SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell says it’s great that Colin Kaepernick is the face of a new Nike campaign, but Kaepernick deserves to be on an NFL team. USA TODAY
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – A Nike ad campaign marking the 30th anniversary of the company’s “Just Do It” slogan began Monday, featuring free-agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick has become a polarizing figure since he began protesting racial injustice in 2016 by kneeling during the national anthem. And while the response to the ad has been intense, with some calling for Nike boycotts, one prominent company spokesman on Friday called the campaign “beautiful.”
“I think Nike is trying to get out ahead of it and trying to do something special, and I think they’ve done that,” Tiger Woods said after the second round of the BMW Championship at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia. “It’s a beautiful spot and pretty powerful people in the spot.”
Woods added he did not know about the ad campaign before it launched.
“They did not tell me it was coming,” he said. “When corporate does things that are outside of golf and outside of my realm, that’s what they do.”
On Thursday, during the NFL’s kickoff game between the Atlanta Falcons and defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, Nike took the campaign one step further by airing a 90-second commercial featuring Kaepernick, who did the voiceover, LeBron James and Serena Williams. “It’s only crazy until you do it. Just do it,” was the ending to the ad.
President Donald Trump, who quickly seized on the issue in 2016, saying players should be fired or suspended for taking a knee, took to Twitter Friday morning and asked, “What was Nike thinking?”
Two weeks ago, at the Northern Trust in New Jersey, Woods tried to stay away from controversy when he was asked about his relationship with Trump. Woods, who has golfed with Trump and known him for many years, was also asked about some people being threatened by Trump “and his policy.”
“Well, he’s the president of the United States. You have to respect the office,” Woods said at the time. “No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.”
Sao Paulo, Brazil – The stabbing of Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner in Brazil’s presidential race, has added an extra layer of chaos to an already turbulent and polarised election campaign.
Brazilians will head to the polls to pick their next president on October 7, in what has been described as the most uncertain votein the country’s recent history.
While campaigning on Thursday on the streets of Juiz de Fora, a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen by a man wielding a kitchen knife.
The 63-year-old former army captain was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery for injuries to his small and large intestines.
On Friday morning, Bolsonaro was transferred to Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein Hospital, where he is expected to remain in intensive care for the next seven days.
Police identified the attacker as Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, a 40-year-old man from the town of Montes Claros in Minas Gerais. According to the police report, while being carted away, Oliveira claimed he was “fulfilling an order from God”. Officers at the scene expressed doubts over his psychological integrity.
For the first time in decades, a presidential candidate in Brazil has suffered an assassination attempt, with recent incidents of violence largely being restricted to local politics.
In March this year, left-wing councillor Marielle Franco was assassinated in Rio de Janeiro. Less than two weeks later, former President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva‘s campaign bus was shot at in southern Brazil.
Jose Alvaro Moises, a political scientist and scholar of global democracies, argued that Brazil is witnessing the “reintroduction of violence” into its politics.
“There is growing intolerance in Brazil and an enormous difficulty of its principal political actors in accepting the legitimacy of their opponents,” he told Al Jazeera.
“These factors generate violence.”
Solidarity
Following the stabbing attack, Bolsonaro’s presidential opponents were quick to condemn the attempt on his life.
Marina Silva, a centrist politician and a former environment minister, characterised the incident as a “two-pronged attack: against [Bolsonaro’s] physical integrity and against democracy”.
Centre-left candidate Ciro Gomes, of the Democratic Labor Party, expressed “solidarity” with Bolsonaro, renouncing “violence as political discourse”.
Both Silva and Gomes, as well as centre-right candidate Geraldo Alckmin, suspended their campaigns after the incident.
In a tweet, Fernando Haddad, the soon-to-be Workers’ Party presidential candidate following the recent barring of Lula by Brazil’s electoral court, repudiated all acts of violence and wished Bolsonaro a speedy recovery.
In an interview with Brazilian online magazine Crusoe, Hamilton Mourao, Bolsonaro’s vice-presidential candidate and retired army general, blamed the attack on what he called a “Workers’ Party militant”.
