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Shohei Ohtani and wife expecting first childIf you read One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest years ago, you may recall how Chief Bromden’s psychosis originated with the loss of his people’s fishing habitat due to the construction of a monstrous dam. Ken Kesey brought the loss of annual fish runs of the Columbia River, estimated at 15 to 20 million salmon , to our attention. They had supported an essential human industry long pre-dating the arrival of Columbus in the Western Hemisphere. Pacific tribes ever since have fought for dam removal projects across the US. It’s not just native people who argue for dam removal. The US Fish and Wildlife Service explains that dams slow the natural flow of water and warm it, promoting the spread of deadly algae and parasites. Dams, they say, have been harming salmon and sturgeon since their installation, and people are frustrated to see these culturally and economically important species hurt when it is within our ability to protect them. While dams have provided benefits like hydroelectricity and water storage, they have also been ecologically disastrous. Besides blocking fish migrations, these human-made structures can destroy seasonal pulses of water that keep ecosystems in balance. In what can be described as nearly a miracle, for the first time since 1918 an astonishing 420 miles of salmon habitat in the Klamath River watershed in California and Oregon has been reopened. This results from the world’s largest dam removal effort: the Klamath River Renewal Project. The amount of habitat opened up on the Klamath is equivalent to the distance between Portland, Maine and Philadelphia. It’s only been a month since the dam removal project on the Klamath River. Four dams were removed — and you know what? The salmon are already returning. The dams impeded fish migration for nearly a century, but, since those dams came down, salmon are once more spawning in cool creeks that had been cut off to them for generations. Pacific salmon and steelhead have a diverse life cycle that begins in the rivers of Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho where salmon spawn, or lay their eggs. Juveniles travel from freshwater to the Pacific Ocean and move great distances up and down the West Coast of North America. When salmon are ready to reproduce, they migrate from the ocean back into freshwater rivers and streams to their spawning grounds. On their journey along the Klamath River, they had encountered four hydroelectric dams, which halted their journeys. Video shot by the Yurok Tribe show that hundreds of salmon have made it to tributaries between the former Iron Gate and Copco dams, a hopeful sign for the newly freed waterway. “Seeing salmon spawning above the former dams fills my heart,” Joseph L. James, chair of the Yurok Tribe, described , as reported by the Boston Globe . “Our salmon are coming home. Klamath Basin tribes fought for decades to make this day a reality because our future generations deserve to inherit a healthier river from the headwaters to the sea.” No longer do four hydroelectric dams block passage for struggling salmon. Through protests, testimony, and lawsuits, tribes showcased the environmental devastation caused by the dams, especially to salmon, which were cut off from their historic habitat and dying in alarming numbers because of poor water quality. Earth Justice calls it a great victory for the local tribes, who, despite their deep cultural and economic ties to the river, were at first rarely offered a seat at the stakeholders’ table. Increasingly, removal is being seen as a long-term solution for dams that are no longer needed. Removal can often achieve both short- and long-term cost savings, while creating a permanent ecological improvement and strengthening resiliency against climate change. Many factors contribute to the dam owner’s choice to remove, rather than rehabilitate, these unneeded dams. Policies like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) have led to an influx of public funding available for dam safety projects, further strengthening the economic case for removal. The dam removal projects on the Klamath River are an example of advocacy and economics in play. Power company PacifiCorp built the dams to generate electricity between 1918 and 1962. But the structures halted the natural flow of the waterway that was once known as the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. They disrupted the lifecycle of the region’s salmon, which spend most of their life in the Pacific Ocean but return to the chilly mountain streams to lay eggs. The dams only produced a fraction of PacifiCorp’s energy at full capacity, enough to power about 70,000 homes. They also didn’t provide irrigation, drinking water, or flood control. In 2016, after several lawsuits, PacifiCorp opted out of renewing the license and got behind dam removal, recognizing it would be more affordable than making the necessary upgrades. In 2020, PacifiCorp submitted an application to FERC to transfer the license for the Lower Klamath Project from PacifiCorp to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (Renewal Corporation) and the states of Oregon and California as co-licensees. In June 2021, FERC approved transfer of the Lower Klamath Project license to the Renewal Corporation and the states of California and Oregon as co-licensees to carry out removal of the four dams in that license. FERC gave its final approval for the actual dam removal work late in November 2022. KRRC was created to take ownership of four PacifiCorp dams — JC Boyle, Copco No. 1 & No. 2, and Iron Gate — and then remove these dams, restore formerly inundated lands, and implement required mitigation measures in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations. PacifiCorp