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Democracy Balances On The Brink In Kansas And U.S. Too Many Of Us Choose Not To Notice. – Kansas Reflector https://digitalalabamanews.com/democracy-balances-on-the-brink-in-kansas-and-u-s-too-many-of-us-choose-not-to-notice-kansas-reflector/ Kansas and all of the United States teeter on the edge of a treacherous canyon. If we drop into that vast gulf, climbing out again will take years if not decades. Yet nearly half of us, if not more, prefer to ignore the yawning abyss. As evidence, I present two separate yet interconnected stories. The first appeared in Kansas Reflector over the weekend. It outlined the potential consequences of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Called Moore v. Harper, the case involves a bizarre concept called the independent state legislature theory. As Minnesota Reformer reporter Michelle Griffith explained, if the nation’s high court backs this theory, the consequences could be cataclysmic. State lawmakers could “enact laws to make it harder to vote in federal elections without review from state courts. Legislatures could shorten the early voting period, restrict mail-in balloting to certain counties and require voter ID, among other measures.” Legislatures — including the supermajority GOP one foisted upon Kansas — could have their way with election law. State courts couldn’t stop them. Griffith writes further that “administration of the presidential election is under a different clause, so at stake is solely the administration of congressional elections.” Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent track record, however, that hardly reassures. Now, keep that scary scenario in mind while I pivot to the second story. The New York Times noted last week that more than 370 Republican candidates running this year have voiced doubts about the 2020 election. That’s a majority of those running from the party. Kansas has eight GOP candidates for U.S. Congress, governor, secretary of state and state attorney general. Five of them have expressed such doubts about election integrity. (Let’s not forget the role of current attorney general and gubernatorial hopeful Derek Schmidt in challenging President Biden’s election.) A view of the front portico of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (Phil Roeder/Getty Images) The outer limits Consider all of this for a moment. An entire party has fallen in thrall to the Big Lie of a stolen election. Simultaneously, the U.S. Supreme Court may hand the keys to statewide elections to Republican-dominated legislatures. What could possibly go wrong? If past is prologue, you can expect a bunch of conspiracy theories and terrible laws. Just this last session, GOP Secretary of State Scott Schwab has had to press back repeatedly against out-0f-state hucksters. Lawmakers showed themselves as all to willing to play along. Current attorney general candidate Kris Kobach’s fought an epic five-year battle against the ACLU, defending unconstitutional voter registration limits. Meanwhile, public trust in our institutions continues to erode. With a background like that, we can expect the Kansas Legislature to press the outer boundaries of the independent state legislature theory if given the go-ahead. The mind boggles at the misshapen districts they might draw or the towering obstacles they might erect to dissuade voters. They might decide that only land-owning men who sign patriot pledges and carry firearms can cast ballots. The canyon we face in Kansas appears particularly treacherous to me because of Republican dominance. Even if the U.S. Supreme Court clears the way for troubling doctrine, purple and blue states will surely see stiff resistance to bad policy. But the number of Kansas Republicans who would vote against the leaders of their party on election matters could well be vanishingly small. And once the laws are passed, without court review, Democrats could be shut out of winning congressional elections in the Sunflower State ever again. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But I would feel more comfortable if I saw more in the party standing up for our system of shared governance. They could start by denouncing former President Donald Trump’s continued barrage of acidulous lies. Instead, those who oppose the man have largely become Democrats or independents. Those who remain maintain either an uncomfortable silence or full-contact embrace for the would-be Potomac potentate. A video of former President Donald Trump is played during a hearing Oct. 13, 2022, by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) On the horizon I don’t write this column because I expect to change anyone’s mind right away. I write because we all must understand what’s coming. I write because I believe it’s the responsibility of all of us in the news media — reporters and editors and opinion columnists alike — to warn about what we see on the horizon. Former Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan recently weighed in journalists’ responsibility in the age of Trump. In an excerpt from her new book, she admitted that the news media hadn’t sufficiently communicated the former president’s danger to our country. Too often, reporters found themselves distracted by spectacle or constrained by norms that no longer applied. We can all learn lessons from that experience and apply them to the future. “Those who deny the outcome of the 2020 election certainly don’t deserve a media megaphone for that enduring lie, one that is likely to reemerge in the presidential campaign ahead,” she recommends. “But the media should go one step further: When covering such a politician in other contexts — for example, about abortion rights or gun control — journalists should remind audiences that this public figure is an election denier.” She adds: “Unfortunately, many media organizations — increasingly owned these days by huge corporations or hedge funds — seem more interested in ratings and profits than in serving the public interest. So, they are extremely hesitant to offend groups of viewers or voters, including the many Republicans who have signed on to the lie about the 2020 election being stolen.” Kansans have turned out to support abortion rights and moderate politicians. Some 570,000 Kansans voted for Joe Biden, more than 41% of those who turned out in 2020. But voting was never sufficient — for Republicans or Democrats. We all must engage. We all must watch. “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell wrote. We can still avoid the canyon. But only if we see it first. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Read More…

California Jury Convicts Paul Flores Of 1996 Murder Of Kristin Smart https://digitalalabamanews.com/california-jury-convicts-paul-flores-of-1996-murder-of-kristin-smart/ Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old student at California Polytechnic University, was last seen with fellow freshman Paul Flores in the early hours of a Saturday in May 1996, walking to her dorm after leaving an off-campus party. On Tuesday, more than a quarter-century later, a California jury found Flores guilty in her murder. Flores’s father, Ruben Flores, who had been accused of helping his son conceal Smart’s remains, was found not guilty of being an accessory to the murder. Smart’s body has not been found. “Without Kristin, there’s no joy or happiness,” Stan Smart, her father, told reporters after the verdict. “This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups,” he said, before thanking prosecutors for securing the guilty verdict for the younger Flores. But he said that with the senior Flores acquitted, the Smarts’ “quest for justice will continue.” Paul Flores, 45, faces 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9 at the Monterey County Superior Court in California. His attorney, Robert Sanger, declined to comment, saying “the matter is still pending.” Ruben Flores, 81, told reporters Tuesday after the verdict that the evidence against him and his son had “too much made-up stuff,” and that the ruling was based on “feelings instead of facts.” He expressed sorrow for the Smarts, saying he believed they didn’t get answers about what had happened to their daughter. His attorney did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday night. After Smart’s disappearance, Paul Flores was initially designated a person of interest by authorities. He had a black eye at the time that he told investigators he had gotten during a basketball game with friends, who later contradicted his statement, the Associated Press reported. He then changed his story, saying he had bumped his head while working on his car. Detectives interviewed a new witness in 2019, which led to search warrants for the homes of Flores and his family, officials said. In March 2021, investigators searched the home of Ruben Flores in Arroyo Grande, Calif., where authorities said they found “additional evidence related to the murder of Kristin Smart.” In April last year, authorities arrested the younger Flores and his father, calling the former a “prime suspect.” Prosecutors later told the jury that investigators had found a “clandestine grave” beneath the deck of the home of Ruben Flores, “believed to have previously held Kristin’s body.” Archaeologists working for police found a soil disturbance about the size of a casket and the presence of human blood, though the blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample, the AP reported. Prosecutors have previously said that they believe Flores raped, or at least tried to rape, Smart before killing her. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney’s office could not be reached on Tuesday night. In a statement after the verdict Tuesday, Sheriff Ian Parkison thanked Smart’s family for their “patience and support” during the long investigation. “I made a vow to them many years ago, that we would not let Kristin’s memory be forgotten. Nor would we let her killer go unpunished … But there is no true justice until Kristin is reunited with her family. This investigation will not be closed until we find Kristin.” Read More…

White House Taking Every Step Possible To Avoid Direct Biden-Putin Encounter At G-20 https://digitalalabamanews.com/white-house-taking-every-step-possible-to-avoid-direct-biden-putin-encounter-at-g-20/ President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are slated to attend next month’s G-20 summit in Indonesia, setting up the possibility of a high-stakes face off in the midst of an increasingly deadly Moscow invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials are taking steps to ensure that doesn’t happen. Biden last week opened the door to meeting Putin at the summit for a chance to negotiate the freedom of American prisoners, including WNBA star Brittney Griner. But there are no discussions underway with the Kremlin to make a deal happen and that seems unlikely to change, according to multiple administration officials not authorized to publicly discuss private negotiations. It can’t be ruled out that Biden and Putin might cross paths at some point during the November summit, according to officials who note that the two men may, at some point, attend the same large plenary gathering. But U.S. officials have ruled out a formal meeting and are taking steps to ensure that the American president does not encounter his Russian counterpart in a hallway or even in a leaders’ group photo. “We know what President Biden thinks about President Putin: he thinks he’s a killer, he thinks he’s a war criminal,” said William Taylor, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. “You don’t usually meet with killers and war criminals.” The pair have only met once during Biden’s presidency, a summit in Geneva in the summer of 2021. As Russia subsequently threatened to invade Ukraine, the two men spoke several times — the last of which was in February, just days before the war began. The G-20 summit, to be held along Bali’s beautiful beaches, will be the most anticipated multinational gathering in years, coming as the war has tested Europe and strained economies to the brink of recession. Unlike the G-7, which is exclusively made up of wealthy democracies, the G-20 also includes several autocracies. Not all the nations in attendance are expected to rally around Ukraine like European countries have done (though even that alliance is straining, as a Putin-sympathetic government takes over in Italy). That’s raised logistical challenges for the White House. While Biden plans to avoid Putin, talks have quietly begun between senior aides in Washington and Beijing for the G-20 to host the first in-person summit between the president and China’s Xi Jinping, officials said. Normally, the initial encounter between the leaders of the world’s two main superpowers would be a headlining event — but Putin stands poised to steal the international spotlight. The White House has held internal discussions for weeks about Putin’s possible attendance after Indonesian officials announced that the Russian leader would make a rare international trip there. There has been little disagreement within the West Wing about the conclusion that Biden should not meet Putin. But foreign policy experts have been more divided. Ret. Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said that if he were advising the president, he’d urge him to take the meeting. “He should lead with pushing for Griner’s release but also take advantage of the moment to look Putin in the eye,” said Stavridis, “and you tell him that ‘you are losing and you are on a collision course with destiny and it’s not going to come out well for you.’” Both of Biden’s immediate predecessors — Barack Obama and Donald Trump — crafted foreign policies that involved direct engagement with traditionally adversarial leaders; Obama as a matter of bridging difficult diplomatic divides, Trump as part creating personal and political alliances. Biden has had less engagement abroad. But in addition to meeting Putin previously, he also spoke directly with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite pledging to turn the nation into a pariah. The success of those meetings has been limited. Saudi Arabia recently defied U.S. entreaties to keep hold off on cuts to oil production, and a White House official said it was “highly unlikely” that Biden would meet again with the crown prince, who is also slated to travel to Indonesia. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, recalled it was just a few months after Putin and Biden met in Geneva that Moscow began massing troops near the Ukrainian border. McFaul said he worried about a similar escalation should Biden meet with Putin again. “It’s a hard call. During times of crisis, channels of communication are important,” said McFaul. “But the problem of meeting is legitimizing him. You give Putin a platform to claim whatever he wants.” From the early days of the war, the United States has stressed that any negotiations with the Russians to end its invasion must involve the Ukrainians. And while diplomatic circles have buzzed for weeks about the possibility of a surprise visit to Bali by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. officials downplayed the chance, believing that he may appear via video instead. Biden had said publicly that he wouldn’t meet with Putin but he made the matter murky last week. “Look, I have no intention of meeting with him,” Biden said during an interview with CNN. “But for example, if he came to me at the G-20 and said, ‘I want to talk about the release of Griner,’ I’d meet with him. I mean, it would depend.” The White House has since publicly clarified that he has “no intention” of meeting with Putin. But privately, officials concede that if a deal was at hand to free Griner, the basketball star sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for drug possession, or Paul Whelan, a former Marine serving 16 years on espionage charges, Biden would potentially hold a meeting. Officials stressed that such a meeting would only occur after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations with Moscow, assuring that the deal would be essentially completed before the leaders sat across from each other in Bali. Currently, there are no plans to have such talks, though U.S. officials said the door is open to do so. The sort of welcome Putin will receive in Indonesia remains an international guessing game. U.S. officials believe that most Western heads of state will follow Biden’s lead and snub the Russian leader, though various European leaders — namely French President Emmanuel Macron — have at various times talked to Putin in an effort to get him to abandon his war. But it is also not clear what sort of response Putin will get from Xi, who in February pledged support for Russia but has since signaled his disapproval for the state of the war and Moscow’s nuclear threats over it. U.S. and Chinese officials, meanwhile, have been quietly working to set up a meeting between Xi and Biden, though it has not yet been announced and officials concede that it could still collapse. Biden has long defined the 21st century as a rivalry between the U.S. and China and his agenda for a meeting with Xi would likely be lengthy, including economic warnings to Beijing as well as a broadside to not try to seize Taiwan. He also could use the meeting to push Xi to further isolate Putin, officials said. “Deliver the message to Xi: ‘You are judged by the people with whom you keep company,’” Stavridis said. “Xi might be the one man who can push Putin to stop.” Biden will depart for Asia the day after the midterm elections, with the balance of power in Congress perhaps not yet known. His first stop on the continent will be a summit of Southeast Asian nations being held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, before traveling to Indonesia. Many of the world leaders will then move on to another Pacific States summit in Bangkok, but Biden will return to Washington for the White House wedding of his granddaughter Naomi. There will be no shortage of subplots at the G-20. U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, embroiled in an economic disaster largely of her own making, has faced growing calls to resign after only a few weeks in office. Brazil’s populist president Jair Bolsonaro will face a runoff election at the end of October and could attend as a lame duck — though he has made no promises to accept the results of the election were he to lose. And it could be the first international summit for Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, the first far right candidate to be elected there since World War II. Read More…

