Local produce and goods highlight Downtown Growers Winter Market
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Downtown Growers Winter Market was back in the metro earlier Saturday. The Winter Market was held at Fusion in Downtown Albuquerque and highlighted a handful of local produce and handmade foods. It also featured over 50 local growers, artisans, food vendors, and wellness vendors. This time around, organizers were able to […]
Source link
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo wins 9th Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing
TESERO, Italy — Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo has won a ninth gold medal in cross-country skiing, setting a Winter Games record, at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The 29‑year‑old anchored Sunday’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in the men’s competition for his fourth gold at the 2026 Games.
He had shared the record with three retired Norwegian athletes, Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie in cross-country skiing and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in the biathlon.
He now stands alone at the top.
A look at Ramadan and how Muslims around the world observe the holy month
CAIRO — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time for increased worship, religious reflection and charity. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.
Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons.
The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon. This year, the first day of Ramadan is expected to be on or around Feb. 18 or 19. The actual start date may vary among countries and Muslim communities due to declarations by multiple Islamic authorities around the globe on whether the crescent had been sighted or different methodologies used to determine the beginning of the month.
This year, the start of Ramadan is expected around the same time as Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Lent, the most penitential season of the church calendar for Catholics and many other Christians.
Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and pilgrimage.
Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast.
It’s regarded as an act of worship to attain piety and one of submission to God. The devout see benefits, including practicing self-restraint, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.
The daily fast in Ramadan includes abstaining from all food and drink — not even a sip of water is allowed — from dawn to sunset, before breaking the fast in a meal known as “iftar” in Arabic.
Muslims typically stream into mosques for congregational prayers and dedicate more time to religious contemplation and the reading of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Charity is a hallmark of Ramadan. Among other ways of giving, many seek to provide iftar for those in need, distributing Ramadan boxes filled with pantry staples, handing out warm meals alongside such things as dates and juice or helping hold free communal meals.
Muslims eat a predawn meal, called “suhoor,” to hydrate and nurture their bodies ahead of the daily fast.
There are certain exemptions, such as for those who are unable to because of illness or travel. Those unable to fast due to being temporarily ill or traveling need to make up for the missed days of fasting later.
Muslims are ethnically and racially diverse and not all Ramadan traditions are rooted in religion. Some customs may transcend borders, while others can differ across cultures.
Many social rituals center on gathering and socializing after the daily fast. Some Muslims decorate their homes, put out Ramadan-themed tableware and centerpieces or throng to markets and Ramadan bazaars.
In Egypt, Ramadan is typically a festive time. Colorful lanterns, in different shapes and sizes, dangle from children’s hands and adorn homes. Ramadan songs may be played to welcome the month.
Ramadan’s soundscape in Egypt has traditionally included the predawn banging on drums by a “mesaharati” who roams neighborhoods, calling out to the faithful, sometimes by name, to wake them up for the suhoor meal.
A lineup of new television series is another social fixture of the month in some countries, and advertisers compete for viewers’ attention.
In various regions, some Muslims worry that the month is getting commercialized, and say an emphasis on decorations, TV shows, outings or lavish iftar banquets can detract from Ramadan’s religious essence. Others say that a balance can be struck and that, in moderation, such rituals are part of the month’s festive spirit.
In Indonesia, Ramadan rituals vary across regions, reflecting the diversity of cultures. In deeply conservative Aceh province, animals are slaughtered during Meugang festivities, the meat cooked and shared with family, friends, poor people and orphans.
Hundreds of residents in Tangerang, a city outside the capital, Jakarta, flock to the Cisadane River to wash their hair with rice straw shampoo and welcome the fasting month with a symbolic spiritual cleansing.
Across the island of Sumatra, after evening prayers, many boys and girls parade through the streets, carrying torches and playing Islamic songs.
In the United States, where Muslims make up a racially and ethnically diverse minority, gathering at mosques and Islamic centers when possible for iftar meals and prayers provides many Muslim families with a sense of community. Some Muslims also organize or attend interfaith iftar meals.
