Health News

Top judges in Brazil want review after deadly police raid

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Several justices from Brazil’s Supreme Court say a ruling last year that banned police raids into Rio de Janeiro favelas, or slums, must now be reviewed after one of the city’s deadliest police operations.

Brazil’s Supreme Court issued a ruling last year prohibiting police operations in Rio’s favelas during the pandemic unless “absolutely exceptional.”

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Supreme Court justice Marco Aurélio Mello said the May 6 raid should be investigated, but didn’t say whether it violated the earlier ruling. Rather, he said that the court’s ruling should have been reviewed as the pandemic persisted.

“The decision stemmed from an assumption that the injunction would be temporary and there would be an obstacle for a few months,” he said. “The state is the law. Trafficking really needs to be fought.”

Three other justices from the 11-member court agreed with Mello that the issue must now be revisited. They spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the issue.

Authorities said one police officer and 27 people described by the police as criminals died in the raid. Residents and activists claimed human rights abuses.

Last year’s Supreme Court ruling came after police fatally shot a 14-year-old in a home where there was no indication of any illegal activity. It caused a decline in police operations throughout the middle of last year, as reflected by a plunge in the number of shootouts reported by Crossfire, a non-governmental group that monitors violence, and in official state data on deaths resulting from police intervention. But both indicators have crept back up to around pre-pandemic levels.

Rio’s police claim that the May 6 operation in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio’s north zone was the result of 10 months of intelligence gathering. It issued 21 arrest warrants, but only arrested three of the targets.

Justice Mello said that the action in Jacarezinho cannot be classified as “intelligence work,” given how many deaths it produced. He said an investigation should be brought to the federal level.

“We don’t have the death penalty here. Criminals need to be arrested. We must obstruct the entry of weapons in Brazil, but it is not possible to have an event of this magnitude and think that there isn’t something out of context,” he said.

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin requested investigations and said there were “indications of arbitrary execution.”

Sociologist Daniel Hirata of the Fluminense Federal University criticized the police operation.

“Today in Rio, we have the use of force without respect for legal limitations,” he said. “When you have an operation with almost 30 dead, something has gone wrong.”

Tearful reunions mark second Mother’s Day under pandemic

Last Mother’s Day, they celebrated with bacon and eggs over FaceTime. This time, Jean Codianni of Los Angeles flew to New Jersey to surprise her 74-year-old mother, now that both have been vaccinated against the disease that has stolen uncountable hugs and kisses around the world.

“You forget how your mom smells, how she looks. It’s like, she never looks as beautiful as the last time you saw her,” Codianni said. “We understand how privileged we are, how lucky we are. Hundreds of thousands of people don’t get to celebrate Mother’s Day, or are celebrating it under a veil of grief.”

Joyous reunions among vaccinated parents and children across the country marked this year’s Mother’s Day, the second one celebrated during the coronavirus pandemic. Some families separated by worries of transmitting the virus saw each other for the first time in more than a year, emboldened by their vaccinations, as many others grieved for mothers lost to the virus.

For Pam Grimes, Mother’s Day last year remains a fuzzy yet “scary and depressing” memory, blurred together with the rest of the pandemic’s early months. In contrast, when her vaccinated adult grandchildren gathered at her Panama City, Florida, home to celebrate this year, they hugged and laughed and teased each other.

“The whole world felt better,” Grimes said.

Historian Andy Verhoff didn’t see his mother for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s. But for Mother’s Day, he drove from his home in Columbus, Ohio, to spend a day in rural Putnam County, Ohio with her, stopping at the first historical marker they’d worked on together. Both mother and son were vaccinated, giving them the confidence to take their masks off — which made it feel like a normal, pre-pandemic day, Verhoff said.

“We never let the mask get in the way of things,” Verhoff said. “It was just nice to not have my glasses fog up.”

Some long-term care facilities across the country prepared for the special day by facilitating in-person visits, especially as some states have relaxed visitation rules in recent months given rising vaccination rates and dropping case numbers.

In suburban Detroit, residents with dementia at Addington Place lately have been allowed to see visitors in person. But the big change Sunday was their ability to leave for a special meal with family members and return without being quarantined. Moms were also receiving roses from staff.

“Residents can feel the energy now that families are coming in,” said Kelley Fulkerson, business office manager at Addington in Northville. “There is excitement among staff — and tears and excitement among families waiting to see loved ones.”

St. Joseph of Harahan — an assisted living facility in Harahan, Louisiana — held a parking lot parade Friday with dozens of cars honking and family members yelling well wishes for Mother’s Day.

Residents in masks sat behind caution tape and waved to loved ones whom they had waited to see for more than a year in some cases. Workers passed out balloons and flowers.

Cathedral Village, a nursing home and rehabilitation center in Philadelphia, was spacing out weekend visits for Mother’s Day, said supervisor Hannah Han. Social workers were helping some families that wanted to take people home to celebrate. Visits in private rooms required masks and gowns.

Mary Daniel, who last year took a job as a dishwasher so she could see her husband at a long-term care facility in Jacksonville, Florida, said holidays are important to maintain traditions with family. She said spouses and others should be recognized as essential caregivers who offer emotional support and be allowed inside.

