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Tag: Bullfighting

  • San Francisco hosts Johnson and San Diego

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    San Diego Toreros (6-8, 1-1 WCC) at San Francisco Dons (9-6, 1-1 WCC)

    San Francisco; Friday, 10 p.m. EST

    BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Dons -10.5; over/under is 148.5

    BOTTOM LINE: San Diego visits San Francisco after Ty-Laur Johnson scored 21 points in San Diego’s 99-93 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

    The Dons have gone 5-1 in home games. San Francisco ranks sixth in the WCC in team defense, allowing 68.5 points while holding opponents to 40.6% shooting.

    The Toreros are 1-1 against conference opponents. San Diego ranks seventh in the WCC shooting 34.5% from 3-point range.

    San Francisco averages 9.1 made 3-pointers per game, 2.4 more made shots than the 6.7 per game San Diego gives up. San Diego averages 9.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.5 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game San Francisco allows.

    The matchup Friday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

    TOP PERFORMERS: David Fuchs is scoring 13.2 points per game with 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Dons. Ryan Beasley is averaging 12.6 points over the past 10 games.

    Toneari Lane averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Toreros, scoring 10.7 points while shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc. Johnson is averaging 14.3 points and 2.2 steals over the last 10 games.

    LAST 10 GAMES: Dons: 5-5, averaging 72.2 points, 33.0 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 3.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.1 points per game.

    Toreros: 3-7, averaging 72.9 points, 26.0 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 8.6 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 80.5 points.

    ___

    The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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  • Mexican town continues bull running tradition despite legal struggle

    Mexican town continues bull running tradition despite legal struggle

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    For nearly a quarter century, the residents of this riverside town in southeastern Mexico have taunted, slapped, chased and run from bulls as part of a religious festival

    TLACOTALPAN, Mexico — For nearly a quarter century, the residents of this riverside town in southeastern Mexico have taunted, slapped, chased and run from bulls as part of a religious festival.

    It is reminiscent, though at a much smaller scale, of the running of the bulls in northern Spain and has continued year after year despite laws banning the mistreatment of animals. This year, it takes place amid an ongoing legal battle over bullfights 300 miles (485 kilometers) to the west in Mexico City.

    The festival tied to Candelaria — Candlemas in English – runs from Jan. 28 to Feb. 9 among the colorfully painted houses of Tlacotalpan.

    The bulls, donated by the town’s most well-off families, are just part of days of cultural and artistic events. On Thursday, six bulls crossed the Paploapan river into the town on a boat.

    Beer drinking crowds of mostly young men clad in red shirts chased them through the streets, tugging on their ears and tails, to an improvised coral where some people tried to climb atop them.

    Some of the tormentors suffered injuries, knocked down or gored and treated by paramedics.

    In 2016, animal rights groups successfully pushed legislation in the state of Veracruz banning this sort of event. But Tlacotalpan has continued its festival undeterred in the name of tradition.

    Alfredo Cervin, 20, described the adrenaline rush of running with the bulls with a profanity. He said the tradition should continue because it was something that distinguished the town.

    Elva Arroyo Urbano, 48, said they were more careful with the animals now. “They’ve improved the way they bring them a little tied. They let them rest and they don’t mistreat them as much. There’s a little more discipline toward the bulls.”

    Local authorities say the event has continued since the town was founded on the banks of the river in 1777. The annual threat of fines – there’s no record any have ever been imposed – have not stopped the town’s tradition.

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  • Bullfighting resumes in Mexico City before a full crowd while activists protest outside

    Bullfighting resumes in Mexico City before a full crowd while activists protest outside

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    MEXICO CITY — With protesters outside a full arena, bullfights resumed in Mexico City on Sunday after the country’s highest court temporarily revoked a local ruling that sided with animal rights defenders and suspended the events for more than a year and a half.

    The resumption of bullfights in the Plaza México, the largest bullfighting arena in the world, raised expectations of fans in the face of a lengthy legal battle between enthusiasts and opponents, who argue the practice violates animal welfare and affects people’s rights to a healthy environment.

    Bullfighting is still allowed in much of Mexico. In the capital, the legal fight for its future is full of twists and turns.

    The first bullfighter to enter the ring was the renowned Mexican matador Joselito Adame, with thousands of people cheering the return of “fiesta brava,” as bullfighting is also known in Spanish. “Long live freedom,” some shouted as the first bull entered an arena jammed with spectators.

    In all, six bulls were fought Sunday, and all were killed.