Inflation In Britain Hits 10.1 Percent, Driven Higher By Food Prices https://digitalalabamanews.com/inflation-in-britain-hits-10-1-percent-driven-higher-by-food-prices/ Business|Inflation in Britain Hits 10.1 Percent, Driven Higher by Food Prices https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/business/uk-prices-inflation-september.html After easing slightly the previous month, inflation continued rising in September, heightening the country’s cost-of-living crisis. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Oct. 19, 2022Updated 3:26 a.m. ET Consumer prices in Britain rose 10.1 percent in September from a year earlier, continuing their steep climb as the nation grapples with rapidly increasing food prices, high energy costs and political uncertainty. The annual inflation rate returned to its fastest pace since 1982, matching the pace set in July. It rose from 9.9 percent in August. Inflation was expected to peak next month, at a slightly higher rate, but a reversal in the government’s policy to hold down household energy bills has made the future path of prices even more uncertain. Prices were pushed higher by large increases in the cost of food and, to a lesser extent, at restaurants and hotels, in September. Food prices rose 14.5 percent last month from a year earlier, the largest annual rise in more than 40 years, according to the Office for National Statistics. High energy costs were still contributing to inflation growing at its fastest pace in decades. But price increases are widespread across goods and services, so core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 6.5 percent from a year earlier, up from 6.3 percent in August. It’s another sign of the stickiness of inflation that politicians and policymakers are facing all over the world. That is encouraging central bankers to go for steeper increases in interest rates, in an effort to send a firm message that they will get inflation back down and won’t let rapid price increases become entrenched in the economy. But constantly changing fiscal policies, as governments try to support households through increases in the cost of living, are also complicating the picture. Just under six weeks ago, Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain pledged to freeze household energy bills, one of the biggest sources of inflation increases, from October for the next two winters. This week, much of Ms. Truss’s economic agenda was scrapped by Britain’s new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, as he tried to restore calm in financial markets, which had seemingly stopped believing in the government’s fiscal credibility. One victim of Mr. Hunt’s policy reversal was Ms. Truss’s landmark policy on energy bills; now Britons are guaranteed a freeze on their bills only until April. After that the government said it would come up with a less expensive and more targeted plan to help people with their bills. If households had to return to paying a price cap set by market prices through Ofgem, the government’s energy regulator, the headline rate of inflation would increase by about five percentage points, economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote in a research note this week. But, they said, it’s too soon to forecast what is most likely to happen as the government is still devising a new plan to help with bills beyond April. The Bank of England has been raising interest rates since December to tackle inflation. At its past two meetings it raised rates by half a percentage point, double its previous moves, amid signs of broadening inflationary pressures, especially in the labor market, where wages are rising and large numbers of people are staying out of the work force. While the central bank is expected to keep raising interest rates for several more months, analysts question how high rates can go and how long the increases will continue as the British economy slows down. High inflation is squeezing household budgets and there are growing predictions that the economy will contract next year amid a decline in consumer spending. The International Monetary Fund predicted the British economy would go from 3.6 percent growth this year to a 0.3 percent contraction next year “as high inflation reduces purchasing power and tighter monetary policy takes a toll on consumer spending and business investment.” Traders are currently betting the central bank will raise interest rates above 5 percent next year, from 2.25 percent. Read More…

Russian Commander Warns Of Tenuous Control Over Southern Stronghold https://digitalalabamanews.com/russian-commander-warns-of-tenuous-control-over-southern-stronghold/ Current time in: Moscow Oct. 19, 10:46 a.m. Washington Oct. 19, 3:46 a.m. Image A destroyed Russian military vehicle near Mykolaivka in Ukraine’s Kherson region this month.Credit…Nicole Tung for The New York Times The commander of the Russian invasion said on Tuesday that his army might face “hard decisions” about its tenuous hold over the strategically important Ukrainian region of Kherson, just minutes after a top Moscow-appointed official there announced an evacuation of civilians from four occupied districts. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the top Russian commander in Ukraine, acknowledged in a rare interview that the situation in the Kherson region has been “difficult” after the Ukrainian army damaged two key connections to other Russian occupied territory. For weeks, Ukrainian forces have been advancing slowly toward the regional capital, the city of Kherson, in a counteroffensive aimed at driving the Russians back across the Dnipro River. In a video statement, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the regional occupation administration, said that residents would be evacuated from four districts on the west side of the Dnipro River. Mr. Saldo — who was appointed governor of the Kherson region by the Kremlin shortly after Russia formally annexed the territory at the end of September — cited the risk of shelling and the need for Russia to build defensive lines to repel an expected Ukrainian attack. General Surovikin, in his first public remarks since he was appointed as head of the Russian military force in Ukraine on Oct. 8, said that the Russian Army would assist the evacuation and stressed the challenging conditions his forces face — with a tacit acknowledgment that a retreat from the city of Kherson might be necessary. “Our future plans and actions regarding the city of Kherson will depend on the unfolding military-tactical situation,” he said in a televised statement. “I repeat — today it is already quite difficult.” The announcements underscored Russia’s precarious hold on the strategically important swath of Ukrainian land that allows the Russian forces to operate on the western side of the Dnipro River, which divides the country into two. That control allows Russia to threaten the rest of the Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea coast, including the symbolic city of Odesa. But advancing Ukrainian forces have severed the bridges that were used to resupply and reinforce Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnipro River. Ukraine has coveted the liberation of Kherson since the first weeks of the war, when the city became the only regional capital to fall to Russian forces since the invasion began. But as Ukrainian forces push closer to the city limits, they face a conundrum: Unlike the Russian military, which appears to have no qualms about targeting infrastructure and killing civilians to achieve its war aims, Ukraine would like to avoid destroying Kherson in the process of recapturing it. If Russian forces put up a concerted fight to keep the city, Ukraine might hesitate to use all of its firepower. Pro-Russian military bloggers — an increasingly vocal group in Russia — praised General Surovikin for being frank about the challenges in Kherson. Many interpreted his statement as a sign that Russia might be preparing for a large-scale battle, while others said it could be a sign of a coming retreat. “There are three options here: Either our forces would dig in where they are, or they would retreat to the city of Kherson, trying to engage the enemy in street fighting,” said Vladlen Tatarsky, a popular blogger. “Or they would evacuate.” Image A protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday.Credit…Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times WASHINGTON — Iran has sent trainers to occupied Ukraine to help Russians overcome problems with the fleet of drones that they purchased from Tehran, according to current and former U.S. officials briefed on the classified intelligence, a further signal of the growing closeness between Iran and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iranian trainers are operating from a Russian military base in Crimea where many of the drones have been based since being delivered from Iran. The trainers are from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of the Iranian military designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. In recent days, the Iranian drones have become an important weapon for Russia, which has used them as part of the broad strikes across Ukraine against electrical infrastructure and other civilian targets. The deployment of the Iranian trainers appears to coincide with the stepped-up use of the drones in Ukraine and indicates a deeper involvement by Iran in the war. “Sending drones and trainers to Ukraine has enmeshed Iran deeply into the war on the Russian side and involved Tehran directly in operations that have killed and injured civilians,” said Mick Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official and retired C.I.A. officer. “Even if they’re just trainers and tactical advisers in Ukraine, I think that’s substantial,” Mr. Mulroy said. The United Nations’ human rights body has said that deliberate strikes on such civilian targets could constitute war crimes. Image Arne Schönbohm was removed from his role as head of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security on Tuesday.Credit…Henning Kaiser/picture alliance, via Getty Images BERLIN — The German government has removed the official responsible for keeping the country safe from cyberattacks over reports that he kept in touch with a lobbying group that had links to Russian intelligence. The move comes as Russia’s war against Ukraine has increased fears over cybersecurity. The Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday the dismissal of Arne Schönbohm, who had led the Federal Office for Information Security since 2016. The accusations of possible ties to Russian intelligence, which were reported this month by a German satirical news show, “have permanently damaged the necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality” of Mr. Schönbohm, a spokeswoman for the ministry said. The dismissal comes after ZDF Magazin Royal reported that Mr. Schönbohm had kept contact with a lobbying group he co-founded a decade ago that included at least one Russian cybersecurity company founded by a Russian intelligence agent as a member even after Russia invaded Ukraine. The group cut ties with the Russian company three days after the show aired. The show did not link Mr. Schönbohm directly with Russian intelligence, though the current president of the lobbying group acknowledged such contacts. Mr. Schönbohm did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel quoted him as saying that he had asked this week for disciplinary proceedings to clear up the issue. The Interior Ministry said that the accusations “would be thoroughly and vigorously investigated” and that he was “presumed innocent.” Mr. Schönbohm’s removal comes amid fears of attacks on German infrastructure. After attacks on the idled gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany and targeted sabotage of a communication system used by the rail system, the federal police have intensified their focus on infrastructure. Image Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February, in Khimki, Russia, in August.Credit…Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters Brittney Griner, the American basketball star who has been detained in Russia since February, sent a message of thanks to her supporters on Tuesday — her 32nd birthday. According to a statement from two of her lawyers in Russia, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, Ms. Griner said: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.” The lawyers said they had met with Ms. Griner for several hours on Tuesday and relayed messages from well-wishers. “Today is of course a difficult day for Brittney,” they said, adding that she was “very stressed” in anticipation of a hearing over the appeal of her conviction on drug charges, which is scheduled for Oct. 25. Ms. Griner told her lawyers last week that she was not optimistic about the chances of her being freed before serving her full nine-year sentence and that she was struggling emotionally. Ms. Griner is allowed outside once a day, according to Mr. Boykov, during which she walks for an hour in a small courtyard at the penal colony outside Moscow where she is being held. She spends the rest of her time in a small cell with two cellmates, sitting and sleeping on a specially elongated bed to accommodate her 6-foot-9 frame. While she awaits the appeals court hearing, Mr. Boykov said, Ms. Griner struggles in large part because it is “very difficult” to speak to her relatives. He added that it had been very difficult to organize phone calls with Ms. Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and that she had been unable to speak to her parents or siblings since her detention, as far as he was aware. Last Wednesday, President Biden said that there had been no movement with the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, over Ms. Griner’s case. A White House official said last week that the administration was trying “every available channel” with Moscow, including the one through which U.S. officials arranged a prisoner swap in April to secure the release of Trevor Reed, a former Marine who had been serving a nine-year prison sentence in Russia. Ms. Griner was stopped in February at an airport near Moscow on her way to play for UMMC Yekaterinburg, a Russian professional women’s basketball team. Customs officials said that she had been carrying two vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison after a trial that was all but assured to end in a con...

Trump Knew His Letters To Kim Jong Un Were Classified And 'so Top Secret': Bob Woodward https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-knew-his-letters-to-kim-jong-un-were-classified-and-so-top-secret-bob-woodward-2/ North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Former US President Donald Trump inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on June 30, 2019 in Panmunjom, South Korea.Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images/Getty Images) Trump told journalist Bob Woodward in 2020 that the letters he wrote to Kim were “so top secret.” In his upcoming audiobook, Woodward wrote that Trump was cagey about showing him the letters. The letters to Kim were among the classified files Trump brought to Florida, per The Washington Post. Former President Donald Trump indicated during an interview in January 2020 that he knew the letters he wrote to Kim Jong Un were top secret. From 2016 to 2020, veteran journalist Bob Woodward spoke to Trump in 20 interviews. Now, Woodward is releasing over eight hours of Trump interviews in an upcoming audiobook, “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Trump.” Among the topics they discussed were the letters to Kim, which Trump once described as love letters. In a December 2019 conversation, Trump was cautious about showing Woodward the letters he wrote to the North Korean leader. A month later, when Woodward again asked Trump if he could see the letters, Trump said the letters were “so top secret,” per The Washington Post’s reporting of Woodward’s notes from the call. Woodward viewed the Kim letters at a later date, and dictated their contents into a voice recorder, per an audio clip aired on CNN on Tuesday. In the clip, Trump can be heard telling Woodward to refrain from publicizing that it was Trump himself who had shown the letters to him. “Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect,” Trump told Woodward, per CNN. “Don’t say I gave them to you. Okay?” The National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, removed 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago in January. The Kim letters were among the documents. Some of the other files had classification markings on them, which raised alarm bells at NARA about how much protected material Trump took with him to his Florida residence. The FBI is probing whether Trump broke any of three federal laws — including the Espionage Act — by keeping the documents at his Florida residence. The FBI seized a cache of classified documents, including some marked “top secret” when it raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8. Woodward’s account that Trump knew the files were declassified appears to contradict the former president’s many defenses. Trump’s lawyer, Pat Philbin, claimed to NARA in 2021 that the boxes found at Mar-a-Lago contained only news clippings. For his part, Trump baselessly claimed in September that the documents found by NARA were already declassified — and that he has the power to declassify documents just by thinking about doing so. A representative at Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Read More…

Election-Denying Veterans Are Usually Dishonorable https://digitalalabamanews.com/election-denying-veterans-are-usually-dishonorable/ We can well understand Joe Kent’s grief over the death of his wife. Shannon was a Navy cryptologic technician who tragically died in a suicide bombing in Syria. But as a candidate for a House seat in Washington state, Kent is using his loss as some strange kind of cover for spreading the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. In doing so, the CIA paramilitary officer is simultaneously betraying his country and disrespecting his late wife’s courage and sacrifice. “She was there,” Kent complains, “because unelected bureaucrats decided to slow-roll” Donald Trump’s withdrawal orders. Wrong and wrong. Shannon was there because she was a soldier who signed up for a dangerous mission. As president, Trump was commander in chief. He could have insisted that his orders were followed — though, thankfully, they were not. An immediate withdrawal would have been catastrophic, according to Trump’s own Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. Veterans used to be widely regarded as model candidates for their tendency toward bipartisanship and preference for just getting things done. Some still are. But there’s now a breed of veteran candidate who has gone beyond a healthy skepticism of military interventions and sees himself as a foot soldier in the far right’s efforts to overthrow the democracy. Like Kent, they wallow in self-dramatization. Lost in the discussion is that people who join the military or security services do so voluntarily. There is no draft. They serve the country for a variety of reasons, one being patriotism. A very close relative of mine worked for the CIA in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He suffered greatly after losing several close friends in the 2009 suicide bombing attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan. But he knew why they — and he — were there. A former Navy SEAL who saw five deployments, Eli Crane is the real thing as a brave warrior. But now running for the House seat in Arizona, he’s pushing the tawdry lie that Trump won the 2020 election. Arizona is the state that brought us Sen. John McCain, an exemplary conservative who had undergone years of torture as a prisoner in North Vietnam. To this day, I will not understand the far right’s continued worship of Trump after Captain Bone Spurs attacked McCain’s heroism, famously saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.” Don Bolduc is a retired brigadier general vying for the Senate seat in New Hampshire held by Maggie Hassan. He signed a letter early on asserting that Trump had won the election. Then, 36 hours after winning the primary, he told Fox News that “the election was not stolen.” In addition to being a political coward, Bolduc is nuts. Yes, he did call New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu a “Chinese-communist sympathizer.” Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More…

