Lone

Nov. 2 (UPI) — On this date in history:

In 1889, North and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states of the union.

In 1920, in the first significant news broadcast, KDKA in Pittsburgh reported the U.S. presidential election results in Warren G. Harding’s win over James Cox.

In 1947, Howard Hughes built and piloted the world’s largest airplane, the 200-ton flying boat Spruce Goose, on its only flight, at Long Beach, Calif. The Goose remained airborne for just under 1 mile.

In 1959, Charles Van Doren told a U.S. congressional investigation he had been given questions and answers in advance of appearances on a television game show.

In 1962, U.S. President John Kennedy announced that Soviet missile bases in Cuba were being dismantled.

In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia, was elected the 39th U.S. president, defeating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford.

File Photo by Don Rypka/UPI

In 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the bill establishing a national holiday to mark the birthday anniversary of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1992, legendary filmmaker Hal Roach died at age 100. He was credited with discovering the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy and producing the Our Gang comedies.

In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush was re-elected in a race with Democrat John Kerry.

File Photo by Greg Whitesell/UPI

In 2013, two French journalists, Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, were kidnapped and killed after interviewing a rebel leader in northern Mali. President Francois Hollande expressed “indignation at this odious act.”

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, winning the team’s first championship in 108 years. Though the game began on Nov. 2, a rain delay pushed the final half hour of Game 7 into early Nov. 3.

In 2023, the Beatles released their last new song, “Now and Then,” using new technology to piece together vocals, guitar and piano recorded by the late John Lennon and George Harrison in the late 1970s with new additions by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

In 2024, Kemi Badenoch became the first Black woman to lead a major British political party after defeating Robert Jenrick to take the helm of the country’s Conservative and Unionist Party.

File Photo by Neil Hall/EPA-EFE

One black box found as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the scene and calls the devastation ‘saddening’.

Investigators and rescue teams are searching the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with the lone surviving passenger, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on the plane and multiple people on the ground.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport with 242 people on board, went down shortly after takeoff on Thursday, striking a medical college hostel in the western Indian city.

One of the plane’s black boxes has been found, local media reported, and operations on Friday were focused on locating missing people and recovering aircraft fragments and the remaining black box.

An official from the National Disaster Response Force said it deployed seven teams to the crash site and they have recovered 81 bodies so far.

The crash caused extensive damage and left bodies scattered both inside the aircraft and among buildings at the site.

‘The devastation is saddening’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the scene in his home state of Gujarat on Friday, meeting with rescue officials and some of the injured in hospital. “The scene of devastation is saddening,” he posted on X.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau launched an investigation into the incident.

Medics are conducting DNA tests to identify those killed, said the president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, Akshay Dongardiv.

Meanwhile, grieving families gathered outside the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

Two doctors at the hospital said the bodies of four medical students killed on the ground were released to their families. They said at least 30 injured students were admitted to the hospital and at least four were in critical condition.

Witnesses described hearing a blast on Thursday before dark smoke engulfed the area. “We were at home and heard a massive sound. It appeared like a big blast,” the Reuters news agency quoted 63-year-old resident Nitin Joshi as saying.

Footage from CCTV cameras captured a fireball rising above the crash site shortly after the Dreamliner took off. Parts of the fuselage were found scattered across the hostel complex, and the aircraft’s tail was lodged in the building’s roof.

Boeing said it was ready to send experts to assist in the investigation, which Air India warned would take time. The crash marks the first fatal accident involving a Dreamliner since the aircraft began commercial service in 2011.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson arrived in Ahmedabad early on Friday.

Modi meets lone survivor

The sole survivor of the crash was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.

Viswashkumar Ramesh told India’s national broadcaster he still could not believe he is alive. He said the aircraft seemed to become stuck immediately after takeoff. He said the lights came on and right after that, the plane accelerated but seemed unable to gain height before it crashed.

He said the side of the plane where he was seated fell onto the ground floor of a building and there was space for him to escape after the door broke open. He unfastened his seatbelt and forced himself out of the plane.

“When I opened my eyes, I realised I was alive,” he said.

The crash claimed the life of Vijay Rupani, Gujarat’s former chief minister. Police said most passengers were still strapped in their seats when found.

The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese and one was Canadian.

The fans packed Angel Stadium last week, erupting when the star emerged from the dugout during pregame warmups, chanting “M-V-P” in his honor during the game.

Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees had arrived in Anaheim, and the old ballpark was abuzz.

“Anywhere we play,” Judge said, “it’s a playoff atmosphere.”

Angels fans haven’t seen a playoff game in 11 years, so there were plenty of good seats available for Yankees fans. In the top of the first inning, Judge grounded out.

