Jake Hager, the former WWE champion known as Jack Swagger, won his professional MMA debut Saturday at Bellator 214, submitting J.W. Kiser in the first round.
Hager (1-0) took a Kiser punch early and immediately worked for a takedown, using his amateur wrestling background to control him on the ground. After working for a kimura, he broke Kiser’s defensive position and landed some big elbows that hurt him.
Hager worked into position for a head and arm choke and tapped Kiser (1-2) fairly quickly at 2:09 of the first round without even having proper positioning with his legs.
Former WWE co-worker R-Truth rapped during Hager’s entrance and used his old “We The People” WWE catchphrase in his video and in his post-fight promo.
In his post-fight promo, Hager didn’t say a lot of note other than he wanted to make Bellator his home and fight a lot over the next decade. When John McCarthy asked Hager about advice he got from his “old boss” Vince McMahon, Hager said, “Sometimes to convince Vince, you have to con Vince” which McCarthy really didn’t know how to follow up on.
Here’s a look at his entrance.
⚡️ “WE THE PEOPLE” @RealJackSwagger#Bellator214 pic.twitter.com/esVLScLLYq
Heritage campaigners in Montenegro have accused developers of turning an historic island fortress, where prisoners were once starved and tortured, into a “haven for the rich” as its conversion into a five-star resort gets underway.
The island of Lastavica, on which the 19th century Mamula fortress is built, occupies an idyllic position off the coast of the tiny Balkan country, which is undergoing a tourism boom as investors move in on its beaches and bays.
But the island has a dark, haunted past – during the Second World War it was used by the occupying Italians as a place to incarcerate around 2,000 political prisoners.
Many were tortured and an estimated 130 were killed or starved to death…
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– Emil and Ernie Dusek defeated Al and Tiny Mills for the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Titles
1958
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:
– Frenchy Champagne and George Eakin defeated John DePaulo and Bobby Jones for the Madison Wrestling Club Tag Team Titles
1962
Denver, Colorado:
– Don Leo Jonathan defeated Killer Kowalski in a tournament final to become the first American Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion
1970
Honolulu, Hawaii:
– Bing Ki Lee and Pedro Morales defeated Johnny Barend and Ripper Collins for the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Titles
1971
Kokura, Japan:
– Bill Miller defeated Thunder Sugiyama to win the International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title
1972
Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
– AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens beat Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon
– Billy Robinson beat Ivan Koloff by DQ
– Dusty Rhodes beat Bull Bullinski
– Don Muraco beat Chris Markoff
– Ramon Torres beat Treach Phillips
1973
Green Bay, Wisconsin:
– Superstar Billy Graham beat AWA Champion Verne Gagne by DQ
– Wahoo McDaniel & Ken Patera beat Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch 2 out of 3 falls
– Larry Hennig drew Reggie Parks
– Don Muraco beat Rene Goulet
St. Paul, Minnesota:
– The Crusher & Billy Robinson beat AWA Tag Team Champions Nick Bockwinkel & Ray Stevens on a 3rd fall DQ
– Ivan Koloff beat Bill Watts
– Ric Flair beat Big K
– Khosrow Vaziri beat Kenny Jay
– Jim Brunzell beat Bill Crouch
1974
Madison Square Garden:
– WWWF World Tag Team Champions Tony Garea and Dean Ho defeated Larry Hennig and Stan Staskiak
– WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino and Nikolai Volkoff fought to a draw due to the 11 pm curfew
1975
Mobile, Alabama:
– Ken Lucas defeated Duke Myers to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title
1977
St. Louis, Missouri:
– NWA Champion Harley Race and Superstar Graham was ruled a draw
– Jack Brisco and Dick the Bruiser defeated Ernie Ladd and Ivan Koloff via DQ
– Pat O’Connor draw Jim Valiant
– Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne defeated Roger Kirby and Bulldog Bob Brown
– Akio Sato defeated Moose Morowski
– Gino Hernandez defeated Jim Lancaster
Dothan, Alabama:
– The Islanders (Afa and Sika) defeated Bobby and Ricky Fields for the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Titles
1978
Indianapolis, Indiana:
– Dominic DeNucci and Wilbur Snyder defeated The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy and Johnny) for the World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Titles
1979
Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
– Ricky Steamboat & Dino Bravo beat Ric Flair & Greg Valentine by DQ
– AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel beat Billy Robinson
– AWA Tag Team Champions Pat Patterson & Ray Stevens beat Tony Atlas & Johnny Weaver
– Waldo Von Erich beat Johnny Yachetti
– Chris Tolos beat Joe Marcus
– Sweet Daddy Siki beat Terry Yorkston
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Koko Ware beat The Destroyer
– Danny Davis beat Roger Howell
– Dennis Condrey beat Robert Gibson
– The Assassins beat Tommy Gilbert & Buzz Sawyer
– Tony Charles beat Don Carson
– The Mongolian Stomper beat Jimmy Golden
– Toru Tanaka & Austin Idol beat Southern Tag Champs Robert Fuller & Bill Dundee via DQ
– Bill Dundee won a two ring battle royal
Charlotte, North Carolina:
– Wahoo McDaniel and Mark Youngblood defeated Don Kernodle and Bob Orton, Jr. to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles
Chicago, Illinois:
– AWA Champion Jumbo Tsuruta beat Blackjack Lanza
– AWA Tag Team Champions Ken Patera & Jerry Blackwell beat Blackjack Mulligan & Jerry Lawler
– Stan Hansen & Nick Bockwinkel ddq Dick The Bruiser & The Crusher
– Mr. Saito & Jesse Ventura beat The Crusher (sub Mad Dog Vachon) & Baron Von Raschke by DQ
– Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell no contest Rick Martel & Dino Bravo
– Giant Baba & Genichiro Tenryu beat Buddy Roberts & Ronnie Garvin
– Billy Robinson & Brad Rheingans beat Steve Regal & Kevin Kelly
– Terry Gordy & Michael Hayes beat Steve Olsonoski & Buck Zumhofe
San Antonio, Texas:
– The Sheepherders (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) defeated The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) for the Southwest Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Titles
1985
Dothan, Alabama:
– Austin Idol defeated Lord Humongous (Jeff Van Kemp) for the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Jerry Lawler dcor AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel
– Lanny Poffo & Randy Savage & Jimmy Valiant beat Adrian Street & Mr Wrestling & Eddie Gilbert
– Fabulous Ones no contest Rock & Roll Express
– Interns beat Steve Constant & Tim Ashley
– Phantom of the Opera beat Tracy Smothers
– Ron Starr beat David Haskins
– Plowboy Frazier & Nightmares beat Tojo Yamamoto & Battens
1986
Spartanburg, North Carolina:
– Tully Blanchard defeated Dusty Rhodes to win the NWA National Heavyweight Title
1987
Lubbock, Texas:
– The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) defeated Brian Adias and Al Madril to win the WCWA World Tag Team Titles
1989
Bayamon, Puerto Rico:
– The Batten Twins (Bart and Brad) defeated Dan Kroffat and Tama for the WWC World Tag Team Titles
– TNT (Savio Vega) won the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title from Jason the Terrible
– Chris and Mark Youngblood won the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Titles from The Ninja Express (Kensuke Sasaki and Mr. Pogo)
San Antonio, Texas:
– Gary Young won the World Class Texas Heavyweight Title by forfeit from Brickhouse Brown
1990
Mayguez, Puerto Rico:
– Invader I defeated Harley Race for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title
1991
Hiroshima, Japan:
– Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Big Van Vader to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title
1992
Tokyo, Japan:
– Akira Taue and Jumbo Tsuruta defeated Terry Gordy and Steve Williams for the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Titles
1994
Lenoir, North Carolina:
– Anthony Michaels defeated the Hornet
– Bobby Blaze defeated Jeff Victory
