Categories
Australia

Federal government declares Australia’s first six offshore wind energy zones

wind farms in ocean

The federal government has declared Australia’s first offshore wind zone, giving developers the green light to ramp up planning and consultation for wind farm projects.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced waters off the Gippsland coast, in Victoria’s south-east, would be the first offshore wind zone.

Other areas will follow off the coast of the Hunter Valley and Illawarra in New South Wales, Portland in Victoria, Northern Tasmania, Perth and Bunbury in Western Australia.

Developers last week told the ABC projects were being held up by the federal government dragging their feet on the impending declaration, which allows them to consult and then apply for permits.

Mr Bowen said other countries had been successfully producing energy from wind farms in the ocean for years, and it was Australia’s time to catch up.

“We have some of the best wind resources in the world,” Mr Bowen said.

“Just one rotation of one offshore wind turbine provides as much energy as an average rooftop solar installation generates in one day.”

Climate energy market analyst Tim Buckley said the declaration was a step forward, but all levels of government would need to work together.

“Energy Minister Chris Bowen is right to open offshore wind for public consultation,” Mr Buckley said.

“Offshore wind development is going to need a high degree of policy support and forward planning because of the complex supply chains that would have to be developed in Australia and higher costs of construction.

“We need to weigh up the additional costs related to offshore wind construction and see where it makes the most economic sense.

“We need to value the balancing or base-load nature of the generation, to support the sometimes intermittent nature of onshore wind and solar.”

Gippsland moving from coal to wind

Mr Bowen said the Star of the South proposal off the Victorian coast in Bass Strait would generate enough electricity to cater for 20 per cent of Victoria’s energy needs.

Gippsland wind farm sites
Sites of proposed wind farms off the Gippsland coast.(ABC Gippsland: Paul Sellenger)

Star of the South is Danish-owned and was the first proposed offshore wind farm, put forward four years ago.

The company plans to build up to 200 wind turbines, with the closest located 7 kilometers from the coastline.

Star of the South chief executive Erin Coldham says the company hopes to begin power generation before the expected closure of Yallourn Power Station in 2028.

“There’s a proud history here of power generation for more than 100 years so there’s really great access to the grid which supplies to the rest of the east coast, the sea depths are perfect and there’s some really unique wind conditions,” Ms Coldham said.

The company aims to begin construction in 2025 and says the project would create 2,000 construction jobs and 200 ongoing operational roles.

An offshore power plant with offshore wind turbines in the background
Offshore wind power generation is a fast-growing sector of the renewable energy industry, such as this offshore wind power plant in Yantai, Shandong Province, China.(Getty Images: CFOTO/Future Publishing)

Consultation starts now

Mr Bowen’s announcement signals the start of a 60-day consultation period with communities and users of waters in the nominated areas.

AUSWIDE OFFSHORE WIND
Sites earmarked as offshore wind zones in Australia.(ABC Gippsland: Paul Sellenger)

The federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will facilitate the consultation process.

Transmission lines, which are expected to be above ground, will run from the wind zone to the energy grid in the Latrobe Valley, which currently sends power generated by the Yallourn and Loy Yang Power Stations.

“It’s important that issues surrounding transmission lines through private property to link large scale renewable projects to the national grid are handled sensitively and transparently,” federal Nationals member for Gippsland Darren Chester said.

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Categories
US

Kari Lake will win GOP nomination for Arizona governor, CNN projects

Kari Lake will win GOP nomination for Arizona governor, CNN projects

Her victory makes her the fourth Republican who has pushed Trump’s election lies to win a major nomination in Arizona, after CNN’s projections earlier this week for US Senate, secretary of state and attorney general.

Lake, who was endorsed by Trump, will defeat Karrin Taylor Robson, a former member of the state Board of Regents and the establishment GOP favorite, who was supported by outgoing Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence.

The race in its closing days turned into a proxy battle in the tug-of-war between Trump and Pence over the direction of the Republican Party, with Trump visiting Arizona to campaign for Lake and a slate of election deniers he had endorsed for statewide office and Pence campaigning alongside Robson.

Lake has made lies about election fraud the centerpiece of her campaign — an approach likely to continue in a November general election matchup against Democratic nominee Katie Hobbs, the secretary of state who has defended Arizona’s 2020 presidential results and its largely mail-in voting system .

