned back after taking fire from Guzman's gunmen. The marines later went in on foot and found cellphones, medication and two-way radios. Guzman and his henchmen are believed to have fled in all-terrain vehicles, the network said. But a week after the raid, officials are "losing hope" that the infamous drug lord will be caught imminently, it reported. - US extradition bid - Guzman fled the Altiplano maximum-security prison near Mexico City just 17 months after US-backed marines captured him in the Sinaloa Pacific resort of Mazatlan following a 13-year manhunt. He escaped through a 1.5-kilometer (one mile) tunnel with a redesigned motorcycle on special tracks, emerging in a house outside the prison. A new video of his escape was leaked to the Televisa channel this week, showing that loud hammering could be heard in his cell moments before he descended down the hole. It took guards nearly 40 minutes to go inside his cell after he escaped. More than a dozen prison officials have been detained over charges they helped him flee. Pena Nieto had refused to hand Guzman over to the United States, but authorities have now secured an arrest warrant to extradite him if he is captured again. Guzman was first arrested in 1993 in Guatemala, but he escaped from a prison in western Mexico in 2001 by hiding in a laundry cart. | 5 | 96,263 | news |
They gather in the dark, wave German flags and vent their fury at foreigners they fear are overrunning their homeland -- next week Germany's anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement turns one year old. Radicalised by Germany's record influx of refugees and migrants, the long-dormant protest movement has come back with a vengeance onto the streets of Dresden in the former communist East. Last week one protester carried a mock-gallows with the names of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her deputy, despised by the protesters as "Berlin dictators" and "traitors" for their open-door policy to refugees. PEGIDA -- short for "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident" -- started life as a xenophobic Facebook group around co-founder Lutz Bachmann, 42. From a few hundred people who showed up for their first evening "Monday stroll" on October 20 last year, it grew to a peak of 25,000 in January, shortly after the Paris jihadist attacks against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. "We are the people," they have chanted, co-opting the slogan of demonstrators before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and suggesting a righteous revolt against an out-of-touch political elite and the "lying press". A mix of hardcore neo-Nazis and a far greater number of self-proclaimed "concerned citizens", the movement triggered broad distaste in Germany and sparked larger anti-fascist counterprotests nationwide. It seemed to have crashed and burned at the start of the year after Bachmann's racist online slurs and "selfies" sporting a Hitler moustache surfaced, sparking outrage and a leadership split. PEGIDA, and its smaller clone groups in Germany and abroad, disappeared from the streets and the newspaper headlines -- until a spike in migrant arrivals in September brought them back from the dead. - 'Turning point' - "The turning point was when Angela Merkel opened the borders to let in people from Hungary," said Nele Wissmann of the French Institute for International Relations. "This was the trigger point." TV footage of volunteers cheering refugees arriving on packed trains, and handing them donated drinks, food and clothes, went around the world. To PEGIDA's followers it set off alarm bells, and the movement regrouped, angrier than ever. Groups were once more cheering Bachmann, undeterred by a prosecution case against him for inciting racial hatred online by having labelled migrants "animals", "trash" and "filthy rabble". One banner at a recent rally accused Merkel of "ethnocide against the German people". And the offensive gallows prop has sparked another official inquiry by prosecutors. Experts warn the movement is turning more radical, after members recently attacked journalists, and as police report a spike in attacks against asylum-homes. "Since the autumn it's become really radicalised to become a right-wing movement... focused on refugees," said Wissmann. "It is very, very serious." German police union chairman Rainer Wendt said security forces must keep a close eye on PEGIDA and "prevent the spread of a new, organised right-wing terrorism". Germany was shocked to learn in 2011 that a neo-Nazi death squad calling itself the National Socialist Underground (NSU) had gone on a seven-year killing spree that claimed 10 lives, nine of them migrants. "There must not be a second NSU," said Wendt. - 'Greatest challenge' - Others have argued that the re-emergence of the movement must not be overplayed, given that PEGIDA has so far drawn an estimated 9,000 protesters -- compared to at least 150,000 at a Berlin rally last weekend against a planned EU-US trade agreement. Germany, haunted by shame over the Nazi era and Holocaust, so far does not have an openly anti-immigrant party represented in parliament, unlike France, Austria, Britain and other European nations. Timo Lochocki of think-tank the German Marshall Fund of the United States argued that despite a dip in the polls for Merkel, the ratings in fact show that the broad majority of Germans is not lured by extremists but maintains a basic trust in her government to manage the migrant wave. The small populist right-wing Alternative for Germany party -- whose leaders have voiced sympathy for PEGIDA -- had so far failed to capitalise in a major way on any anti-migrant backlash, gaining just two points to seven percent, he said. "Germany is facing its greatest challenge since reunification, maybe since World War II," Lochocki told AFP. "And at this very moment, the German far-right is gaining two percent, and the governing parties have slipped from 41 to 38 percent. It's indicating that the lion's share of German voters still entirely trusts the German established parties." How PEGIDA develops will depend on how Germany manages its historic migrant influx, say experts. Werner Patzelt of Dresden Technical University warned that PEGIDA has already become "a protest movement decoupled from the mainstream political system that could become the right-wing populist party we never wanted". | 5 | 96,264 | news |
Carrie Underwood Carrie Underwood thinks her "bum's a little nicer than it used to be". The 'Blown Away' hitmaker, who has seven-month-old son Isaiah with husband Mike Fisher, says her post-baby body is different, but she's embracing the changes. The 32-year-old singer, who follows a vegan diet, said: "I weigh more than I did when I was at my smallest, but I have a lot more muscle tone. I feel like my bum's a little nice than it used to be." The blonde beauty's relationship with professional ice hockey player Mike, 35, has also changed since they welcomed Isaiah into the world, but they are keen to have more children. She told PEOPLE magazine: "Your marriage does change a lot when you have a baby. It's a whole new dynamic. "If we could keep having babies like Isaiah, we'd probably have quite a few. "I would love to have a girl." But Carrie claims becoming a parent hasn't really altered the style of music on her new album, 'Storyteller.' She said: "I feel like everybody expected me to have an album full of 13 mommy-and-me tracks. Like, everything would be sentimental and mushy. I'm still me, and this is just another layer. "I don't want to lose myself in being a mom." | 6 | 96,265 | entertainment |
Toronto-Dominion Bank has begun laying off staff in Canada and the United States as part of a company-wide initiative to cut costs, according to two sources familiar with the matter. TD, Canada's biggest lender by assets, started the process by hiring Boston Consulting Group to examine ways to drive efficiencies, the sources said. Following the review, TD informed employees of the job cuts last week and this week, with a further wave of job losses expected next week, they added. The cuts are in both its major divisions, retail and wholesale, and include investment banking and support staff, the sources said. TD spokesman David Morelli declined to comment on the news, while Boston Consulting Group was not immediately reachable for comment. One of the sources said the bank was laying off several hundred employees stretching all the way to heads of departments. About half of TD's municipal bond desk in New York was also being laid off, the second source said. Faced with a sluggish domestic economy and slowing loan growth, Canadian banks have been aggressively looking for ways to cut expenses. The cost cutting comes about a year after Bharat Masrani was named chief executive of the Canadian lender. In a conference call with analysts in August, Masrani said a recent restructuring charge reflected the first phase of a bank-wide focus on reducing costs and a second and final phase was expect to be mostly completed by the end of the year. TD, whose rivals include Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, has successfully expanded into the United States, where it is one of the 10 biggest banks. Last month, Masrani told Reuters he was looking to expand the lender's U.S. presence through acquisitions. (With additional reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Michael Perry) | 3 | 96,266 | finance |
The photo resembles nothing so much as a taxidermied goat, the bat wings from a child's Halloween costume affixed to its back, flung into gray skies. The man who took the picture swears not: "Either my mind is playing tricks on me or I just saw the Jersey Devil." Dave Black, of Little Egg Harbor, told NJ.com 's lifestyle-and- paranormal-activity reporter that as he drove past a golf course this week, he "had to shake my head a few times when I thought I saw a llama". The creature was running through the trees, Black said. Then "it spread out leathery wings and flew off over the golf course". Black did not reply to Guardian emails asking him to elaborate on what he thinks may have been an encounter with the fabled monster of south Jersey, which, as the tales go, was either the 13th child born of Mother Leeds , a 17th century settler, or is some remnant of Native American mythology. But despite the apparent immobility of the creature's limbs, head, neck and wings, the Atlantic City security guard assured the New Jersey news site: "I swear it's not Photoshopped or a staged thing." "People have said it's fake, but it's not. I'm honestly just looking for an explanation for what I saw." Brian Regal, a professor of history at Kean University, may know how to explain it. Despite NJ.com's assertion that for centuries, "thousands of witnesses" have claimed to see "a strange, winged creature", Regal told the Guardian that the true story of the Jersey Devil actually involves a "vaguely occult" almanac maker who was hated for siding with the British empire, his son, an enemy of Benjamin Franklin, and some entrepreneurs who weren't from Jersey at all. The Jersey Devil was originally known as the Leeds Devil, and Regal tracked down the name to Daniel Leeds, a young Quaker who came to America in the late 1600s. Leeds got involved in government and started writing an almanac, but before long he earned the ire of neighbors, who didn't appreciate his interest in " pagan " ideas about astrology, angels and magic or his allegiance to the royal governor of the colony and the British in general. For his politics and peculiarities, Regal said, local Quakers accused Leeds of "evil" and wrote pamphlets with titles like "Satan's Harbinger Encountered … Being Something by Way of Answer to Daniel Leeds". "This starts off as a kind of political thing rather than as a witchcraft occult thing," Regal said. "At the time to accuse someone of being a devil was the worst thing you could do." Leeds' son Titan took over the almanac and slapped the family crest a three dragon-like creatures on the cover. Like his father, Titan did not have a knack for politics. He quickly made enemies with a young Franklin, who was also producing an almanac, and who happily ridiculed his rival, and jokingly predicted his death. When Titan Leeds died, Franklin recast him as a kind of devilish ghost, and "by the end of the 19th century [the story had] pretty much gone extinct, nobody really knows about it", Regal said. It seems that since then the memory of the Leeds family's quirks and disrepute may have mixed with all manner of tall tales, carried on by what Regal called "a bunch of hardcore old-timers in the Pine Barrens". The transformation was well under way by 1859, when the Atlantic published a reporter's account of stories he heard in the Barrens. That tale tells of Mother Leeds consorting with the devil, of "pine rats" descended from Tories and guzzling local whiskey, and of a stormy night on which one woman saw the devil or maybe happened "under the influence of liquid Jersey lightning, to invest a pine stump, or, possibly, a belated bear, with diabolical attributes and a Satanic voice". Regal said the legend of the Jersey Devil, which in 1939 was named the official state demon and in 1982 became the name of an ice hockey team, does not really even come from New Jersey. "In the early 20th century the legend got kind of rejuvenated by these guys at a dime museum in Philadelphia, who had no idea of the actual Leeds story," he said. "They just hear this legend of a monster and think this would be a great way to drum up people to visit their dime museum." By 1909, " south Jersey simply went into hysterics over " reports of the devil, wrote one contemporary, describing how dime museums claimed to have caught it and how milkmen and servants described "a combination of bat, kangaroo and pony". "Some said it was white, others that it was brown. Some saw it fly, others saw it travel by great leaps, like a gigantic flea." In Philadelphia, budding businessmen acquired a kangaroo, glued on wings, proclaimed it the Jersey Devil and rare " Australian vampire " and made it famous. "Leeds Devil doesn't quite sing so they transformed it into Jersey Devil," Regal said. "But this was largely the production of a couple of hustling Philadelphia guys." Speaking to to NJ.com, Black admitted that "the mind plays tricks on you" but added "I think I saw a large, flying mammal about the size of a deer". One of his friends had an alternate theory: "Maybe it was an animal running and an owl grabbed it, the photo being a combination of them. That's still not my first instinct, but I don't know how to explain it otherwise." As for Regal's opinion of the photo: "I was not particularly impressed." | 5 | 96,267 | news |
