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Banking heir Benjamin de Rothschild dies at 57 - Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Benjamin de Rothschild, who oversaw the banking empire started by his father in 1953, has died. He was 57. The Edmond de Rothschild Group, the company he was chairman of,...

NEW YORK (AP) Benjamin de Rothschild, who oversaw the banking empire started by his father in 1953, has died. He was 57. The Edmond de Rothschild Group, the company he was chairman of, said that de Rothschild died of a heart attack Friday afternoon at his home in Pregny, Switzerland. Since 1997, Benjamin de Rothschild headed the banking group, which was named after his father. Today, Edmond de Rothschild Group says it manages assets worth 160 billion euros, or $190 billion. Forbes magazine estimates de Rothschilds net worth at $1.5 billion. He is a descendent of the Rothschild family, which has a nearly 300-year history running European banks. In a press release announcing his death, the Edmond de Rothschild Group said de Rothschild was passionate about finance, sailing, cars and wine. He was also a philanthropist, involved in the Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital, the company said. He is survived by his wife, Ariane de Rothschild, and their four adult daughters.

China builds hospital in 5 days after surge in virus cases - The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China on Saturday finished building a 1,500-room hospital for COVID-19 patients to fight a surge in infections the government said are harder to contain and that it blamed on...

BEIJING (AP) China on Saturday finished building a 1,500-room hospital for COVID-19 patients to fight a surge in infections the government said are harder to contain and that it blamed on infected people or goods from abroad. The hospital is one of six with a total of 6,500 rooms being built in Nangong, south of Beijing in Hebei province, the official Xinhua News Agency said. China had largely contained the coronavirus that first was detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 but has suffered a surge of cases since December. A total of 645 people are being treated in Nangong and the Hebei provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, Xinhua said. A 3,000-room hospital is under construction in Shijiazhuang. Virus clusters also have been found in Beijing and the provinces of Heilongjiang and Liaoning in the northeast and Sichuan in the southwest. The latest infections spread unusually fast, the National Health Commission said. It is harder to handle, a Commission statement said. Community transmission already has happened when the epidemic is found, so it is difficult to prevent. The Commission blamed the latest cases on people or goods arriving from abroad. It blamed abnormal management and inadequate protection of workers involved in imports but gave no details. They are all imported from abroad. It was caused by entry personnel or contaminated cold chain imported goods, said the statement. The Chinese government has suggested the disease might have originated abroad and publicized what it says is the discovery of the virus on imported food, mostly frozen fish, though foreign scientists are skeptical. Also Saturday, the city government of Beijing said travelers arriving in the Chinese capital from abroad would be required to undergo an additional week of medical monitoring after a 14-day quarantine but gave no details. Nationwide, the Health Commission reported 130 new confirmed cases in the 24 hours through midnight Friday. It said 90 of those were in Hebei. On Saturday, the Hebei government reported 32 additional cases since midnight, the Shanghai news outlet The Paper reported. In Shijiazhuang, authorities have finished construction of 1,000 rooms of the planned hospital, state TV said Saturday. Xinhua said all the facilities are due to be completed within a week. A similar program of rapid hospital construction was launched by the ruling Communist Party at the start of the outbreak last year in Wuhan. More than 10 million people in Shijiazhuang underwent virus tests by late Friday, Xinhua said, citing a deputy mayor, Meng Xianghong. It said 247 locally transmitted cases were found. Meanwhile, researchers sent by the World Health Organization were in Wuhan preparing to investigate the origins of the virus. The team, which arrived Thursday, was under a two-week quarantine but was due to talk with Chinese experts by video link. The teams arrival was held up for months by diplomatic wrangling that prompted a rare public complaint by the head of the WHO. That delay, and the secretive ruling partys orders to scientists not to talk publicly about the disease, have raised questions about whether Beijing might try to block discoveries that would hurt its self-proclaimed status as a leader in the anti-virus battle.

China builds new quarantine center as virus cases rise - The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel...