Clip Resurfaces Of Eric Trump Saying Secret Service Gets Charged $50 For Trump Hotels https://digitalalabamanews.com/clip-resurfaces-of-eric-trump-saying-secret-service-gets-charged-50-for-trump-hotels/ An old news clip of Eric Trump has resurfaced in which he said the Secret Service is “saving a fortune” as it has been revealed Donald Trump repeatedly charged “exorbitant rates” to the agents. The son of the former president and executive vice president of Trump Organisation was speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on 10 October 2019 when he claimed agents stayed at Trump properties for free and they only charged the cost of housekeeping. “If my father travels, they [Secret Service agents] stay at our properties free — meaning, like cost for housekeeping,” he said at that time. “The government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50,” he added. However, new documents obtained by Congress revealed that Donald Trump billed the Secret Service higher amounts than the government-approved rate in 40 cases — in one case billing 1,185 per night to stay at a now-shuttered hotel in downtown Washington DC. The records obtained as part of an investigation by the Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee show that US taxpayers paid Trump Organisation at least $1.4mn for the stays of agents which was for his and his family’s protection. “The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” wrote Oversight chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. In a statement, Eric Trump again disputed the claims that the company benefited from Secret Services’ stays at their properties. “Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free,” he said. “The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels.” Mr Trump made frequent visits to the properties, nearly 550 times during his four years in office and security agents had to follow him where ever he went as per security protocol, according to a report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Read More…

Trump Showed 'Love Letters' From Kim Jong Un To Journalist Knowing They Were 'Top Secret:' Report https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-showed-love-letters-from-kim-jong-un-to-journalist-knowing-they-were-top-secret-report/ Former U.S. President Donald Trump showed the “love letters” received from Kim Jong Un to a journalist in Dec. 2019 and acknowledged that he should not be showing them around. What Happened: Trump showed the letters that the North Korean leader had written to him to Bob Woodward, according to notes from Woodward’s interview during Trump’s tenure in the top office. In a new audiobook — “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Trump” — the journalist has highlighted more than eight hours of raw interviews with the former president. See Also: Trump To Get Subpoenaed ‘Shortly’ By Jan. 6 Panel, Says Liz Cheney: ‘American People Deserve To Hear Directly From Him’ While showing the letters to him, Trump urged Woodward to “treat them with respect” and warned him not to tell anyone that “I gave them to you, okay?” reported  The Washington Post. “But I’ll let you see them,” Trump said, adding that “I don’t want you to have them all.” The report noted that a month later, in Jan. 2020, when Woodward asked Trump during a call to let him also see the letters that the former president wrote to his North Korean counterpart, Trump said, “Oh, those are so top secret.” While Trump has made repeated claims that he took none of the documents improperly from the White House when leaving office, including the Kim letters, the comments show that the former president knew that the 27 letters exchanged between the two were classified. Check out more of Benzinga’s Europe and Asia coverage by following this link. © 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Read More…

Colton Parayko Loving His Life In St. Louis, And There Are Plenty More Years Ahead With Blues https://digitalalabamanews.com/colton-parayko-loving-his-life-in-st-louis-and-there-are-plenty-more-years-ahead-with-blues/ If you were at Lindenwood’s first home Division I hockey game on Friday and thought the guy watching the Lions play Air Force from the Zamboni gate at Centene Community Ice Center looked a lot like Blues defenseman Colton Parayko it is, of course, because it was. “It was good,” said Parayko, who played college hockey at Alaska-Fairbanks. “A lot of people there. Just wanted to go see what it was all about. Takes me back to the good old days of DI hockey and we played Air Force four or six times probably in my career, so it’s kind of cool just to relive a little memory.” Copyright 2022 Tribune Content Agency. Eric Comrie made 46 saves to help the Buffalo Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Tuesday night. Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and J.J. Peterka scored for Buffalo. The Sabres improved to 2-1. Dahlin joined Lindy Ruff as the second defenseman in franchise history to score in each of the first three games in a season. Darnell Nurse and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had goals for Oilers. They are 1-2. Harper, Schwarber HR as Wheeler, Phils top Pads to open NLCS Mikael Backlund broke a tie with 4:29 left in the Calgary Flames’ 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli also scored and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves to help the Flames improve to 3-0 and drop Vegas to 3-1. Jonathan Huberdeau, acquired in an offseason trade with Florida, assisted on Calgary’s first two goals. Kadri, signed as a free agent in August, had an assist. William Carrier and Brett Howden scored their first goals of the season for Vegas. Logan Thompson stopped 37 in his hometown. Center Mikael Backlund scored a go-ahead goal with 4:29 remaining and the Calgary Flames defeated the Golden Knights 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday to continue their perfect start to the season. SAN DIEGO — In the past three years, John Middleton committed more than half a billion dollars to three players. He got his money’s worth Tuesday night. Stephen Curry took the microphone in the middle of Golden State’s championship ring ceremony Tuesday night to make an impassioned plea in support of Brittney Griner as the WNBA star spent her 32nd birthday in a Russian prison.The Warriors, long committed to social issues far beyond basketball, celebrated their fourth championship in eight years.Griner is awaiting a hearing in Russia later this month for her appeal of a nine-year prison sentence for drug possession. Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi has received a hero’s welcome on her return to Tehran. Her arrival Tuesday comes after competing in an event in South Korea without wearing a mandatory headscarf required of female athletes from the Islamic Republic. Rekabi’s decision not to wear the hijab while competing Sunday comes as protests sparked by the Sept. 16 death in custody of a 22-year-old woman have entered a fifth week. Mahsa Amini was detained by the country’s morality police over her clothing and her death has sparked women removing their mandatory hijabs in public. An Instagram post on an account attributed to Rekabi called her not wearing the hijab “unintentional,” but fears for her safety have grown. Juan Soto, Manny Machado and unlikely star Trent Grisham went silent for the San Diego Padres, giving the Petco Park faithful little to get loud about in the city’s first NL Championship Series since 1998. The Padres eked out just one hit against Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies in a 2-0 loss in Game 1. Soto, Machado and Grisham were a combined 0 for nine with four strikeouts and a walk. The Padres’ lone hit was a single by Wil Myers in the fifth. Once Wheeler left, the Padres had runners at first and second in the ninth, but Machado flied out and Josh Bell struck out to end it. BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (AP) – Results from Argentine football: SAN DIEGO — It was history simply by taking place. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton broke a tie 33 seconds into the third period, Mackenzie Blackwood made 18 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Tuesday night. Blackwood denied Ducks scoring leader Troy Terry from in front on the power play midway through the third as New Jersey held on for its first victory of the season after two losses. Dawson Mercer added an insurance goal with 7:11 left. Anaheim forward Jakob Silfverberg scored twice in the first period for a 2-0 lead, but Devils forwards Ondrej Palat and Nico Hischier each notched their first goals of the season to tie it in the second. Claude Giroux opened the scoring in his Ottawa homecoming and the Senators outscored Boston 7-5 on Tuesday night for their first victory of the season and the Bruins’ first loss. The 34-year-old Giroux signed with the Senator as a free agent in the offseason. He spent part of his childhood in Ottawa and has returned to the area for summers. Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle each had a goal and two assists for Ottawa. Mark Kastelic, Shane Pinto and Artem Zub also scored, and Anton Forsberg stopped 26 shots. The Bruins dropped to 3-1. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and two assists each, David Krejci, Nick Foligno and A.J. Greer also scored and Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves. LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES BOSTON — On the eve of a new season, Jayson Tatum was feeling confident. TAMPA, Fla. — The Flyers snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Tampa Bay Lightning with their dramatic 3-2 win Tuesday night. They also extended their three-game winning streak to start the season, all of which are comeback wins. Fired Nebraska football coach Scott Frost would have received a one-year contract extension and had his annual salary restored to $5 million  if the Cornhuskers showed improvement, went 6-6 in the regular season and played in a bowl game, according to athletic director Trev Alberts. Alberts said on his radio show Tuesday night that the metrics had been kept private until a judge, citing state open records laws, ordered the terms made public earlier in the day. USA Today had sued the university saying the information is a public record and should not have been kept confidential. Frost was fired on Sept. 11 after the team lost two of its first three games. FGFTRebPHILADELPHIAMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTSHarris34:147-141-21-20318Tucker33:013-50-02-4026Embiid37:169-187-91-155426Harden37:179-1412-120-87335Maxey38:118-163-30-12521Melton20:332-40-00-0025House Jr.16:120-21-20-1121Niang12:091-40-00-0113Harrell10:441-30-00-0032Thybulle0:230-00-00-0000Totals240:0… Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 35 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 126-117 in the opening game of the NBA regular season. Malcolm Brogdon added 16 points and Grant Williams finished with 15 as the defending Eastern Conference champions gave interim coach Joe Mazzulla a victory in his debut. James Harden had 35 points — his most since joining the 76ers last season — including 12 of 12 from the free throw line. He also had five 3s.  Joel Embiid added 26 points and 15 rebounds. Tyrese Maxey finished with 21 points. Oliver Wahlstrom scored twice to help the New York Islanders beat San Jose 5-2 on Tuesday night, pushing the Sharks’ season-opening losing streak to five. Anders Lee, Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for New York. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves for his first victory of the season. Nico Sturm and Evgeny Svechnikov scored for San Jose. James Reimer made 40 saves in the second game of a four-game trip. Wahlstrom gave New York a 3-2 with 56 seconds left in the second period. The 22-year-old forward wired a wrist shot under Reimer’s glove. Wahlstrom scored again at 5:24 of the third, hammering a shot past Reimer’s blocker. The time zones change, as do the venues and the opponents. After the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers on Monday, coach Jim Montgomery admitted he was worried about the upcoming game against the Senators in their home opener in Ottawa while the Bruins were playing the second half of a back-to-back. TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning outplayed the Philadelphia Flyers for most of Tuesday’s home opener. But they let their opponent hang around, and a resilient team burned them late. NEWARK, N.J. — It was the Jakob Silfverberg Show. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Carter Hart stopped 37 shots, Noah Cates broke a tie in the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night for their third straight comeback victory to open the season. Read More…

Registration Error Affects Up To 6,000 Arizona Voters https://digitalalabamanews.com/registration-error-affects-up-to-6000-arizona-voters/ PHOENIX (AP) — A voter registration error caused up to 6,000 Arizona voters to get a mail ballot with only federal races, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said Tuesday. Hobbs, who is the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement that affected voters will receive the correct ballot shortly. Hobbs has staked her gubernatorial campaign largely on her staunch defense of the 2020 election in the face of criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Her Republican rival, former television news anchor Kari Lake, has spread Trump’s unsupported claims of fraud two years ago and has called on Hobbs to step aside from overseeing the midterms while she’s on the ballot. When people register to vote in Arizona or update their registration, an election system queries driver’s license records to verify whether the person has proven their citizenship. Those who don’t have citizenship documentation on file are not eligible to vote in state elections and are registered as “federal only” voters. Sophia Solis, a spokeswoman for Hobbs, said the driver’s license query failed to properly verify the citizenship for some people, leading them to to be improperly registered as federal only voters. She did not provide a breakdown of their party affiliation or describe the characteristics that led to problems. Federal only voters have been a subject of political wrangling since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that Arizona cannot require documentary proof of citizenship for people to vote in national elections. The state responded by creating two classes of voters — those who can vote in all races and those who can vote only in federal elections. Hobbs said in her statement that the problem affected less than a quarter of 1 percent of voters. She said the database problem has been corrected. Read More…

AP-NORC Poll: Many Remain Critical Of State Of US Democracy https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-norc-poll-many-remain-critical-of-state-of-us-democracy/ WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of U.S. democracy and the way elected officials are chosen — nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Only about half of Americans have high confidence that votes in the upcoming midterm elections will be counted accurately, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, though that’s an improvement from about 4 in 10 saying that just before the 2020 presidential election. Just 9% of U.S. adults think democracy is working “extremely” or “very well,” while 52% say it’s not working well. In a reversal from two years ago, Republicans are now more likely than Democrats to say democracy is not working well. This year, 68% of Republicans feel this way compared to 32% two years ago. The share of Democrats with a sour outlook on how democracy is functioning in the U.S. dropped from 63% to 40%. Ronald McGraw Sr., 67, of Indianapolis, is a retired construction worker who recently registered to vote and intends to cast a ballot for the first time this year. “I thought I’d let everybody else put their vote in and just go with the flow, but this whole thing is at stake now,” he said, referring to democracy, the economy, ”everything, how the whole country runs.” FILE – Supporters of then-President Donald Trump gather for a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jose Luis Magana FILE – A poll worker stamps a vote-by-mail ballot at a ballot drop-off location at the Miami-Dade Elections Department during the primary election, Aug. 23, 2022, in Doral, Fla. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Lynne Sladky FILE – Voters wait in line outside the Richland County election office on the first day of in-person absentee voting in South Carolina on Oct. 5, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File) Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Meg Kinnard PreviousNext McGraw, who is Black and considers himself a moderate, said a big concern is the political turmoil in the country and the fact that he sees too many self-serving politicians concerned with power, especially those who work against the interest of minorities. He said he registered as a Republican, but did not give any thought to party platforms or stances at the time. “I am paying attention now,” he said. After every presidential election, members of the losing candidate’s party can experience a letdown. The fallout from the 2020 election has been deeper, fueled by the lies from former President Donald Trump and his allies that Democrats stole the election. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus. The general despair over democracy comes after decades of increasing polarization nationwide, from the presidential and congressional races down to local contests such as races for school boards. Overall, just a quarter of U.S. adults — including similar percentages of Republicans and Democrats — say they are optimistic about the way leaders are chosen, while 43% say they are pessimistic. An additional 31% feel neither. Adam Coykendall, a 31-year-old social studies teacher from Ashland, Wisconsin, said he sees party loyalties driving lawmakers more than the good of the country. “I feel like everything is becoming a little more divisive, a little more polarized, more focused on party loyalty … rather than working for your constituency, having things that work for people rather than working for the party,” said Coykendall, who described himself as an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans — 58% — still believe Biden’s election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Gary Phelps, a 70-year-old retired truck driver in Clearwater, Minnesota, accepts Biden is president but doesn’t think he was legitimately elected. Phelps said he was concerned about voter fraud, mail ballots being received and counted after Election Day, and irregularities with some voting machines, although he acknowledged it’s based on his feeling rather than evidence. Phelps remains concerned about the voting process and whether the tallies will be accurate. “I would hope so, but I don’t think so,” the Republican-leaning independent said. The poll shows 47% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that the votes in the 2022 midterm elections will be counted accurately. Confidence is highest among Democrats, 74% of whom say they’re highly confident. On the Republican side, confidence in elections is decidedly mixed: 25% have high confidence, 30% have moderate confidence and 45% have little to no confidence. That erosion of trust comes after two years of Trump and his allies promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election and peddling conspiracy theories about voting machines. Narratives about mailed ballots mysteriously changing vote totals have been one persistent source of misinformation. To be clear, results announced on election night are unofficial and often incomplete. It’s normal for counting to continue several days after Election Day, as mailed ballots received by their deadline are processed and added to the tally. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge of mailed balloting as voters opted to avoid crowded polling stations. A large number of those ballots slowed down the results as local election offices worked through the steps to verify the ballots and ensure they matched registered voters. Julie Duggan, a 31-year-old police officer from Chicago, is among the Republicans who does not believe Biden’s win was legitimate. She said watching his gaffes and missteps, it was impossible to believe he garnered enough support to win. She is concerned about the country’s direction, citing inflation, illegal immigration, crime rates and a lack of respect for law enforcement. “If we don’t get the right people in, we will be at the point of no return,” she said, adding she hopes elections will be run fairly but has her doubts. “My confidence has definitely been shaken.” ___ The poll of 1,121 adults was conducted Oct. 6-10 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. ___ Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Washington and Nuha Dolby in New York contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More…