    Outside, hours before the formal beginning, about 300 people gathered in front of Plaza México to protest against bullfights. Some activists yelled “Murderers!” and “The plaza is going to fall!” while others played drums or stood with signs reading “Bullfighting is sadism.”

    Police with shields stood by. The protest was mainly peaceful, although there were some moments of tension when some activists threw plastic bottles and stones.

    “Why the bullfights were allowed to return when there is so much evidence of all the damage they do to a living being, such as the bull,” questioned activist Guillermo Sánchez, who was holding up a sign that read “Sadism disguised as culture, sport and tradition.”

    Alfredo Barraza, another protester, said allowing bullfighting is a “setback in the fight for animal rights.” Barraza, who had his face covered with a paper mask in the shape of a bull, said he hopes Mexico City will at some point “be free of violent spectacles.”

    Inside the Plaza, the mood was festive, with people eating, drinking and taking photos.

    “I’m very excited,” said Aldo Palacios, who brought his two children and other relatives to the arena, not only to see the inaugural bullfight, but also to celebrate his 42nd birthday.

    In May 2022, a local court ordered an end to bullfighting activities at Plaza México in response to an injunction presented by the civil organization Justicia Justa, which defends human rights. But the activities were set to resume Sunday because the nation’s Supreme Court of Justice in December revoked the suspension while the merits of the case are discussed and a decision is reached on whether bullfights affect animal welfare.

    Another civil organization filed an appeal Friday on animal welfare grounds in a last-ditch effort to prevent the activity from resuming. A ruling was not expected before Sunday’s event.

    Animal rights groups have been gaining ground in Mexico in recent years while bullfighting followers have suffered several setbacks. In some states such as Sinaloa, Guerrero, Coahuila, Quintana Roo and the western city of Guadalajara, judicial measures now limit the activity.

    Ranchers, businessmen and fans maintain that the ban on bullfights affects their rights and puts at risk several thousand jobs linked to the activity, which they say generates about $400 million a year in Mexico. The National Association of Fighting Bull Breeders in Mexico estimates that bullfighting is responsible for 80,000 direct jobs and 146,000 indirect jobs.

    The association has hosted events and workshops in recent years to promote bullfights and find new, younger fans.

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  • ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will cut across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil

    ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will cut across the Americas, stretching from Oregon to Brazil

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — A rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun cuts across the Americas on Saturday, stretching from Oregon to Brazil.

    For the small towns and cities along its narrow path, there was a mix of excitement, worries about the weather and concerns they’d be overwhelmed by visitors flocking to see the celestial event, also called an annular solar eclipse.

    Unlike a total solar eclipse, the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun during a ring of fire eclipse. When the moon lines up between Earth and the sun, it leaves a bright, blazing border.

    Saturday’s path: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas in the U.S., with a sliver of California, Arizona and Colorado. Next: Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil. Much of the rest of the Western Hemisphere gets a partial eclipse.

    Viewing all depends on clear skies — part of the U.S. path could see clouds. NASA and other groups planned to livestream it.

    With a chance of rain in its forecast, the small town of Reedsport near Oregon’s Pacific Coast moved its eclipse festival inside so that a bounce house and games wouldn’t get soaked in the mud.

    “But we’re still hoping that we might get a glimpse of it,” said city official Rosa Solano.

    Weather was less of a concern in tiny Baker, Nevada, where the population hovers around 100. Inn and general store owner Liz Woolsey made T-shirts and planned a slate of activities including a drum circle and a dance party. Her seven rooms have been booked for over a year.

    “For a little place, we’re putting on a good show,” said Woolsey, who became an eclipse enthusiast after seeing the 2017 total solar eclipse that swept the U.S. from coast to coast.

    Tens of thousands could get a double treat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the city’s annual air balloon fiesta, which ends this weekend, hundreds of colorful hot air balloons lift off around dawn, hours before the eclipse briefly dims the skies.

    Colombia’s Tatacoa desert was playing host to astronomers helping a group of visually impaired people experience the eclipse through raised maps and temperature changes as the moon blots out the sun.

    At the Cancun Planetarium, young visitors built box projectors to indirectly and safely view the ring of fire. The ancient Maya — who called eclipses “broken sun” — may have used dark volcanic glass to protect their eyes, said archeologist Arturo Montero of Tepeyac University in Mexico City.