Three Palestinians were shot dead trying to stab Israelis in east Jerusalem and the West Bank on Saturday, as violence that has fuelled international concerns of a full-scale uprising showed no let-up. | 5 | 96,268 | news |
The guys react to Saturday's most impressive plays on the ice, including Connor McDavid's big goal for the Oilers and Vladislav Namestnikov's breakaway score for the Bolts. | 1 | 96,269 | sports |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Another comeback, another playoff victory for the Kansas City Royals. For the fourth time in their five wins this postseason, the Royals found a way to shake off an early deficit, come out on top and take a two games to none lead in the American League Championship Series. But Game 2 of the ALCS was a little different. For starters, former (and possibly future) Cy Young Award winner David Price was on the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays. RELATED: Royals beat Jays for 2-0 lead in ALCS The ace left-hander won nine of his 11 regular-season starts after being acquired by the Jays specifically for games such as this. Price was as good as ever in the first six innings Saturday, allowing a leadoff single to Alcides Escobar and then retiring the next 18 Royals in a row. "He was just attacking the zone," said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. "He was really mixing in his fastball and his cutter and he was really putting a lot of guys away with that changeup." With the Royals down to their last nine outs, their bats finally started to come alive in the seventh. As usual, a number of little things not a big blast brought the Royals back. "Keep the line moving … it's how we approach every single game," said third baseman Mike Moustakas. "At some point you're going to score a couple runs." But with Price pitching so well, the task looked even tougher. "He was every bit as dominant as I've seen him," said Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist, who started the winning rally with a bloop single that fell between two Blue Jays defenders. Zobrist should know a thing or two about Price. The two were teammates with the Tampa Bay Rays for seven years, beginning with the 2008 season in which the Rays made it to their only World Series. Interestingly this season, left-handed hitters have had more success against Price (.262 average, .284 on-base percentage, .374 slugging percentage) than right-handed ones (.219/.267/.342). With the game on the line, the Royals' three lefty swingers came up with the biggest hits. -- Hosmer drove in the first run with a single that scored Zobrist. -- Third baseman Mike Moustakas singled to plate Hosmer and tie the game. -- Left fielder Alex Gordon doubled to bring home Moustakas with the go-ahead run. Three lefties, three clutch hits. But that wasn't all. The Royals' excellence in running the bases also played a role in the big inning. -- Center fielder Lorenzo Cain went from first to third on Hosmer's RBI single and scored the second run on a groundout. -- Hosmer took second when Kendrys Morales grounded out because he was stealing second on the play. "The key to that whole inning, believe it or not, was Hosmer stealing second base." Yost said afterward. "That was a double-play ball. That allowed us to get to a point where we could score five runs. "That was huge." -- And Moustakas advanced to second base on his RBI single when the throw from the outfield went to the plate. That put him in position to cruise home with the go-ahead run on Gordon's double. In the space of seven batters, the Royals were able to turn around a game in which they were being overpowered to one in which they held the upper hand. All because of a simple offensive philosophy, whether at the plate or on the bases: "Keep the line moving." "That's what good teams do. You take advantage of some mistakes from the other team and just try to make the most of it," Hosmer said. "It worked out well for us. It got us back in the game and got us a lead." Nearly every Royals player in the jubilant clubhouse echoed a similar version of that same mantra preached by hitting coach Dale Sveum. "He's been hammering on it since he took over," said Moustakas, who also credits Sveum for refining his approach at the plate. Moustakas is a .233 career hitter with a .376 slugging percentage against southpaws. This year, Sveum encouraged him to take the ball to the opposite field more, especially with teams employing frequent defensive shifts against him. The results were significant. Moustakas had his best season by far against lefties he hit .282 and slugged .485. "I knew I had to make a change," he said. "And it was a conscious effort to drive the ball to left field. And Dale was with me the whole way." If success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success, the Royals have an abundance of both heading to Toronto for Game 3 on Monday. "It was a rough six innings but we found a way again," Cain said. "No matter what the runs say on the board early in the game, we understand we have a good team. The game's never over." Just as long as you keep the line moving. | 1 | 96,270 | sports |
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Perhaps someone at Florida should have reminded first-year coach Jim McElwain about Les Miles' propensity to gamble against the Gators. Leonard Fournette ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns, Miles victimized Florida with a fake field goal for the second time in five years, and the No. 6 Tigers beat the No. 8 Gators 35-28 on Saturday night. BOX SCORE: LSU 35, FLORIDA 28 Kicker Trent Domingue's 16-yard touchdown run on the fake was LSU's only scoring play of the second half, breaking a 28-all tie in the fourth quarter. Miles, who also once kept his offense on the field for five fourth-down conversions in a 2007 triumph over Florida, said his latest unconventional call in this series between these old Southeastern Conference rivals was very much a calculated risk. "We studied it and kind of felt like it was there," Miles said, adding that during practice this week, his field goal unit "did everything they could do to sell us on running it. We are not going to run it if they are not just great at it. They were great at it all week." The Tigers' defense held from there -- barely. Florida receiver Antonio Callaway, who had a 72-yard punt return for a score, also had his hands on a long pass to the end zone from Treon Harris in the middle of the fourth quarter, but LSU's Dwyane Thomas punched it out to prevent a tying touchdown. Harris, starting for the suspended Will Grier, passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns for Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC), with both scoring passes to tight end Jake McGee. Brandon Harris threw for 202 yards and two scores for LSU (6-0, 4-0). The fake field goal had to be a bad case of deja vu for Florida fans, even if not for McElwain, who still probably should have known Miles' reputation for such gambles. Instead, McElwain called Miles' call "a badge of honor." "They had to fake a field goal to beat us," McElwain said. "They made a hell of a play." In 2010, LSU completed a fourth-quarter comeback by converting a fake field goal for a first down. Then-kicker Josh Jasper had to scoop the pitch off the ground to complete the play, which allowed the Tigers to win on a late touchdown pass from Jarrett Lee to Terrence Toliver. "You know they call him the Mad Hatter for a reason," Domingue said. "He has confidence in everybody and everything that we practice." Domingue bobbled the lateral pitch as he ran at full speed, but was able to gather it in as he sprinted around the left end. "I was pretty nervous. I guess my hands were shaking," said Domingue, a former walk-on who is 7 for 7 on field goals this season. "My whole body was shaking. I kind of did black out a little bit in the middle of it. It happened, so I guess I'll just realize it tomorrow when I wake up." Fournette finished with 195 yards from scrimmage, including 15 yards on a screen pass. His rushing total was the highest by any player this season against Florida, eclipsing the 136 yards gained by Tennessee's Josh Dobbs. The Gators entered the game allowing only 99.2 yards rushing per game. Fournette called the Florida defense "tremendous," and the most physical he'd faced, but also said the Gators delivered what felt like cheap shots, such as poking him in the eye, as tacklers piled on him. LSU also proved it could hit on explosive plays through the air against a strong SEC defense. Brandon Harris hit Malachi Dupre, who was covered by Vernon Hargreaves III, for a 52-yard gain on a flea-flicker that began with Fournette taking a pitch from Harris and lateraling it back. That play set up Fournette's second touchdown on a 6-yard run. In the final half-minute of the first half, Brandon Harris escaped Florida defensive end Jordan Sherit's grasp, and launched a deep pass to Dupre, who made the catch in front of Marcus Maye and scampered a final few yards for a 50-yard TD that made it 28-14 at halftime. That was Dupre's second touchdown catch of the game. "I got outside the pocket and Malachi knows, just keep running," Brandon Harris said. "Wherever he's at on the field, I'll be able to reach him." Sophomore Treon Harris had a tough task in his eighth career start. Tiger Stadium was packed with more than 102,000 fans amped up for the showdown of unbeaten teams. LSU routinely got into the backfield, registering five sacks, three by Lewis Neal. "The key for tonight was preparation and knowing what Treon was going to do before he did it and baiting him (into scrambling) sometimes as well," Neal said. Still, Florida wasn't out of it until Treon Harris' long desperation throw fell incomplete as time ran out. ------ AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org | 1 | 96,271 | sports |
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) -- Deshaun Watson finally had the performance many had expected from the Heisman Trophy candidate all season. The Clemson quarterback passed for three touchdowns and a season-best 420 yards, helping the fifth-ranked Tigers roll over Boston College's top-ranked defense for a 34-17 victory Saturday night. BOX SCORE: CLEMSON 34, BOSTON COLLEGE 17 Watson came into the season with high expectations piled on his shoulders. Voted the favorite to take Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year this summer, Watson was on the short list for the game's biggest individual prize. His play has been steady, but without the "wow" moments -- until Boston College. Watson hit touchdown throws of 21 yards to Zac Brooks, 6 yards to Jordan Leggett and a spectacular, high-arching ball to Artavis Scott from 51 yards out -- and all against the best statistical defense in the country. "Not every team can say they're playing the No. 1 (defense) in the country," Watson said. "We wanted to score points and show them what we had." Clemson finished with 532 yards against an Eagles defense that came in allowing just 140 yards per game. Boston College hadn't allowed so many yards since losing the Independence Bowl to Arizona State after the 2013 season. Watson added a rushing touchdown and the Tigers improved to 6-0 (3-0 ACC) for the third time in five seasons. Watson finished 27-of-41 and Scott had 10 catches for 162 yards. "Man, we came alive," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. The Eagles (3-4) opened 0-4 in league play for the first time since 2012, when they finished 1-7 in the ACC. Jeff Smith, Boston College's first true freshman to start since Chase Rettig in 2010, struggled throughout to move the offense against Clemson's defense. Smith finished 7-of-22 for 87 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run in the game's final two minutes. "I thought we came out hard, playing hard," Boston College coach Steve Addazio said. "I thought we made some strides in certain areas. We thought we could move the ball against a great defense." Instead, it was Clemson's defense, which ended last year No. 1 overall, that proved to be better. "I definitely think we made that case," Clemson safety Jayron Kearse said. Watson was far from perfect -- he threw two interceptions that led to the Eagles' first 10 points -- and was off target on his long throws early on. Still, the sophomore steadied himself and led the Tigers to their 34th straight win over an unranked opponent and a school-record 14th consecutive win at Death Valley. Watson's long scoring throw to Scott in the third quarter was a perfectly lofted pass that the speedy receiver easily ran under and brought into the end zone. Watson ended up 15 yards shy of his career-best 435 yards passing in a win over North Carolina last season in his first Clemson start. "I was just really amped up," he said. "I settled down in the second half and had fun." The first interception by Justin Simmons set up the Eagles on Clemson's 20 and they quickly cashed in on Smith's 5-yard TD pass to Bobby Wolford. Linebacker Steven Daniels had the other right before halftime, leading to Mike Knoll's 21-yard field goal that drew the Eagles to within 17-10 at the half. Clemson has spent all but one week of the season so far at home. Things will toughen up the next several weeks. The Tigers play at Miami and at North Carolina State the following two weeks before returning home Nov. 7 for a showdown with undefeated Florida State. Swinney said the Tigers are gaining momentum and respect with each victory. "You get what you earn," he said. "If we take care of business, we'll be just fine." | 1 | 96,272 | sports |
