Archives for May 2021

Ohtani’s 2-out, 2-run HR in 9th sends Angels over Bosox 6-5

BOSTON (AP) — Shohei Ohtani stepped to the plate, trying to keep his slumping team in the game.

He did more than that, delivering what he called the most important home run of his four-season career in the majors.

Ohtani hit a two-out, two-run drive in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Angels rallied past the Boston Red Sox 6-5 Sunday, ending a four-game losing streak.

“Coming off a losing streak and the first two games of the series, the way we lost, it wasn’t a good way to lose,” Ohtani said through a team translator. “So, it was huge for us and the team to come up with this. We showed that we can beat any team.”

Boston closer Matt Barnes (1-1) retired the first two batters in the ninth before giving up a bloop single to Mike Trout.

Ohtani followed with his major league high-tying 12th home run, tucked just inside the Pesky Pole in right field. It was Ohtani’s second homer of the series and stopped Boston’s three-game winning string.

“I personally think he’s the most physically gifted baseball player that we’ve ever seen,” Barnes said.

“I don’t know that you’re ever going to see someone who can throw 100, 101 and hit the ball 600 feet. He’s a special player and incredibly talented. Hopefully, he stays healthy and has a long career,” he said.

Raisel Iglesias (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Mike Mayers recorded his second save of the season.

Drew Butera’s two-run single capped a four-run second off Nathan Eovaldi that put the Angels ahead 4-0.

Rafael Devers hit a three-run drive and Kevin Plawecki hit his first homer in a four-run fifth that gave Boston a 5-4 lead.

Eovaldi allowed four runs with six strikeouts in five innings. Angels starter Jose Quintana gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings, striking out seven.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: Ohtani’s next pitching start has been pushed back a day, to Tuesday against Cleveland, because of fatigue. … OF Justin Upton was not in the lineup. Manager Joe Maddon said it was a scheduled day of rest… INF David Fletcher was not in the starting lineup because he is dealing with what Maddon called an issue in the groin/hip area…RHP Alex Cobb (right middle finger blister) is progressing and could return later in the week.

Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock was reinstated Sunday from the COVID-19-related injured list. … OF/INF Kiké Hernandez continues to rehab from a right hamstring strain. He played center field for Triple-A Worcester Sunday, recording five RBIs on two homers, including the first grand slam in the history of the team’s new park. … INF Christian Arroyo (left hand contusion) was scheduled to hit off a tee on Sunday with a plan to take batting practice by Wednesday. … Manager Alex Cora said OF/INF Danny Santana (severe right foot infection in spring training) is “almost there.”

UP NEXT

Angels: Open a 10-game homestand Monday, facing Cleveland for the first time this season. LHP Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 6.14 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start of the season, limited to 60-65 pitches after throwing 40 pitches in a two-inning relief appearance May 12. Indians rookie LHP Sam Hentges (1-0, 3.29 ERA) is scheduled to make his sixth career appearance, second career start.

Red Sox: After an off-day Monday, Boston faces Toronto for the start of a six-game road trip. Boston LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 4.15 ERA) and Toronto LHP Hyun Jin Ryu (3-2, 2.95) are scheduled to face off for the second time this season. Rodriguez earned the win on April 20 at Boston, with six strikeouts in six innings, while Ryu took the loss, allowing four runs in five innings.

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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Latest: Israeli jets stage heavy airstrikes in Gaza City

GAZA CITY — Israeli warplanes have unleashed a series of heavy airstrikes at several locations of Gaza City.

Explosions rocked the city from north to south for 10 minutes early Monday.

The airstrikes were heavier, on a wider area and lasted longer than a series of air raids 24 hours earlier in which 42 Palestinians were killed. That attack was the deadliest single attack in the latest round of violence between Israel ad the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza.

In a brief statement, the Israel Defense Forces says only that “IDF fighter jets are striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip.”

