Monday, August 4, 2025

 
Home Blog Page 1651

Team USA hits strong first note, but music will be blaring vs. Canada

0

MONTREAL — There was an absence of the pomp and circumstance that accompanied Wednesday’s Canada-Sweden opener of this 4 Nations Face-Off.

There was also an absence of electricity both on the ice and in the stands for this match between the USA and Finland that had been evident in the rink 24 hours earlier.

But there was hockey, high-stakes, best-on-best hockey, even if it took quite the while for the Americans to get to their game and display superiority in their 6-1 victory in advance of Saturday night’s showdown against the mighty Canadians.

“It is going to be,” said Brady Tkachuk, “the biggest game I’ve ever played in my career.”



This story originally appeared on NY Post

Trump’s Acting Deputy AG BLASTS US Attorney for the SDNY in Blistering Letter After She Abruptly Resigns | The Gateway Pundit

0


Danielle Sassoon/ courtesy of US Attorney’s Office SDNY

As reported earlier, Acting US Attorney for the SDNY Danielle Sassoon abruptly resigned just a few days after she was ordered to drop charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

At least six federal prosecutors have resigned after Trump’s DOJ dropped charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

On Monday, the Trump Justice Department moved to drop federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

President Trump’s Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed federal prosecutors in New York to drop the case.

Emil Bove’s directive to drop the charges against Eric Adams prompted Danielle Sassoon to write a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

On Wednesday, Danielle Sassoon informed Attorney General Pam Bondi that she was preparing to bring a superseding indictment against Eric Adams in response to the department’s move to dismiss the charges.

Sassoon claimed Adams’ lawyer was engaging in quid pro quo.

“Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed,” Sassoon wrote, according to NBC News. “Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion.”

Emil Bove blasted Danielle Sassoon after she abruptly resigned on Thursday in a blistering 8-page letter obtained by NBC News.

Bove said the DOJ will not tolerate the misconduct and insubordination.

NBC News reported:

After Sassoon informed Bove of her resignation, he sent her a blistering eight-page letter in which he blasted her refusal to immediately drop the charges. Bove also placed at least two other prosecutors who worked on the case on leave, according to the letter, which was obtained by NBC News.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate the insubordination and apparent misconduct reflected in the approach that you and your office have taken in this matter,” Bove wrote. “Your office’s insubordination is little more than a preference to avoid a duty that you regard as unpleasant and politically inconvenient.”

But legal experts noted that Bove, in a highly unusual move, said in his memo Monday that the Justice Department could renew its investigation of Adams in the future. That step raised concerns that the department could use its threat of prosecution as leverage against Adams to help the Trump administration achieve its goals.



This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit

Syria's quest for 'national unity': On paper, principles of diversity & inclusivity 'almost perfect'

0

The Paris conference to chart Syria’s political future will include all segments of Syrian society except for the Kurdish-led administration in the northeast and loyalists of the repressive former government of Bashar Assad. Interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa has promised to launch an inclusive political process to set up a new constitution and representative government for all Syrians. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on the national dialogue conference, FRANCE 24’s Mark Owen is joined by our Senior Reporter James André and Marc Pierini, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe and former EU ambassador to Syria and Turkey.


This story originally appeared on France24

One Briton dead and three injured in New Zealand crash | World News

0

One Briton has died and three are seriously injured following a crash between a four-seater quad-cycle and a car in New Zealand, officials have said.

The incident occurred at around 10.45am local time on Thursday on Puruatanga Road in Martinborough, on the country’s North Island.

New Zealand Police told Sky News officers were working with the British High Commission in Wellington as part of their investigation.

Wellington district road policing manager Inspector Brad Allen said in a statement: “The deceased was critically injured but died at the scene before they could be airlifted to hospital.

“Three other people, also on the bike, suffered serious injuries.

“The serious crash unit are conducting a scene examination and inquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.”

He added officers’ “thoughts, aroha (the Maori word for love) and condolences go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased”.

A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said: “Our team in New Zealand have provided advice on bereavement abroad after one British person died and three others were seriously injured in Martinborough.

“Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.”

Read more from Sky News:
Body found in woodland in search for missing man
Where is modern love going wrong?
Kayaker swallowed by humpback whale

A spokesperson for Life Flight told Radio New Zealand two people were flown to Wellington Hospital after the collision.

Indi Bikes Martinborough owner Wayde Mines told Stuff his business had hired the four-seater vehicle to two couples visiting the area, which is known for its vineyards.

“It was a beautiful day in Martinborough that ended badly,” he said.

An employee at Moy Hall Vineyard was one of the first people on the scene, and told the local news outlet: “It looked like a group of people who were just heading out into the vines like many do. It’s pretty upsetting.”