Rep. Liz Cheney Says Jan. 6 Committee Will ‘Shortly' Issue Trump Subpoena, Blasts Minority Leader McCarthy At Harvard IOP Forum | News | The Harvard Crimson https://digitalalabamanews.com/rep-liz-cheney-says-jan-6-committee-will-shortly-issue-trump-subpoena-blasts-minority-leader-mccarthy-at-harvard-iop-forum-news-the-harvard-crimson/ United States Representative Elizabeth L. “Liz” Cheney (R-Wyo.) said the House’s January 6 Select Committee will issue a subpoena to former President Donald J. Trump “shortly,” during remarks at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum Tuesday evening. The Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony under oath during its final public hearing on Thursday. “There was no disagreement on the committee,” Cheney said during the IOP forum. “We all felt that our obligation is to seek his testimony, that the American people deserve to hear directly from him, that it has to be under oath, that he has to be held accountable.” Cheney said she is operating under the assumption that Trump will “fulfill his legal obligation and honor the subpoena.” “If that doesn’t happen, then we will take the steps we need to take after that,” she added. “But I don’t want to go too far down that path at this point.” The event, which was moderated by former Wyoming Governor Matthew H. Mead and Hannah A. Bottarel ’24, also covered the future of the Republican Party and the United States’ responsibility to continue supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. Cheney said the current internal conflicts among members of the Republican Party are “not about policy disagreements,” but about values. “The reason that I’m a Republican is because of what the party stands for,” Cheney said. “I happen to believe the most conservative of conservative principles is fidelity to the Constitution.” “We have to get back to recognizing we all have an obligation to defend the foundations, the Republic,” she added. “That’s what provides the basis for the disagreements about policy.” With the 2024 presidential election just over two years away, Cheney warned against voters electing Trump to a second term as president. “I think it’s very important for the survival of the country that Donald Trump not be anywhere close to power again,” Cheney said. “That’s something we need to keep in the forefront as we go forward.” Cheney drew on examples from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to argue that individual citizens can play a crucial role in protecting democracy. “One of the things that I hope the committee has been able to do is make clear that our institutions don’t defend themselves,” she said. “January 6 could have been far worse if people in positions of authority hadn’t stood up.” Cheney advocated for the American government to continue providing support for Ukraine as it fights against the full-scale invasion Russia launched in February. She also criticized House Minority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy for telling Punchbowl News that American aid for Ukraine might not be approved in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “I don’t know that I can say I was surprised, but I think it’s really disgraceful that today, Minority Leader McCarthy suggested that if the Republicans get the majority back that we will not continue to provide support for the Ukrainians,” Cheney said. “Ukraine is the frontline in the battle for freedom, and the world — not just America, but the world — has an obligation to make sure that Ukraine prevails,” she added. —Staff writer Miles J. Herszenhorn can be reached at miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MHerszenhorn. Read More…

Ukraine Updates: Drones Show Moscow Is 'militarily Bankrupt' – DW – 10/19/2022 https://digitalalabamanews.com/ukraine-updates-drones-show-moscow-is-militarily-bankrupt-dw-10-19-2022/ Russia’s dependence on Iranian-made drones to attack Ukrainian targets exposes Moscow as “bankrupt” both politically and militarily, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. Using Iranian weaponry amounted to an acknowledgement of failure by the Kremlin, he added. “For decades, they spent billions of dollars on their own military industrial complex. And in the end, they bowed down to Tehran in order to secure quite simple drones and missiles,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address. Ukraine says Russia’s latest attacks on infrastructure have relied on Iranian-made Shahed-136 “kamikaze” drones. Iran denies supplying unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia. In his address, Zelenskyy also thanked everyone who helps Ukraine with anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense. According to the president, the German “IRIS-T” has shown itself as “a really effective system.” “We are working with partners to provide even more protection to the Ukrainian sky,” Zelenskyy added. Russian strikes target Ukraine’s energy grid To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on October 19. Russia announces evacuation from Kherson The battle for Kherson will begin in the “near future,” a Russian-installed official said late Tuesday. Kirill Stremousov urged the population to leave the region immediately. Kherson is one of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia “annexed” following referendums widely-judged as illegal. On Tuesday, the Kremlin-appointed head of the area, Vladimir Saldo, announced the evacuation of civilians of four communities near the Dnipro river, citing the risk that Ukrainian shelling could damage a nearby dam. Russian commander admits situation for his troops is ‘tense’ The new Russian military commander for Ukraine operations said that Russia’s army is preparing to evacuate civilians from Kherson region. “The Russian army will above all ensure the safe evacuation of the population” of Kherson, General Sergey Surovikin told Russian state television, Surovikin, who has been in the job for the past 10 days, added the combat situation there was “very tense.” “The enemy is not abandoning its attempts to attack Russian troop positions,” he added, in a rare admission of the pressures being felt by his forces. Germany sends further military support to Ukraine The government revealed on Tuesday that it had supplied Ukraine with five more armoured recovery vehicles. That doubles the total amount sent by Germany. Berlin also delivered seven bridge systems to enable the crossing of rivers.  As well as more ammunition, Germany has also sent winter clothing, power generators and first aid kits. US and allies to raise Iranian drone transfers to Russia at UN The United States, Britain and France plan to raise alleged Iranian arms transfers to Russia at a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, diplomats said, after Ukraine said Russia’s having obtained drones violated a Council resolution. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomats said the three – which also believe such transfers violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231 – told their Council counterparts they would ask a UN official to brief members on the issue. Russia launched dozens of “kamikaze” drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Ukraine on Monday, hitting energy infrastructure and killing five people in the capital Kyiv. Ukraine says they are Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones. More from DW’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Suicide drones are said to have been used to attack the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Tehran has denied supplying Moscow with the equipment. What do we know about drone imports? After the rockets comes the propaganda — pro-Russian voices have claimed that wounded people in Kyiv were just actors staging their suffering. But a DW fact check shows that the victims are real. dh/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters) Read More…

Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover And Mountain Brook Leaders Host Domestic Violence Awareness Forum https://digitalalabamanews.com/vestavia-hills-homewood-hoover-and-mountain-brook-leaders-host-domestic-violence-awareness-forum/ VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (WIAT) — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It’s a time for advocates and those who care about victims and survivors of domestic violence to increase awareness around the issue in communities. That’s why Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry helped to host a domestic violence awareness forum Tuesday night. The event focused on teens, young adults and dating violence for those living in Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Homewood and Mountain Brook. “This is something that’s a real and present threat to our young people,” Curry said. “What we hope is if we could prevent just one episode then it’s well worth our time and effort to put this together.” Megan Montgomery is a victim of domestic violence. Her mother and sister shared her story during the forum to help other people like her. Just weeks before she passed – she made a plea on social media to help other women like her identify red flags of abuse. Susann Montgomery-Clark, Montgomery’s mother, said it all happens slowly and gradually with time. “In the very beginning of the relationship they’re prince charming, they really are prince charming and the woman thinks she has met her soul mate, but it’s all a disguise,” Montgomery-Clark said. YWCA of Central Alabama CEO Dr. LaRhonda Magras said one of the biggest issues is that component of isolation and abuse that happens as an abuser works to pull you away from loved ones. “We take every opportunity to make sure that our community knows how important it is to recognize the signs and where to go if you need help,” Magras said. Montgomery-Clark said this can happen to anyone. Her daughter was a UAB graduate with a master’s degree, presidential honors, and an accomplished volunteer with the humane society. Montgomery-Clark and her daughter Meredith Montgomery-Price are continuing her mission. “We didn’t know the signs, we didn’t know what his true colors were,” Montgomery-Price said. “Megan didn’t know, and we didn’t know has her family how to prevent this from happening.” People between the ages of 16 to 24 are the most at-risk age group for relationship violence. 40% of teens ages 14 to 17 have been exposed to at least one form of intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. Warning signs of domestic violence include: Demanding access to your social media or phone Isolation from friends and family Jealousy to justify behavior Stalking Criticizing you or calling you names Threatens to hurt you or yourselves Not taking “no” for an answer Resources for help or to talk to someone: Crisis Center of Central Alabama U Talk Youth Line 205-328-5464 National Dating Abuse Hotline 1-866-331-9474 Text “lovels” to 22522 National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE YWCA Crisis Line 205-322-HURT Read More…

'Anguish And Sorrow': Parents Of Raleigh Mass Shooting Suspect And Victim Issue Statement https://digitalalabamanews.com/anguish-and-sorrow-parents-of-raleigh-mass-shooting-suspect-and-victim-issue-statement/ RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — The parents of the 15-year-old suspect — and one of the victims — in the Raleigh mass shooting that left five people dead and two injured released a statement Tuesday through their attorneys. “Words cannot begin to describe our anguish and sorrow,” the statement from Alan and Elise Thompson began. Our son Austin inflicted immeasurable pain on the Raleigh community, and we are overcome with grief for the innocent lives lost. We pray for the families and loved ones of Nicole Conners, Susan Karnatz, Mary Marshall, and Raleigh Police Officer Gabriel Torres. We mourn for their loss and for the loss of our son, James. “We pray that Marcille “Lynn” Gardner and Raleigh Police Officer Casey Clark fully recover from their injuries, and we pray for everyone who was traumatized by these senseless acts of violence. “We have so many unanswered questions. There were never any indications or warning signs that Austin was capable of doing anything like this. Our family will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do whatever we can to help them understand why and how this happened.” The juvenile suspect remains in critical condition in the hospital. He was severely injured when police found him and took him into custody hours after the shooting, but details of how he received those injuries have not been released. In the Hedingham community, neighbors reacted Tuesday evening to the statement issued by the parents. “I know that their hearts are broken because of what happened. They’re really hurting, too,” said one neighbor, who was out walking her dog on Castle Pines Drive. The neighbor, who wanted to be identified only as Sheila, said she remembered seeing the Thompson sons when they were younger. She also said their father did handy work for a few of her friends. She said she understands the parent’s grief. “I sympathize with them and what they said in a statement,” Sheila said. “They had no clue of him doing anything like that. You can’t just blame them. I just want to know where he got the gun.” Earlier Tuesday, Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson briefed Raleigh City Council on the investigation into the shooting that happened Thursday in the Hedingham neighborhood. Patterson said further details would be released in the department’s 5-day report, which is expected to be released Thursday. The report will include a detailed outline of events during the shooting, including the suspect’s injuries and what type of weapon was used. She also said one of the shooting victims is showing improvement and a second has been released from the hospital. WATCH | ‘Unforgivable act’: Husband of Raleigh mass shooting victim struggles with losing life partner The chief said the homicide unit has been working around the clock these past five days to “better understand the sequence of events that occurred and the possible motives behind the suspect’s actions.” City officials also announced that a public vigil will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday outside the Memorial Auditorium. SEE ALSO | What we know about those killed in the Hedingham mass shooting “The light that normally shines on Raleigh does not shine as bright,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said at the council meeting. The city also announced that it is creating a website that will offer support resources to the families and the greater Raleigh community. Copyright © 2022 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved. Read More…

