No. 3 TCU upsets No. 2 Michigan 51-45 in wild CFP semifinal

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TCU quarterback Max Duggan (15) dives for yardage as Michigan linebacker Junior Colson (25) defends during the first half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football semifinal playoff game, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Max Duggan accounted for four touchdowns, TCU returned two interceptions for scores and the third-ranked Horned Frogs withstood a frenetic second-half surge by No. 2 Michigan to win the Fiesta Bowl 51-45 on Saturday night and advance to the College Football Playoff national championship.

TCU (13-1), the most unlikely team ever reach the four-team playoff in its nine-year history, has one more game left in its improbable season and it will come against either No. 1 Georgia or No. 4 Ohio State on Jan. 9 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Coming off a losing 2021 season and picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 in Sonny Dykes’ first year as coach, the Horned Frogs will try to win the program’s first national championship since 1938.

Duggan and the Frogs will no doubt be underdogs — again. That didn’t matter much against Michigan (13-1) as they took it to the big, bad Big Ten champions and turned the Fiesta Bowl into circa-2010, Big 12-style scorefest.

It was the highest scoring Fiesta Bowl ever and the second-highest scoring CFP game behind Georgia’s 54-48 Rose Bowl victory against Oklahoma on Jan. 1, 2018.

Maybe it was fitting.

TCU, the little private school from Forth Worth, Texas, that was left out of the Big 12 when it first formed in the mid-1990s, became the first team from the conference to win a CFP game and will be the first to play for a national title since Texas in 2009.

Hub peek embed (Collegefootball) – Compressed layout (automatic embed)

This one was 34-16 with 2:46 left in the third quarter and the Hypnotoads, a nickname borrowed for the animated TV show “Futurama,” and their purple-clad fans could sense their wild ride wasn’t over.

Of course, nothing has come easy for these Frogs all year. During their unbeaten regular season, they won seven straight games by 10 points or fewer.

What followed was five touchdown drives — with a TCU turnover tucked in between — each taking less than a minute.

Roman Wilson’s 18-yard touchdown run on a reverse and a 2-point conversion pulled Michigan within 41-38 with 14:13 left in the fourth quarter.

Back came the Frogs, unleashing their best weapon. Future first-round draft pick Quentin Johnston took a short crosser from Duggan and turned it up the sideline for a 76-yard score that put the Frogs up 10.

Duggan threw for 225 yards and two interceptions and ran for 57. Johnston had six catches for 163 yards and Emari Demercado, picking up the slack for an injured Kendre Miller, ran for 150. All of that against a defense that ranked third in the nation coming in.

TCU finally got a stop on Michigan’s next possession and turned it into a 33-yard field goal by Griffin Kell to go up 51-38 with 10:02 left.

After the Frogs and Wolverines combined for 62 points in 20 second-half minutes, the pace was throttled back. But Michigan cut the lead to six with 3:14 left on J.J. McCarthy’s 5-yard TD pass to Wilson.

McCarthy was spectacular at times with 343 yards passing, 52 rushing and three touchdowns. He also made two killer mistakes, tossing pick-sixes in each half.

TCU couldn’t ice it and Michigan got one more shot, starting from its 25 with 52 seconds left — but couldn’t get first first down.

Before TCU could line up in victory formation, there was an officials’ review for targeting on the Frogs. What was another minute or so of drama in a season filled it for TCU?

The play was clean. Duggan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, took one last snap and a knee and the exhausted Frogs rushed the field and celebrated under cloud of purple and white confetti.

The Frogs hopped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, with safety Bud Clark making two of the biggest plays of the game. First, he chased down Michigan’s Donovan Edwards to prevent a long touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage.

TCU then used a goal line stand — stymieing a Philly Special-style fourth down play by Michigan — to keep the Wolverines off the board.

On Michigan’s next possession, Clark broke fast on a throw to the sideline by McCarthy and raced 41 yards with a pick-6 that put TCU up 7-0.

Duggan completed a long touchdown drive with a 1-yard plunge with 2:27 left in the first quarter and the Frogs were up 14-0 on touchdown-favorite Wolverines.

Michigan broke the ice with a field goal and then looked as if it had flipped the game back its way.

Rod Moore picked off a tipped pass at midfield by Duggan and McCarthy went deep to Roman Wilson on the next play for what appeared to be a 51-yard touchdown pass. A review overturned the call and set up Michigan inside the 1. No problem for a team with the nation’s best offensive line, right?

Michigan ran a quick hand off to fullback Kalel Mullings, who fumbled. TCU recovered, putting down another Michigan scoring threat.

Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines put up a better showing in their second straight CFP semifinal appearances, but will lament the missed opportunities. Their first three first-and-goal situations produced three points.

Michigan fell to 1-6 in bowl games under Harbaugh.

UP NEXT

TCU: The Frogs are a combined 1-9-1 all-time against Georgia and Ohio State.

Michigan: The Wolverines open next season in the Big House against East Carolina.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25

 

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Trump's returns shed light on tax offsets, foreign accounts

Democrats in Congress released thousands of pages of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns Friday, providing the most detailed picture to date of his finances over a six-year period, including his time in the White House, when he fought to keep the information private in a break with decades of precedent.

