Latest news with #Austin
Arab News
an hour ago
- Sport
- Arab News
MLS, playing without Messi, beats Liga MX 3-1 in All-Star Game
AUSTIN: Sam Surridge, Tai Baribo and Brian White scored goals and Major League Soccer defeated Liga MX of Mexico 3-1 in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night playing without Lionel Messi. Messi and his Inter Miami teammate, Jordi Alba, both face possible league suspensions for their team's next match against Cincinnati on Saturday for missing the All-Star game. 'Messi's the greatest,' MLS coach Nico Estévez said. 'Playing with him and coaching him would be something amazing. But we have to show respect for the guys that showed up today. They did great. It's a special week, a unique event. Not everyone can enjoy this. I'm fortunate.' Liga MX's James Rodríguez also chose not to play in the game played in front of more than 20,000 fans at Q2 Stadium. MLS has defeated Liga MX three times in four tries. Last year Liga MX won 4-1 in Columbus, Ohio. The MLS All-Stars won in 2022 and beat Liga MX on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw a year prior. Messi has yet to appear in an MLS All-Star Game. He missed the game last year with an injury. Messi is currently tied with Nashville's Surridge for the MLS lead in goals with 18. Surridge scored another goal on Wednesday, from the middle of the box, heading in to the lower right corner a ball directed by LAFC's Denis Bouanga in the 28th minute. The opportunity developed after Bouanga had a point-blank attempt stopped by Liga MX goalkeeper Luis Malagon (Club America). Bouanga hustled to retrieve the long rebound and sent it to Surridge. Before the goal, both teams had attempts rejected with diving stops by Luis Malagón and Austin FC's Brad Stuver in the 13th and 18th minutes. MLS went ahead 2-0 in the 51st minute when Diego Rossi (Columbus) passed ahead to Baribo (Philadelphia), whose right footed shot from the center of the box made it to the lower left corner of the goal. Liga MX closed the gap to 2-1 just 13 minutes later when Gilberto Mora (Club Tijuana) converted a pass from Elias Montiel (Pachuca) from the middle of the box. 'We had moments when we played good soccer,' Liga MX coach André Jardine said. Liga MX's bid to tie the match was snubbed when a shot by Diber Cambindo (Necaxa) was stopped by Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver) in the 75th minute. White (Vancouver) finished the scoring in the 80th minute. Baribo ranks fourth in MLS with 14 goals and White has scored 11 as they chase Messi and Surridge. 'They are competitive,' Estévez said. 'One scores and the other says 'I have to score.' Brian in the end said 'I have to score.' ' Up next MLS and Liga MX continue their rivalry with the Leagues Cup that begins on July 29 and concludes Aug. 31. The competition features a new format, with all 18 clubs from Liga MX and the top 18 from MLS competing. Last year all 47 clubs from the two leagues were included.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Joe Rogan anoints a new progressive star – can James Talarico triumph in Texas?
