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McLaughlin-Levrone breaks world record for 400m hurdles gold None - Sydney McLaughlin Levrone shattered her own world record in the women's 400m hurdles, setting a new record and winning her second consecutive gold medal in the event. American teammate Anna Cockrell won silver. Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics on NBC and streaming on Peacock, July 26 - Aug 11.Aug. 8, 2024
Game on: ABC News says Harris, Trump have agreed to presidential debate on Sept. 10 None - ABC News says Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have agreed to a Sept. 10 debate Game on: ABC News says Harris, Trump have agreed to presidential debate on Sept. 10 ABC News says that both Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Kamala Harris, have agreed to meet in a debate on Sept. 10. The network's announcement on Thursday came shortly after Trump told a news conference that he had agreed to three debates with Harris in September on separate networks. The Harris campaign had no immediate comment. Trump is rejoining the ABC debate days after posting on his social media network that he would not appear on the network, citing a lawsuit he has filed. His decision sets up a highly anticipated moment in an election where the first debate led to a massive change in the race — with Democratic President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Harris. “I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said Thursday. “I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight.” At a private fundraiser in Paris on Thursday, Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, said he “cannot wait” to see his wife debate Trump. He was in Paris as head of the U.S. delegation to the Summer Olympics closing ceremony. Fox News has also proposed a debate between Harris and Trump to take place on Sept. 4, and NBC News is angling to air one on Sept. 25. Trump also said he wants his vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, to debate Harris' choice for veep, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on CBS. The network is discussing potential dates to propose for that meeting. ABC says that David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the Sept. 10 contest. That's the same date that Trump and Biden had agreed to their second and final debate, before Biden's decision put that event in doubt. Any debate promises to take on extra importance with polls showing a tight race between the former president and current vice president. While Harris has ridden a wave of excitement among Democrats since inheriting the mantle from Biden, she has yet to appear at a news conference or give an interview to a journalist. Republicans are already making that an issue. Vance, in a post on X as Trump was in his news conference on Thursday, said Harris was hiding behind a TelePrompter. “It's been 18 days since she answered real questions from the media,” he wrote. ____ Associated Press writer Jocelyn Noveck in Paris contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.
Explorer's family could have difficulty winning their lawsuit against Titan sub owner, experts say None - Legal experts say a lawsuit stemming from the Titan submersible disaster felt inevitable, but winning a big judgment against the owner of the vessel could be very difficult Explorer's family could have difficulty winning their lawsuit against Titan sub owner, experts say PORTLAND, Maine -- A lawsuit stemming from the Titan submersible disaster felt inevitable, but winning a big judgment against the owner of the vessel could be very difficult, legal experts said on Thursday. The family of French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of five people who died aboard the submersible in June 2023, filed a more than $50 million civil lawsuit against submersible owner OceanGate earlier this week. Nargeolet's estate said in the lawsuit that the crew aboard the sub experienced “terror and mental anguish” before the sub imploded and its operator was guilty of gross negligence. Now comes the hard part — winning in court. Legal experts said Nargeolet's estate may get some money from the lawsuit, but it could be a fraction of the amount sought. It's also unclear if there will be any money available, as OceanGate has since shut down operations, they said. Some say that the passengers onboard the Titan assumed risk when they got aboard an experimental submersible headed for the Titanic wreck site. “They made choices to go do this, and it seems to me it was a 50/50 shot anyway it was going to work," said John Perlstein, a personal injury lawyer in California and Nevada. “They bear responsibility too, as well as the guy who built and piloted this thing.” Nargeolet's estate filed its lawsuit on Tuesday in King County, Washington, as OceanGate was a Washington-based company. A spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment on aspects of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Nargeolet's estate are hinging their case in part on the emotional and mental pain of the passengers on board the Titan. The attorneys, with the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston, Texas, said that the crew "were well aware they were going to die, before dying,” since they dropped weights about 90 minutes into the dive. But that could be hard to prove, said Richard Daynard, distinguished professor of law at Northeastern University in Boston. Attorneys will have a difficult time demonstrating that the implosion and resulting deaths were not instantaneous, he said. It could, however, be possible to prove negligence, Daynard said. But even that doesn't guarantee a big-money judgment, he said. “A settlement is a possibility, but presumably if the case has a very tiny chance of winning, the settlement will be a tiny fraction of the amount sought,” Daynard said. The Titan made its final dive on June 18, 2023, and lost contact with its support vessel about two hours later. After a search and rescue mission that drew international attention, the Titan wreckage was found on the ocean floor about 984 feet (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. OceanGate CEO and cofounder Stockton Rush was operating the Titan when it imploded. In addition to Rush and Nargeolet, the implosion killed British adventurer Hamish Harding and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood. No one on board survived. It wasn't surprising to see a lawsuit filed stemming from the Titan case, but Nargeolet's estate could be suing a company that has little assets, said Ted Spaulding, an Atlanta-based personal injury attorney. He characterized the lawsuit as a “Hail Mary” attempt at relief. “I’m not sure there is anyone else to sue but OceanGate in this case. Maybe they could have sued the CEO and co-founder of the company Stockton Rush if he had assets, but he died on the submersible too," Spaulding said. Nargeolet was a veteran explorer known as “Mr. Titanic” who participated in 37 dives to the Titanic site, the most of any diver in the world, according to the lawsuit. His death was mourned around the world by members of the undersea exploration community. There is an ongoing, high-level investigation into the Titan's implosion, which the U.S. Coast Guard quickly convened after the disaster. A key public hearing that is part of the investigation is scheduled to take place in September.