    Towns and national parks in the path braced for a huge throngs. Officials in Oregon’s Klamath County urged residents to stock up on groceries and fill their gas tanks in case traffic backs up on its two-lane highways. Utah’s Bryce Canyon expected Saturday to be the park’s busiest day of the year, spokesperson Peter Densmore said. Brazil’s Pedra da Boca state park, known for its rocky outcrops for climbing and rappelling was also expecting crowds.

    The entire eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — is 2 1/2 to three hours at any given spot. The ring of fire portion lasts from three to five minutes, depending on location.

    Next April, a total solar eclipse will crisscross the U.S. in the opposite direction. That one will begin in Mexico and go from Texas to New England before ending in eastern Canada.

    The next ring of fire eclipse is in October next year at the southernmost tip of South America. Antarctica gets one in 2026. It will be 2039 before another ring of fire is visible in the U.S., and Alaska will be the only state in its direct path.

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    AP reporters Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia, María Verza in Cancun, Mexico, and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed.

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  • ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will slice across Americas on Saturday with millions along path

    ‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse will slice across Americas on Saturday with millions along path

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    Tens of millions in the Americas will have front-row seats for Saturday’s rare “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun.

    What’s called an annular solar eclipse — better known as a ring of fire — will briefly dim the skies over parts of the western U.S. and Central and South America.

    As the moon lines up precisely between Earth and the sun, it will blot out all but the sun’s outer rim. A bright, blazing border will appear around the moon for as much as five minutes, wowing skygazers along a narrow path stretching from Oregon to Brazil.

    The celestial showstopper will yield a partial eclipse across the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

    It’s a prelude to the total solar eclipse that will sweep across Mexico, the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada, in six months. Unlike Saturday, when the moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the sun from our perspective, the moon will be at the perfect distance on April 8, 2024.

    Here’s what you need to know about the ring of fire eclipse, where you can see it and how to protect your eyes:

    The eclipse will carve out a swath about 130 miles (210 kilometers) wide, starting in the North Pacific and entering the U.S. over Oregon around 8 a.m. PDT Saturday. It will culminate in the ring of fire a little over an hour later. From Oregon, the eclipse will head downward across Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas, encompassing slivers of Idaho, California, Arizona and Colorado, before exiting into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. It will take less than an hour for the flaming halo to traverse the U.S.

    From there, the ring of fire will cross Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and, finally, Brazil before its grand finale over the Atlantic.

    The entire eclipse — from the moment the moon starts to obscure the sun until it’s back to normal — will last 2 1/2 to three hours at any given spot. The ring of fire portion lasts from three to five minutes, depending on location.

    In the U.S. alone, more than 6.5 million people live along the so-called path of annularity, with another 68 million within 200 miles (322 kilometers), according to NASA’s Alex Lockwood, a planetary scientist. “So a few hours’ short drive and you can have over 70 million witness this incredible celestial alignment,” she said.

    At the same time, a crescent-shaped partial eclipse will be visible in every U.S. state, although just barely in Hawaii, provided the skies are clear. Canada, Central America and most of South America, also will see a partial eclipse. The closer to the ring of fire path, the bigger the bite the moon will appear to take out of the sun.

    Can’t see it? NASA and others will provide a livestream of the eclipse.

    Be sure to use safe, certified solar eclipse glasses, Lockwood stressed. Sunglasses aren’t enough to prevent eye damage. Proper protection is needed throughout the eclipse, from the initial partial phase to the ring of fire to the final partial phase.

    There are other options if you don’t have eclipse glasses. You can look indirectly with a pinhole projector that you can make yourself, including one made with a cereal box.

    Cameras — including those on cellphones — binoculars, or telescopes need special solar filters mounted at the front end.

    One patch of Texas near San Antonio will be in the cross-hairs of Saturday’s eclipse and next April’s, with Kerrville near the center. It’s one of the locations hosting NASA’s livestream.

    “Is the city of Kerrville excited? Absolutely!!!” Mayor Judy Eychner said in an email. “And having NASA here is just icing on the cake!!!”

    With Saturday’s eclipse coinciding with art, music and river festivals, Eychner expects Kerrville’s population of 25,000 to double or even quadruple.

    April’s total solar eclipse will crisscross the U.S. in the opposite direction. It will begin in the Pacific and head up through Mexico into Texas, then pass over Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, the northern fringes of Pennsylvania and New York, and New England, before cutting across Canada into the North Atlantic at New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Almost all these places missed out during the United States’ coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 2017.