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Corey Robinson made a diving catch in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter and No. 14 Notre Dame rebounded to beat Southern California 41-31 on Saturday after squandering a two-touchdown lead. C.J. Prosise ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and DeShone Kizer threw two scoring passes, the second the 10-yarder to Robinson that made it 38-31. Southern California played for the first time since firing coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday. Clay Helton directed the Trojans as interim coach. BOX SCORE: NOTRE DAME 41, USC 31 The Fighting Irish (6-1) bounced back from an embarrassing 35-point loss to USC in the regular-season finale last year. The victory looked in doubt when the Trojans (3-3) scored three straight touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead. But the Irish rallied to win the Jeweled Shillelagh for the third time in four seasons. It marked the first time in seven tries the Irish beat the Trojans after losing by 30 or more the season before. Cody Kessler threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for USC, but the Irish picked him off two passes in the fourth quarter to put the game away. In a game of shifting momentum, the Irish scored 40 points against the Trojans for the first time since 1977 when Norte Dame warmed up in blue jerseys, then came out in green jerseys and beat USC 49-19 en route to the national championship. The Trojans lost consecutive games for the first time since losing three straight to end the 2012 season. USC has three losses this early in the season for the first time since starting 1-4 in Pete Carroll's first year as coach in 2001. The loss also adds to the mounting troubles the Trojans are facing with a game next week against No. 4 Utah followed by a game at No. 23 California. USC athletic director Pat Haden, who spent 12 years as a color analyst on Notre Dame television broadcasts, was feeling lightheaded just before kickoff and was taken to the locker room. Haden made a stop at the hospital, then headed back to Los Angeles on a private plane. Haden has been under scrutiny for his hiring of Sarkisian and for allowing Sarkisian to continue to coach after slurring his words and using inappropriate language during an event in August and other struggles by the football team. Prosise started the go-ahead drive with runs of 17 and 25 yards, then Notre Dame, burned by a double-pass by USC earlier in the game, responded when Torii Hunter Jr. took a backward pass from Kizer and threw a 35-yard pass to Alize Jones at the 12-yard line. The pass by Hunter made up for a fumble into the end zone earlier in the game. Corey Robinson then made a diving catch in the end zone on a pass from Kizer for 10-yard score. It was the first touchdown catch of the season for Robinson. Kessler tried a long pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, but it was intercepted by KeiVarae Russell at the Notre Dame 33-yard line. The Irish responded immediately with a 45-yard pass from Kizer to Fuller at the 22. The Irish drive stalled, but Justin Yoon kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Irish a 41-31 lead. Notre Dame safety Max Redfield intercepted a deflected pass by Kessler on the next possession. Kessler, coming off on of the worst performances in his college career, being sacked five times and being held to 156 yards passing with no touchdowns and two interceptions, was 30-of-46 passing for 365 yards. He had passed for six touchdowns against the Irish a season ago. The Trojans amassed 590 yards total offense. Kizer was 15-of-24 passing for 227 yards and Notre Dame compiled 476 yards offense. It was a cold, raw night with the temperature starting at 40 and dropping to 32 late. The Trojans are 1-7-1 in cold weather games against the Irish. | 1 | 96,273 | sports |
Love Ranch South owner Dennis Hof defends his decision to disclose details of Lamar Odom's leading up to his hospitalization. | 8 | 96,274 | video |
HELENA, Mont. A woman wanted by police in the beating of a Montana daycare owner is now in custody. Lake County Sheriff Dan Bell says that 21-year-old Tashiana Schlensker turned herself in to authorities in Polson around 6 p.m. Friday after a warrant was issued for her arrest. KTMF-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1NNC3Hf ) that she is being held in the county jail pending a court hearing. Police earlier arrested Francis Joseph Jackson on a warrant charging him with aggravated burglary. Police say Ronan daycare owner Martha McClure was severely beaten Oct. 7 after refusing to hand over three children to their drunken father, who did not have legal custody of his children. | 5 | 96,275 | news |
Here's your look at highlights from the weekly photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see. Here's your look at highlights from the weekly photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see. Soldier on parade Here's your look at highlights from the weekly photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see. A soldier stands during a parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the country's ruling party in Pyongyang, North Korea, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. Ironman swimmers Competitors participate in the swimming portion of the Ironman World Championship Triathlon in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 reconstructed The reconstructed cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane is displayed before a news conference by the Dutch Safety Board in Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands, on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. The board said the jet flying over eastern Ukraine was hit by a Soviet-made Buk surface-to-air missile. Two-thirds of the 298 people who died were Dutch. Explosion in Ankara, Turkey A survivor reacts at the site of an explosion in Ankara, Turkey, on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. Two nearly simultaneous explosions in the capital targeted a peace rally held by Kurdish activists and opposition supporters, killing scores of people. The rally was organized to call for increased democracy and an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. Migrants in Greece A child looks out from a window of a bus after arriving by a ferry from the Greek island of Lesbos at the Athens port of Piraeus on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. The International Organization for Migration said than more than 593,000 people have crossed into Europe so far this year of which 453,000 traveled from Turkey to Greece, which has faced a massive influx of people from Syria. Migrants arriving on island of Lesbos Migrants walk along the rocky shoreline after their arrival by boat at the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, on Sunday Oct. 11, 2015. European Union officials say Greece's first migrant processing center is expected to open later in October, allowing migrants to be flown to other EU countries, mostly of their preference, to have their asylum applications processed. Protest in Srinagar, Kashmir A Kashmiri Muslim demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back to Indian security personnel during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse Kashmiris who gathered after Friday afternoon prayers to protest against Indian rule in the disputed region. Flooding in Havana, Cuba Boys hang from the rear bumper of a vintage American car as they play in a flooded street after a heavy rain in Havana, Cuba on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Hidden Pines Fire in Smithville, Texas A helicopter drops water on the Hidden Pines Fire in Smithville, Texas, on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015. A preliminary investigation indicates a farming accident sparked a wildfire that's consumed more than 7 square miles and destroyed 40 structures in Central Texas, authorities said Friday. South Korean navy's destroyer Yulgok Yi Yi, left, leads other vessels during a media day for a naval fleet review off South Korea's southeastern coast near Busan, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. South Korea held its naval fleet review in a decade Saturday, putting state-of-art destroyers on display in a show of force amid heightened tension on the divided peninsula over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. | 5 | 96,276 | news |
Despite falling into a 14 0 hole within the first seven minutes of Saturday's game, Memphis stormed back to beat No. 13 Ole Miss 37 24. The Tigers now sit at 6 0, and have a very real chance to make a run at an undefeated regular season. Here are three takeaways from Memphis's afternoon upset. 1. Memphis has become a dark-horse College Football Playoff threat Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, keep in mind that it's only mid-October, and plenty can change between now and Championship Saturday. The American Athletic Conference is surprisingly deep this season, with Houston, Temple, East Carolina and Navy all boasting strong outfits. Still, this Memphis team is very good. And with its toughest matchup suddenly in the rearview mirror, it now seems like a real possibility that the Tigers could spark an outpouring of playoff debate come November and December. • NIESEN: Justin Fuente, Paxton Lynch and Memphis's rise into a contender Let's start with what they did well Saturday. Quarterback Paxton Lynch, the 6' 7", 245-pound redshirt junior who was overlooked as a recruit coming out of Deltona, Fla., went 39 of 52 for 383 yards with three touchdowns and only one interception that came on a deflection in which his pass bounced straight up in the air. Lynch was at his best when it mattered most: He went 4 of 5 during the drive that pushed Memphis's lead to 24 14 before the half, and completed two third-down attempts on the opening drive of the third quarter to help make the score 31 14. The Tigers' defense, meanwhile, gave up 440 total yards, but even that's slightly deceiving. Sixty-eight came via a receiver pass from Laquon Treadwell to Quincy Adeboyejo on Ole Miss's second play from scrimmage. This unit, too, shined in big situations. It limited the Rebels to a 30.8% conversion rate on third downs (4 of 13) and stuffed them on a pair of pivotal fourth-down tries. (More on that below.) Most impressive, Memphis went from the brink of being blown out to in command for the final 40 minutes of regulation. That's especially notable against a foe of this caliber. Saturday marked the first time the Tigers knocked off a ranked opponent since they toppled No. 6 Tennessee on Nov. 9, 1996. Now, they've downed a team that already defeated Nick Saban and Alabama. And that's what makes Memphis's dark-horse résumé so intriguing. The Tigers now become huge Ole Miss fans moving forward. If the Rebels (5 2) respond to win the SEC West (they still have just one conference loss, and hold the tiebreaker over the Crimson Tide), we could land in a situation in which an unbeaten Memphis is vying for a playoff spot against a team it holds a head-to-head win against. Plus, in a year in which no teams appears infallible, it's conceivable many contenders could end the season with two losses. In that event, would Memphis get the nod? Memphis's case is a long shot, sure. But is earning a berth impossible? Hardly. 2. The game shifted on a crucial series in the second quarter Consider the situation: Ole Miss led 14 7 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Rebels ran 6' 4", 296-pound defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche for no gain on third-and-short from the Memphis 10-yard line, and then handed the ball to sophomore tailback Jordan Wilkins on fourth-and-one. Wilkins lost six yards, and all of the momentum from the Rebels' quick start was lost. Going for it on fourth down here is understandable. Freeze has transformed his program into an SEC contender largely by using an ultra-aggressive approach. But continuing to deploy Nkemdiche, Ole Miss's top defensive player and a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in next spring's NFL draft, on offense is questionable at best. It's a lot of fun when it's working , but it also leaves him vulnerable to injury. That's exactly what happened on Saturday. Nkemdiche missed the remainder of the game with a concussion , and Lynch and Co. thrived in his absence. Second-guessing aside, this series shifted the matchup. Following the turnover on downs, Memphis outscored Ole Miss 24 0 over the next 15:26 of game time. 3. Justin Fuente is going to be a man in demand this winter It's hard to understate just how impressive a job Fuente has done in Memphis. The fourth-year coach inherited a program that had gone 5 31 over its previous three seasons. He finished 7 17 over his first two years in 2012 and '13, and since then he has only gone 16 3, a stretch that includes a victory over BYU in last year's Miami Beach Bowl. Memphis has won 13 consecutive games; it won 11 from 2008-11 combined. With this off-season's coaching carousel shaping up to be wild , expect Fuente to be a candidate for numerous high-profile jobs. Three Power Five head coaches have already been fired USC's Steve Sarkisian, Maryland's Randy Edsall and Illinois's Tim Beckham and South Carolina's Steve Spurrier stepped down on Monday night of this week. After Fuente reshaped Memphis from a farce into a force, expect a big-time program to want him to do the same. | 1 | 96,277 | sports |