BEIJING (AP) A city in northern China is building a 3,000-unit quarantine facility to deal with an anticipated overflow of patients as COVID-19 cases rise ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush. State media on Friday showed crews leveling earth, pouring concrete and assembling pre-fabricated rooms in farmland outside Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei province that has seen the bulk of new cases. That recalled scenes last year, when China rapidly built field hospitals and turned gymnasiums into isolation centers to cope with the initial outbreak linked to the central city of Wuhan. China has largely contained further domestic spread of the coronavirus, but the recent spike has raised concerns due to the proximity to the capital Beijing and the impending rush of people planning to travel large distances to rejoin their families for countrys most important traditional festival. The National Health Commission on Friday said 1,001 patients were under care for the disease, 26 of them in serious condition. It said that 144 new cases were recorded over the past 24 hours. Hebei accounted for 90 of the new cases, while Heilongjiang province farther north reported 43. Nine cases were brought from outside the country, while local transmissions also occurred in the southern Guangxi region and the northern province of Shaanxi, illustrating the virus ability to move through the vast country of 1.4 billion people despite quarantines, travel restrictions and electronic monitoring. Shijiazhuang has been placed under virtual lockdown, along with the Hebei cities of Xingtai and Langfang, parts of Beijing and other cities in the northeast. That has cut off travel routes while more than 20 million people have been told to stay home for coming days. In all, China has reported 87,988 confirmed cases with 4,635 deaths. The spike in northern China comes as World Health Organization experts prepare to collect data on the origin of the pandemic after arriving Thursday in Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019. Team members must undergo two weeks of quarantine before they can begin field visits. Two of the 15 members were held up in Singapore over their health status. One of those, a British national, was approved for travel Friday after testing negative for the coronavirus, while the second, a Sudanese citizen from Qatar, had again tested positive, the Foreign Ministry announced. The visit was approved by President Xi Jinpings government after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the head of WHO. That delay, along with Beijings tight control of information and promotion of theories the pandemic began elsewhere, added to speculation that China is seeking to prevent discoveries that chisel away at its self-proclaimed status as a leader in the battle against the virus. Scientists suspect the virus that has killed more than 1.9 million people since late 2019 jumped to humans from bats or other animals, most likely in Chinas southwest. Former WHO official Keiji Fukuda, who is not on the team, cautioned against raising expectations for any breakthroughs from the visit, saying that it may take years before any firm conclusions can be made. China is going to want to come out avoiding blame, perhaps shifting the narrative, they want to come across as being competent and transparent, he told The Associated Press in an interview from Hong Kong. For its part, the WHO wants to project the image that it is taking, exerting leadership, taking and doing things in a timely way, said Fukuda. In Wuhan, street life appeared little different from other Chinese cities where the virus has been largely brought under control. In a riverside park, senior citizens gathered to drink and dance while residents had praise overall for the governments response to the crisis. Other countries are not very supportive and dont pay attention to the pandemic, people go out arbitrarily, and they hang out and gather together, so its especially easy for them to be infected, resident Xiang Nan said. I hope they can stay home, and reduce traveling ... dont let the pandemic spread further anymore. China is also pushing ahead with inoculations using home-developed vaccines, with more than 9 million already vaccinated and plans for 50 million to have the shot by the middle of next month. ___ Associated Press journalist Emily Wang contributed to this report.

Capitol rioters included highly trained ex-military and cops - Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump’s supporters massed outside the Capitol last week and sang the national anthem, a line of men wearing olive-drab helmets and body armor trudged...