In late May, four of Texas's top Democrats convened on Zoom to strategize about the 2026 election. The upcoming Republican primary battle for Senate pits incumbent senator John Cornyn against the state's more right-leaning attorney general, Ken Paxton, and is expected to be bruising – greasing the skids for a potential Democratic pickup. With governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor also in play, the question the liberal quartet aimed to answer was whether they might divvy up these contests, thereby avoiding a contentious primary of their own. On the call were three fixtures of Lone Star Democratic politics: Beto O'Rourke, Colin Allred and Representative Joaquin Castro. Less well-known was the fourth man, a 36-year-old member of the state's house of representatives from Austin's district 50 named James Talarico. A former middle-school language arts teacher and aspiring Presbyterian minister with the earnest demeanor and yearbook-ready countenance of a young Ron Howard, Talarico had begun his political career in 2018, flipping a swing district to become the youngest member of the house. A good bit greener than his colleagues, Talarico seemed an unlikely aspirant for the Senate run. Then along came Joe Rogan. The world's most influential podcast host had learned of Talarico from comedian Brian Simpson, who had been awestruck by a viral clip of the state senator taking a Republican colleague to task for her 'idolatrous' bill forcing public schools to display the Ten Commandments. A producer reached out, and within a few weeks the virtually unknown official was stepping into Rogan's Austin studio to offer his gloss on the radical teachings of Jesus. If the conversation was friendly – about two hours in, Rogan was practically begging Talarico to run for president – the reviews from Rogan's right-leaning, MMA-loving fanboys were less so. Many took particular issue with Talarico's reading of the Bible as arguably pro-choice or at least ambivalent about abortion. Even so, Daniel had entered the lion's den and held his own. Within hours of the show's airing, Politico was enthusing that 'Joe Rogan's Latest Guest Might Turn Texas Blue' and Talarico's beaming choirboy mug was front and center on the Drudge Report. 'I learned this when I flipped the Trump district at the beginning of my career,' Talarico said. 'It's almost like asking someone on a date, or any relationship in your life – you have to put effort into it. If we're not going to make the effort to show up in these places where people are, then we can't be surprised when they don't make the effort to get off the couch and vote for us.' The week marked a notable turnaround for a politician who just a few years ago hit what he calls his political 'rock bottom'. It was the fall of 2021, a year that had begun with the January 6 insurrection and a catastrophic winter storm that killed hundreds of Texans. Meanwhile, 'Maga' was ascendant in the Lone Star state. Officials rammed through the nation's most unforgiving abortion ban, legalized permitless carry and implemented a new civics curriculum Talarico describes as a 'historical whitewash'. Then came an aggressive attempt to curtail voting rights that led him and dozens of Democratic lawmakers to flee the state in an attempt to deny the legislature a quorum. After 38 days, Talarico was among a handful who saw the writing on the wall and returned to Austin. As he explained in a lengthy op-ed, Texas Democrats held a dwindling stack of cards, and Congress would need to address the problem at the federal level. (The House delivered, but the bill failed in the Senate due to opposition from senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema.) Despite Talarico's hopes that ending the standoff might preserve a modicum of bipartisanship, it was not to be. In October, the legislature voted to redraw the state's congressional districts – an attempt to dilute the political power of Black and Latino voters and 'kill me off politically', he said. 'Walking on to that floor and realizing that my [Republican] colleagues weren't looking me in the eye, I felt like I had lost hope, not just in my colleagues and the institution, but in whether democracy was even possible in such polarized and divided times. It was my lowest point in public service so far.' Overcoming an urge to pack it in, he opted to fight. As it happened, a seat in solid-blue Austin, where he'd grown up, was open. Talarico moved home and won handily. (Now, Texan Republicans are contemplating another redistricting as a way to further dilute the Democratic vote. 'Clearly their gerrymandering didn't hold from five years ago, and so now they're having to get back in there and do some touch-ups and fortifying,' Talarico said.) Following his crisis of political faith, he made another critical life decision, enrolling in the seminary with the goal of becoming a minister. 'Jesus gave us these two commandments, to love God and love your neighbor,' he explained, noting that he considers his political career a vehicle for doing the latter. Now he understood: the two injunctions went hand in hand. Getting in touch with God, 'or whatever you consider to be the ground of your being', is what Talarico says makes love of neighbor sustainable. 