Hours before polls closed, Lake had already declared to reporters that either she would win or the outcome would be fraudulent.

“If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on. And we already know that,” she said Tuesday.

In Arizona’s other top races, Blake Masters, the onetime venture capitalist, will secure the Republican nomination for US Senate, while Arizona Republicans have chosen state Rep. Mark Finchem, an election denier, as their nominee to take the helm of the state’s election machinery , CNN projects. And in the attorney general’s race, Trump’s preferred candidate, election denier Abraham Hamadeh, won the Republican nomination, CNN also projects.

Masters will face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who was unopposed in his primary Tuesday, in what’s expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive, and expensive, midterm match-ups, with control of the 50-50 Senate on the line.

Masters was chief operating officer of GOP meganor Peter Thiel’s investment firm, and his campaign was backed by more than $15 million in spending by Thiel.

Masters, who has spread lies about the results of the 2020 election and accused Democrats of trying to “change the demographics” of the country, defeated businessman Jim Lamon and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, among others, in the GOP primary Tuesday.

Finchem is aiming to be the chief elections officer in a state that conducts its voting largely by mail and has been the target of a series of conspiracy theories advanced by Trump and his allies, who falsely allege that the 2020 election was stolen from the former President . The Arizona secretary of state is the state’s second-highest executive elected official and first in line to succeed the governor, as the state does not have a lieutenant governor.

Finchem was a member of the far-right “Oath Keepers” in 2014 and was an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement spurred by Trump’s lies about election fraud.

Finchem has said the state legislature should be able to overturn the will of voters in presidential elections — a position that, if embraced by Republicans after November’s election, could lead to a crisis in the 2024 election in one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states. .

He’ll face Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, in the fall.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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Categories
Business

Busted: Couriers caught throwing parcels at Mackay Airport

Busted: Couriers caught throwing parcels at Mackay Airport

Footage has been revealed of an Australian courier company throwing packages as far as 10 meters into the back of a delivery truck.

The Australian StarTrack company has been named and shamed by a local resident who captured two couriers hurling parcels into a huge delivery truck at Mackay Airport in North Queensland.

Mackay resident Ashlee Coath is calling for the workers to be sacked after her fragile parcel arrived broken.

Investigating the possible cause of the damage, Ms Coath said she figured out how it may have happened after she saw the viral video online.

“I put two and two together and I figured out that’s probably how it ended up breaking,” she said.

“I always say treat people how you want to be treated, and I believe that goes for things as well.”

But Ms Coath is not the only one complaining about the company’s parcel treatment, with other residents claiming their packages always arrive damaged.

On Thursday the company released an apology to its customers, saying the couriers’ actions do not reflect StarTrack’s standards.

“These actions are not in line with the high service standards we expect of our people, and we sincerely apologize,” a spokesperson said.

The incident follows CCTV footage catching a courier throwing a parcel over a 2m electric gate in March.

The courier, who the customer claimed was an Australia Post employee, appeared to check his surroundings before throwing the parcel underarm.

The footage then shows him taking a photo of the item on the front step to confirm the delivery.

Customers with concerns about mail delivery are encouraged to contact Australia Post on 13 13 18.

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Categories
Technology

Artificial Vision Inspired by Crab Eyes Can ‘See’ on Land and Underwater

Artificial Vision

artificial vision

A team of researchers has developed an artificial vision system that offers a full, panoramic view both above and under the water that is inspired by the eyes of fiddler crabs.

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), the Seoul National University in Korea, and The University of Texas at Austin, presented the amphibious system, which can work both on land and underwater , in a paper published in Nature last month

The new vision system will enable robots to gain a panoramic 360-degree view of their surroundings so that they can detect obstacles and navigate environments more effectively, reports TechXplore.

There have been several, previous attempts to develop cameras that mimic the eyes of insects, fish and other living creatures. However, the development of artificial vision systems that can see both underwater and on land is extremely limited and are usually restricted by a 180-degree field of view.

“Previous works, including our group’s research, on wide field of view (FoV) cameras were always at fewer than 180-degrees, which is not enough for the ‘full’ panoramic vision, and they were not suitable for changing external environments,” researcher Young Min Song tells TechXplore. “We wanted to develop a 360-degree FoV camera that can image both in air and water.”

