Новости за 24.02.2017

The head of the Major League Baseball Players Association says it will be difficult for big leaguers to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “There are challenges with the schedule, and there are challenges with major leaguers being involved,” Clark said Thursday at the Orioles’ spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla. The U.S. roster included 17 players from Triple-A, seven from Double-A and college pitcher Stephen Strasburg, now with the Washington Nationals. Overall, the 168 players eligible... Читать дальше...

(AP) — Black people who celebrate the civil rights movement and white people who commemorate the Civil War are suddenly finding themselves fighting on the same side in historic Selma, Alabama: against City Hall. Both groups say the city is squeezing them with demands for thousands of dollars in up-front payments to stage annual events that bring tens of thousands of visitors to an otherwise sleepy community where unemployment is high and boarded-up homes and businesses are a common sight. [...]... Читать дальше...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — For a Venezuelan skier who had only trained on wheels beneath a bright sun, the slopes of Finland proved a mighty challenge. Adrian Solano wobbled nervously backward as he exited the starting gate at the Lahti2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships this week. By Thursday, sports commentators circulating videos of his near-comedic cross-country performance online had dubbed him the worst skier alive. Solano's saga has hit a nerve among Venezuelans and angered the country's highest officials... Читать дальше...

Waymo, the self-driving car company founded by Google, on Thursday sued ride-hailing giant Uber, accusing it of stealing technology that autonomous vehicles use to see the world around them. The sensors in question, known as lidar, bounce laser beams off objects to gauge their size, shape and distance. “Defendants leveraged stolen information to shortcut the process and purportedly build a comparable lidar system in only nine months,” the suit says. Since Waymo is alleging intentional patent infringement (among other claims)... Читать дальше...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump's top aides on Thursday delivered one overriding message to the thousands of conservative activists gathered for their annual conference outside of Washington: Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus pleased for patience and unity, urging activists not to squander the Republican Party's control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. Trump adviser Steve Bannon made his case for a governing... Читать дальше...

(AP) — A former superintendent finalist on Thursday filed a civil lawsuit against a state school board member and others, accusing them of orchestrating a ethics complaint last year to knock him out of the running to be the state's next education chief. An anonymous complaint sent to board members ahead of the vote accused Pouncey of getting state staff to write his 2009 dissertation. "What happened to him is a group of people orchestrated a scheme to try to ruin his chances of becoming the next superintendent," Pouncey's lawyer... Читать дальше...

If you think you're an expert, see how your picks match up with our expert, Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle. Fill out the interactive Oscars ballot below to see how your choices rank with LaSalle's in the major categories.

Cuomo issued a directive to state education officials Thursday that he says makes it clear public schools in the state must abide by a state statute protecting students from discrimination, harassment or bullying based on gender and gender identity.

(AP) — Arkansas lawmakers have again rejected a proposal to block funding to colleges and universities that don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities. None of Arkansas' colleges and universities has adopted so-called "sanctuary" campus policies, but Smith says the bill is needed to discourage any efforts to create campuses that would offer sanctuary to immigrants in the country illegally.

Kevin Durant has long been a sort of basketball historian, cuing up highlights of Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan in his free time. New Orleans’ new frontcourt duo of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, Durant reckons, could someday be mentioned with the all-time greats. By pairing another elite big man with Davis, New Orleans became nationally relevant and, to many, a favorite for the Western Conference’s eighth seed. Though many are predicting a Golden State-New Orleans first round matchup... Читать дальше...

Local women Chelsea Brink, Nora McInerny and Kate O'Reilly organized a fundraiser in which people could get a tattoo of the words "Nevertheless, she persisted," for $75, Minnesota Public Radio reported (http://bit.ly/2mboEBm ). Proceeds will go toward Women Winning, a group dedicated to boosting representation of pro-abortion rights women at all levels of political office. Mary Beth Settergren, 54, got her first tattoo at the event "so I can look at it," she said. Because I think that it's really an encouraging message for women to persist... Читать дальше...

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford turned to an old friend to give his team’s injury-riddled defense a needed boost. Pittsburgh sent minor-league forward Danny Kristo and a draft pick to the Hurricanes in exchange for the Hainsey, 35, whose long wait to play in the postseason finally might end. Barring a collapse, he’ll finally get the chance with the Penguins and can help provide a steady hand at a blue line dealing with a string of injuries. “We think (Hainsey) plays a style... Читать дальше...

With obvious nods to the melding of Eastern and Western cultures, and a hoped-for international appeal, the result is a low-key, simple — very, very simple — story of pursuing one’s dreams (and protecting sheep and foiling wolves) that never exactly soars as original entertainment, although it avoids the frantic, cheeky, attention-deficit ethos of so much mass-marketed kid fare. A hand-drawn prologue sets up the situation in picturesque Snow Mountain, a serene village of wool-making sheep looked over by Khampa (voiced by J.K. Simmons)... Читать дальше...