“We are seeing progress with people being allowed to see loved ones and visit or take them home for holidays, but we are still seeing individual facilities who refuse to follow the federal guidance on allowing visits,” said Daniel, who started a group called Caregivers for Compromise-Because Isolation Kills Too.

Still, the virus limited the holiday this year for Winslow Swan, who served as his 83-year-old mother’s primary caretaker in Ellijay, Georgia, until last year, when health troubles forced him to move her into a nursing home in town during the middle of the pandemic.

New COVID-19 cases in the past month has led to the facility to tighten its visitation restrictions, and Swan likely won’t see his mother for this year’s holiday, though he has considered an impromptu window visit.

“It’s sad,” he said. “I know the room that’s she’s in and there is a possibility that I can find her and see her through the window.”

—-

Follow AP’s coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Medina Spirit could lose Ky. Derby win; track bans Baffert

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Medina Spirit’s victory in the Kentucky Derby is in serious jeopardy because of a failed postrace drug test, one that led Churchill Downs to suspend Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Sunday in the latest scandal to plague the sport.

Baffert denied all wrongdoing and promised to be fully transparent with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission during its investigation. Baffert’s barn received word Saturday that Medina Spirit had tested positive for an excessive amount of the steroid betamethasone, which is sometimes used to treat pain and inflammation in horses.

Medina Spirit’s win over Mandaloun in the Derby stands — for now.

“To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit’s results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner,” Churchill Downs officials said in a statement shortly after Baffert held a hastily planned morning news conference outside his barn to announce and respond to the allegations.

The track said failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of horses and jockeys, the sport’s integrity and the Derby’s reputation.

“Churchill Downs will not tolerate it,” the statement read. “Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack.”

Medina Spirit is expected to run in the Preakness on Saturday, barring some abrupt change in plans or a decision from officials at Pimlico or Maryland’s racing commission that would prevent him from entering the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

Officials from 1/ST Racing, a branding arm of the Stronach Group that owns and operates Pimlico, and the Maryland Jockey Club said Sunday they would consult with state authorities and that “any decision regarding the entry of Medina Spirit in the 146th Preakness Stakes will be made after review of the facts.” Officials rescheduled the post position draw for Tuesday afternoon, moving it back a day in light of the uncertainty.

“I got the biggest gut-punch in racing for something that I didn’t do,” Baffert said of the failed drug test. “And it’s disturbing. It’s an injustice to the horse. … I don’t know what’s going on in racing right now, but there’s something not right. I don’t feel embarrassed. I feel like I was wronged. We’re going to do our own investigation. We’re going to be transparent with the racing commission, like we’ve always been.

“He’s a great horse. He doesn’t deserve this. He ran a gallant race,” Baffert added.

The only horse to be disqualified for medication after winning the Derby is Dancer’s Image in 1968.

Medina Spirit is Baffert’s fifth horse known to have failed a drug test in just over a year. Flanked by his attorney Craig Robertson, Baffert said his barn was told that Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone — slightly more than double what the trainer said was the allowable amount — in a postrace sample.

Betamethasone is the same drug that was found in the system of Gamine, another Baffert-trained horse who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks last September. Gamine was eventually disqualified from that finish because of that test and Baffert was fined $1,500. Betamethasone is legal under Kentucky racing rules, though it must be cleared 14 days before a horse races.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” Baffert said. “I know everybody is not out to get me, but there’s definitely something wrong. Why is it happening to me? You know, there’s problems in racing, but it’s not Bob Baffert.”

Mandaloun, which lost the Derby by a half-length, is not going to the Preakness. If Mandaloun is declared the Kentucky Derby winner, that would mean the Triple Crown pursuit for 2021 would end right there. It is unknown how long Kentucky officials will take to determine whether the results of the Derby should stand or will change.

If Medina Spirit is disqualified, his connections will not receive the $1.86 million winner’s share of the Derby purse money. But for bettors, anything that happens next won’t matter — those who cashed in on Medina Spirit still win, those who didn’t still lose and those who backed Mandaloun missed out on a winning ticket that would have returned more than $50 on a $2 wager.

Baffert was planning to saddle Medina Spirit and Concert Tour in the Preakness, going for a record eighth victory in that race. Except for 2020 when the races were run out of order due to the coronavirus pandemic, Baffert is undefeated with a Derby winner in the Preakness.

Last month, Baffert won an appeals case before the Arkansas Racing Commission after he had been suspended by Oaklawn Park stewards for 15 days for a pair of positive drug tests involving two of his horses that won at the track on May 2, 2020. The horses tested positive for the painkiller lidocaine, which Baffert said they were exposed to inadvertently.

But as Baffert insisted that horse racing can do better preventing doping, he also acknowledged the spotlight.

“I know I’m the most scrutinized trainer and have millions of eyes on me. But you know what? I don’t have a problem with that,” Baffert said. “The last thing I want to do is do something that would jeopardize the greatest 2 minutes in sports.”

Animal Wellness Action executive director Marty Irby said in a statement that racing authorities “should throw the book” at those found guilty of violations.

