SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China won the free skate to claim the gold medal in pairs at the figure skating world championships on Thursday.
Skating to “Rain in Your Black Eyes” by Ezio Bosso, Wenjing and Cong produced a near-flawless free skate and received 155.60 points for a total of 234.84.
Russian skaters Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took the silver with 228.47 points followed by compatriots Alexander Enbert and Natalia Zabiiako with 217.98.
China’s Peng Cheng and Jin Yang came fourth in 215.84.
The men’s short program is later Thursday. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan seeks a third world title beginning with the short program.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it would be great,” Voracek said with a smile. “Obviously to play an NHL game in your home country, it’d be awesome.”
Voracek will get that chance next season when the Flyers open the regular season against the Chicago Blackhawks in Prague on Oct. 4. The NHL on Thursday announced that matchup and two games between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning in Stockholm in November as part of its now-annual Global Series.
It’s the third consecutive year the NHL is staging regular-season games in Europe and eighth overall. This will be Philadelphia’s first appearance as part of the series.
The games in Stockholm on Nov. 8-9 should feature a handful of Swedes, including Sabres 2018 top pick Rasmus Dahlin and 2018 Lightning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman.
“Yes!” was how Dahlin described his first reaction to learning the news.
“I was so happy. I wanted to have it, but I wasn’t expecting it in my second year,” the 18-year-old following a 4-2 loss to Toronto.
“It’s great for me, but I also think it’s going to be amazing for my family and friends, too, to be able to see a live NHL game,” Dahlin said. “And me playing there, a lot of them will never have a chance to see me play hockey.”
Dahlin noted it could also be a homecoming for several teammates in a Sabres organization stocked with Swedish-born players. Goalie Linus Ullmark and Johan Larsson are from Sweden, as are minor-league prospects and Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Asplund and Lawrence Pilut. Forward Alexander Nylander was born in Canada, but has represented Sweden on the international stage.
“It’s so fun to share it with other Swedes,” Dahlin said. “It’s probably the best thing that could happen.”
The Sabres opened the 2011-12 season playing Anaheim at Helsinki, Finland, and then Los Angeles at Berlin, Germany.
Like the Devils and Oilers, the Blackhawks and Flyers will finish training camp in Europe and play an exhibition game against a local team. The Blackhawks will go to Germany and face Eisbaren Berlin on Sept. 29, and the Flyers will go to Switzerland and face HC Lausanne on Sept. 30.
The NHL is also expected to have more exhibition games in China, but that matchup has not yet been announced.
TOKYO (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki started for the Seattle Mariners on Thursday in what the Japanese news agency Kyodo is reporting will be his final major league game.
The 45-year-old Ichiro fouled out his first time up and grounded out in his next at-bat against Oakland. Each time the crowd chanted “Ichiro, Ichiro” as camera flashes and iPhone flashes lit up the 45,000 sellout at the Tokyo Dome.
Kyodo didn’t cite the source of its report.
Seattle manager Scott Servais had hinted that, after Ichiro started in a season-opening victory against the Athletics on Wednesday, he might not start the final game of the brief series that opened the Major League Baseball season.
“I wasn’t quite sure,” Servais said. “I thought we’d give him the opportunity to go out there. And I’d love to see him get a couple of hits and finish on a high note here. I want to do the right thing.”
Ichiro has been swarmed over in games in Japan. On Thursday he signed caps, jerseys, photos and balls down the left field line with security guards on megaphones telling people to be careful.
He saluted the crowd taking his spot in the outfield, and tossed a half-dozen balls to fans behind the third base dugout. In batting practice, fans in that same spot wore shirts saying “Ichiro is Life”and “I believe 3,090.”
Ichiro has had a difficult spring, finding it hard to rebound after stepping aside last May to become a Mariners’ front office assistant.
He was 2 for 25 in spring training games, and then 0 for 6 in two exhibition games in Japan this week against the Tokyo Giants. The Japan exhibitions do not count as official games. If they did, Ichiro would be hitting .065.
He has 3,089 hits since joining the Mariners in 2001, and another 1,278 playing earlier in Japan — baseball’s all-time hits leader.
He was 0 for 1 with a walk and a popout in the 9-7 win over the A’s on Wednesday.
A sellout of 45,000 turned out again to watch Ichiro and Mariners rookie pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, who made his first start in the majors.
Speaking Wednesday evening during a CNN town hall in Atlanta, 2020 Democrat presidential candidate and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper said that diversity is likely the United States’ “greatest strength.”
QUESTIONER: We are at a critical time in history that asks those of us who are white or male to hold the door open for women, people of color, people in the LGBTQ community, and other minorities. We have good, qualified Democrats running who fit these descriptions. Why would someone vote for you over a woman or minority candidate?
