Training for Haj pilgrims of Kupwara to be held on May 2 & 3
KUPWARA, APRIL 28: According to Assistant Commissioner Revenue Kupwara, the training for Manasik-e-Hajj of selected Haj Pilgrims of District Kupwara will start from 2nd May 2023.
Accordingly, the training for the pilgrims belonging to the tehsils of Kupwara, Trehgam, Kralpora, Keran, Karnah, Machil, Sogam, Lalpora and Drugmullah will be held at Masjid Murshideen Kupwara on 2nd May 2023 at 10:00 AM.
Similarly, training for the pilgrims belonging to Handwara, Zachaldara, Ramhall, Langate, Kralgund, Vilgam and Qalamabad tehsils will be held at Jamia Masjid Jadeed Handwara on 3rd May 2023 at 10:00 AM.
Training for Haj pilgrims of Kulgam to be held on April 29 & May 01
KULGAM, APRIL 28: All the selected Haj pilgrims of Kulgam, D.H, Pora, Devsar and Pahloo Tehsils are informed that their orientation/ training programme is scheduled to be held at Markazi Jamia Masjid Kulgam on April 29 from 10 AM.
Whereas training for selected Haj pilgrims from Tehsil Qaimoo, Frisal and Yaripora will be on May 01 at Markazi Jamia Masjid Kulgam from 10 AM.
All selected Hajj pilgrims from Kulgam are informed to attend this phase of orientation training program as per schedule.
Training for selected Haj pilgrims of Shopian to be held on May-02
SHOPIAN, APRIL 28: The first orientation/training programme scheduled for the selected Hajj pilgrims of District Shopian has been fixed by State Hajj committee Srinagar on May 02.
Accordingly all the selected aspirants of District Shopian have been requested by District Administration to attend the said orientation/ training programme at Jamia Masjid Sharief Shopian on May 02 at 10.00 am onwards.
All selected Hajj pilgrims are informed to attend this phase of orientation training program as per schedule.
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Staff at a Barcelona restaurant were left amazed when a mysterious last-minute booking turned out to be for the former US president Barack Obama along with film director Steven Spielberg and singer Bruce Springsteen.
After dining on Thursday evening at the Palace Hotel’s Amar restaurant, the trio posed for a photograph with employees. The picture was posted on Instagram by staff member Pol Perello and captioned: “Pleasures that this job brings you!!”
Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, along with Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw, were in town for Springsteen’s Friday night concert at Barcelona’s Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
The seafood dinner took place after the Obamas’ late night flight to Barcelona, according to Spanish radio network Cadena SER. Amar chef Rafa Zafra said their reservation was made only hours beforehand at the recommendation of famed Spanish-American chef José Andrés.
“José Andrés called me and told me that it was a very important table, but that we should please not say anything,” Zafra told Cadena SER. “And of course, I began to investigate and saw that Obama was coming, that Bruce had a concert…”
The group came “tired”, but keen to “try everything”, according to Zafra. During the meal, they “ate a lot” — including oysters, shellfish, and caviar — and “drank a little”.
“The one who behaved best was the one who had to work today,” Zafra said, referring to Springsteen’s Friday night concert.
On the group photo, Zafra said: “The security people told us to please not ask them for photos, but just before leaving, Obama entered the kitchen and told us that this had been one of their best meals and if they could take a photo with the whole team.”
On Friday, Barack and Michelle Obama, accompanied by Spielberg and Capshaw, visited a handful of Barcelona’s landmark cultural sites, local media reported, including the Sagrada Familia and the Moco Museum.
According to photos and videos shared by Spanish media, the Obamas — surrounded by heavy security detail — strolled around central Barcelona hand-in-hand, occasionally waving at onlookers.
Spielberg, a longtime friend of Obama’s, has been a fixture at events and holidays with the former president. During his White House tenure, Obama awarded the acclaimed director with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
“His stories have shaped America’s story and his values have shaped our world,” the then-president said.