Design of the panoramic artificial vision using the spherical 3D structure and finite element analysis (FEA) of the induced strain in the image sensor array.

The team was inspired by the eyes of the semi-terrestrial fiddler crab, which has a 3D omnidirectional field-of-view. This unique species, also known as calling crabs, can gain a full panoramic view of their surroundings without having to move their eyes and body. They evolved to be able to look at almost everything at once on land and underwater to avoid attacks and to communicate with fellow fiddler crabs.

In the past, scientists have struggled to find a way to sustain a camera’s focusing capability when the environment changes, which is why this team decided to take a closer look at the fiddler crab.

“If you use a conventional lens with curvature for imaging, its focal point changes when you dip the lens into the water,” Song explains to TechXplore.

“On the other hand, if you use a lens with a flat surface, you can see a clear image regardless of ambient conditions. The fiddler crab living in the intertidal region has this kind of flat surface of its lens and we just imitated this crab-eye-lens,” he adds.

To create the amphibious vision system, the researchers integrated an array of flat microlenses with a graded refractive index and an array of flexible comb-shaped silicon photodiodes on a spherical structure. The microlenses they used can retain their focal length irrespective of changes in the external refractive index between air and water.

Song says the artificial vision system is the first to demonstrate the ability to switch between imaging in air and water seamlessly while offering a panoramic view and could lead to 360-degree omnidirectional cameras for everything from all-weather autonomous vehicles to virtual and augmented reality systems .

Song says the technology will be tested and implemented on several different hybrid and amphibious robots, however, his team is also “interested in developing a new type of camera with unique imaging features inspired by other animal eyes.”

Image credits: Mincheol Lee et al.

Categories
Entertainment

The Sandman review – Neil Gaiman has created 2022’s single greatest hour of TV drama | television & radio

YoIt has taken 30 years for an adaptation of The Sandman (Netflix), Neil Gaiman’s celebrated comic-book series, to make it to the screen, and little wonder. It is a big, bold story of gods and demons, so deep and rich that the idea of ​​cramming its wonders into 10 episodes seems borderline ludicrous. Yet this is the era of megabudget fantasy television, with the imminent arrival of a small-screen Lord of the Rings and the return of the Game of Thrones universe in House of the Dragon. With its debut season, The Sandman can stand proudly among them, albeit as their moody goth older brother.

The first couple of episodes exist firmly in the realm of fantasy. The notes I took when watching include “Patton Oswalt is crow?”. It’s that kind of show, and it immerses you in its world immediately, setting the Sandman off on his journey of discovery. It begins in 1916, when Lord Morpheus, or Dream, or the Sandman, or Lord Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, to give him his pedigree name (a sinewy Robert Smith type, played with breathy sulkiness by Tom Sturridge), is mistakenly captured by Charles Dance’s sinister – and Dance is very good at sinister – magus.

Sinister … Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess in episode one.
Sinister … Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess in episode one. Photograph: Ed Miller/Netflix

The magus wants to harness Death’s power to indulge in a spot of necromancy and revive his favorite son, who was killed in wartime. Instead, he ends up with Dream, and traps him naked in a glass sphere in his basement. For a while, the period setting feels a bit dark Downton Abbey, but it soon becomes clear that this is far too expansive to stick to one era or genre. Throughout the series, time flies, and slows, and we leap through different periods and cities and realms. It all feels like rather a lot, but it works well.

Partly, that is because the pace is meditative, not frantic. Once the scene-setting and world-building has been done, it has the confidence to take its time over the big stuff. I am sure plenty of viewers will love its more fantastical elements, from a battle of imaginations with Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) to a cute mythical creature called Gregory, but I found its finest moments in the more human, conversational, emotional strands. Jenna Coleman is strong as the messy, tough Johanna Constantine, a contraction of John and Johanna into one character (or two), whose nightmares are matched only by her exorcist duties.

Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain in episode two of The Sandman.
Nothing unnatural … Sanjeev Bhaskar as Cain in episode two of The Sandman. Photograph: Netflix

The big cast is largely excellent, with an impressive ability to deliver lines that could have sounded overly literary or convoluted, or both, in ways that sound neither woolly nor unnatural. Vivienne Acheampong as Dream’s right-hand man Lucienne, Boyd Holbrook as the thick walking nightmare Corinthian, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as an empathic, big-hearted Death, are all fantastic. I spent some time mildly irritated at the idea that Joely Richardson, 57, could be cast as the mother of David Thewlis, 59, until I was reminded that in this world where teeth can replace eyeballs and getting sand in your eyes is far more troublesome than your typical trip to the beach, something as trivial as age is bound to be explained eventually. It is, and my outrage retreated.

Thewlis is brilliant as John Dee, naive and cruel and earnest and cynical, and he gets to lead the best episode of the lot. After an eerie car journey that plays out like a film of his own, Dee spends a day and night in a diner, experimenting on his staff and patrons by nudging them towards a policy of being honest. Each person’s feelings are teased to the surface, and it is horrible and mesmerizing and thrilling, with an uncanny, Twin Peaks-ish feel. This is surely a contender for best episode of the year, of any TV drama, and the point at which The Sandman really finds its feet.

Yet it is thickening from the start. It is transportive, playful at times, and certainly grand. But above all, it is dark. Bodies explode, limbs are severed, and demons crawl out of the mouths of professional footballers, fist-first. Nestled in among its more grotesque spectacles, though, is an emotional depth that elevates this far beyond the usual “let’s see what we can blow the CGI budget on” fantasy fodder. Given the source material, that’s no wonder. For fans, it may well turn out to have been worth the long wait, but for newcomers to the Sandman’s world, there is plenty to discover.

Categories
Sports

Michael Lichaa acquitted of domestic violence charges

Michael Lichaa pleaded not guilty to assaulting his former partner Kara Childerhouse. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Former NRL star Michael Lichaa has been acquitted of domestic violence charges after his former partner refused to turn up to court and ex-teammate Adam Elliott vouched for his version of events.

The 18-month saga finally drew to a close on Friday when Mr Lichaa was found not guilty of assaulting his former partner Kara Childerhouse during a heated late-night incident at his south Sydney home.

Mr Lichaa, 29, has persistently denied assaulting his former finance and Magistrate Melissa Humphreys on Friday acquitted him of common assault and intimidation charges.

Michael Lichaa (centre). Picture: NewsWire/Seb Haggett.Source: NCA NewsWire
Michael Lichaa and Kara Childerhouse. Picture: Supplied.Source: Supplied

His trial before Magistrate Melissa Humphreys took a sensational twist on Thursday when Ms Childerhouse refused to turn up to Sutherland Local Court to give evidence.

Despite being subpoenaed and midway through her testimony police were unable to contact her after knocking on her door and calling her.

The court heard that she no longer wanted to take part in the proceedings and was pregnant and worried about the stress of reliving the incident.

All of her testimony which she had given up until that point was excluded though a statement, in which she retracted the allegations, was admitted into evidence.

It left the prosecution with no evidence to tend on the assault charge.

Kara Childerhouse failed to turn up to Sutherland Local Court. Picture: John GraingerSource: News Corp Australia

Police had alleged he was involved in an argument, which prompted concerned neighbors to call police to his Connells Point home.

The court has heard that the incident occurred after Mr Lichaa caught Ms Childerhouse performing a sexual act on his mate and former teammate Adam Elliott.

Mr Elliott told the court on Thursday that he had been drinking for 12 hours following a party at Mr Lichaa’s home.

When it was suggested that Mr Lichaa had assaulted Ms Childerhouse, he said “I disagree.”

Mr Elliott told the court that Mr Lichaa exclaimed “what the f*** are you doing?” and he went outside and walked back and forth in a heated state.

Adam Elliott told the court that Michael Lichaa did not assault his former partner. Picture: NRL Imagery.Source: Supplied
Michael Licha. Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images

A witness previously told the court that she heard a man saying loudly “I’m going to f***ing kill her”.

His lawyer James Trevallion denied that amounted to an offense of intimidation, adding there was no evidence the words were said in her presence.

“Clearly it was a situation where there was a lot of emotion and feeling and it would be remarkable when walking up and down the street if he wasn’t yelling and screaming and emotional and upset about what had occurred,” Mr Trevallion told the court on Friday.