continued to operate the dams in the interim. It took nearly eight more years in total to develop the dam removal plan, conduct environmental and safety reviews, and navigate around political backlash. Yet in October 2024, with the dam gone, the water temperature during the day was an average of 14 degrees Fahrenheit cooler compared with the same month over the last nine years, according to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), the nonprofit entity created to oversee the project. There have also been lower concentrations of harmful algae blooms since the dam removal. Decommissioning will also prevent stagnant reservoirs from increasing water temperatures in the summer and help alleviate the poor habitat conditions that contribute to fish diseases below the dams. The number of salmon that have quickly made it into previously inaccessible tributaries has also been encouraging. Experts have counted 42 redds, or salmon egg nests, and have tallied as many as 115 Chinook salmon in one day in Spencer Creek, which is above the former JC Boyle dam, the furthest upstream of the four removed dams. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit
OTTAWA — Canada didn't live up to its values on immigration over the last few years as it allowed more people into the country than it could absorb, said former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. Carney, who is a special adviser to the Liberal party, made the comments at an event on Wednesday in Ottawa held by Cardus, a Christian think tank. "I think what happened in the last few years is we didn't live up to our values on immigration," Carney said. "We had much higher levels of foreign workers, students and new Canadians coming in than we could absorb, that we have housing for, that we have health care for, that we have social services for, that we have opportunities for. And so we're letting down the people that we let in, quite frankly." Earlier this fall, the Liberal government announced a plan to significantly reduce its immigration target for permanent residents and to dramatically scale back the number of temporary residents in Canada. Those changes came about after a period of strong population growth and mounting criticism of the government's immigration policies. Statistics Canada recently reported that the population on July 1 was three per cent higher than a year earlier. Between 1998 and 2018, annual population growth was less than 1.5 per cent. With the planned changes to immigration targets, the federal government now estimates Canada's population will decline slightly by 0.2 per cent in 2025 and 2026, before returning to growth of 0.8 per cent in 2027. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged that his government did not get the balance right on immigration after the COVID-19 pandemic. Carney also pointed to the pandemic as he dug into what went wrong on immigration policy. He said Canada chose to loosen its rules in response to pressure from businesses facing a labour shortage to allow more temporary foreign workers into the country, but he said the government ended up "losing track" in the process. He also blamed provinces for underfunding higher education, which pushed institutions to turn to foreign students to make money. "Do we value higher education in this country or not? Well, if we value higher education, maybe we should start funding our universities," he said. "On the foreign student side, it's more on provincial policy, on squeezing universities, in a sense." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024. Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian PressBEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country’s third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad. The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war monitor, was the latest in the stunning advances by opposition fighters over the past week that have so far met little resistance from Assad’s forces. A day earlier, fighters captured the central city of Hama , Syria’s fourth largest, after the army said it withdrew to avoid fighting inside the city and spare the lives of civilians. The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have vowed to march to Homs and the capital, Damascus, Assad’s seat of power. Videos circulating online showed a highway jammed with cars full of people fleeing Homs, a city with a large population belonging to Assad’s Alawite sect, seen as his core supporters. If Assad’s military loses Homs, it could be a crippling blow. The city, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Assad enjoys wide support. Homs province is Syria’s largest in size and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. The city is also home to one of Syria’s two state-run oil refineries. Pressure on the government intensified from multiple directions. Opposition protesters stormed security posts and army positions in the southern province of Sweida, opposition activists said. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces who control eastern and northeastern Syria began to encroach on government-held territory. Offensive leaves Assad reliant on Russia After years of largely being bottled up in a northwest corner of the country, the insurgents burst out a week ago, captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest , and have kept advancing since. Government troops have repeatedly fallen back. The sudden offensive has flipped the tables on a long-entrenched stalemate in Syria’s nearly 14-year-old civil war. Along with HTS, the fighters include forces of an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Turkey has denied backing the offensive , though experts say insurgents would not have launched it without the country's consent. HTS’s leader, Abu Mohammad al-Golani, told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that Assad’s government was on the path to falling, propped up only by Russia and Iran. “The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it,” he said. “But the truth remains, this regime is dead.” A key question about Assad’s ability to fight back is how much top ally Russia — whose troops back Assad’s forces — will throw support his way at a time when it is tied up in the war in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he planned to discuss the developments in Syria with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts at a meeting Friday in the Qatari capital, Doha. In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, he said international actors were backing the insurgents’ advances and that he would discuss “the way to cut the channels of financing and arming them.” Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy in Syria issued a notice reminding Russian citizens that they may use commercial flights to leave the country “in view of the difficult military-political situation.” The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria — three close allies — gathered Friday in Baghdad to consult on the rapidly changing war. Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh said the current developments may pose “a serious threat to the security of the region as a whole.” Assad opponents move in center, south and east The insurgent fighters on Friday took over the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, putting them 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Homs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. “The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria,” said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief. Pro-government Sham FM said the insurgents entered Rastan and Talbiseh without facing any resistance. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military. The Observatory said Syrian troops had left Homs. But the military denied that in comments reported by the state news agency SANA, saying troops were reinforcing their positions in the city and were “ready to repel” any assault. In eastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces coalition said it had moved into the government-held half of the city of Deir el-Zour, apparently without resistance. One of the main cities in the east, Deir el-Zour had long been split between the government on the western side of the Euphrates River and the SDF on the eastern side. The SDF also said it took control of further parts of the border with Iraq. That appeared to bring it closer to the government-held Boukamal border crossing. The crossing is a vital for the government because it is the gateway to the corridor to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. At the same time, insurgents seized Syria’s sole crossing to Jordan, according to opposition activists. Jordan announced it was closing its side of the crossing. Lebanon also closed all but one of its border crossings with Syria. Worsening economy could hurt Assad’s war effort The opposition assault has struck a blow to Syria’s already decrepit economy. On Friday, the U.S. dollar was selling on Syria’s parallel market for about 18,000 pounds, a 25% drop from a week ago. When Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, a dollar was valued at 47 pounds. The drop further undermines the purchasing power of Syrians at a time when the U.N. has warned that 90% of the population is below the poverty line. Syria’s economy has been hammered for years by the war, Western sanctions, corruption and an economic meltdown in neighboring Lebanon, Syria’s main gate to the outside world. Damascus residents told The Associated Press that people are rushing to markets to buy food, fearing further escalation. The worsening economy could be undermining the ability of Syria’s military to fight, as the value of soldiers’ salaries melts away while the insurgents are flush with cash. Syria’s military has not appeared to put up a cohesive counteroffensive against the opposition advances. SANA on Friday quoted an unnamed military official as saying the Syrian and Russian air forces were striking insurgents in Hama province, killing dozens of fighters. Syria’s defense minister said in a televised statement late Thursday that government forces withdrew from Hama as “a temporary tactical measure” and vowed to gain back lost areas. “We are in a good position on the ground,” Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas said, saying troops remained “at the gates of Hama.” He spoke before the opposition advanced further south toward Homs. He said the insurgents, whom he described as “takfiri” or Muslim extremists, are backed by foreign countries. He did not name the countries but appeared to be referring to Turkey and the United States. ___ Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report. Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press
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MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court said on Wednesday the results of the 2024 Bar examinations will be released on Dec. 13. The results will be displayed on LED walls inside the courtyard of the tribunal’s main building along Padre Faura Street in Manila and uploaded to the Supreme Court’s official website and social media pages. READ: The bar exam and the legends of the bar The gates of the Supreme Court courtyard will be open to the public from noon to 6 p.m., but entry will be regulated due to the limited space. Those who wish to witness the event were advised to wear appropriate attire, as those wearing footwear with open toes and heels, bottoms ripped or cut above the knee, and sleeveless, cropped or see-through clothing will be denied entry. —Jane Bautista Subscribe to our daily newsletter By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy .
Among Us Explained: The Party Game Played By The Alleged CEO Killer And Millions MoreJailed PKK Leader open to working with Turkey, DEM SaysNYC's mayor warms to Trump and doesn't rule out becoming a RepublicanPhoto: The Canadian Press Canada's men's 4 x 100m relay team, from left to right, Andre De Grasse, Brendon Rodney, Aaron Brown and Jerome Blake celebrate their gold medal finish during the Paris Summer Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. Andre De Grasse watched Aaron Brown explode out of the blocks and round the corner with blazing speed. Brown passed the baton to Kelowna's Jerome Blake , who sprinted down Lane 9 before Brendon Rodney kept the pace as he charged toward Canada’s anchor at Stade de France. "I've never seen those three guys ever run like that,” De Grasse said. “They ran the race of their life.” De Grasse grabbed the final handoff — and the rest was history. While nursing a hamstring injury, the star sprinter powered the underdog Canadian men’s 4x100-metre relay team across the finish line for an unexpected gold medal on Aug. 9 at the Paris Olympics. “Those guys were in control of the race,” coach Glenroy Gilbert said. “And once you put the stick in Andre’s hands ... it’s a no-brainer. “There's no better guy with ice water in his veins to take the stick at the end.” The relay squad of Brown, Blake, Rodney and De Grasse ran away with The Canadian Press team of the year award for 2024 on Saturday. De Grasse tied swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada’s most decorated Olympian with seven medals. The team’s triumph also redeemed disappointing individual showings as all four sprinters failed to reach finals in Paris. They received 37 of 53 votes from writers, broadcasters and editors across the country. “Out of nowhere, the Canadian men's 4x100-metre relay team put together one of the most electrifying and stunning moments of any Olympic Games,” said Todd Saelhof, sports editor at Postmedia Calgary. The 1996 men’s relay team headlined by Donovan Bailey is the only other track team to earn the honour since the award’s inception in 1966. Team Rachel Homan finished second with seven votes after winning both the Canadian and world curling championships. The Edmonton Oilers, who lost in the Stanley Cup final, and Olympic silver medal beach volleyball duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson tied for third at three votes. Friday, The Canadian Press named Kamloops' hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg as the male athlete of the year. “This relay team wasn't even expected to reach the podium,” said CBC Sports senior producer Tony Care. “This gold medal was the biggest moment of the Paris Olympics.” Not only did none of the sprinters reach individual finals, they also barely squeaked into the relay final with the slowest qualifying time. Gilbert remembers the situation looking “pretty dire” for the team. “Despondent and kind of down” is how Brown described the group’s morale. A review of the heat with biomechanist Dana Way helped the Canadians realize a result was possible without their best legs, as long as their exchanges were on point. Then, standing outside the call room where teams huddle for a final prayer, Brown rallied his running mates with an impromptu speech that still resonates months after winning gold. “This is our shot, we can do this,” Brown said of his message. “Really emphasize that we can do it despite the fact that nobody is checking for us, nobody believes we can do it.” Brown also hammered home that it could be their swan song after years of success as a quartet. De Grasse, Rodney and Brown won bronze at the Rio 2016 Games before Blake joined to claim silver — upgraded from bronze — at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They followed up with world championship gold in Eugene, Ore., in 2022. At the relay final in Paris, Blake was the youngest of the bunch at 28. De Grasse was 29, while Rodney and Brown were 32 — hardly young guns in a sport typically dominated by youth. “Who knows if everybody's going to be running in L.A. (in 2028)?” De Grasse recalled Brown saying. “Just basically giving that speech of, 'we're gonna go out there and shock the world ... let's go out here and trust one another and get off that mark and run like your life's depending on it.' “That pumped me up, that put me in a different mindset, and it gave me that motivation we needed to get the job done." After the win, a video of American sprint star Noah Lyles repeatedly responding “Who?” to questions about a rivalry with Canada earlier that year resurfaced and went viral. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even referred to it in a social media post. Blake insists they’d forgotten all about that until they celebrated on the track with Canadian flags wrapped around their arms. “That's when somebody in the stadium, a Canadian fan, was like ‘What now? Canada who?” said Blake, who repeated those words to reporters after the race. “That's when I started yelling that.” Looking ahead, Brown, Blake, Rodney and De Grasse all aspire to continue sprinting for another four years and compete in the 2028 Games, but they acknowledge that a lot can change in that time. For now, they’re focused on running it back at next year’s world championships in Tokyo. And after striking gold in Paris, they don’t expect anyone to ask who Canada is in 2025. “The world’s definitely gonna have a target on us, a big one,” Rodney said. “We just got to come with our A game. It's always hard to be motivated after the Olympics, but the motivation is that you're now the target.”
Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders moved past Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Ditka on Sunday to set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end in his rookie season and also set the record for most receptions by a rookie, regardless of position. Bowers has 108 receptions to top the mark set last season by Puka Nacua (105) of the Los Angeles Rams. Bowers' yardage stands at 1,144 after having seven receptions for 77 yards in a 25-10 road victory over the New Orleans Saints. Bowers also set a franchise receptions for catches in a season, surpassing Darren Waller (107 in 2020). "It's awesome," Bowers said of the records in a postgame interview on Fox. " You never know what to expect coming up to the next level. It's been everything and more." Bowers' third catch on Sunday -- a 13-yard grab late in the second quarter against the Saints -- pushed his season total to 1,087 yards. Ditka totaled 1,076 receiving yards in 14 games with the Chicago Bears in 1961. Bowers, 22, set the record for receptions by a rookie tight end earlier this season by eclipsing the total of 86 reeled in by Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions in 2023. Bowers was selected by the Raiders with the 13th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Despite all his catches, he has just four scoring receptions. While with Georgia, Bowers was the first back-to-back winner of the Mackey Award (2022, 2023), which is given to the top tight end in college football. --Field Level MediaCNN wants the North Carolina lieutenant governor's defamation lawsuit against it thrown out
Headaches, hurdles and heartbreakDorocubicel by ExCellThera for Myelodysplastic Syndrome: Likelihood of Approval
BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of people fled the central Syrian city of Homs, the country’s third largest, as insurgents seized two towns on the outskirts Friday, positioning themselves for an assault on a potentially major prize in their march against President Bashar Assad. The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war monitor, was the latest in the stunning advances by opposition fighters over the past week that have so far met little resistance from Assad’s forces. A day earlier, fighters captured the central city of Hama , Syria’s fourth largest, after the army said it withdrew to avoid fighting inside the city and spare the lives of civilians. The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have vowed to march to Homs and the capital, Damascus, Assad’s seat of power. Videos circulating online showed a highway jammed with cars full of people fleeing Homs, a city with a large population belonging to Assad’s Alawite sect, seen as his core supporters. If Assad’s military loses Homs, it could be a crippling blow. The city, parts of which were controlled by insurgents until 2014, stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, where Assad enjoys wide support. Homs province is Syria’s largest in size and borders Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. The city is also home to one of Syria’s two state-run oil refineries. Pressure on the government intensified from multiple directions. Opposition protesters stormed security posts and army positions in the southern province of Sweida, opposition activists said. U.S.-backed Kurdish forces who control eastern and northeastern Syria began to encroach on government-held territory. Offensive leaves Assad reliant on Russia After years of largely being bottled up in a northwest corner of the country, the insurgents burst out a week ago, captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest , and have kept advancing since. Government troops have repeatedly fallen back. The sudden offensive has flipped the tables on a long-entrenched stalemate in Syria’s nearly 14-year-old civil war. Along with HTS, the fighters include forces of an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Turkey has denied backing the offensive , though experts say insurgents would not have launched it without the country's consent. HTS’s leader, Abu Mohammad al-Golani, told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that Assad’s government was on the