___
Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Planned $38.3 billion to 92,600 beds for immigration detention
Federal immigration officials plan to spend $38.3 billion to boost detention capacity to 92,600 beds, a document released Friday shows, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly purchases warehouses to turn into detention and processing facilities.Republican New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte posted the document online amid tension over ICE’s plans to convert a warehouse in Merrimack into a 500-bed processing center.Video above: DHS docs on proposed ICE facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, reference Oklahoma, sales taxIt said ICE plans 16 regional processing centers with a population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees, whose stays would average three to seven days. Another eight large-scale detention centers would be capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods averaging less than 60 days. The document also refers to the acquisition of 10 existing “turnkey” facilities.Plans call for all of them to be up and running by November as immigration officials roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-cutting law. More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of mid-January, up from 40,000 when Trump took office a year earlier, according to federal data released last week.The newly released document refers to “non-traditional facilities” and comes as ICE has quietly bought at least seven warehouses — some larger than 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) — in the past few weeks in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas. Warehouse purchases in six cities were scuttled when buyers decided not to sell under pressure from activists. Several other deals in places like New York are imminent, however. City officials are frequently unable to get details from ICE until a property sale is finalized. Tensions boiled to the surface after interim ICE Director Todd Lyons testified Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” and provided her with an economic impact summary.Ayotte said that assertion was “simply not true” and the summary was sent hours after Lyons testified. The document mistakenly refers to the “ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy” and revenue generated by state sales and income taxes, neither of which exist in New Hampshire.”Director Lyons’ comments today are another example of the troubling pattern of issues with this process,” Ayotte said. “Officials from the Department of Homeland Security continue to provide zero details of their plans for Merrimack, never mind providing any reports or surveys.”DHS did not respond to questions about Ayotte’s comments or the new document. But it previously confirmed that it was looking for more detention space, although it objected to calling the sites “warehouses,” saying in a statement that they would be “very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.”___Associated Press writer Holly Ramer contributed.
Federal immigration officials plan to spend $38.3 billion to boost detention capacity to 92,600 beds, a document released Friday shows, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly purchases warehouses to turn into detention and processing facilities.
Republican New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte posted the document online amid tension over ICE’s plans to convert a warehouse in Merrimack into a 500-bed processing center.
Video above: DHS docs on proposed ICE facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, reference Oklahoma, sales tax
It said ICE plans 16 regional processing centers with a population of 1,000 to 1,500 detainees, whose stays would average three to seven days. Another eight large-scale detention centers would be capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees for periods averaging less than 60 days.
The document also refers to the acquisition of 10 existing “turnkey” facilities.
Plans call for all of them to be up and running by November as immigration officials roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by President Donald Trump’s recent tax-cutting law.
More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of mid-January, up from 40,000 when Trump took office a year earlier, according to federal data released last week.
The newly released document refers to “non-traditional facilities” and comes as ICE has quietly bought at least seven warehouses — some larger than 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) — in the past few weeks in Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Warehouse purchases in six cities were scuttled when buyers decided not to sell under pressure from activists. Several other deals in places like New York are imminent, however.
City officials are frequently unable to get details from ICE until a property sale is finalized.
Tensions boiled to the surface after interim ICE Director Todd Lyons testified Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security “has worked with Gov. Ayotte” and provided her with an economic impact summary.
Ayotte said that assertion was “simply not true” and the summary was sent hours after Lyons testified.
The document mistakenly refers to the “ripple effects to the Oklahoma economy” and revenue generated by state sales and income taxes, neither of which exist in New Hampshire.
“Director Lyons’ comments today are another example of the troubling pattern of issues with this process,” Ayotte said. “Officials from the Department of Homeland Security continue to provide zero details of their plans for Merrimack, never mind providing any reports or surveys.”
DHS did not respond to questions about Ayotte’s comments or the new document. But it previously confirmed that it was looking for more detention space, although it objected to calling the sites “warehouses,” saying in a statement that they would be “very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards.”
___
Associated Press writer Holly Ramer contributed.
Thomas Frank exits Spurs after lifeless, ineffective spell in charge
Six months into a season, it is not unusual to know what to expect from any given team on any given day and that was certainly the case for anyone who cared to check on Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday as they faced Newcastle United. A sluggish team who seemed a step or two behind the opponent in terms of intensity levels? Check. A porous defense that seems to lack chemistry? Check. An attack that has very few ideas? Check. Few redeeming qualities as the team slouched to yet another Premier League defeat? Check again.