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Finding a way to win while losing starters to injury has become a reality for Iowa this season. It happened again on Saturday. Akrum Wadley stepped in for injured running back Jordan Canzeri and ran for 204 yards and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns to carry the No. 17-ranked Hawkeyes over No. 20 Northwestern 40-10. BOX SCORE: IOWA 40, NORTHWESTERN 10 With the victory, Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) grabbed control of the West Division race and does not have a ranked opponent left on its regular-season schedule. Despite being down five starters before the game, the Hawkeyes continued to roll and are off to their best start since their 2009 Orange Bowl season when they won nine in a row. "The toughness and the fight of this team has - you can expect that any week," quarterback C.J. Beathard said. "The way this team fights, I felt like we would come out on top." With Canzeri sidelined in the first quarter with an ankle injury, Wadley took over for Iowa. The injury occurred following a short run when Northwestern linebacker Jaylen Prater landed on Canzeri, folding his ankle under a pile of players. Afterward, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said it is believed Canzeri suffered a sprain. The Hawkeyes are off next week. "Next man in - we've got four great backs (and) it's just big play waiting to happen," Wadley said. "Any one of us is capable of making big runs and I just stepped up to the plate." Wadley, who had only eight carries coming into the game, scored his third touchdown on a 2-yard run with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter, extending Iowa's lead to 23-10. His record-tying fourth scoring run, which followed a Northwestern fumble on the Wildcats ensuing drive, came on a 4-yard run. Northwestern (5-2, 1-2) turned the ball over three times as the Wildcats lost for the second straight week after five consecutive victories. After losing 38-0 to Michigan last week, the Wildcats' defense - which was surrendering a Football Bowl Subdivision-leading seven points a game prior to the loss against the Wolverines - struggled again. They allowed 492 total yards. Northwestern scored 10 points in the second quarter to get within 16-10 at the half. Quarterback Clayton Thorson connected with Christian Jones on a 4-yard touchdown pass before Jack Mitchell hit a 20-yard field goal with 2:40 remaining in the second quarter. Northwestern failed to score the rest of the way. The Wildcats are attempting to avoid the kind of collapse they experienced in 2013 when Northwestern lost seven straight games after winning its first four. "We'll get right back to work - the team has to make a decision. (Are we) the team that won five games and made plays and we're making plays all over the place," coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "Or (are we) a team the last two weeks quite frankly that is void of making plays." ------ AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org | 1 | 96,278 | sports |
Vice President Joe Biden strongly defended religious liberty in the United States and around the world on Saturday evening, saying "where there's division, too often there is a ripe ground for extremists to sow havoc." (Oct. 17) | 8 | 96,279 | video |
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- After the snap was flubbed on a punt attempt and the ball went flying as the final seconds ticked down, Jalen Watts-Jackson found himself in perfect position to make an unforgettable play. Watts-Jackson grabbed it and raced 38 yards into the end zone for a touchdown on the final play of the game, giving the seventh-ranked Spartans a shocking 27-23 win over No. 12 Michigan in one of college football's most unlikely endings. BOX SCORE: MICHIGAN STATE 27, MICHIGAN 23 "Football is a crazy, crazy game," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. "You can't hardly explain it." With the Wolverines ahead 23-21 and 10 seconds left, Michigan punter Blake O'Neill bobbled a low snap, and spun around to try and make the kick. But he was hit, the ball popped free, Watts-Jackson caught it, avoided a few defenders in the final yards and made it into the end zone. "A mistake was made," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said somberly. "Mistakes were made. It's very unfortunate circumstances." Watts-Jackson hurt his hip after the winning score, was carted off the field and Dantonio said he was taken to a hospital. Michigan State (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) has won seven of eight in the series, its best stretch in more than a half-century. Michigan (5-2, 2-1) lost for the first time since opening the season with a setback at Utah. The Wolverines were seconds away from sealing the win after Sione Houma ran for two TDs, Kenny Allen kicked three field goals and forcing the Spartans to turn the ball over on downs with 1:47 left at its 45. The Spartans had only one timeout left and used it after the next snap. Michigan had two and Harbaugh used both, including one with 10 seconds left to set up the final punt and discuss all options. "If you go for it, you leave them with a Hail Mary opportunity," Harbaugh said. "We could protect and throw a long pass. We ran through the scenarios and felt like the best decision was to punt. They didn't have any returners. It was a matter of punting it. We messed up." Michigan State moved the ball up and down the field against a team that had shut out three straight opponents, picking up 386 yards -- mostly through the air -- and 20 first downs. Connor Cook was 18 of 39 for 328 yards and a TD and Aaron Burbridge had nine receptions for 132 yards for the Spartans. Jake Rudock was 15 of 25 and 168 yards and avoided turning the ball over. In fact, both teams took good care of the football until the final snap. It looked like a trick play was going to lead to a setback for the Spartans. Dantonio, known for having the guts to call trick plays, called for a fake punt when no one was expecting it. Punter and backup quarterback Tyler O'Connor ran 7 yards on a fourth-and-8 from the Michigan State 31, turning the ball over on downs. Michigan took advantage, moving to a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter on Houma's 1-yard run. ------ AP college football website: collegefootball(at)ap.org | 1 | 96,280 | sports |
Thousands of migrants are crossing into Slovenia from Croatia after Hungary closed its border to them. Around 2,700 arrived in Slovenia on Saturday and more were expected overnight. Most aim to travel on to Austria, Germany and other countries. Slovenia's army has been placed on standby to help police deal with the influx, Prime Minister Miro Cerar said. He said Slovenia would accept the migrants as long as Austria and Germany kept their borders open. Hungary said it closed its border with Croatia at midnight on Friday because European Union leaders had failed to agree a plan to stem the flow of asylum seekers. Last month it also shut its frontier with Serbia, which was another transit route to Western Europe. On Saturday, hundreds of refugees were bussed across Croatia, from its border with Serbia to its border with Slovenia. Many had spent weeks walking through Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to reach the Croatian border. Slovenian authorities registered them and then arranged transport to the Austrian frontier. Slovenia's official STA news agency later some of the migrants had already reached the Austrian border and were being registered at the Spielfeld crossing. A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said most of the migrants crossing Slovenia were from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. "They are fleeing from war... they are literally running for their lives," Caroline van Buren told AFP news agency at the Petisovci checkpoint. "Unlike other countries, Slovenia had time to prepare. It's not perfect, but things are moving." A train carrying about 1,200 migrants arrived at the Sredisce ob Dravi crossing, AFP reported. Meanwhile, two buses carrying mostly families with small children and babies arrived at the Gruskovje crossing where they were given medical help, food and warm clothes. Can deeds match words?: The challenges ahead for the EU and Turkey The pull of Europe: Five migrant stories Merkel under pressure: Chancellor's migrant policy faces criticism at home Focus on Turkey: Why the EU views Syria's northern neighbour as key Crisis in graphics: Migration numbers explained "We are going to focus even more on safety and security and order so our country can function normally,'' Prime Minister Cerar said. Croatia is a member of the EU but, unlike Hungary and Slovenia, it is not part of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel. However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said border controls with Slovenia would also be temporarily reinstated to safeguard Hungary from a "mass wave of unidentified, uncontrolled migrants". German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to Turkey on Sunday for talks on the migrant crisis with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Tens of thousands of migrants are arriving in the EU from Turkey, risking a sometimes perilous sea crossing to the Greek islands. On Saturday, 12 refugees - four of them children - drowned while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos, the Turkish coastguard said. They were thought to be from Syria or Afghanistan. InsertBodyImagePlaceHolder_3 Have you been affected by the migration crisis? You can email [email protected] with your experiences. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: Whatsapp: +44 7525 900971 Send pictures/video to [email protected] Upload your pictures/video here Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay Send an SMS or MMS to 61124 or +44 7624 800 100 Or use the form below | 5 | 96,281 | news |
The winner of the fifth annual stone crab eating contest in Florida munches through 25 claws in under 15 minutes. Rough cut (no reporter narration). | 5 | 96,282 | news |
When Tidjane Thiam unveils his plans for Credit Suisse on Wednesday the Swiss bank's new chief executive will likely rest his case on three Cs: capital, cuts and charm. Thiam will show his hand after taking the reins at Zurich-based Credit Suisse in July from British insurer Prudential. Investors expect him to refocus the bank's business toward wealth management and asset management, while shrinking its investment bank and closing the capital gap on rivals. Expectations remain high for Thiam after news of his appointment in March sent the bank's shares soaring almost 8 percent. "Big ships are hard to turn," said one top 20 investor in Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank behind local rival UBS. "But… he knows how financial markets work. I think he will announce some sales, a little-bigger-than-expected capital increase... and an improving dividend story." Thiam's predecessor Brady Dougan faced criticism for not following UBS which scaled back its investment bank, an industry in flux since the financial crisis, and focused on more stable wealth management. Credit Suisse's capital position has also been a persistent concern for investors. Credit Suisse declined to comment ahead of the Oct. 21 strategy update when the bank will also present its third-quarter results. Near the top of Thiam's agenda at presentations in London will probably be a move to tap the market for cash. The consensus is for the bank to seek at least 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.2 billion). However, Thiam may hold off on giving an exact figure before Switzerland outlines tougher capital rules due by the end of the year. Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Andreas Brun said a new requirement in line with the 5 percent leverage ratio target cited in an unconfirmed report would leave Credit Suisse with a 5 billion franc shortfall in core capital based on his full-year estimates. "RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT" Along with a cash call to investors, Thiam is expected to signal more explicitly that private banking and wealth management will be a central priority. Credit Suisse is the world's fourth-biggest private bank by assets after UBS, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. A renewed push in high-growth Asia, where Credit Suisse is the third-largest player, would be key. Investors expect Thiam to trim the investment bank to which Credit Suisse allocates around 60 percent of its leverage capital, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Shedding or shrinking cash-intensive units like its macro products, prime brokerage and fixed-income businesses would help Thiam free up much-needed capital. Credit Suisse could also cut up to 2 billion francs in costs, sell its U.S. private bank and shake up parts of its top management, the Schweiz am Sonntag paper has reported. Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Dirk Becker cautioned this more incremental approach could be a letdown to investors who had hoped for a dramatic revamp, which might have included a purchase of Swiss private bank Julius Baer. "A bit of cost cutting, a bit of downsizing of investment banking, a bit of reorganisation and, in order to pay for it, raise capital -- that would be very disappointing unless he pulls a rabbit out of the hat," said Becker, who has a "reduce" rating on the stock and a 22.50 franc target price. To avoid any disappointment Thiam will lean on the same charm that has won over the Swiss media -- long-time critics of his predecessor Dougan -- and pleased investors. (Editing by Keith Weir) | 3 | 96,283 | finance |
