Major League Baseball (MLB) leadership is no longer considering holding a game inside a national park, according to a letter commissioner Robert Manfred sent to officials in Teton county, Wyoming, on Thursday in what could be the league's biggest swing-and-a-miss off the diamond.
On 26 September, the Washington Post reported that MLB had reached out to the White House about staging a one-day game at Grand Teton national park in Wyoming. Teton county describes itself as a "a year-round resort community" and sits within the Jackson Hole valley. It's also a habitat for grizzly bears, osprey, bison and more.
News of MLB's outreach to the federal government quickly sparked concern about the impact that erecting a field and the infrastructure to hold spectators could have on the natural landscape and habitat of scores of wildlife that call the 310,000-acre (125,500-hectare) park home.
In the letter, Manfred noted that MLB had held games at places like the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina and the nation's oldest Negro Leagues stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. He added that MLB staff had been doing their due diligence to see whether a game at Grand Teton was possible and to evaluate the potential environmental impact.
"Since the story was reported, it has become clear that the local community does not want us to continue Grand Teton national park as a potential site," Manfred wrote.

#park #national

Former President Obama on Friday slammed President Trump over his handling of how to approach artificial intelligence amid “doomsday” warnings coming from some in the tech industry about the technology’s potential existential threat to humanity.
Obama said during an interview at Colgate University in New York that the federal government must regulate AI, before referring to comments made by one Trump adviser.
“I heard one of Donald Trump’s main advisers on this make the argument that, ‘The market will take care of AI,'” the former president said. “‘These companies will solve the safety issues because they have every incentive to do so — if it turns out to be dangerous, people will just sue them, and they’re worried about financial liability.'”
“That’s not how we treat airlines,” Obama added. “Or drug companies, or food companies.”
Obama continued to say that AI could become a threat at a human level if it falls into the clutches of “bad humans” and if self-improving AI models realize they no longer need humans. He referred to Trump again in that his successor has said regulations on AI are “for losers.”

#obama #president #university

The United States warned Saturday that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis could "escalate rapidly" after a missile attack targeted Riyadh for the first time since the Yemen conflict resumed.
US President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David, a secluded presidential complex in rural Maryland, to return unexpectedly to the White House on Saturday.
The White House gave no explanation for the early return, which comes as a new threshold was crossed in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen and are fighting government forces backed by a coalition led by Riyadh.
Loud explosions rang out twice on Saturday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel tank bearing the logo of oil giant Aramco on fire near the airport.
"This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly," the US State Department warned, adding American citizens outside the Middle East should "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region".

#saturday #arabia #riyadh #white

At just 46 years old, Dino Mavrookas' career already looks more expansive than most, spanning three distinct roles: Navy SEAL, private-equity investor, and now cofounder and CEO of $9.25 defense-tech startup Saronic—proof that your first career doesn't have to be your last.
His latest career pivot came just four years ago, when Mavrookas was a senior ***** ociate at Austin-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. However, after half a decade in finance—likely bringing in a six-figure salary—Mavrookas began to question whether he wanted to spend the rest of his career on the same path.
"After five years, I started to look around and say, is this what I want to do for the next 20 or 30 years of my life? Like, I learned a ton about investing. I learned a ton about operating companies, but is this what I wanted my career to be? And the answer was no," Mavrookas said in a recent interview on the Sourcery podcast.
"I walked into the living room one night and I told my wife that I had to quit my job."
Mavrookas knew he wanted to start a defense-tech company, but he didn't yet know what the business would be. What he did know was that he needed to create the time and ***** e to figure it out.

#mavrookas #years #wanted #private

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Authorities in Vietnam have charged a man with rape after an American student said she was ***** aulted while in her bed during a group holiday.
Nguyen Thi Quynh Tam, 24, said she was raped on July 5 and pressured by the man's family to accept money and not go to police. She said the police also initially urged her to settle the matter privately.
The AP does not usually identify people who say they have been ***** ually ***** aulted, except if they come forward publicly about the abuse. Tam's candor is unusual for Vietnam, where ***** ual violence is rarely discussed publicly, but she said she wanted to speak out to help protect other women.
"I'm doing this not just for me. But for everybody else that has been harmed," said Tam.
Tam's account was documented in interviews, her police complaint and communications with U.S. and Vietnamese officials. After she sought help from U.S. officials and a U.S. lawmaker, officials confirmed Thursday that they had charged the 23-year-old man.