The Dallas Mavericks made a play for the future Thursday by acquiring big man Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers for Andrew Bogut, Justin Anderson and a protected first-round draft pick. The trade fits with the Mavericks’ intentions to get younger with Dirk Nowitzki’s career winding down and the team among the also-rans in the Western Conference with an outside shot at the eighth playoff spot. The Mavericks also reportedly waived point guard Deron Williams, 32, and the five-time All-Star is now looking to join the Cleveland Cavaliers. Читать дальше...

Over the past three months, a shockingly abundant rainy season has provided Northern California with much needed relief after an epic drought, but for small farms, the accompanying flooding and other headaches have proven there can be too much of a good thing. Rainy, sun-free days also ensure that bees aren’t flitting about, pollinating orchard fruit blossoms, which have already begun to appear on trees. While Walker would normally have planted spinach, lettuce and cabbage by now, he will have... Читать дальше...

ATLANTA (AP) — Out of power and looking for a way forward, Democrats are hoping to harness the energy of an opposition movement that has flourished since President Donald Trump took office. The ideal for the party is to use a disparate network of liberal and progressive groups — like the Facebook sensation that led to worldwide women's marches the day after Trump's inauguration — to drive voters to the polls in gubernatorial and special House elections this year and congressional midterms next year. Читать дальше...

LONDON — Powerful winds battered parts of northern Europe Thursday, disrupting transportation and killing a woman who was hit by flying debris in central England. In the Netherlands, the landing gear on a small passenger plane collapsed as it landed in heavy winds at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Rain, snow and strong winds of more than 90 mph from a weather system dubbed Storm Doris closed United Kingdom roads, canceled flights and for a time halted train travel to and from Euston Station, one of London’s main terminals. Читать дальше...

Two assistants will take over interim head coaching duties while the university searches for a new coach. A Penn State news release doesn't give a reason for the firing, calling it a personnel matter.

The ensemble comedy centers on a group of underdogs trying to find their place in the world and all share the same goal: to come back a winner in the casino of life. McDermott will play Captain Dave, all-American, cocky but also a baby, he is the pilot on Flight 1710, a likable narcissist who feels connecting with his passengers is just as important as flying the plane. On the drama side, the network has a reboot of “Behind Enemy Lines,” an adaptation of Justin Cronin’s vampire novel “The Passage,”... Читать дальше...

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a city’s ordinance banning discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, but it stopped short of saying whether a state law aimed at prohibiting such local LGBT protections is constitutional. Fayetteville, a liberal enclave in northwestern Arkansas, is one of several cities that approved local protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in response to the 2015 law. In the unanimous ruling, the justices... Читать дальше...

(AP) — Prosecutors found no criminal wrongdoing in the case of a horse named Valentine that survived for eight weeks in the Wyoming wilderness after being left behind by a backcountry guide outfit when it became too sick to move in an area populated with grizzly bears. The Teton County Attorney's Office made its decision Thursday based on an animal cruelty investigation by the Wyoming Board of Livestock and police. The incident raised debate in the horse-loving resort region of Jackson Hole over... Читать дальше...

(AP) — The Wyoming Senate has defeated a bill that would have allowed students and other people who aren't police to carry guns on college campuses, including athletic events. The Casper Star-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2md3gvz) the bill's opponents included University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols and the presidents of six community colleges.

ATLANTA — Out of power and looking for a way forward, Democrats are hoping to harness the energy of an opposition movement that has flourished since President Trump took office. The ideal for the party is to use a disparate network of liberal and progressive groups — like the Facebook sensation that led to worldwide women’s marches the day after Trump’s inauguration — to drive voters to the polls in gubernatorial and special House elections this year and congressional midterms next year. Republicans control the White House... Читать дальше...

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half of Hispanic immigrants who were neither born in the United States nor have a permanent resident card said they were concerned about their place in the United States, even before the Trump administration made clear its intentions to aggressively crack down on illegal immigration, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday. The survey, taken in December and January, showed that 55 percent of Hispanics surveyed who were foreign born and neither U.S. Читать дальше...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Former U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski in 2001 gave a speech urging colleagues to approve oil drilling in America’s largest wildlife refuge. The field of white, he said, was all you could see each winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, implying that such a barren landscape would not be harmed by oil rigs. The coastal plain is not the apex of Alaska scenery, but it’s a nursery for polar bears, muskoxen and the vast Porcupine Caribou Herd. Few people visit... Читать дальше...