Black Immigrant Daily News

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Wincing from abdominal pain, unable to ply his customary relentless style of tennis, Rafael Nadal worried that he might need to stop playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz.

Up in the Centre Court stands, Nadal’s father was waving his arms, motioning to the 22-time Grand Slam champion to quit. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the kid didn’t listen. Nadal stayed out there, adjusted his service motion and his strategy — and figured out a way to win.

With much of the crowd roaring and standing after Nadal’s best strokes, he twice erased one-set deficits against the 11th-seeded Fritz and emerged with 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) victory Wednesday to reach his eighth semifinal at the All England Club.

“For a lot of moments,” Nadal said, “I was thinking, ‘Maybe I will not be able to finish the match.’”

He got to his 38th career major semifinal by denying what would have been a first such appearance for Fritz, a 24-year-old American who defeated Nadal in the final at Indian Wells, California, in March. That ended a 20-match winning streak for Nadal, who was bothered that day by a painful rib injury.

This time, the problem was a muscle in his stomach area, which had some athletic tape, as was also the case for Nadal’s fourth-round match Monday, when he declined to discuss it. On Wednesday, Nadal left the court with a trainer for a medical timeout while up 4-3 in the second set; Fritz paced around the baseline waiting for action to resume.

When it did, Nadal clearly was compromised. It was hard not to think: Might he give up? Nadal acknowledged that went through his mind. Perhaps that was in Fritz’s, too, because his level of play slipped precipitously for stretches.

He pretty much handed over the second set of what would become a 4-hour, 21-minute contest under a sky of slate clouds. After Fritz took the third set, his big serve got broken three times in the next.

Nadal occasionally would watch a ball off Fritz’s orange racket fly by. Nadal couldn’t move the way he usually does. His trademark grunts of “Uhhhh!” were rare. He didn’t generate the usual zip on his serves, which dipped from a high of 120 mph to barely above 100 mph. He sought to end exchanges with a quick-strike forehand or a drop shot — sometimes with success, often not.

“A tough afternoon. Not an easy match at all,” Nadal said. “In the abdominal, something is not going well.”

Still, he summoned his best for last, grabbing a 5-0 lead in the closing tiebreaker — the first-to-10, win-by-two format starting at 6-all in a fifth set is new to Wimbledon this year — and then five of the last six points. By doing so, Nadal extended his unbeaten mark in Grand Slam matches in 2022 to 19-0 as he seeks to add a trophy at Wimbledon to his triumphs at the Australian Open in January, then the French Open in June. For everything that he’s accomplished, the 36-year-old Spaniard never has won the first three Slam titles of a season.

On Friday, Nadal will meet Nick Kyrgios, a 27-year-old Australian who will be making his Grand Slam semifinal debut after a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Cristian Garin of Chile.

The other men’s semifinal will be No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 9 Cam Norrie.

The women’s semifinals Thursday will be 2019 champion Simona Halep against No. 17 Elena Rybakina, and No. 3 Ons Jabeur against unseeded Tatjana Maria.

Halep advanced by eliminating No. 20 Amanda Anisimova of the United States 6-2, 6-4, and Rybakina came back to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

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Minister of Education Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, centre, speaks with Amcham CEO Nirad Tiwarie and head of branding and marketing at First Citizens, Gillian Benjamin, at the launch of the Mural in Schools Project, Education Towers, Port of Spain, on Monday. – Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

Twenty schools throughout TT have been given the opportunity by the Education Ministry to get their students to tap into their creative juices and put together a mural for their schools. The project will allow students to use their July/August vacation to create art pieces and the ones chosen will be painted on each school in time for September 10, the new school year.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the Mural in Schools Project could help the lesser-known schools get the recognition and pride they deserved. She said there were too many schools that were unknown by the majority of the population and hoped, that with this project, their students could feel the same as those at well-known schools.

“How do you think they would feel upon completion of this project and being able to say, ‘I contributed to this?’ That’s the desire and pride that we want to achieve at all levels.”