'Whether that's in public service, as a teacher or a nurse or a firefighter or a police officer, or whether it's with activism or volunteering or just being a good person in your community, it is difficult and sometimes exhausting work, and that's why we have to be connected to something deeper.' An outspoken progressive Christian is something of a unicorn in today's political environment – a sign not only of the secularism that has characterized the Democratic party since the Reagan years but of the ever-increasing ties between the far right and the evangelical movement. Perhaps nowhere is this alliance more pronounced than in Texas, where the last legislative session saw a flurry of bills that would, among other things, allow prayer in public schools, fund parochial schools with taxpayer money and outlaw the provision of litter boxes for students – an actual bill based on a debunked rightwing hoax. The latter proposal stalled after Talarico's polite if methodical humiliation of the bill's author became one of his many viral TikToks; the others, including the Ten Commandments bill, became law. Talarico has done more than simply oppose what he considers to be bad legislation. He regularly calls out fossil fuel barons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, who backed the legislative crusade. 'They basically own every Republican member of the state senate,' he said, noting that they are by far the state's biggest political donors. 'They own a majority of Republicans in the state house. They own every statewide elected official. And they run a massive network of thinktanks and advocacy organizations and media outlets. So their empire has really taken over state government. And they have a pretty extreme theocratic vision for for the state and the country.' Asked whether a Handmaid's Tale-style dystopia seemed possible, he said, 'We're a lot closer than people think.' Talarico defines the effort to wed government with biblical ideology as Christian nationalism, 'the worship of power – social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ', as he put it in a 2023 guest sermon. Accusing adherents of turning Jesus 'into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist,' he declared it 'incumbent on all Christians to confront it and denounce it'. Posted to YouTube, the sermon has since garnered 1m views. The question now is not merely whether Talarico can translate that kind of social media buzz into votes but whether he wants to. He expects to obtain his master's in divinity next year, and he often speaks of his desire to one day take over the ministry at his home church, St Andrew's Presbyterian. But a slight detour to the US Senate seems increasingly possible – an indication of his growing popularity and ambition as well as a notable vibe shift on the left. A recent poll found that 62% of Democrats wanted their party's leadership replaced. And a strong contingent has shown a hunger for candidates, such as Talarico, who are willing to lean into progressive values without apology (he has, for example, mounted a forceful defense of gender-affirming care for trans kids). While Talarico makes a strong case for the undercurrent of wealth redistribution inherent in Jesus' teachings, he doesn't call himself a socialist – certainly not in Texas. Still it's not hard to see parallels between his meteoric rise and that of New York City's socialist mayoral hopeful, Zohran Mamdani, another young state legislator whose online savvy, bold progressivism and evident sincerity have endeared him to liberal voters. (In 2019, Talarico walked across his 25-mile district – nearly double the distance of Mamdani's recent Manhattan hike.) For Talarico, the key to winning over the electorate is authenticity. 'Voters can sniff out that consultant-driven messaging,' he said. 'The poll-tested stuff is just not going to cut it.' Moreover, voters are spoiling for a fight. One quality they appreciated in Trump, he said, was the aggression he'd shown on behalf of his vision, however malevolent. Democrats, he said, need to bring that kind of energy to the fight for a better world. And while Jesus Christ was famous for his humility and pacifism, Talarico noted, he was also an uncompromising radical who could tap into a combative side when needed. 'If we are doing our best to mimic Jesus, being kind and humble and meek are all part of it,' he said. 'But when the powerful are abusing people, we have to stand in the way, and that requires courage and bravery, and speaking truth to power.' In late June, Talarico appeared at a town hall in San Antonio alongside Castro and O'Rourke, a show of unity before what may well turn into a heated primary race. Befitting his status as the youngest and least seasoned politician on the stage, he spoke first. But as Talarico recalled the story of Jesus's cleansing of the temple, when he ejected the money-changers and merchants from the Lord's house, he didn't sound like a man inclined meekly to wait his turn to run for higher office. 'To those who love democracy, to those who love our neighbors,' he proclaimed, 'it's time to start flipping tables.' As for the Senate race, Talarico is praying on it. He'll make a decision this summer, he said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLS, playing without Messi, beats Liga MX 3-1 in All-Star Game
