Woods Pulls Out of Safeway Open, Postpones Comeback

Golf’s Tiger Woods delays his comeback after more than a year of respite from the sport following back surgeries. He has pulled out from this week’s Safeway Open and will not compete at next month’s Turkish Airlines Open.

Woods unexpectedly withdrew on Monday and said his game was not sharp enough for him to take on PGA Tour competition.

“My health is good, and I feel strong, but my game is vulnerable and not where is needs to be,” he said.

Woods officially committed to the tournament on Friday. Previously, he announced on September 7 that he planned on playing three times by the end of the year. He intended to start with the Safeway Open in California.

Rumors circulated that he would be paired with Phil Mickelson and Emiliano Grillo. With the return of the defending Silverado champion, excitement was building up. However, after what Woods defined as “a lot of soul searching and reflection”, he withdrew from the Safeway Open. Furthermore, he will no longer participate in the Turkish Airlines Open on November.

Woods said that the postponement of his return was not due to back-related issues. He added that he intends to play at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on December 1 – 4.

Matthew’s fault

Notah Begay, Wood’s friend and former tour player, said Hurricane Matthew, which passed near his south Florida Residence, had hampered Wood’s training last week.

Wood’s was extremely disappointed, Begay said on Golf Channel. He has a standard of performance unlike anyone else and he just doesn’t feel like it’s not ready.

Further, he said that before taking a week off from his preparation to be an assistant captain on the successful United States team at the Ryder Cup, Woods was confident about the level of his game.

Johnny Miller, the event’s host at Silverado, said Wood’s absence is a huge impact on the Safeway Open. Everybody was so excited in the golf world and in Northern California.

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As Matthew Departs, Battered Cities Focus on Recovery and Flood Control

Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful storm since 2007 left 19 people and millions without power in its wake. Devastated by the typhoon, residents in the southeastern part of US, are now recovering from the extensive damage. These people began their recovery efforts as authorities warned several states of flooding. The officials told them that rivers will continue to swell in the coming days.

On Sunday, the typhoon, reduced as post-tropical cyclone continued to ravage the Caribbean killing 1,000 people in Haiti.

At the peak of the storm, the destruction left 2.2 million citizens without power. The number was later reduced to 1.6 million residents in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Local authorities are cleaning up to clear debris left in the streets, mainly fallen trees and abandoned cars.

Rivers continued to rise and five people were reported missing. A total of eight people had died in the state. Pat McCrory, North Carolina’s Governor said they are expecting the death toll to increase.

He added that several rivers persisted in swelling and are anticipated to hit the highest record levels. The governor stated, “Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly”.

According to The National Weather Service the “life-threatening flooding” will continue until Monday. Moreover, the flooding will spread across the eastern part of the state.

Water from coastal storm surge, overrun rivers and creeks continue to flood coastal and inland communities.

The Princeville town located in Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville evacuated 2,000 residents on Sunday. They were given warning about the risk of flash flooding.
The Fayetteville fire marshal said in a phone interview that several dams reached its limit. These are around Cumberland County, South Raleigh, and Michael Martin.

Rescue Operations

Swiftwater rescue team performed 701 rescue operations in 255 rescue calls. They are still on high alert.

In South Carolina, one person was killed when a vehicle while trying to cross a flooded roadway was swept away.

334 rescue workers carried a total of 877 rescues overnight risking their lives to save others, said Gov. McCrory.

In Cumberland County alone, 500 rescue operation were carried out. One of the memorable was from a roof of an SUV where an out-of-state firefighter saved three people.

Battalion Chief Joe Downey of the Fire Department of New York said a creek became a “roaring, raging river”. Because of the flash flooding, a vehicle was swept away off the road on Saturday. Downey was part of 64 rescues performed overnight on Saturday and Sunday from three different states. He said, “Water was almost up to the roof of the SUV. It was bad. They had nowhere to go.”

Heavy Downpour

According to a resident of Florence, Jake Williams said his power was out since Saturday. In an interview, he said, “Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road. I am no weather-man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot of trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

Meanwhile in Virginia Beach over 13 inches (33 cm) of rain deluged the city. The city remains impassable as 200 vehicles blocked several roads. Also, 55,000 residents remain without power on Sunday night.

States like Norfolk declared a state of emergency and work is ongoing to clear debris and abandoned vehicles out of the streets. The city will resume its normal function as city offices, libraries, and recreational center re-open on Monday.

Another Threat

The National Hurricane Center cease all tropical warnings since the storm was heading out on Sunday 5 PM (2100 GMT). Hurricane Matthew’s epicenter was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

However, the storm continues with deadly winds of 90 miles (150 km) up to 240 miles (390 km).