The documents include individual returns from Trump and his wife, Melania, along with Trump’s business entities from 2015-2020. They show how Trump used the tax code to lower his tax obligation and reveal details about foreign accounts, charitable contributions and the performance of some of his highest-profile business ventures, which had largely remained shielded from public scrutiny.

The disclosure marks the culmination of a yearslong legal fight that has played out everywhere from the presidential campaign to Congress and the Supreme Court as Trump persistently rejected efforts to share details about his financial history — counter to the practice of transparency followed by all his predecessors in the post-Watergate era. The records release comes just days before Republicans retake control of the House and weeks after Trump announced another campaign for the White House.

The records show how Trump limited his tax liability by offsetting his income against corporate losses as well as millions of dollars in business expenses, asset depreciation and other deductions.

While Trump paid $641,931 in federal income taxes in 2015, the year he began his campaign for president, he paid just $750 in 2016 and 2017, according to a report released last week by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. He paid nearly $1 million in 2018, but only $133,445 in 2019 and nothing in 2020, the year he unsuccessfully sought reelection.

The records also detail Trump’s foreign holdings.

Trump, according to the filings, reported having bank accounts in China, Ireland and the United Kingdom in 2015 through 2017, even as he was commander in chief. Starting in 2018, however, he only reported an account in the U.K. The returns also show that Trump claimed foreign tax credits for taxes he paid on various business ventures around the world, including licensing arrangements for use of his name on development projects and his golf courses in Scotland and Ireland.

In several years, Trump appears to have paid more in foreign taxes than he did in net U.S. federal income taxes, with income reported in countries including Azerbaijan, China, India, Indonesia, Panama, the Philippines, St. Martin, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The documents also show that Trump’s charitable donations often represented only a sliver of his income. In 2020, the year the coronavirus ravaged the economy, Trump reported no charitable donations at all. In 2019 and 2018 he reported writing checks for about $500,000 in donations. In earlier years the numbers were higher — $1.8 million in 2017 and $1.1 million in 2016.

It’s unclear whether the reported sums included Trump’s $400,000 annual presidential salary, which he had said, as a candidate, that he would forgo and which he claimed he donated to various federal departments.

Jeff Hoopes, an accounting professor at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, described Trump’s returns as “large and complicated” with “hundreds of entities scattered all over the globe.”

He noted that many of those entities are slightly unprofitable, which he described as “pretty magical as far as the tax code.”

“It’s hard to know if someone’s really bad at business or really good at tax planning, because they both look like the same thing,” he said.

Daniel Shaviro, a taxation professor at New York University, cited the large financial losses from so many of Trump’s businesses, despite their often healthy sales, as something that should raise suspicions from auditors. “There’s fishy looking stuff here.”

Shaviro also cited examples of suspicious or sloppy math even in smaller businesses, such as an aviation firm dubbed “DT Endeavor I LLC,” which in 2020 reported both sales and expenses of $160,144. Such exact matches are unusual, Shaviro said. Yet the form also reported an $18,923 loss.

“The return doesn’t say, ‘Guess what? I’m committing fraud,’” Shaviro said, “but there are red flags.”

The release marks the latest setback for Trump, who has been mired in investigations, including federal and state inquiries into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Department of Justice also has been investigating reams of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago club and possible efforts to obstruct the investigation.

In a statement Friday, Trump lashed out at Democrats and the Supreme Court for the release.

“It’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people,” he said. “The radical, left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!”

He said the returns demonstrated “how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions” to build his businesses.

The returns were released by the House Ways and Means Committee, which held a party-line vote last week to make the returns public after years of legal wrangling.

The returns detail how Trump used tax law to minimize his liability, including carrying forward massive losses from previous years. Trump said during his 2016 campaign that paying little or no income tax in some years “makes me smart.”

In 2020, more than 150 of Trump’s business entities listed negative qualified business income, which the IRS defines as “the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction and loss from any qualified trade or business.” In total for that tax year, combined with nearly $9 million in carryforward loss from previous years, Trump’s qualified losses amounted to more than $58 million.

Another of Trump’s money losers: the ice rink his company operated until last year in New York City’s Central Park. Trump reported a total of $2.6 million in losses from Wollman Rink over the six years made public. The rink, an early Trump Organization jewel run through a contract with New York City’s government, reported a loss of $1.3 million in 2015 despite taking in $9.3 million in revenue, according to the tax returns. The rink turned a $298,000 profit in 2016, but was back to melting cash in each of the next four years.

“Trump seems to be creating huge losses that are suspicious or questionable under current law,” said Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, who said he had spent 20 years preparing taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals and “never saw anyone lose money as regularly and as large as Trump lost money year after year.”

“To me, Trump’s business operations were phenomenally unsuccessful and I struggle to figure out how much of it is attributable to Trump’s unluckiness as a businessman and how much of it is attributable to Trump’s inflation,” he said.

Aspects of Trump’s finances had been shrouded in mystery since his days as an up-and-coming Manhattan real estate developer in the 1980s.

Trump, known for building skyscrapers and hosting a reality TV show before winning the White House, did offer limited details about his holdings and income on mandatory disclosure forms and financial statements he provided to banks to secure loans and to financial magazines to justify his ranking on lists of billionaires.