Mets take first game against Cubs New York Mets' Daniel Murphy is congratulated by teammate Travis d'Arnaud after hitting a home run during the first inning of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, in New York. IMAGES: 2015 MLB PLAYOFFS Endzone celebration The Michigan State Spartans celebrate in the endzone after defensive back Jalen Watts-Jackson #20 scored the game winning touchdown against the Michigan Wolverines during the final seconds of college football game at at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, in East Lansing, Michigan. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Home sweet home Toronto Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson slides into home plate to score on an RBI single by Edwin Encarnacion during the sixth inning in Game 2 of baseball's American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. IMAGES: 2015 MLB PLAYOFFS Memphis upsets Ole Miss Memphis defensive back Dontrell Nelson (10) breaks up a pass intended for Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (1) in the first half Saturday in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis won 37-24. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Plowing through C.J. Prosise #20 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish plows into the end zone with a six-yard touchdown run against the USC Trojans in the fourth quarter of the game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, in South Bend, Indiana. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Nadal stumbles again Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after losing a point during his men's singles semi-final match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on Saturday. Nadal lost to Tsonga. Can't dodge it New York Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud tags out Chicago Cubs' Starlin Castro at home during the fifth inning of Game 1 of the National League baseball championship series Saturday, in New York. Castro tried to score from second on a hit by Javier Baez. IMAGES: 2015 MLB PLAYOFFS Block party Jack Cichy #48 of the Wisconsin Badgers attempts to block a punt by Joe Schopper #31 of the Purdue Boilermakers during the third quarter of a game at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday in Madison, Wisconsin. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season All out Schalke's Franco di Santo, left, and Berlin's Sebastian Langkamp challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC Berlin in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Saturday. Schalke defeated Berlin with 2-1. Jankovic through to final Jelena Jankovic of Serbia celebrates after winning her semifinal match against Venus Williams of the United States at the WTA Hong Kong Open tennis tournament in Hong Kong, Saturday. Lining it up Rory McIlroy lines up a putt on the first hole during the third round of the Frys.com Open on Saturday at the North Course of the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California. No stopping Devontae Booker of the Utah Utes runs for a 62 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of their 34-18 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, in Salt Lake City, Utah. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Royal celebration Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson of the Royals celebrate the win over the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, in Kansas City, Mo. Court with a view Venus Williams of the United States faces Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in Victorial Park stadium as part of the WTA Prudential Hong Kong Open on Saturday in Hong Kong. Getaway New Zealand's Jerome Kaino tries to break free during the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match between New Zealand and France at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales on Saturday. Are you ready for some baseball? Fans tailgate before Game 2 of baseball's American League Championship Series between the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday, in Kansas City, Mo. Taking the high road East Carolina's Bryce Williams jumps over Tulsa's Jeremy Brady during an NCAA college football game in Greenville, N.C., Saturday. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season On your mark Yachts jostle for position at the starting line of the annual Rolex Middle Sea Race in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Malta, Saturday. More than 100 yachts from 22 different countries are competing in the 606 nautical mile Mediterranean classic, which takes the yachts from Malta, around Sicily and back. Touchdown catch Malachi Dupre #15 of the LSU Tigers catches a touchdown over Quincy Wilson #6 of the Florida Gators at Tiger Stadium on Saturday, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Last minute hero Schalke's Max Meyer, on the ground, is mobbed by his team after scoring the decisive goal in the last minute of the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC Berlin in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Saturday. Schalke defeated Berlin with 2-1. Pit stop madness NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Matt Kenseth, front, and others stop along pit road in the Kansas Lottery 300 auto race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Saturday. A miss at home plate Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin misses the throw to home plate as the Royals' Eric Hosmer comes in to score during the seventh inning in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, on Saturday, in Kansas City, Mo. IMAGES: 2015 MLB PLAYOFFS The best in the business Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid in action against Levante during a La Liga match at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, in Madrid, Spain. Real Madrid won 3-0. Crowded field Maxime Martin of BMW Team RMG leads Timo Scheider of Audi Sport Team Phoenix around the the first corner during race 1 of the DTM German Touring Car Hockenheim Race at Hockenheimring on Saturday in Hockenheim, Germany. Last-gasp effort Alabama receiver ArDarius Stewart (13) dives for a pass as Texas A&M defensive back Brandon Williams (21) breaks up the play during the second half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, in College Station, Texas. Alabama won 41-23. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Elated jump Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates his win in the men's singles semi-final match against Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on Saturday. Making his way Clemson Tigers wide receiver Artavis Scott (3) carries the ball during the first quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Clemson Memorial Stadium on Saturday, in Clemson, S.C. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Official collision North Carolina's Shakeel Rashad (42) collides with an official as Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford (10) runs the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, in Chapel Hill, N.C. IMAGES: 2015 College Football Season Pavelski scores San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) scores a goal past New York Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak (41) and defenseman Nick Leddy (2) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, in New York. IMAGES: 2015-16 NHL Season Rooney scores Manchester United's Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring his side's third goal during the Barclays Premier League match at Goodison Park on Saturday, in Liverpool. With the goal, Rooney has moved to second on the all-time English Premier League goalscoring records. As fancy as it can get France supporters pose prior to a quarter final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and France at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, in Cardiff, South Wales. The punch that took the mouthpiece out Jimmy Lange punches the mouthpiece out of the mouth of Mike Sawyer during their light heavyweights bout at EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University on Saturday, in Fairfax, Virginia. Outsider Zac Parton (L) on Dibayani rides in race 6 of the David Jones Cup during Caulfield Cup Day at Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. IMAGES PREVIOUS DAY'S PHOTOS | 1 | 96,284 | sports |
Ariana Grande initiated a Twitter love fest between herself, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato on Saturday afternoon! | 6 | 96,285 | entertainment |
Should we be talking more about the 6-0 Seminoles earning a place in the College Football Playoff? Shae Peppler gives us her take. | 1 | 96,286 | sports |
The Kansas City Royals staged yet another improbable postseason comeback on Saturday, rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning for a 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays -- and a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. The seventh started innocently with Ben Zobrist lifting a popup to shallow right field. But the ball fell between right fielder Jose Bautista and second baseman Ryan Goins. BOX SCORE: ROYALS 6, BLUE JAYS 3 That misplay seemingly rattled Blue Jays starter David Price, who had retired 18 consecutive batters coming into the inning. By the end of the inning, Price was on the bench and the Royals had scored five runs. They added another in the eighth. Game 3 is Monday at 7 p.m. ET in Toronto (on FS1). | 1 | 96,287 | sports |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Paxton Lynch and the upstart Memphis Tigers showed that their high-scoring offense can work against anybody. Even a nationally ranked opponent from the mighty Southeastern Conference. Lynch threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns to lead Memphis over No. 13 Mississippi 37-24 in a convincing victory that showed the Tigers might just be the best team in the country that isn't in a Power Five conference. BOX SCORE: MEMPHIS 37, OLE MISS 24 Memphis (6-0) has won 13 straight games dating back to last season, which is the third longest streak in the nation. It was the first win for the Tigers over a ranked opponent since 1996. Ole Miss (5-2) jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game -- partly thanks to a 68-yard touchdown pass by receiver Laquon Treadwell on a trick play -- but Memphis responded with 31 unanswered points to take a 31-14 lead early in the third quarter. "We got down early and there were a couple of long faces on the sideline, but we knew we had to keep plugging away," Lynch said. "We knew early in the game we were moving the ball on them." The rankings may say this game was an upset, but the Tigers didn't appear overmatched. The Rebels were able to pull within 31-24 later in the third quarter, but could get no closer. Treadwell caught a school-record 14 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-7, 245-pound Lynch was superb, doing whatever he wanted against the Rebels' secondary. He completed 39 of 53 passes, helping the Tigers regroup following the rough start. It helped that he had plenty of time to throw. When the game was over, jubilant fans poured onto the field to celebrate. Security guarded the goal posts and fans took selfies with players. Lynch -- who else? -- was the main attraction. "I got hit harder in that (postgame) pile than I did the whole game with all those fans smacking me on top of the head," Lynch said. Anthony Miller was Lynch's favorite target, catching 10 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Memphis coach Justin Fuente was pleased with the way his team responded to the early adversity. "Invariably when you've got a young, inexperienced team, they get out there and try to do more than they're supposed to," Fuente said. "They settled down and made some plays." Ole Miss' Chad Kelly completed 33 of 47 passes for 372 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Rebels had some good moments, but a disastrous second quarter proved too much to overcome. It was an implosion accelerated by two questionable coaching calls. The first was when Robert Nkemdiche, one of the team's best defensive players, was injured while running the ball in a short-yardage situation. The team said the 6-foot-5, 296-pounder suffered a concussion and he didn't return. The second decision was even more stunning. Coach Hugh Freeze opted to stay with his offense on fourth-and-1 even though Ole Miss was at its own 34. Kelly didn't come close to converting on the run, Memphis took over and scored a touchdown seven plays later to take a 24-14 lead going into halftime. Memphis pushed its lead to 31-14 in the third quarter before Ole Miss finally righted itself, responding with 10 straight points. But it was too little too late. Ole Miss has lost two of three since a road victory over Alabama in September. "You've got to give all the credit to Memphis," Kelly said. "They played hard. They played to the whistle and knew what they were doing." Jake Elliott kicked a crucial 42-yard field goal with 9:44 left remaining that gave Memphis a 34-24 lead and halted the Rebels' momentum. The Tigers later used a clock-chewing drive that lasted more than seven minutes and resulted in another field goal to finish off the victory. After that, it was time to celebrate for Memphis, which earned arguably its biggest win since beating No. 6 Tennessee 21-17 in 1996. Usually known as a basketball school, the game drew 60,241 fans, which was the most for the Liberty Bowl since 2006. ---------- Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP. AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org. | 1 | 96,288 | sports |
