Month: October 2017

Categories
News Politics

Plea shows Trump campaign knew of Russia ties

Among the evidence cited by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III against George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to President Trump’s campaign who has pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, is a series of exchanges between Papadopoulos and campaign officials.

Papadopoulos admitted to lying to investigators about his relationship with a professor who claimed to connections with the Russian government and senior officials there who had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.”

If nothing else, the correspondence establishes, as the Washington Post wrote on Monday, “that while senior Trump officials at times rebuffed or ignored Papadopoulos, they were well aware of his efforts, which went on for months.”

On April 27, 2016, Papadopoulos wrote to a high-ranking campaign official to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting then-candidate Trump. “Have been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host him and the team when the time is right,” Papadopoulos said in an email to the unnamed official, according to a court filing.

Papadopoulos reiterated the message to the official in a message dated May 14, as well as to “another high-ranking campaign official” in a missive dated May 21.

Though Trump and the Russian president did not, as far as we know, meet during the campaign, on August 15, an unnamed campaign supervisor urged Papadopoulos to meet with the Russians off-the-record. “I would encourage you,” the official told Papadopoulos.

“Make the trip, if it is feasible,” Sam Clovis, another foreign policy advisor  who currently serves as a White House liaison to the Department of Agriculture, reportedly replied.

Papadopoulos also reportedly wrote to Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was indicted on Monday for tax fraud and money laundering in connection with sums he received for representing the pro-Russian government of Ukraine.

The White House on Monday tried to minimize Papadopoulos and his role, which Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters was “extremely limited; it was a volunteer position.”

Still, Trump touted Papadopoulos as a member of the campaign’s foreign policy team in a meeting in March 2016 with the Washington Post’s editorial board. (“He’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,” the candidate said.)

The guilty plea provides investigators with a road map for their inquiry into whether Team Trump cooperated with the Russians to influence the outcome of the campaign. Whether Papadopoulos received a paycheck may be besides the point.

Categories
Sports

The Yankees look to the future

With the seventh game of the American League Championship Series scoreless and one out in the bottom of the second inning on Saturday, Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel hit a fly ball to right field that appeared to be heading over the fence for a home run.

That is, until Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ fielder, leaped and extended his gloved hand over the fence to snare the ball and maintain the tie.

The catch was the second by Judge that preserved the postseason for New York.  In the third game of the AL Division Series, with Cleveland leading two games to none, Judge robbed Francisco Lindor of a likely home run in the sixth inning of a scoreless game that the Yankees won 1-0.

The skill that Judge shows on defense may not earn him the fandom that comes with hitting 52 home runs during the season – his first in the majors – or four in the postseason. But they underscore that Judge brings to the outfield the powers he shows at the plate.

Judge, 25, stands six feet seven and weights 282 pounds. Together with Greg Bird, a first baseman in his second season with the Yankees, and catcher Gary Sanchez, the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award last season, he forms a trio that earned the Yankees the moniker Baby Bombers.

Though youth alone could not propel the Yankees past Houston and into the World Series, the team, which battled from a wild card to Game 7 of the ALCS, exceeded expectations.

Judge likely will be the American League’s Rookie of the Year. He also could be named the league’s most valuable player. Or at least runner-up. Either way, the rookie made the Yankees a delight to follow this season.

In the locker room after Saturday’s game, Judge looked to the future. “We have a lot of young guys on this team,” he told reporters. “Getting as far as we did is going to be beneficial down the road for us, getting the taste and the feeling of this. We’re all excited for next year and what it holds for us.”

Categories
Sports

Test cricket to get a makeover

Test cricket is about to be restyled in a move that organizers hope will up the viability of the longest and most esteemed form of the game.

Starting in 2019, nine of the 12 countries eligible to play in test matches will meet in three home and three away series over the two years that count toward the championship, the International Cricket Council announced on Friday.

Organizers said the trial would improve competition and enliven test cricket, which has struggled to engage fans who have turned increasingly to matches that accelerate play.

“The trial is exactly that, a trial, in the same way day-night tests and technology have been trialled,” Dave Richardson, the ICC’s chief executive, told reporters.

Each series will run between two and five matches over five days, with the top two teams to meet in a final scheduled for June 2021. The countries — the trial will exclude Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland at the outset — will play three home and three away series over the two years that count toward the championship.

Starting in 2021, the ICC also will introduce a league comprised of 13 teams that will face off in one-day international matches. The ODI series, which will feature the 12 test nations plus the winner of the current world cricket league championship, will determine which teams qualify for the World Cup in India two years later.

Richardson added that while the concept remains a trial, it should help Ireland and Afghanistan, which earned test status in June, to hone their skills and come up to speed with the other test nations faster.

Categories
Tech

Uber tries leading with humility in London

Uber is hoping that humility will help in its push to continue operating in London.

The company told members Parliament on Tuesday that it is acting to address concerns over its conduct cited by Transport for London, the city’s transportation agency, which in September revoked Uber’s license to operate because of safety concerns.

“The company accepts that in lots of places it has had the wrong attitude and needs to change,” Andrew Byrne, Uber’s head of public policy, told the House of Commons’ Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.

The San Francisco-based company is expected to appeal the revocation by Friday, a filing that will permit Uber to continue to do business in London, where an estimated 3.5 million people use the ride-hailing service.

Nearly 855,000 people have signed a petition that asks Mayor Sadiq Khan to reverse the decision, citing Uber’s ridership in London and the roughly 40,000 drivers who would be out of work were Uber to cease operations there.