– US Jr. Heavyweight Champion Chris Candido defeated Tracy Smothers
– SMW Heavyweight Champion the Dirty White Boy & Dirty White Girl defeated Brian Lee & Tammy Fytch
1995
Tokyo, Japan:
– Stan Hansen won the AJPW Triple Crown Title from Toshiaki Kawada
Chilhowie, Virginia:
– Boo Bradley pinned D-Lo Brown
– SMW Tag Champs The Rock-n-Roll Express beat Al Snow & Unabom via DQ
– The Dirty White Boy beat Buddy Landel via DQ
– Mustafa Saed pinned Tracy Smothers
1996
Memphis, Tennessee:
– Jesse James Armstrong beat Tracy Smothers
– The Giant Warrior pinned King Cobra
– King Mabel beat Sir Mo via forfeit
– Spellbinder beat Reggie B. Fine
– Jerry Lawler drew Brian Christopher
– Spellbinder beat Isaac Yankem via DQ
– The Giant Warrior beat Spellbinder
– King Mabel beat Jesse James Armstrong
– Jerry Lawler beat The Giant Warrior
– Jerry Lawler beat King Mabel via DQ to win the vacant USWA Unified World Title
– USWA Tag Champs Tommy Rich & Doug Gilbert beat PG-13 in a “loser leaves town” match
2000
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
– Mike Awesome and Raven defeated Tommy Dreamer and Masato Tanaka to win the ECW World Tag Team Titles
– The Sandman defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri
2005
Tokyo, Japan:
– Wataru Inoue and Koji Kanemoto defeated Gedo and Jado for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
2006
Doncaster, England:
– Abyss defeated A.J. Styles in a tournament final to become the first 1PW World Heavyweight Champion
– Christian Cage defeated Rhino
Mexico City, Mexico:
– Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli defeated Dos Caras, Jr. and Lizmark, Jr. to win the Yamaha tournament cup
2007
Mexico City, Mexico:
– Hirooki Goto defeated Shocker in a tournament final to win the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title, which was newly revived by CMLL
2012
ROH 10th Anniversary: New York City:
– The All Night Express defeated Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
– Michael Bennett defeated Homicide
– ROH TV champ Jay Lethal defeated Tommaso Ciampa (with The Embassy)
– ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes defeated The Young Bucks to retain the titles
– Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole defeated ROH champ Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly
Sasha Banks took to Instagram this week and promised to help put on a WrestleMania 36 that’s worthy of the fans on Sunday, April 5.
As we’ve noted, WrestleMania 36 was moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando due to the coronavirus pandemic. There will be no crowd for the event, but it will still air on pay-per-view and the WWE Network. If that plan doesn’t change and the biggest show of the year is held at the Performance Center, there’s no word yet on how that will impact the card, and if they will have around 16 matches like has been rumored. Banks hasn’t been announced for a WrestleMania 36 match as of this writing, but she is focused on giving fans what they deserve.
“It honestly hurts to know that fans, whom a lot of save their money all year to go to wrestlemania, won’t be able to attend,” Banks wrote on Instagram. “The idea of a parent having to tell their child that they won’t be able to go breaks my heart. Fans make wrestlemania week! All of the events, axxess, they aren’t just there to watch the show, they’re apart of it. But in the end, the world is a scary place right now, and priority number 1 is everyone’s health and safety. So on April 5th, wrestlemania will happen, and we will do our very best to put on a show worthy of our fans. I wish you were there, but I will perform as if all of you are, because it’s what you deserve like a boss. #wrestlemania”
As noted, Banks also posted a shorter version of her WrestleMania 36 message on Twitter, writing, “It breaks my [heart emoji] to know that fans won’t be able to attend #WrestleMania They aren’t just there to watch the show, they’re apart of it! But priority #1 is everyone’s health. So on April 5th we will do our very best to put on a show worthy of our fans. Its what you deserve.”