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TOP NEWS IN THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT:

— Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flatten three buildings and kill at least 42 people on Sunday

— An AP reporter documents the terrifying final minutes of leaving the Gaza office before it is blown up by the Israelis

— An Israeli airstrike destroys a high-rise building that housed The Associated Press office in the Gaza Strip despite urgent demands by the news agency to halt. AP’s top editor called for an independent investigation into the airstrike.

— Protesters in major US cities urge Israelis to halt attacks on the Gaza Strip

— French police use tear gas to quell pro-Palestinian march that was banned in Paris

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RABAT, Morocco — Moroccans have taken to the streets in the capital and other cities to protest Israeli air raids on Gaza during clashes with the Hamas extremist group that rules the Palestinian territory.

Sizeable demonstrations were held Sunday across the North African kingdom, including in Casablanca, the country’s largest city, where thousands waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans denouncing Israel’s military actions. Protesters also gathered outside the Parliament building in Rabat.

In December, Morocco announced it had resumed relations with Israel as part of a U.S. brokered deal. As part of the agreement, the United States agreed to recognize Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region.

On Friday, Moroccan King Mohammed VI ordered forty tons of aid to be be shipped to the West Bank and Gaza in solidarity with Palestinians in the wake of recent clashes.

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UNITED NATIONS — The three U.N. Security Council nations trying to get the U.N.’s most powerful body to take action on the escalating violence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers say they are still trying to get the U.S. to support a statement including a call to end the fighting.

China, Norway and Tunisia tried unsuccessfully at closed meetings Monday and Wednesday to get agreement on a council statement. Diplomats say the U.S. argued such a statement could interfere with diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation.

There also was no agreement at Sunday’s first open meeting on the violence.

The ambassadors of China, Norway and Tunisia issued a joint statement on the Gaza conflict demanding an immediate end of all acts of violence, provocation and destruction.

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PARIS — A media watchdog group is asking the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s bombing of buildings housing The Associated Press and other media organizations in Gaza as a possible war crime.

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says in a letter to the court’s chief prosecutor that the offices of 23 international and local media organizations have been destroyed over the past six days.

The group says the Israeli military’s “intentional targeting of media organizations and intentional destruction of their equipment” could violate one of the court’s statues. It says the attacks serve “to reduce, if not neutralize, the media’s capacity to inform the public.”

Israel’s military says Hamas was operating inside the building where AP had offices and accused the militant group of using journalists as human shields.

AP journalists and other tenants were safely evacuated after the Israeli military warned of an imminent strike Saturday.

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UNITED NATIONS — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is urging the United States to join the 14 other members of the U.N. Security Council and support a statement urging a halt to violence between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

He also wants the U.S. to support calling for a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Wang chaired a high-level emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sunday and said the “dangerous and urgent” situation calls for an immediate cease-fire.

He urges Israel to exercise restraint, stop evictions and settlement expansion, “put an end to the violence, threats and provocations against Muslims” and respect the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem. He says Palestinians must avoid steps that would escalate the situation, avoid civilian casualties and work for an immediate de-escalation.

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UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says the United States “has been working tirelessly through diplomatic channels” to try to end the conflict between Palestinians in Gaza and Israel, and is warning that the current cycle of violence will only put a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict further out of reach.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield told a high-level emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with senior Israeli, Palestinian and regional leaders.

At the same meeting, Israel’s U.N. ambassador called the rocket attacks launched by Gaza’s Hamas rulers against Israel “completely premeditated” to gain political power and replace the Palestinian Authority as the leader of the Palestinians.

He said the rocketing of Israel was part of “a vicious plan” by Hamas, which not only seeks the destruction of Israel but is vying to take power in the West Bank and was frustrated when Abbas postponed elections last month that would have been the first in 15 years.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urging them to end violence and expressing support for mediation by Egypt and the United States.

Rutte said in a statement Sunday that the Netherlands “stands ready to help” using its good relations with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and the U.S.