Proposed $50 Million Carraway Amphitheater Would Replace Oak Mountain’s: What It Might Look Like https://digitalalabamanews.com/proposed-50-million-carraway-amphitheater-would-replace-oak-mountains-what-it-might-look-like/ The proposed $50 million, 9,000-seat amphitheater that would anchor The Star at Uptown, the $300-million mixed-use development on the former Carraway Hospital campus in North Birmingham, would replace Oak Mountain Amphitheater in Pelham, according to officials. The Carraway project is called “the only tier 1 amphitheater in central Alabama,” according to a document outlining the economic “opportunity” of the new venue that was presented to members of the Jefferson County Commission at a work session on Tuesday. Oak Mountain is owned by Live Nation, the global $6.3 billion live entertainment giant. The company would manage the new amphitheater, which would sit just a few blocks from Protective Stadium and be owned by the Birmingham Jefferson County Convention Complex (BJCC). In addition, the document stated: “A restrictive covenant would be placed on any sale of [Oak Mountain] to ensure it would not serve as an amphitheater in the future.” “This an opportunity for generational change,” said Commission President Stephens. “We can become an A-plus concert site rather than a C-plus.” On Tuesday evening, the City of Pelham issued this statement: “The proposal put forth by the Jefferson County Commission President came as a surprise to Pelham city leaders. After a number of conversations, it is clear to us that what was discussed in the pre-commission meeting remains just that: a proposal. “The City of Pelham and Oak Mountain Amphitheatre (OMA) have been partners for more than three decades, and our commitment to the venue’s success remains steadfast. In fact, the City Council just last night (10/17/2022) approved a new project to make improvements to Amphitheater Road, which will improve access to OMA, the Pelham Civic Complex & Ice Arena, and The Canopy, a $60 million mixed-use development under construction directly across from the Amphitheatre. It’s also important to note, Live Nation recently invested a significant amount of money for improvements to Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. “In the most recent meeting between city leaders and Live Nation, the company emphasized its commitment to its operations in Pelham.” To fund the construction and debt payments, Stephens said the JCC, the city of Birmingham, the BJCC, and Live Nation would each make a one-time $5 million contribution as a paydown to reduce borrowing. The BJCC would borrow $30 million over 30 years to fund the remaining construction costs. “That is a requisite,” Stephens said. The project hinges on the ability of the BJCC and the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau to come to an agreement that the CVB would relinquish lodging tax payments provided to it by the BJCC under an earmark agreement conceived after state lawmakers passed legislation in 2003 allowing the BJCC to capture payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) from the Sheraton to fund capital investments that support entertainment tourism. The earmark represents one percent of taxes now received from the Sheraton and Westin, an estimated $1,142,000, according to the document. That amount would only partially fund the projected $2 million annual debt service; the remaining amount would be covered by amphitheater revenues, based on Live Nation’s estimates. “What the BJCC is attempting to do is to reclaim those PILOTS from the Sheraton Hotel and the Westin hotel and utilize those funds to fund the shortfall in debt service payments for the amphitheater,” Stephens said. Related: Proposed $50 million amphitheater at Carraway tests regional cooperation for economic development Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson has enjoyed outdoor concerts at both the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater and Huntsville’s spankin’ new Orion Amphitheater, which opened in May “I like Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, too,” she says. “This one is nicer than both of them.” “I think it’s a great idea,” Tyson said, then referencing the Garth Brooks concert in June, which jammed more than 45,000 fans into Protective Stadium. “I think that people will come to Birmingham because we are in a central location for concerts. A lot of the BJCC concerts have sold out. So, I don’t think it’s a bad idea. The information we got today was not enough, though.” Live Nation projects 15-17 shows annually, selling a total of 120,000 tickets and generating approximately $7 million in gross sales. The document also projected area hotels would benefit from fans staying the night, producing an estimated $2,261.704 in additional lodging revenue in Year 1 to $2,702.290 in Year 5. The amounts would return approximately $99,888.04 in additional lodging tax revenue, the document reads. In a September letter signed by Stephens and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, and obtained by AL.com, the two men “urge” CVB President/CEO John Oros to “support a proposal to redirect a certain portion of lodging tax funds to help finance this important project. “As city and county leaders,” they wrote, “we strongly support this project and are committed to investments that significantly enhance our tourism/entertainment economy. In addition to your support, we fully expect the city, county, BJCC, and private companies to make significant investments to make this project a reality for our area.” City Councilor Hunter Williams also supports the project. “We would have the only Live Nation amphitheater in the state, which means their shows would go from Atlanta to Birmingham to Nashville, not from Atlanta to Nashville,” he said. “They’re the number one promoter of shows in the United States, which would put us in direct competition with Huntsville, where the city’s trying to manage the amphitheater. So, I think there’s a huge opportunity to take revenue that is already there; to build Protective, an additional tax on rental vehicles in Jefferson County was enacted. There is no additional taxation. It’s a redistribution of funds.” Stephens said the state would provide the CVB with $3 million “to help alleviate some of the initial shortfall that they would indeed have” until the 120-room hotel planned for the Carraway site is operational. According to projections provided to the commissioners, the hotel could produce “an additional $240,000-$270,000 per year in lodging tax revenues to the VB based on an average 70% occupancy and $189.00 [average daily rate]. The CVB Board of Directors met on Monday to discuss the BJCC’s lodging tax request. When contacted by AL.com on Tuesday, Oros said the proposal was “still too early to discuss”. The board meets again Monday. An artist’s renditions show a sprawling wood-grained structure with the stage facing away from downtown, offering some fans a view of the city skyline. Related: Carraway demolition begins “I want to see this city, county, BJCC and all government entities continue to work together—like they did to build Protective Stadium and renovate Legacy Arena—to move the region forward,” Williams added. “This is another example of how to do that without any taxation, and it’s something the CVB has the opportunity to support, which furthers its mission of promoting economic development and tourism for the region.” “We just need to sit down and actually see exactly what they’re trying to do,” Tyson said. “We just really need to see the plan that they have. I’m not against it. I’m definitely not going to say I’m against it. It’s the only way you’re going to attract people to the city. You have to have something for them to come to.” Yet before a single ticket is sold, the CVB must acquiesce to the BJCC’s request. “If CVB votes this down,” Stephens said, “you can put [the amphitheater] in the trash can.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Emirates Development Bank Approves Dhs4.4bn In Loans In First Nine Months Of 2022 https://digitalalabamanews.com/emirates-development-bank-approves-dhs4-4bn-in-loans-in-first-nine-months-of-2022/ Emirates Development Bank (EDB) recently held its annual board meeting to review its results for the period ending September 30. At the meeting, the board also discussed EDB’s major achievements over this period, including its approval of Dhs4.4bn in loans in the nine months ending September, representing a 59 per cent increase over the previous quarter and a 588 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. In total, this financing boosted the bank’s contribution to the UAE’s GDP to Dhs2.6bn ending September, a 625 per cent increase compared to the same period of 2021. A total of Dhs1,291m in loans was approved to SMEs during this period, representing an 86 per cent increase over the same period of 2021. This comprised Dhs806m in direct financing and Dhs485m in indirect financing through EDB’s credit guarantee scheme with partner commercial banks. A total of Dhs3.1bn in loans was approved for large corporates. The bank’s ‘Large Corporate’ division has been supporting the UAE’s national priority sectors with projects in key areas, including data centres, water desalination, transportation, hospitals, manufacturers, and specialised logistics, among others. The UAE industrial strategy aims to boost the GDP contribution of the industrial sector from Dhs133bn to Dhs300bn by 2031. As the nation’s development bank, the economic impact is what drives EDB’s financing activities, contributing to an estimated Dhs2.6bn in non-oil GDP in the UAE year-to-date (YTD). As part of its commitment to fostering homegrown innovation, EDB provided a total of Dhs3bn in financing to Emirati-owned businesses. The bank digitally onboarded 1,377 customers through its digital ‘Business Banking’ platform YTD. Through its mobile application, the account opening process can be completed within 48hours. EDB recently launched its digital lending programme in partnership with Beehive, which approves loans of up to Dhs5m within five days for SMEs. Read: Emirates Development Bank to approve loans of up to Dhs5m to SMEs, startups within five days Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, chairman of EDB, said: “Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, chairman of Emirates Development Bank, said: “In line with the wise leadership’s directives, EDB works under the umbrella of the comprehensive vision for the national economy that seeks to position the country as a global hub for industry, advanced technology and the industries of future, and guarantee our industrial, food, and technological security. The impressive results of the first nine months that EDB has yielded so far are a testament to the bank’s efforts in supporting the UAE’s economic diversification agenda, contributing to the UAE’s GDP and ultimately, building a more sustainable economic future for the UAE.” Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, CEO of EDB, said: “Emirates Development Bank continues to execute its transformational agenda to foster a progressive and resilient economy in the UAE. Over the last nine months, we have approved over Dhs4.4bn in loans to startups, SMEs, and large-cap businesses as part of our commitment to providing Dhs30bn in financing by 2026 to develop and diversify the UAE economy. “Looking ahead, we remain focused on continuing to provide financial support at attractive financing rates to all our customers. Thanks to the prudent support of the UAE government, EDB is well positioned to further progress our developmental strategy, scale up the bank’s financing activities across our five strategic sectors, and ultimately increase our economic impact across the nation.” Read More…

Carolina Panthers Add Former Auburn Linebacker https://digitalalabamanews.com/carolina-panthers-add-former-auburn-linebacker/ Sports Published: Oct. 18, 2022, 6:15 p.m. Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Wooten directs his teammates during an NFL preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Aug. 12, 2022, in Cincinnati.(AP Photo/Zach Bolinger) The Carolina Panthers have signed former Auburn linebacker Chandler Wooten, the NFL team announced on Tuesday. Carolina signed Wooten from the Arizona Cardinals’ practice squad for its active roster, so he is eligible to make his NFL debut on Sunday, when the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. MORE NFL: · BILL BELICHICK SPOTLIGHTS OZZIE NEWSOME FOR PATRIOTS PLAYERS · MONDAY NIGHT: BRONCOS FOLLOW PRIME-TIME PATTERN · IS BAILEY ZAPPE THREATENING MAC JONES’ JOB AS PATRIOTS’ TOP QUARTERBACK? Wooten comes to Carolina with the Panthers battling injuries at linebacker. A starter at outside linebacker, Frankie Luvu missed Carolina’s past two games because of a shoulder injury, and Corey Littleton, who took Luvu’s place in the lineup, sustained a groin injury in Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Panthers had an open spot on their active roster after trading wide receiver Robbie Anderson to the Cardinals on Monday. Wooten joined Arizona as a rookie free agent after going undrafted in April. He made 95 tackles for Auburn in 2021, when he served as a team captain. Wooten’s preseason work with the Cardinals included an interception against the Baltimore Ravens on Aug. 21. Wooten did not survive the cut at the end of the preseason to the regular-season roster limit, but Arizona re-signed him for its practice squad. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Nevada Senate Candidate Laxalt Is Courting The Latter-Day Saint Vote https://digitalalabamanews.com/nevada-senate-candidate-laxalt-is-courting-the-latter-day-saint-vote/ If you could have peered into one of the luxury boxes lining the Las Vegas Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium on Oct. 8, you would have found former Raider and current Utah Congressman Burgess Owens, seated with a who’s who of GOP leaders who also happened to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The group included Republican National Committee chair, and niece to Mitt Romney, Ronna McDaniel, Fox News contributor and former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz, former U.S. national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien and former deputy political director of the Trump White House Gregory Smith. They were gathered to cheer on Brigham Young University — the alma mater of McDaniel, Chaffetz and Smith — in its gridiron fight against the University of Notre Dame, but they were also in Nevada to show their support for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt.  Smith posted a picture the next day showing the group at the game, accompanied by local Republican congressional candidate April Becker and former political director for the Trump White House Brian Jack. The caption read, “all discussing how great of a U.S. Senator @AdamLaxalt will be for the state of Nevada.”  Laxalt, while not a member of the church, had planned earlier that day to engage in a fundraising and outreach activity among the Latter-day Saint community. Although the plans were canceled over a scheduling conflict with the Trump rally in Reno, Laxalt’s desire to reach out to Latter-day Saint voters in the community highlights the closeness of the race in the silver state.  At 6% of population, Latter-day Saints make up the second largest religious voting bloc in Nevada, and have nearly double the congregations of any other religious group. Despite their minority status, strong political involvement can make Latter-day Saints a key constituency in determining the outcome of close elections, said David Campbell, professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and author of “Seeking the Promised Land: Mormons and American Politics”, with John Green of the University of Akron and Quin Monson of Brigham Young University. Though the church has issued statements declaring itself strictly “neutral in matters of party politics,” it encourages church members to “engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters.” And in a race as close as Laxalt’s, Latter-day Saints’ willingness to mobilize could potentially help decide the campaign’s fate and, as a result, a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. With the Senate divided 50-50, the stakes couldn’t be much higher. Despite the expectation of a “red wave”, following the historical trend for off-year elections, it looks like a Senate majority could come down to just a few states.   “This race is the key to the Senate majority,” Laxalt said in a phone call with the Deseret News. “I think everyone knows it’s the top race in America right now.” Nevada is one of four “toss up” races in the Senate, along with Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, according to the The Cook Political Report, with analysts saying that Laxalt’s opponent, Catherine Cortez Masto, is the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate.  As Nevada’s former attorney general, Laxalt has focused his campaign on rising crime, as well as inflation and border security — issues that have affected Nevada as much, or more, than most states. This approach has seen some success, including with Latino voters, whose support for Masto has dropped below Latino support for Biden in 2020. Recent polls have shown Laxalt with a slight lead over Masto among the general population. The Masto campaign did not respond to request for comment. But in an email the national director of Latter-day Saints for Biden-Harris, Rob Taber, accused Laxalt of embracing “the worst elements of MAGA extremism,” while praising Sen. Masto for “working to reopen our schools and businesses, lower health care costs, and make the U.S. more self-reliant in energy and manufacturing.” With House races in and around Las Vegas also in a dead heat, it looks like the state could possibly go from having five Democrats and one Republican in Congress, to the exact opposite. Mark Robertson, the Republican candidate for Nevada’s 1st Congressional District, is running in a tight race against five-term Democratic incumbent Dina Titus. He says the campaign’s success so far is the result of broad community support from numerous Christian groups, the Republican Jewish Coalition, law enforcement officers and in particular, the Latter-day Saint community.  “I do believe that the Latter-day Saint community was behind me and did have an impact, an oversized impact, on my campaign,” said Robertson, who is himself a Latter-day Saint.  Democrat-led redistricting in 2020 moved parts of inner-city Las Vegas into the 3rd and 4th districts in a gamble to shore up Democratic Reps. Susie Lee and Steven Horsford. The move, however, made the 1st District competitive for Republicans for the first time in more than a decade, with Robertson’s district now containing the more conservative community of Boulder City, as well as Henderson, the second largest city in Nevada, which has more than 30 Latter-day Saint congregations in the area. The Titus campaign did not respond to a request for comment. “I won the primary without doing any television or radio ads. I didn’t even send mailers to people’s homes,” Robertson said. “But I did meet and greets, probably close to a thousand meet and greets in people’s homes. And I would suspect that half of those meet and greets were in the homes of Latter-day Saints who introduced me to neighbors.” The church doesn’t endorse political candidates, and it prohibits the use of local church facilities, membership records or email lists for political or other solicitation purposes, according to a church statement. While remaining neutral in matters of party politics, the church encourages voting and civic participation. Campbell says the data is clear: Latter-day Saints are “definitely” more politically active than the average American. Not only in terms of voter turnout, but in campaign participation as well. Communication through personal networks more than makes up for the restrictions on sharing political views from the pulpit. “As a group, Latter-day Saints, they kind of have in their DNA the ability, the skills, in order to be involved in a campaign. So, they’re often a very important resource for candidates,” Campbell said, referring to skills gained serving missions and participating in volunteer opportunities for the church. “It’s not just that they vote Republican, it’s that they will show up and work on behalf of a campaign.” However, the fact that politicians can’t address congregations directly does pose a challenge for Republicans and Democrats trying to capture Latter-day Saint votes. Candidates can get around this, Campbell said, by trying to invoke language or symbols that Latter-day Saints can relate to or by holding targeted events outside the church context. Laxalt said he had planned to highlight his consistent support of Latter-day Saint values at last Saturday’s “Faith and Freedom Rally,” which would have featured prominent Republicans who are members of the church, such as McDaniel and Chaffetz. The candidate’s website features family photos and, in a scene most family-focused voters might identify with, includes a video of his family gathered to watch “Star Wars.”  “I ran on being someone that was going to stand up for conservative values, someone that would fight for things like religious liberty,” Laxalt said, referencing the multiple religious liberty cases fought by his office when he was attorney general.   Polling suggests that American Latter-day Saints, particularly in the West, are more inclined to vote Republican. But church members have been encouraged by leaders to study issues and make a decision on how to vote based on their own best judgement. “I feel very strongly about the idea that our faith doesn’t dictate our vote,” said Christopher D. Cunningham, a Latter-day Saint living in Las Vegas and the managing editor of Public Square magazine. Cunningham, who plans to vote for Masto this fall, says that his decision is informed by the values he holds as a Latter-day Saint, and that despite identifying as a Democrat, he would vote for a Republican candidate if they were to reflect those values. “For me, I am a Latter-day Saint first, and so then that implicates everything about the way I see the world, about my values, about the role I see for government. And then from there I am trying to find the best candidate based on my values,” he said. Cunningham, however, assumes he’s in the minority and that most of his co-religionists in the area will break for Laxalt. One of the nation’s most influential Nevadans of the last half-century was the late Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, who was also a Latter-day Saint. In 2007, Reid spoke at church-sponsored BYU about the intersection of his faith and politics. “It is not uncommon for members of the church to ask how I can be a Mormon and a Democrat,” he said. “I say that my faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it.” Robertson also attributes his political beliefs to his Latter-day Saint faith, saying it is a driving force behind his decision to run for Congress and that it informs his conservative values. However, despite Latter-day Saints being one of the most conservative religious groups in the U.S., Republican politicians should not take their vote for gr...