Khan said last week that an apology by Uber’s chief executive marked a shift in the company’s stance that suggests the parties can resolve their differences without a court battle.

“I always think that the way to respond to differences is constructively, amicably around the table, rather than through litigation,” the mayor told LBC talk radio.

Categories
Sports

Yankees send ALDS to game four

The Yankees survived elimination on Sunday by defeating the Indians 1-0, powered by the pitching of Masahiro Tanaka and a home run by Greg Bird.

New York will host Cleveland in game four of the AL Division Series on Monday following a performance by Tanaka that saw the right-hander yield no runs, three hits, seven strikeouts and one walk in seven innings.

The home run by Bird in the seventh inning broke a scoreless tie.

An inning earlier, Aaron Judge made a leaping catch at the right field wall that robbed Francisco Lindor of a two-run home run and might have saved the Yankees’ season.

Aroldis Chapman came on in the eighth inning to save the game for New York.

Luis Severino, who gave up three runs on four hits in the Wild Card game against the Twins, is slated to start game four for the Yankees. The right-hander yielded four runs on four hits in a loss at Cleveland on Aug. 28. As of Sunday night, the Indians had yet to name a starter for game four.

Categories
Sports

For the Yankees, it’s win or stay home

The Yankees and Indians are set to square off in the Bronx on Sunday night for the third game of the AL Division Series in a matchup that has the potential to end the Bombers’ season.

On the mound for the Cleveland will be Carlos Carrasco, a 30-year-old right-hander who yielded six hits to the Yankees when the teams met in Cleveland on Aug. 6.

The Yankees will answer with Masahiro Tanaka, 28, a right-hander who had 13 wins in the regular season and no appearances against the Tribe.

Here are a few of the story lines that we’ll be following:

How the Yankees’ bullpen might perform

Yankees’ relievers struck out nearly one of every three batters they faced during the regular season, a performance that led the majors. The bullpen posted an ERA that was 24 percent below the league average.

Still, the Yankees on Friday night failed to stop Cleveland from scoring nine runs after starting pitcher CC Sabathia left the bullpen a five-run lead. The Indians tied the game on a solo home run by Jay Bruce off David Robertson, who had not yielded a home run since July 29.

The performance by Yankees’ relievers contrasted with the team’s relief pitching on Tuesday, when the bullpen got 29 outs that included 13 strikeouts on the way to an 8-4 win over the Twins.

How will Joe Girardi handle reviews of replays?

In the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday, home plate umpire Dan Iassonga awarded Indians batter Lonnie Chisenhall first base after ruling that a pitch from Chad Green brushed Chisenhall’s hand.

Replay showed the pitch should have been ruled an out – the ball glanced off Chisenhall’s bat and was caught by Sanchez – to end the inning. But Yankees’ Manager Joe Girardi failed to challenge the call. The next batter, Francisco Lindor, hit a grand slam that narrowed the Yankees’ lead to one.

Following the game, Girardi told reporters he did not request review of the replay because he hesitated to hold up play and possibly disrupt Green’s rhythm.

But on Saturday, after being flayed by the news media, the skipper apparently reconsidered. “I screwed up,” Girardi told reporters. “In hindsight, yeah. I wish I would have challenged it.”

Writing in the Times, Billy Witz called the mea culpa “a startling admission from a manager who takes great pride in being fastidiously prepared and always in search of an edge.”

Will Carrasco be able to silence the Yankees’ bats?

The silver lining for the Yankees: They’ve already faced Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber.

A reunion with Carrasco holds the potential for the Yankees to build on their success against him in August, when the pitcher gave up a home run to Aaron Judge, a triple to Jacoby Ellsbury and a double to Todd Frazier.

Judge has yet to get a hit in the ALDS. Ellsbury, who did not play on Thursday, went hitless on Friday in three tries as designated hitter. Frazier notched three hits on Friday after getting none a night earlier.

A win by the Yankees would allow them to host the Indians again on Monday, with the potential to return the series to Cleveland for a fifth game in the best-of-five series.

Categories
Sports

Aaron Judge Homers as Yankees Advance to ALDS

The AL wild-card matchup between the Yankees and Twins lived up to the name of the initial playoff round, which Yankees’ General Manager Brian Cashman predicted would be a “steel-cage match.”

Fourth inning

Yankees are up by one in their half of the fourth inning. Both starting pitches left the game by the second inning. Aaron Judge hits a two-run home run to left field. Over the auxiliary scoreboard. The Yankees take a 7-4 lead.

Judge, the rookie who led the AL with 52 home runs during the regular season, has just hit the first playoff home run of his career.

That’s three home runs for the Yankees in four innings. (The Twins hit two in the first.) Twins’ relievers are warming up in the bullpen. The Yankees get two runs on two hits, and lead by three at the end of four innings.

Sixth inning

Zack Granite singles for the Twins. Brian Dozier walks. Tommy Kahnle comes into the game in relief of David Robertson. Khanle gets Joe Mauer out to end the inning. Trevor Hildenberg, who throws side arm, starts the bottom of the sixth inning. Retires the Yankees in order.

Seventh inning

Yankees’ runners on second and third. Twins walk Didi Gregorious, whose home run in the first inning tied the game. Bases loaded, no outs. Twins walk in a run. Yankees take an 8-4 lead. The Twins won’t score again.