He says that “a further escalation and yet more Palestinian and Israeli civilian casualties must be avoided.”

Rutte says Israel “has the right to defend itself” against rocket attacks but says the country must “act proportionally within the borders of international law.”

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UNITED NATIONS — Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki is accusing Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and carrying out a policy of “apartheid” in Jerusalem.

Al-Malki told a high-level emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday that “there are no words that can describe the horrors that our people are enduring,” listing families and children and infants killed by Israeli airstrikes.

“Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza, one family at a time,” he said. “Israel is trying to uproot Palestinians from Jerusalem. It’s expelling families, one home, neighborhood at a time. Israel is executing our people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

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ISRAEL — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday renewed his claim that a Gaza building leveled by an Israeli airstrike housed a Hamas office as well as American and Middle East news organizations, but gave no evidence.

Netanyahu spoke to CBS’s Face the Nation about ongoing violence between Israeli forces and the armed Palestinian group Hamas, and about Saturday’s airstrike that leveled the building housing Gaza offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera news organizations. “It’s a perfectly legitimate target,” he said.

Asked if he had provided any evidence of Hamas presence in the building in a call later Saturday with President Joe Biden, Netanyahu said, “We pass it through our intelligence people.”

Netanyahu gave no time frame for when Israel would be ready to halt its side of the fighting after nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages. “We hope that it doesn’t continue very long, but we were attacked by Hamas,” he said.

Asked about reports that Hamas had agreed to an Egypt-brokered cease-fire but Israel had not, he said, “That’s not what I know.”

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UNITED NATIONS — A U.N. Mideast envoy says the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has displaced some 34,000 Palestinians from their homes.

Tor Wennesland told the Security Council on Sunday that over 40 U.N. schools in Gaza have been turned into shelters. He says the schools have limited water and no access to food or health care, and serve “for protection purposes only.”

After nearly a week of fighting, Wennesland called for calm and said further escalation would have “devastating consequences for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

He called Hamas’ rocket fire from civilian neighborhoods in Gaza into Israeli population centers a violation of international law. He also urged Israel to show “maximum restraint to spare civilians and civilian objects” in its operations in Gaza.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 42 people Sunday, medics said. It is the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.

The violence, which came as international mediators worked to broker a cease-fire and stave off an Israeli ground invasion of the territory, marked the worst fighting here since the devastating 2014 war in Gaza.

The airstrikes Sunday hit a busy downtown street of residential buildings and storefronts over the course of five minutes just after midnight, destroying two adjacent buildings and one about 50 yards (meters) down the road.

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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations chief is appealing to Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza to immediately stop the “utterly appalling” escalation in fighting and “senseless cycle of bloodshed, terror and destruction” at the start of a high-level emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the virtual meeting on Sunday that “the United Nations is actively engaging all sides towards an immediate cease-fire.”

He warned that the most serious escalation in violence in Gaza in years “only perpetuates the cycles of death, destruction and despair, and pushes farther to the horizon any hopes of coexistence and peace.”

The open meeting is scheduled to be addressed by the Palestinian foreign minister and the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, China, Tunisia, Norway, Ireland, Algeria and the deputy foreign minister of Russia along with ambassadors from other nations on the 15-member council, an Israeli representative and the head of the Arab League.

Guterres said he is “appalled by the increasingly large numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties” from Israeli airstrikes, and deplores Israeli casualties from rockets launched from Gaza. He called the destruction of media offices in Gaza “extremely concerning,” stressing that “journalists must be allowed to work free of fear and harassment.”

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Gaza Health Ministry says the death toll from Israeli strikes on a main thoroughfare in Gaza City has climbed to 33, including 12 women and eight children.

It was the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers erupted nearly a week ago. The airstrikes hit Wahda Street, a major thoroughfare.

The ministry says another 50 people were wounded in the strikes early Sunday, mostly women and children.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

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ISTANBUL — Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency has offered to share its Gaza offices with The Associated Press and Al Jazeera after Israel bombed the building that housed the media offices.