You can see Banks’ full tweet and Instagram post below:
The footballer Mesut Özil has become embroiled in a new political row in Germany over reports he asked Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, to be guest of honour at his wedding.
The Arsenal star resigned from the German national team last year claiming he was a victim of racism after coming under fire over his public support for Mr Erdoğan .
German politicians spoke out after he was pictured with his fiancee, Amine Gulse, meeting Mr Erdoğan at Istanbul airport last week.
“The fact this is still going on will disappoint a lot of football fans, including me,” Angela Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, told reporters. Bild, Germany’s highest-selling newspaper, carried reports of the wedding invitation on its front page.
Last year’s extraordinary political row which culminated in one of Germany’s biggest football stars quitting the national team began when Özil and Ilkay Gündoğan, another player of Turkish descent, posed for photographs with Mr Erdoğan in London.
Özil's decision to pose alongside Mr Erdoğan last year set off a political row that culminated in his retirement from the German national teamCredit:
KAYHAN OZER/AFP
Several Germans were being held in Turkey at the time as part of the regime’s crackdown on opposition and press freedom, and the footballer’s decision to pose alongside the Turkish president caused widespread public anger in Germany.
Many blamed the controversy for Germany’s poor performance in the World Cup, and Özil subsequently announced his retirement from the national team on Twitter, writing: “If we win, I’m German. If we lose, I’m an immigrant."
A third-generation German whose grandparents immigrated from Turkey, Özil defended his decision to pose with Mr Erdoğan as “respecting the highest office of my family’s country”.
He announced his engagement to Ms Gulse, a former Miss Turkey, earlier this year.
“Everyone can invite whoever he likes to his wedding, and of course this also applies to Mesut Özil,” said Cem Özdemir of the Green Party, Germany’s highest-profile politician of Turkish heritage.
“But both current and former national players are role models and must ask themselves whether they live up to that role if they indulge autocrats who enrich themselves at the expense of their country and make their opponents disappear in dungeons. I think that is inappropriate.”
Clutched tightly by his adoring father, the fair-haired blue-eyed toddler was the picture of innocence. It was, by his mother’s own account, one of her fondest memories – the young family all together on holiday in Hawaii where her husband was about to compete in an Iron Man.
The young Brenton Tarrant had just celebrated his birthday.
He would go on to enjoy a normal upbringing in the rural town of Grafton, New South Wales, alongside his parents and sister.
Little, if anything, pointed towards the horror that he would go on to unleash.
Indeed, he describes himself as an “ordinary, white man”, born into a working class, low income family of Scottish, Irish and English decent.
Brenton Tarrant with his father Rodney
Brenton Tarrant
By all accounts, his life was unremarkable, leaving school to become a fitness instructor at a local gym. He had “no interest” in education or anything that university had to offer.
But in 2010, his father Rodney, an athlete, died of an asbestos-related cancer and shortly afterwards, having acquired some inheritance, Tarrant left the family home to travel the world.
During the years that he was away, his mother, an English teacher, wrote online about how much she missed her “incredible son” although she said she “understood his wanderlust”.
She wrote fondly of her “Brento” and appeared blissfully unaware of how his world had turned.
Tarrant’s travels took him through much of Europe, North Korea, India and Japan.
Last year, he described Pakistan as "an incredible place filled with the most earnest, kind hearted and hospitable people in the world".
An injured person is loaded into an ambulance at the Al Noor mosque in ChristchurchCredit:
Reuters
"The beauty of hunza and nagar valley in autumn cannot be beat," he wrote online, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
At some point during this journey, something in Tarrant changed and the roots of his violent rampage began to take hold.
He is thought to have become obsessed with the terrorist attacks that took place in Europe in 2016 and 2017, specifically referencing the death of 11-year-old Ebba Akerlund, one of five people killed in a terror attack in Stockholm in 2017, in a rambling manifesto he published online.