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Categories
Australia

Teenager sentenced to 10 years in prison over fatal stabbing of Jack Beasley on Gold Coast

Teenager sentenced to 10 years in prison over fatal stabbing of Jack Beasley on Gold Coast

A 17-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a teenager at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast more than two years ago has been sentenced to 10 years in jail but will only spend seven years in custody.

Jack Beasley died after being stabbed once in the chest in December 2019.

Five teenage boys, aged between 15 and 18 at the time, were originally charged over the 17-year-old’s death, but three were acquitted of his manslaughter at a judge-only trial last month.

The remaining two, including a 17-year-old boy, faced a sentencing hearing in Brisbane on Friday after he pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year, admitting to inflicting the fatal wound.

A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to his manslaughter, accepting he had a common purpose to assault Mr Beasley and his friends, and that an unlawful killing would be a “probable consequence.”

The pair – who cannot be named due to youth justice laws – have also pleaded guilty to two counts each of grievous bodily harm in relation to the stabbing of one of Mr Beasley’s friends, who was seriously injured.

Knife used in ‘senseless’ way amid brawl

During a sentencing hearing on Friday, the court heard the group of teens had crossed paths with Mr Beasley and his friends, who were not known to them, and they had hatched a plan to chase them and pick a fight.

Crown Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court the older offender took “a lead role” and was one of the “main protagonists” who “instigated the violence” with Mr Beasley.

“He was actively involved in the altercation from the start to finish,” he said.

Police tape and officers at scene of a fatal stabbing on Surfers Paradise Boulevard.
Police at the scene on Surfers Paradise Boulevard where Mr Beasley died in 2019.(abcnews)

The court heard a physical fight then broke out between some members of the two groups, including Mr Beasley.

Mr Fuller told the court the younger teen then “escalated the level of violence” by using the knife “offensively rather than defensively” and in a “senseless” way.

“The grave nature of his offending speaks for itself,” he said.

‘Left to die on the footpath’

Reading a victim impact statement to the court through tears, Mr Beasley’s mother Belinda Beasley addressed the teens who were sitting in the dock, calling them “cowards.”

“You ran away… and left Jack and [his friend] to die on the footpath with not a care in the world – what sort of people are you?” she said.

“In that one moment you destroyed so many people’s lives.”

Black and white photo of Jack Beasley
Mr Beasley’s parents established the Jack Beasley Foundation in a bid to change attitudes around youth violence among students.(ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)

Mrs Beasley described her son as a “beautiful boy” who was “cheeky, fun-loving and easy going” and said his death had turned her life into a “living nightmare”.

“The pain you have brought to our family is indescribable,” she said.

“To lose a child in the way we lost Jack altered our lives forever.

“Being a juvenile is no excuse – everyone knows right from wrong.”

‘Deeply tragic’

In a written statement by the younger teen, read by his defense lawyer James Benjamin, he said he took “full responsibility for my actions and hold myself accountable.”

“I understand I may never be forgiven but I hope one day I will be,” he said in the statement.

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Categories
US

Brittney Griner’s Phoenix Mercury plays first game since Russian sentencing

Brittney Griner's Phoenix Mercury plays first game since Russian sentencing

Comment

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — It started with a few isolated yells of “BG!” echoing from throughout Mohegan Sun Arena during a 42-second moment of silence for Brittney Griner, the WNBA star sentenced Thursday to 9½ years in prison in Moscow.

The length of time matched Griner’s jersey number. No. 42 was missing from another game here as her team de ella, the Phoenix Mercury, lost, 77-64, to the Connecticut Sun.

Soon the scattered yells became a loud chant of “Bring her home!” repeated about a dozen times, bursting through the silence. In the stands, fans interlocked arms; at center court, the teams did the same.

The 42 seconds were over then. But the plight of Griner, who has been detained in Russia since she was accused of illegally smuggling vape cartridges containing cannabis, remained the focus here.

The ruling did not surprise legal analysts who have followed the case and know the Russian criminal justice system, but it still unnerved people inside and out of the arena.

It was “a really emotional day for our whole team, but we know we weren’t hanging our hopes on the Russian legal system,” Mercury Coach Vanessa Nygaard told reporters before the game. “We just want her home.”

Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith said reporters’ questions about “our real-life friend” languishing behind bars “just add to our trauma.” “Nobody wanted to even play today,” said Diggins-Smith.

In the stands, Ellyn Ruthstrom, from Melrose, Mass., said she and her partner, Kara Ammon, spoke about the particular risks Griner faces in Russia when they heard about the verdict earlier Thursday.

“We were just talking about how horrible it is for a gay woman of color” to be impressed in Russia, Ruthstrom said. “Ella She’s a political pawn.” Ammon and Ruthstrom praised the WNBA for keeping Griner’s predicament at the forefront.

As news of the sentencing spread, messages of “Free BG” echoed on Twitter and among sports stars.

Erica Wheeler of the Atlanta Dream tweeted: “My heart goes out to BG’s family and her wife! Today hit a little different man like that’s our sister! I ca n’t even imagine how her family feels! I pray God is protecting her from her mental health but more importantly keep fighting BG. …gotta bring you home!”

Lexie Brown, who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks, tweeted, “Anyone who goes back to Russia to play is insane.” She added, “this is breaking my heart from her seeing her right now.”

The commissioners of the NBA and WNBA shared a joint statement. “Today’s verdict and sentencing is unjustified and unfortunate but not unexpected and Brittney Griner remains wrongly detained,” Adam Silver and Cathy Engelbert said. “The WNBA and NBA’s commitment to her safe return from her has not wavered and it is our hope that we are near the end of this process of finally bringing BG home to the United States.”

Speaking on Aug. 4, WNBA superstar Brittney Griner said she had no intention of breaking Russian law after a small amount of cannabis oil was found in her bags. (Video: Washington Post)

Terri Carmichael Jackson, executive director of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, called the decision “unjust. It is a terrible blow. whatever conversations [Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken] and his Russian counterpart need to have, we trust that they are having them with all deliberate speed. Because it’s time. It’s just time.”

Elizabeth Rood, the US Embassy’s deputy chief of mission in Moscow, called Griner’s conviction and sentencing “a miscarriage of justice.” She spoke briefly, saying, “Secretary of State Blinken, President Biden’s national security team and the entire American government remain committed to bringing Ms. Griner home safely to her family and friends of her.”

Biden called for her immediate release, saying: “Today, American citizen Brittney Griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney. It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates.”

Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner’s agent, called for a deal to be “done swiftly” to free her and noted that American Paul Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence in Russia. He and Griner have been mentioned as part of a prisoner exchange.

“Today’s sentencing of Brittney Griner was severe by Russian legal standards and goes to prove what we have known all along, that Brittney is being used as a political pawn,” Colas said. “We appreciate and continue to support the efforts of [Biden and Blinken] to get a deal done swiftly to bring Brittney, Paul and all Americans home. Bringing Brittney and Paul home is the sole objective, and as such, we should use all available tools. We must remain focused and unified. This is a time for compassion and a shared understanding that getting a deal done to bring Americans home will be hard, but it is urgent and it is the right thing to do.”

“BG is an American. BG is an Olympian. BG is an ALL-STAR. BG is a daughter, a wife, a friend,” tweeted Carl Champion, a former ESPN host. “BG is an American. BG IS IN A CAGE. BG is ours. Bring her home.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, called Griner a “political pawn” and continued to ask for permission to take a delegation of clergy to visit Griner to assess her health.

“The sentencing of Brittney Griner to nine years in prison is a moral outrage and a legal atrocity in any court in the world. In most places, including the United States, what she pleaded guilty to and was charged with would not even have merited a misdemeanor. It is shameful and a dark day when global athletics is subjected to politics and not due process,” Sharpton said.

“Let’s not forget Brittney Griner not only entertained and won the hearts of many Americans but for seven years entertained and won the hearts of many Russians as she played basketball there. Which is why her ella basketball coach and fellow ella players came and testified for her. She and Paul Whelan are clearly pawns in some global political chess game that has nothing to do with them. They should be immediately released.”

Initially, negotiations for Griner’s release were conducted quietly, but the passage of time led to more public calls for her release. Griner’s wife, Cherelle, has been increasingly outspoken in calling for Biden to take action, and the State Department reclassified Griner as “wrongfully detained” in May.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist and perennial all-star with the Mercury, Griner played for UMMC Ekaterinburg during WNBA offseasons and called Yekaterinburg her “second home” Thursday. Moved by her relationship with her teammates and the growing popularity of the sport among young girls, she explained as she wept, “That’s why I kept coming back.”