Trump’s longtime accounting firm has since disavowed the statements, and New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit alleging Trump and his Trump Organization fraudulently inflated asset values on the statements. Trump and his company have denied wrongdoing.

In October 2018, The New York Times published a Pulitzer Prize-winning series based on leaked tax records that contradicted the image Trump had tried to sell of himself as a self-made businessman. It showed that Trump received a modern-day equivalent of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate holdings, with much of that money coming from what the Times called “tax dodges” in the 1990s.

A second series in 2020 showed that Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years because he generally lost more money than he made.

In its report last week, the Ways and Means Committee indicated the Trump administration may have disregarded a requirement mandating audits of a president’s tax filings.

The IRS only began to audit Trump’s 2016 tax filings on April 3, 2019 — more than two years into his presidency — when the Ways and Means chairman, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., asked the agency for information related to the returns.

Every president and major-party candidate since Richard Nixon has voluntarily made at least summaries of their tax information available to the public.

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Associated Press writers Gary Fields, Paul Wiseman and Farnoush Amiri in Washington, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI funeral to be held Thursday in St. Peter’s Square, with Pope Francis presiding

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Pope Francis will celebrate a funeral service for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI next week after the retired pope passed away Saturday.

The Vatican announced Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away Saturday at 9:34 a.m. He was 95 years old.

Benedict’s body is currently being held in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City, where he spent the majority of his life post-papacy.

POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI DEAD AT 95, VATICAN SAYS

On Jan. 2, his body will be moved for viewing by the faithful to St. Peter’s Basilica. In accordance with tradition, the body of the deceased pope will be exhibited to the public to allow mourners to pray for the pontiff on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Jan. 5, Pope Francis will preside over the late pontiff’s funeral mass in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican stated. 

POPE BENEDICT’S VISION OF CATHOLICISM, VATICAN II, AND THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH ENDURE THROUGH HIS TEACHINGS

The service will be open to the public and the Vatican has provided contacts for Catholics worldwide wishing to concelebrate the mass remotely.

Benedict was elected to the papacy in 2005. He later claimed that he prayed he would not be chosen throughout the conclave but was forced to accept what he believed was God calling him to greater service

POPE BENEDICT XVI GIVES FAREWELL TO CARDINALS, PROMISES OBEDIENCE TO SUCCESSOR

In February 2013, at 85 years old, Benedict became the first pope in centuries to resign from his post

“I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise [of the pontificate],” he said at that time. 

From Pope Francis’ ascension onward, the former pontiff went by the title “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” but per canon law, exercised no authority over the church.

On June 29, 2021, Benedict celebrated the Platinum Jubilee — 70th anniversary — of his ordination into the priesthood

 

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Russian strikes intensify as Ukrainians return for holiday

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year’s.

Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.

Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023.

First lady Olena Zelenska expressed outrage that such massive missile attacks could come just before New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” she said.

The blasts also came at an unusually quickened rhythm, one that alarmed officials just 36 hours after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Thursday to damage energy infrastructure facilities.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba highlighted the harsh civilian toll of this latest offensive — that “this time, Russia’s mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even the energy infrastructure.”

The deadly blast in the Ukrainian capital occurred among the multi-story residential buildings of the Solomianskyi district. One person wounded in the attacks is in a critical condition, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He said two schools were damaged, including a kindergarten.

Various residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in Kyiv on Saturday afternoon as part of massive attacks spanning the country. A top official in the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, published photos and video of a partially collapsed six-story hotel in Kyiv. Mayor Klitschko said a Japanese journalist was among those injured in the capital.

Russia launched 20 cruise missiles over Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, of which Ukrainian forces shot down 12, according to Ukrainian military chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published a video address shortly after Russia launched the New Year’s Eve cruise missiles over Ukraine saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “hiding behind the military, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces.” Addressing the Russians, he added that “no one in the world will forgive you for this. Ukraine will not forgive.”

At least four civilians were wounded in the Khmelnytskyi province of western Ukraine, according to regional Gov. Serhii Hamalii. Six people were wounded in the southern region of Mykolaiv.

Mykolaiv Gov. Vitalii Kim said that the Russians were targeting civilians more directly than just by attacking infrastructure as in the past.

“In many cities residential areas, hotels, just roads and garages are affected,” he wrote on Telegram.

In Zaporizhzhia region, as a result of a missile attack, two houses were destroyed, and around eight damaged. Four people were also wounded, among them a pregnant woman and a 14-year-old girl, said regional Gov. Oleksandr Starukh.

Even though Russia’s 10-month war rumbles on with no end in sight, for some families the new year is nevertheless a chance to reunite, however briefly, after months apart.

At Kyiv’s central railway station on Saturday morning, Mykyta, still in his uniform, gripped a bouquet of pink roses tightly as he waited on platform 9 for his wife Valeriia to arrive from Poland. He hadn’t seen her in six months.

“It actually was really tough, you know, to wait so long,” he told The Associated Press after hugging and kissing Valeriia.

Nearby, another soldier, Vasyl Khomko, 42, joyously met his daughter Yana and wife Galyna who have been living in Slovakia due to the war, but returned to Kyiv to spend New Year’s Eve together.