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sam Surridge, Tai Baribo and Brian White scored goals and Major League Soccer defeated Liga MX of Mexico 3-1 in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night. Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammate, Jordi Alba, both face possible league suspensions for their team's next match against Cincinnati on Saturday for missing the All-Star game. Liga MX's James Rodríguez also chose not to play in the game played in front of more than 20,000 fans at Q2 Stadium. MLS has defeated Liga MX three times in four tries. Last year Liga MX won 4-1 in Columbus, Ohio. The MLS All-Stars won in 2022 and beat Liga MX on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw a year prior. Messi has yet to appear in an MLS All-Star Game. He missed the game last year with an injury. Messi is tied with Nashville's Surridge for the MLS lead in goals with 18. Surridge scored another goal on Wednesday, from the middle of the box, heading in to the lower right corner a ball directed by LAFC's Denis Bouanga in the 28th minute. The opportunity developed after Bouanga had a point-blank attempt stopped by Liga MX goalkeeper Luis Malagon (Club America). Bouanga hustled to retrieve the long rebound and sent it to Surridge. Before the goal, both teams had attempts rejected with diving stops by Luis Malagón and Austin FC's Brad Stuver in the 13th and 18th minutes. MLS went ahead 2-0 in the 51st minute when Diego Rossi (Columbus) passed ahead to Baribo (Philadelphia), whose right footed shot from the center of the box made it to the lower left corner of the goal. Liga MX closed the gap to 2-1 just 13 minutes later when Gilberto Mora (Club Tijuana) converted a pass from Elias Montiel (Pachuca) from the middle of the box. Liga MX's bid to tie the match was snubbed when a shot by Diber Cambindo (Necaxa) was stopped by Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver) in the 75th minute. White (Vancouver) finished the scoring in the 80th minute. Up next MLS and Liga MX continue their rivalry with the Leagues Cup that begins on July 29 and concludes Aug. 31. The competition features a new format, with all 18 clubs from Liga MX and the top 18 from MLS competing. Last year all 47 clubs from the two leagues were included. ___ AP soccer: Mark Rosner, The Associated Press
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLS All-Stars dispatch Liga MX All-Stars in 2025 showcase
The MLS stars came out on top in the 2025 MLS All-Star game, dispatching the Liga MX All-Stars in Austin Wednesday star-studded showcase featured the likes of Sergio Ramos, Chucky Lozano, Evander, Sergio Canales, and plenty other stars. Goals from all three MLS strikers — Sam Surridge, Tai Baribo, and Brian White — saw the locals cruise to victory against their rivals from the south of the border. More than 20,000 fans piled into Q2 Stadium, but the action on the pitch was the major storyline as the MLS stars took revenge on Liga MX after last season's victory for the visitors. Plenty of these players will take the field once again in the coming weeks in a far more competitive setting as Leagues Cup 2025 is soon to kick off. 📸 Stacy Revere - 2025 Getty Images
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas AG claimed three homes as primary residence. Democrats are being probed for similar issue
WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Angela, are longtime owners of a $1.5 million house in a gated community outside Dallas. In 2015, they snapped up a second home in Austin. Then another. The problem: Mortgages signed by the Paxtons contained inaccurate statements declaring that each of those three houses was their primary residence, enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates, according to an Associated Press review of public records. The lower rates will save the Paxtons tens of thousands of dollars in payments over the life of the loan, legal experts say. The records also revealed that the Paxtons collected an improper homestead tax break on two of those homes at the same time. It is a federal and state crime to knowingly make false statements on mortgage documents. It's also against the law in Texas to collect a homestead tax break on two separate properties. Mortgages have become political fodder The mortgage revelations are sure to become fodder in the Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in which Paxton is seeking to topple the incumbent, John Cornyn. The situation is further complicated by the Trump administration's pursuit of Democrats over similar issues. President Donald Trump has accused two of his political foes — Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James — of committing mortgage fraud in similar, though far less serious, circumstances. The Democrats have long been targets of Trump's ire for having led various investigations into his conduct as president and as a business executive. The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of James. It received a criminal referral for Schiff last week from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. James' attorney, Abbe Lowell, urged the Trump administration to investigate Paxton instead. 