“The Workers’ Party has incited violence on the streets. This is not good. If they want to use violence, we [the military] are the professionals of violence,” he said.
However, Brazil’s highest electoral court confirmed that the Oliveira, the suspect, was not currently affiliated to any political party and that he was a member of the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party until 2014.
Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist and professor of international relations at Rio de Janeiro State University, said the reaction of the presidential candidates was quick, precise and unambiguous.
“It was a very civilised moment in the campaign, something which we’ve rarely seen,” he told Al Jazeera. “Now would be a good time for all of the candidates to get together and make a political pact of non-aggression and transmit this message to the electorate,” added Santoro.
“However, it is worrying that the response of Bolsonaro’s party was very violent,” he noted, referring to Mourao’s comments.
“It gives an insight into the political atmosphere we can expect in the coming weeks.”
Impact on election
It’s not yet clear how soon Bolsonaro will able to return to the campaign trail.
Following the barring of Lula’s candidacy, opinion polls show Bolsonaro as the clear frontrunner, with a projected 22 percent share of the vote. Silva and Gomes are tied for second place at 12 percent each.
Santoro predicted that the popularity of Bolsonaro, who has managed to present himself as a credible outsider candidate despite a track record of homophobic, racist and sexist statements, is unlikely to be altered by Thursday’s attack.
“We have seen many people condemning this incident, but it hasn’t strayed into any growing sympathy for Bolsonaro,” he said.
“On the contrary, often these condemnations of violence were suffixed with criticisms of Bolsonaro, suggesting that he is to blame for this violent atmosphere in Brazil’s current moment.”
Still, the campaigns of Bolsonaro’s opponents are expected to undergo changes as they battle it out for a place in the expected runoff vote on October 28 against the former army captain.
The immediate effects of the attack on Bolsonaro will be known next week, after two of Brazil’s leading pollsters release their latest opinion polls on Monday and Tuesday.
The Cosby Show actor, who received an enormous amount of attention for working at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s, has accepted an offer by Tyler Perry to appear on the OWN series The Haves and the Have Nots.
EW has confirmed that Owens will appear in 10 episodes in the show’s sixth season which is about to start filming in Atlanta. TMZ was first to report the news.
Earlier this week, Perry tweeted to Owens to “come join us. I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs. The measure of a true artist.”
Perry serves as creator, writer and director of the crime drama.
Last week the Daily Mailand Fox News published photos of Owens bagging groceries, which prompted hundreds of fans and celebrities to come to the actor’s defense. Owens worked at Trader Joe’s for 15 months, but said he had to quit over the recent attention.
He’s best known for playing Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Showfrom 1985 to 1992. He has since appeared on a number of shows, including Divorce, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Built to Last.
Former President Barack Obama urged students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to get out and vote. USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Previewing his midterm elections campaign message, former President Barack Obama on Friday launched a direct and blistering attack on President Donald Trump and Republicans, and called on Americans to get to the ballot box in November to “restore some semblance of sanity to our politics.”
At one point referencing the “crazy stuff coming out of this White House,” Obama told students and others gathered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that even if they don’t agree with Democrats on certain issues, they should still want to see a “restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness in government.”
“It should not be a partisan issue to say that we do not pressure the attorney general or the FBI to use the criminal justice system as a cudgel to punish our political opponents,” he said, in a reference to Trump. “Or to explicitly call on the attorney general to protect members of our own party from prosecution because an election happens to be coming up.”
Obama’s scathing attack on Trump comes during a tumultuous week for the White House and represents a departure for Obama, who has kept a low profile since leaving office. He has typically avoided even mentioning Trump by name in previous speeches.
Not on Friday.
Speaking to a packed auditorium with about 1,100 students, faculty and community members, he said young people are coming of age during a time when the powerful and privileged are pushing back on America’s ideals.
“It did not start with Donald Trump,” Obama said. “He is a symptom, not the cause. He’s just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years.”