Back in February, fathers, husbands and sons had to stay behind as their wives, mothers and daughters boarded trains with small children seeking safety outside the country. Scenes of tearful goodbyes seared television screens and front pages of newspaper across the world.

But on the last day of the year marked by the brutal war, many returned to the capital to spend New Year’s Eve with their loved ones, despite the ongoing Russian attacks.

As Russian attacks continue to target power supplies leaving millions without electricity, no big celebrations are expected and a curfew will be in place as the clock rings in the new year. But for most Ukrainians being together with their families is a luxury.

Valeriia first sought refuge from the conflict in Spain but later moved to Poland. Asked what their New Year’s Eve plans were, she answered simply: “Just to be together.”

The couple declined not to share their family name for security reasons as Mykyta has been fighting on the front lines in both southern and eastern Ukraine.

On platform 8, another young couple reunited. University student Arseniia Kolomiiets, 23, has been living in Italy. Despite longing to see her boyfriend Daniel Liashchenko in Kyiv, Kolomiiets was scared of Russian missiles and drone attacks.

“He was like, ‘Please come! Please come! Please come!’” she recalled. “I decided that (being) scared is one part, but being with beloved ones on the holidays is the most important part. So, I overcome my fear and here I am now.”

Although they have no electricity at home, Liashchenko said they were looking forward to welcoming 2023 together with his family and their cat.

Natalya Kontonenko had traveled from Finland. It was the first time she had seen her brother Serhii Kontonenko since the full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24. Serhii and other relatives traveled from Mykolaiv to Kyiv to meet Natalya.

“We are not concerned about the electricity, because we are together and that I think is the most important,” he said.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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Misery in El Paso: Hundreds of homeless migrants live in squalor amid deportation fears


El Paso, Texas
CNN
 — 

One-year-old Brenda’s tiny feet are bare on the cold asphalt of an El Paso parking lot as the harsh reality starts to sink in for her parents. They are undocumented. They are homeless. And their daughter barely escaped death when they crossed the Rio Grande.

“My daughter would have died because she was super frozen,” said Glenda Matos.

Matos’ pain is clear in her eyes as she recalls her daughter being drenched, in the freezing cold, all while crying hysterically. Matos and her husband, Anthony Blanco, say they had nothing to keep their daughter warm, not even body heat, because they, too, were wet and cold.

Matos says she hugged Brenda tightly and ran from house to house begging for help until they finally found a kind El Paso resident who helped them with clothes and shelter.

“I asked God for help,” Glenda said. “God… put those people in my way.”

Brenda's tiny feet bear a rosary while on the asphalt of an El Paso parking lot.

For Matos, the tiny red rosary with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, hanging from Brenda’s ancle, saved them. Matos says she wrapped the religious token on her daughter’s little body for protection when they left their native Venezuela.

Brenda and her parents are some of the hundreds of migrants living in squalor in the streets of downtown El Paso around Sacred Heart Parish. The makeshift camp – with its piles of blankets, strollers and tents lining both sides of a busy street – has city officials expressing concerns about safety and public health given the area is packed with migrants who have no running water or proper shelter.

The surge of migrants aggregating here started a few weeks ago, when anxiety about the scheduled end of the Trump-era pandemic public health rule known as Title 42 prompted thousands of migrants to turn themselves in to border authorities or to cross into the United States illegally in a very short period of time.

Title 42 allows immigration authorities to swiftly return some migrants to Mexico. The policy was scheduled to lift last week, but a Supreme Court ruling kept the rule in place while legal challenges play out in court.

While the impact of the ruling has sent ripples throughout the southern border, the scene in El Paso is one of a kind. It’s the only U.S. border town where hundreds of migrants are living in the streets longer than expected. It’s a new phenomenon that city officials say had never happened during prior migrant surges.

It’s driven, in part, by the anxiety created by the uncertainty of Title 42, which motivated some migrants to cross the border illegally. These migrants don’t have family or sponsors in the US to receive them. And many also fear that traveling out of town without the proper paperwork could lead to apprehension by US immigration authorities.

Evelyn Palma sits with her five children in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

The misery around Sacred Heart Parish is palpable. Evelyn Palma has blankets hooked and draped on a chain-linked fence to keep the cold and the drizzle from hitting her five children, ages 1 to 8, some of them shirtless. She’s been living on the street for eight days. But Friday was especially miserable because it was 40 degrees and it poured overnight.

“We woke up drenched,” Palma said.

The 24-year-old mother from Honduras says she and her children turned themselves in to immigration authorities earlier this month, but they were swiftly returned to Mexico, likely under Title 42. That’s why, she says, that a week ago she decided to evade authorities by crossing the river.

She is part of the growing number of migrants who El Paso city officials say have decided to enter the US illegally and, for various reasons, have not left the city.

“They are people who came into the country in anticipation of Title 42 going away,” said Mario D’Agostino, El Paso’s deputy city manager.

The living conditions Palma and other migrants are enduring has officials concerned about their safety and overall public health. City spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta says that the spread of disease is top of mind.