Bloodied bandages on the road following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in ChristchurchCredit:
REUTERS
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her office received that "manifesto" minutes before Friday’s attack.
"I was one of more than 30 recipients of the manifesto that was mailed out nine minutes before the attack took place," Ms Ardern told reporters on Sunday.
"It did not include a location, it did not include specific details," she said, adding that it was sent to security services within two minutes of receipt.
Tarrant’s references to British heritage appear tenuous – both of his parents and his grandparents are thought to have been born in Australia.
However, his sister married a man who hails from Portsmouth.
The 51-year-old’s mother, who still lives in the area, did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Her elder son, who now lives in Christchurch, was quick to offer shelter, food and anything he could do to support the victims of the atrocity as the news broke yesterday.
At the time, he was seemingly unaware of his links to the perpetrator. “The shooter was Australian who came here specifically to undertake this abhorrent act,” he wrote online.
“I know the mosque well… we pass it all the time and it’s always such a busy and pleasant place. I’m horrified at this senseless barbarity.”
His mother too, appeared unaware that it was Tarrant, her son’s brother-in-law, who had committed the atrocity. “I cannot believe this has happened in Christchurch …my thoughts are with you all,” she wrote.
In his 17,000-word manifesto, Tarrant describes his native country as a lacklustre, apathetic offshoot of Britain.
"The origins of my language is European, my culture is European, my political beliefs are European, my philosophical beliefs are European, my identity is European and, most importantly, my blood is European," he writes.
Christchurch Mosque shootings
"What is an Australian but a drunk European? Kidding, but Australia is a European colony, particularly of British stock and thereby an extension of Europe."
Perhaps tellingly, Tarrant’s opens the document with Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, the poem written by Dylan Thomas as an ode to his dying father, imploring him not to die.
He declares himself to be pro-Brexit and admits to being a fascist, saying he feels an affinity with Oswald Mosley.
Yet he goes on to compare himself to Nelson Mandela and state that he expects the Nobel Peace prize.
He says he is racist but not a xenophobe and declares his support for Donald Trump "as a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose".
He cites terror attacks in Europe as the cause of his radicalisation and states that he hopes to “create conflict” in the US over gun ownership.
He also claims to have had "brief contact" with Anders Breivik, the far-right terrorist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
However, Breivik’s lawyer, Oeystein Storrvik, told a Norwegian newspaper yesterday that his client, who is in prison, has “very limited contacts with the surrounding world, so it seems very unlikely that he has had contact” with Tarrant.
The hate-filled language could not be further from the apparent beliefs of his own mother, whose Facebook page is awash with calls for equality and posts about spirituality and the importance of love and friendship.
At one point, his mother, who collects healing crystals, denounces the “delusional” people “causing death and destruction on this great globe”.
In 2013, she posted part of a message from her son who had been regaling her with tales from his trip to New Zealand:
“Brenton’s last update in New Zealand was magic,” she wrote, before republishing his email full of detail about his travels in a country he described as “truly paradise.”
There was little to predict that barely three years later, he would be plotting an atrocity of unimaginable magnitude on that very soil.
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AEW superstar and Executive VP Cody Rhodes took to Twitter to comment on one of the pro motion’s newest signees, Lance Archer. Archer was brought in to AEW by WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and have notably targeted Rhodes as someone they wish to compete against. Rhodes states that the former IWGP United States champion will indeed debut on this week’s Dynamite, but it won’t be against him.
I appreciate Lance & his skillset. AEW is glad to have him. I’m not interested in social media angles though. He will debut this week, but not against me. He has zero record with AEW, me wrestling him does a disservice to others climbing into the Top-5. Maybe down the road.
No opponent has officially been announced for Archer as of this writing. Brodie Lee, who debuted one week ago, had his first singles-match under the AEW banner. He defeated QT Marshall in convincing fashion. Check out the American Nightmare’s tweet below.