The solution, he said, is not the alleged resistance movement inside the administration, working to thwart Trump’s worst impulses, as described by a senior official who this week penned an anonymous New York Times op-ed.
“They’re not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 percent of the crazy stuff that’s coming out of this White House,” he said. “There is actually only one check on bad policy and abuses of power, and that’s you. You and your vote.”
Trump mocked Obama’s speech before supporters in North Dakota.
“I’m sorry, I watched it, but I fell asleep … I found he’s very good – very good for sleeping,” he said.
Later, as he made his pitch for Republican candidates, Trump told his supporters: “Isn’t this much more exciting than listening to President Obama’s speech?”Some Republicans pounced on Obama’s remarks to bash his two terms in office and defend Trump.
“The more President @BarackObama speaks about the ‘good ole years’ of his presidency, the more likely President @realDonaldTrump is to get re-elected,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted. “In fact, the best explanation of President Trump’s victory are the “results” of the Obama Presidency!”
Obama made a case against voter apathy by unloading on the Republican Party, saying it has become a home for the politics of “division and resentment and paranoia” and its members are abdicating their responsibilities by doing nothing “when the president does something crazy.”
Obama blamed the GOP for unwinding campaign finance laws, attacking voting rights, handing out tax cuts without regard to deficits, casting votes to deprive people of their health insurance, rejecting science and undermining alliances. He also questioned a “cozying up” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“What happened to the Republican Party?” he said.
Obama said it’s not an exaggeration to say the midterm elections are the most important in his lifetime.
“As a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president, I’m here to deliver a simple message and that is that you need to vote because our democracy depends on it,” he said.
The speech comes ahead of his first midterm campaign events, beginning Saturday, in the political battleground of Orange County, Calif., where he will stump for several Democratic House candidates.
Obama will head to Cleveland on Sept. 13 to campaign for Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Richard Cordray. He will also campaign this month in Illinois and Pennsylvania, and will headline a fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee in New York City.
Last month, Obama released a first round of endorsements – 81 candidates up and down the ballot – and there will be a second round of endorsements and additional campaign activity in advance of the midterms, according to his office.
Katie Hill, Obama’s communications director, said Obama hopes to use his standing across the country to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers said Friday that Obama’s campaign events will help Republicans.
“For three cycles President Obama fired up Republicans like nobody and I’m happy if he wants to do it again,” he said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington.
Obama’s re-emergence comes as both parties are girding for a November election widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump. The outcome will decide control of Congress and three dozen gubernatorial contests.
Analysts say Obama’s post-presidential star status among Democrats will help drive turnout among African-American, Latino and young voters in key suburban House districts and cities. They also said he is better positioned than almost anyone else in the party to raise huge amounts of campaign cash.
Obama left office with a 57 percent approval rating, and like most presidents, his standing has only improved since departing the West Wing. More than six in 10 respondents to a Gallup poll released in February said they approved of the way Obama handled the job.
“My father taught me that voting is a sacred responsibility, one that none of us can take for granted,” she tweeted last month. “And #WhenWeAllVote, we can make our voices heard.”
My father taught me that voting is a sacred responsibility, one that none of us can take for granted. And #WhenWeAllVote, we can make our voices heard.
Designer Kate Spade, known for her preppy accessories and clothing, was found dead of an apparent suicide at the age of 55. USA TODAY
“She left a little sparkle everywhere she went.”
That was the quote printed on a small blush-colored notecard left at each seat for the Kate Spade New York spring 2019 fashion show Friday.
The back of the card said simply, “In loving memory 1962-2018,” a subtle but poignant way to celebrate the life and career of the fashion designer Kate Spade, who died in June.
The sparkling celebration continued onto the floor of the venue, with a path of glitter along which the models walked circling the Celeste Bartos Forum at the New York Public Library.
Spade died of an apparent suicide in her New York City apartment. She was 55.
