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Scholastic basketball roundup | Bishop McCort, Windber girls to meet in title gameIn an astonishing turn of events, Botafogo overcame a red card shown to midfielder Gregore within the first 30 seconds to defeat Atlético Mineiro and clinch the Copa Libertadores final. The Brazilian teams faced off in Saturday's final at Buenos Aires' Estadio Mâs Monumental. Former Manchester United player Alex Telles, along with Luiz Henrique and Junior Santos, scored goals that led Botafogo to victory. This marks their first-ever win in the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of the Champions League. Their victory was hard-fought, especially after Gregore was sent off in the opening minute. The incident occurred when one of Botafogo's defenders tried to clear the ball forward, only reaching halfway. Gregore attempted to control the ball but ended up catching Mineiro's Fausto Vera on the head with his raised studs. The game was paused for several minutes as Vera received medical attention. Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman make statement to Mauricio Pochettino in Champions League win Luis Suarez makes big decision to quell Lionel Messi, Inter Miami doubts Meanwhile, referee Facundo Figueroa showed Gregore a red card. Despite Gregore's 'calm down' gesture post-tackle, Chelsea legend Pat Nevin insisted it was the correct call. In his BBC Sport commentary, the announcer expressed shock at the intensity on display during the Copa Libertadores final, remarking: "Wow. I'm immediately thinking there are certain referees that will be reaching for the red for that. "It's the Copa Libertadores final, you suspect a yellow but if he goes for a red you will not be shocked. The players are whipped up, I get that. "Less than a minute in, so whipped up. The thing is you do worry about players being injured. Look, he's going off, but you're talking about someone who's got a head injury." Highlighting the gravity of an injury, he added: "A player who rolls about, you don't worry so much about. He's hasn't moved and that's a horrible kick there. The fact he looked up just after it is something. But that is a red with bells on it." He tried to rationalize the situation while stressing caution, noting: "I mean I do understand to some degree, you're so whipped up and excited about it but that. There will be an argument that the head was down, but there is a duty of care, when yu're studs up down. A full speed it's a horrible looking one." As the match progressed, Gregore was sent off the field, and Vera continued playing until halftime before being substituted. Despite Henrique's early goal and Telles' penalty putting Mineiro two goals behind, Vargas managed to score, but ultimately Mineiro couldn't overcome Santos' defense, who sealed the victory with a late goal, ensuring a historic win for Botafogo.

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WASHINGTON — The Biden White House has a self-made credibility problem. And that’s inconvenient timing, considering Joe Biden’s team, fresh off a foreign trip, must shift quickly into legacy mode. When the president awkwardly, and to tepid applause this week in Angola, touted the domestic infrastructure law he helped craft, it seemed clear his legacy was on his mind. But the effectiveness of any coming sales pitch will likely be hamstrung by his pardon of son Hunter Biden , who was convicted on federal gun charges and had pleaded guilty on federal tax evasion charges. The move — which he’d previously said he wouldn’t make — has been slammed by Republican lawmakers and more than a few Democrats and its rationale lambasted by a federal judge. Karine Jean-Pierre, the president’s top spokesperson and chief image defender, told reporters, as she has so many times over the years, that they simply should not trust their lyin’ eyes — and ears. “One of the things that the president always believes is to be truthful to the American people. That is something that he always truly believes,” she said Monday, while en route to Africa aboard Air Force One, of Biden’s about-face Biden returned to Washington early Thursday morning from his multiday Angola visit, and there was no daily press briefing scheduled as travel-weary staffers, including Jean-Pierre, got some needed rest. She could return to the lectern in the White House briefing room as early as Friday. But the pardon drama has created a complication — for both the president and press secretary. After all, Biden on numerous occasions told interviewers and shouting White House press corps members that he would not pardon his troubled son. The former two-term vice president and longtime senator did so for over a year with very non-politician answers — meaning, he was both concise and clear. One example came on June 6 in France , when ABC News anchor David Muir asked Biden if he had ruled out a pardon for his son. “Yes,” Biden replied, without adding a qualifier that might be useful down the road if he reversed himself. The same goes for Jean-Pierre, who had also fielded many questions about a possible pardon. At one September 2023 briefing, this was her reply to the Hunter leniency question: “I’ve answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple weeks ago, and I was very clear, and I said, ‘No.’” Fast- forward to June of this year, and this was Jean-Pierre’s response to a similar query: “No. No. It’s a no. It will always be a no. Biden will not pardon his son Hunter.” Press secretaries are responsible for protecting the sitting president, spinning circumstances in his favor and deflecting blame elsewhere. Jean-Pierre’s answers were, at the time, rather refreshing because they were so clear and unequivocal. Then came Sunday’s sudden pardon. