26 Apr 2024

President Joe Biden says he’s ‘happy to debate’ Donald Trump during interview with Howard Stern

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By AAMER MADHANI (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that he is willing to debate his presumptive Republican opponent, Donald Trump, later this fall – his most definitive comment yet on the issue.

The comment came during an interview with the Sirius XM radio host Howard Stern, who asked Biden whether he would participate in debates against Trump.

“I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” Biden said. “But I’m happy to debate him.”

So far, Biden’s reelection campaign had declined to commit to participating in the debates, a hallmark of every general election presidential campaign since 1976.

The president himself had also been vague, saying in March that whether he debated Trump “depends on his behavior.”

Chris LaCivita, Trump campaign senior adviser, quickly responded to Biden’s remarks on the social media site X: “OK let’s set it up!” The Trump campaign had said the former president is “willing to debate anytime, any place and anywhere,” although Trump did not participate in any of the Republican primary debates this cycle.

The Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced the dates and locations for the three general election debates between the presidential candidates: Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas; Oct. 1 in Petersburg, Virginia; and Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City. The lone vice presidential debate is slated for Sept. 25 in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Biden engages in relatively fewer press interviews than his predecessors, and his aides tend to choose outlets and media avenues outside the traditional press corps that covers the president in Washington. His interview with Stern on Friday, which ran well over an hour, took on a conversational and introspective tone and spanned topics that included Biden’s upbringing, family, and his favorite president (Thomas Jefferson, Biden said).

Less the “shock jock” of old, Stern still commands a loyal audience. And he’s become known for his conversational interviewing skills. He can turn talks with celebrities into revealing discussions, often by asking things others might be afraid to, but not in confrontational ways.

___

Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and David Bauder contributed to this report. Kim reported from Washington.

26 Apr 2024

First person sentenced in St. Paul murder of Alex Becker gets 30-year term

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The first of two men convicted in the murder of 22-year-old Alex Becker, who was shot as he returned to his St. Paul home from work, received a 30-year sentence Friday.

Jurors convicted Detwan Cortell Allen, now 20, of St. Paul, in December of aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder in the killing of Becker. Prosecutors argued he was ambushed in an apparent attempted robbery by Allen and two accomplices.

Alex Becker (Courtesy of Hidy Hammarsten)

The prosecution had argued for the maximum sentence allowed under state sentencing guidelines, 367 months, which is what Judge Paul Yang agreed to.

On Dec. 27, 2022, Becker clocked out at 11:15 p.m. from Goodin Co., the Como Avenue heating and plumbing parts company, and was walking back to his family’s North End home.

Surveillance video showed a Toyota Camry, which had been stolen the night before in Brooklyn Center, go past Becker as he was walking north on Kent Street near Hatch Avenue around 11:51 p.m. Allen, who the prosecution said was driving, made the first turn he could, followed by an immediate U-turn, based on surveillance video.

Allen parked the car and he, Arteze Owen Kinerd and Shaun Lamar Travis allegedly got out.

When Becker walked into his alley between Lawson and Hatch avenues, the trio ran after him, prosecutors said and noted that there was no evidence the men knew Becker.

Officers who were called to the area arrived just after 12 a.m. Dec. 28, 2022, and found Becker lying on the ground, not breathing and with no pulse. His body was still warm. Medics arrived and pronounced him dead.

Investigators found seven 9mm shell casings near Becker’s body. His cellphone and earbuds were found at the scene, according to court documents. Items found on him included his wallet, which included a credit card and $68, and a check for $500.

Kinerd, now 21, pleaded guilty in February to aiding and abetting second-degree intentional murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

In December, Ramsey County District Judge JaPaul Harris acquitted Travis after he waived his right to a jury trial and a bench trial was held instead. Harris concluded there wasn’t a dispute about Travis being present, but said the prosecution didn’t prove all of the elements of an intentional murder charge to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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26 Apr 2024

US says it’s reviewing new information about Israeli unit accused of abuses before the war in Gaza

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By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATTHEW LEE (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed gross human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza began, but it will hold off on any decision about aid to the battalion while it reviews new information provided by Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The undated letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, defers a decision on whether to impose a first-ever block on U.S. aid to an Israeli military unit over its treatment of Palestinians. Israeli leaders, anticipating the U.S. decision this week, have angrily protested any such aid restrictions.

Blinken stressed that overall U.S. military support for Israel’s defense against Hamas and other threats would not be affected by the State Department’s eventual decision on the one unit. Johnson was instrumental this week in muscling through White House-backed legislation providing $26 billion in additional funds for Israel’s defense and for relief of the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

The U.S. declaration concerns a single Israeli unit and its actions against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank before Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began in October. While the unit is not identified in Blinken’s letter, it is believed to be the Netzah Yehuda, which has historically been based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The unit and some of its members have been linked to abuses of civilians in the Palestinian territory, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American man after his detention by the battalion’s forces in 2022.