Spade and her husband and business partner Andy Spade launched the brand in 1993 with a black nylon purse and five other classic bags, but the Spades hadn’t been associated with the brand for years. Kate and Andy walked away from the company in 2007, one year after it was acquired by the group then known as Liz Claiborne Inc. for $125 million.
“This collection has been given a lot of care, attention and love,” the brand’s creative director Nicola Glass wrote in the show notes.
The show notes described the collection as “everyday luxuries, rooted in realness,” continuing Spade’s legacy with a mix of bright pops of color, bold prints and, of course, a handbag paired with every look.
Alastair Cook made 71 in his final match for England but India’s bowlers seized the initiative on day one of the fifth Test at The Oval.
Opener Cook, who will retire after his 161st Test, was given a guard of honour by the India team on his way to the crease.
He was dropped on 37 by Ajinkya Rahane but, for the most part, batted as if in his prime until he played on off Jasprit Bumrah and departed to cheers from an adoring crowd.
Cook’s dismissal sparked an all-too-familiar collapse, with England losing three wickets for one run and three more for 10 runs either side of Moeen Ali reaching a painstaking half-century.
Ishant Sharma claimed 3-28 as England closed an attritional, old-fashioned day on 198-7.
That is an excellent outcome for India, who put in a superb bowling performance on a slow pitch that looks to be the best batting surface of the series.
England already have an unassailable 3-1 lead, while India are looking to win two Tests on a tour here for the first time since 1986.
Cook digs in one more time
Cook, who holds the record for the most Test caps, runs, hundreds and catches for England, has chosen to end his career in the midst of his leanest spell – he averaged only 18 with the bat in 2018 before this knock.
He has described retiring as a “weight off his shoulders” and certainly looked more at home at the crease than at any point in the series, defending with the solidity, moving with the fluency and judging as soundly as he did at his peak.
The 33-year-old’s day began with the presentation of a commemorative cap from England and Wales Cricket Board director of cricket Andrew Strauss and chairman Colin Graves, then his walk to the crease was accompanied by the first of three standing ovations and the show of respect from the tourists.
Alastair Cook reaches his fifty in final Test
The early part of his stay included trademark Cook shots – clips off the pads, a cut and a hook – mixed with rarer drives through the off side.
As India’s bowling improved and run-scoring became harder, Cook was forced to revert to his legendary concentration and patience.
Even then, he required the fortune of being dropped by gully fielder Rahane when regular nemesis Ishant squared him up with one that swung away.
With the storm weathered, a memorable and emotional century seemed in the offing, only for Cook to inside edge on to his stumps from one that Bumrah got to keep low.
Frustrated, Cook left the arena with his bat raised to acknowledge the applause and cheering of a crowd that was again on their feet.
End of an era, same old problems
‘The game’s been transformed’ – Bairstow out for a duck
Even if Cook has been short of runs, his retirement compounds the problems of a fragile England batting line-up that once again found itself in trouble.
Keaton Jennings looked assured for his 23 before turning the spin of Ravindra Jadeja to leg slip, leaving Moeen to begin a struggle with both himself and the India attack.
Accustomed to the middle order in Test cricket, new number three Moeen was dropped on two by third slip Virat Kohli, and played and missed countless times. It is to his credit that he inched his way to the slowest of his 13 half-centuries.
He witnessed England’s first slump and was part of the second. After Cook fell, Joe Root played across a Bumrah inswinger to be lbw in familiar fashion for a duck, while the horribly out-of-form Jonny Bairstow poked at Ishant for a third nought in four innings.
Ben Stokes hung around before being lbw to Jadeja, Moeen fenced at Ishant, while Sam Curran was caught behind trying to leave the same bowler.
It would have been much worse for England had Jos Buttler not overturned being given lbw off Mohammed Shami as he and Adil Rashid scraped to the end of the day.
India refuse to fade
This is the first time since 1999 that there has been fewer than 200 runs in a full day’s play on day one of a Test in England. That day New Zealand scored 170-8 at The Oval
India responded to losing the series by bringing in Jadeja for fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and giving a debut to batsman Hanuma Vihari in place of all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
In the morning session it looked like they had been deflated by the defeat in the fourth Test in Southampton, but they regrouped to put in an outstanding display in the afternoon and evening.