Shayne Hammond, general manager of Poppies Winery, which is near the crash site, described the incident as “horrifically sad”.

He told Radio New Zealand: “You can’t express the sadness. Everyone’s hurting and a couple of the guys are definitely struggling.”



This story originally appeared on Skynews

Texas judge fines New York doctor for sending abortion pills to Texas : NPR

0


New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a press conference in the Queens borough of New York on Nov. 26, 2024.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP


hide caption

toggle caption

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Texas judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, a ruling that could test “shield laws” in Democratic-controlled states where abortion is legal.

The ruling was handed down on the same day New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor, Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who was charged in that state with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor.

Unlike Louisiana, Texas did not file criminal charges against Carpenter but accused her in a December lawsuit of violating state law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation.

State District Judge Bryan Gantt issued the fine against Carpenter and ordered her to pay attorney’s fees. He also issued an injunction barring Carpenter from prescribing abortion medication to Texas residents. Gantt noted in his order that despite being notified, Carpenter failed to appear in court.

Earlier Hochul, a Democrat, said she would not honor Louisiana’s request to arrest and send the doctor to Louisiana after she was charged with violating the southern state’s strict anti-abortion law.

“I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana,” Hochul said at a news conference in Manhattan. “Not now, not ever.”

She also said she sent out a notice to law enforcement in New York that instructed them to not cooperate with out-of-state warrants for such charges.

Carpenter is co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Julie Kay, the group’s executive director, said the Texas ruling does not change shield laws and that “patients can access medication abortion from licensed providers no matter where they live.”

The group also criticized Louisiana’s efforts to extradite Carpenter.

The case against Carpenter in Louisiana appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to another state.

Pills have become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and are at the epicenter of political and legal fights over abortion access following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Both the Texas and Louisiana cases will test New York’s so-called shield law, which gives legal protections to doctors who prescribe abortion medication to conservative states where abortions are banned or otherwise limited. Other Democratic-controlled states have similar “shield laws.”

Prosecutors in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, indicted Carpenter on charges that she violated the state’s near-total abortion ban, which allows physicians convicted of performing abortions, including one with pills, to be sentenced up to 15 years in prison.

Louisiana authorities said the girl who received the pills experienced a medical emergency and had to be transported to the hospital. The girl’s mother was also charged and has turned herself in to police.

In a videotaped statement Thursday, Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said “there is only one right answer in this situation, and it is that that doctor must face extradition to Louisiana where she can stand trial and justice will be served.”

Landry’s office did not immediately return an emailed request for comment sent after Hochul refused the extradition request.

In the Texas case, the state’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has said that the 20-year-old woman who received the pills ended up in a hospital with complications. It was only after that, the state said in its filing, that the man described as “the biological father of the unborn child” learned of the pregnancy and the abortion.



This story originally appeared on NPR

Amid SoCal storm, possible tornado tears off roofs at mobile home park

0

A mobile home park in Oxnard was hit by an extreme wind event that meteorologists were describing as a “possible weak tornado,” which tore roofs off homes and ripped power cables to the ground Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The damage took place while wide swaths of Ventura and Los Angeles counties were under flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings amid a powerful atmospheric river storm.

The Ocean-Aire Mobile Home Estates in Oxnard was hit by fearsome 60-mph wind gusts shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Around a dozen properties were damaged as well as carports, awnings and power lines.

The park is at 2250 Butler Road, near Oxnard Boulevard and Pleasant Valley Road, and provides a valuable source of affordable housing for families and seniors.

No injuries were reported at the park, but the area remained without electricity around 6 p.m., according to reporting from the Ventura County Star.

Meteorologist Carol Smith said the weather service intended to assess the damage Friday and determine whether there was indeed a weak tornado at the park.

She said this was probably what happened based on the weather patterns seen on radar and the fact that roofs were ripped off buildings, which typically doesn’t happen from strong winds alone.

“Sometimes when you have really strong [wind] uplift and there’s strong thunderstorms or a collection of storms, you can get this [wind] rotation,” she said, describing how the tornado may have formed.

The weather service had warned about the possibility of tornadoes when issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for L.A. County on Thursday afternoon.

Mobile home parks have been hard hit during the extreme weather events Southern California has experienced this year.

More than 300 mobile homes were destroyed in the Palisades fire in January, which wiped out a rare pocket of affordable housing by the beach in Pacific Palisades.

Many former residents of the Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates and Tahitian Terrace mobile home park are now struggling to find housing within their budgets.



This story originally appeared on LA Times

Islam Makhachev sidelines Ilia Topuria’s double champ dreams, claims Featherweight king too fat to make weight

0


Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC Featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria has made his Lightweight intentions clear.

