Running of the bulls continues
Running of the bulls continues
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — A fast-paced running of the bulls left two people injured Monday during Spain’s San Fermin festival, officials said. There were no gorings on the fourth day of the bull runs. The two injured men, both Spaniards, were taken to a Pamplona hospital but neither was in serious condition, Red Cross spokesman Jose Aldaba said. The run along the 930-yard cobbled-street course Monday lasted 2 minutes, 19 seconds, the fastest up to that point. Five people — four Americans and a Spaniard — have been gored since the bull runs started Friday. The nine-day fiesta became world famous with Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises.” The bulls face matadors and almost certain death in afternoon bullfights. Bull runs are a traditional part of summer festivals across Spain.
GOP lawmaker pushes $900M for NY/NJ railroad infrastructure
WASHINGTON (AP) — A huge railroad and transit project to build new bridge and tunnel capacity for travel between New York and New Jersey would receive a whopping $900 million next year if a senior New Jersey Republican has his way. U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is moving to boost the New York and New Jersey Gateway project in large part by eliminating a popular $500 million infrastructure grant program championed by former President Barack Obama. That program funded transportation projects nationwide, including set-asides for rural areas. Frelinghuysen also would earmark $400 million in mass transit grants toward a new tunnel under the Hudson River to service Amtrak and a New Jersey commuter rail line. The move by Frelinghuysen might receive its strongest backing from powerful Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York. “The No. 1 infrastructure project in all of America is the Gateway project,” Schumer said Monday. But elimination of the Obama-sponsored TIGER grant program, which was created by the 2009 economic stimulus measure but has won bipartisan support since, is likely to face opposition in the Senate.
Cadaver dogs used, dirt sifted in search for 4 missing men
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police used cadaver dogs, a backhoe and other construction equipment Tuesday to help search a sprawling farm for four missing men thought to be victims of foul play. A busload of police cadets also took part in the third day of the search of farmland in Solebury Township, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. Aerial TV footage showed law enforcement officers crowded around a deep trench — a backhoe parked next to it — as officers used shovels to dig deeper and passed up buckets of dirt that were then screened with sifters. Meanwhile, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said bail was set at $1 million Monday for Cosmo DiNardo, whose family owns the farmland and another property that was searched, because he was considered a flight risk. DiNardo is a person of interest in the investigation of the missing men, according to Weintraub. The 20-year-old is accused of illegally possessing a shotgun and ammunition in February.
Clashes shake west Mosul after victory declared against IS
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Airstrikes, shelling and other heavy clashes Tuesday shook a small sliver of western Mosul in renewed fighting, a day after the government declared victory against Islamic State militants in Iraq’s second-largest city. Amnesty International, meanwhile, proclaimed the battle for Mosul to be a “civilian catastrophe,” with more than 5,800 noncombatants killed in the western part of the city. The top U.S. commander in Iraq rejected the group’s allegations, however, that the U.S.-led coalition violated international law. In a sign that IS militants were still holding out in the shattered Old City, plumes of smoke rose as mortar shells landed near Iraqi troop positions and heavy gunfire rang out. Airstrikes pounded the edge of the neighborhood west of the Tigris River throughout the day. A statement late Monday from IS said its fighters were still attacking Iraqi troops in the al-Maydan area of Mosul’s Old City, purportedly killing and wounding many and seizing weapons and ammunition.
Comedy auteurs who write, act, direct could hit Emmy jackpot
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Emmy Award nominations are announced Thursday, multiple champagne toasts might be in order for a multitasking troupe of sitcom stars. Aziz Ansari, Donald Glover and Issa Rae are among those who lead shows they also created or co-created, write and sometimes even direct, and who could reap a welcome embarrassment of Emmy riches. They are TV’s comedy auteurs, with people of color and women well-represented in their top ranks. While it took the industry decades and new platforms like streaming to give them opportunities, the TV academy isn’t wasting time in granting deserved recognition. As with its big-screen sibling, the Oscars, the Emmys are under pressure to give diversity its due, said Tom O’Neil, author of “The Emmys” and editor of Gold Derby, an awards handicapping website. “The Emmys need to demonstrate that they’re relevant in a modern, rainbow-spanned world,” O’Neil said. “If they fail, then liberal Hollywood looks like all talk, no sincere action.”