On the evening of Feb. 3, 2013, the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers met to decide NFL supremacy. On Sunday afternoon, the two teams play again, hoping to stave off 2015 irrelevance. Staying on the NFL mountaintop has proven difficult for both organizations since Super Bowl XLVII. Retirements, free-agent departures and injuries have whittled away talented and deep rosters. There have been off-field issues and on-field deficiencies. After engaging in a classic shootout on the sports' biggest stage, the respective franchise quarterbacks have buckled while having to carry the weight of an entire organization. "It feels so long ago," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said when asked this week about his team's 34-31 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, the last time the two teams met in a game of significance. "It's disrespectful to even talk about it, because you have so many guys on this team that weren't a part of it. They're trying to be a part of something great in the moment, and I am, too." It has been a little over 32 months since Flacco, the game's Most Valuable Player, lifted the Lombardi Trophy skyward at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and the 49ers trudged through a sea of confetti and into a despondent locker room. Both teams, ignoring the volatility of an NFL season, vowed to get back. Nowadays, they feel further away than ever. Since the 2012 season, the Ravens have a 19-18 regular-season record and one playoff victory. The 49ers are 21-16 in that same span with two playoff wins and a NFC conference championship berth in 2013. When they meet today at Levi's Stadium, both will be buried at the bottom of their divisions, carrying 1-4 records and facing questions about where the two teams will go from here. "I feel like one franchise, the Ravens, is hitting a hump, and I think the 49ers are in a valley right now," said former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik, now an analyst for ESPN. "San Francisco has had a lot of transition. That's reflected, I think, where they are as an organization. When I look at the Ravens, I still remind myself that they've lost three games by a total of 11 points. I don't see the Ravens in the same situation as I see San Francisco in right now." Still, the Ravens and 49ers are a testament to how hard it is to win consistently in the NFL and keep championship-caliber teams together. Of the 106 total players on the active rosters for Super Bowl XLVII, only 22 of them are still with the team that they represented that Sunday. That list includes only 10 total starters. "The NFL in itself, every week is crazy. Every week is hard," said 49ers first-year coach Jim Tomsula, the former defensive line coach on Jim Harbaugh's staff before being elevated to the top job. "You talk about three years ago, that's an eternity in the NFL with free agency and the way everything goes." One expected, one unexpected decline For the Ravens, significant change following the Super Bowl was expected. Ravens coach John Harbaugh said this week that it was "obvious ... why we have turned over so many people," alluding to the team's tight salary-cap situation and the veteran-laden 2012 roster. The 2012 Ravens were the oldest Super Bowl team in a decade. Ray Lewis had already announced his retirement and Matt Birk would soon. Ed Reed headed a large group of free agents. "That last Super Bowl was sort of the last stand for the Ray Lewis and Ed Reed group," said Phil Savage, a former Ravens executive and the ex-general manager of the Cleveland Browns. "They knew that there was going to be a shift culturally from the Ray Lewis-led Ravens to the Joe Flacco-led Ravens. That was happening even in that last Super Bowl year." For the 49ers, change was sudden and often surprising. Their 2012 roster was loaded with both emerging and established stars, a mix that included precocious quarterback Colin Kaepernick and star linebackers Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith. But since losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the 2013 NFC championship game, the 49ers have unraveled. Acrimony between Harbaugh and the 49ers front office and ownership resulted in a parting of ways following last season. The surprising retirements of Willis, offensive tackle Anthony Davis and linebacker Chris Borland, and the expected one of defensive linemen Justin Smith further thinned San Francisco's talent level and leadership group. "You've got to start over with a head coach. That's huge. And the next thing is, they lost players, but they lost a lot of players that they didn't expect to lose," said NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly, a former top executive for the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans. "You don't expect to lose retirements. You don't plan on that. They lost too many guys in too short of a time with too many changes. That's hurting them." Just in the last two offseason, the list of free agents to leave the respective teams includes Torrey Smith, Pernell McPhee, Arthur Jones, Corey Graham, James Ihedigbo, Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Donte Whitner, Chris Culliver and Mike Iupati. Because of salary cap restraints, Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome felt compelled to trade Anquan Boldin and Haloti Ngata. Some recent early round draft picks haven't panned out, and player misconduct has run its course through both organizations. Ray Rice's domestic-violence case cast a shadow over the team's 2014 season, and was part of a series of Ravens arrests. The 49ers have had more players arrested than any other team since 2012, and Aldon Smith's ongoing legal issues forced San Francisco to release one of the league's best defensive players. "Those are things that drain the energy from your organization," Savage said. The defections and draft-day misses have put the onus on the respective quarterbacks. Flacco, who signed the biggest contract extension in franchise history following the Super Bowl, had arguably the worst season of his career in 2013. He rebounded last year, but he's again dealing with a lack of accomplished playmakers. Meanwhile, Kaepernick, signed to a seven-year, $127 million contract extension in 2014, currently leads the NFL's 29th-ranked offense. "Clearly, there's a huge difference between the two quarterbacks," said Casserly, referencing Flacco and Kaepernick. "I've said many times that Kaepernick is the same guy he was a couple years ago. The difference is the team. The running attack was much better. ... The offensive line was better. The defense was better. Everything was better around him, so he didn't have to make as many plays throwing the football." Different outlooks Dominik doesn't expect the Ravens to be down for long. He wouldn't even be shocked if a win Sunday sparks a run back into playoff contention. As for the 49ers, a first-year head coach, a regressing quarterback and a retirement-riddled roster make for a far steeper climb. Savage also predicted a Ravens revival. "You can argue that they could be 0-5, they could be 3-2. It's just the volatility of the league," Savage said. "There are only 32 teams. You've got two or three really good ones, two or three really bad ones and everybody else is sort of in the middle. But as long as you have stability at the quarterback position and the head-coaching spot, you're always going to be ahead of half of the league before you even roll the ball out there. The Ravens have that in John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco, not to mention in Ozzie." Earlier this week, the NFL Network replayed the broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII. Several Ravens, including Flacco, gave it a glimpse. However, what was a joyous occasion is now a painful reminder of how much things have changed for both organizations. "It's tough to stay at that level. I think you see that consistently across the board," Flacco said. "It's just tough from year to year to keep that same team together and keep injuries down and all those things. I'm sure they feel the same way, and every other team that has only won one game or two games or zero games probably feels the same way." [email protected] twitter.com/jeffzrebiecsun Baltimore Sun reporter Jon Meoli contributed to this article. | 1 | 96,289 | sports |
MONTREAL (AP) -- Jeff Petry's game-winning goal was special in three ways: It made the Montreal Canadiens 6-0-0 for the first time in franchise history. BOX SCORE: CANADIENS 4, RED WINGS 1 It was the first goal scored by a Canadiens defenseman this season. It came against Detroit, where he grew up as the son of former Detroit Tigers pitcher Dan Petry. "It's always nice when you can score a big goal and it just adds a little bit being against that team," Petry said after the Canadiens got a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings on Saturday night. Brendan Gallagher scored in the second, Tomas Plekanec made it 3-1 and then Brian Flynn scored an empty-netter with one second remaining for Montreal, which last went unbeaten in its first six games in 1977-78 (5-0-1). Rookie Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit (3-2-0), which was coming off a 5-3 loss to Carolina on Friday night. "We knew they played last night, so we wanted to get pucks behind them and wear them out," said Petry. Montreal had a 41-22 edge in shots on Detroit and may have scored more if not for sharp play by goalie Petr Mrazek, who faced 20 alone in the third period. The Canadiens entered the game only 2 for 21 on the power play and worked on their man-advantage play during their morning skate. They responded with two power-play goals. "To win on the road against a team that's undefeated and is playing with a lot of confidence, we have to win the special teams battle and tonight we lost it," said Detroit coach Jeff Blashill. "We have to continue to improve on both the power play and the penalty kill." Larkin, who extended his points streak to start his career to five games, opened the scoring 4:47 into the second frame when he flipped a backhander toward the net and saw it sneak past Carey Price's pad on the near side. It was the first time this season Montreal trailed in a game, but that didn't last long. Gallagher's tying goal on a power play at 7:44 needed video review. A cross-ice pass from Plekanec was cleared by Kyle Quincey into the on-rushing Gallagher's skates and went in just as the Canadiens winger slid into Mrazek and the net. The NHL situation room ruled it counted because he didn't direct the puck in with a skate. "I've got no comment on that goal or the process," said Blashill. "Obviously it wasn't the prettiest of goals, but I'll certainly take it," said Gallagher. "It wasn't quite the way we drew it up, but to get a power-play goal after we talked about it was nice." A Jonathan Ericsson tripping call on David Desharnais put Montreal on a power play and Petry got his first of the season 6:32 into the third on a blast from the point with Desharnais parked in front of Mrazek. Plekanec, who signed a two-year, $12 million contract extension on Friday, scored his fifth of the season at 17:56 by tipping in a pass from Gallagher, who stripped the puck from Mike Green in the Detroit zone. NOTES: The Red Wings had center Darren Helm (concussion) and defenseman Danny Dekeyser (foot) back from injuries to make their season debuts. ... Before the game, referee Marc Joanette was honored in an on-ice ceremony for officiating his 1,000th NHL game. ... The Canadiens will try to stretch their winning run to seven games Tuesday at home against St. Louis. "We don't want to talk about the streak," coach Michel Therrien said. "We only want to talk about our next game." | 1 | 96,290 | sports |