How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 8/8/2024 None - U.S. stocks rallied to their best day since 2022 following an encouraging update on the job market How major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 8/8/2024 The Associated Press By The Associated Press U.S. stocks rallied to their best day since 2022 Thursday following an encouraging update on the job market. The S & P 500 jumped 2.3%, continuing a roller-coaster ride for the market in recent days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.9%. Treasury yields also climbed in the bond market, a signal that investors are feeling less worried about the economy, after a report showed fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. Eli Lilly helped lead the market with a gain of 9.5% after delivering better profit for the spring than expected. Big Tech stocks rebounded. On Thursday: The S & P 500 rose 119.81 points, or 2.3%, to 5,319.31. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 683.04 points, or 1.8%, to 39,446.49. The Nasdaq composite rose 464.22 points, or 2.9%, to 16,660.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 49.31 points, or 2.4%, to 2,084.42. For the week: The S & P 500 is down 27.25 points, or 0.5%. The Dow is down 290.77 points, or 0.7%. The Nasdaq is down 116.14 points, or 0.7%. The Russell 2000 is down 24.89 points, or 1.2%. For the year: The S & P 500 is up 549.48 points, or 11.5%. The Dow is up 1,756.95 points, or 4.7%. The Nasdaq is up 1,648.67 points, or 11%. The Russell 2000 is up 57.35 points, or 2.8%.
US jury convicts Mozambique’s ex-finance minister Manuel Chang in ‘tuna bonds’ corruption case None - A U.S. jury has convicted former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang in a bribe conspiracy case that welled up from from his country’s “tuna bond” scandal NEW YORK -- Former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang was convicted Thursday in a bribe conspiracy case that welled up from from his country's “ tuna bond ” scandal and swept into a U.S. court. A federal jury in New York delivered the verdict. Chang was accused of accepting payoffs to put his African nation secretly on the hook for big loans to government-controlled companies for tuna fishing ships and other maritime projects. The loans were plundered by bribes and kickbacks, according to prosecutors, and Mozambique ended up with $2 billion in “hidden debt,” spurring a financial crisis. “Today’s verdict is an inspiring victory for justice and the people of Mozambique who were betrayed by the defendant, a corrupt, high-ranking government official whose greed and self-interest sold out one of the poorest countries in the world,” Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. Messages seeking comment were sent to Chang's attorneys and to Mozambique's embassy in Washington. Chang was his country’s top financial official from 2005 to 2015. Chang had pleaded not guilty to the U.S. conspiracy charges. His lawyers said he was doing as his government wished when he signed off on pledges that Mozambique would repay the loans, and that there was no evidence of a financial quid-pro-quo for him. No sentencing date was set for Chang, 48. The charges carry the possibility of up to 20 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines for any given case can vary depending on a defendant’s history and other factors. Between 2013 and 2016, three Mozambican-government-controlled companies quietly borrowed $2 billion from major overseas banks. Chang signed guarantees that the government would repay the loans — crucial assurances to lenders who likely otherwise would have shied away from the brand-new companies. The proceeds were supposed to finance a tuna fleet, a shipyard, and Coast Guard vessels and radar systems to protect natural gas fields off the country's Indian Ocean coast. But bankers and government officials looted the loan money to line their own pockets, U.S. prosecutors said. “The evidence in this case shows you that there is an international fraud, money laundering and bribery scheme of epic proportions here,” and Chang “chose to participate,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Genny Ngai told jurors in a closing argument. Prosecutors accused Chang of collecting $7 million in bribes, wired through U.S. banks to European accounts held by an associate. Chang's defense said there was no proof that he actually was promised or received a penny. The only agreement Chang made “was the lawful one to borrow money from banks to allow his country to engage in these public infrastructure works,” defense lawyer Adam Ford said in his summation. The public learned in 2016 about Mozambique's $2 billion debt, about 12% of the nation's gross domestic product at the time. A country that the World Bank had designated one of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies for two decades was abruptly plunged into financial upheaval. Growth stagnated, inflation spurted, the currency lost value, international investment and aid plummeted and the government cut services. Nearly 2 million Mozambicans were forced into poverty, according to a 2021 report by the Chr. Michelsen Institute, a development research body in Norway. Mozambique’s government has reached out-of-court agreements with creditors in an attempt to pay down some of the debt. At least 10 people have been convicted in Mozambican courts and sentenced to prison over the scandal, including Ndambi Guebuza, the son of former Mozambican President Armando Guebuza. Chang was arrested at Johannesburg’s main international airport in late 2018, shortly before the U.S. indictment against him and several others became public. After years of fighting extradition from South Africa, Chang was brought to the U.S. last year. Two British bankers pleaded guilty in the U.S. case, but a jury in 2019 acquitted another defendant, a Lebanese shipbuilding executive. Three other defendants, one Lebanese and two Mozambican, aren't in U.S. custody. In 2021, a banking giant then known as Credit Suisse agreed to pay at least $475 million to British and U.S. authorities over its role in the Mozambique loans. The bank has since been taken over by onetime rival UBS.