Thomas Frank, whose months-long spell in charge of the team finally came to an end after their latest drab performance, did not create all of Spurs’ issues. He is right to point to the fact that he, like his predecessor Ange Postecoglou last season, had to contend with an injury crisis of epic proportions, all while captain Cristian Romero serves a suspension for a red card in their 2-0 defeat at Manchester United on Saturday. He was not wrong to note that this very team finished 17th in the Premier League last season, an admission that the ceiling is only so high for the current iteration of Spurs. Frank, though, did not do himself a single favor during his brief stint in north London, emerging as a rare example of a coach who truly earned a promotion to the big leagues but failed to prove his worth for the most part.
Frank’s tenure with Spurs is remarkable for all the wrong reasons, the Denmark native unable to live up to the billing in any real sense. He was supposed to be a practical alternative to Postecoglou, who spent much more time ensuring his team had a functioning attack than a competent defense. It was not the only issue the next coach should have theoretically fixed – his Brentford side were organized when defending set pieces and impactful on the flip side, a signal that Frank’s Spurs would be efficient on both ends of the pitch.
His perceived pragmatism, though, was mistaken for ability. Frank inherited a mess but he also failed to improve the issues that were fully in his control. There were very few categories in which Frank made a noticeable positive impact, an underperformance that is easy to spot regardless of how one chooses to define success. Averaging 0.1 more point per match compared to Postecoglou’s Spurs last season is not much of a flex, and neither is making an improvement of 0.3 goals against per game when the team ranks 13th in the Premier League when sorting for expected goals against. If Postecoglou was reckless for allowing a porous back line to take shape despite boasting brilliant defenders in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, Frank is guilty of the same crime despite having the upper hand of a fit first-choice center back duo for much of the season.
|
Points per game |
1.1 |
1.0 |
1.5 |
|
Goals per game |
1.4 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
|
Expected goals per game |
1.1 |
1.6 |
1.6 |
|
Goals against per game |
1.4 |
1.7 |
1.4 |
| Expected goals against per game | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
Spurs’ defensive shortcomings were hard to ignore even in a superficial watch on any given matchday. The defenders at his disposal had years of experience alongside one another and yet appeared completely disjointed, the natural result of Frank failing to lock in tactical foundations and going back to the drawing board more often than a coach of his caliber usually does. His defenders seemed unsure of their next move, unable to rely upon their instincts and mistake-prone as a result. Frustration and despair oozed out of the players each time a goal was conceded, no matter how predictable it was; contempt grew amongst the fanbase, who were more prone to booing than cheering quickly enough in Frank’s tenure.
Frank’s Spurs underperformed in equal measure in front of goal. The coach had the bare bones of an attacking idea from the start of the season, one that seemed to go hand-in-hand with Spurs’ odd squad construction. He would bypass midfield for the most part and instead prioritize play on the wings to generate attacking opportunities, a solution of sorts for a team that lacked any real passers after James Maddison tore his ACL in preseason, all while nicking a few goals off of set pieces. That plan did not pan out all that much – Spurs’ attacking statistics this season are buoyed by an early season blitz in which they outperformed their expected goals tally, a run of beginner’s luck that is generally hard to sustain.
In no time at all, Spurs were out of ideas. Completing simple attacking plays was a difficult task, while their game was never built around earning more set pieces even though it was the rare area of the game they actually excelled in. At times, Frank sucked the life out of games instead, hoping his disinterest in scoring goals would grind opponents’ attacks into dust. The coach gave an overly conservative approach the runout a handful of times last fall in matches that could have served as statement-making performances and at this point, it should come as no surprise that it did not work. Spurs tallied three shots and 0.12 xG in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea in which the Blues were unlucky not to have scored more as they racked up 15 attempts and 3.68 xG. Days later, Arsenal made sure not to waste their chances – they cruised to a 4-1 win as they tallied 17 shots and 1.93 xG, all while Spurs had three shots and 0.07 xG to speak of. It was evidently worse than Postecoglou’s figures, but even Frank’s own in his final season at Brentford.
The inability to defend and attack properly was visible even at the end of Frank’s tenure, perfectly encapsulated in the final goal Spurs conceded before his firing. His side could not complete a simple breakaway minutes after notching an equalizer against Newcastle, instead letting Anthony Gordon dance around a still Spurs defense before Jacob Ramsey popped the ball into the back fo the net.