HICKENLOOPER: I hear that. And, I have my whole life fought for civil rights and equality, equality in operation, in opportunity, equality in economic security. I also recognize that diversity is probably this country’s greatest strength. It’s certainly the greatest strength of the Democratic Party, and I celebrate that. But, as I said, I’m running for president because I think I’ve got a different set of experiences than many people. I’ve been able to bring people together again and again, both when I was in government and in small business, find compromises in places where we collaborate with people that really were feuding.
When I first became mayor, I reached out to all the suburban mayors who hated the mayor of Denver, they hated the city of Denver. [People] said you’re wasting your time. But, in the end, we got all 34 mayors, two-thirds of them Republicans and independents, to unanimously join together and support a tax increase to create the most ambitious trans initiative in the history of the country.
Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that New Zealand has officially banned “military-style” semiautomatic rifles and “high-capacity” magazines.
The Daily Mail quoted Ardern saying, “On March 15 our history changed forever. Now, our laws will too. We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place.” She added, “Now, six days after this attack, we are announcing a ban on all military style semi-automatics and assault rifles in New Zealand.”
Ardern noted that “related parts used to convert these guns into [military style semi-automatics] are also being banned, along with all high-capacity magazines.”
CBS News reported Ardern saying, “We’re taking out of circulation the guns that can be modified that way and are designed essentially to take lives.”
After announcing the ban, Ardern addressed law-abiding gun owners, saying, “To owners who have legitimate uses for their guns, I want to reiterate that the actions being announced today are not because of you, and are not directed at you. Our actions, on behalf of all New Zealanders, are directed at making sure this never happens again.”
On March 16, 2019, Breitbart News reported that the Christchurch attacker possessed five guns during his attack, and two of those guns were semiautomatic rifles. He had a license to own guns in New Zealand and acquired his guns legally.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
Freshman Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) on Tuesday apologized to his constituents at a town hall who were offended by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) latest antisemitic outburst, saying he was “horrified” by his colleague’s controversial remarks.
“As a young congressman, I’ve got to tell you I’m sorry,” Rose, who is Jewish, said during the event organized by the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island, reported Jewish Insider. “You sent me to Congress to take responsibility. You sent me to Congress to have your back,” the lawmaker continued. “And I failed you. Because I know that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s comments really caused you all a lot of pain by bringing up anti-Semitic tropes.”
Omar faced rare bipartisan rebuke for suggesting pro-Israel organizations pressure members of Congress into pledging allegiance to a foreign country. “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” the Minnesota Democrat said at a policy forum in Washington, DC, last month. “I want to ask, why is it OK for me to talk about the influence of the [National Rifle Association], of fossil-fuel industries, or Big Pharma, and not talk about a powerful lobby that is influencing policy?”
Democrats wrestled for days about whether or how to punish Omar, arguing over whether the freshman congresswoman should be singled out, what other types of bias should be decried in the text and whether the party would tolerate dissenting views on Israel. The House ultimately passed a resolution condemning antisemitism and other bigotry with a 407-23 vote.
Despite Omar’s remarks, Rose contended she be removed from the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, which several top House Republicans, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), has called for.
“We have got to show her that there is a pathway for her to do the right thing, and we have to be vigilant towards that. Believe me, she understands that that’s a possibility, and nobody is taking that off the table, but we are not there yet,” said Rose.
Further, the New York Democrat pledged constituents that he would “work as hard as I can to make sure that these comments are not made again.”
“I am not satisfied with what I’ve seen thus far. I’m not,” he said. “To equate Jewish organizations with the NRA, of course I’m upset. Of course I’m not satisfied, and I don’t know any who are either. That’s why the first thing that I said is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry because I couldn’t protect you from this. And that takes a lot to say.”
This year, Omar apologized for a 2012 tweet in which she claimed Israel had “hypnotized” the world and committed “evil doings.” The freshman congresswoman apologized last month for suggesting that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) bribed Republican lawmakers into supporting the Jewish state. The smear prompted top House Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY), to criticize her and demand an apology. In a strongly worded statement, Engel referred to Omar’s suggestion about dual loyalties as a “vile” insult.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/0QDM-lh7Py0/
Former interim Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile was full of posthumous praise for the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Wednesday’s edition of Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier.
The context was President Trump’s renewed criticism of McCain after a newly-released deposition showed how deeply McCain was involved in the fraudulent “Russia dossier” that has been used to attack the administration and divide the nation.
Brazile, who Fox News recently hired as a contributor, began by criticizing the president for speaking ill of the dead. She then continued: “John McCain leaves a legacy. He leaves a legacy of sacrifice. … John McCain should be honored for his service.”
It is heart-warming to read tributes to McCain from people who ignored his heroism and sacrifice and smeared his character when he ran against Barack Obama and, later, criticized him as president.