Anadolu said its Director-General Serdar Karagoz made the offer in letters to AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt and Al-Jazeera’s chairman.

Karagoz said the Turkish wire service was “appalled” by the Israeli military’s targeting of media offices.

“Since this recent conflict has escalated over the past week, there is an apparent pattern of targeting journalists who are carrying out their professional duties so as to block coverage of the situation on the ground,” Karagoz said.

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BRUSSELS — The European Union’s foreign policy chief says the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers will talk Tuesday about what the EU can do to help end the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Josep Borrell tweeted Sunday that he convened the special videoconference “in view of the ongoing escalation between Israel and Palestine and the unacceptable number of civilian casualties.”

He added that “we will coordinate and discuss how the EU can best contribute to end the current violence.”

The latest outbreak of violence began in east Jerusalem earlier this month, when Palestinians protested attempts by settlers to forcibly evict a number of Palestinian families from their homes and Israeli police measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers fired rockets toward Jerusalem late Monday, triggering an Israeli assault on Gaza.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has denounced the “unacceptable” spiral of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the deaths in particular of children was a “sign that they don’t want to build the future but want to destroy it.”

Francis prayed for peace, calm and international help to open a path of dialogue during his Sunday blessing, delivered from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

The pope said: “I ask myself: this hatred and vendetta, what will it bring? Do we truly think that we can build peace by destroying the other?”

In unusually pointed comments, Francis added: “In the name of God, who created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity and are called to live as brothers, I appeal for calm” and an end to the violence.

Israeli airstrikes have been pounding Gaza City for days as heavy fighting has broken out between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers. The Gaza Health Ministry said 10 women and eight children were among the 26 people killed in Sunday’s airstrikes, with another 50 people wounded in the attack.

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JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City flattened three buildings and killed at least 23 people on Sunday, medics said, making it the deadliest single attack since heavy fighting broke out between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers nearly a week ago.

The Gaza Health Ministry said another 50 people were wounded in the attack. Rescuers were racing to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it destroyed the home of Gaza’s top Hamas leader in a separate strike. It was the third such attack in the last two days.

Israel appears to have stepped up strikes in recent days to inflict as much damage as possible on Hamas as efforts to broker a cease-fire accelerate. A U.S. diplomat is in the region to try to de-escalate tensions, and the U.N. Security Council is set to meet Sunday.

The military said it struck the homes of Yehiyeh Sinwar, the most senior Hamas leader inside the territory, and his brother Muhammad, another senior Hamas member. On Saturday it destroyed the home of Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior figure in Hamas’ political branch.

Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman confirmed the strike on Sinwar’s house in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis to army radio.

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JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Sunday it destroyed the home of Gaza’s top Hamas leader, the third such attack in as many days, after nearly a week of heavy Israeli airstrikes on the territory. The Palestinian militant group ruling Gaza has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli warplanes have struck several buildings and roads in a vital part of Gaza City early Sunday.

According to photos circulated by residents and journalists, the airstrikes created a crater that blocked one of the main roads leading to Shifa, the largest hospital in the strip.

The Health Ministry said the latest airstrikes left at least two dead and 25 wounded, including children and women. It said rescuers are still digging through the rubble and had so far pulled up five more wounded.

Two hours into the heavy bombardment, there has been no comment from the Israeli military.

Bowman parks 48 in familiar spot in victory lane at Dover

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Moments after he smoked the field at Dover, Alex Bowman channeled fictional goofball NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby as flames simmered under the left rear of his Chevy.

“Help me Tom Cruise, I’m on fire,” he said, quoting a popular line from “Talladega Nights.”

At Hendrick Motorsports, if you ain’t first, you’re, well, at Dover it was second, third and fourth.

Bowman parked the No. 48 Chevrolet in its familiar spot in victory lane at Dover International Speedway, leading a 1-2-3-4 finish for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday.