path to falling, propped up only by Russia and Iran. “The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it,” he said. “But the truth remains, this regime is dead.” A key question about Assad’s ability to fight back is how much top ally Russia — whose troops back Assad’s forces — will throw support his way at a time when it is tied up in the war in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he planned to discuss the developments in Syria with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts at a meeting Friday in the Qatari capital, Doha. In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, he said international actors were backing the insurgents’ advances and that he would discuss “the way to cut the channels of financing and arming them.” Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy in Syria issued a notice reminding Russian citizens that they may use commercial flights to leave the country “in view of the difficult military-political situation.” The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria — three close allies — gathered Friday in Baghdad to consult on the rapidly changing war. Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh said the current developments may pose “a serious threat to the security of the region as a whole.” Assad opponents move in center, south and east The insurgent fighters on Friday took over the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, putting them 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Homs, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor. “The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria,” said Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief. Pro-government Sham FM said the insurgents entered Rastan and Talbiseh without facing any resistance. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military. The Observatory said Syrian troops had left Homs. But the military denied that in comments reported by the state news agency SANA, saying troops were reinforcing their positions in the city and were “ready to repel” any assault. In eastern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces coalition said it had moved into the government-held half of the city of Deir el-Zour, apparently without resistance. One of the main cities in the east, Deir el-Zour had long been split between the government on the western side of the Euphrates River and the SDF on the eastern side. The SDF also said it took control of further parts of the border with Iraq. That appeared to bring it closer to the government-held Boukamal border crossing. The crossing is a vital for the government because it is the gateway to the corridor to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. At the same time, insurgents seized Syria’s sole crossing to Jordan, according to opposition activists. Jordan announced it was closing its side of the crossing. Lebanon also closed all but one of its border crossings with Syria. Worsening economy could hurt Assad’s war effort The opposition assault has struck a blow to Syria’s already decrepit economy. On Friday, the U.S. dollar was selling on Syria’s parallel market for about 18,000 pounds, a 25% drop from a week ago. When Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011, a dollar was valued at 47 pounds. The drop further undermines the purchasing power of Syrians at a time when the U.N. has warned that 90% of the population is below the poverty line. Syria’s economy has been hammered for years by the war, Western sanctions, corruption and an economic meltdown in neighboring Lebanon, Syria’s main gate to the outside world. Damascus residents told The Associated Press that people are rushing to markets to buy food, fearing further escalation. The worsening economy could be undermining the ability of Syria’s military to fight, as the value of soldiers’ salaries melts away while the insurgents are flush with cash. Syria’s military has not appeared to put up a cohesive counteroffensive against the opposition advances. SANA on Friday quoted an unnamed military official as saying the Syrian and Russian air forces were striking insurgents in Hama province, killing dozens of fighters. Syria’s defense minister said in a televised statement late Thursday that government forces withdrew from Hama as “a temporary tactical measure” and vowed to gain back lost areas. “We are in a good position on the ground,” Gen. Ali Mahmoud Abbas said, saying troops remained “at the gates of Hama.” He spoke before the opposition advanced further south toward Homs. He said the insurgents, whom he described as “takfiri” or Muslim extremists, are backed by foreign countries. He did not name the countries but appeared to be referring to Turkey and the United States. ___ Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report. Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press