'If this administration was genuinely interested in rooting out fraud, it appears they should stop wasting their time on the baseless and discredited allegations against the New York Attorney General James and turn their attention to Texas,' said Lowell, a prominent Washington attorney whose past clients include Hunter Biden and Ivanka Trump. In a statement, Marisol Samayoa, a Schiff spokeswoman, blasted the criminal referral as 'a transparent attempt' by Trump 'to punish a perceived political foe who is committed to holding him to account.' It's unlikely that Paxton, a staunch Trump ally, will face the same federal scrutiny as James and Schiff. It's equally doubtful that Paxton will face much legal trouble in Texas: His office is one of the primary agencies tasked with investigating allegations of mortgage fraud. Ken Paxton and his spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Angela Paxton, who is a state senator in Texas, did not respond to requests made through her office. Three of the Paxtons' homes are each listed as a primary residence Documents reviewed by the AP show the Paxtons hold mortgages on three homes — one in suburban Dallas, two in Austin — that are each listed as their primary residence. The designation comes with a considerable financial upside. Interest rates on primary homes are significantly lower than those for mortgages on secondary homes or investment properties, saving buyers tens of thousands of dollars — if not more — over the life of a loan. Legal experts say it's possible that the Paxtons' lenders prepared the documents and that the couple did not carefully review them before signing. Even if that were the case, some legal experts say that Paxton, as an attorney and Texas' top law enforcement officer, ought to have known better. 'If he filled out lender documents knowing that they were false, then that is a false statement to obtain a mortgage on favorable terms. That would be actionable,' said Arif Lawji, a veteran Texas real estate attorney. Low interest rates are not the only perk the Paxtons secured, records show. In 2018, they simultaneously collected homestead property tax breaks on their family's home in suburban Dallas, as well as on a $1.1 million home in Austin, property records and tax statements show. A homestead tax break is a property tax reduction that a homeowner is only eligible to collect on one property that is also their primary home. The suburban Dallas home is where the Paxtons' family has long resided. It's where Ken and Angela Paxton are registered to vote. It is located in the state Senate district that Angela Paxton represents in the Legislature, which Ken Paxton held before his election in 2014 to be attorney general. Lawji said the Paxtons' simultaneous collection of two homestead tax breaks appears to be a more clearcut violation. That's because one must obtain a form and submit it to taxing authorities to receive such a tax break, making it an 'intentional act,' he said. The tax break was worth several thousand dollars, a fact that confounded real estate lawyers. 'Why would you try to do all of this,' Lawji said, 'when you are the attorney general? That's a bigger question to me than the money, when you are AG and have to enforce this law.' Schiff and James come under fire from GOP Paxton's real estate dealings are in many ways distinct from those of James and Schiff, the Democrats targeted by the Trump administration. The investigation of James centers on forms she signed in 2023 while helping a niece buy a home. One form stated that James intended to occupy the home as her 'principal residence.' But in other documents, the New York attorney general made clear she had no intention of living there. An email to the mortgage loan broker two weeks before she signed the documents stated the property 'WILL NOT be my primary residence.' For over a decade, Schiff owned homes in Maryland and California, the state he represents, that were both designated as a primary residence. Schiff corrected the issue in 2020 — a step Paxton has not taken. Paxton's real estate dealings are not the first time he has drawn scrutiny for his conduct while in office. He spent roughly 10 years under state indictment on securities charges while serving as the state's top law enforcement official. The charges were eventually dropped in 2024. Other alleged misdeeds led to his impeachment by Texas' GOP-controlled House in 2023. He was acquitted in a trial by the Senate. What ultimately unleashed the impeachment push was Paxton's relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who pleaded guilty this year to one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. In 2020, eight top aides in Paxton's office told the FBI they were concerned the state's top law enforcement official was misusing his office to help Paul. Brian Slodysko, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