U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida. Relief support was rushed and faster recovery efforts were started to clear infrastructure and debris.

Despite the fact that Hurricane Matthew is out of the country, the Atlantic hurricane season will last until November 30. On Monday another tropical storm was forecast to gain speed on Tuesday. Tropical storm Nicole moves towards Bermuda around 500 miles (800 km) south of the island.

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Indonesia: Old School Games Get New Attention

Indonesia celebrated a festival for traditional games at the “Pilar Bangsa”, a school in West Jakarta. “Pilar Bangsa” or Pillar of Nation attracted hundreds of students with their parents to support the nation’s campaign to guide the young away from the hugely popular digital game, Pokémon Go.

Parents fear that the younger generation’s preference to play in the virtual world results to lesser interaction with each other.

Fading sense of cultural values

Thousands of Indonesians were already hooked on Nintendo’s augmented reality application, Pokémon Go, months before its official launching in Southeast Asia.   Pokémon Go requires players to hunt for characters in real life settings, by using an app downloaded to their cell phones.

A growing number of Indonesians says the digital game diminishes the sense of cultural values. Old folks are now encouraging the younger generation to play traditional toys such as wooden spinning tops and bamboo pinwheels.

Parents want their children to play the games they were brought up on. They are sentimental about these that they intend to impart them with their children.

Traditional games

Group of children clustered together over a wooden board and took turns shooting marbles into a rubber band goal post. The game looks like a smaller version of table soccer. While other students enjoyed tying strings around tops and spinning them on a circular platform.

Januar Surjadi, parent of a three-year-old boy, said “traditional games involve more activities, whereas electronic games only require kids to use their thumbs”. He was teaching his child how to spin and produce a clicking sound out of a bamboo toy.

The festival also showcases “wayang” or traditional Indonesian puppets. Furthermore, the festival featured “congklak”, the famous game passed down from generation to another. “Congklak” requires players to produce as many “seeds” as possible in holes of a wooden set.

Agustinus, who only goes by only one name, is the Principal of Pilar Bangsa. He said, “We want to show the unique features of Indonesia, that it owns a rich culture.” He also said the school aims to organize more events so students can try playing other traditional games.

State support

Education ministry official Essi Hermaliza said that the government aims to support activities for traditional games nationwide. Furthermore, these traditional games instill important cultural values to students. Correspondingly, several schools will soon follow Pilar Bangsa’s footsteps.

The media recently reported that the Mayor of Bogor City renovated a park and put several wooden stilts for children to play with. This newly equipped park will “help children avoid Pokémon Go”.

Unlike modern gizmos, traditional toys are cheap, which sells for a dollar or less. Fahrudin saw an opportunity in the market for traditional toys. He makes a profit in buying toys made in villages and selling them online. His workers at a warehouse in Jakarta are now packaging toys out for delivery. He said while at his warehouse, “The response from consumers has been positive and there’s still a lot of demand”.

However, for children like thirteen-year-old Miranda Michelle said traditional games are fun. “I play congklak at home with my friends, its fun and it helps to teach mental arithmetic.”

But that is not enough reason to replace her electronic gadgets. She added, “I’m getting a little bored of Pokémon Go because it’s harder to find the rarer Pokémon”.

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Hurricane Matthew Damages NASA’s Historic Artifacts

Photos released on Saturday, October 8 show an aerial view of damage to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida from Hurricane Matthew. The typhoon sustained winds of 90 mph (145 km/h) with speed exceeding 105 mph (170 km/h). It struck the Space coast overnight from Thursday to Friday at a speed of 26 miles (42 km) heading out northwards towards the coast of Cape Canaveral.

Pictures show that the 52-storey Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) still intact. Beside the VAB however, a large space shuttle artifact seems to have collapsed. They also show the orbiter access arm that used to be on top of Launch pad 39A on its side in the VAB’s parking lot.

During Hurricane Frances, VAB lost 820 panels on its south wall. In September 2004, VAB lost another 25 panels on its east wall. It was lucky not to receive any damage from Hurricane Mathew. Photos taken on Saturday show no damage done to the wall. The giant US flag and the NASA logo on the south side also looked to have escaped damage.

Adjacent exhibits like the armored M-113 astronaut escape vehicle and the Orion abort system tower replica remains intact.

A number of support buildings in the area lost portions of their roof. The same thing happened to the roof of a 1962 vintage two-story structure called the Beach House. This building served as the astronauts’ hangout prior to launch.

Kennedy Space Center officials wrote in a statement released on Saturday, “It was determined that the center received some isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines and limited water intrusion. Teams of inspectors are going from building to building assessing damage.”