She also expressed her gratitude towards the American Chamber of Commerce TT (Amcham) and First Citizens for pitching and materialising the idea for primary and secondary schools.

Amcham CEO Nirad Tewarie said the project was inspired by the mural at the mass vaccination site at the Paddock at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.

He said the pandemic had been rough for everyone, especially youths, but the Mural in Schools Project could generate positivity. Tewarie said it was an honour to do the project and that “schools should be the centre of the community in every community.”

He added that he was looking forward to seeing all the artwork and hoped the murals could ultimately boost tourism in TT.

“Who knows? Maybe we can form another link and this can maybe be a part of tourism like the ones (paintings) we do of the country. It can be to show the local art of the children.”

First Citizen’s representative Gillian Benjamin said the company knew how much the country depended on the younger generation and that offering youths an opportunity to channel their energies positively was critical.

She said the mural project could also spark an interest for art in some students and, further, help develop their artistic abilities.

“All in all, we expect that this experience will allow them another outlet for enriching their school life, strengthening teamwork and, most of all, experiencing the sense of accomplishment that will come from working on this project together.”

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A truck removes unburnt tyres from a SWCOL transfer facility on Tuesday as workers try to control a fire that was still burning on the compound after being set on fire during protests a day before. Photo by Sureash Cholai

CEO of the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd (SWMCOL) Kevin Thompson said a fire at its transfer facility in Sea Lots will cost the company more than $500,000 in building and equipment damage. The facility, which stores and recycles discarded tyres, was set ablaze during violent protests in the area on Monday.

In a telephone interview with Newsday on Tuesday, Thompson said the worker’s quarters and a $1 million tyre shredder were damaged by the fire. He added that a hole was also cut in the perimeter fence.

On Monday morning, residents of Sea Lots set fire to a mountain of tyres at the Pioneer Drive, Sea Lots, facility burning approximately 3,000 tyres. The arson attack was part of the residents’ call for justice over the police-involved killings of three people last Saturday.

Protesters burned tyres, blocked off the east- and west-bound lanes of the Beetham Highway along with the Priority Bus Route and Nelson and Duncan Streets, demanding justice for the deaths of Fabien Richards, 21, and 17-year-olds Leonardo Niko Williams and Isaiah Roberts.

The three were among six people shot at by police on Saturday. Of the survivors, two were arrested, and another, 16-year-old Malakai Glenn, was hospitalised.

All survivors have since been released from either hospital or police custody without charge.

The Police Complaints Authority is inviting anyone with information in relation to the shooting deaths, which police said was after a shootout and car chase, to come forward.

Thompson said there was also an attempt to break into the compound on Tuesday morning but that was stopped by security.

“The fire itself did damage our tyre shredder that we have on location. That piece of equipment is worth over a million dollars. We did have another piece of equipment on facility that is over $3 million worth. That one, thankfully, was not damaged.

“We are still assessing the damage to the million-dollar piece of equipment. The facility where we house our workers and where he house some of the supplies, those were indeed damaged by the fire.”

He added that further assessments would determine the full financial blow dealt to the state entity.

Thompson said the smoke emanating from the burning tyres was reduced significantly on Tuesday after the fire burned throughout Monday night and most of Tuesday morning.

He said SWMCOL is currently discussing partnering with private companies to shred the tyres as part of a recycling initiative. The shredded tyres will then be exported. He said SWMCOL no longer disposed of the tyres at the landfills as they could become a fuel source for fires there.

The discarded tyres are used for preventing soil erosion, he said, adding that an idea to use them along the eroding coastlines in the southern, northern and south-western part of Trinidad as artificial reefs was not supported by the Environmental Management Authority.

With Monday’s arson attack, Thompson said SWMCOL is considering storing the tyres at another location and possibly installing security cameras at Sea Lots.