Obama has been friends with Springsteen since the Boss supported him on the campaign trail during the 2008 presidential election. The pair also co-hosted the 2021 podcast series “Renegades: Born in the USA”, in which they discussed their friendship, their families, music, and issues facing America.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund’s title chances suffered a serious blow on Friday after they stumbled to a 1-1 draw at struggling Bochum.
Dortmund are on 61 points, two points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich with four matches remaining, who will move top if they beat bottom club Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
The visitors went 1-0 down after five minutes following Anthony Losilla’s thunderous strike from just outside the penalty area. Yet Bochum’s joy only lasted two minutes as the unmarked Karim Adeyemi tapped in at the far post.
The equaliser failed to inject any urgency into Dortmund’s performance, however, despite the coach Edin Terzic urging them on from the sidelines.
Their best chances in the second half only came after the introduction of Marco Reus in the 73rd minute, with the midfielder setting up Youssoufa Moukoko, but his effort was parried by the Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann.
Riemann pulled off a better save in the 76th to deny Jude Bellingham before Donyell Malen, who had scored in the previous five games, put the ball just wide with a backheel.
With Terzic booked for dissent after the 90-minute mark, Dortmund ran out of time, and will have to wait for Sunday’s result in Munich to find out how their title chances look.
In Italy, meanwhile, Napoli fans preparing to celebrate the club’s first league title since 1990 have been told to steer clear of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that overlooks the southern city of Naples.
National park authorities became concerned at reports that Napoli’s fans plan to set off flares to light up Vesuvius should the team clinch the title on Sunday.
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Runaway leaders Napoli will secure the club’s third Serie A crown if they beat visitors Salernitana, and second-placed Lazio drop points against Internazionale at San Siro.
“We are all pleased for Napoli’s success which will bring honour to our region and great joy for people,” said the Vesuvius park commissioner, Raffaele De Luca. “But the celebrations must remain within the limits of civil behaviour.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Luca Brecel staged a brave fightback to stay in his World Snooker Championship semi-final against Si Jiahui in one of the most exciting sessions witnessed at the Crucible.
The Chinese world No 80, who has wowed fans over the last two weeks with his brilliant attacking game, looked on course to win the match with a session to spare when he won the first three frames of the evening session, extending his lead from 11-5 to 14-5 with breaks of 90, 132 and 97.
But Brecel, the world No 10 from Belgium, came from 10-6 behind to defeat the defending champion and world No 1, Ronnie O’Sullivan, 13-10 in the quarter-finals. He summoned up the same fighting spirit that secured that memorable victory with a display of virtuoso attacking snooker.
Si seemed to wilt when Brecel produced some audacious potting and break-building, as the Belgian forced his way back into the match in dramatic fashion, winning five straight frames including a break of 108. It was exhibition stuff, particularly an outrageously thin cut on a red near the pink spot into the middle pocket that drew gasps of admiration from the crowd.
In the final frame of the night, it looked as if Brecel was on course to reduce his arrears to four frames when he made a break of 53, only to miss the final red to give Si a chance. But the 20-year-old surprisingly missed a straightforward attempt at green and thumped the table in frustration, a rare show of annoyance.
Brecel had fought back to 14-10 to give himself a chance when play resumes on Saturday afternoon, with Si needing three more frames for victory.
Mark Selby plays a shot as Mark Allen watches on in their semi-final. The match was played in a jovial spirit despite the dour nature of the snooker. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA
In the other semi-final it was a different story, as Mark Selby, the world No 2, and Mark Allen, the No 3, laboured for more than three hours to complete only five of their scheduled eight frames, with Selby establishing a 7-6 overnight advantage.
Selby is well known for his obdurate approach and his tactical game which is second to none, and which has helped him win four world titles. Allen is traditionally an aggressive, attacking break-builder but has recently reined in his natural instincts to great effect. He has won three ranking titles this season, including the UK Championship, and is miles in front as No 1 on the one-year ranking list.