The timeline is shaky, but there is no doubt Topuria wants to jump to 155-pounds and challenge Lightweight roost-ruler Islam Makhachev at some point in the near future. Given the undefeated champion’s monstrous 2024, which involved knockout wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, he’s in a pretty good position to shoot his shot.

Makhachev has an alternative explanation for Topuria’s dreams of a second title. Per the Russian champion, Topuria is starting to struggle to make the Featherweight limit after gaining weight from “the good life” of being champion. Still, he’s open to the fight provided Topuria prove himself at Lightweight first.

“I heard he has problems cutting weight,” Makhachev explained. “That he can no longer fit into the limit of his weight class. He’s probably already gained fat from the good life, and he already wants to leave the belt and move up. But, I’m not going to give him the chance right away, because he hasn’t done all the work in his own weight class.

“He only has one defense. He has other contenders he should have beaten, but he doesn’t want to cut weight anymore. So let him move up, and when he earns his chance, we will definitely fight.”

There are definitely several intriguing options remaining for Topuria at Featherweight. He’s expected to rematch Volkanovski at some point in the next few months, but red-hot contenders Movsar Evloev and Diego Lopes would be very interesting challenges as well if he sticks around.

Makhachev remains unbooked as well. His next step is less clear after the Arman Tsarukyan debacle, but perhaps he chases a second title of his own?

Insomnia

Jorge Masvidal for (state) senate? I wonder if punching Colby Covington in the streets hurts or helps his campaign.

After the Jon Jones story yesterday, Adlan Amagov clips are hot right now.

I hope for “Shogun’s” sake that he is on every steroid known to man in the lead up to his GFl fight vs. Yoel Romero.

Two Justin Gaethje clips that both gave me a chuckle.

An interesting bit of strategy/technique from The Fighting Nerds:

Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling trilogy match is going down over on Russian TUF.

Spoiler?

Lightweight banger alert!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Can a Superman punch be low key? Apparently so!

Lifted the leg to check and stepped it down directly into a left hook, catching his opponent on one leg — nice!!!

Just an absolutely unpleasant way to lose a fight.

Random Land

Outstanding.

Midnight Music: Alternative, 2005

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.




This story originally appeared on MMA Mania

Greek island where hardly anyone gets dementia with locals swearing by two drinks

0


The picturesque Greek island of Ikaria isn’t just known for its stunning landscapes and year-round sunshine; it’s also the home to some of the world’s oldest inhabitants, boasting impressively low levels of dementia.

On Sarah Ann Macklin’s Live Well Be Well podcast, longevity guru Dan Buettner provided insights into the remarkable brain health of Ikarians.

He revealed: “(People from) Ikaria, Greece live about eight years longer (on average than US citizens), largely without dementia, no discernible dementia.”

In a shocking contrast, Sarah highlighted that dementia is currently the UK’s leading cause of death among certain age groups. Responding to this, Dan emphasised: “Well, people ought to be paying attention to the way people live in Ikaria, because we found every person aged over 65, (and) there were only three very mild cases of dementia.”

Dan Buettner, who has explored numerous global longevity hotspots, noticed particular healthy practices in Ikaria during his visit.

Herbal Tea

In his book, The Blue Zones – Secrets for Living Longer, he suggests that their regular consumption of herbal tea might be key to their exceptional cognitive health.

“Many Ikarians treat themselves to a cup of herbal tea every day, often using wild herbs harvested from the rocky island and sweetened with local honey,” he wrote.

Crucially, he added: “Many common herbs act as mild diuretics and contain anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, which may contribute to Ikaria’s low rates of cardiovascular disease and dementia.”

Coffee

Next, Dan shed light on the importance of coffee in the diet of Ikarians and how prominent it was across several other of the longevity hotspots that he has researched down the years.

Explaining how the islanders drink “copious amounts of coffee”, he said that drinking the popular hot drink has been linked to lower rates of dementia and even Parkinson’s disease. Dan’s claims are backed up by a wealth of research on the notion of the chances of dementia possibly being reduced by coffee consumption.

In a study released in 2021 from a group of Chinese and American researchers in the PLOS Medicine journal, it was found that people who drank two to three cups of coffee with two to three cups of tea per day had approximately 30 percent lower risk of dementia or having a stroke compared to those who didn’t drink either hot drink.

You can find more information on dementia on the NHS website here.



This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk

Amazon’s RTO Mandate Complicated By Lack of Desks, Space

0


Amazon issued a return-to-office (RTO) mandate in September calling its corporate employees back to the office by January 2. Over a month has passed since the mandate, and some Amazon employees have yet to see the office — because Amazon can’t find enough desks to hold its 350,000-person workforce.