NEW YORK - The sounds and chants of "HAR-VEY, HAR-VEY, HAR-VEY'' reverberated throughout the night Saturday at Citi Field. The adoration and praise bounced off the New York Mets' clubhouse walls. The compliments, and, a bit of resignation, were whispered in the Chicago Cubs' clubhouse. BOX SCORE: METS 4, CUBS 2 Matt Harvey, who just five weeks ago drew scorn and criticism from New Yorkers for suggesting that he might not pitch in the postseason, turned into "Dark Knight Rising,'' with this glorious performance. Harvey overpowered the Chicago Cubs' powerful lineup, throwing virtually every pitch he wanted in almost any situation, leading the Mets to a 4-2 victory over the Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, reminding all of New York of his greatness. All is forgiven, big fella. "That time hurt him,'' Mets first baseman Michael Cuddyer said. "It's a tough situation. That time hurt him. Hurt his heart. Hurt him emotionally. Tonight, he went out there and proved who Matt Harvey is. "Whoever doubted him, needed to take notice tonight. He went out there and showed what he was about.'' Harvey certainly has had some fabulous games in his career, but on this night, he has never been better. He toyed with the Cubs all evening, giving up just four hits and striking out nine in 7 2/3 innings, throwing virtually every pitch with perfection. When he walked off the mound for the final time, the sellout crowd of 44,287, the largest in Citi Field history, gave him a standing ovation, chanting his name. "I wanted to go out there,'' Harvey said. "I wanted this game bad. I know there's been a lot of speculation or talks going around the past month, but I kind of wanted to kind of stop all that. "I think after everything that's happened, I think the biggest thing was really staying focused on what I had to do tonight.'' The Cubs were overwhelmed all evening, swinging and missing on 42% of their swings against Harvey, the second-most in a start this entire season. "He had about as good of command as you possibly can of all his pitches,'' Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "His stuff is always good, but the command was outrageous tonight." The Cubs knew it would be a rough night almost the moment Harvey stepped onto the mound. He stuck out the first batter he faced, Dexter Fowler, on an 87-mph changeup, the second batter, Kyle Schwarber, on an 85-mph curveball. It wasn't until the fifth inning when the Cubs had their first baserunner. Cubs power hitter Jorge Soler was left shaking his head after the game. He never hit the ball out of the infield. In his first at-bat, he took a 90-mph changeup for strike 1. He looked at an 84-mph curveball for strike 2. And swung away and missed at a 96-mph fastball for strike 3. "I could tell by the first pitch I caught,'' said Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud, "that it was going to be a fun night.'' It was that kind of night for the Cubs, and that kind of indelible image Harvey left with crowd, reminding everyone of his talent and toughness. "He was good,'' Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. "He was throwing everything early for strikes. It's not like he was just trying to establish his fastball in the first inning. It was changeup, curveball, slider. "That's what separates him. He can throw those pitches, and they're good pitches. Some guys are just throwers and they're going to leave stuff over the plate, but he knows how to hit his spots." Harvey has now reached 201 innings now - 16 more than his surgeon recommended he pitch this year in his first year back after Tommy John surgery - but he's made it clear to his teammates that he's not about to stop now. "There was never any doubt in my mind that if we needed him in Game 1 of the championship series,'' Mets captain David Wright said, "he'd be out there. There have been a couple of speed bumps here and there, but they [fans] understand the competitor, and understand how badly he wants to go out there and succeed for the city. "He lives in New York, he enjoys the spotlight, he enjoys the big stage. You saw that tonight. He's the type of guy when you get the nationally televised game, a Saturday night in New York, and when you get to that type of stage, his expectations go up. "His mind-set is that he wants to go out there and show off a little bit.'' And, oh, did he ever. Harvey's control was impeccable. He didn't go to a two-ball count until the eighth batter of the game, David Ross. It wasn't until he faced Fowler in the fourth inning that he reached a three-ball count. He didn't issue an unintentional walk until the seventh. The Cubs couldn't even knock him out of the game when Fowler hit a line drive off his right biceps in the sixth inning. The Mets' training staff and pitching coach Dan Warthen rushed to the mound, only for Harvey to wave them back to the dugout. Stay away. He's got this. "Anyone that had any doubts about his toughness or desire to go out there and pitch,'' Cuddyer said, "should take notice tonight. The guy is a beast. He's an animal. He went out there and proved it. He had that look in his eyes that he was going to dominate.'' Harvey, who threw 97 pitches, including 65 for strikes, saved his greatest brilliance when he needed it the most in the seventh inning. Rizzo walked, and was nearly doubled off when Starlin Castro hit a liner to second baseman Daniel Murphy, only to get back safely when his throw hit Rizzo's left wrist. Soler then hit a soft grounder up the middle that was deflected by Harvey, but too slow for shortstop Wilmer Flores to make a play. Mets manager Terry Collins had his bullpen working, and Warthen advising, as the Mets' 2-1 lead was in jeopardy. So what does Harvey do? He strikes out Javier Baez on three pitches, with fastballs clocked at 95, 96 and 96. Next up, pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella: He throws two 95-mph fastballs for strikes, an 89-mph slider and 84-mph curveball for balls, and strikes him out chasing an 88-mph changeup. "They both have great power, and could have taken him deep right there,'' d'Arnaud said, "and he just went out there and executed pitches. That was huge.'' Harvey pumped his right fist into the air, screamed into the night, and was greeted with high-fives by everyone on the bench. Collins, mesmerized himself by Harvey's performance, or scared to death by his bullpen, even let him go back out in the eighth. Harvey quickly retired the first two batters but Schwarber brought him back to reality, hitting a moon shot over the right-center-field fence. That ended Harvey's night, but as he walked off the mound, the crowd stood and wildly cheered him, letting him know that he's loved again. "I try not to get too involved in some of that stuff because it's really nothing I can control,'' Collins said. "But I talk to this guy every day. I know exactly what he's made of. I know exactly what he's about, and he wants the baseball. He wants it. "If it comes down to a Game 7, he'll want it, believe me. That is not just a mask that he's putting out. This kid likes to compete. "Tonight, when I went to him between innings I said, "How you doing?" He said, "I'm going back out.' '' Who was Collins to stop him? Really, who's anyone to stop him now? Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale | 1 | 96,291 | sports |
Sometimes when I'm in Honolulu, I'm convinced I've misplaced Hawaii. The Aloha Tower, built in 1926, was once the figurative high point on Oahu. That's what passengers saw as their cruise ships docked in Honolulu. Today, people arriving from the mainland see an urban area that ranks No. 4 among U.S. cities in its number of skyscrapers. Land is limited, said DeSoto Brown, historian at the Bishop Museum, so if you can't grow out, you must grow up. Perhaps too grown up. It's not the Hawaii that I and many others remember. I can still find it, though. It requires more effort, but these five places connect me to a Hawaii whose grace shines through despite the chaos and incivility inflicted on it. The hotels The Royal Hawaiian, Matson's Pink Palace, is an awkward reminder that architecture sometimes overtakes local sensibilities. On a piece of once-marshy land that belonged to King Kamehameha I sits this Spanish-Moorish hotel with an exterior that looks more Quixote than Kamehameha. I chatted with Brown at the Bishop Museum, which I've visited several times to quench my historic thirst. (I skipped Iolani Palace, however, where the gentle retelling of ugly events gives me pause.) Because my time was limited on my most recent trip, I took a tour of the Royal and felt the touch and tug of the past in a new way. Kamehameha's favorite wife, Kaahumanu, had a home here. So too did Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the great-granddaughter of Kamehameha. At her death, she held nearly 400,000 acres of Hawaiian land that she endowed to the Kamehameha Schools, where culturally based education helps preserve what was nearly lost. It's fun to see some of the smiling black-and-white photos of the celebrities who've stayed here, including one of a pants-suit-clad Amelia Earhart being taught to split a coconut by Duke Kahanamoku, the Olympian whose name is synonymous with surfing. You can hear about opening night 1927, when hundreds paid $10 each to join the celebration and learn why, in the original building, most of the guest rooms didn't face the water. (Hint: Think arriving on a Matson ship after what builders thought were monotonous days at sea, and you'll understand why the staff and servants had the view of the Pacific and Diamond Head.) The Royal is alive with the past. There are parts I'd rather forget, but they teach us about strength and resilience and, in the case of those garden-facing guest rooms, how precarious it is to predict human behavior absent informed foresight. Tours are at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Info: www.lat.ms/1OKKR0j The colonial-style Moana, which dates to 1901 and was acquired by Matson in 1932, also is an architectural anachronism, but like the Royal, does a good job of letting a bit of the outdoors indoors. You'll find part of that outdoors if you walk from the entrance directly to the back of the hotel, where the mega-banyan tree holds court. The tree is noteworthy - nostalgia alert - because that's where "Hawaii Calls" usually broadcast its radio show beginning in 1935, wrapping up after a 40-year run mostly at the ocean-front hotel. The Moana remained a hotel during World War II; the Royal was used by servicemen for R&R. After the war, barbed wire disappeared from the beaches, and Hawaii began the hard work of trying to move ahead. In many ways - the best ways - the Moana has not, remaining a cool and gracious portal to the past. Tours of the Moana are offered at 11 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Have lunch on the veranda or patio at the Beachhouse, stare at the ocean or sit in one of the rockers and remember. Info: www.moanasurfrider.com An artful look The Honolulu Museum of Art had a Georgia O'Keeffe hanging when I was there last month, and her "Black Lava Bridge, Hana Coast, No. II" ordinarily would have held me rapt. My attention and affections were stolen by many of the other works in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery of the Arts of Hawaii. I was drawn to the Volcano School paintings, especially knowing that Kilauea continues to kick up is heels on Hawaii Island. "The Lei Maker," the 1901 Theodore Wores portrait of a vibrantly dressed child stringing flowers, captured me, perhaps because I had done the very same when I was her age. It is always good to be reminded of home, even if that home is in the very long ago past. Info: www.honolulumuseum.org Pali Lookout You can see where Kamehameha I fought the Battle of Nuuanu in 1795, driving scores of his foes over the cliffs. Take the Pali Highway toward Kailua and stop for a moment at the lookout. This time, there was something I'd not seen on my last three visits: feral chickens, said to be an increasing problem on Oahu. But never mind. The vistas of the windward side are stunning, and you can marvel at the bravery - or was it savagery? - of Kamehameha's troops, who ultimately prevailed in the struggle to unite the islands. It's said that some nights you can hear warriors chanting. I don't go after dark; the history is enough to give me chills. Halona Blowhole At the end of a hot day, I drove about 15 miles east, past Haunama Bay to Halona Blowhole, the natural wonder created by a sea cave. It wasn't at its best that day, but neither was I. As I watched the waves rush in to fill the void, only to be pushed out the hole with a spray of saltwater, I felt cooler, calmer and more relaxed. Yes, there were tourists, but they faded away. As long as I keep seeking it, Hawaii never will. [email protected] | 2 | 96,292 | travel |
Frankenstein may be a work of fiction, but these experiments are real. For decades, scientists have been tweaking the genes of animals to give them desirable (and sometimes just plain bizarre) traits. This is possible thanks to gene editing techniques that make it possible to easily cut and paste DNA. Here are some of the weird and wacky experiments researchers have done on animals over the years. Could humans be next? Follow us on Twitter. Dolly the sheep In 1996, British scientists created the first cloned sheep , named Dolly, by transferring the nucleus from an adult cell into an unfertilized premature egg whose nucleus had been removed, a process called nuclear transfer. Sadly, Dolly died of a lung disease at the age of six. Follow us on Twitter. Glow-in-the-dark mice And in 2002, scientists at Caltech created glow-in-the-dark mice by injecting single-celled mouse embryos with a virus that contained a jellyfish gene for green fluorescence. Researchers have since created glow-in-the-dark fish , cats , and other animals. Follow us on Twitter. Less gassy cows Some of these experiments serve a noble purpose. Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada found the bacterium that produces methane, and in 2009, they created a line of cattle that produces 25% less of the smelly gas than the average cow. This is important because methane from cows is a major source of the greenhouse gases causing global warming. Follow us on Twitter. Silk-spinning goats In 2012, scientists at the University of Wyoming engineered goats to produce a protein in spider silk in their milk. Silk is useful for a variety of applications in materials science and medicine, and it's hard to get spiders to make enough of it. Follow us on Twitter. Allergy-free milk That same year, AgResearch, a company owned by the New Zealand government, engineered a cow to produce milk without one of the proteins that many people are allergic too, known as β-lactoglobulin. The milk also contained more casein, a nutritious protein found in milk. Follow us on Twitter. GMO salmon And soon, we could be eating genetically modified animals. The AquAdvantage(R) Salmon , created by a company called AquaBounty Technologies, contains a gene from the Chinook salmon that makes it grow much faster. The salmon is currently under review by the FDA. Follow us on Twitter. Super-muscly pigs In the last few years, researchers have found ways to edit genes much more easily and accurately. Earlier this year, South Korean scientists used a gene editing technology called a TALEN to tweak the genes in pigs to make them produce more muscle, Nature News reported . Follow us on Twitter. Tiny pet 'micropigs' We might even start to have genetically modified pets. Scientists in China used a new genome editing technique called CRISPR/Cas9 to modify the genes of Bama pigs to create tiny "micropigs" which they plan to sell commercially. The feat stirs up a larger debate over how this powerful method should be used. Follow us on Twitter. Pig organ donors Gene editing technology could also revolutionize medicine. Geneticist George Church of Harvard University and his colleagues recently modified more than 60 genes in pig embryos, in an effort to make the animals suitable donors for human organ transplants. That's ten times the number of genes that scientists have edited in any other animal, Nature News reported . Follow us on Twitter. GFP bunny But scientists aren't the only ones doing these experiments. In 2000, an artist named Eduardo Kac created a glow-in-the-dark bunny, known as the " GFP bunny ," an albino rabbit that fluoresced under blue light. Follow us on Twitter. | 4 | 96,293 | lifestyle |