Could 2 NASA astronauts be stuck at the space station until next year? Here's what to know None - NASA is wrestling over how and when to bring two astronauts back from the International Space Station after running into trouble with their new Boeing capsule Could 2 NASA astronauts be stuck at the space station until next year? Here's what to know CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA is wrestling over how and when to bring two astronauts back from the International Space Station, after repeatedly delaying their return aboard Boeing's troubled capsule. Do they take a chance and send them home soon in Boeing's Starliner? Or wait and bring them back next year with SpaceX? Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been up there since early June, their planned eight-day mission at the two-month mark and possibly surpassing eight months. Testing continues, with Boeing expressing confidence in its spacecraft but NASA divided. A decision is expected next week. This is Boeing's first time launching astronauts, after flying a pair of empty Starliners that suffered software and other issues. Even before Wilmore and Williams blasted off June 5, their capsule sprang a leak in propulsion-related plumbing. Boeing and NASA judged the small helium leak to be stable and isolated, and proceeded with the test flight. But as Starliner approached the space station the next day, four more leaks erupted. Five thrusters also failed. The capsule managed to dock safely, and four of the thrusters ultimately worked. But engineers scrambled, conducting thruster test-firings on the ground and in space. After two months, there's still no root cause for the thruster malfunctions. All but one of the 28 thrusters seem OK, but the fear is that if too many conk out again, the crew's safety could be jeopardized. The thrusters are needed at flight's end to keep the capsule in the right position for the critical deorbit burn. NASA bristles at suggestions that Wilmore and Williams are stranded or stuck. NASA has stressed from the get-go that in an emergency at the space station — like a fire or decompression — Starliner could still be used by the pair as a lifeboat to leave. A former NASA executive said Thursday the astronauts are “kind of stuck,” although certainly not stranded. They’re safe aboard the space station with plenty of supplies and work to do, said Scott Hubbard. If NASA decides to go with a SpaceX return, Starliner would be be cut loose first to open up one of two parking spots for U.S. capsules. Before that happens Wilmore and Williams would fashion seats for themselves in the SpaceX Dragon capsule currently docked at the space station. That's because every station occupant needs a lifeboat at all times. Once Starliner's docking port is empty, then SpaceX could launch another Dragon to fill that slot — the one that Wilmore and Williams would ride. Like Boeing's Starliner, SpaceX's Dragon is meant to carry four astronauts. To make room for Wilmore and Williams, NASA said Wednesday it could bump two of the four astronauts due to launch to the space station next month with SpaceX. The empty seats would be reserved for Wilmore and Williams, but they would have to remain up there until February. That's because station missions are supposed to last at least six months. Some have lasted a year. Two Russians up there right now will close out a yearlong stint when they return in a three-seat Soyuz capsule in September alongside a NASA crewmate. There's no thought given to ordering up a special SpaceX express, and the Dragon at the station now is the ride home next month for four residents. This isn't the first time a U.S. astronaut has had their stay extended. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and his two Russian crewmates ended up spending just over a year in space after their docked Soyuz capsule was hit by space junk and leaked all its coolant. An empty Russian capsule was sent up to bring them back last September. Wilmore and Williams are both retired Navy captains and longtime NASA astronauts who already have long space station missions behind them. Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, said going into this test flight that they expected to learn a lot about Starliner and how it operates. At their only news conference from space in July, they assured reporters they were keeping busy, helping with repairs and research, and expressed confidence in all the Starliner testing going on behind the scenes. There's been no public word from them yet on the prospects of an eight-month stay. Wilmore and Williams' suitcases were removed from Starliner before liftoff to make room for equipment urgently needed for the space station's urine-into-drinking-water recycling system. So they made do with spare clothes already up there. A supply ship finally arrived this week with their clothes, along with extra food and science experiments for the entire nine-person crew. More supplies are due in a few more months. As for air, the space station has its own oxygen-generating systems. Despite the fat reserves, NASA would like to get back to normal as soon as possible. Besides Wilmore and Williams, there are four other Americans and three Russians on board. NASA deliberately hired two companies to get its crews to and from the space station, just as it did for delivering cargo. The space agency considered it an insurance policy of sorts: If one crew or cargo provider was grounded, the other could carry the load. 'You want to have another alternative both for cost reasons and for safety reasons and options. So NASA needs Boeing to be successful," said Hubbard, who served on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003. Even with the latest setbacks, NASA insists it wants to keep using Boeing Starliners for astronaut rides. The goal is to send up one Dragon and one Starliner every year with crews, six months apart, until the station is retired in 2030. SpaceX has been at it since 2020. Boeing insists its capsule could still safely bring the astronauts home. But the company said Wednesday it would take the steps necessary to bring the capsule back empty if that's NASA's decision. Last week, the company posted a list of all the tests that have been done on the thrusters since liftoff. “We still believe in Starliner’s capability and its flight rationale.” the company said. A longtime space contractor, Boeing has had to overcome multiple Starliner problems over the years. The company had to launch an empty Starliner twice before committing to a crew, repeating the initial flight test because of bad software and other issues. The delays have cost the company more than $1 billion. Hubbard questions whether NASA and Boeing should have launched the crew with the original helium leak, which cascaded into more. “Whatever happens with the Starliner, they need to find out what the problem was and fix it,” he said, “And give everybody confidence they are still in the aerospace business in a major way.” ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
US jury convicts Mozambique’s ex-finance minister Manuel Chang in ‘tuna bonds’ scandal that roiled nation's economy None - US jury convicts Mozambique’s ex-finance minister Manuel Chang in ‘tuna bonds’ scandal that roiled nation's economy US jury convicts Mozambique’s ex-finance minister Manuel Chang in ‘tuna bonds’ scandal that roiled nation's economy
Wall Street rallies to its best gain since 2022 after an encouraging update on the labor market; S&P 500 jumps 2.3% None - Wall Street rallies to its best gain since 2022 after an encouraging update on the labor market; S&P 500 jumps 2.3% Wall Street rallies to its best gain since 2022 after an encouraging update on the labor market; S&P 500 jumps 2.3%