So a tough, gruelling battle was very much on the cards. Even so, it was perhaps more gruelling than many had expected.
Stephen Hendry, for one. He criticised the two players, saying they had cast a “dark cloud” over the Crucible. The seven-times world champion, a pundit for the BBC, said: “A dark cloud came over the match table at the Crucible. It was not pretty.
“It’s not the snooker that I want to watch, but I understand that snooker has to be played in different ways. It’s almost like they’re trying to be too precise, too exact in their matchplay. Just play the ball sometimes.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Jürgen Klopp says that he thought his TV was broken when he saw Tottenham were 5-0 down after 21 minutes at Newcastle but claims the humiliation will not be on Spurs’ minds at Anfield.
Liverpool boast a formidable home record against Spurs, who have won only once in the league at Anfield since 1993, and would leapfrog Ryan Mason’s side with a fourth successive Premier League win on Sunday. Spurs’ poor record plus the scars from St James’ Park in their most recent away fixture could leave them more vulnerable than usual but Klopp does not expect a hangover from the 6-1 rout.
The Liverpool manager said: “The Newcastle v Tottenham game I came home, switched the TV on and it was 1-0. I had something else to do and wanted to watch the game a bit later, and when I came back in it was 5-0. I honestly thought there was something wrong with the screen, somebody had made a joke or something. Newcastle obviously is in very good moment so these kind of things can happen.
“I never could think in my life like that [about Spurs being scarred at Anfield]. To find for yourself the right attitude in the game you have [to] think the opponent is really strong. And they are strong. A very famous German coach once said: ‘If you always expect an easy game you will never have one, but if you always expect a super difficult game then from time to time you might have an easy one.’ But the other way doesn’t work.
“I have no clue what happened at Tottenham. I see Harry Kane, I see Son, I see Kulusevski, I see Perisic, Richarlison, Højbjerg and so on and they all have played exceptional football during their careers. We had some problems in moments this season and maybe other teams thought: ‘Oh it’s a great moment to play Liverpool.’ Maybe it was, I don’t know, but if I am in the other camp I would never have imagined that Liverpool would show up weak. I cannot think about Tottenham in any other way apart from I expect them to be really strong.”
Klopp insists it is premature to proclaim that Liverpool have found consistency. But he believes the form of Curtis Jones, who has started the past five matches after an injury-plagued season, demonstrates there is more quality and potential in his squad than many suspect.
“If you go to social media you think: ‘Oh my god there is no bigger problem in the world than our midfield,’” he said. “Somebody showed me after the West Ham game a thing on Instagram when people find out our lineup and what they write about it. Not a lot of them wanted Curtis on the pitch, not a lot of them wanted Cody [Gakpo] on the pitch and when they saw Joël Matip was playing they say: ‘How can they do that?’ And these are people who like us usually.
“I understand this season makes people nervous, but we have a lot of potential in this team. We didn’t show it very often this season and we will keep that, improve that and bring in new players. Both is possible.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Rumours had long circulated that an entire literary masterpiece, never seen by the public, could still be lying in a dusty safe held by the late author’s family or under lock and key at his archive at the University of Texas.
On Friday Penguin Random House confirmed that an unpublished Gabriel García Márquez novel – titled En Agosto Nos Vemos, (We’ll See Each Other in August) – not only exists, but will be on shelves across Latin America in 2024.
“No?! A Gabriel García Márquez book?,” said Juan Moreno Blanco, a professor at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia, who was lost for words at the news. “I had heard rumours of some manuscripts, but nothing more than rumours. An entire book?!”
Speculation has surrounded the unpublished title ever since 1999 when García Márquez published a short story in the Colombian magazine Cambio.
The tale of Ana Magdalena Bach, a middle-aged woman who has an erotic affair while visiting a tropical island to lay flowers on her mother’s grave, was allegedly the first chapter Márquez was working on.