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex appeared relatively unharmed. However, the top of Thor-Delta booster rocket was missing. Thor-Delta is one of the seven historic boosters displayed at the popular Rocket Garden.

Officials did not disclose and details on damages on the historic Mercury and Gemini launch pad and facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Nevertheless, on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite imagery, the replica of Mercury-Redstone rocket can be seen standing at Launch Complex 5 (LC-5).

Older buildings from the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, which controls the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, also sustained damage.

Back to business

The Visitor Complex will re-open on October 9, Sunday. NASA will resume tourist sightseeing without bus tours of the Kennedy Space Center along with Apollo/Saturn V Center on NASA’s property. But on Monday it will restart its direct bus service to the moon booster’s building.

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Rebel-Held Yemen Fires Missiles On US Navy Ship

A failed missile attack from Iran-aligned Houthi rebel territory in Yemen targeted a US Navy guided missile destroyer, a US military spokesman said. Neither of the two missiles struck the ship.

It was the second such launch targeting ships after a United Arab Emirates vessel came under attack from Houthis a week earlier.

The botched missile attack on the USS Mason started about 7 pm local time, the US military said. That time, the ship spotted two incoming missiles in the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast over a 60-minute time frame.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said there were no damage to the ship and injuries to the sailors as both missiles hit the water before reaching the ship.

The United States and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran for providing weapons to the Houthis. Tehran denies it equips them with weapons but sees the Houthis as the rightful authority in Yemen.

Missile alley

A US defense official said the first missile triggered counter measures from the USS mason but the ship did not return fire. He added that the incident happened just north of the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen’s southern coast, the same general area where last weeks attack on a UAE vessel took place.

Davis emphasized a duty to preserve freedom of navigation and safeguard US forces. However it was uncertain what actions the US military might take.

He said that the US will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that its ships and service members are safe.

The attack also came the same day that Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s powerful former president and key Houthi ally, summoned for an increase of attacks against Saudi Arabia.

A projected 10,000 people have died in Yemen’s war. The United Nations holds the Saudi-led coalition accountable for 60 percent of close to 3,800 civilian deaths since they began attacks in March.

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Samsung Temporarily Halts Note 7 Production

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday that Samsung Electronics has temporarily stopped production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. The company suspended production following reports of overheating of the replacements for the fire-prone phones.

Yonhap said Samsung took the exceptional measure for the sake of consumer safety, quoting an unnamed official at one of the electronic giant’s supplier.

The effort follows pronouncements by US carriers T-Mobile and AT&T to halt the distribution of new Note 7 smartphones to customers to exchange erstwhile models while replacement devices are being investigated.

Samsung did not respond to requests for confirmation on the news agency’s report.

The Note 7 recall is Samsung’s biggest crisis in years and is the company’s first and only smartphone recall to date.

Samsung pronounced on September 2 a global recall of 2.5 million Note 7s because of the phones catching fire due to defective batteries. However, similar problems occurred when a replacement Note 7 began smoking inside a Southwest Airline flight in the US on October 5.

The device was a Galaxy Note 7 picked up by passenger Bryan Green from an accredited AT&T store on September 21 as a replacement for his old Note 7 that he returned when the global recall was announced.

Airport officials and major airlines advised passengers not to use the phone on board.

Singapore Airlines banned the charging and powering up of Note 7 phones on all its flights.

Hong Kong International Airport also strongly advised passengers not to put the phones in checked baggage and to stop using or charging Note 7s on aircraft.

AT&T Inc announced that it would discontinue dispensing replacement Note 7s as Mobile carriers also took action on Monday. It would instead let customers with a recalled Note 7 swap their device for another Samsung smartphone model or any other smartphone of their choice.

Replacement and sales of Note 7 discontinued

While Samsung is investigating “multiple reports of issues” with its top-of-the-line device, T-Mobile US Inc said it was temporarily suspending replacement and sales of new Note 7s.

In addition, the no. 3 wireless carrier offered their customers who brought in their Note 7s a $25 credit on their phone bill.

Meanwhile, Telstra Corp, Australia’s largest carrier, said that Samsung had halted the supply of new Note7s, while fellow Australian carriers Vodafone and Optus acknowledged that they had stopped distributing new Note 7s.

Samsung said it was investigating reports of “heat damage issues” and would act immediately to remedy any problems in accordance with measures accepted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission had no further information on Friday as it is still investigating the incident.

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Billy Bush Suspended by NBC Over Part on Trump Tape

NBC suspended Billy Bush indefinitely on Sunday after a 2005 footage of him having an indecent conversation with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump turned up two days earlier.