Brittney Griner’s Olympic story is a real-life hero’s journey None - Brittney Griner had a moment while standing on the medal podium after she and Team USA defeated France 67-66 in a nail-biting Olympic gold medal game. She let all of the tears pour out of her while she listened to “The Star-Spangled Banner” and watched the United States’ flag rise to the top of the rafters. She stood tall with a gold medal on her neck and her hand on her heart. USA Basketball’s women’s national team had just made history winning its eighth straight gold medal and Griner had just won her third. Gold medalist Brittney Griner of Team United States stands during the playing of the United States national anthem while on the podium during the Women's basketball medal ceremony on Sunday. Elsa / Getty Images DeWanna Bonner, a former teammate of Griner’s and a current forward for the Connecticut Sun, had foreshadowed the moving scene that took place in Paris on Sunday for the 33-year-old Griner. “I’m pretty sure to hear that national anthem and that gold medal going around her neck is gonna mean so much more to her than probably anybody else in that arena,” Bonner told me July 19, the day before the WNBA All-Star Game. My country literally saved my life. And now I’m able to represent them again, and it just means so much more. So much more. BRITTNEY GRINER Why did winning in Paris and keeping Team USA’s dynastic gold medal streak alive mean so much for Griner? “My country literally saved my life,” she said during WNBA All-Star weekend in Phoenix before flying to Europe for her third Olympic Games. “And now I’m able to represent them again, and it just means so much more. So much more.” Two years ago, Griner couldn’t have imagined that she’d be winning a gold medal for the U.S. or even playing basketball at all. She was still reeling from a nine-year prison sentence from Russian Judge Anna Sotnikova after she was found with two cartridges of hash oil at a Moscow airport. Griner, wrongly detained in Russia, thought she’d still be serving that full nine-year sentence. She was finally released in December 2022 after spending 293 days as a Russian prisoner, when the U.S. swapped her for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. What Griner has gone through in the past couple of years has been nothing short of a “hero’s journey” that is as extraordinary as any fable or piece of Greek mythology. It sounds too remarkable to be true, but it’s a moment in American history that shouldn’t be forgotten. Griner will leave this Olympics as an American hero and a public servant not just for what she did on the court during the United States’ six-game Olympic run, but also for how she has influenced the United States off the court. What makes an American hero? Sacrifice of self, cultural influence and service to community, according to journalist Antonio Olivo. Let’s see how Griner fits the bill. While Griner was detained, and after she returned to the U.S., she and her wife, Cherelle, raised substantial awareness across the U.S. about what the families of wrongfully detained Americans go through. The partnership that the Griners have with the Bring Our Families Home campaign was instrumental in making sure there was pressure on the White House not to forget about the other Americans detained abroad. She and Cherelle were transported back to 2022 when they heard that President Joe Biden had pulled off yet another prisoner swap and brought home Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva. On Aug. 1, she and Cherelle were transported back to 2022 when they heard the news that President Joe Biden had pulled off yet another prisoner swap and brought home Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva. They got the news just as Griner and Team USA were about to play Belgium in the group stage. “It’s a great day,” Griner said after Team USA won that game 87-73. “Head over heels happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home is a win.” Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, Griner talked to NBC News’ Liz Kreutz, who asked her what she wanted people watching the Olympics to know about her. “That BG is locked in and ready to go,” Griner replied. “I’m happy. I’m in a great place, I’m representing my country, the country that fought for me to come back. And I’m going to represent well.” Griner has represented well but not in the typical way that WNBA fans are used to. On what is the hardest basketball team in the world to make, Griner didn’t start for Team USA in the Olympics and averaged around 14 minutes per game while averaging 7.3 points per game. She wasn’t the No. 1 option, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t make an impact. When A’ja Wilson’s shots weren’t falling, Griner would position herself to get the putback. When Team Nigeria’s top scorer, Ezinne Kalu, picked off a pass meant for Griner, the 6-foot-9 center with a 7-foot, 3.5-inch wingspan didn’t stop. She ran as fast as she could and blocked Kalu’s layup on the other end. Griner thrived doing the little things rather than every play being run through her. Heroes don’t consciously think of themselves and don’t stray from their sense of commitment. Overseas for the first time since being wrongfully detained, Griner put her teammates and the fans who graciously sought her autograph above herself. In an interview before Team USA’s semifinal game against Australia on Friday, head coach Cheryl Reeve touched on how Griner always makes time for the people around her. “I think that the reception that she gets and the warmth that she feels for her is something that is incredibly meaningful that she’ll always remember,” Reeve said. “I think what she went through we all sort of haven’t forgotten. … It’s a part of her every day. That will never leave her.” American heroes make major impacts on the nation, on society and in their communities. In addition to raising awareness about a political issue that wasn’t previously getting enough attention in the news, Griner’s presence and desire to tell her story affects young women all over, and especially young women who don’t fit feminine stereotypes. In Griner’s memoir ‘Coming Home,’ which details her ordeal in Russia and her adjustment back to American life, she says she believed she had let down her family. “Women come in all different shapes and sizes, all different packages, and so for her to share that, regardless of what people say or what people see, she is just a different brand of woman,” said Jonquel Jones, a friend of Griner’s and a player for the New York Liberty. “I know that there’s gonna be kids out there that want to be able to see themselves in somebody like her, that can inspire so many.” Griner’s intent to serve the communities around her will continue as the WNBA’s Players Association determines if it will opt out of its current collective bargaining agreement. According to The Ringer’s Mirin Fader, Griner has taken more of an interest in working with the Players Association to help shape the future of her union, including seeking higher salaries so that WNBA players don’t have to go to other countries to make money in the league’s offseason, as she did. In Griner’s most recent memoir, “Coming Home,” which details her ordeal in Russia and her adjustment back to American life, she explains that she believed she had let down her family as a result of accidentally carrying hash oil, which she’d used for the chronic pain she developed as an athlete. “The Griner name was now stained around the globe,” she wrote. “Dope head. Drug dealer. Dumb. I hurt because I knew I handed the world a weapon.” But the Griner name is anything but “stained.” It’s a name that ought to be uttered with honor. The White House should consider honoring Griner with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a high honor that recognizes “prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.” Griner has done all of the above.