But after the internationally acclaimed author affectionately known as Gabo died in 2014, it was believed the work would remain unseen as his family was thought to be uncomfortable publishing an unfinished work.
“Until now the position of the two children was that it would not be published,” said Jaime Abello, director of the Gabo Foundation. “It seems they changed their mind after reading the manuscript!”
García Márquez’s children Rodrigo and Gonzalo García Barcha said on Friday that they deemed the work too precious to be hidden away from Colombia and the wider world, which has been heavily influenced by Márquez’s critically acclaimed tales of magical realism.
“We’ll See Each Other in August was the result of a last effort to continue creating against the wind and tide. Reading it once again almost 10 years after his death we discovered that the text had many and very enjoyable merits and nothing to prevent enjoying the most outstanding of Gabo’s work: his capacity for invention, the poetry of language, the captivating narrative, his understanding of the human being and his affection for his experiences and misadventures, especially in love, possibly the main theme of all his work,” they said in a press release.
Among the few details made public are that the book will contain five separate sections centred around Ana Magdalena and will number about 150 pages in total. An English edition has not yet been announced.
Gabo is the most translated Spanish-language writer in the world and his literary legacy has inspired works from Midnight’s Children to Disney’s Encanto.
His best known novel, 100 Years of Solitude, told the history of the Buendías, a family in the fictional town of Macondo, and is regarded as one of the most influential works in the Spanish language canon.
García Márquez had the ability to vividly capture the immense beauty of Colombia in his work while at the same time illustrating its tragic, bloody history of cyclical conflict.
“As time passes the importance of his work only grows. Like Dostoyevsky, Joyce and Cervantes, he had a unique style and perspective of seeing the world that has influenced the entire world,” said Ariel Castillo, a professor at the Universidad del Atlántico in Barranquilla and leading expert in García Márquez’s work.
Nowhere is García Márquez’s legacy more visible than his home country of Colombia. The writer put the Andean nation on the literary map but also changed its view of itself, Castillo says.
By producing some of the world’s most-loved novels, Gabo chipped away at Colombia’s inferiority complex and also transformed the country’s image of the Caribbean, where García Márquez was born. The region has long been looked down upon for being culturally inferior, but Gabo illuminated its unique culture and natural beauty.
“There are two Colombian cultures: one before Gabriel García Márquez and one after,” said Castillo.
Though the unexpected announcement has sparked excitement it has also generated critical discussion over whether the unfinished work should be published posthumously.
“Márquez always confided in people close to him and deliberated carefully before publishing anything, so we are in problematic territory,” said Blanco.
“For me it’s great news,” said the critically acclaimed Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez. “You have to know how to read it: it is not a finished work and García Márquez was a very careful craftsman. But we can enjoy it for what it is: an unfinished work by a great artist. There is no reason to deprive us of that pleasure.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The king and the queen consort will be anointed behind a specially created screen of fine embroidery, held by poles hewn from an ancient windblown Windsor oak and mounted with eagles cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The anointing screen has been blessed at a special service at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, and will be used at what historically has been viewed as the most sacred moment of the coronation.
The anointing is traditionally regarded as a moment between the sovereign and God, and the screen is to be used to give sanctity to this moment. Traditionally, the moment is not photographed or televised.
At Elizabeth II’s coronation, an opulent canopy of rich gold fabric was held aloft over the monarch’s head.
Charles’s screen will allow greater privacy as the archbishop of Canterbury pours the chrism, or holy oil, which has been specially blessed in Jerusalem, from a golden ampulla into the 12th-century coronation spoon. The archbishop will then anoint the king by making a cross on the hands, breast and head, and perform the same on Camilla.
The tradition of anointing dates back to the Old Testament, which describes the anointing of Solomon by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet, and was one of the medieval holy sacraments emphasising the spiritual status of the sovereign.
