Accused in murder-conspiracy trial says unaware gun prohibited

SAO PAULO (AP) — Sao Paulo state’s government said it will deploy hundreds of police officers and provide escorts for team buses for Friday’s NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers after some players expressed concern about playing in Brazil.

Security operations for the game in Sao Paulo’s NeoQuimica Arena will be coordinated with U.S. authorities, the state’s public security secretariat said in a statement Wednesday. Gun violence and crime rates in Brazil are among the highest in the Latin America. Metropolitan Sao Paulo has also faced a wave of cellphone thefts.

Hundreds of civilian and military police will be deployed for the game, the first NFL match to be played in the South American country, according to the statement. Military police will be used to escort the teams’ buses to their hotels, training grounds and to the stadium.

“Our policing will be beefed up during the week to secure the public’s safety for this historic match, with officers on the streets and avenues around the stadium, in public transportation, in the hotels and in tourist areas of the city,” the security secretariat said.

Earlier this week, Eagles’ cornerback Darius Slay said in a podcast he did not want to go to Brazil because of the country’s crime rate. AJ Brown, a wide receiver of the same team, told said he will probably stay in his hotel room throughout his time in Sao Paulo. Other players expressed similar concerns.

Sao Paulo’s state government also said it will also send trained dogs to the stadium before the match to detect potential explosive devices that could put fans or players in danger. Helicopters and drones will also be used.

Sao Paulo police will have a station inside the stadium to support women who are victims of violence.

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AP NFL:

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NEW YORK (AP) — The questions wouldn’t stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against No. 1 Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do about it?

Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at the news conference that followed. And again during a brief TV interview right before striding onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.

If that all weighed on Pegula, the 30-year-old American hid it well, pulling off a big upset by easily beating Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows and earning a debut trip to the semifinals at a major.

“There have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing,” said Pegula, who has won 14 of her past 15 matches, all on hard courts. “I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ’I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and, like, win the match.’ So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, ‘Semifinalist.’”

She will face unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a berth in the final.

Muchova, the runner-up to Swiatek at the 2023 French Open, made it to the final four in New York for the second consecutive year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier Wednesday.

“I know she has a lot of experience going deep in Slams,” the No. 6-seeded Pegula said about Muchova, whom she defeated at the Cincinnati Open last month. “I’ll worry about that, maybe, when I wake up in the morning.”

The other women’s match Thursday also will feature an American making her major semifinal debut, No. 13 Emma Navarro, against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who has won the past two Australian Open titles. Sabalenka lost to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final in New York; Navarro ended Gauff’s title defense in the fourth round.

There are two Americans in the men’s semifinals, too, but they’ll face each other: No. 12 Taylor Fritz takes on No. 20 Frances Tiafoe on Friday. The other men’s matchup that day will be No. 25 Jack Draper against No. 1 Jannik Sinner or No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, the last remaining past U.S. Open winner in the field.

The lopsided nature of Pegula’s win was surprising, but she did not think this day would never arrive.

“I knew I could do it. I just had to go out and execute my game and not get frustrated,” she said. “Luckily I felt like I was able to take advantage of some things she wasn’t doing well very early and then was able to kind of ride that momentum throughout the match.”

Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem, with 22 of her 41 unforced errors coming on that side. Pegula made only 22 unforced errors in all and used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot.

Pegula repeatedly did what seemed nearly impossible lately against Swiatek, who counts the 2022 U.S. Open among her five Grand Slam titles and has led the WTA rankings for most of the past 2 1/2 years: break her serve.

Entering Wednesday, Swiatek had lost just a pair of service games across four matches in the tournament, both in the first round — and she didn’t even face a single break point in any of her most recent three contests. That’s all part of why the 23-year-old from Poland was listed as a -350 money-line favorite against Pegula, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

But Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, didn’t have much trouble in that department, especially at the outset, breaking in each of Swiatek’s initial two service games, which both ended with double-faults, and three of the first six.

It helped that Swiatek was unable to properly calibrate her first serves early, putting just 2 of 12 — 16.7% — in play at the start, only 36% for the opening set.

Even as the games kept going in her favor, Pegula didn’t show much perceptible emotion, whether grabbing a 4-0 lead just 21 minutes in or taking up that set, which was greeted with a slight shake of her left fist as she walked to her sideline seat.

Swiatek didn’t hide her thoughts that well. She smacked her racket against the top of the net. She slapped her right thigh after a forehand flew wide to get broken yet again and trail 4-3 in the second set.

Fifteen minutes later, it was over.

After losing to Gauff in the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023, Muchova needed surgery on her right wrist in October and was off the tour for about 10 months, returning this June. That was the latest in a series of injuries for Muchova, who called it “one of the worst ones that I had.”

“Now, looking back,” she said, “I’m, like, ‘Oh, it actually flew by, the time, and I feel strong again.’”

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AP tennis:

VANCOUVER – Canfor Corp. has announced it is shutting two northern British Columbia sawmills in a move it says will affect about 500 workers, partly blaming “punitive” U.S. tariffs imposed last month.

It said in a statement Wednesday that shutting the Plateau mill in Vanderhoof and its Fort St. John operation would also remove 670 million board feet of annual production capacity.

The company blamed the closures on the challenge of accessing economically viable timber, as well as ongoing financial losses and weak lumber markets, but said the final blow was the big increase in U.S. tariffs.

President and CEO Don Kayne said in a statement that Canfor’s B.C. operations had lost “hundreds of millions of dollars” in recent years, something he also connected to “increasing regulatory complexity.”

But the company’s challenges were exacerbated by the “punitive U.S. tariffs” announced on Aug. 14, he said.

He said that delaying the closures of the Vanderhoof and Fort St. John mills would “prolong the punishing anti-dumping duties and put additional operations at risk.”

On Aug. 14, the U.S. nearly doubled duties on softwood lumber, in a move the Canadian government called unfair and unwarranted.

The duties increased from 8.05 per cent to 14.54 per cent.

Kayne said the wind down of operations at the mills was expected to be completed this year, calling it “an incredibly difficult decision.”

“We are devastated by the decline in our province’s foundational forest industry, and we recognize the impact these closures will have on our employees and their families, as well as our First Nation partners, contractors, suppliers, communities and customers,” Kayne said.

He said Canfor would work with union partners on an “employee transition plan, including severance.”

Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen said the community was “deeply shocked and saddened” by Canfor’s announcement.

“This news is a significant hit to our community and the families directly affected,” Hansen said in a statement.

“City Council has worked closely with industry partners like Canfor through recent challenging times, and we remain committed to advocating for better regulatory conditions to support our local economy and workforce.”

Peace River North MLA Dan Davies called the closures “an unbelievable turn of events.”

“Canfor has been a part of this community for years. Again, horrible government forestry policy that needs to be fixed. My heart goes out to all of the families,” he said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CFP)

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