USA vs. France proves Olympic volleyball should be primetime in Paris None - The Paris Olympics draw to a close this weekend after two weeks of tragedy and triumph. But while many events (and athletes) have lived up to their top billing, I’d argue one sport remains conspicuously underrated. At a time when women’s sports are having a moment that is turning into a movement, and as the U.S. women’s volleyball team fights for the gold medal on Sunday against Italy, I believe more than ever that volleyball should be a featured sport of the Summer Games. Volleyball is also one of the only team sports in the U.S. to become mainstream without a more popular male counterpart. For one thing, volleyball is arguably the only team sport that is quintessentially female. This is a relationship-based sport played with power and athleticism in a noncontact environment defined by interdependence and rapid scoring. It is also incredibly joyous, with encouragement and celebration a defining aspect of every play. There’s a reason that in the 50 years since Title IX opened athletics opportunities, girls have flocked to the court. Volleyball is also one of the only team sports in the U.S. to become mainstream without a more popular male counterpart. Per the National Federation of State High School Associations, more girls play volleyball than any other sport besides track and field. In August 2023, a college volleyball match drew the largest crowd in the world ever to attend a women’s sporting event as 92,003 fans crowded into Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium to watch Nebraska’s volleyball team beat Omaha in three sets. Indeed, the popularity of girls volleyball has led to a whole other opportunity for women in the NCAA. In 2012, beach volleyball was added to the NCAA’s “emerging sports” list and just four years later was made a championship sport. Today, almost 180 colleges support varsity beach teams, and the four women who represented the U.S. in Paris are products of American college teams. (Despite entering the Games with high hopes and higher expectations, both women’s beach teams were tragically bounced from the tournament earlier this week.) Nevertheless, the signs are clear. Volleyball and beach volleyball should be part of the prime-time Olympics rotation. Volleyball’s underrated status may have something to do with who is covering it. According to Richard Lapchick, chair of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida, over 80% of sports editors, reporters and columnists were still men, at least in 2021. Nevertheless, we know the interest is there. In December 2023, the NCAA women’s volleyball championship was watched by 1.7 million people, a record for the sport. The Big Ten Network reported that volleyball was its third most popular sport behind football and men’s basketball — and that was back in 2019. Today, volleyball feels like it’s in the same place soccer was in not that many years ago. Media companies saw an opportunity and invested in coverage of the World Cup, the Premier League and MLS and NWSL matches. Today, most self-respecting sports fans can at least recognize offsides. Lionel Messi is a household name. The same could be true in volleyball — if the sport is given a chance. Can a women’s team sport not only survive but thrive on its own merits? Television executives tend to be conventional thinkers and skew toward the risk-averse. But volleyball represents a real test of this burgeoning mainstream embrace of women’s sports. Can it become a success in the broader American marketplace? As an archetypal female sport and arguably the only major team sport not chasing a better funded, more broadly played, more widely understood male counterpart, volleyball is a litmus test. Can a women’s team sport not only survive but thrive on its own merits? Perhaps we will find out at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Fans and TV executives now have three years to familiarize themselves with hitting percentage, overlaps, and spread, commit and bunch blocking; we have three years to learn the names and the stories of star players like Kathryn Plummer, Jordan Larson, Annie Drews (and beach players like Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng). But in the meantime, the women’s team needs our support. Their match may not be featured in the prime-time lineup — it starts at 7 a.m. ET — but I know I’ll be watching.