“We are still in the middle of what is being called a ‘tripledemic,’ with continuing high infection levels of upper respiratory infections across the community,” Cruz-Acosta said.

Evelyn Palma receives gifts for her children in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

And while the city has space for about 1,500 migrants at shelters that have been erected at the convention center and at a public school, those beds are only offered to migrants who have turned themselves in to border authorities and have been allowed to stay in the US pending their immigration cases. Those migrants receive documentation from US Customs and Border Protection that allows them to travel within the country.

Migrants who enter the country illegally are not offered city-provided shelter because federal dollars are being used to foot the bill. And those monies can’t be used to serve people who entered the country illegally, according to D’Agostino.

City officials have been referring undocumented migrants to non-profit organizations and churches like Sacred Heart Parish, which turns into a shelter when night falls.

That’s why hundreds of migrants aggregate on the streets around the church, hoping to score one of the 120 to 130 slots to enter the church for the night.

Around 6 p.m., a line of migrants forms outside the church’s gymnasium. Parents can be seen clutching their children to try to keep them warm. Women and men with children are given priority, according to Rafael García, the priest that runs the shelter. García says it’s tough to send people away but that his church has limited resources to serve the growing need.

Angello Sánchez and his 4-year-old son Anyeider were allowed into the shelter for the night several times this week. The Colombian father says he was trying to protect his son from the cold because his little face still had windburn from being out in the elements during the recent freeze.

“I got here from southern Mexico on a train. It was so cold and he wasn’t wearing any jacket,” Angello said.

Palma, the mother of five, says she was offered entry into the shelter with her children but decided not to take the offer because a pregnant friend who is accompanying her was denied access.

El Paso, which means “The Pass” in Spanish, has historically been a gateway for migrants passing through into the United States.

“For hundreds of years people have been passing through and it’s just part of their journey,” D’Agostino said. “In normal times the community doesn’t even realize it.”

But this migrant surge is different because migrants are staying for days and even more than a week, city officials say.

Besides lacking family or sponsors in the US to receive them, many migrants don’t have money to pay for their transportation out of the city. And in the makeshift migrant camp around Sacred Heart Parish, word is spreading about another factor that has some undocumented migrants hunkering down in El Paso: The fear of getting detained at immigration checkpoints located in the interior of the US.

In the last week, at least 364 undocumented migrants who were traveling in commercial buses headed to northern cities were detained at these immigration checkpoints, according to tweets posted by El Paso’s border patrol chief.

Palma says she heard about the checkpoints and the apprehensions and decided to stay in El Paso longer while she figures out what to do.

“If immigration detains me, they’ll return me,” Palma said.

Juan Pérez, from Venezuela, was down the street and said that “immigration is in the exits [of the city]… they’ll return us and send us to Mexico.”

The US has 110 Border Patrol checkpoints in the southern and northern borders, where vehicles are screened for the “illegal flow of people and contraband,” according to a recent US Government Accountability Office report. The checkpoints are usually between 25 and 100 miles from the border, according to the same report.

Anthony Blanco holds a hand-written sign asking for a job while his wife, Glenda Matos, plays with Brenda in the streets of El Paso, Texas.

Anthony Blanco says he’s not afraid of being detained at these interior checkpoints.

“I’ve walked through many different countries without documents. I don’t think we’re going to be detained, but if that happens, it was God’s will,” Blanco said.

For days this week, Blanco has been holding a sign on the street corner that reads, “Help me with work so I can support my wife and baby,” and asking drivers who pass by for money for bus tickets to Denver.

Why Denver? He says word has spread that there is work there and living is more affordable.

Friday morning, a day which was especially miserable because it was cold after a hard overnight rain, Blanco was all smiles. He says he had collected enough money to continue his journey to Denver.

“Thank God,” Blanco said.


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BYU football mourns the lost of offensive lineman Sione Veikoso, who was killed in construction accident

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

BYU offensive lineman Sione Veikoso was killed in a construction accident in Kailua, Hawaii, the team announced late Friday.

“Rest in Love Sione. God be with you till we meet again,” the Cougars wrote on Twitter.

Before he enrolled in BYU, Veikoso served a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018-20 in Brazil. He began his college career at Arizona State.

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He eventually transferred to BYU and appeared in one game during the 2022 college football season. Veikoso was a three-star high-school recruit.

FORMER NEBRASKA QUARTERBACK TOMMY ARMSTRONG JR. RESCUES FAMILY FROM HOUSE FIRE

“We are extremely saddened to learn of the tragic death of one of our brothers, Sione Veikoso,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake wrote on Twitter. “His passing is heartbreaking to all of us. We offer our deepest condolences and prayers to his family as we share in their grief. Our love for you is forever, Sione!”

Veikoso was part of a crew working on a 15-foot retaining wall when it partially collapsed, according to KITV News in Honolulu. Multiple individuals were trapped after the collapse. 

Firefighters responded to the scene and removed the rubble to reach the people who were trapped, the report revealed. At least two were in serious condition.

“The BYU Football Family mourns the passing of our dear teammate and fellow Cougar, Sione Veikoso,” BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe said on Twitter. “May his family and friends feel our love and faith at this most sacred and difficult time. Peace be with you now and forever Sione.”

No other details were immediately available.