In Brazil, Bolsonaro https://digitalalabamanews.com/in-brazil-bolsonaro/ A supporter holds up a portrait of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro at a rally Carl DE SOUZA Text size “Bolsonarismo,” the Brazilian far-right movement built around President Jair Bolsonaro, shares much in common with ultra-conservatives in power in Europe — Hungary, Poland and soon Italy — but is closer to Donald Trump and the US alt-right. Whether or not Bolsonaro wins his uphill fight for re-election against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s October 30 runoff, the far-right’s arrival in power in Brazil, as elsewhere, is linked to deep social upheaval, analysts say. “All these far-right movements are rooted in an economic and social crisis that is growing worse by the year: rising inequality, declining income for the working and middle classes,” says Christophe Ventura, a Latin America specialist at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS). “That has triggered the rise of widespread mistrust.” The response, he says, has followed a similar pattern internationally: a rejection of “rotten and incompetent” traditional politicians in favor of “virtuous citizens and a more authoritarian government” to right the wrongs unleashed by globalization and free trade — blamed for all ills. In Europe, Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia, Hungary’s Fidesz, Poland’s Law and Justice party, the Sweden Democrats and France’s Rassemblement National and Reconquete all “accuse immigrants of causing every crisis and want to close the borders,” says Geraldo Monteiro, head of the Brazilian Center for Democracy Studies and Research at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ). The Brazilian context is different: no longer a major immigration destination, “immigrants aren’t a big subject,” and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are less prevalent than in Europe, says Monteiro. Bolsonarismo’s version of “national solidarity” is instead a battle of “good people” versus the “corrupt.” Internal enemies include the LGBT community, Indigenous peoples, environmental and human-rights activists, the media, academics and the cultural elite — all lumped together with Lula and the “communist” left. As with far-right movements everywhere, Bolsonarismo’s Holy Trinity is God, country and family. The latter, say true believers, is under threat from gay marriage, abortion and “gender ideology.” Whereas conservative Catholics are the core of the European far-right, in Brazil, it is the powerful, fast-growing Evangelical movement. Bolsonaro greets supporters at a rally Carl DE SOUZA Bolsonaro’s movement is also more military in nature than its European cousins, says Monteiro. He says Brazil “still carries the memory of the military dictatorship” (1964-1985) — fondly, in ex-army captain Bolsonaro’s case — and the president has actively courted military support, naming generals to powerful posts in his administration. He has also energetically promoted gun ownership, signing a raft of legislation and decrees intended to help “good people” defend themselves and their property — a viewpoint that “doesn’t exist in Europe,” says Ventura. “The primary reference point” for Bolsonaro’s far-right has been Donald Trump’s United States, he adds, drawing parallels with the American alt-right and Tea Party movements. It is a brand of populism in which “the leader is the direct representative of the people,” says Mayra Goulart, a political scientist at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ). Anything supporters perceive as interfering with that direct democracy — political parties, institutions, the media — comes under attack. Like the US alt-right, Bolsonaro’s movement has attacked Brazil’s democratic institutions as enemies of the people, notably the Supreme Court and the supposedly fraud-plagued election system. Many observers fear a Brazilian version of Trump supporters’ attack on the US Capitol if Bolsonaro loses on October 30. Like Trump — who recently gave him a glowing endorsement — Bolsonaro regularly insults journalists and attacks the “fake news” media. He prefers to communicate directly with supporters on social media — which is inundated with “alternative truth” and conspiracy theories. Trump’s influence is also visible in Bolsonaro’s climate-change skepticism and resistance to expert advice on handling Covid-19. Bolsonaro can easily draw massive crowds into the street — and his movement looks here to stay, whether or not he wins re-election Carl DE SOUZA The US and Brazilian movements also share a “pro-market, pro-business discourse,” says Goulart. Free speech is upheld as an absolute right — unfiltered hate speech and disinformation included. Both Trump and Bolsonaro ran as political outsiders and achieved “unexpected” victories, says Monteiro. And both “easily draw thousands of supporters into the streets.” Read More…

AP News Summary At 10:27 P.m. EDT https://digitalalabamanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-1027-p-m-edt/ Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is promising that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that codifies Roe v. Wade — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress for Biden to sign abortion protections into law. In a speech designed to energize his party’s voters just three weeks before the November midterms, Biden said, “If you care about the right to choose, then you gotta vote.” Democrats tried repeatedly in this Congress to enshrine abortion rights into law, only to be thwarted by GOP filibusters and the unwillingness of their own members to change the Senate’s rules. That dynamic is likely to persist no matter what happens in the November elections. Ukraine’s power, water supplies under Russian attack again KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Airstrikes cut power and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. That’s part of what the country’s president called an expanding Russian campaign to drive the nation into the cold and dark and make peace talks impossible. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly a third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed in the past week, causing massive blackouts. The mayor of Zhytomyr said all of the city was without electricity and water after a double missile strike Tuesday on an energy facility. Authorities said missile strikes also hit an energy facility in Kyiv and severely damaged another in the south-central city of Dnipro. Worry grows for Iran athlete who competed without her hijab SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An Iranian competitive climber has left South Korea after competing at an event in which she climbed without her nation’s mandatory headscarf covering. Farsi-language media outside of Iran have warned that she may have been forced to leave early by Iranian officials and could face arrest back home. The decision by climber Elnaz Rekabi comes as protests sparked by the September death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the country’s morality police have entered a fifth week. Iran’s Embassy in Seoul denied “all the fake, false news and disinformation” about Rekabi. A later Instagram post on Rekabi’s account claimed she “unintentionally” didn’t wear it and was rushed, though video of the event showed her relaxed at the time. Biden to release 15M barrels from oil reserve, more possible WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce the release of 15 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic reserve Wednesday as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by OPEC+ nations. That’s according to senior administration officials who spoke Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to outline Biden’s plans. He will also say more oil sales are possible this winter, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections. The strategic reserve now contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil, its lowest level since 1984. Demings goes on attack against Rubio in Fla. Senate debate MIAMI (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings of Florida went on the attack in her first debate against Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, accusing him of being a serial liar, while Rubio criticized her for supporting President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. Each accused the other of being an extremist on abortion. The two faced questions on topics including inflation, voting rights, gun violence, immigration and foreign policy. When asked to explain his position on abortion, Rubio skirted a question on whether he would support a federal abortion ban with no exceptions. He instead called Demings’ position extreme because she would not say what limits on abortion she would support. Missouri school to close after radioactive waste report FLORISSANT, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri school board has decided to shut down a grade school that sits near a contaminated creek after a study funded by law firms involved in a class-action lawsuit found high levels of radioactive material inside the school. Contamination was found in classrooms, the playground and elsewhere at Jana Elementary School in Florissant, Missouri, according to a report last week by Boston Chemical Data Corp. It follows another study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, made public in the summer, that found contamination stemming from World War II-era nuclear weapons production in a wooded area near Coldwater Creek. Analyst acquitted at trial over discredited Trump dossier ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A jury has acquitted on all counts a think tank analyst accused of lying to the FBI about his role in the creation of a discredited dossier about former President Donald Trump. The case decided Tuesday involving Igor Danchenko was the third and possibly final case brought by Special Counsel John Durham as part of his probe into how the FBI conducted its own investigation into allegations of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin. The first two cases ended in an acquittal and a guilty plea with a sentence of probation. It was the first of the three cases to delve deeply into the origins of the “Steele dossier.” Rape allegations aired against ’70s Show’ actor Masterson LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles prosecutor says rape allegations by three women against “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson contain some of the same disturbing elements. A deputy district attorney said in opening statements Tuesday that the women were either woozy or unconscious after a couple drinks or woke up to Masterson having sex with them. A defense lawyer says the allegations seem similar because the alleged victims contaminated the case by speaking with each other. The prosecutor says the women didn’t initially report the two-decade-old crimes because they feared being ostracized by the Church of Scientology where they and Masterson were members. Review: ‘Black Adam,’ a superhero franchise born on a Rock “Black Adam,” with Dwayne Johnson making his big-screen superhero debut, isn’t bad, says Associated Press critic Mark Kennedy. It’s just predictable and color-by-numbers, stealing from other films like an intellectual property super-villain. But Johnson is a natural in the title role, mixing might with humor and able to deliver those necessary wooden lines. The film has a convoluted origin story that stretches back thousands of years and fulfills a whacko destiny, a clutch of secondary level heroes and pockets of humor that DC has not always done well. The PG-13-rated “Black Adam” opens Friday in movie theaters. Stanton, Judge HR, Yankees beat Guards, into ALCS vs Astros NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York Yankees rocked past the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant. Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor Cortes on three days’ rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night’s rainout. Cleveland starter Aaron Civale struggled. With two on and two outs in the ninth and ace Gerrit Cole warming up in case, Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres stepped on the bag to end it, then mimicked rocking a baby with the ball — a jab at Guardians slugger Josh Naylor, who made the motion rounding the bases after a homer off Cole in Game 4. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Read More…

Walz, Jensen Clash On Abortion, Riots In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Campaign https://digitalalabamanews.com/walz-jensen-clash-on-abortion-riots-in-sole-televised-debate-of-2022-campaign/ Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen debated Tuesday night on television, but residents in the Twin Cities were only able to watch through online streams. The panel of four journalists asked questions on a bevy of issues, including the state budget surplus, abortion and the state’s response to riots after George Floyd’s murder. Walz and allied groups have used the abortion issue as their main area of attack on Jensen, claiming he will seek to ban abortion in Minnesota if he’s elected governor. In campaign videos and media interviews, Jensen said he would ban abortion, but he has walked back that rhetoric in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws in the hands of state legislatures. “Because in Minnesota abortion is a legally protected right it is not on the ballot in November,” Jensen said Tuesday night. “What is on the ballot in November is without question skyrocketing inflation, crime out of control and our kids are not getting the education that they need. As governor, I won’t ban abortion, I can’t.” Republican candidate for governor Dr. Scott Jensen, left, and DFL Gov. Tim Walz, right, debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, at KTTC-TV in Rochester. (Courtesy of KTTC-TV) In his response to Jensen’s answer, Walz criticized Jensen for changing his stance mid-campaign. “Scott was very clear in May. He mocked me and said, ‘No kidding, Sherlock, I’m running for governor to get things done. We’re going to ban abortion, that’s not news,” Walz said. “That changed after Roe versus Wade. I think what most of us know again you heard this through many different places, this is not about trusting women. This not about clear convictions. It’s about changing your positions as the winds blow.” The moderators also asked the candidates about the state’s response to riots that erupted in the Twin Cities following George Floyd’s murder. Walz and Jensen were asked what they would do differently if something similar happened again, but they mostly talked what happened in 2020. “Nothing like this had been seen before — the level of violence after the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “I think, again, there will be stories written and this will be written about for quite some time. I’m proud of Minnesota’s response. I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders who were out there from firefighters to police to National Guard to citizens that were out there.” Jensen took the question as an opportunity to put Walz’s support of first responders in doubt. “You heard it here: Governor Walz just told you, ‘I am proud of Minnesota’s response,’ referring to the riots of May and June of 2020. Wow,” Jensen said. “This isn’t a one-off situation. There’s a reason the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association has endorsed me unanimously.” The candidates also tangled over the budget bill that stalled in the Legislature in May. Walz said Jensen urged Republican senators to block the bill that would have delivered tax cuts and rebates, but Jensen said it also would have increased state spending by billions of dollars. Lack of debates under scrutiny The one-hour debate between the 2022 candidates for Minnesota governor was hosted in Rochester and was only broadcast on Greater Minnesota TV stations. It was the second of three scheduled debates between Walz and Jensen but the only one to be televised. Walz rejected offers to debate on at least three Twin Cities television stations, including KSTP-TV. “Tim Walz is ahead, but he’s not a prohibitive favorite,” says Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier. “He’s probably ahead in the single digits, probably the high single digits but that is not safe territory three weeks out.” Schier says although minimizing the number of debates is clearly strategy of the Walz campaign, it doesn’t mean it will work. Although he says Jensen needs the debates more than Walz. “The two of them need to meet face-to-face in order for Jensen to try and close that gap because the further away Walz is from Jensen personally in this race the better it is for Walz.” The only other time Walz and Jensen debated was eleven weeks ago at Farmfest near Redwood Falls on August 3. That was only seen by a few hundred people who attended the debate and people who saw highlights on television or online. This will be the first time in at least 40 years the candidates for Minnesota governor will not debate in prime time on Twin Cities television. The only other debate currently scheduled is at noon, Friday, Oct. 28 on Minnesota Public Radio. KSTP-TV will host a “Debate Night in Minnesota” that will air statewide in prime time on Sunday, Oct. 23. Walz declined to participate, so Jensen will face questions from a panel of reporters by himself. The major party candidates for attorney general and secretary of state have all agreed to participate. We’ll have highlights of Tuesday’s debate on “Nightcast” on 5 Eyewitness News at 10. For Related Stories: 2022 Elections  Gubernatorial Race  Scott Jensen  Tim Walz  Tom Hauser Read More…