Commonwealth countries’ names stitched on to the screen. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA
The anointing screen, including its four oak wooden poles, is 2.6 metres tall and 2.2 metres wide. The wooden framework, designed and created by Nick Gutfreund of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, is made from a windblown tree from the Windsor estate originally planted in 1765. The poles have been limed and waxed, and at the top of each are mounted two eagles cast in bronze and gilded in gold leaf.
Detail of an eagle on top a pole of the screen. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA
The form of an eagle has longstanding associations with coronations. Eagles have appeared on previous coronation canopies, including that used by Elizabeth II in 1953. The ampulla used for anointing is eagle-shaped.
Embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework and by Digitek Embroidery, and donated by the City of London Corporation and participating livery companies, the screen is three-sided, with the open side to face the high altar in Westminster Abbey.
Designed by the iconographer Aidan Hart, the central design takes the form of a tree, which includes the names of the 56 Commonwealth nations, with the king’s cypher at the base, and is inspired by the stained-glass sanctuary window in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, designed for the late queen’s golden jubilee.
Two sides feature a simple cross in maroon gold, blue and red, inspired by the colours and patterning of the Cosmati pavement at Westminster Abbey where the anointing will take place. The cloth is made of wool from Australia and New Zealand, woven and finished in UK mills.
Hart said: “The inspiration of the Chapel Royal stained-glass window was personally requested by his majesty the king. Each and every element of the design has been specifically chosen to symbolise aspects of this historic coronation and the Commonwealth, from the birds that symbolise the joy and interaction among members of a community living in harmony, to the rejoicing angels and the dove that represents the Holy Spirit.”
Embroiders at work on part of the screen at the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace in March. Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA
The screen will be held by service personnel from regiments of the Household Division, replacing the knights that usually held the canopy. In bygone days, being selected to bear the canopy was seen as a sign of being in royal favour.
At Charles II’s coronation in 1661, there was an unseemly squabble between the barons of the Cinque Ports, charged with holding the silk canopy above the king’s head, and the king’s footmen. One of the job’s perks, according to the barons, was that they got to chop up the banner and each keep a piece. But they were challenged by the footmen, who also wanted the canopy, and a fight broke out, which the barons won.
On Friday, the Stone of Destiny, the ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy, left Edinburgh Castle for the first time since its return to Scotland in 1996 to embark on its journey to Westminster Abbey.
The 125kg stone was piped out during a ceremonial send-off, and will be placed beneath the coronation chair, which was specially built in the 14th century with the stone underneath. Getting it back in will be a challenge.
“It’s extremely tight. In fact it will not go in straight. It’s got bare millimetres to spare,” said Colin Muir, a senior stone conservator at Historic Environment Scotland, who has the task of helping to ensure it is installed.
Officials stand by the Stone of Destiny at Edinburgh Castle on Friday. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/AFP/Getty Images
Also known as the Stone of Scone, it was used for centuries in the coronations of monarchs and the inauguration of Scottish kings, but in 1296 after his invasion into Scotland during the wars of independence, England’s King Edward I removed the stone from Scotland. In about 1300 he had a chair built to hold the stone and installed it at Westminster Abbey.
For 700 years the stone was housed in the abbey, although in 1950 it was taken in a daring raid by four Scottish students, only to be found eventually at Arbroath Abbey.
It was officially returned to Scotland in 1996 and usually sits next to the crown jewels of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle’s Crown Room.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Samuel Alito said the decision he wrote removing the federal right to abortion made him and other US supreme court justices “targets of assassination” but denied claims he was responsible for its leak in draft form.
“Those of us who were thought to be in the majority, thought to have approved my draft opinion, were really targets of assassination,” Alito told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday.
“It was rational for people to believe they might be able to stop the decision in Dobbsby killing one of us.”
Alito wrote the ruling in Dobbs v Jackson, the Mississippi case that overturned Roe v Wade, which established the right to abortion in 1973.