Trump's 2025 plans would be very bad for grizzly bears None - Although former President Donald Trump has very publicly distanced himself from the conservative Heritage Foundation’s infamous Project 2025 plan, we should take seriously much of what the 920-page document tells us about a potential second Trump term. For one, if Trump wins in November, he may end federal protections for grizzly bears, gray wolves and the greater sage grouse, as the document proposes removing the three animals from the federal government’s list of endangered species. A politically-motivated group making decisions about protected and endangered species has the potential to create a ripple effect of problems. Environmental groups warn removing the species from protected lists would open them up to being hunted or killed by traps meant to protect farms and ranches while facing loss of critical habitat. Unsurprisingly, a politically-motivated group making decisions about protected and endangered species has the potential to create a ripple effect of problems. As Andrea Zaccardi, a carnivore conservation legal director for the Center of Biological Diversity, points out, “The proponents of Project 2025 don’t understand that the protection of species is supposed to be a science-based decision and not a political one.” Signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1973, the Endangered Species Act allows the federal government to protect species at risk of extinction from being killed, harmed or harassed. Once the population has rebounded, the species can be delisted, which leaves protection in the hands of state governments that environmentalists argue would not take strong enough action. Delisting endangered species is supposed to be done when federal scientists think it is no longer necessary, but it’s not unheard of to become political as well. Grizzly bears are a perfect example. Before western expansion, the lower 48 states had over 50,000 grizzly bears, with a range from Central Mexico to the Great Plains. But by 1975, when they were officially listed as an endangered species, the number of grizzlies in the continental United States had dipped below 1,000. Since then, they’ve been a success story, with a particularly successful effort to reintroduce grizzlies in a portion of Montana and the three states around Yellowstone National Park — the two areas where Project 2025 calls for delisting them. As of 2022, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem was estimated to have 965 bears, while the Northern Continental Divide in Montana was estimated at 1,138 — as much as triple the numbers in 1975. But the population of grizzlies has not improved much in two other ecosystems in Washington state and Idaho. Ivan London, a senior attorney at Mountain States Legal Foundation, said in an email that the grizzly bear should have never been listed under the Endangered Species Act in the first place. He argues that the government was wrong to divide the grizzly population into several ecosystems treated separately and should have considered the overall number of grizzlies in the entire United States. “The Endangered Species Act has turned into a lever of power that federal regulators use to extend their reach onto private and state property. This allows them to police activities that they would otherwise have no authority to oversee,” London said in an email. “Several ESA listings are based on outdated or otherwise questionable information, making the regulatory decisions to list or continue listing several species simply unreasonable. If the three species were delisted, the federal government would no longer have any say in protecting them. That would leave state governments entirely in charge of their future. For some critics of the listing, that’s the point. Mark Jones, national director for hunter outreach for Gun Owners of America, argues that the grizzly bear populations have rebounded enough that they should be delisted, and any effort to keep them on there is due to national politics interfering with the science. Jones, a Wyoming resident and a certified wildlife biologist, said that has “cheapened” the Endangered Species Act. “There’s a lot of resentment in Wyoming for the federal government because it’s ignoring its own law,” he said. Idaho and Wyoming already passed laws that would allow trophy hunting of grizzly bears if they are delisted. But Zaccardi said there’s good reason to doubt that western states would take strong enough action. She notes that Idaho and Wyoming already passed laws that would allow trophy hunting of grizzly bears if they are delisted, while there would be strong incentives for state lawmakers to allow more killing of grizzlies and gray wolves, which will sometimes attack cattle and sheep. “The agricultural industry is not a big fan of predators,” she said. For now, grizzlies, gray wolves and the sage grouse are protected from trophy hunters, ranchers and real-estate developers. But that could change quickly if Trump wins in November, allowing politics to control an already politically charged policy. Ultimately, while some of the species have met the qualifications for delisting, the species are too fragile for removal. It should be the responsibility of all involved parties to keep animals under protection until science says it isn’t needed — not left to political manifestos and economics.
It’s obvious Republicans have no idea what to do about Tim Walz None - According to an actual tweet from the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris chose as her running mate last week, “has been a leech his entire life.” The message proceeded to list the various self-serving positions Walz has held, including “public school teacher” and “veteran.” If that sounds deranged, well, that’s because it is. The Trump campaign and its surrogates in the conservative media ecosystem have been desperately trying to paint the 60-year-old Walz as Che Guevara with a Midwestern accent. “This is the most woke, left-wing candidate she could have picked, out of all the names that surfaced,” former American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp said. That’s obviously untrue. If Harris wanted to swing hard left, she could have chosen any number of progressives: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sens. Sherrod Brown or Bernie Sanders, or even twice-failed former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. They were all about as close to her short list as I was to starting as power forward for the New York Knicks. If Harris wanted to swing hard left, she could have chosen any number of progressives. Instead, she picked “a Norman Rockwell painting sprung to life,” David Axelrod, the mastermind of former President Barack Obama’s political rise, quipped the other day on NPR. On Thursday, Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in which he described Walz as dangerous and out of touch with Americans. In fact, Walz is firmly within the American consensus when it comes to actual policy: He is strongly in favor of reproductive choice, as are 85% of Americans, to some extent; Walz enacted paid family leave, another wildly popular policy; as governor, he has pushed for Minnesota to get its energy from renewable resources, in keeping with Americans’ growing recognition of the threat posed by catastrophic weather and elevated temperatures. If anything, Walz is so thoroughly in the center lane of the policy mainstream that even calling him a progressive may be something of an overstatement. Republicans, on the other hand, want to all but abolish the administrative state (through the Schedule F executive order Trump signed during his first term and hopes to implement in his second) while hounding women who cross state lines to seek abortions. Their version of freedom involves imposing a severe form of Christian nationalism on the country at large. And rather than even try to sell these radical ideas to ordinary Americans, they characterize dissenters as “childless cat ladies” or literal demons. Still, the GOP is trying to paint Walz as the Marxist from Minnesota. Bless their hearts. One loony right-wing activist suggested that Walz changed the flag of Minnesota to resemble that of Somalia. At some point you really have to wonder: How stupid do these people think we are? Judge for yourself. Walz would “unleash HELL ON EARTH,” Trump warned with his trademark restraint. If “hell on Earth” is making lunch free for children in public schools and legalizing cannabis, then Walz is indeed guilty as charged. He is a Midwestern progressive, in the tradition of Robert La Follette, Eugene McCarthy, Paul Wellstone and Al Franken. And he exudes genuine American warmth, the kind that was so refreshing to me and my family when we arrived here from the Soviet Union. “Tim Walz is the dad an entire generation wish[ed] they had instead of the one they lost to Fox News,” one social media user joked. The same country that welcomed my family, along with thousands of other Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, could one day be led by JD Vance, who recently endorsed a book about how progressives are “unhuman.” Still, the GOP is trying to paint Walz as the Marxist from Minnesota. Bless their hearts. Trump must be seething as the edgy, joyless Vance creepily follows Harris around the Midwest, where she and Walz have been drawing enormous crowds. At one event, a reporter asked Vance what made him smile. In response, Vance abruptly attacked the reporter, calling it a “bogus question.” Walz practically looks like JFK in comparison to this bearded disaster — and Trump must know it. “Republicans Simply Can’t Figure Out How to Knock Down Tim Walz,” went a recent Vanity Fair headline. Here’s a crazy idea: Don’t bother. Just offer better policies. Forget about Walz and simply tell the American people what you plan to do when you return to the Oval Office. Give them a reason to vote for you, and you won’t have to worry about the Democrats. For example, Trump tried to brand Walz as “Tampon Tim” for his support of transgender rights. As a matter of fact, Walz probably is to the left of most Americans when it comes to protections related to medical treatments for gender dysphoria. That gives Trump an opening — not to attack Walz, but to introduce ideas of his own. Of course, that’s very hard to do when your campaign is practically idea-free. So “Tampon Tim” it is. On the whole, I suspect Walz will provide a temporary boost to Harris in this critical early stretch while in the long run doing little to either help or hinder her campaign to any substantial degree. The right’s attacks on him are another matter. They reveal a paucity of ideas, a complete surrender to the Trumpian style of relentless attack. It’s an exhausting way to do politics. Even worse, it’s not very effective.
