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Iga Swiatek’s US Open title defense and stay at No. 1 end with a loss to Jelena Ostapenko

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Iga Swiatek arrived at the U.S. Open as its reigning champion, as the winner at three of the past six Grand Slam tournaments and as the owner of the No. 1 ranking for nearly 1 1/2 years. None of that mattered on Sunday night against Jelena Ostapenko, whose powerful style disrupts Swiatek’s rhythm — and beats her every time.Swiatek’s title defense at Flushing Meadows ended in the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko in the fourth round at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The result also means Swiatek’s stay at atop the WTA will end next week, when current No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will rise to the top spot for the first time.“There are some sad emotions” about falling from No. 1, Swiatek acknowledged, while also saying of her reign atop women’s tennis: “It was pretty exhausting.”Not long after being assured of losing her grip on that perch, the 22-year-old from Poland already was thinking ahead to returning ...

Endangered red wolves need space to stay wild. But there’s another predator in the way – humans

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. (AP) — Jeff Akin had to bite his tongue.He was chatting with a neighbor about efforts to protect and grow the area’s red wolf population. The endangered wolves are equipped with bright orange radio collars to help locals distinguish the federally protected species from invasive, prolific coyotes.“If I see one of those wolves with a collar on, I’m going to shoot it in the gut, so it runs off and dies,” Akin says the neighbor told him. “Because if it dies near you, and they come out and find the collar, they can arrest you.”Akin is a hunter and the walls of his country house are lined with photos of the animals he’s killed. But what he heard made him sick.“I wouldn’t shoot a squirrel in the stomach if I was hungry,” he says. “It’s just not humane.”In a way, the anecdote sums up the plight of this uniquely American species.Once declared extinct in the wild, Canis rufus — the only wolf species found solely in the United States — was r...

Drone strikes on Russia

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

On 30 August, Russia was subjected to the largest drone attack since their invasion of Ukraine. As a result, 2 Il-76 aircraft were destroyed by drones in Pskov, while 2 other aircraft were seriously damaged. Such attacks have become commonplace: the Moscow business centre Moscow City alone was hit by 3 drone attacks during the summer - more and more Russians feel that war has come to their territory. This is the logical payback for the geopolitical adventure of the greatest war criminal of our time – Vladimir Putin.Ukraine's military-industrial complex has announced a plan to produce at least 200,000 drones per year - some of them are capable of travelling at least 800 km, remaining invisible to Russian air defences. Ukraine has a wide range of UAVs: strike, reconnaissance and surface-to-air. They are increasingly used against military facilities in the Russian Federation, as well as against factories whose products are used in the Russian military-industrial complex. An example is ...

Attack, robbery of street vendor caught on video in South Los Angeles

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

A South Los Angeles street vendor who was brutally attacked and robbed by a group of masked men, an assault that happened in front of his daughter, is struggling to make ends meet now that his all his earnings were taken from him.  It was around 3 p.m. Saturday when Jose Carbajal was parked on the street, near Broadway and Manchester Avenue, selling t-shirts and other merchandise when all of a sudden, he was approached by the group of five masked thieves.  Carbajal said he felt what could have been a gun pressed against him before he was thrown to the ground.  A witness driving nearby captured the merciless attack on the street vendor on her cellphone camera.  Not only did the robbers make off with some of Carbajal’s merchandise, they also stole $2,200, his car registration, passport and his debit card, which they later used to purchase gas.  Cellphone video captured five masked thieves attack and rob Jose Carbajal, a street vendor in South L.A. selling t-sh...

Endangered red wolves need space to stay wild. But there’s another predator in the way — humans

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

ALLIGATOR RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.C. (AP) — Jeff Akin had to bite his tongue.He was chatting with a neighbor about efforts to protect and grow the area’s red wolf population. The endangered wolves are equipped with bright orange radio collars to help locals distinguish the federally protected species from invasive, prolific coyotes.“If I see one of those wolves with a collar on, I’m going to shoot it in the gut, so it runs off and dies,” Akin says the neighbor told him. “Because if it dies near you, and they come out and find the collar, they can arrest you.”Akin is a hunter and the walls of his country house are lined with photos of the animals he’s killed. But what he heard made him sick.“I wouldn’t shoot a squirrel in the stomach if I was hungry,” he says. “It’s just not humane.”In a way, the anecdote sums up the plight of this uniquely American species.Once declared extinct in the wild, Canis rufus — the only wolf species found solely in the United States — was r...

IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland Results

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

SundayAt Portland International RacewayPortland, Ore.Lap length: 1.964 miles(Start position in parentheses)1. (5) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 110 laps, Running.2. (11) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.3. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.4. (6) Pato O’Ward, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.5. (12) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.6. (13) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.7. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.8. (23) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.9. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.10. (16) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.11. (17) Christian Lundgaard, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.12. (1) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.13. (3) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.14. (21) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running.15. (8) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.16. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110, Running.17. (20) Devlin DeFranc...

NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Results

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

SundayAt Darlington RacewayDarlington, S.C.Lap length: 1.37 miles(Start position in parentheses)1. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 367 laps, 57 points.2. (3) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 367, 51.3. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 367, 36.4. (23) William Byron, Chevrolet, 367, 39.5. (27) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 367, 32.6. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 367, 38.7. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 367, 30.8. (13) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 367, 33.9. (4) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 367, 38.10. (20) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 367, 35.11. (11) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 367, 31.12. (6) Joey Logano, Ford, 367, 25.13. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 367, 24.14. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 367, 24.15. (12) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 367, 22.16. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 367, 22.17. (15) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 367, 0.18. (31) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 367, 19.19. (7) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 367, 25.20. (28) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 367, 20.21. (17) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 367, 16.22. (22) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 367, 15.23. (1) Chr...

1st Africa Climate Summit opens as hard-hit continent of 1.3 billion demands more say and financing

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The first African Climate Summit is opening as heads of state and others assert a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even as they contribute to it the least.Kenyan President William Ruto’s government is launching the ministerial session on Monday while more than a dozen heads of state begin to arrive, determined to wield more global influence and bring in far more financing and support. The first speakers included youth, who demanded a bigger voice in the process.There is some frustration on the continent about being asked to develop in cleaner ways than the world’s richest countries, which have long produced most of the emissions that endanger climate, and to do it while much of the support that has been pledged hasn’t appeared.“This is our time,” Mithika Mwenda with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told the gathering, asserting that the annual flow of climate assistance to the contin...

Dozens of graft charges against Malaysian deputy premier are dismissed deep into his trial

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court on Monday dismissed 47 corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at an advanced stage of his trial.Zahid told a news conference afterward that the High Court discharged him but refused to grant him a full acquittal, which means he can still be recharged. But he said he was grateful that the “political-motivated accusations against me have ended.” Zahid heads the United Malays National Organization, and his support has been pivotal in helping Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim form a unity government. Zahid’s dismissal could further hurt the anti-corruption stance of Anwar’s government. Opposition leaders have alleged Zahid had supported Anwar so the charges against him could be dropped. Monday’s court ruling came just weeks after local elections in which the Islamist-Malay nationalist opposition bloc won strong support to make further inroads in government-ruled states.His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said prosecutors...

Upward of 20,000 Ukrainian amputees face trauma on a scale unseen since WWI

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:46:55 GMT

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — The small band of soldiers gather outside to share cigarettes and war stories, sometimes casually and sometimes with a degree of testiness over recollections made unreliable by their last day fighting, the day the war took away their limbs.Some clearly remember the moment they were hit by anti-tank mines, aerial bombs, a missile, a shell. For others, the gaps in their memories loom large.Vitaliy Bilyak’s skinny body is a web of scars that end with an amputation above the knee. During six weeks in a coma, Bilyak underwent over 10 surgeries, including his jaw, hand, and heel, to recover from injuries he received April 22 driving over a pair of anti-tank mines. “When I woke up, I felt like I was born again and returned from the afterlife,” said Bilyak, who is just beginning his path to rehabilitation. He does not yet know when he’ll receive a prosthesis, which must be fitted individually to each patient.Ukraine is facing a future with upward...