Now the focus turns to negotiations to get Griner released, which are complicated by a frosty relationship between the United States and Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. Last week, Blinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and urged him to accept a deal involving Griner and Whelan.

Whelan, who was arrested in 2018 and convicted of spying in 2020, has said he was framed. The United States has not indicated whether it would offer Russian Viktor Bout, an arms trafficker who was arrested in a US sting operation in Thailand in 2008, in exchange for their release from him.

Cindy Boren reported from Washington. Steven Burkholder reported from Connecticut.

Categories
Technology

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s ​​second wave DLC is here with Coconut Mall fixes and more

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's ​​second wave DLC is here with Coconut Mall fixes and more

The second wave of tracks from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s ​​Booster Course Pass dropped earlier than expected overnight, and it’s also made a few other changes to the game.

Not only are there two new cups and eight new tracks, which all knew about, of course, but they’ve made some tweaks to the game and a big change on Coconut Mall.

When the first wave of tracks arrived and Coconut Mall’s cars before the final turn didn’t move, many were upset – but be upset longer. Now on any mode other than Time Trial, they move. They even do doughnuts!

Some other changes to the game have been made, and we’ve included the version 2.1.0 patch notes below.

You’ll need to update the game to get the new tracks; of course, you’ll need to have bought them or have a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription.

Ver. 2.1.0 (Released August 4, 2022)

Support for DLC
  • Now supports paid DLC: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass, Wave 2 (two cups and eight courses).
General
  • Increased the number of ghosts you can download from 16 to 32.
  • Adjusted the extent to which a vehicle is thrown, depending on its weight.
  • Further shortened the time it takes for item boxes to regenerate after another player takes them.
  • Shortened the time it takes for one player to be able to pick up a coin that another player has dropped.
  • Made it so that it is easier to face the way forward in mid-air when using Smart Steering.
  • The cars that the Shy Guys are riding in in Wii Coconut Mall now move from time to time in all modes other than the Time Trial mode.
fixed issue
  • Fixed issue where player could not choose a DLC course even though a player in the lobby in “Friends” has the Booster Course Pass.
  • Fixed issue where player did not receive coins even though they used the Feather in Coin Runners to steal a rival’s coins.
  • Fixed issue where player could receive two items from one item box in N64 Toad’s Turnpike.

Categories
Entertainment

Naomi Judd’s ‘graphic’ death records to remain sealed, per family’s wishes

Naomi Judd's 'graphic' death records to remain sealed, per family's wishes

Naomi Judd’s death records will be kept private – per her family’s request – due to the “graphic” nature in which she died, a judge has ruled.

The late country singer’s husband, Larry Strickland, and her two daughters, Wynonna and Ashley Judd, filed a request in Williamson County, Tennessee, on Monday to keep any investigation records into her suicide private as it may cause “emotional distress, pain and mental anguish” if released, court documents obtained by NBC said.

Naomi – who battled depression and mental illness for years – died in April aged 76.

Her family argued in the court documents that records could depict the death of the singer in a “graphic manner”, new york post reports.

“Moreover, the release of these records would continue to cause the entire family pain for years to come,” the filing also stated.

According to NBC, the request was temporarily granted, but a hearing regarding the matter was scheduled for September 12.

Strickland and the Judd sisters filed the request on the same day news broke that Naomi had left her daughters’ names out of her will and made her husband executor of her estate.

Wynonna, 58, and Ashley, 54, did not address the apparent slight but a source told RadarOnline.com earlier this week that Wynonna is “upset” that she was excluded because she formed half of the duo The Judds with her mother.

The singer reportedly believes she was “a major force behind her mother’s success”.

A legal expert told Page Six exclusively on Tuesday that while it is “common” for a person to name the spouse as the executor of their will, “leaving out her daughters seems pointed, like a purposeful act on Naomi’s part”.

Lawyer Holly Davis added, however, that if “there is an issue or tension between the husband and the daughters, we will find out if there will be a will contest via probate lawyers in the coming days”.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

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