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CARSON, Calif. (AP) — The LA Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls have been Major League Soccer mainstays since the league's inaugural season in 1996, signing glamorous players and regularly competing for championships through years of success and setbacks in a league that's perpetually improving and expanding. Yet just a year ago, both of these clubs appeared to be a very long way from the stage they'll share Saturday in the MLS Cup Final . The Galaxy were one of MLS’ worst teams after a season of internal turmoil and public fan dissent, while the Red Bulls were merely a steady mediocrity seeking yet another coach to chart a new direction. A year later, these MLS founders are meeting in the league's first Cup final between teams from North America's two biggest markets. “Two original clubs being able to put themselves in this situation, I think it’s great,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “To see two clubs that have been at it as long as this league has been around be here, I think it’s a special moment. Couldn’t be two more different and contrasting styles as well, which could make for an interesting game, and I would imagine a high-intensity game.” Everything changed in 2024 after a dismal decade for the Galaxy , who are favored to cap their transformation by winning their team's record sixth MLS championship with a roster that's dramatically different from its past few groups — albeit with one massive injury absence in the final. The transformation of the Red Bulls happened only in the postseason, when a team that hadn't won a playoff game since 2017 suddenly turned into world-beaters under rookie coach Sandro Schwarz. New York struggled through the final three months of league play with only two wins before posting road playoff victories over defending champ Columbus , archrival New York City FC and conference finalist Orlando to storm into the Cup final. “We know about the history (of our club), and we know tomorrow will define what that could mean,” Schwarz said Friday. “To feel the pressure for tomorrow, it’s necessary, because it’s a final, and without pressure it’s not possible to bring the best quality on the field.” The Red Bulls have never won an MLS Cup, only reaching the championship match once before. What's more, they've somehow never won a Cup in any tournament, although they’ve collected three Supporters’ Shields for MLS' best regular-season record. The Galaxy’s trophy case is large and loaded, and those five MLS Cups are on the top shelf. But not much of that team success happened in the past decade for the club that famously brought David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and many other international stars to Hollywood. In fact, this season has ended a grim era for the Galaxy, who haven't lost all year at their frequently renamed home stadium — which was the site of protests and boycotts just a year ago. The club's fans were tired of LA's steady underachievement and ineptitude in the front office run by team president Chris Klein, who was fired in May 2023. One year ago Thursday, the Galaxy hired Will Kuntz, a longtime Los Angeles FC executive who engineered his new club's roster transformation, most dramatically by landing new designated players Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil — two international talents that LAFC also had in its sights. “I give Will and the group up there a ton of credit,” Vanney said. “It’s one thing to have players you like, and it’s a whole other thing to get them here and get them to connect with your group.” Pec and Paintsil combined for 32 goals and 27 assists while boosting the incumbent talents of striker Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig, the gifted Barcelona product who runs the offense from the midfield. The Galaxy clicked in the postseason, scoring a jaw-dropping 16 goals in four matches. Puig has been the Galaxy's most important player all season, but he won't be in the MLS Cup Final after tearing a knee ligament late in last week's conference final victory over Seattle . The loss of Puig — who somehow kept playing on his injured knee, and even delivered the game-winning pass to Joveljic — makes the Galaxy even more difficult to anticipate. “He played a lot in the regular season, so it was not so easy to analyze all these games now without him,” Schwarz said. “But the main focus is to analyze what we need to do, because it’s not clear now how they’re playing without him.” The Galaxy could give some of Puig's responsibilities to Marco Reus, the longtime Dortmund standout who joined LA in August. Reus is nursing a hamstring injury, but Vanney expects him to play. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer Greg Beacham, The Associated PressBGB-10188 by BeiGene for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Likelihood of ApprovalPower Inverter Market: Soaring: $19.1B in 2023 to $61.9B by 2031