Body Of 12-Year-Old Girl Found In Plastic Box In A Case That Has Shocked France | CNN https://digitalalabamanews.com/body-of-12-year-old-girl-found-in-plastic-box-in-a-case-that-has-shocked-france-cnn/ Paris CNN  —  “She’s wearing white jeans,” the girl’s mother posted on Facebook, “a white hoodie and her grey backpack.” “Help us to find her,” she pleaded. Beneath Delphine Daviet’s message, two pictures completed the post. In one, a young girl, 12-year-old Lola, smiles at the camera, in the other, a pixelated snapshot from security camera footage shows a woman in a doorway. In a case that has gripped France, Lola’s body was found mutilated and stuffed into a plastic box, just hours after her mother posted this message on October 14. Caught on camera, her mother said, is the woman with Lola that last time she was seen alive, in the building where the family lives. The two were spotted on security camera at 3:15 p.m. on Friday, just minutes after Lola had left school, entering the building where she lived, according to statement from the Paris police prosecutor. Around 5 p.m., the woman left the building, alone, carrying heavy luggage. Three hours later, Lola’s father sounded the alarm, alerting officers to Lola’s disappearance, the statement added. A little after 11 p.m., Lola’s body was found in a wheeled plastic box, abandoned in the communal areas outside the family’s building, where Lola’s father works as concierge, according to the statement. On Monday, French authorities opened an official judicial investigation into the case into the charges of “murder of a minor under the age of 15, accompanied by rape of a minor, torture or acts of savagery; rape of a minor with torture or acts of savagery; and concealment of a corpse,” the statement said. An autopsy of Lola revealed that she died of cardiorespiratory failure with signs of asphyxiation and cervical compression, according to the statement. She had multiple other injuries, “notably to her face, back and with large cuts to her neck, which did not play a role her death according to the coroner’s conclusions of her cause of death,” the police statement said. There was no sign of injuries from sexual trauma, the police prosecutor said, and a zero and one were written in red under each of the young victim’s feet. Police detained the main suspect in the case, a 24-year-old woman who has not been named, a little before 8 a.m. Saturday, the day after Lola was killed, in the northwest suburbs of Paris, according to Paris police prosecutor. CNN has reached out to the suspect’s lawyer. Under interrogation, the woman’s account “veered between acknowledgment and contestation of the facts,” according to the police prosecutor’s statement, but she revealed that she had led Lola to the apartment of her sister, who lived in the same block of flats. She is currently under official investigation relating to Lola’s murder, the statement said. There, according to the statement, she said she forced the girl to take a shower before “committing sexual assaults and other violence on her that resulted in her death,” before she hid the child’s body in the plastic box. Speaking to CNN affiliate BFMTV, Hafida, a schoolfriend of Lola’s said: “It doesn’t want to go into my head. I’m telling myself, ‘No, I’m going to see her later at recess, but no.’” Bamba, the mother of a friend of Lola’s who used to sleep over at their house, also expressed her shock at what had happened. “I can’t believe it,” she told BFMTV, “I’m telling myself that it’s not possible, that could happen to anyone, even to me.” On Tuesday afternoon, flowers were piling up outside the building where Lola lived, as locals paid homage to a life brutally cut short. Local authorities in the 19th arrondissement of Paris where the killing occurred have also opened a support center for local people, especially schoolchildren, along with bolstered police patrols around schools, the 19th arrondissement mayor said in a statement. Police have also detained a 43-year-old man, an acquaintance of the main suspect, who confessed to having transported the 24-year-old woman with her suitcases and the plastic box to his home outside Paris and then arranging for her to return to the capital with the box and cases in a taxi, according to the prosecutor’s statement. Investigations continue, according to the police prosecutor statement, to determine the exact events surrounding the killing. Read More…

🌱 Radiance Technologies Breaks Ground + Cookie Dough Magic Closing https://digitalalabamanews.com/%f0%9f%8c%b1-radiance-technologies-breaks-ground-cookie-dough-magic-closing/ Skip to main content Chattanooga, TN Trussville, AL Franklin, TN Birmingham, AL Mountain Brook, AL La Vergne-Smyrna, TN Vestavia Hills, AL Brentwood, TN Antioch-South Nashville, TN Hoover, AL Alabama Top National News See All Communities Hello, friends. It’s Wednesday in Huntsville and I’m back in your inbox to get you caught up on all the most important things happening in the community, including news on… Radiance Technologies breaks ground on new building Cookie Dough Magic is closing UAH’s Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education receives FBI scholarship But first, today’s weather: Cool with plenty of sunshine. High: 58 Low: 29. Find out what’s happening in Huntsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch. Check out what our local sponsor can do for you: Martinson & Beason, P.C. have been been providing trusted legal advice in Huntsville since 1937. Give your loved ones peace of mind with a comprehensive estate plan. Click here for more info. Find out what’s happening in Huntsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch. Click here to get your business featured in this spot. Here are the top stories today in Huntsville: Radiance Technologies has broken ground on a second building! The new addition will be in Research Park, along with the headquarters they opened there two years ago. (WAAY) After two years serving Huntsville, Cookie Dough Magic is closing its doors, according to a post on their Facebook page. Their last day will be Oct. 30. They end the post saying this is “goodbye… for now,” so I’ll let you know if there’s an update in the future! (Cookie Dough Magic) The UAH Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education (CCRE) has received a $5,000 FBI J. Edgar Hoover Memorial Scholarship! The scholarship, chosen by the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, was presented at a meeting last Saturday at the Westin. (WHNT News 19) The University of Alabama in Huntsville has announced Jeffrey Langhout as the 2022 Alumni Achievement recipient for the College of Engineering. Langhout graduated with his M.S. in Engineering Management in 1991 and currently leads the largest engineering workforce in the state as the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center Director. (Patch Press Release Desk) Today in Huntsville: PTSA Board Meeting in the Library — Lee High School (9:00 AM) Lee High School Girls Basketball Nothing But Noodles Spirit Night (4:00 PM) Esports Online – Splatoon — Columbia High School (4:00 PM) Gifted Services Parent Education Session — Huntsville Junior High (5:30 PM) From my notebook: The Huntsville Ballet Company’s “Unplugged” featuring “The Tumbleweed Suite” is this weekend, with shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Tickets are still available, and you can even save 10 percent when you buy four or more. (Details) Arts Huntsville is now accepting applications for Panoply 2023 for musicians and spoken word performers. The deadline to submit an application is Dec. 16. (Details) The Huntsville Police Department is hosting a free trunk or treat this Saturday, Oct. 22, from 2-9 p.m. at The Orion. (Details) Now you’re in the loop and ready to start this Wednesday off right! See you all tomorrow for your next update. — Amy Young Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Huntsville Daily? Contact me at huntsville@patch.com Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. The rules of replying: Be respectful. This is a space for friendly local discussions. No racist, discriminatory, vulgar or threatening language will be tolerated. Be transparent. Use your real name, and back up your claims. Keep it local and relevant. Make sure your replies stay on topic. Review the Patch Community Guidelines. Read More…

Gunshots In Grand Bay Following Homecoming Tradition Leave Significant Damage https://digitalalabamanews.com/gunshots-in-grand-bay-following-homecoming-tradition-leave-significant-damage/ GRAND BAY, Ala. (WALA) – FOX10 has a first-hand account of what happened in Grand Bay earlier this month. Someone opened fire on a group of teens out rolling toilet paper through yards. One person’s truck was hit by gunfire, so badly he had to replace the whole door. Dylan Fulton said he and his friends were not being destructive, and this was meant to be homecoming week fun. “I looked up at the door, and I saw somebody there, like a silhouette on the inside, so I yelled at everybody, and we all started running back to the truck,” said Fulton. He and the rest of the group took off, driving miles down the road before turning around to meet up with friends at a gas station at the intersection of Grand Bay Wilmer Road and Old Pascagoula Road. When Fulton passed the house again, shotgun pellets riddled the side of his truck, and a video captured the boom. “My handle was gone, and the whole side of the truck was mangled,” he said. Fulton said his windows were rolled down, but fortunately, he and his passenger were not hit. Though he said others were. Multiple witnesses confirm one boy was grazed by a pellet, and another, apparently hit in the head, and the pellet is still lodged there. “From what I’ve heard, they’re okay,” said Fulton. Lieutenant Mark Bailey with Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said only one of those victims was reported to them. “We are aware of one complaint where he believed he was maybe struck with a pellet,” said Lt. Bailey. “I believe he went to a local hospital. It did not break the skin, and it was not medically treated. The other report of someone actually having a pellet lodged in their person, we have not received that report.” Meanwhile, Dylan said homecoming traditions may never be the same. “Probably next year, it won’t be as much of a surprise,” said Fulton. “Now, people are texting people saying, ‘hey, is it cool if I roll your house?’ It’s usually a surprise, so now everybody is scared to even go rolling.” He added, shooting at teenagers was uncalled for. “I can understand where he’s coming from, but that’s only if we were destructing his property,” said Fulton. “The only thing we really threw toilet paper on was a tree in his yard.” MCSO said they have a person of interest and hope to talk to him soon. — Download the FOX10 Weather App. Get life-saving severe weather warnings and alerts for your location no matter where you are. Available free in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Copyright 2022 WALA. All rights reserved. Read More…

Lebanon Approves Some Banking Law Changes Demanded By IMF https://digitalalabamanews.com/lebanon-approves-some-banking-law-changes-demanded-by-imf/ By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB – Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament late Tuesday approved some amendments to a banking secrecy law that has been a key demand of the International Monetary Fund before it agrees to a bailout program amid the country’s economic meltdown. Despite the changes, legal advocacy groups say the alterations to the law will likely not be enough to please the IMF because it restricts moves to lift banking secrecy provisions to judicial authorities. The decades-old law is seen by many as a way to hide the widespread corruption that brought the small nation to bankruptcy over the past three years. “We agreed on a law to lift banking secrecy with some amendments where we widely expanded the number of groups that can ask to lift banking secrecy,” the head of parliament’s finance and budget committee, Ibrahim Kanaan, said in a tweet. “Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have not stopped, and we have been in constant communication in the past days and hours so there won’t be flaws in the agreement that Lebanon aspires to.” Among the amendments is the authority to lift banking secrecy off accounts retroactively to 1988. Kanaan told local television station Al-Jadeed that some proposed amendments in line with the IMF’s critiques were voted out of the legislation during Tuesday’s session. Since Lebanon’s economic slide began in late 2019, three-quarters of the population of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, plunged into poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value. The international community has been demanding major reforms in order to help the corruption-plagued nation. Talks between Lebanon’s government and the IMF began in May 2020 and reached a staff-level agreement in April. The Lebanese government has implemented few of the IMF’s demands from the agreement, which are mandatory before finalizing a bailout program. Among them are restructuring Lebanon’s ailing financial sector, implementing fiscal reforms, restructuring external public debt and putting in place strong anti-corruption and anti-money laundering measures. Lebanon defaulted in March 2020 on paying back its massive debt, worth at the time some $90 billion, or 170% of GDP, making it one of the highest in the world. A key demand by the IMF in a tentative agreement with cash-strapped Lebanon for a bailout has been to allow the country’s tax authority to lift banking secrecy. That demand was rejected by parliament’s financial committee, saying it threatens privacy by allowing some civil servants to look into bank accounts without orders from the judiciary. The IMF in September said previous amendments were not sufficient to upgrade the law to be able to reach international standards and best practices. Nizar Saghieh, an activist lawyer and the co-founder of Lebanese watchdog group Legal Agenda, told The Associated Press that the amended law does not address all of the IMF’s concerns, despite some “small steps” forward. “It’s obviously better than what we had in the past, which was very bad because we basically had total banking secrecy, but it doesn’t reach the standards we need,” he said. “It’s not up to par to what we need to respond to a crisis of this size.” A previous draft approved by parliament in late July did not lift banking secrecy in general and only limited some government institutions to lift it in case of investigating crimes. President Michel Aoun refused to sign the draft and sent it back to parliament for amendments. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Read More…