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the courtroom — with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process,” Biden said in an evening statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.” The Donald Trump-appointed federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s tax case in California strongly disagreed, stating that the president was guilty of too much revisionist history. “But two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President,” Judge Mark C. Scarsi, wrote in a Tuesday order responding to Hunter Biden’s notice to the court of the pardon. “And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges. In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people,” Scarsi wrote, adding that “nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.” A former adviser to Barack Obama’s two successful presidential campaigns, Spencer Critchley, said he believed “Biden made the right decision, but gave the wrong explanation, and that this is likely to be how history will judge it.” “Under normal circumstances, I’d say he should have stuck with his commitment to stand clear of the justice system, however, the point this time is not to overturn past decisions, but to prevent the coming authoritarian abuses of the justice system, promised by Donald Trump and his appointees,” Critchley said in a statement Thursday. “Trump has been closely following the authoritarian playbook and dismantling the institutions of democracy. That includes turning justice into a weapon, which he has specifically promised to wheel against Hunter Biden, among many others. As the old dictator’s motto goes, ‘For my friends, anything. For my enemies, justice.'” Trying to ‘break Hunter’ But Biden’s statement went in a different direction, a parental one. It contained three sentences that the father in chief opted for months against sharing with the country, which might have explained his paternal plight. “There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” Biden said. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of Biden’s top allies, said this week that he “took the president at his word” that he would not pardon his son, adding: “So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.” The White House is also yet to clearly explain why Biden made such a dramatic about-face. Nor have his aides spoken to why the country should still believe his declaration in the pardon announcement that “for my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth.” The irony of the current situation is as undeniable as it is surreal. After all, it was the president, Jean-Pierre and the rest of Team Biden who spent four years telling the country about the dangers of Trump’s many false statements and lies. The tarnished credibility raises questions about Biden’s forecast of the American people’s thinking about his reversal: “They’ll be fair-minded.” Whether or not that proves true is up to history. The results of last month’s presidential election suggest an electorate that had some Biden fatigue. Whenever the president or Jean-Pierre next take questions from a jilted press corps, there likely will be pointed questions about whether the White House has been truly “fair-minded” with reporters and, more importantly, the people. Not just about Hunter Biden’s case, but on a myriad of issues. The stunning reversal has clearly allowed Republicans to pounce, another self-inflicted wound to wrap a presidency colored by them. Some GOP lawmakers contended on social media that Biden’s volte-face justified their claims of a dishonest and corrupt administration and family. Several GOP sources said Trump — who faced 91 criminal charges and whom media outlets and independent fact-checkers have cited for thousands of false statements since entering the political arena — has a chance to flip yet another script on Democrats. “President Trump’s bold leadership and direct communication style bring a unique energy to governance. ... This means clear direction and the chance to implement a vision that resonates with millions of Americans,” one former House leadership aide said in an email. “(Trump’s) ability to rally public support will be a key advantage.” ©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi is awaiting scan results after missing Portsmouth’s 2-2 draw with Swansea in the Championship with a knee injury. Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!! Portsmouth claim Yengi suffered the injury while on international duty with Australia over the last fortnight. “He picked up an injury during the game when Australia played Bahrain,” Portsmouth manager John Mousinho said prior to his sides latest outing. It’s unclear at this stage how bad the injury is or how long Yengi will be sidelined for. The revelation comes as a slight shock given the 25-year-old played the entirety of the contest in Riffa and scored both goals, as it finished 2-2. Mousinho said Yengi picked up the injury “just before half-time.” “His knee was slightly swollen,” Mousinho added. “He was scanned on Friday afternoon. So, we’re just awaiting the final scan results and for him to see a specialist. “With knees, ankles and hips we’re always really wary.” It has been a stop-start season for the forward. He missed Pompey’s first two matches of the Championship campaign with