In his helicopter story, Trump may have confused Willie Brown with another Black politician None - Donald Trump’s apparent confusion about a Black politician who was with him on a dangerous helicopter ride has highlighted his lack of credibility — and renewed concerns about the former president’s cognitive health. At a press conference on Thursday, the former president attacked Vice President Kamala Harris and recounted having experienced an emergency landing in a helicopter with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, whom he claimed to know “pretty well.” (Trump has repeatedly questioned whether Harris’ career was boosted by her relationship with Brown, whom she dated.) “We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing,” Trump said. “This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was — he was a little concerned.” Trump’s account raised eyebrows, given that news of such an incident involving him and Brown, who is 90, had never been previously reported. Brown quickly denied the claim, telling NBC News that he’d never even been in a helicopter with Trump. At the time, some outlets, including NBC News, speculated that Trump may have confused the former San Francisco mayor, who is Black, with former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who is white. In 2018, Trump had been in a helicopter with the then-governor and his successor, now-Gov. Gavin Newsom, to assess the damage from wildfires to the town of Paradise. But both Jerry Brown’s and Newsom’s teams denied that that helicopter ride was ever endangered; Jerry Brown’s spokesperson also told NBC News that there had been no discussion of Harris on that trip. Then on Friday, Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles City Council member and state senator, told Politico that he had in fact been in a helicopter with Trump when it made an emergency landing in the 1990s, and suggested that the GOP presidential nominee had confused Willie Brown with him instead. “Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco. I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles,” said Holden, 95. “I guess we all look alike.” Trump’s brother Robert and an executive from his company, Barbara Res, were also aboard the helicopter with Holden. Res wrote about the incident in her memoir, and she told Politico that although Trump liked to joke that Holden “turned white” from fear during the emergency landing, it was in fact Trump who was “scared s---less.” The controversy raises questions about Trump’s mental fitness. At 78, Trump is facing the same concerns about his age and mental acuity that he has previously attacked 81-year-old President Joe Biden for — concerns that his torturously rambling and misleading Thursday press conference did very little to allay. Trump has continued to insist that he is not misremembering which politician was with him on the helicopter. On Friday, he claimed to The New York Times that he had flight records (though he did not produce them) and threatened to sue the newspaper. The Trump campaign did not respond to an NBC News request for comment.
Jordan Chiles may lose Olympic bronze in floor exercise after sport court ruling None - UPDATE (August 11, 2024, 7:20 a.m. ET): The International Olympic Committee said Sunday that U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles must return her bronze medal in the floor exercise, upholding findings that a coach’s protest that got her on the podium shouldn’t have been allowed. USA gymnast Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal in the floor exercise is in jeopardy after a sporting arbitration body determined that an appeal for her score in the category was incorrectly granted. In a ruling issued on Saturday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said an inquiry request from Chiles’ coaches had been submitted four seconds after the one-minute deadline and is therefore void, and consequently her points should be lowered to her initial score. Chiles had been given a 13.666 score for her performance on Monday, which put her in fifth place behind Romania’s two gymnasts. Team USA coaches quickly filed an inquiry as to the difficulty of one of her moves, a tour jeté with a full turn, and the judges raised her score to 13.766, bumping her to third place. The sudden change in Chiles’ score clearly shocked Ana Barbosu, the Romanian gymnast who initially had the third-highest score. Barbosu had been holding her country’s flag, ready to celebrate making the podium, when she was bumped to fourth place. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation later filed multiple appeals to the CAS challenging the score adjustment. The CAS said in its Saturday ruling that the International Gymnastics Federation will determine the ranking of the final and assign the medals according to the court’s decision. The FIG has yet to make any public comment about the ruling. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee said in a joint statement that they were “devastated” by the CAS’s ruling. They said the inquiry was “filed in good faith, and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring.” The groups also objected to the online harassment of Chiles over the score appeal: Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. No athlete should be subject to such treatment. Chiles’ Instagram posts have been flooded with comments accusing her of “stealing” an Olympic medal from the Romanian gymnasts. Her mother, Gina Chiles, wrote in a post on X on Friday that the 23-year-old has received “racist disgusting comments.” After the ruling, Chiles posted heartbreak emojis on her Instagram story. She also wrote that she was removing herself from social media for her mental health.