WASHINGTON (AP) As President Donald Trumps supporters massed outside the Capitol last week and sang the national anthem, a line of men wearing olive-drab helmets and body armor trudged purposefully up the marble stairs in a single-file line, each man holding the jacket collar of the one ahead. The formation, known as Ranger File, is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is stacking up to breach a building instantly recognizable to any U.S. soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a chilling sign that many at the vanguard of the mob that stormed the seat of American democracy either had military training or were trained by those who did. An Associated Press review of public records, social media posts and videos shows at least 21 current or former members of the U.S. military or law enforcement have been identified as being at or near the Capitol riot, with more than a dozen others under investigation but not yet named. In many cases, those who stormed the Capitol appeared to employ tactics, body armor and technology such as two-way radio headsets that were similar to those of the very police they were confronting. Experts in homegrown extremism have warned for years about efforts by far-right militants and white-supremacist groups to radicalize and recruit people with military and law enforcement training, and they say the Jan. 6 insurrection that left five people dead saw some of their worst fears realized. ISIS and al-Qaida would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer, said Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups dont have any members who have badges. Among the most prominent to emerge is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas who was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs. Another Air Force veteran from San Diego was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap through a barricade near the House chamber. A retired Navy SEAL, among the most elite special warfare operators in the military, posted a Facebook video about traveling from his Ohio home to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of our building, our house. Two police officers from a small Virginia town, both of them former infantrymen, were arrested by the FBI after posting a selfie of themselves inside the Capitol, one flashing his middle finger at the camera. Also under scrutiny is an active-duty psychological warfare captain from North Carolina who organized three busloads of people who headed to Washington for the Save America rally in support the presidents false claim that the November election was stolen from him. Judges across the country have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and former Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, has said there was no sign of widespread fraud. While the Pentagon declined to provide an estimate for how many other active-duty military personnel are under investigation, the militarys top leaders were concerned enough ahead of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration that they issued a highly unusual warning to all service members this week that the right to free speech gives no one the right to commit violence. The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police was forced to resign following the breach and several officers have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations into their conduct, including one who posed for a selfie with a rioter and another who was seen wearing one of the Trumps red Make America Great Again caps. The APs review of hundreds of videos and photos from the insurrectionist riot shows scores of people mixed in the crowd who were wearing military-style gear, including helmets, body armor, rucksacks and two-way radios. Dozens carried canisters of bear spray, baseball bats, hockey sticks and pro-Trump flags attached to stout poles later used to bash police officers. A close examination of the group marching up the steps to help breach the Capitol shows they wore military-style patches that read MILITIA and OATHKEEPER. Others were wearing patches and insignias representing far-right militant groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and various self-styled state militias. The Oath Keepers, which claims to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, have become fixtures at protests and counter-protests across the country, often heavily armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns. Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a reaction to the presidency of Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks before the Capitol riot that his group was preparing for a civil war and was armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up. Adam Newbold, the retired Navy SEAL from Lisbon, Ohio, whose more than two-decade military career includes multiple combat awards for valor, said in a Jan. 5 Facebook video, We are just very prepared, very capable and very skilled patriots ready for a fight. He later posted a since-deleted follow-up video after the riot saying he was proud of the assault. Newbold, 45, did not respond to multiple messages from the AP but in an interview with the Task & Purpose website he denied ever going inside the Capitol. He added that because of the fallout from the videos he has resigned from a program that helps prepare potential SEAL applicants. Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the possible involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, the 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan war veteran who told the AP she traveled with 100 others to Washington to stand against election fraud. She insisted she acted within Army regulations and that no one in her group entered the Capitol or broke the law. I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights, Rainey said. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. of Texas was released to home confinement Thursday after a prosecutor alleged the former fighter pilot had zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor because he planned to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said. His prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous. More than 110 people have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol riot so far, ranging from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession. Brian Harrell, who served as the assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security until last year, said it is obviously problematic when extremist bad actors have military and law enforcement backgrounds. Many have specialized training, some have seen combat, and nearly all have been fed disinformation and propaganda from illegitimate sources, Harrell said. They are fueled by conspiracy theories, feel as if something is being stolen from them, and they are not interested in debate. This is a powder keg cocktail waiting to blow. The FBI is warning of the potential for more bloodshed. In an internal bulletin issued Sunday, the bureau warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, police departments in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia announced they were investigating whether members of their agencies participated in the Capitol riot. The Philadelphia areas transit authority is also investigating whether seven of its police officers who attended Trumps rally in Washington broke any laws. A Texas sheriff announced last week that he had reported one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted photos of herself on social media with a crowd outside the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the right to attend the rally but hes investigating whether she may have broken the law. One of the posts Mathai shared was a photo that appeared to be taken Jan. 6 from among the mass of Trump supporters outside the Capitol, captioned: Not gonna lie. ... aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And its not over yet. A lawyer for Mathai, a mother and longtime San Antonio resident, said she attended the Trump rally but never entered the Capitol. In Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo said an 18-year veteran of the department suspected of joining the mob that breached the Capitol was placed on leave and will face a disciplinary hearing. There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer, Acevedo said. I cant tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to storm the Capitol. ___ Bleiberg reported from Dallas and LaPorta from in Delray Beach, Florida. Robert Burns and Mike Balsamo in Washington; Jim Mustian, Michael R. Sisak and Thalia Beaty in New York; Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; Juan A. Lozano in Houston; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Martha Bellisle in Seattle; and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed. ___ Follow Associated Press Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck; Jake Bleiberg at http://twitter.com/JZBleiberg; and James LaPorta at http://twitter.com/JimLaPorta ___ Contact APs global investigative team at [email protected]