#police #publicly #hanoi #authorities

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport that will end the use of the widely disliked "people movers," the mobile lounges that have been used for decades to shuttle travelers to and from the main terminal.
In place of the people movers, the airport will add a new U-shaped passenger train, a central walking tunnel, more moving walkways and new concourses. An above-ground parking garage closer to the main terminal with ****** e for 32,000 vehicles is also in the offing, according to Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The airport makeover would add to a long list of renovation projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting mark on the Washington region after his term ends in January 2029. Among other undertakings, he is building a new White House ballroom and wants to build a towering triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.
But of all the construction projects Trump is pursuing, the renovations at Dulles could prove to be his most popular and benefit the greatest number of people. The airport, the area's primary international airport, served roughly 29 million passengers over the past year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
"This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again," Trump said. "We're doing something with Dulles that's going to make it the top anywhere in the world."

#dulles #people

After a dayslong pause in direct strikes between the United States and Iran, the war is flaring up again after U.S. Central Command said it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched in a surprise attack by Iran on US forces late Tuesday. It comes just hours after President Donald Trump touted progress in peace talks and as the conflict enters its sixth month. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports for TODAY.

#Iran #united #central

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett said Wednesday that his decision to cut the Gates Foundation out of his charitable giving is more about believing his three kids are ready to handle giving away his entire fortune than it is about Bill Gates ' ties to convicted **** offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Buffett told CNBC that Gates' **** ociation with Epstein was "distasteful," but the 95-year-old investor suggested that Gates' actions weren't much different from mistakes he himself had made over the years in hiring the wrong person or in choosing friends.
"No one bats a thousand in the business of choosing people," Buffett said on CNBC.
Buffett said he "read a great deal since Jan. 1 in terms of what happened with Bill and Epstein. And I have read his remarks to Congress given under oath, and I read the cross-examination." He noted that Gates eventually ended his relationship with Epstein.
Buffett said Gates wasn't surprised by the decision Buffett announced Tuesday to eventually donate all the rest of his $140 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to foundations **** ociated with his family and his three children, Howard, Susie and Peter. Gates flew to Omaha a few weeks ago and spent several hours talking with Buffett. The two hadn't spoken much since before additional details about Gates and Epstein started to come out when the federal government began releasing files from the Epstein investigation.

CAIRO (AP) — The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they launched missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport on Monday in response to airstrikes they blamed on Saudi Arabia that struck Sanaa International Airport earlier in the day.
No casualties were reported, but the attacks marked an escalation not seen since a Saudi-led coalition struck Houthi-controlled areas several years ago. Saudi Arabian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the airstrikes in Yemen.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, in a video statement on Telegram, warned airlines against flying through Saudi airspace, saying these warnings should be taken "seriously until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted."
The internationally recognized government in Yemen said earlier that the strikes that hit Sanaa International Airport were meant to prevent an Iranian plane from landing.
The Houthis vowed to retaliate for the strike, which marked the first major escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia following a period of relative calm.

The TODAY anchors are celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary aboard tall ships in New York harbor. Jenna Bush Hager reports from the Queen Mary II, Dylan Dreyer is on a boat in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Cason Daly is aboard the Intrepid aircraft carrier, Laura Jarrett is on Governors Island and Al Roker is live from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Eagle.

By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to ‌explain why it placed a tarp over the Kennedy ‌Center's façade after the Republican leader's name was removed from the building under a court order.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said the administration must report by July 31 "the purpose and status of the tarp and scaffolding" now in place at the iconic building.

SpaceX is acquiring AI coding company Cursor in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
Bill Ackman said ****** eX's mega-valuation allows it to do M&A without worrying about dilution.
SpaceX's M&A potential is an "important component" of the company's value, Ackman said.
Just days after its blockbuster IPO, ****** eX announced it's acquiring Cursor in a $60 billion deal.
Bill Ackman — the billionaire founder of Pershing Square Capital Management — says ****** eX's massive public valuation is helping it do M&A, which he sees as a major piece of the company's growth story.