Head of the Port of Spain Division Snr Supt Brandon John said, of the eight people arrested after Monday’s protest, one was charged with six offences. The Beetham resident is charged with possession of camouflage, resisting arrest, obstructing a police officer, insulting language, disorderly behaviour and escaping lawful custody.

John said, after Monday’s protest which began around 10 am and ended at about 3 pm, police continued its static patrols along the Beetham Highway. He said there was no need to increase patrols.

He added that a car that burned down on the NP Flyover on Tuesday morning was caused by mechanical malfunctioning and not further protests and he was keeping his “finger crossed” that there would not be further protests.

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Un gran jurado federal en el Distrito de Puerto Rico emitió el miércoles, una acusación contra ​​Elieser Feliciano Soto y José Santana Criado por aceptar beneficiarse y enriquecerse obteniendo dinero y propiedad perteneciente a Medtronic Medical CR SRL (Medtronic-CR) a través de un esquema de fraude electrónico, según anunciaron el fiscal federal W. Stephen Muldrow y Joseph González, agente especial a cargo del FBI.

Los demandados también están acusados ​​de una conspiración de lavado de dinero que involucra transacciones, usando las ganancias robadas, en exceso de 10,000 dólares. La acusación formal incluye una acusación de decomiso relacionada con el valor total de la pérdida, aproximadamente 1,151,296.38 dólares, y dos propiedades residenciales.

Como se alega en la acusación, Medtronic-CR era una sociedad de responsabilidad limitada de Costa Rica que fabricaba componentes ortopédicos utilizados para dispositivos de cirugía de columna y procedimientos de cirugía de columna, que se distribuyen y venden a nivel mundial. Como parte de sus planes de expansión, en o alrededor de 2017, Medtronic-CR se propuso construir una nueva planta de fabricación en Coyol Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Elieser Feliciano Soto fue el Director de Sitio de Medtronic-CR y estuvo a cargo de supervisar la construcción de la nueva planta de fabricación. José Santana Criado, un trabajador por contrato de Medtronic-CR, organizó Innovative Engineering Corp. e Innovative Engineering LLC (denominadas colectivamente como Innovative) en Puerto Rico. Los demandados utilizaron Innovative para obtener pagos de Medtronic-CR de manera fraudulenta por la supuesta prestación de servicios que nunca se prestaron.

Elieser Feliciano Soto usó su posición como Site Director para autorizar órdenes de compra emitidas por Innovative con el propósito de defraudar a Medtronic-CR. Las órdenes de compra autorizaron servicios a ser prestados por Innovative. Una vez que se aprobaron las órdenes de compra, los demandados presentaron facturas fraudulentas de Innovative a Medtronic-CR por servicios que nunca se prestaron. Luego, Innovative recibiría pagos por transferencia electrónica desde la cuenta bancaria de Medtronic-CR en Costa Rica a la cuenta bancaria de Innovative en el Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR) correspondientes a los pagos de las facturas de Innovative.

Luego, los demandados transfirieron las ganancias del fraude electrónico de la cuenta bancaria de Innovative a otras cuentas que controlaban en BPPR y Baxter Credit Union (BCU) en Illinois. Las ganancias del fraude electrónico se utilizaron para enriquecerse financieramente, incluso para pagar las hipotecas de bienes inmuebles en Cabo Rojo y Humacao.

De conformidad con la acusación formal, los individuos ​​están acusados ​​de conspiración para cometer fraude electrónico en violación de 18 U.S.C. § 1349, y una conspiración de lavado de dinero en violación de 18 U.S.C. §1956(h). Si son declarados culpables, los acusados ​​enfrentan una sentencia de hasta 20 años de prisión por cada delito.

El FBI investiga el caso. El fiscal federal adjunto Víctor Acevedo Hernández está procesando el caso.

Una acusación es simplemente una acusación y se presume que todos los acusados ​​son inocentes hasta que se pruebe su culpabilidad más allá de toda duda razonable en un tribunal de justicia.

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