Prosecutor: Capitol rioter aimed 'to take hostages' - Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended “to take hostages,” a...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended to take hostages, a prosecutor said in a Texas court on Thursday. He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. without providing specifics. The prosecutor had argued that Brock should be detained, but Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton said he would release Brock to home confinement. Cureton ordered Brock to surrender any firearms and said he could have only limited internet access as conditions of that release. I need to put you on a very short rope, Cureton said. These are strange times for our country and the concerns raised by the government do not fall on deaf ears. Brock appeared in court in a light green jumpsuit, a mask and with shackles at his hands and feet. Weimer did not detail a specific plan by Brock but noted his prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous. He also read in court social media posts from Brock, including one posted on the day of the Capitol riot that said: Patriots on the Capitol. Patriots storming. Men with guns need to shoot their way in. Brock was arrested Sunday in Texas after being photographed on the Senate floor during the deadly riot wearing a helmet and heavy vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs. The 53-year-old is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Brocks attorney, Brook Antonio II, noted that Brock has only been charged with misdemeanors. Antonio said there was no direct evidence of Brock breaking doors or windows to get into the Capitol, or doing anything violent once he was inside. Its all talk. Its all speculation and conjecture, said Antonio, who noted Brocks long service in the military, including being reactivated after Sept. 11 and his four tours in Afghanistan. Weimer said Brock will likely face additional charges. More than 100 people have been arrested in the Capitol riot, with charges ranging from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession. The FBI has been investigating whether some of the rioters had planned to kidnap members of Congress and hold them hostage. Before his arrest, Brock told The New Yorker magazine that he found the zip-tie cuffs on the floor and that he had planned to give them to a police officer. I wish I had not picked those up, he said. There was no evidence presented that Brock had a firearm on the day of the Capitol riot. Antonio asked an FBI agent who was testifying whether it was possible Brock had just picked up the cuffs, and the agent acknowledged that was a possibility. Weimer read a termination letter from Brocks former employer that said he had talked in the workplace about killing people of a particular religion and or race. Weimer also read social media posts in which Brock referred to a coming civil war and the election being stolen from President Donald Trump. Weimer said Brocks posts also referenced the far-right and anti-government Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, a loose anti-government network thats part of the militia movement. The Oath Keepers claim to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members. The FBI agent though testified there was no evidence beyond the social media posts that Brock was involved with either of those groups. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Trump, have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and Attorney General William Barr has said there was no sign of widespread fraud. ___ Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas.

Asia Today: China virus cases spike as WHO researchers visit - The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China is seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived to investigate the origins of the pandemic. China on...