The failed drug test is just another in a long series of events shadowing the sport — and the Derby, its best known and most prestigious race — in recent years.

Maximum Security crossed the line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified by Churchill Downs stewards for interference in what was an unprecedented move. Country House, which crossed the line second in that race, is now considered the winner.

In March 2020, Jason Servis — who was Maximum Security’s trainer — was part of a sweeping indictment that involved trainers, veterinarians and pharmacists in a horse doping ring. Baffert faced the doping allegations in Arkansas and Kentucky last year with Gamine, and now this.

“I’m worried about our sport,” Baffert said. “Our sport, we’ve taken a lot of hits as a sport. These are pretty serious accusations here, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it and find out. We know we didn’t do it.”

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tocchet won’t return as coach of Coyotes after 4 seasons

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Rick Tocchet turned the Arizona Coyotes into playoff contenders, even led them to the postseason during the pandemic season.

The Coyotes were unable to consistently cross the bridge into the playoffs in four seasons under Tocchet, so new Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong opted for a change.

Arizona announced Sunday that Tocchet is out as coach, a day after the team missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons.

“After meeting with Rick, we have agreed that a coaching change is in the best interest of the club,” said Armstrong, who was hired last September. “This was a very difficult decision, but we believe that it is time for a new direction and new leadership. Rick is a very good coach and an incredible person, and we sincerely appreciate all his hard work and dedication to the Coyotes the past four years.”

The Coyotes reached the postseason last year when the format was rejiggered due to the coronavirus pandemic and beat Nashville in four games before losing to Colorado in five.

Arizona was in playoff position heading into the final month of the 2020-21 season, holding the fourth spot in the West Division before losing 12 of 15 games to get eliminated. The Coyotes closed a 24-26-6 season with a pair of wins over San Jose to finish three points behind St. Louis for the West’s final playoff spot.

“It’s been an honor to coach the Coyotes the past four seasons,” Tocchet said. “I have great respect and admiration for all the players I coached in Arizona, along with my coaching staff, the medical staff, the equipment managers, the PR staff and the team services staff. They are the best in the NHL, and I appreciate all their help and hard work.”

Tocchet was a tough-nosed player during 18 NHL seasons, winning the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1992. Tocchet spent two seasons as Tampa Bay’s head coach and won two Stanley Cups as an assistant at Pittsburgh before being hired by Arizona in 2017.

The 57-year-old was hired in 2017 to guide a middling team that hadn’t been to the playoffs since the 2012 Western Conference Finals.

Arizona was hit hard by injuries during Tocchet’s tenure, particularly by goalies Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, and repeatedly came up just short of the playoffs.

The Coyotes made playoff pushes in Tocchet’s first two seasons and got into the postseason last year when the NHL expanded the field in the pandemic “bubble” environment.

Tocchet went 125-131-34 at Arizona.

___

More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Zverev beats Berrettini to win his 2nd Madrid Open title

MADRID (AP) — Alexander Zverev continued his impressive form going into the French Open by winning his second Madrid Open title on Sunday.

After beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and fourth-ranked Dominic Thiem in the semifinals, Zverev rallied to defeat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 for his second title this season. The sixth-ranked German also won the Mexican Open in Acapulco in March.

Zverev won his first Madrid title in 2018 in a final against Thiem. The win on Sunday gave him his fourth Masters 1000 title, and first in three years. Zverev will be trying to improve from his fourth-round exit last year at the French Open.

“To do well at the French Open, you need to be playing well during the clay court season,” the 24-year-old Zverev said. “That is in a way important for me, as well. At the end of the day I won a Masters. There’s really very little in terms of bigger than this one right here. I’m happy with this achievement. Obviously, yeah, I look forward to the next few weeks. I look forward to what’s ahead.”

The 10th-ranked Berrettini won the title in Belgrade last week. The Italian has been gradually returning to form after struggling with an abdominal injury that kept him from playing his quarterfinal match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open. The injury kept Berrettini out until Monte Carlo, where he lost his opening match.

“This was my first (Masters 1000) final. Hopefully it’s not going to be my last,” Berrettini said. “But like I said before, I’m really happy on my level. Today unfortunately I think I didn’t play my best tennis.”

After exchanging a break each in the first set, Berrettini opened the tiebreaker with a 5-0 lead but allowed Zverev to come back. The Italian closed it out on his fourth set point after Zverev also squandered a set point in the back-and-forth tiebreaker. It was the first set dropped by Zverev this week.

Zverev, who finished with seven double-faults, evened the match after breaking Berrettini at 4-4 and serving out to clinch the second set at the Magic Box center court, which had its roof closed because of rain in Madrid.

Berrettini, who ended with 50 unforced errors, squandered a break point early in the third set, and Zverev broke him in the following game to take the lead. He earned another break at the end, converting on his second match point to clinch the victory.

In the men’s doubles final, Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina defeated Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 10-8.

The Madrid Open was one of the first sporting events in Spain that allowed the presence of a limited number of fans. The tournament was among those canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Local health workers were honored by tournament organizers before the final on Sunday.

In the women’s edition, Aryna Sabalenka beat top-ranked Ash Barty 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in Saturday’s final.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

___

Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni

Health News

Footer