The Israeli army announced in 2022 that the unit was being redeployed to the Golan Heights near the Syrian and Lebanese borders. More recently, its soldiers were moved to Gaza to fight in the war against Hamas.

Blinken said the Israeli government has so far not adequately addressed the abuses by the military unit. But “the Israeli government has presented new information regarding the status of the unit and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit,” he wrote.

A 1997 act known as the Leahy law obligates the U.S. to cut off military aid to a foreign army unit that it deems has committed grave violations of international law or human rights. But the law allows a waiver if the military has held the offenders responsible and acted to reform the unit.

The Leahy law has never been invoked against close ally Israel.

After State Department reviews, Blinken wrote Johnson, he had determined that two Israeli Defense Force units and several civilian authority units were involved in significant rights abuses. But he also found that one of those two Israeli military units and all the civilian units had taken proper and effective remediation measures.

The reviews come as protests and counterprotests over American military aid for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza are roiling U.S. college campuses as well as election-year politics at home and relations abroad.

Although the amount of money at stake is relatively small, singling out the unit would be embarrassing for Israel, whose leaders often refer to the military as “the world’s most moral army.”

The U.S. and Israeli militaries have close ties, routinely training together and sharing intelligence. It also would amount to another stinging U.S. rebuke of Israel’s policies in the West Bank. The Biden administration has grown increasingly vocal in its criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and recently imposed sanctions on a number of radical settlers for violence against Palestinians.

___

Lee contributed from Beijing. Josef Federman contributed from Jerusalem.

26 Apr 2024

Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City: Keys to the match, projected starting XI and a prediction

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Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Allianz Field
Stream: Apple TV Season Pass
Radio: KSTP-AM 1500 ESPN
Weather: 59 degrees, cloudy, 8 mph south wind
Betting line: MNUFC plus-100; draw plus-250; SKC plus-250

Series history: While nicknamed the “nicest rivalry,” Kansas City has dominated it with 11 wins or four draws in all 20 MLS matchups since 2017,  including a plus-16 goal differential. Sporting won all three games last season by a combined 7-1 scoreline.

Form: MNUFC (4-2-2, 14 points) ended a three-game winless spell with an emphatic 3-0 road win at Charlotte FC on Sunday, which hadn’t lost at Bank of America Stadium in 13 straight matches since May 2023. Kansas City (2-2-5, 11 points) has been leaky defensively, conceding three goals apiece in four of the last five games. Sporting has also scored three goals three times and two goals twice in that span.

Storyline: Head coach Eric Ramsay significantly changed the Loons’ formation and its starting XI at Charlotte. Will he stick with three center backs, instead of the regular two, for a home match against a Western Conference rival?

Stat: With a goal against Charlotte, Tani Oluwaseyi is averaging 1.2 goals per 90 minutes. He replaced Teemu Pukki in the starting lineup last weekend and is likely to keep his pace. Pukki is averaging 0.36 goals per 90 so far this season.

Breakdown: Sunday in North Carolina, the Loons scored their first goal off a corner kick this season and it wouldn’t have been possible without center back Devin Padelford clearing space in Charlotte’s zonal marking system for Hassani Dotson’s header.

Quote: “What often goes unnoticed in a situation like that is the work around the player that ends up getting free to score,” Ramsay said. “… Devin (has) a strong argument in creating space that (Dotson) eventually arrived in. I think it was a really well executed team goal.”

Observation: The Loons’ training fields in Blaine now have additional dotted lines on top of the standard lines. They denote the attacking, middle and defensive thirds as well as the wings, half spaces and central channel. Ramsay did it to more quickly advance his teaching of players on the pitch.

View: Ramsay, who will coach his sixth match Saturday, is proving tough to quote. It’s not because he doesn’t say interesting things, but rather he shares so much detail in most answers that it’s hard to boil it down in print. A good problem to have.

Absences: Emanuel Reynoso (unexcused absence) and Sang Bin Jeong (international duty) are out. Hassani Dotson was the only regular not participating in Tuesday’s training session; his omission was not considered serious, Ramsay said Tuesday.

Check-in: Despite not scoring in 572 MLS minutes this season, Jeong notched a second-half goal to send the South Korean Under-23 team to added extra time in an Asian Cup match against Indonesia on Thursday. Jeong then scored a penalty kick in the shootout, but Indonesia won 11-10 in PKs to knock South Korea out of qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Projected XI: In a 5-2-3 formation, LW Franco Fragapane, CF Tani Oluwaseyi, RW Robin Lod; CM Hassani Dotson, CM Wil Trapp; LB Joseph Rosales, CB Micky Tapias, CB Michael Boxall, CB Kervin Arriaga; RB DJ Taylor; GK Dayne St. Clair.