The following is the text of the letter United States Attorney General William Barr sent to Congress on Sunday summarising a report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on his investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election:
Dear Chairman Graham, Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Ranking Member Collins:
As a supplement to the notification provided on Friday, march 22, 2019, I am writing today to advise you of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III and to inform you about the status of my initial review of the report he has prepared.
The Special Counsel’s Report
On Friday, the Special Counsel submitted to me a "confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions" he has reached, as required by 28 C.F.R. § 600.8(c). This report is entitled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election." Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation.
William Barr, U.S. attorney general, leaves his home in McLean, VirginiaCredit:
Bloomberg
The report explains that the Special Counsel and his staff thoroughly investigated allegations that members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, and others associated with it, conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, or sought to obstruct the related federal investigations. In the report, the Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.
The Special Counsel obtained a number of indictments and convictions of individuals and entities in connection with his investigation, all of which have been publicly disclosed. During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action. The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public. Below, I summarize the principal conclusions set out in the Special Counsel’s report.
Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
The Special Counsel’s report is divided into two parts. The first describes the results of the Special Counsel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by persons associated with the Russian government in connection with those efforts. The report further explains that a primary consideration for the Special Counsel’s investigation was whether any Americans -including individuals associated with the Trump campaign – joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election, which would be a federal crime. The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: "The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
Special Counsel Robert Mueller walks after attending church in Washington, DC. Credit:
Getty
The Special Counsel’s investigation determined that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election. As noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA in its efforts, although the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian nationals and entities in connection with these activities.
The second element involved the Russian government’s efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election. The Special Counsel found that Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from persons affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations, and publicly disseminated those materials through various intermediaries, including WikiLeaks. Based on these activities, the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian military officers for conspiring to hack into computers in the United States for purposes of influencing the election. But as noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple. offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.
Obstruction of Justice
The report’s second part addresses a number of actions by the President – most of which have been the subject of public reporting – that the Special Counsel investigated as potentially raising obstruction-of-justice concerns. After making a "thorough factual investigation" into these matters, the Special Counsel considered whether to evaluate the conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as "difficult issues" of law and fact concerning whether the President’s actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction .. The Special Counsel states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that "the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President’s intent with respect to obstruction. Generally speaking, to obtain and sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding. In cataloguing the President’s actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent, each of which, under the Department’s principles of federal prosecution guiding charging decisions, would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish an obstruction-ofjustice offense.
Status of the Department’s Review
The relevant regulations contemplate that the Special Counsel’s report will be a "confidential report" to the Attorney General. See Office of Special Counsel, 64 Fed. Reg. 37,038, 37,040-41 (July 9, 1999). As I have previously stated, however, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. For that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel’s report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
Based on my discussions with the Special Counsel and my initial review, it is apparent that the report contains material that is or could be subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6( e ), which imposes restrictions on the use and disclosure of information relating to "matter[ s] occurring before grand jury." Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)(2)(B). Rule 6(e) generally limits disclosure of certain grand jury information in a criminal investigation and prosecution. Id. Disclosure of 6( e) material beyond the strict limits set forth in the rule is a crime in certain circumstances. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 401(3). This restriction protects the integrity of grand jury proceedings and ensures that the unique and invaluable investigative powers of a grand jury are used strictly for their intended criminal justice function.
At a glance | Who has been charged by the Russia investigation
Given these restrictions, the schedule for processing the report depends in part on how quickly the Department can identify the 6( e) material that by law cannot be made public. I have requested the assistance of the Special Counsel in identifying all 6( e) information contained in the report as quickly as possible. Separately, I also must identify any information that could impact other ongoing matters, including those that the Special Counsel has referred to other offices. As soon as that process is complete, I will be in a position to move forward expeditiously in determining what can be released in light of applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
As I observed in my initial notification, the Special Counsel regulations provide that "the Attorney General may determine that public release of’ notifications to your respective Committees "would be in the public interest." 28 C.F.R. § 600.9(c). I have so determined, and I will disclose this letter to the public after delivering it to you.