Hoover Officials Speak After Officer-Involved Shooting Over The Weekend https://digitalalabamanews.com/hoover-officials-speak-after-officer-involved-shooting-over-the-weekend/ HOOVER, Ala. (WBRC) – Hoover Police have identified 31-year-old Evan Rashad Lucas as the man who fired shots both at a family on I-459 and at Hoover Police later Sunday afternoon. Lucas will face three charges of attempted murder. His bond has been set at $1.5 million and he will be moving to the Jefferson County Jail after further medical treatment. That treatment is necessary because after firing on law enforcement officers, two Hoover Police officers fired back, striking Lucas in the arm. That is when he rushed back inside an apartment in Hoover and a stand off began. We learned Tuesday that law enforcement hostage negotiators used information provided to them by the suspect’s family to convince him to come out peacefully, surrender, and seek treatment for his wounds. We were able to confirm Tuesday that it was Lucas who was arrested, but we also got an update on the health of the officer who was struck in the line of duty. “He is doing well. He is going to see a trauma specialist either today or tomorrow, but he was released that day. He took rounds through both arms, but I would say a miracle those bullets went right through, without hitting any bones. Just straight through, in and out. Just an incredible situation it didn’t affect more than that,” said Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis. The officer is a six year Hoover veteran, married and a father of three. Chief Derzis is thankful he is now recovering, but when he first heard the news, he was gravely concerned. “I got that phone call that said ‘I think we have an officer shot.’ And I can tell you my heart went to my throat.” As far as reasons why the shootings took place, Hoover Police are as in the dark as we are. “We really don’t know and I don’t know if we will ever know,” said Chief Derzis. The Hoover mayor expressed his gratitude towards not only the officer, but all those who helped keep his community safe over the weekend. “They are the men and the women who stand in the gap for us each and every day, without hesitation, and that is what took place the other day,” said Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato. More charges could follow in this case and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is currently investigating the shooting. Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here. Copyright 2022 WBRC. All rights reserved. Read More…

SEC Football By The Numbers: Top 10 From Week 7 https://digitalalabamanews.com/sec-football-by-the-numbers-top-10-from-week-7/ During the seventh week of the SEC’s 2022 season, Georgia defeated Vanderbilt 55-0, Kentucky defeated Mississippi State 27-17, LSU defeated Florida 45-35, Ole Miss defeated Auburn 48-34 and Tennessee defeated Alabama 52-49 in conference games and Arkansas defeated BYU 52-35 in a non-conference contest. Here are 10 numbers about the SEC’s Week 7 games: 1 LSU coach has led the Tigers to victories at Auburn and Florida in the same season. In his first season at LSU, Brian Kelly guided the Tigers to a 21-17 victory in Auburn on Oct. 1 and a 45-35 victory in Gainesville on Saturday. LSU has played at Auburn and Florida in the same season 14 times, and five coaches – Curley Hallman, Gerry DiNardo, Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron — had failed to turn the trick that Kelly did this season. 1 Loss for Alabama when it has scored at least 46 points in a game – Saturday’s 52-49 setback against Tennessee. Before Saturday, the Crimson Tide had a 161-0 record when scoring at least 46 points. Alabama became the fourth SEC team to lose when scoring at least 49 points in a non-overtime game. Mississippi State defeated Arkansas 51-50 on Nov. 21, 2015, Wake Forest defeated Texas A&M 55-52 in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 29, 2017, and Ole Miss defeated Arkansas 52-51 on Oct. 9, 2021. Tennessee became the third opponent to score at least 52 points against Alabama in a non-overtime game. Sewanee defeated the Tide 54-4 on Oct. 21, 1907, and Vanderbilt defeated Alabama 78-0 on Oct. 20, 1906. 3 Rushing TDs and 3 passing TDs for LSU QB Jayden Daniels in the Tigers’ 45-35 victory over Florida on Saturday. He became the fourth SEC player to have at least three TD runs and three TD passes in a non-overtime conference game. On Nov. 8, 1952, Mississippi State QB Jackie Parker had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 49-34 victory over Auburn. On Oct. 24, 2015, Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 42-16 victory over Kentucky. On Oct. 9, 2021, Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson had three TD runs and three TD passes in a 52-51 loss to Ole Miss. Against Florida, Daniels completed 23-of-32 passes for 349 yards and ran 14 times for 44 yards. Daniels became the second LSU player to pass for 300 yards against Florida, joining Jamie Howard, who had 339 in a 28-21 loss to the Gators in 1992. 3 SEC ball-carriers ran for at least 175 yards on Saturday. Kentucky RB Christopher Rodriguez Jr. had 197 yards and two TDs on 31 carries in a 27-17 victory over Mississippi State, Auburn RB Tank Bigsby had 179 yards and two TDs on 20 carries in a 48-34 loss to Ole Miss and Arkansas RB Raheim Sanders had 175 yards and two TDs on 15 carries in a 52-35 victory over Brigham Young. Rodriguez became the 45th player in SEC history to reach 3,000 career rushing yards. Bigsby became the fourth Auburn player with at least 100 rushing yards against the same opponent in three consecutive seasons. Against Ole Miss, Bigsby ran for 129 yards in a 35-28 victory in 2020 and 140 in a 31-20 victory in 2021. Auburn’s Carnell “Cadillac” Williams had 100-yard games against Mississippi State in 2002, 2003 and 2004, Bo Jackson had 100-yard games against Alabama in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985 and James Brooks had 100-yard games against Tennessee in 1977, 1978 and 1979. Sanders extended Arkansas’ streak with a 100-yard rusher to eight games. He has been the 100-yard ball-carrier in five of those contests. 4 Losses for Auburn in 17 games in Oxford, Mississippi, including Saturday’s 48-34 setback against Ole Miss. The coach for each of the previous three losses by the Tigers to the Rebels in Oxford was not Auburn’s coach in the next season. Auburn lost at Ole Miss 45-21 in Pat Dye’s last season in 1992, 17-7 in Tommy Tuberville’s last season in 2008 and 41-20 in Gene Chizik’s last season in 2012. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE SEC, GO TO OUR SEC PAGE 5 TD receptions for Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt in a 52-49 victory over Alabama on Saturday to tie the SEC single-game record. Hyatt followed LSU’s Carlos Carson against Rice in 1977, Vanderbilt’s Earl Bennett against Kentucky in 2005, South Carolina’s Sidney Rice against Florida Atlantic in 2006 and Alabama’s DeVonta Smith against Ole Miss in 2019 as SEC players with five TD receptions in one game. Hyatt equaled the Tennessee record for TDs in a game set by Gene McEver in a 54-0 victory over South Carolina on Dec. 7, 1929. Before Saturday, only one opposing player had caught as many as three TD passes in one game against Alabama in this century – Texas A&M’s Malcome Kennedy in a 49-42 loss to the Crimson Tide on Sept. 14, 2013. Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker threw the five TD passes to Hyatt to become the third player with at least that many in a game against Alabama. Johnny Manziel had five TD passes in Texas A&M’s 2013 loss. Danny Wuerrfel threw six TD passes in Florida’s 45-30 victory over the Tide in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 7, 1996. 5 Interceptions have been returned for TDs by Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes, who scored on a 59-yard interception return with 8:33 left in the Bulldogs’ 27-17 loss to Kentucky on Saturday. Forbes tied the SEC record for career interception-return TDs set by Tennessee LB Jackie Walker from 1969 through 1971. Forbes had three interception-return TDs as a freshman in 2020 and another against Texas A&M on Oct. 1. Forbes has intercepted four passes in the past three games. 11 Consecutive victories for Alabama when the Crimson Tide incurred at least 100 penalty yards, a streak that ended on Saturday. Alabama had a school-record 17 penalties for 130 yards in its 52-49 loss to Tennessee on Saturday. The Tide had 11 penalties for 113 yards in a 40-38 loss to Central Florida on Oct. 28, 2001. Between those games, Alabama won the 11 contests in which it had at least 100 penalty yards. 112 Years since the previous time that Arkansas had scored at least 50 points against a non-conference opponent on the road. On Saturday, the Razorbacks defeated BYU 52-35 in Provo, Utah. On Nov. 5, 1910, Arkansas won 50-0 at Washington College in Missouri. Saturday’s game was Arkansas’ 62nd with at least 50 points since the win at Washington, but the 61 games in between came in home games, conference games or neutral-site games. The victory, fueled by five TD passes by QB KJ Jefferson, made Sam Pittman the first Arkansas coach to win the first eight non-conference games of his tenure with the Razorbacks. 448 Rushing yards for Ole Miss in its 48-34 victory over Auburn on Saturday. The Rebels posted their highest rushing total in a conference game since running for 515 yards in a 39-14 victory over Auburn on Nov. 10, 1951, in Mobile. That’s the highest rushing total ever given up in one game by the Tigers and the most rushing yards in one game for Ole Miss. For the first time since 1975, Ole Miss had three players with at least 100 rushing yards in the same game. Against Auburn, RB Quinshon Judkins ran for 139 yards and two TDs on 25 carries, RB Zach Evans ran for 136 yards and one TD on 21 carries and QB Jaxson Dart ran for 115 yards on 14 carries. In a 23-6 victory over Tennessee on Nov. 15, 1975, in Memphis, Paul Hofer, James Reed and Michael Sweet ran for at least 100 yards apiece for the Rebels. Auburn ran for 301 yards in Saturday’s game. Auburn had won 15 in a row when rushing for at least 300 yards since Nov. 8, 2014, when the Tigers lost to Texas A&M 41-38 while running for 363 yards. Auburn has a 43-2 record in this century when gaining at least 300 yards on the ground. Ole Miss has won four of the past five games in which its opponent has run for at least 300 yards. Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read More…

Oath Keepers Member: We Were Preparing “to Take Up Arms And Fight Back” https://digitalalabamanews.com/oath-keepers-member-we-were-preparing-to-take-up-arms-and-fight-back/ Washington – A member of the far-right Oath Keepers told a jury on Tuesday that he traveled to Washington, D.C., and stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election win. “I threw my rifle and pistol in the car…and ultimately ended up on the steps of the Capitol, moving into the Capitol building, to try and stop Congress from certifying [Biden’s presidency],” Jason Dolan testified during the trial of five Oath Keepers – including founder Stewart Rhodes – who stand accused of conspiring to use force to stop the peaceful transfer of power. Dolan, a former member of the militia group’s Florida contingent, was called as a government witness after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstructing Congress’ work, admitting to entering the Capitol and being part of the mob that drove members of Congress from performing their duty. As part of his plea deal, Dolan agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the breach, including in cases that deal directly with those whom he once called fellow group members. “I helped coordinate. I helped plan,” Dolan admitted on the stand Tuesday, “I talked about my desire and I guess wanting to stop what I saw as an illegitimate government…[from] taking power.” Members of the Oath Keepers on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. / Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP The admitted rioter-turned-government witness offered new insight into the planning, coordination, and motivation behind the Oath Keepers’ alleged participation in the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes and codefendants Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell are accused of spearheading that fight. All have pleaded not guilty and their defense attorneys maintain their clients were in Washington, D.C. to serve as security and emergency responders that day. Dolan did not meet the group’s leader until after the attack. But he testified that Rhodes spoke of the need to take action should then-President Donald Trump invoke a centuries-old law known as the Insurrection Act and call on the Oath Keepers to join his fight to stay in power. And if Trump failed them, Dolan testified, the group was prepared to take matters into their own hands. They had to be “willing to fight back against an illegitimate government and support what we saw as the rightful president against an illegitimate president,” Dolan said. “We were preparing for a trip to D.C.,” he recalled, admitting some memories might not be perfectly clear.  “If need be, then to take up arms and fight back because that’s what we have been talking about.” Dolan described the group’s alleged willingness to fight not as an explicit call to action, but as the implicit  “tenor” of their conversations. “We have to fight back…it was a feeling,” he said. Dolan is the first member of the Oath Keepers to plead guilty to committing crimes on Jan. 6 to testify as a witness at the seditious conspiracy trial, which is now in its third week. Other Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty could testify in the coming days.  “How would you fight?” asked prosecutor Jeffrey Nester. “Any way we could,” Dolan answered. Defense attorneys have yet to question Dolan and are expected to probe his testimony during cross-examination on Wednesday Motivated by his desire to support Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud – “It didn’t seem possible that he was going to lose,” he said –  Dolan testified that he traveled to Washington, D.C. with his firearms and a group that included defendant Kenneth Harrelson. He said he deposited his guns in a Virginia hotel room to avoid breaking Washington, D.C.’s strict firearms laws days before the attack and later made his way into the capital city on Jan. 6. Dolan testified that it was his understanding that the group would either return to their hotels to obtain their weapons or have them delivered to D.C. should the need arise. “If President Trump declared the Insurrection Act, we would be working alongside or with pro-government forces against what we saw as anti-government forces,” Dolan said, describing the anti-government forces as being “pro-Biden.”  The witness explained that he had little knowledge of the arcane law that was so central to the alleged conspiracy he was describing and instead relied on the direction of Rhodes and others. The call from Trump never came. Once at the Capitol, Dolan said he noticed a change in the crowd as the Trump supporters realized then-Vice President Mike Pence was not going to assist in Trump’s effort to overturn the election. “I was pissed. You could almost feel the crowd change. The crowd was pissed,” he described. If anything was to stop the election certification, Dolan said, that crowd would have been it. Over the course of the trial, prosecutors had yet to provide ample evidence that the Oath Keepers’ plans for Jan. 6  actually involved storming the Capitol itself – an apparent vulnerability upon which defense attorneys seized during cross-examinations. But Dolan’s testimony offered some of the first allegations that the group was at the Capitol to halt the peaceful transfer of power. “I wanted them to stop the certification of the election,” Dolan said as Nestler showed the jury videos of the Oath Keerps inside the Capitol, some members of the mob yelling “treason.” “I had been betrayed and I wanted them to hear and feel the anger, the frustration, the rage that I felt.” Dolan, who said he now faces between five and seven years in prison for his admitted crimes, testified that although he did not receive any promises from the government for his testimony, he hoped his work on the stand would push prosecutors to recommend a less jail time Judge Amit Mehta on his behalf. Mehta is the presiding judge in both Dolan’s case and the trial currently underway. After he exited the Capitol building on Jan. 6, Dolan said he saw Meggs and Rhodes outside, his first in-person encounter with the group’s founder. “Looking back on it, I think I was pretty naive, downright stupid with some of my decisions. I’m thankful that – President Trump at the time didn’t do something like invoke the Insurrection Act because I think…there would have been a lot of violence had he,” Dolan reflected. Tuesday’s proceedings also included testimony from U.S. Capitol Police Captain Ronald Ortega, a veteran of the force who described the events of Jan. 6 from his perspective. In the morning, Mehta informed the legal teams that one juror had tested positive for COVID-19 and was therefore excused from service. One of the four alternate jurors selected at the beginning of the trial filled the seat and Mehta said the court both tested the jurors and polled them to ensure all felt comfortable continuing to go on with the proceedings. 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