Yet again, their pace bowlers were excellent, their relentlessness eventually earning belated rewards. Once they found the correct, fuller length, all three of Bumrah, Ishant and Shami swung the ball at a lively pace.
Jadeja, in his first Test of the tour, used his left-arm spin to both control scoring and provide a wicket-taking threat, a task that has been beyond Ashwin in the previous two matches.
India were only let down by their usually reliable catching – the drops could have put the visitors in an even stronger position.
Still, their batsmen look set to be given the opportunity to bat England out of the game.
England’s batting problems resurface on day of emotion
Analysis by Michael Vaughan on Test Match Special
It was a day of emotion because of Cook. After about 20 minutes it looked like the pressure had lifted from him and you could see in his movements, he was playing nicely.
It’s the perfect wicket to go on and make a century. It’s also the perfect wicket for Keaton Jennings, with the ball sitting up nicely and allowing him to play off the back foot, with none of the skiddy bowling that gets him in trouble.
But then he gave his wicket away. You can’t keep just playing someone because you think he’s a nice lad. It was a really soft dismissal and you worry about him in Sri Lanka against Rangana Herath.
Keaton Jennings averages 22.66 in 12 Tests
You could see Moeen really wanted to work out number three. But there are seven Tests until next year’s Ashes – do I want Moeen batting three against the new ball? No.
Equally, it doesn’t matter where Jonny Bairstow bats if he bats like he has done in the last two Tests. He could bat at number 11 and get out playing those shots.
Joe Root could get out like that batting at number 10, falling his head over the ball and being trapped lbw.
We’ve got to stop finding excuses for batsmen who just aren’t playing well enough.
In the state of Assam, a sliver of India squeezed between Bangladesh and Bhutan, four million people are at risk of becoming stateless.
The local government has put together a draft list of those it considers to be “legitimate” citizens and four million of Assam’s 32.9 million people didn’t make the cut.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) lists those who can prove that they or their parents were in India before March 1971, when Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan.
Hundreds of thousands fled civil war in Pakistan, many choosing to cross the border into India’s Assam to escape the violence, which led to the formation of Bangladesh.
India’s government says that those who came then or since should go back to Bangladesh. But Bangladesh doesn’t view those missing from the NRC list as Bangladeshi and says it won’t accept them.
“People are scared,” says Sharifa Khatun, who comes from the remote village of Langia where, she says, she is among some 500 people who did not find their names on the list.
“Our names were struck off the list, our family is sad. Many can’t stop their tears,” she says.
“Apparently if your name’s not on the list then you are a foreigner. If you are tagged as a foreigner then you will become a Bangladeshi. They are scared they will be put away in jails.”
Authorities say those who did not make the list will not be arrested or deported immediately but will have time to file for corrections before the final list is published by the end of the year.
Most of those missing from the list say their Indian roots pre-date 1971; they can appeal the decision but many fear that without the proper paperwork, they will become stateless.
An hour’s drive from Langia is the town of Nagoan and, there, another family is worried. Despite having Indian passports, some of the family’s names are not on the list.
“We are from here. This is my village,” says Hasiban Nesa. My father and my grandfather were born here.”
Hasiban says she thinks she is 103 years old and has always lived in Assam. Although her name is not on the list, her son, Mohammed Rehman’s name is and so he is considered Indian.
The ultimate aim is just to reduce the Muslim population.
Mohammed Rehman, Assam resident
“They cannot send me away from this country. How can they chase me away? My family lives here. My grandfather was buried in this land. No one can throw me out.”
More than a third of Assam’s population is Muslim and many feel the list is targeting them.
Without citizenship, people cannot vote, work or go into higher education.
“They’re going to ghettoise the people, it’s simple,” says Mohammed. “This is the ultimate goal [to put people in] a state of asphyxia – they will not be able to breathe economically.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power at both the state and national levels.