    It will be 2039 before another ring of fire is visible in the U.S., and Alaska will be the only state then in the path of totality. And it will be 2046 before another ring of fire crosses into the U.S. Lower 48. That doesn’t mean they won’t be happening elsewhere: The southernmost tip of South America will get one next October, and Antarctica in 2026.

    NASA and others plan a slew of observations during both eclipses, with rockets and hundreds of balloons soaring.

    “It’s going to be absolutely breathtaking for science,” said NASA astrophysicist Madhulika Guhathakurta.

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Aroh Barjatya will help launch three NASA-funded sounding rockets from New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range before, during and after Saturday’s eclipse. The goal is to see how eclipses set off atmospheric waves in the ionosphere nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) up that could disrupt communications.

    Barjatya will be just outside Saturday’s ring of fire. And he’ll miss April’s full eclipse, while launching rockets from Virginia’s Wallops Island.

    “But the bittersweet moment of not seeing annularity or totality will certainly be made up by the science return,” he said.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Spain Strengthens Animal Rights, But Exempts Bullfights

    Spain Strengthens Animal Rights, But Exempts Bullfights

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    MADRID (AP) — A new animal welfare law that took effect Friday in Spain outlaws the use of animals for recreational activities that cause them pain and suffering but allows bullfights and hunting with dogs.

    Spain’s first specific animal rights legislation is intended to crack down on abuses. The law particularly targets the mistreatment of domestic animals, introducing fines of up to 200,000 euros ($212,000).

    It bans the buying of pets in stores or online, but gives stores a grace period to find homes for their animals. In the future, it only will be legal to purchase pets from registered breeders. The new rules allow pets into most establishments, including restaurants and bars.

    Bullfights are regarded as part of Spain’s cultural heritage.

    DBenitostock via Getty Images

    The law bans the use of wild animals at circuses and gives owners six months to comply. It allows zoos to keep using the marine mammals in their dolphin shows until the animals die.

    Bullfights are regarded as part of Spain’s cultural heritage.

    A proposal to include hunting dogs in the law prompted an outcry in some rural communities, and the government backed down.

    Government statistics estimate some 29 million animals are kept as pets in Spain, most of them dogs. But around 300,000 are abandoned each year, and about one-third of those are put down.

    The law also aims to introduce mandatory pet insurance and registration as well as training for owners. However, those requirements and some other legal aspects were delayed because detailed administrative procedures have not been drawn up in the absence of a sitting government.

    Spain’s July general election proved inconclusive, and political parties are in coalition-building talks.

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  • Tornadoes tear through northern Texas town, killing 3 people and causing widespread damage

    Tornadoes tear through northern Texas town, killing 3 people and causing widespread damage

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    MATADOR, Texas — A line of severe storms produced multiple tornadoes Wednesday evening on the Rolling Plains in Texas, killing at least three people and causing significant damage around the northern town of Matador.

    The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the storms also produced softball-size hail and wind gusts topping 100 mph (161 kph) in other communities including Jayton, which also was under a tornado warning as the line moved southeast Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service in Lubbock.

    Matador Mayor Pat Smith said at least three people had been killed, that others may be injured and that there was “a whole lot of damage,” The New York Times reported.

    There were widespread power outages across the Rolling Plains, including more than 700 customers without power in the Jayton area, according to South Plains Electric Cooperative.

    The worst damage appeared to be in Matador — a town of about 570 people 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Lubbock in Motley County.

    Wednesday’s tornado outbreak came six days after a tornado left three people dead and more than 100 injured in Perryton in the northern Texas Panhandle.

    The National Weather Service in Lubbock reported just after 8 p.m. Wednesday that law enforcement confirmed a tornado located just north of Matador.

    Shortly after 9:30 p.m., William Iwasko, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Lubbock, said there had been three confirmed tornadoes in the line of storms, but it appeared the one in Matador was the only that caused significant damage.

    Reports from storm chasers and meteorologists on social media showed considerable damage around Matador, with damaged homes, utility lines, trees and infrastructure.

    Lubbock Fire Rescue confirmed to the Avalanche-Journal that it was sending a crew to assist with the damage and recovery.

    “I gave the order for Heavy Rescue 1 to respond to the town of Matador to assist in freeing trapped residents from collapsed structures,” LFR Chief Shaun Fogerson said.

    University Medical Center in Lubbock confirmed it was sending its AMBUS mobile medical unit to Matador.

    A new tornado warning was issued for Dickens and King counties through 10 p.m. as the line of storms continued traveling southeast, according to statement from the weather service on Twitter.

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