Bowman — who described himself as a “race car driver slash weirdo” — led Hendrick to only the fourth top-four sweep by a single team in NASCAR Cup Series history. Kyle Larson led a race-high 263 laps and finished second, Chase Elliott was third and William Byron fourth.

The milestones kept coming at the Monster Mile. Hendrick Motorsports won its 267th career NASCAR race, one shy of the team record held by Petty Enterprises.

“I want to be the guy that get those wins for Mr. H,” Bowman said.

Not so fast, said Larson.

“I hope I’m the driver to do it,” Larson said.

Bowman — who added he’s “had my share of doubters” throughout his career — won his second race of the season and passed 1,000 laps led in his career. But the victory celebration at the Monster Mile had to seem familiar for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion now in IndyCar, won a track-record 11 times at Dover in the 48.

Turns out, Johnson’s successor is just as adept at handling the rigors of the concrete mile track.

“I try to run the Jimmie Johnson line,” Bowman said.

Bowman has followed two of NASCAR’s biggest superstars, first taking the wheel of the No. 88 after Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired and made the move to the 48 this season.

He’s tried to escape their large shadows by doing things his own way — though after early struggles in his career at Dover, he texted Johnson for tips that he followed to this day.

“You can’t be Jimmie Johnson light,” Hendrick said. “You’ve got to be Alex Bowman.”

Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives put their spin into the game plan and flawless pit road execution help the 48 win this season for the first time since April at Richmond. Bowman joined Martin Truex Jr. as the only driver this season with multiple victories.

Joey Logano of Joe Gibbs Racing was the best of the rest in fifth.

A year after fans were not allowed to attend and Dover held two Cup races on the same weekend, a sellout crowd of 20,000 fans was announced at the Monster Mile and they were ready to bust loose. Going mostly maskless — though Miles the Monster wore his — fans formed a deep line at the Chase Elliott souvenir hauler inside the fan zone. Dover also partnered with the Delaware Division of Public Health and about 100 fans received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Sunday and another 50 or so did the same a day earlier during the Xfinity race. While 20,000 fans were certainly dwarfed by the six-figure crowds that jammed Dover in the early aughts, this crowd was more festive compared to recent years. At least one fan in the grandstands dressed as Kyle Busch, others hugged and chugged beers, and some were comfortable asking strangers to snap photos as they posed for pictures in front of the 46-foot, car-crushing Monster statue.

They watched Larson lead a parade for all but a handful of laps into the third stage. Larson, who on Saturday made a virtual visit with students at the Urban Youth Racing School in Philadelphia, won the first two stages of the race and seemed poised to turn this race into a rout.

Bowman spoiled the run when he beat the No. 5 off pit road thanks to a 12-second stop and led the final 98 laps — one more reason why Hendrick is on the brink of signing the 28-year-old driver to a multi-year contract extension.

“I want to be there. They want me to drive their race cars,” Bowman said.

WHO’S HOT

HMS. Hendrick joined Peter DePaolo Racing (1956 at Titusville and 1957 at North Wilkesboro) and Roush Fenway Racing (2005 Homestead-Miami Speedway) as the only race teams to claim the top four spots in a Cup race. HMS led 382 of the 400 laps at Dover.

WHO’S NOT

Aric Almirola’s woeful season continued at Dover when his No. 10 Ford slammed into the wall with less than 100 laps left in the race. Almirola crashed out for the second straight week and the Stewart-Haas Racing driver has only one top-10 finish in 2021.

“My body’s hurting,” Almirola said. “It doesn’t want to take any more hard hits like that.”

DOVER AND OUT

Dover wrapped its only NASCAR weekend of the season. The track traditionally held two NASCAR weekends but moved one race date to Nashville Superspeedway. Nashville will have a Cup race on June 20. The 1.33-mile concrete track was built in 2001 by Dover Motorsports and hosted NASCAR and IndyCar events until 2011. Nashville Superspeedway held Xfinity and Truck events, as well as IndyCar races from 2001 until 2011. Dover hosted one race weekend in 1969 and 1970 and then held two races every season from 1971 to 2020.