BEIJING (AP) China is seeing a new surge in coronavirus cases in its frozen northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived to investigate the origins of the pandemic. China on Thursday also reported its first new death attributed to COVID-19 in months, raising the toll to 4,635 among 87,844 cases. Chinas relatively low case figures are a testimony to the effectiveness of strict containment, tracing and quarantine measures, but have also raised questions about the tight hold the government maintains on all information related to the outbreak. The National Health Commission said Heilongjiang province in the region traditionally known as Manchuria recorded 43 new cases, most of them centered on the city of Suihua outside the provincial capital of Harbin. The northern province of Hebei just outside Beijing, which has seen Chinas most serious recent outbreak, recorded another 81 cases, marking the second straight day Chinas total number of local infections has risen into triple digits. Another 14 cases were brought from outside the country. China has put more than 20 million people under varying degrees of lockdown in Hebei, Beijing and other areas in hopes of stemming infections ahead of next months Lunar New Year holiday. The government has cut travel links to and from several cities, urged people to stay put for the holiday, postponed important political gatherings and plans to let schools out a week early to reduce the chances of infection. Also Thursday, a 10-member WHO team arrived in the central city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected in late 2019. The visit was approved by President Xi Jinpings government after months of diplomatic wrangling that prompted an unusual public complaint by the head of the WHO. State broadcaster CGTN said the team will be quarantined for two weeks and will undergo testing for the virus. Scientists suspect the virus that has killed 1.9 million people since late 2019 jumped to humans from bats or other animals, most likely in Chinas southwest. The WHO team includes virus and other experts from the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan, Britain, Russia, the Netherlands, Qatar and Vietnam. In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region: Indonesia started vaccinating health workers and public servants with the COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech. The Health Ministry is planning to vaccinate more than 1.3 million health workers and 17.4 million public officials in the first stage of its vaccination program that eventually is intended to cover two-thirds of its population, or 180 million of its 270 million people. The first 25 health workers to get the jab Thursday were employees of Jakartas Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. The rollout comes as Indonesia registered a daily high in COVID-19 infections and fatalities on Wednesday, with 11,278 cases and 306 deaths in the last 24 hours. The country has confirmed 858,000 infections and 24,900 deaths since the pandemic began.

Trump, Pence and Reid react to death of Sheldon Adelson - Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Billionaire casino mogul and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson died Monday night at 87. Here are some reactions to his death: “Sheldon lived the true American...

LAS VEGAS (AP) Billionaire casino mogul and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson died Monday night at 87. Here are some reactions to his death: Sheldon lived the true American dream. Sheldon was true to his family, his country, and all those that knew him. The world has lost a great man. He will be missed. President Donald Trump ___ Sheldon Adelson not only lived the American dream, he embodied it; a philanthropist whose generosity knew no bounds and helped shape countless worthy causes; and a businessman who changed an immeasurable number of lives. Vice President Mike Pence ___ Sheldon battled his way out of a tough Boston neighborhood to build a successful enterprise that loyally employed tens of thousands and entertained millions. Former President George W. Bush ___ Few people have had such significant an impact on the hotel and gaming industry and on Nevadas economy as Sheldon Adelson. He was instrumental in transforming Las Vegas into the iconic destination it is today. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat ___ His life made him a fearless advocate for freedom and entrepreneurship and a source of counsel and support to a generation of conservatives, including me. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican ___ Sheldon Adelsons vison helped transform Las Vegas from a small desert city into a world-class tourism destination. The Silver States massive business, entertainment and convention industries are what they are today because of his lifes work and his dedication to building a Las Vegas that can cater to everyone from entrepreneurs to international travelers. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat ___ I am saddened to hear of the passing of Sheldon Adelson. As Jewish leaders, we also shared a deep concern for the rise in anti-Semitism and joined efforts to help combat hate. U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat ___ He was not afraid to go all-in and take his position based upon his opinion without looking over his shoulder or second-guessing himself. Former Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn ___ As a prominent businessman, investor, and philanthropist, Sheldon Adelson has been a pillar in the Las Vegas community for decades. Born into a tough neighborhood in Boston, Sheldon grew up understanding the value of hard work and eventually built one of the worlds most successful enterprises. U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, a Nevada Republican ___ Sheldon Adelson left an undeniable mark on Las Vegas. Through his vast philanthropic efforts, he created new educational opportunities for Southern Nevadas children and helped thousands of teens and adults struggling with opioid addiction overcome their illness. U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat ___ Sheldon was a man who believed in, succeeded in, and invested in bold and daring ideas that changed the state of Nevada. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak ___ Sheldon Adelson is a man who has served our community in many ways: he was a pioneer in the casino and convention industry, a skilled businessman, and a philanthropist who funded a school, medical research, and countless other causes. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat ___ Sheldon Adelson helped make Las Vegas a top international travel destination. U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, a Nevada Democrat ___ He was a gaming giant who helped shape modern Las Vegas and employed thousands of Las Vegas families for decades. U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, a Nevada Democrat