 

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Outgrowing Friendships Is a ‘Normal’ Part of Life—So Why Does it Feel So Much (More) Like a Failure?

Well+Good 

I used to roll my eyes at the sentiment of “You should be able to count your true friends on one hand.” The more, the merrier, I’d always thought. At school, I took pride in having the biggest group, and then when I moved from Australia to the United States, it was even more meaningful having groups of friends, even if surface-level, from all over the world. But in 2020, my world certainly became much smaller.

Amidst the social isolation and social distancing, I lost my best friend. A simple conversation got lost in translation and led to resentment, jealousy, and defensiveness. It was more than a friendship; it was a sisterhood with bonds so strong I would’ve bet my life on it lasting forever. But it wasn’t just her I lost. As a new addition to the social group when I moved, it meant in the breakup, I lost about 13 others, too. From needing multiple hands and feet to count my friendships to needing one—just as the old proverb said. I felt like an unlovable failure.

Why do we outgrow friendships?

“As life goes on, we are inevitably shifting and changing—not only personally, but how we relate and engage with other people,” says Madeline Lucas, LCSW, a therapist and clinical content manager at Real. Life changes are a big catalyst in how our friendships grow or end. When I think back to the dismantlement of my former friendship, change played a huge role. “A common reason people may outgrow friendships is that the things they once bonded over are no longer strong enough or present to keep the friendship going,” adds self-care and mental health educator Minaa B, LMSW.

There’s another saying about relationships: “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” While we may want our friendships to live in the ‘lifetime’ box, this isn’t always the case. “The person you were and the space you were in when you started the friendship could look like polar opposites compared to who you are now and the responsibilities you carry,” says Minaa. Lucas adds that many people have a hard time adjusting to our new needs, values, responsibilities, and stages in life—but a changing relationship doesn’t mean you’re a failure, it just means you’re growing. “The best way we can manage these moments is to make adjustments in how we engage, set expectations and boundaries, and stay true to where we’re at before reaching resentment or inner turmoil,” Lucas says.

Is there anything wrong with outgrowing friendships?

While it may be painful, outgrowing friendships is a part of life. There doesn’t always need to be a breakdown or bad blood behind it. “Our relationships play a big role in our mental health. If a person begins to feel a friendship is no longer healthy for them, it’s okay to cut ties or adjust the degree of closeness to honor your emotional needs,” Minaa says. As Lucas points out, the alternative will have greater effects on you. “Sticking with unfulfilling or unsatisfying relationships out of habit or obligation, even if one or both parties aren’t happy —no one, you or your friend, deserves that.”

If it’s a normal part of life, why does outgrowing friendships feel like a failure?

A survey of 1,000 US adults found that nearly 40 percent of respondents had lost touch with nine or more of their friends, with the average loss of seven close friends during the pandemic. While 2020 played a bigger-than-usual role in the drift and loss of relationships, it can happen at any time.

“We live in a society that honors and upholds longevity in relationships,” says Minaa. This misconception of lifetime bonds neglects to include how values, ethics, life stages, and people change—and therefore, so do needs, boundaries, and expectations. “It’s important to recognize that any relationship, regardless of how long you were in it, has value and it’s unrealistic to expect every relationship to last a lifetime,” she adds. “Some are seasonal and that’s okay.”

Outgrowing a friendship can also feel worse than breaking up with a partner, and that’s because of the lack of clarity and closure. “There can be a lot of ambivalence in friendships,” says Lucas. “We aren’t taught how to have tough conversations and set boundaries and potentially even end a friendship, especially like we are when speaking of a romantic relationship.”

What can we do when we feel like we’re outgrowing a friendship?

As we continue to grow within ourselves, it’s important to reflect on the energy and people around us. Minaa suggests assessing whether the relationship needs to end or its closeness needs to be recalibrated.  “It may look like stepping back and forming new boundaries that maintain both the friendship and your well-being,” she says. Lucas adds to reflect on what brought you together, and why it’s different now. “Give yourself some grace. You’re allowed to evolve,” she says. “Allow yourself to lovingly detach from dynamics that are no longer serving you. That doesn’t invalidate the friendship that was.”

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A question for 2023: Why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship?

Just In | The Hill 

I recently got off the truly stunning Sky Princess cruise ship, which carried about 2,600 passengers and a crew of 1,400. 

Prior to one of the performances by the singers and dancers in the main theater, the cruise director mentioned that the crew came from 60 different nations and all get along wonderfully while working in close contact, seven days a week, during six-month contracts. It’s truly a tapestry of interwoven humanity — people of all races, colors, faiths and sexual preferences doing all they can to provide for their families back home in their various countries.

From that bit of information, I wondered: Why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship, when it comes to peaceful and necessary human interactions?

Does that sound like too simple a question? In some ways, perhaps it is unrealistic, but in a number of other quite substantial ways, it’s not at all.

Usually, it is not the hard-working citizens of nations the world over who are declaring hate and war on people of another nation; instead it’s their typically wealthy, entitled and sometimes feckless “leaders.”

The hard-working folks are simply too busy trying to feed their children, keep a roof over their heads, and find moments of happiness. They’re not really interested in hating or attacking people from other countries, who most likely are struggling similarly.