According to a Thursday report from The Wall Street Journal, Amazon has postponed RTO for staff assigned to dozens of U.S. offices, including New York City, Houston, and Atlanta, due to a lack of space. Amazon employees assigned to some locations are still working remotely as they wait for further instructions about when they should be in the office full-time.

The San Francisco Bay Area is especially short on space. Amazon has 18 offices in the region, but it lacks desks for at least 800 employees. In response last month, an internal group submitted a proposal to Amazon’s facilities division asking for a new office to open in the area. According to the WSJ report, a spreadsheet supporting the proposal has drawn signatures from close to 600 Amazon employees.

Related: JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

An Amazon spokesperson told the WSJ in an email that “the overwhelming majority” of corporate employees have desks and that only “a relatively small number” of Amazon’s “hundreds of offices” are “not quite ready” for fully in-person work.

Even in offices with desk space, there have been logistics issues with the RTO mandate, such as where employees should park. Jeff Ferris, principal technologist at Amazon Web Services Cloud, posted on X last month that when he tried to park his car in the office garage, he was turned away by security.

“2,000 people, 900 parking spaces,” he wrote.

Some Amazon employees who are back in the office report not having teammates who work from the same location, challenging the objectives of in-person work.

When Amazon CEO Andy Jassy first announced the RTO policy in September, he stated that it would be “easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing [is] simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another.”

He reiterated the message at a leaked all-hands meeting in November, telling employees that the RTO mandate was about “strengthening our culture” and fostering collaboration.

Amazon employees have been working in-person at least 3 days per week since May 2023. Other companies with five-day in-office policies include Salesforce and Walmart. Amazon laid off dozens of employees in its communications and sustainability departments last month.

Related: Starbucks’ New CEO — Who Lives 1,000 Miles from HQ — Will Not Tell Employees What Specific Days to Come Into the Office




This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur

Giants in early stages to sell off part of iconic franchise

0

The Giants could start their second century in existence with some fresh blood in ownership.

The Mara and Tisch families have hired a banker to sell up to 10 percent of the team, following the lead of three other NFL franchises, The Post confirmed.

“The Mara and Tisch families have retained Moelis & Company to explore the potential sale of a minority, non-controlling stake in the New York Giants,” the team said in a statement to The Post. “There will be no further comment in regard to the process.”

Moelis made calls to potential suitors last week, so the process is in the early stages with no sales book out yet, an industry source told The Post.

New York Giants owner John Mara after speaking to the media at the New York Giants training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The opportunity is expected to draw interest from many billionaires in private equity and hedge funds with ties to New York City, leading to a possible record NFL franchise valuation.

Despite recent struggles, the Giants are situated in the largest market in the country and carry the prestige of their eight NFL championships (four Super Bowls).

The Sports Business Journal first reported the availability of the minority stake.

Save the wisecracks, Giants fans.

The decision is not a reaction to the outcry from frustrated fans to “Sell the team!” because of 10 losing records in the last 12 seasons, or to the banner-carrying planes directed at ownership that flew above the stadium on gamedays late last season.

Giants owner John Mara on the field before the start of the first quarter of the Giants and Indianapolis Colts game in East Rutherford, N.J. Bill Kostroun/New York Post

It is a response to a rule passed by the NFL in August that allows private equity firms to buy up to a 10 percent stake in franchises.

The Eagles reportedly sold eight percent total to two wealthy families in deals that valued the franchise at $8.1 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively.

The Bills and Dolphins completed sales of 10 percent each to private partners in December.

The Giants recently were valued at $7.3 billion by Forbes and $7.85 billion by CNBC.

Both sites valued the Eagles at less — in the range of $6.6 billion to $7 billion — prior to their sales agreements.

The Giants were founded by Tim Mara in 1925 and just celebrated their 100th anniversary season.

Joe Schoen and Co-Owner Steve Tisch walk out onto the field during pre-game warm ups before the start of the first quarter during a game in 2023. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

In 1991, Bob Tisch bought a 50 percent stake in the club from the Maras.

Since the passing of partners Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch in 2005, the team has been under the control of their sons John Mara and Steve Tisch on behalf of their families.

John Mara also serves as team president, and the daily operation of the club will remain unchanged.

Prior to August’s rules amendment, NFL teams were allowed to have limited partners in ownership but never pooled money from institutional investors. 

In theory, it opens the door for Eli Manning to become involved in Giants’ ownership, similar to the way that Yankees great Derek Jeter once joined an investment group and became a minority owner with control of baseball operations for the Marlins from 2017-22. 



This story originally appeared on NYPost