Nasa has cancelled its first ever all-female space walk outside the International Space Station after it emerged it did not have enough suits to fit women.
In a blow to what would have been one great leap for womankind, the plan for Christina Koch and Anne McClain to change a battery on the exterior of the ISS had to be called off.
Both astronauts required a medium sized spacesuit to carry out the spacewalk, but the station only has one because most of the male astronauts rely on large or extra-large sizes. As a result, Nasa said Ms McClain would have to give up her place to a male spacefarer.
It would have been the first time two women carried out the space walk, rather than a team comprising of a man and a woman.
The news has reignited the debate about whether the traditionally male-dominated space industry is unconsciously biased against female workers.
Earth will learn a lot during his busy week on @Space_Station – today he kept me company while we checked our suit sizing to account for space growth (I am 2 inches taller than when I launched!), then we did some translation adaptation. pic.twitter.com/A89tJauyQu
— Anne McClain (@AstroAnnimal) March 4, 2019
In a press release, Nasa said it had postponed Ms McClain’s space walk “due in part to spacesuit availability on the station.”
"Koch had been scheduled to conduct this spacewalk with astronaut McClain, in what would have been the first all-female spacewalk," it said. “McClain learned during her first spacewalk that a medium-size hard upper torso – essentially the shirt of the spacesuit – fits her best.
"Because only one medium-size torso can be made ready by Friday, March 29, Koch will wear it."
Ms McClain is expected to do her space walk on a different date, April 8, which means the plan for an all-female space walk has fallen through.
Senior figures in the space industry said they were disappointed with the setback, but pointed out that Nasa had taken a number of steps to bring in more female astronauts.
“It is a shame that we won’t see the first all-female spacewalk this week, but the bigger disappointment is that in 20 years of humans living on the ISS, it hadn’t already happened,” said Kate Arkless Gray, programme lead at the Frontier Development Lab, Europe.
She pointed out that Ms McClain and Ms Koch are from Nasa’s 2013 intake, which had a 50/50 gender split. “Nasa has been doing some good work to encourage women in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), including proactively changing the language used to talk about spaceflight,” she said.
Nasa has also encouraged workers to avoid gendered phrases such as a “manned spacecraft” to promote inclusivity, in favour of a “crewed spacecraft ” or a “human spaceflight.”
“It may seem like a small thing, but it’s something that we can all do to ensure that women feel like space is for them too,” said Ms Arkless Gray.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that the United States aims to send astronauts back to the moon in five years, with a woman first in line to set foot on it again.
"Let me be clear, the first woman and the next man on the moon will both be American astronauts launched by American rockets from American soil," he said.
The first woman to conquer space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who launched in 1963, only two years after her male counterpart Yuri Gagarin.
Ms Tereshkova holds the record for the youngest female astronaut at 16 years old and the only woman to take part in a solo mission. In 1978, following a series of anti-discrimination laws, Nasa opened its space program to women. Sally Ride became the world’s third female cosmonaut when she launched in 1983 aboard the seventh Space Shuttle mission.
Helen Sharman was the first British astronaut in the cosmos. She launched in 1991 and worked in space station Mir, thanks to a joint Soviet Union-British programme.
In the nearly 60 years of crewed space exploration, less than 11 percent of spacefarers were women, and there has never been an all-female mission.
Après son époustouflant “Chaser”, Na Hong-jin et son duo d’acteurs reviennent avec “The Murderer” nous livrer le survival de l’année…
Venus à Cannes présenter The Murderer en section Un Certain Regard, Na Hong-jin et ses deux interprètes, Kim Yun-seok et Jung-woo Ha, ont fait une courte pause dans leur course folle pour s’entretenir avec nous de ce deuxième long-métrage tourné ensemble…
Propos recueillis en mai 2011 par Alexis Geng / Cadre : Sébastien Olland – Montage : Benoît Gonnot.