But their “leaders” (and sometimes their families) who live in bubbles of privilege and rarely suffer the consequences of the negative actions they foist upon others are the ones responsible for many of the ills plaguing humanity. For example, it will almost never be the children of these “leaders” who are forced into combat when they wage war on another country — it’s the sons and daughters of those hard-working, often poor citizens.  

As someone who grew up in poverty and was often homeless as a child, I have been fortunate to have taken many cruises over the years. Each time, I sit back in awe while observing the dedicated staff and supervisors — who sometimes come from poor or disenfranchised backgrounds, too — as they interact graciously with one another, despite any differences they may have.  

One reason why that is so is that the supervisors once were newly hired staff, perhaps seeking to escape tough circumstances back home and trying to provide for their loved ones. It may have taken them years to secure their promotions. They know the struggles, worries and fears their staff may feel. How many of the world’s political “leaders” can make the same claim with regard to the millions of people they govern? 

So, why can’t the world be more like a cruise ship? Well, most world “leaders” likely never have experienced such a microcosm of humanity working and living as one to provide — and receive — happiness. But that “microcosm” is real. I’ve seen that it exists harmoniously, 24/7/365, within the fleets of cruise lines.   

Knowing that, maybe the cruise lines should offer to host world leaders for onboard symposiums, in which they are invited down to the crew decks to watch the representatives of 60 nations in action. While there, the world leaders could learn a valuable lesson in empathy by bussing tables, doing laundry, cleaning cabins, and then unwinding in the crew lounge with those who have worked that hard for years. 

Sure, it’s hard to imagine President Biden bussing tables alongside, say, French President Emmanuel Macron or German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Some world leaders likely wouldn’t attend, such as China’s Xi Jinping and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. And some probably wouldn’t be invited — surely not Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. But the broader point stands: These leaders and others could benefit from getting their hands dirty and truly serving others while working with the crew of a cruise ship.

Such an experience just might remind our world leaders that, ultimately, we are all the same.  We’re all on the “Good Ship Earth,” sailing the solar system, trying to survive in peace.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.

​White House, Opinion Read More 

What Biden’s political evolution means for progressives in 2023

Just In | The Hill 

Earlier this month, a president who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 as a senator signed the bill to officially repeal it and enshrine marriage equality into law.  

President Biden has always fashioned himself as a centrist, even when seeking the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, which makes his evolution on particular issues a fascinating weather vane.  

After finally hearing progressives’ calls on everything from climate change and student debt to a filibuster carve-out this year, where might Biden advance next in 2023? 

“What’s been interesting is to watch his evolution,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) in a wide-ranging interview with The Hill this week. It’s been “really good to see him absorb information, take information in, and move.”   

Immigration, climate, judicial nominees, overtime pay: the list is lengthy. And wondering what Biden will tackle next has progressives on the edge of their seats. 

Many who preferred other candidates in the 2020 presidential primary were skeptical that lifelong-moderate Biden would push for their priorities, having seen him spend decades as a centrist Senate homebody. They saw more liberal contenders such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) advocate on behalf of progressive causes, and some were pessimistic about Biden’s desire to work with their flank. 

But as he ticked off major successes, from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, many warmed to the idea that Biden could indeed become something akin to the FDR-style leader he now aspires to be. The more he accomplished, the more the left wing offered their trust. And progressives started drafting longer wish lists to try their luck in the new year.  

“We were very careful in putting together our executive action list to work very closely with the administration,” Jayapal said. “I would say 90 percent of what was on our list was stuff that they also were very interested in.” 

Jayapal, who was just elected to another term as chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, was pleased about the White House’s receptiveness to progressives’ agenda. When legislation stalled, frequently by moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and now-Independent Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and a small group of members in the House, she said administration officials were often enthusiastic to work on executive actions as workarounds to the narrow congressional majority. 

That executive approach is expected to continue and, many hope, even amplify in 2023, with Republicans soon to have a slight advantage in the lower chamber, and as Democrats find ways to get more through the Senate. 

If recent history is a guide, that collaboration — anchored by Biden’s desire to be fluid and flexible on issues he resisted in the past — has been successful. 

The midterms went better than many Democrats anticipated, with the left claiming credit for pushing Biden leftward. One of progressives’ biggest achievements has been an executive order to cancel tens of millions in loan debt for students. While that action is now halted and expected to be heard by the Supreme Court amid opposition from GOP state legislatures, progressives see it as proof of what’s possible. 

They also saw Biden move in a positive direction when he announced support of a carve-out to protect voting and abortion rights without the 60-vote threshold, evolving on his prior firmness around the Senate’s legislative filibuster and satisfying many in the party who had begged him to take that stance.  

“The president has had a pretty damn good ending for 2022,” said Douglas Wilson, a Democratic strategist based in North Carolina. “He really has.” 

“If the White House can be strategic about it, that’s the key, it gives the president the opportunity to put legislation out there that will entice these moderate Republicans to vote with him,” he said. “And progressives, I know they’re not going to want to hear this, are going to have to give him a slight bit of wiggle room. He deserves it.” 