Frank’s Spurs were lifeless, a whiplash-inducing exercise for anyone who remembers watching Postecoglou’s version of the team. It was strange to watch Frank’s Spurs give attacking a try for 45 minutes at a time every third or fourth game and then settle into a defensive structure that they could not maintain, inviting opponents into the match rather than killing the game entirely. Almost singlehandedly, he demonstrated that the belief that pragmatism is inherently efficient is a trope rather than a tried and tested philosophy for success in this sport. There is nothing practical about taking the foot off the gas when things are trending in the right direction. It is not effective to keep taking a stab at a losing strategy, hoping it will finally turn good. It is painfully unrealistic not to find a way to lean on your strengths, even if they are few and far between. There is nothing sensible about failing to lay down tactical foundations, rendering your team unable to execute a stylistic vision that seems like a prerequisite to being an elite coach.
With Frank at the helm, Spurs merely dragged their feet through matches as if they were simply there to collect an attendance award rather than play. No one wins trophies with style points but Frank proved one can certainly lose without them, his team always hitting the pitch with a sense of aimlessness. It is no wonder, then, that he drew the ire of the Spurs faithful, who, unlike his team in attack, wasted no chance to lambast him for spearheading a “boring, boring Tottenham” – in every sense, he sucked the entertainment value and the inherent joy out of the game. In a landscape where the sport’s next great managers increasingly prefer tactical rigidity, Frank’s Spurs will act as a prime example in the downside of straying too far down that path. Being cautious does not inherently come with rewards, nor does it necessarily come with stability and in this case, it can slowly contribute to the erosion of an already decaying product. It forces existential questions, too, of what exactly the point of this particular exercise was for a team in desperate need of a course correction.
Spurs’ squad may not be up to the task of finishing even remotely close to a UEFA Champions League spot, but neither is Frank. In an age where clubs are quick to dispose of managers, he was given a chance but threw it away completely, the glimmer of hope that came in the UEFA Super Cup outing against Paris Saint-Germain an outlier rather than the start of a promising trend. Frank’s firing will require a serious rethink by Spurs’ leaders, many of whom are brand new to their roles after longtime chairman Daniel Levy’s exit in September, because their current woes are the result of years of mismanagement and remarkably poor squad building, their trip to the Champions League final seven years ago now a distant memory of a long-gone era.
At National Institutes of Health, many director positions sit open
The world’s largest public funder of biomedical research is in limbo.
The National Institutes of Health has, in large part, managed to withstand the Trump administration’s attempts to slash its budget and upend how it distributes grants, thanks to decisions from the courts and Congress. But the agency now faces a growing vacuum in leadership in its top ranks — one that offers the administration a highly unusual opportunity to reshape NIH to its vision.
Of the 27 institutes and centers that make up NIH, 16 were missing permanent directors as of Friday, when staff received news of the latest departure. In an internal email viewed by NBC News, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya announced that Dr. Lindsey Criswell would no longer direct the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, effective immediately.
All but two of the vacant director positions at NIH have opened during President Donald Trump’s second term — the result of a combination of terminations, resignations and retirements. Acting directors are filling in temporarily.
“It’s like going to battle with half your generals in place,” said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who led NIH from 2002 to 2008 under President George W. Bush. “I don’t think it’s precedented to have so many vacancies so fast.”
NIH director positions are some of the most powerful and prestigious in medicine, in some cases overseeing multibillion-dollar budgets and helping to decide how federal research funding is allocated for the country’s biggest health threats, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and heart disease. They are typically nominated by the NIH director then approved by the health secretary. One of the most prominent figures to hold such a role in recent years was Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022.
The vacant roles are especially significant given that some of the administration’s biggest attempted changes to NIH haven’t come to fruition. Judges ruled against a cap that it tried to impose on government funding for the overhead costs of research, and Congress last month awarded NIH a modest funding increase for 2026, rebuffing Trump’s request to slash the agency’s budget by 40% and consolidate its 27 institutes and centers into eight.
For much of its 139-year history, NIH has been a quiet, nonpartisan nest for scientific breakthroughs, helping fund research that has led to the development of HIV treatments, Covid vaccines and cancer drugs. But several current and former staffers told NBC News that they worry the agency will become more politicized depending on whom Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. approves to fill the open director positions.
“I’m not confident that their appointments will be with the institute’s mission in mind,” said Shiv Prasad, a scientific review officer at NIH. “I think you’re just there to be compliant with whatever the HHS secretary wants done.”
Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that “NIH is committed to filling all Director positions and advisory panels with the most highly qualified and meritorious individuals, ensuring expert representation to address the chronic disease epidemic and uphold gold-standard science.”
“This Administration is strengthening scientific rigor, restoring accountability, and refocusing NIH on evidence-based research that serves the health needs of the American people,” he added.
Bhattacharya did not respond to an NBC News inquiry about when he plans to fill the vacant spots or with whom.
‘Speaking up and pushing back’
Turmoil and turnover in the top ranks of the country’s public health agencies have become somewhat common under Kennedy’s leadership, with perhaps the most visible examples at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kennedy fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, whom Trump had nominated for the role, just 29 days into the job. She later said it was because she had refused to blindly approve vaccine guidance changes. Several other CDC officials resigned in protest. After that, the agency reduced the number of vaccines recommended for all children and rewrote a webpage to reverse its long-held position that there’s no link between vaccines and autism.
Several NIH staffers said they have witnessed a similar situation.
“What was happening at NIH was entirely consistent with the mindset that was being promulgated much more publicly and sort of visibly at the CDC,” said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who succeeded Fauci as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 2023 to 2025. “A lot of what has happened at NIH has not really been in the public eye.”
When Marrazzo inherited the position, NIAID was already under scrutiny from Kennedy and some Senate Republicans who opposed Fauci’s response to the Covid pandemic. Marrazzo was placed on administrative leave in April, then Kennedy fired her. NIAID remains without a permanent director.
Marrazzo believes she was removed partly because of her defense of vaccines, and for speaking out against the cancellation of NIH research. She filed a whistleblower complaint in September, then sued NIH and HHS in December, alleging that her firing was illegal and asking to be reinstated with back pay.
“Putting up resistance to the sort of RFK-speak that was infiltrating the leadership discussions at that time certainly didn’t help my case,” said Marrazzo, who is the CEO of the nonprofit Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Of the NIH institute directors no longer in their roles, six retired after Trump took office. Four were placed on administrative leave then fired midterm. Another was placed on administrative leave then resigned. Two left after NIH did not renew their contracts.
Current and former staffers view some of the oustings as ideologically driven.
Kennedy has pledged that NIH will investigate subjects of personal interest to him, such as purported vaccine injuries and the root causes of autism. (Before going into politics, Kennedy was an anti-vaccine activist.) And Trump issued an executive order in August requiring federal grants to be “consistent with agency priorities and the national interest.” Some of the administration’s attempts to cancel research grants that focused on topics like gender, diversity, equity and inclusion have been reversed, but roughly 1,240 grants remain terminated, according to a tracking project called Grant Witness.
“These leaders who have been removed, many of them were speaking up and pushing back. So when they were removed, I think that very much was received, and was likely intended, as a warning,” said Jenna Norton, a program director at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases who was placed on administrative leave in November.
Norton filed a whistleblower complaint last week alleging that she was put on leave for speaking out against the politicization of scientific research.
Nixon, however, said concerns that ideology is driving decisions about institute directors are “unfounded.”
A series of oustings
To hire directors for NIH institutes, a search committee typically finds and interviews candidates, then recommends finalists to the agency’s director (Bhattacharya in this case), who chooses which person to nominate.
But at a Senate committee hearing last week about changes at NIH, Bhattacharya — a former Stanford Medicine professor known for his opposition to lockdowns during the height of the Covid pandemic — said that’s no longer the method.
“We’ve changed the process so that there’s no formal committee because we don’t have time for that,” he said. “What we’ve done instead is we’ve informally reached out to external partners, but we’ve also made sure that scientists at the NIH are the ones that are leading the selection of the new leaders.”
One of the most controversial leadership shake-ups at NIH took place in the fall at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which conducts and funds research on how the environment affects human health.
Richard Woychik, who had directed the institute for five years, was appointed to a second term in June. But in October, NIH announced that Woychik had been moved to a different role, and Kyle Walsh, a brain cancer epidemiologist and close friend of Vice President JD Vance’s (Walsh officiated Vance’s wedding), was taking over.
Some employees questioned why Walsh had been chosen, given that his research focus was quite different from that of the institute.
Nixon said in a statement that Walsh “was selected because his scientific background and leadership experience directly align with the NIEHS mission.”