Unstoppable Tide: Alabama routs Ohio St for national title - Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The celebration was at once familiar and unique. The confetti cannons sent a crimson and white shower into the air and Alabama players ran to the sideline to grab their...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) The celebration was at once familiar and unique. The confetti cannons sent a crimson and white shower into the air and Alabama players ran to the sideline to grab their championship hats and T-shirts. Its a rite of passage if you have played for the Crimson Tide under coach Nick Saban. This time, though, the band playing the fight song was a piped -in recording, and when Sweet Home Alabama blared, only a few thousand Tide fans were still in the stadium to sing along. The final game of a college football season in a pandemic, a season that was uncertain to be played in the summer and filled with disruptions in the fall, ended in the most predictable fashion: Alabama as national champion for the sixth time in the last 12 years under Saban. DeVonta Smith was uncoverable, Najee Harris unstoppable and Mac Jones impeccable as the top-ranked Tide won the College Football Playoff national championship game 52-24 against No. 3 Ohio State on Monday night. They finished the year 13-0 a full season when many wondered if it would be possible to play any. I think were the best team to ever play, Jones said. For Saban, it was career title No. 7 overall, breaking a tie with Alabama great Paul Bear Bryant for the most by a major college coach. To me this is the ultimate team, Saban said. There is more togetherness on this team than on almost any team weve ever had. Theyve had to overcome and to persevere so much through this season, and they have done it magnificently. Ohio State (7-1) just couldnt keep up. Justin Fields, playing what might be his last game before heading to the NFL, passed for 194 yards and a touchdown. Whether Fields was 100% after taking a brutal hit to the side during his brilliant semifinal performance against Clemson was hard to know for sure. I was able to be out there, was all the junior quarterback would say. On the Buckeyes first drive, they lost star running back Trey Sermon to an injury, and in a game they needed to be running at top speed, facing one of great offenses in recent history, they sputtered too much. Ohio State has never allowed more points in a bowl game. I think theres a feeling of, if you dont score youre going to get behind and then the pressure mounts, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said of facing the Tides prolific offense. Fans can debate which team in the Saban dynasty is best, but none will be more memorable than this group. Everybody is so together, Smith said. People last year said the dynasty was over. We dont stop. We just keep reloading. After going a whole two seasons without winning a national title, the Tide finished perfect during a season that could not have been further from it. COVID-19 forced teams into quarantines and endless testing and uncertainty every single week with games played in mostly empty stadiums. To me this team accomplished more than almost any team, Saban said. No disrespect to other teams we had but this team won 11 SEC games. No other team has done that. They won the SEC and went undefeated in the SEC and then they beat two great teams in the playoffs with no break. I think theres going to be quite a bit to write about the legacy of this team. Only about 15,000 fans were at Hard Rock Stadium, capacity 65,326, to see the last magnificent performance of Smiths college career. The Heisman Trophy winner had catches for 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half. Heaven knows what he would have done if he played the whole game, Saban said. Using an array of motions and misdirections, outgoing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian had Ohio State heads spinning trying to track down Smith. At one point, he suddenly was matched up against a linebacker, whom he left in the dust for a 42-yard score to make it 35-17 with 41 seconds left in the second quarter. Smith, who finished his freshman season by catching the 2017 national championship-winning touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa, ended his Alabama career as the leading career receiver in Southeastern Conference history and the most outstanding offensive player of his third title game. As for Sarkisian, he is on his way to Texas as the head coach. Longhorns fans had to have liked what they saw. If only he could bring Smith and his fellow Heisman contenders to Austin. Jones, who finished third in the Heisman voting, was 36 for 45 for a CFP championship-record 464 yards and five touchdowns. In one of maybe the most overlooked seasons a quarterback has ever played, Jones set a single-season record for passer efficiency rating at 203. Harris, who was fifth in the Heisman race, had 158 yards from scrimmage on 29 touches, scoring three times to give him an SEC record 30 touchdowns this season. Smith hardly played in the second half, leaving with an injury. He returned to the sideline in the fourth quarter with his right hand wrapped to the wrist, two fingers taped together, and wearing a Heisman mask. Alabama hardly missed him and cracked 50 early in the fourth quarter when Harris went in untouched from a yard out. Smith and Harris surprised some by returning to college after last season for their senior years. Boy, did it turn out to be worthwhile. Along with Jones, another member of that 2017 recruiting class, they will leave Alabama as the leaders of a team that managed to make an arduous march from through the pandemic look easy. We all had a mission trying to end things the right way, Smith said. We all went to work and it ended the way we wanted. ___ Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/ ___ More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Germany's Merkel: Trump's Twitter eviction 'problematic' - Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers U.S. President Donald Trump's eviction from Twitter by the company “problematic,” her spokesman said Monday. Twitter permanently...