Heading into January, progressives aren’t naive about the challenges — from the GOP-controlled House, courts, and even Biden’s own moderate leanings that creep up from time to time — that may halt their more ambitious plans. But they aren’t completely jaded either.  

They want to see traction on overtime pay and sick leave for rail workers, a debate that was tabled relatively quickly after Biden signed a Senate-passed bill that averted a massive strike by the nation’s transportation workers. Many are hopeful that the president’s commitment to unions will inspire him to address the issue in more detail in the coming year, beyond what was already passed with bipartisan support. 

Progressives also see room for executive antitrust action that would help prevent monopolies and boost consumer protections, an area where liberals like Warren and Jayapal have spent considerable focus working with Biden allies. “That’s been an area that I still hope we can get some work done,” said Jayapal. “The administration hasn’t been the holdup here.”  

Some progressives see certain moderates with outsized influence as creating additional delays for the White House to take actions into their own hands in the executive branch. Biden’s willingness to appease Manchin in particular for much of his first term created a point of tension among liberals who wanted him to be more forceful in bypassing Manchin’s demands.  

“There’s a backlog of bold executive actions that were on pause as Joe Manchin obstructed the Democratic economic agenda,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “The White House went out of their way not to spook him.” 

But some are hopeful that new opportunities may emerge from Manchin’s diluted influence within a new 51-seat majority, and with a slate of viable executive actions ready to be reconsidered.

Another issue where Biden has evolved is criminal justice. The man who authored the early mid-90s crime bill has undoubtedly moved to the left on the topic, adopting stances that are more in line with Americans’ current views while still maintaining some distance from the small faction of activists who want him to be more extreme. 

Biden never wanted to “defund” the police, but many progressives also concede that that slogan is not practical. Instead, he lurched to the left by pledging to decriminalize marijuana and promised to “eliminate” the country’s use of a federal death penalty — an area where advocates believe there is more work to be done. 

With an eye towards the new year, progressives want him to take actions that can reiterate his commitment to a fairer criminal justice system.  

“He could come up with a package that addresses crime again. Calling Republicans’ bluff on that,” said Wilson, the Democratic operative. “But also addressing the issues that were in the George Floyd Policing Act. The administration did what they could with the executive order … but I think now that he has a few more votes in the Senate, he could try to add a component that deals with rising crime. As long as it does not negatively affect people of color.” 

“The key is not to say police reform, but improving police relationships with the community,” Wilson said. 

On climate, another big focus, many in the party would like to see Biden go farther than what he has already delivered, pointing to the electoral impact that a progressive policy push can have at the polls.  

“There’s no such thing as doing too much on climate,” said Deirdre Shelly, campaigns director for the Sunrise Movement. “He still has a lot of work to do to secure his legacy.” 

Climate activists and progressive lawmakers want to see Biden declare a national climate emergency and use the Defense Production Act to move in the direction of renewable energy sources — an area that has the potential to transition away from the Manchin-style coal politics that have dominated the Democratic Party for decades.  

While there’s an appetite for it in some corners of the party, some wonder if Biden has the desire to change so drastically, particularly ahead of what’s likely to be another brutal presidential cycle in 2024. 

Nonetheless, they plan to make the case loudly that it’s worth trying.  

“Look at Biden’s poll numbers from the spring to now,” said Shelly. “Young people were not excited to vote months ago, and after he passed a climate bill, a gun bill and canceled student loans, they improved significantly — and led to nearly record-breaking turnout,” she said. “That’s no coincidence.” 

​Administration, Biden administration, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal, President Biden, Progressives Read More 

[Sport] Cristiano Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr until 2025

Cristiano Ronaldo and a shirt
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five different World Cups in Qatar in 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr on a deal that runs until 2025.

The Portugal captain is a free agent after leaving Manchester United following a controversial interview in which he criticised the club.

Ronaldo will reportedly receive the biggest football salary in historyexternal-link at more than £177m per year.

The 37-year-old says he is “eager to experience a new football league in a different country”.

Ronaldo added: “I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia.”

Al Nassr – nine-time Saudi Pro League champions – described the signing as “history in the making”.

The club said it would “inspire our league, nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves”.

In the summer, Ronaldo turned down a £305m deal to join another Saudi team – Al Hilal – because he was happy at United.

Earlier in November, the striker spoke out in an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United, did not respect manager Erik ten Hag and was being forced out of the club.

Ronaldo, who scored 145 goals in 346 appearances for United, left Juventus to rejoin the Old Trafford club in August 2021 – 11 years after he departed to join Real Madrid.

He had just over seven months remaining on his £500,000-a-week contract with United but his immediate exit was “mutually agreed”.

A day after he left the club, he was banned for two domestic matches for knocking a phone out of an Everton fan’s hand after United’s defeat at Goodison Park in April.

He will serve the ban at domestic level with any new club – in England or abroad – although it does not apply at continental club level, such as the Champions League.

Ronaldo recently returned from playing for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, where he made history by becoming the first man to score at five different Fifa World Cups with his strike in his side’s opening win against Ghana.

Date Club joined Fee
12 August 2003 Manchester United £12.24m
6 July 2009 Real Madrid £80m
10 July 2018 Juventus £99.2m
31 August 2021 Manchester United £12.8m

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