Black box recovered in Brazil plane crash None - Investigators are one step closer to determining the cause of an airplane crash in Brazil that killed all 62 people on board after locating the aircraft's black box. NBC News' Marissa Parra reports on the remaining questions.Aug. 10, 2024
Wilson, U.S. outlast France for gold by thinnest of margins None - The U.S. women's basketball team was sorely tested, but A'ja Wilson delivered a big double-double and Gabby Williams had her foot on the line for the would-be game-tying bucket as Team USA held on for another gold medal.Aug. 11, 2024
Watch: U.S. women's basketball clinches gold in nail-biting 67-66 victory None - The U.S. women's basketball clinched the gold medal in a 67-66 win against France in a game that came down to the final 10 seconds. Aug. 11, 2024
Grant Fisher rallied to grab bronze in men’s 5,000 None - Grant Fisher rallied to grab the bronze in the men’s 5,000, becoming the first American to medal in both this race and the 10,000. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen took gold and Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi the silver.Aug. 11, 2024
Team USA wins gold in last full day of Olympic competition None - Team USA’s powerhouse Olympic men’s basketball team beat France in a stunning upset to bring home the gold. Team USA women’s soccer also won big, besting Brazil and taking the top spot for the first time since the 2012 London games. NBC News’ Stephanie Gosk reports on the last full day of competition in Paris.Aug. 10, 2024
Vance hails Trump's Fed idea and pushes back against criticism over past words on American families None - Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance used a round of news show appearances to disparage the Democratic ticket and promote Donald Trump’s record and second-term plans ATLANTA -- Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance used a round of Sunday news show appearances to disparage the Democratic ticket and promote Donald Trump's record and second-term plans and defend himself from criticism over past remarks that have become a campaign issue. The Ohio senator, in a series of taped interviews, said there was merit to Trump’s suggestion that presidents have more control of U.S. monetary policy and kept up the GOP line that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats' vice presidential candidate, had exaggerated his military record. Vance, who shadowed Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz during their visits to several battleground states last week, was quizzed about abortion and his past comments about American family life, among other topics. Some highlights from his appearances: Trump recently suggested that presidents “should have at least a say” on monetary policy set by the Federal Reserve. He did not offer specific proposals. Curtailing the Fed’s independence from political interference as it determines interest rates would be a fundamental change. Even as he tried to argue that Trump said nothing about taking “direct” control of rates, Vance endorsed Trump's general idea. “President Trump is saying I think something that’s really important and actually profound, which is that the political leadership of this country should have more say over the monetary policy of this country,” Vance said. “I agree with him. That should fundamentally be a political decision. Agree or disagree, we should have America’s elected leaders having input about the most important decisions confronting our country.” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan questioned the wisdom of such a major change. “I think if you look around the world’s economies and you see where Fed central banks are independent and operate freely,” he said, “they tend to fare better than the ones that don’t.” Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard and was once deployed to Europe, though never to an active war zone. In a video from 2018, he referred to carrying weapons “in war.” The Harris campaign said last week that Walz misspoke. “Scandalous behavior,” said Vance, a military veteran. When it was noted that Trump avoided Vietnam with dubious claims of bone spurs, Vance said that "obviously a lot of people have reasons for not serving. I criticize somebody for embellishing their record, for lying, saying, ‘I went to war.’” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a combat veteran and a top Harris ally, said Republicans are circulating “the one time” that a long-serving veteran “slipped up” talking about his military service. Vance dodged when asked about his position on an upcoming Florida referendum that would repeal Republican-passed abortion restrictions and ensure more access to abortion services. Speaking broadly about states and reproductive rights, Vance said Trump "has said explicitly they’re going to make this decision on a state-by-state level.” Vance struggled to clarify Trump’s position on whether he would support federal limits on the medical abortion drug mifepristone. Trump said in his June debate with Biden that he would not block it. At his Florida news conference last week, he offered a disjointed answer and said, "You also have to give a vote” on the matter. Vance suggested that “maybe” Trump had difficulty hearing and understanding a reporter’s question. Walz responded in a statement through the Harris campaign that Trump and Vance "are going to ban medication abortion. ... Vice President Harris and I will make sure that you make your health care decisions because we have a rule, whether you’d make the same decision as someone else: Just mind your own damn business.” During Vance’s Senate campaign in 2021, he said in a Fox News interview that “we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats,” and referred to them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” He said that included Harris, who has two adult children, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay and a married father of twins but had no children at the time of Vance's comment. The senator said a “sarcastic remark I made three years ago” has obscured a serious debate about “pro-family” policies, explaining that “I criticize people for being anti-child” in their policy pursuits. Vance also in the past has suggested giving extra votes for people with children. “It's not a policy proposal. It's a thought experiment, right?” he said in a Sunday interview, arguing he was reacting to others' ideas to lower the voting age. “Anybody who disagrees with him is anti-child?” Buttigieg countered in a news show appearance. “He seems incapable of talking about a vision for this country in terms of lifting people up. ... It’s always about disparagement.” ___ Vance appeared on CNN's “State of the Union,” ABC's “This Week” and CBS' “Face the Nation." Buttigieg was on CNN and Moynihan was on CBS.