Alito’s draft ruling was leaked to Politico on 2 May last year, to uproar and protest nationwide. The final ruling was issued on 24 June.
On 8 June, an armed man was arrested outside the home of Brett Kavanaugh, with Alito one of six conservatives on the nine-justice court. Charged with attempted murder of a United States judge, the man pleaded not guilty.
The conservative chief justice, John Roberts, voted against overturning Roe, but the three rightwingers installed by Republicans under Donald Trump ensured it fell regardless.
Progressives charged that a conservative, perhaps the hardline Alito, might have orchestrated the leak in an attempt to lock in a majority for such a momentous decision.
Alito said: “That’s infuriating to me. Look, this made us targets of assassination. Would I do that to myself? Would the five of us have done that to ourselves? It’s quite implausible.”
The leak was investigated by the supreme court marshal, without establishing a perpetrator.
Saying the marshal “did a good job with the resources that were available”, Alito said he had “a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody”.
Alito said the leak “was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbsdraft … from becoming the decision of the court. And that’s how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside, as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court.”
He also said the leak “created an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust”. The justices “worked through it”, he said, “and last year we got our work done … but it was damaging”.
Last November, after a bombshell New York Times report, Alito denied leaking information about a decision in a 2014 case about contraception and religious rights.
His Wall Street Journal interview seemed bound to further anger Democrats and progressives. Justices regularly claim not to be politically motivated, but even with a Democrat in the White House the court has made other momentous conservative rulings, notably including a loosening of gun-control laws.
Joe Biden’s administration has shied from calls for reform, including the idea justices should be added to establish balance or give liberals a majority, reflecting Democratic control of the White House and Senate.
Samuel Alito in March 2019. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP
Alito told the Journal he did not “feel physically unsafe, because we now have a lot of protection”. He also said he was “driven around in basically a tank, and I’m not really supposed to go anyplace by myself without the tank and my members of the police force”.
Complaining that criticism also stoked by corruption allegations against two more conservatives, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, were “new during my lifetime”, Alito said: “We are being hammered daily, and I think quite unfairly in a lot of instances.
“And nobody, practically nobody, is defending us. The idea has always been that judges are not supposed to respond to criticisms, but if the courts are being unfairly attacked, the organised bar will come to their defense.”
Alito said legal authorities had, “if anything … participated to some degree in these attacks”.
He declined to comment on reporting by ProPublica about Thomas’s friendship with Harlan Crow, a Republican mega-donor who has bestowed gifts and purchases which Thomas largely did not disclose.
But Alito did complain about how Kavanaugh was treated when allegations of sexual assault surfaced during his confirmation process.
“After Justice Kavanaugh was accused of being a rapist … he made an impassioned speech, made an impassioned scene, and he was criticised because it was supposedly not judicious, not the proper behavior for a judge to speak in those terms.
“I don’t know – if somebody calls you a rapist?”
Accusations against Kavanaugh included attempted rape while a high school student. On Friday, the Guardian reported that new information showed serious omissions in a Senate investigation of the allegations, mounted when Republicans controlled the chamber.
Polling shows that public trust in the supreme court has reached historic lows.
“We’re being bombarded,” Alito complained, “and then those who are attacking us say: ‘Look how unpopular they are. Look how low their approval rating has sunk.’
“Well, yeah, what do you expect when … day in and day out, ‘They’re illegitimate. They’re engaging in all sorts of unethical conduct. They’re doing this, they’re doing that’?”
Such attacks, he said, “undermine confidence in the government [as] it’s one thing to say the court is wrong; it’s another thing to say it’s an illegitimate institution”.
With some court-watchers, the interview landed heavily.
Robert Maguire, research director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an independent watchdog, said: “There is no depth to the pity [justices] – and Alito in particular – feel for themselves when they face public criticism.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
The move suggested a shifting dynamic in the contest: With DeSantis falling further behind Trump in national and early-state surveys, his allied super PAC is trying to ensure that the primary remains a two-way race and that other candidates vying to be the Trump alternative do not gain traction.