Many NIH staffers also puzzled over the removal of Dr. Walter Koroshetz, who directed the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) until his contract was not renewed in December. In an email to staff viewed by NBC News, Bhattacharya wrote: “Dr. Koroshetz’s performance has been exceptional; however, the Department of Health and Human Services elected to pursue a leadership transition.”
“It’s an interesting way of saying the NIH director did not seem to have any input into that decision,” Prasad said.
In a letter to Congress last month, 40 organizations representing neuroscience researchers, clinicians and patients expressed concern about the lack of a clear plan for appointing a new director of NINDS, which funds Alzheimer’s research.
“Continuity of leadership is key in ensuring that NINDS is able to discover the next generation of treatments and cures for neurological conditions,” the groups wrote.
Not all of the new directors at NIH have been controversial, however. Zerhouni said the selection of Dr. Anthony Letai, a renowned oncologist and researcher, to run the National Cancer Institute did not seem ideologically driven. (Unlike other director roles, the NCI director is appointed by the president.)
As for the future of NIH, Zerhouni said, avoiding chaos is essential for attracting talent and maintaining the competitiveness of U.S. biomedical research.
“I always saw NIH as a component of our national security and our national competitiveness,” he said. “It’s not going to be the same strength that we expressed in the past 75 years if we continue to do what we’re seeing, or there’s a reduction in the human capital that we need to be competitive.”
Multiple severely injured in Roswell crash
ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) – A multi-car crash in Roswell Saturday afternoon sent six people to the hospital, four of those with severe injuries. Police say a pickup truck was traveling on West Country Club Road when the driver failed to slow down approaching the intersection, hitting one car and causing a chain reaction, leading to multiple […]
Source link
U.S. men win, keep pace with Canada for top seed at Olympics
MILAN — Sitting on the bench with the U.S. surprisingly trailing Denmark at the Olympics, Jack Eichel and linemates Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk talked about wanting to make a difference.
Then they did just that.
Eichel scored off his own faceoff win a minute after setting up Brady Tkachuk’s goal the same way, and the U.S. rode its top line to a 6-3 defeat of Denmark on Saturday night, keeping pace with also-unbeaten Canada for the top seed in the men’s hockey tournament.
“[We were] just sticking with it, trusting each other,” Brady Tkachuk said. “That’s what shows the character in our room is the trust and belief with one another that if we stick with it, we’ll like the result at the end of the day.”
The U.S. bounced back from goaltender Jeremy Swayman getting beaten by a shot from 95 feet away, just inside the center red line, 11 minutes in. Swayman won’t have to kick himself too badly for the blunder after some of his most talented teammates stepped up to make the long-distance goal from Nicholas B. Jensen and another soft one from Phillip Bruggisser with 2.6 seconds left in the second period moot.
“I’m really proud of this group for staying even-keeled,” Swayman said. “The confidence never left the group, and that’s a serious trait at this stage in the tournament. The guys rallied, and we got it done”
The goals by Brady Tkachuk and Eichel — two-thirds of the top line along with Brady’s brother, Matthew — midway through the second period tied it and gave the U.S. the lead. Defenseman Noah Hanifin added another when his shot got through Mads Sogaard and trickled over the goal line a bit later, providing some breathing room that proved necessary.
Jake Guentzel fired a one-timer past Sogaard with a little more than 12 minutes left, and Jack Hughes scored off a feed from Brock Nelson after Sogaard exited with injury and was relieved by Frederik Dichow.
Captain Auston Matthews made the pass to Guentzel, and Zach Werenski — who accidentally knocked the puck into his own net on Denmark’s first goal credited to Nick Olesen — had the secondary assist to get some retribution.
“U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants from the very red, white and blue crowd filled the arena at the opening puck drop and after all the goals against Denmark, which entered as heavy underdogs.
“We battled hard and tried everything we had,” Bruggisser said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but they’re an all-star team, and we gave it what we had.”
After rolling over Latvia 5-1 in their opener Thursday night behind two goals from Brock Nelson, the Americans have six points in the standings, the same as Canada, going into the final day of the preliminary round.
The U.S. wraps up round-robin play against Germany, while Canada faces 0-2-0 France. If they each win in regulation, the No. 1 spot in the single-elimination knockout round would come down to goal differential.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