In a memo on Sunday, “Today” Executive Producer Noah Oppenheim stated that there is simply no excuse for Billy’s language and behavior on that tape. The “Today” show host has been suspended “pending further review of the matter.”

Bush was a host of “Access Hollywood” show in 2005 when he was taped in a discussion with Trump. The conversation took place when the future presidential nominee was on a Hollywood set to make a guest appearance on a soap opera.

On the videotape, Trump boasts about fondling and kissing women. He also talked about trying to sleep with women who were not his wife. Bush takes part and laughs at Trump’s remarks. Later on, he encouraged an actress to hug Trump.

Bush used a cuss-word as he called the actress “hot”.

Since the tape came out, Bush has been assaulted on his own Facebook page. Hundreds of unfavorable comments were appended to his post of him handing out a plate of bacon to “Today” watchers surrounding the show’s studio. In a comment that about 5,000 had “liked”, a woman wrote, “You are sickening!”

Bush had a rocky start at “Today” and had only been with the show for two months. He was the reporter to whom American swimmer Ryan Lochte lied about being robbed at the Olympics. An associate, Al Roker, dressed him down when he tried to defend Lochte on “Today.”

NBC extremely embarrassed

The released tape has embarrassed NBC news on several levels. The Washington Post scooped the news on Friday when the paper was tipped off about it and got a story out within hours while NBC’s news division had known about it for days.

Bush is a nephew of former President George H.W. Bush. He issued an apology for his actions through a released statement on Friday.

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Suspect In California Officers’ Fatal Shooting Arrested by Police

Law enforcement officers arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of two California police officers. The arrest happened on early Sunday morning in Palm Springs, California.

A SWAT team took John Felix, 26, into custody after an hours-long confrontation. The drama started when four officers appeared at the suspect’s home to look into a report of a family disturbance.

Felix was wearing concealable soft body armor and had high-capacity ammunition magazines but was not armed when he was captured.

A neighbor, Frances Serrano, said on Saturday that the suspect’s terrified father earlier said his son had a gun.

Serrano said that the older Felix told her that his son is inside, acting crazy and that they’re scared. When she suggested that they call the police he said that he already knows they’re coming and he is going to shoot them.

Serrano said that police cars arrived and gunfire erupted within minutes she went back inside her house.

The slain officers, who were identified by Chief Bryan Reyes, were Lesley Zerebny, 27, and Jose Gilbert Vega, 63.

Zerebny had been on the force for 18 months and had just returned from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter. Vega, on the other hand, was a 35-year veteran who planned to retire in December.

The wounded officer was not named but his injuries were non-life threatening, according to Reyes. He added at a news conference that the officer was speaking with investigators. He will be released from a nearby hospital shortly.

After the initial shooting, a number of officers in tactical gear established positions outside the suspect’s home and continued to shoot.

Non-lethal means

Police discharged chemical agents inside the home after failing to pinpoint the suspect’s location despite using robots within the house.

Officers utilized less lethal ammunitions to suppress the suspect when he still refused to give up, the Riverside County Sheriff Department’s chief deputy said.

Authorities said in a statement that Felix would be charged with two counts of murder of a police officer. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.

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Newly Discovered Salton Fault Could be the Cause of Delay in San Andreas’ ‘Big One’

Another Apartment Stormed in Germany in Hunt For Refugee Planning Bomb Attack

Police commandos held a man in connection with a hunt for a Syrian refugee believed of plotting a bomb attack. They assaulted his apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz on Sunday.

Saxony state criminal investigation office spokesman Tom Berhardt said that there were no casualties and no shots were fired during the incident. They’ve taken the man into custody and are questioning him now.

In another apartment the police stormed in the city on Saturday, they found explosives but lost track of Jaber Albakr, the 22-year-old suspect. He slipped through their hold after police spotted him at the door of the apartment block.

The quantity of explosive discovered suggests that the person was preparing to carry out an Islamist-motivated attack, a Federal Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said.

The apartment the police raided on Saturday yielded several hundred grams of explosives.

Unpopular policy

This development is unwelcome news for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her open-door migrants policy has caused her conservatives to lose support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merkel said last month that she wished she could turn back time by several years. She wanted to better plan for last year’s inflow of close to one million refugees. The leader has yet to declare if she will pursue a fourth term as chancellor in next year’s election.

Islamic State claimed responsibility in July for attacks at a music festival in Ansbach and on a train near Wuerzburg.

Albakr is still at large with hundreds of police officers trying to track him down.

The government officially recognized Albakr as a refugee after he entered Germany last year. The police did not previously know him when they raided the first apartment after a tip-off from the domestic intelligence service.

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