“This is the DeSantis team acknowledging that he is closer to the field than he is to President Trump,” said Justin Clark, a Republican strategist who was Trump’s 2020 deputy campaign manager but who isn’t involved in a 2024 presidential campaign.
The pro-DeSantis PAC’s anti-Haley offensive came after the former South Carolina governor took a shot at DeSantis during an interview on Fox News for his heavy-handed approach toward Disney and suggested the theme park relocate several hours north to her home state. Shortly after, Never Back Down began running a digital ad featuring clips of Disney employees touting the company’s promotion of pro-LGBTQ themes, and concluding with a silhouette image of Haley holding hands with Mickey Mouse.
It wasn’t a one-off, but part of a coordinated offensive. The group announced the spot would be included in a “six-figure” digital ad buy in South Carolina, a key early primary state. And it put out several tweets attacking Haley, including one saying she is “embracing woke corporations” and another with a poll asking if she should be nicknamed “Mickey Haley” or “Nikki Mouse.”
“It’s a bad strategy to defend Woke Disney when they decided to defend the sexualization of children,” Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for Never Back Down, said in a statement, when asked about the group’s recent attacks on Haley. ”It’s mind-boggling [that] any Republican would side with a massive corporation that has an unprecedented level of self-governance over protecting children and families, but I guess 2023 is a strange time.”
DeSantis’ allies may have no other choice than to go on the attack. While Trump has been the consistent polling leader, it’s DeSantis who has been taking fire from a number of would-be rivals, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy and Haley.
A pro-Haley super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., (an abbreviation for “Stand For America”) regularly sends out news roundups to reporters highlighting unflattering coverage about DeSantis, something the group doesn’t do for Trump or Haley’s other primary rivals.
“Ron DeSantis’ No Good, Very Bad Week,” read the subject of one such email. “DeSantis’ Disastrous Journey to the Swamp,” read another.
This week, the group created a video mocking DeSantis’ suggestion that he might open a state prison next to Disney World. And after her Fox interview about DeSantis, Haley joked that South Carolina conservatives are “not sanctimonious” about their values — a nod to Trump’s “DeSanctimonious” nickname for the Florida governor.
DeSantis is comfortably in second place in most surveys, trailing Trump but well ahead of the other Republicans in the field. But in recent weeks, he has lost ground, with Trump picking up endorsements from several Republican Congress members in Florida and with some major donors expressing reservations about the Florida governor. Two recent polls of South Carolina GOP voters showed Trump far ahead of the pack and Haley only narrowly behind DeSantis. A survey conducted earlier this month by National Public Affairs, a Republican firm co-founded by Clark, found DeSantis at 21 percent, with Haley at 19 percent. A Winthrop University poll taken several weeks earlier showed similar results, with DeSantis at 20 percent and Haley at 18 percent.
“The fact that Ron DeSantis is attacking her is not surprising,” said Mark Harris, a Republican consultant who is running the pro-Haley super PAC. “It’s a clear indication that he’s losing ground.”
Nachama Soloveichik, a spokesperson for Haley, also took a swipe at DeSantis, contending that as governor Haley would have “avoided wasting taxpayer dollars on tit for tat battles.”
The presence of Haley and others in the race presents a challenge for DeSantis, who must take steps to consolidate the support of voters who are looking for someone other than Trump. Any traction that rival candidates gain could detract from DeSantis’ effort to overtake the former president.
The dynamic bears some similarities to the 2016 primary, when Trump prevailed over a splintered field of Republican rivals. The non-Trump candidates spent months relentlessly attacking one another while largely leaving Trump untouched. It ultimately paved the way for Trump to win the nomination.