a groin injury before being sidelined just two games into his comeback for a further five fixtures with the same complaint. Yengi had just come off a run of six games in four weeks prior to linking up with the Socceroos in Melbourne. He came on as a late substitute in a scoreless draw with Saudi Arabia in the Victorian capital before the side flew out to Bahrain. “Any injury is frustrating for us,” Mousinho said. “People do pick up injuries on international breaks. It’s probably one of the reasons why certain players don’t necessarily want to go on international duty. “We’re not one of those clubs. I want players to go away and play and represent their countries and I think it’s a really proud moment for anybody connected with Portsmouth when they do that. “It does come with a slight risk and unfortunately (Kusini) has ended up picking up an injury.” Any absence isn’t of immediate concern for the Socceroos. Tony Popovic’s side isn’t back in action until they face Indonesia and China in two must-win World Cup qualifiers in March. While Yengi has made a bright start to life for the national team, scoring six goals in 11 games, the interrupted nature of his season has impacted his output for Portsmouth. He’s yet to find the back of the net in the Championship after scoring 13-goals in 31 appearances in all competitions last season, while they were in League One, following a move from the Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The woman who in 2006 falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her – making national headlines that stirred tensions about race, class and the privilege of college athletes — has admitted publicly for the first time that she made up the story. Crystal Mangum, who is Black, said in an interview with the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast that she “made up a story that wasn’t true” about the white players who attended a party where she was hired to perform as a stripper “because I wanted validation from people and not from God.” “I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong,” Mangum, 46, said in the interview, which was released Monday. The interview was recorded last month at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is incarcerated for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011. The former Duke players were declared innocent in 2007 after Mangum’s story fell apart under legal scrutiny. The state attorney general’s office concluded there was no credible evidence an attack ever occurred, and its investigation found no DNA, witness or other evidence to confirm Mangum’s story. The Durham prosecutor who championed Mangum’s case was disbarred for lying and misconduct. Prosecutors at the time declined to press charges against Mangum for the false accusations. Related Articles National News | How to protect your communications through encryption National News | Companies tighten security after a health care CEO’s killing leads to a surge of threats National News | Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge National News | Unidentified drones spotted flying at locations across NYC, including LaGuardia Airport National News | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? The former lacrosse players reached an undisclosed settlement with Duke University in 2007 after suing it for the handling of the rape allegations. Mangum, who was convicted of second-degree murder in 2013 and is eligible to be released from prison as early as 2026, told the podcast interviewer that she hopes the three falsely accused men can forgive her. “I want them to know that I love them and they didn’t deserve that,” she said. Durham-based podcaster Kat DePasquale said she wrote to Mangum because she was curious about the case that got so much attention, and that Mangum wrote back saying she wanted to talk.he Shrivardhan Assembly Constituency is expected to witness a tight race when the counting of votes in Maharashtra begins on November 23. Located in Raigad district, this constituency has been a stronghold for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in recent years. Incumbent Aditi Tatkare, the current Women and Child Development Minister will be contesting on an NCP ticket but faces tough competition from NCP(SP) candidate Anil Dattaram Navgane. This year’s contest is expected to be a high-profile battle between two prominent political figures from the NCP. Incumbent Aditi Tatkare, the current Women and Child Development Minister will be contesting on an NCP ticket. She faces a challenge from Anil Dattaram Navgane, a candidate from NCP (SP). The third candidate in the fray is Faizal Abdul Ajij Popere, representing the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The Shrivardhan constituency has been consistently held by the NCP in the past three assembly elections. In the 2019 Assembly Elections, Aditi Tatkare won a decisive victory, securing over 92,000 votes. She defeated Shiv Sena’s Vinod Ghosalkar, who garnered around 52,000 votes. The 2019 elections saw a voter turnout of 59.9%, with 1.5 lakh votes cast out of more than 2 lakh registered voters in the constituency. In the 2014 Assembly Elections, Aditi’s father, Avdhoot Tatkare, had also secured a win for the NCP, defeating Shiv Sena's Ravindra Munde with more than 60,000 votes. With the constituency once again gearing up for a fierce electoral battle, all eyes are on whether the NCP will maintain its hold or if a new challenger will emerge victorious in this important Maharashtra seat.Wild melee after college game