BERLIN (AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers U.S. President Donald Trumps eviction from Twitter by the company problematic, her spokesman said Monday. Twitter permanently suspended Trump from the microblogging platform on Friday, citing a risk of further incitement of violence in the wake of the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the outgoing president. Asked about Twitters decision, Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the operators of social media platforms bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies and by incitement to violence. He said its right not to stand back when such content is posted, for example by flagging it. But Seibert also said that the freedom of opinion is a fundamental right of elementary significance. This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms, he told reporters in Berlin. Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked. Facebook on Thursday suspended Trumps account through Jan. 20, the day of President-elect Joe Bidens inauguration, and possibly indefinitely. Merkel herself does not have a Twitter account, although Seibert does and many German government ministers do.

China: WHO experts arriving Thursday for virus origins probe - The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive in China this week for a long-anticipated investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the government...

BEIJING (AP) Experts from the World Health Organization are due to arrive in China this week for a long-anticipated investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Monday. The experts will arrive on Thursday and meet with Chinese counterparts, the National Health Commission said in a one-sentence statement that gave no other details. It wasnt immediately clear whether the experts would be traveling to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019. Negotiations for the visit have long been underway. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed disappointment last week over delays, saying that members of the international scientific team departing from their home countries had already started on their trip as part of an arrangement between the WHO and the Chinese government. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China had approved the visit following consultations between the sides and called it an opportunity to exchange views with Chinese scientists and medical experts on scientific cooperation on the tracing of the origin of the new coronavirus. Along with continuous changes in the epidemic situation, our knowledge of the virus deepens, and more early cases are discovered, Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing, adding that the search for the origin will likely involve multiple countries and localities. Chinas government has strictly controlled all research at home into the origins of the virus, an Associated Press investigation found, while state-owned media have played up fringe theories that suggest the virus could have originated elsewhere. The AP investigation found that Chinas government is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to scientists researching the virus origins in southern China. But it is monitoring their findings and mandating that the publication of any data or research must be approved by a new task force managed by Chinas Cabinet, under direct orders from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by the AP. The culture of secrecy is believed to have delayed warnings about the pandemic, blocked the sharing of information with the WHO and hampered early testing. Australia and other countries have called for an investigation into the origins of the virus, prompting angry responses from Beijing. There was no immediate comment from the WHO on Mondays announcement, but U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had earlier told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is fully supportive of Dr. Tedros and WHOs efforts to get a team in there. Its very important that as the WHO is in the lead in fighting the pandemic, that it also has a leading role in trying to look back at the roots of this pandemic so we can be better prepared for the next one, Dujarric said. We very much hope that Chinas reported comments that it is working with the WHO and looking for a smooth visit will happen. The virus origins have been the source of intense speculation, much of it centered around the likelihood that it was carried by bats and passed to humans through an intermediary species sold as food or medicine in traditional Chinese wet markets. China has largely stemmed new cases of domestic transmission, but said Monday that scores of people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Hebei province, bordering Beijing. That outbreak comes amid measures to curb the further spread of the virus during next months Lunar New Year holiday. Authorities have called on citizens not to travel, ordered schools closed a week early and conducted testing on a massive scale. China has recorded 87,536 total cases of the virus, including 4,634 deaths. Hospitals are currently treating 673 people for COVID-19, while 506 others are in isolation and under observation after testing positive without showing symptoms., officials said. The Hebei outbreak has raised particular concern because of the provinces proximity to Beijing. Parts of the province are under lockdown and interprovincial travel has been largely cut off, with those entering Beijing to work having to show proof of employment and a clean bill of health. Beijing has also seen a handful of new cases, prompting authorities to lock down some suburban communities and require residents to show negative test results to access grocery stores and other public spaces.