Because DeSantis is not yet an announced candidate, it has fallen on Never Back Down to take the lead in promoting him and attacking his prospective rivals. The organization — which has also aired ads attacking Trump — is expected to be among the most well-funded entities in the primary. It has announced that it has already raised $30 million, about two-thirds of which came from Nevada hotel executive Robert Bigelow.
Some Republicans, however, have privately questioned the decision to go after Haley, arguing that in taking on a lower-polling rival, DeSantis appeared weak.
“Attacking candidates with no votes does not have the upside of gaining votes,” said Curt Anderson, a veteran Republican strategist who is not involved in the primary.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
In the best traditions of Fergie-time, substitute Millie Turner headed home the latest possible winning goal to help Manchester United stretch their lead at the top of the Women’s Super League to six points.
The centre-back converted Katie Zelem’s much-disputed free-kick three minutes into added time to keep United’s dreams of a league and FA Cup double alive.
Marc Skinner had reckoned it was good to play ahead of title rivals – on the proviso United won. With Manchester City playing Leicester on Sunday and the Champions League semi-finalists, Chelsea and Arsenal, not in WSL action this weekend, this was United’s opportunity to put down their marker.
They may have played one more game than City – and three more than Chelsea, whom they lead by seven points – but the nature of this United comeback could yet power them to their first top-flight title.
Rachel Daly twice gave Villa the lead with superb finishes in the first half, against the meanest defence in the division, yet it was the shot she crashed against the crossbar at 2-1 early in the second half that will stick in the England player’s craw.
Skinner, the United manager, admitted Villa were the better side, especially in the first half, but invoked the club’s traditions under Sir Alex Ferguson in being able to win right at the death.
“It reinforces that we can do that,” he said. “It reinforces that the great Manchester United men’s teams never gave up until way into … well, it’s called ‘Fergie time’ for a reason, right? For me it shows much more about our mentality and it’s a massive sign of what we can achieve.”
Villa dominated United, especially with crosses into the box in the first half, with Lucy Staniforth particularly productive. Up against her former club, the midfielder’s corner invited Daly to time her run superbly and flash her header into the far corner. It was an outstanding, old-fashioned type of centre-forward’s goal.
Leah Galton equalised after Ona Batlle accelerated down the right flank to deliver such a fine low cross that the winger did not have to break stride to sidefoot in her ninth goal of the season.
United’s kept trying to play out from the back but Villa never gave them time, and Skinner admitted they should have played over the press more. “They were all over us, first half,” he said.
Rachel Daly scores Aston Villa’s second goal. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
This was a cracking game, the tempo unrelenting. Anna Patten, the Villa centre-back, headed another Staniforth corner against the crossbar and United looked set to lose for only a second time in 19 games.
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Yet at the other end, Hannah Hampton made a great reaction save from Galton and, just before half-time, Hayley Ladd was unfortunate to have a goal chalked off after Hampton, running into Galton, was adjudged to have been fouled.
By that stage Daly had moved level top of the WSL scorers with Bunny Shaw on 18. Maz Pacheco crossed low from the left and Daly was allowed enough time to sidefoot an expert low shot into the far corner with her left foot.
She so nearly completed her hat-trick on the hour. After a period of sustained United pressure, Villa counterattacked in devastating fashion. Nobbs played a reverse pass for Kenza Dali to cross for Daly to shoot against the bar.
How United made them pay. Within two minutes, Hannah Blundell crossed from the left wing and Nikita Parris, left unmarked, headed home the equaliser. With Russo heading over and United using all five substitutes, it seemed like their pressure was not going to pay. But then up stepped Turner.
It was a debatable decision for Maz Pacheco’s foul on Vilde Boe Risa. “It’s a tough one to take,” Villa manager, Carla Ward, said. “The lineswoman’s a yard away and there’s 20 seconds left and she says it’s no foul. The ref’s 30 yards away and says it’s a foul. We’ve had some big calls go against us. Something’s got to change. But my players have been absolutely outstanding.”
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