Italy said Saturday that UNESCO has approved its suggestion to have the United Nation's famous Blue Helmets protect heritage sites around the world from attacks by Islamist militants. "UNESCO has said yes to the Cultural Blue Helmets," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said in a statement, adding that 53 countries voted in favour after the destruction of sites including Palmyra in Syria by the Islamic State group. "Faced with IS terrorist attacks and the terrible images of Palmyra, the international community cannot stand back and watch," he said, adding that the permanent members of the security council had supported the idea. United Nations peacekeepers, known by their distinctive blue helmets, would be able to profit from the expertise of Italy's cultural and heritage police, "who carry out training missions around the world", he said. The idea is aimed at "important sites at risk from terrorist attacks, or in war zones, or zones hit by natural disasters, where the international community will be able to send Cultural Blue Helmets to protect them or defend them before they can be destroyed". Franceschini called for the UN to "immediately define the operational aspects of this international task force". IS seized control of Palmyra in May and has realised international fears by destroying some of the most prized sites in the UNESCO World Heritage listed ancient city. The militants have carried out a sustained campaign of destruction against heritage sites in areas under their control in Syria and Iraq, including the important Iraqi sites of Hatra, Nimrud and Khorsabad, an ancient Assyrian capital. Islamist militants are also accused of being behind attacks on ten religious and historic monuments in the Unesco World Heritage city of Timbuktu in Mali. | 5 | 96,294 | news |
Ben Zobrist credits Royals fans for sparking five-run rally in Game 2. | 1 | 96,295 | sports |
Thanks to one of the biggest postseason meltdowns on this side of Clippers-Rockets, the Texas Rangers failed to advance to the American League Championship Series this season. But one Ranger that certainly can't be faulted for not leaving it all out on the baseball diamond is third baseman Adrian Beltre. On Friday, two days after the Rangers blew a 2-0 series lead to fall to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS, general manager Jon Daniels revealed per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that Beltre played the entire second half of the season on a torn ligament in his thumb. Colby Lewis had a meniscus cleanup today; Daniels confirmed Beltre played 2nd half of season with torn thumb ligament. No word if surgery Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) October 16, 2015 Though Beltre missed two of the five ALDS games with an unrelated back issue, he managed to log four hits in nine at-bats during the series. Even more impressive are his numbers post-All-Star break when he was supposedly hampered by the ligament tear every time he swung the bat: 11 home runs and 61 RBIs on .318/.376/.509 hitting splits. The production of the 36-year-old Beltre was one of the biggest reasons why a dark horse Rangers team swiped the 2015 AL West division title. And with this latest revelation, it looks like Beltre's attainment of full baseball immortality is just about complete. | 1 | 96,296 | sports |
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Fourth-ranked Utah is a legitimate contender for its first Pac-12 title and a berth in the College Football Playoffs when quarterback Travis Wilson plays well. The Utes become one dimensional when he doesn't. Utah fans were thrilled to see ''Good Travis'' on the field Saturday night when the Utes held off Arizona State 34-18 to remain the lone undefeated team in the conference. Utah (6-0, 3-0) went into halftime with a 14-10 lead as both teams struggled to generate much offense. Wilson found his stride on the two scoring drives, completing 11 of 12 passes with two touchdowns. He completed 7 of 12 passes on the other five drives that all resulted in punts. Arizona State (4-3, 2-2) brought plenty of pressure. The Sun Devils entered the game blitzing on 55 percent of their plays and tied for No. 7 in the nation with 19 sacks. The Utes had given up two sacks in their first five games - the second fewest in the country - but Arizona State got home twice in the first half and finished with five sacks. Utah rushed for minus-2 yards in the first half, but Wilson picked up with 220 yards through the air, throwing touchdown passes to Kenneth Scott and Harris Handley. The Sun Devils managed just three first downs and 91 yards in the first 30 minutes, with Mike Bercovici completing 6 of 13 passes. All of Arizona State's scoring came off special teams. Tim White had a 100-yard kickoff return down the right sideline for a score after Utah took a 7-0 lead. The Sun Devils went up 10-7 on a 34-yard field goal after De'Chavon Hayes returned a punt 48 yards. Hayes had one man to beat, punter Tom Hackett, but was tripped up. Utah gave up a safety on a failed trick kickoff return and Arizona State added three more points on the ensuing possession to take an 18-14 lead in the third quarter. Devontae Booker's 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave Utah a 21-18 lead it never relinquished. He finished with 118 yards rushing and two touchdowns. ''I always say I get stronger as the game goes on,'' Booker said. ''They were stopping me for a lot of the game, but you can only hold off the beast for so long.'' Bercovici threw for 242 yards and one interception, and Kalen Ballage had 49 yards on 18 carries. The Sun Devils were held to 257 yards of total offense. | 1 | 96,297 | sports |
NEW YORK For decades, prosecutors say, Vincent Asaro managed to keep his role in an infamous mob heist immortalized in the hit movie "Goodfellas" hidden from the outside world while others of his generation were locked up or died gangland deaths. A frail-looking Asaro finally emerged from the shadows after his arrest last year and will go on trial Monday on charges he pocketed a cut of the $6 million Lufthansa robbery at Kennedy Airport in 1978 one of the largest cash thefts in American history. If convicted, he'd become the latest casualty of an erosion of the Mafia's code of silence that has decimated the aging upper echelon of New York City's underworld, sometimes called the "Oldfellas." Prosecutors at the trial in federal court in Brooklyn will give jurors a lesson in a bygone era when the five Italian Mafia families had a greater appetite for brazen crimes and deadly payback for betrayals. The defense will counter by accusing the government of using shady turncoat gangsters with faded memories or incentives to lie. Asaro, 80, who has a history of convictions for lesser mob-related crimes, was arrested again after his cousin, Gaspare Valenti, came forward with new information about the heist and agreed to wear a wire to try to coax admissions out of the reputed longtime member of the Bonanno crime family. Prosecutors haven't revealed why their key witnesses turned on Asaro, though it's believed he may have held a grudge after being cheated out of a cut of Asaro's $750,000 take from the heist, said Jerry Capeci, a Mafia expert who writes the ganglandnews.com web column. "There were 750,000 reasons for this guy to cooperate," Capeci said. Valenti, a Bonanno associate who has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, is expected to take the witness stand to testify about Asaro's alleged role in the Lufthansa heist and a gruesome murder of a suspected mob turncoat. Other witnesses will include former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking mobster to ever break the mob's oath of omerta by becoming a government witness. Asaro was a Bonanno soldier, with the Mafia slogan "death before dishonor" tattooed on his forearm, in late 1978 when hooded gunmen looted a vault in the Lufthansa's cargo terminal and stole about $5 million in untraceable U.S. currency that was being returned to the United States from Germany, along with about $1 million in jewelry. The theft was orchestrated by James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke a late Lucchese crime family associate portrayed by Robert De Niro in "Goodfellas" with the blessing of Asaro, whose crime family considered the airport its turf, court papers said. Afterward, higher ranking conspirators were expected to receive $750,000, "but most did not live to receive their share, either because they were killed or it was never given to them," the papers said. In one of the recordings made by the cooperating cousin, Asaro complained in a profanity-laced rant, "We never got our right money, what we were supposed to get. ... Jimmy kept everything." But prosecutors claim Asaro indeed get his money, and blew most of it at the racetrack because of a gambling problem, prosecutors said. As evidence of that, another cooperator "is expected to testify that, following the Heist, he saw the defendant regularly at a local track betting larger amounts than usual and extending extortionate loans," the government said in court papers. Asaro gave Massino, his boss in a Bonanno crew, an attache case filled with gold and jewelry from the heist as a tribute, the papers said. The windfall set the stage for a bloodbath portrayed in "Goodfellas." De Niro's character became irate over fellow mobsters' purchases of flashy cars and furs, fearing they would attract law enforcement attention, and had some of them whacked a plot twist based on the inside account of Henry Hill, the mob associate-turned informant played in the film by Ray Liotta. In addition to the real-life heist, Asaro is charged in the 1969 murder of a suspected law enforcement informant, Paul Katz, whose remains were found during an FBI dig in 2013 at a house once occupied by Burke. Asaro told the cooperator that Burke "had killed Katz with a dog chain because they believed he was a 'rat,'" the court papers said. Valenti, 68, also told investigators that Asaro and Burke brought Katz's body to a vacant home in Queens where it was concealed beneath a cement floor, the paper said. In the 1980s, at the behest of the imprisoned Burke, Asaro ordered the cooperator to dig up the remains "a human skull, bones and some corduroy clothing material" and move them to another location, the papers said. In the years since the heist and the murder, the Martin Scorsese blockbuster was made, books were written and some of the robbers were convicted or rubbed out. Asaro quietly went about his business and, for a time, got away with it, though his criminal career and personal life were rocky, authorities said. In the 1990s, the then-captain in the Bonanno family was demoted to soldier because of "his gambling problems and failure to repay debts to those associated with organized crime," court papers said. Prosecutors say at one point, he found himself a subordinate of his mobster son, who rose through the ranks with his help a favor his father regretted. "Jerry's for Jerry," Asaro said on one of the tapes. "I lost my son. I lost my son when I made him a skipper. I lost my son when I put him there." By 2013, "after a series of high-profile Bonanno family members cooperated with law enforcement or were incarcerated," the defendant had been promoted again to captain and won a position on the "panel" or administration running the Bonanno family, court papers said. But by then, the cooperator had come forward to crack open the Lufthansa time capsule and the feds were closing in. "Sometimes mob secrets never get told," Capeci said. "And sometimes they get told a lifetime later." | 5 | 96,298 | news |
CONCORD, Mass. Getting a ticket from police in one Massachusetts town isn't necessarily a bad thing. Concord's police department says it plans to issue up to 200 "citations" for good behavior. That could include such things as wearing a bicycle helmet or a seat belt, yielding to pedestrians at a crosswalk or looking both ways before crossing a street. Police Chief Joseph O'Connor says it's a light-hearted way to connect positively with the community. Instead of a fine or a court appearance, these citations can be redeemed for two scoops of ice cream at Reasons to be Cheerful, a local dessert cafe. The owner of the restaurant, Wade Rubinstein, agreed to donate the ice cream. | 5 | 96,299 | news |
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