UP NEXT

NASCAR heads to Texas and the Circuit of the Americas for a road course race. COTA joined Indianapolis and Road America in rural Wisconsin as new road course events on a 2021 schedule that already included Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval.

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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Missing Texas tiger transported to animal sanctuary

HOUSTON (AP) — A tiger that frightened residents after it was last seen briefly wandering around a Houston neighborhood was transported to a wildlife sanctuary on Sunday after police found the animal a day earlier following a nearly week-long search.

The 9-month-old male named India is now being cared for at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, an animal sanctuary in Murchison, Texas, located southeast of Dallas, said Noelle Almrud, the sanctuary’s senior director.

“Black Beauty Ranch will provide safe sanctuary for him and give him a proper diet, enrichment, an expansive naturally wooded habitat where he can safely roam and will provide everything else he needs to be the healthy wild tiger he deserves to be,” she said.

The sanctuary is home to nearly 800 domestic and exotic animals, including two other tigers who were found in recent years — one in Houston in 2019 and another in February in San Antonio.

Houston police announced Saturday night that India had been found safe and unharmed. In a short video tweeted by Houston police, Cmdr. Ron Borza was seen sitting next to the tiger, petting the animal.

The tiger was held at BARC, the city of Houston’s animal shelter, until officials with the sanctuary picked him up Sunday morning.

Authorities had been searching for the tiger since it was spotted May 9 in a west Houston neighborhood. At the time, it was nearly shot by an off-duty deputy before being whisked away in a car by Victor Hugo Cuevas, who police allege is the owner.

At a news conference Saturday evening, Borza said that Cuevas’ wife, Giorgiana, turned over the tiger to police on Saturday after a friend of hers reached out to officials at BARC.

“It is Victor’s tiger. That’s what I was told by (Giorgiana Cuevas) … She says they’ve had that animal for nine months,” Borza said. He alleged that the tiger was passed around to different people but that Cuevas’ wife knew where the tiger was at all times this week as authorities searched for it.

Police are still trying to determine where exactly the tiger was held this week and if any charges related to having the tiger will be filed. Tigers are not allowed within Houston city limits under a city ordinance unless the handler, such as a zoo, is licensed to have exotic animals.

But Cuevas’ attorney, Michael W. Elliott, on Saturday night continued to insist his client doesn’t own the tiger.

“Victor was not the primary owner of India nor did India stay with him the majority of the time,” Elliott told The Associated Press. “Victor was however involved in the caretaking of India often. Victor loves India as anyone else would love a favorite pet … He treated India with love and fantastic treatment in all respects.”

Cuevas was arrested Monday by Houston police and charged with evading arrest for allegedly fleeing his home with the tiger after officers had responded to a call about a dangerous animal.

At the time of his arrest by Houston police, Cuevas was already out on bond for a murder charge in a 2017 fatal shooting in neighboring Fort Bend County. Cuevas has maintained the shooting was self-defense, Elliott said.

Cuevas was released on a separate bond for the evading arrest charge on Wednesday. But prosecutors in Fort Bend County then sought to have him held with no bond on the murder charge. After an all-day hearing on Friday, a judge revoked Cuevas’ current $125,000 bond on the murder charge and issued a new bond for $300,000. He remains jailed.

During Friday’s court hearing, Waller County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Wes Manion, who lives in the Houston neighborhood where the tiger was seen, testified he interacted with the animal for about 10 minutes to make sure it didn’t go after someone else. He said Cuevas came out of his house yelling, “Don’t kill it,” grabbed the tiger by the collar and kissed its head before leading it back inside his home. Various videos of the tiger’s encounter with Manion were posted on social media.

Elliott has said Cuevas did nothing illegal because Texas has no statewide law forbidding private ownership of tigers and other exotic animals.

Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, which runs the sanctuary, said Sunday while India might have appeared to be safe, “Big cats like India express natural, unpredictable behaviors that can occur at any moment.” Borza said India already weighs 175 pounds (79 kg), it can “do a lot of damage” and will only get bigger.

“Situations like this are why we are working to pass federal legislation. The Big Cat Public Safety Act would prohibit keeping big cats as pets,” Block said.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

Durant, Irving power Nets past Cavs for No. 2 seed in East

NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin started it with a behind-the-back pass and Kevin Durant finished it by slamming down a toss off the backboard.

The Brooklyn Nets saved their best for last, ending the regular season with their highlight play of the season.

Now it’s time to forget that and everything else that’s already happened.

“Whatever we did so far is out the window,” Kevin Durant said.

“It’s a new season for us and I think that’s the mentality we all want to have. We did some solid things throughout the regular season but we just want to continue to keep getting better but realize that the regular season is over, it’s a new vibe for us.”

Durant had 23 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds and the Nets took the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 123-109 on Sunday night.

Kyrie Irving added 17 points and joined an elite list of shooters for the Nets, who will open the playoffs next weekend against either Boston or Washington. They meet Tuesday in the play-in tournament to determine the No. 7 seed.

Durant made his first eight shots, including the dunk to finish the standout play, to bounce back nicely from a 4-for-17 outing Saturday. It was a strong finale to his first season back after missing 2019-20 while recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

The Nets rested James Harden after he played the last two games following an 18-game absence with a right hamstring strain. That meant Brooklyn finished the regular season with just eight appearances from its Big Three, going 6-2.

But the Nets still managed to finish 48-24, holding off Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed and setting a franchise record for the most games over .500 at any point in a season.

“I think the goal for us was to try to be as healthy as possible by the end of the year and to keep everyone on the same page and excited about what we’re doing, so mission accomplished there,” Nets coach Steve Nash said.

Collin Sexton scored 16 points but was ejected midway through the third quarter for a flagrant foul against Durant. Durant was originally called for the foul, but replay showed Sexton elbowed Durant in the face on his drive, so the call was changed to a Flagrant 2, which carries an automatic ejection.

Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade had 18 points for the Cavaliers. They sat Kevin Love and a number of other players in their 13th loss in the last 14 games of a 22-50 season.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he thanked his players, calling them a pleasure to coach.

“We talked about all the ups and downs that we’ve seen this year and we never had a bad day of work,” he said.

Irving shot 7 for 11 from the field and 3 for 3 from 3-point range. He finished at 50.6% overall, 40.2% from behind the arc and 92.2% on free throws, becoming the ninth player to finish a 50/40/90 season. Nash did it four times and Durant did it once.

The Nets led 67-56 at halftime, with their final basket coming on the play that had fans and players out of their seats. Griffin grabbed a loose ball out of the air and in one motion threw it behind his back ahead to Irving, who passed it ahead to James. James tossed it high off the backboard for a sprinting Durant to slam down.

James, recently signed for the rest of the season after a pair of 10-day contracts, worried that he would be in trouble if Durant hadn’t finished the dunk.

“I’m just glad he caught it because like I said, my Nets career could have been really short,” he said.

TIP-INS

Cavaliers: Darius Garland sat out after returning from a seven-game absence with a sprained left ankle to play Friday against Washington. … Ending a season in which team outings were largely impossible because of coronavirus protocols, Bickerstaff said the Cavs had an outdoor rooftop dinner in Brooklyn.

Nets: Brooklyn finished 18-3 at home against the East. … James had 14 points and Jeff Green scored 13.

FOR THE FRO

The Nets played a video tribute for Jarrett Allen in his first game in Brooklyn since being dealt to Cleveland in January as part of the multiteam deal for Harden. He got a warm ovation when the starting lineups were announced and some fans chanted his name when he shot free throws in the first quarter.

Archives for May 2021

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