In 2014, for example, Brazile tweeted a hit piece on McCain, “The Vacant Soul of Senator John McCain.” She added: “Interesting article.”
The article was a response to McCain’s criticism of Obama for the Bowe Berghdal prisoner swap, in which the U.S. freed five major Taliban terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. McCain, a prisoner-of-war himself in Vietnam for five-and-a-half years, nevertheless criticized the deal. (Berghdal was later convicted of desertion.)
What Brazile called an “interesting article” was a mean-spirited personal attack, with lines such as: “McCain had so much sunshine blown up his ass that his colon must have looked like Cabo San Lucas.” It referred to the war hero as a “small boy,” and accused him of handing U.S. foreign policy to corrupt “spooks and crooks.”
When McCain was alive, and — as it happens — in the right, Brazile said he had a “vacant soul.” Now she is his number-one fan.
The media do not love McCain for his service, which many did their best to ignore. No — the media love him as a foil to other Republicans — a role he has relished playing from the time he was the maverick alternative to George W. Bush during the 2000 Republican primary. They hated him when he was an effective critic of Obama’s foreign policy. They loved him again when he feuded with Trump in the 2015-6 election.
McCain made sure the feud would continue beyond his death. The media loved it, too: “Mr. McCain had carefully stage-managed a four-day celebration of his life — but what was also an unmistakable rebuke to President Trump and his agenda,” the New York Timeswrote.
At the time, Trump swallowed his pride. Now that he is talking about McCain again, the last people to criticize the president should be those, like Donna Brazile, who trashed him while he was living, and when it mattered.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Colorado Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser (D) said sheriffs who refuse to enforce gun confiscation laws “should resign” their posts.
Democrat lawmakers are pushing a red flag law that will allow a court to issue confiscatory order empowering police to go to a gun owner’s home and take away his firearms. As of March 12, 2019, ten Colorado counties had declared themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” to signal that they would support their sheriffs in refusing to enforce the confiscation law.
Numerous sheriffs have subsequently taken a stand against the red flag law, and the Colorado Sunquotes AG Weiser saying those sheriffs “should resign.”
Weiser said he expects the law to be challenged in court, where he believes it will be upheld. Once upheld, he said sheriffs will be obligated to enforce it.
But Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams sees it differently. He told Fox News, “If you pass an unconstitutional law, our oaths as commissioners or myself as the sheriff — we’re going to follow our constitutional oath first.”
Logan County Sheriff Brett Powell said, “It’s time we quit trying to put lipstick on a pig and start funding our mental health facilities, instead of trying to take the rights from our people.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
Wednesday on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” MSNBC host Al Sharpton said President Donald Trump only cared about “his core white constituents,” and therefore he will not attack racists and bigots.
Sharpton said, “As we look at what has been transpiring around the whole question of 50 people being killed in New Zealand, now we have been dealing with this for over a week, and we have not yet heard this president reach out to the Muslim community in this country. And by name deal with the Islamophobia and anti-immigration spirit that the one responsible for this charged by police in New Zealand had expressed.”
He continued, “It is very clear that this president is comfortable with attacking everybody and everything, even Sen. John McCain who died almost seven months ago, but will not call a racist and a bigot a racist and a bigot. And will not reach out to people who are different than his core white constituents. And I think if somebody tells you who they are by commission or omission you need to accept it, deal with it, and do what you need to do to replace it.”
Democrat 2020 contender Robert “Beto” O’Rourke predicted during a New Hampshire campaign stop that he could win red state Texas as the Democrat presidential nominee.
“Yes I think we can win Texas,” presidential candidate O’Rourke told reporters Tuesday. “I think we’ve proven that we know how to campaign. We’ve been to each one of those 254 counties. We’ve listened to the stories our fellow Texans have told us and we’ve incorporated it in the way that we campaign and in the way I wish to serve.”
O’Rourke lost the state in his Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, but by a slim margin that leftDemocrats with hope they could someday reach their longterm goal of turning Texas blue. O’Rouke did benefit from massive record campaign dollars, $80 million, that flooded the state ahead of his slim loss to Cruz.
He also offered support if campaign staff wanted to unionize as those on competitor Bernie Sanders’ have. O’Rourke recently faced criticism for failing to take more positions on issues. Tuesday he merely offered to consider lowering the federal age to vote to 16, eliminating the Electoral College, stacking the Supreme Court by increasing the number of justices, and doing away with the Senate filibuster, according to Fox News. He affirmed support for the Green New Deal with what he called a “responsible transition.”
New Hampshire is home to the first presidential primary for O’Rourke and his fellow Democrats. He is on a mission to visit ten counties in the state over 48 hours.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter@MichelleDianaandFacebook