Modi – who has been accused of exploiting ethnic and religious divisions in India to shore up his political base – came to power on the promise of expelling so-called “illegal foreigners” and protecting the rights of indigenous groups.
Critics say the Assam list is a way for Modi and the BJP – who face general elections next year – to further boost their support among India’s Hindus.
They have been there for generations but should they be altering the politics of Assam? No. These are not Indian nationals.
Sudhanshu Mittal, NRC spokesman
“All the Muslims here feel this is an extension of the prevailing situation all over India,” says Mohammed. “The ultimate aim is just to reduce the Muslim population … and that can only happen if they make some sort of scheme of this sorts where the Muslim influence or population is curtailed. This is what we believe, that’s what is happening,” he says.
“Any self-respecting nation must identify those who are not nationals of that country,” says Sudhanshu Mittal, a spokesperson for the NRC. “We’ve had a huge amount of infiltration from Bangladesh and it’s time we identify those who are not Indian nationals,” he says.
“Can you allow foreign nationals to influence the polity of a state? No … They have been there for generations but should they be altering the politics of Assam? No. These are not Indian nationals and if they’re not Indian nationals they have no business to be on the voter’s list.”
Al Jazeera travels to Assam to meet the people now facing an uncertain future and to challenge those behind the exercise on why it is so necessary.
For more on Captain Marvel, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands now, or buy it here. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
Captain Marvelmay introduce Brie Larson’s pilot-turned-superhero Carol Danvers, but it’s also an origin story for another character.
The March 2019 film marks Samuel L. Jackson’s ninth big-screen appearance as Nick Fury, but with the story set in the mid-‘90s, this younger Nick is different from the espionage expert we’ve met before — so different that there were times Jackson himself didn’t recognize him.
“I’ll read something, and I’ll read it as present Nick Fury, and I’ll go, ‘He would never do this,’” Jackson says. “And I go, ‘Oh, wait a minute. He’s not in that place yet.’ ”
After 10 years, Jackson admits that he’s become protective of the character, but he enjoyed exploring Fury’s origins as a fresh-faced S.H.I.E.L.D. desk jockey with two eyes and zero extraterrestrial experience. (The 69-year-old actor was digitally de-aged for the role.)
“The Nick Fury we meet is sort of a bureaucrat in an interesting sort of way,” he explains. “He hadn’t become jaded or a slave to the cynicism that we normally see. He sort of respects the people that are above him, more so than the Nick Fury that people are used to.”
Captain Marvel also includes Fury’s first meeting with Clark Gregg’s rookie agent Phil Coulson — and there are other surprises, too. “He has a greater sense of humor in this than anything I’ve done before,” Jackson says.
But it isn’t until Fury meets the part-Kree, part-human hero Carol Danvers — a.k.a. Captain Marvel — that he realizes the world might be a whole lot bigger than he originally thought. (Remember the end-credits scene of Avengers: Infinity War, when Fury paged Carol in his final moments?)
“This is a mind-changing, attitude-changing moment for him that leads him to become the person that we know,” Jackson says. “He [now] understands that there are these other things out there. He understands that they’re not all enemies, and we do need to find allies who have specific kinds of skills that humans don’t have. And trying to convince people above him is a difficult task because they haven’t seen it or experienced it.”
Captain Marvel also marks a reunion for Larson and Jackson. The two starred in last year’s Kong: Skull Island and have become friends since then. (On the day EW was on set, the pair hadn’t seen each other in a while, and when Larson stopped by to say hello and show off a costume, Jackson jumped up in the middle of an interview to give her a hug.)
“She’s got the strength of the character,” he says. “She’s an interestingly iconic figure in the world of Me Too and women’s strength and everything that’s going on in the world right now. She’s a pivotal figure in that. And to put her in this position in this particular role in a film like this that is driven by feminism in a very interesting way… it’s just the right choice.”
For more on Captain Marvel, check out EW’s cover story, on stands now.
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