In the bottom of the first, the Angels’ star strutted into the spotlight. Zach Neto led off the inning by launching a 440-foot home run — the longest of his career — and flipping his bat so dramatically that Major League Baseball celebrated on social media.

The Angels lost the game, but their shortstop rose to the occasion in a way his team so often has not. We would say Neto is a star in the making, with pop in his bat and swagger in his game, but he already is a star.

An All-Star.

“One hundred percent. For sure. No doubt,” said Angels closer Kenley Jansen, himself a four-time All-Star.

Baseball turns its All-Star ballot live Wednesday, and there is no shortage of Dodgers players worthy of votes. If Judge does not get the most votes overall, Shohei Ohtani should.

Freddie Freeman entered play Tuesday batting .368, and he leads National League first basemen in WAR. Will Smith is batting .331 and leads NL catchers in WAR. Shortstop Mookie Betts and outfielder Teoscar Hernández figure to attract some votes, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto should be one of the pitchers selected.

The Dodgers had six All-Stars last year. The Angels had one: pitcher Tyler Anderson.

This year, Neto ought to be that guy. His 10 home runs lead American League shortstops. Among all major leaguers, only Ohtani has more leadoff homers than Neto.

“It’s a no-brainer he is our All-Star this year,” Jansen said.

Angels shortstop Zach Neto high-fives a fan before a game against the Marlins at Angel Stadium in May 24.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Neto is one of seven major leaguers with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in their last 162 games. The others: Ohtani, Ronald Acuña Jr., Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor, José Ramírez and Kyle Tucker.

Lindor is the only other shortstop in the group. That makes Neto a star in a rather bright constellation.

“He’s a superstar in the making,” Jansen said.

Neto almost certainly would need to be voted in by his peers, or selected by the league office. Even his manager admits Neto has virtually no chance to be voted in by the fans.

Angels manager Ron Washington said Neto is “definitely” an All-Star but suggested Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, the runner-up to Judge as AL most valuable player last season, would be voted the starting shortstop.

“I think he is going to be the guy,” Washington said.

And Neto?

“They need some backup,” Washington said. “It doesn’t matter if you make the All-Star team as a backup. You made the All-Star team.

“I think he’s got the opportunity to do just that.”

Angels shortstop Zach Neto gives the safe sign as he slides on his belly across home plate ahead of the tag during a game against the Giants in April.

(Wally Skalij / Associated Press)

Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles started at shortstop for the AL last season. Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros has a better WAR than anyone in the AL except Judge, according to Baseball Reference. Jacob Wilson of the Athletics has a better OPS than Witt, and he is batting .355 — better than anyone in the majors besides Judge and Freeman.

“With all the shortstops out there, he is just going to have to bide his time,” Washington said of Neto. “Hopefully, he gets chosen.”

The fans select the starters, and the players in the AL and NL select the backups in their respective leagues. If the fans vote Witt, do enough AL players appreciate Neto’s game?

“Yeah,” Washington said, laughing, “because he bust their [butt].”

Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: “Love him. Certainly, his skill set plays. And, for him to be — what, a couple years removed from college? — I just love that he just has that feel for leadership. He’s already a leader. I can see it from the other side.

“He’s sort of like that old-school gritty ballplayer. He can beat you a lot of ways. He’s quickly going higher on the list of players I love to watch.”

The league office completes the All-Star rosters, in large part to ensure each team has at least one representative. It is not a given that Neto would be the Angels’ representative.

If two or three other shortstops are chosen, the league office could opt for catcher Logan O’Hoppe or, if position players are fully stocked, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. If Mike Trout stays healthy and gets hot, the league office could give fans across America the Angels player they would most want to see.

Yet there is no question that Neto is the Angels’ best player this year, and a star for years to come.

“This guy,” Roberts said, “is going to be an All-Star for a long time.”

That time should start now.

May 18 (UPI) — A 25-year-old man on Sunday has been tentatively identified as the suspect in an explosion outside a Southern California fertility clinic that injured four and and killed one.

The FBI believes Edward Bartkus, a resident of Twentynine Palms, home to a large U.S. Marine Corps base, about 58 miles northwest of Palm Springs, used a vehicle-borne improvised bomb. The explosion occurred at 11 a.m. PDT Saturday and damaged several buildings.

“We are working through some other technical means to positively identify the decedent here, but we believe at this moment, based on the evidence that we’ve gathered, that that is Mr. Bartkus as the decedent here,” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said at a Sunday morning news conference.

None of those injured are believed to be staff members of the clinic, city officials said.

American Reproductive Centers wrote on Facebook that a “vehicle exploded in the parking lot near our building.”

“Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is,” the center posted. “In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope — because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care,” they wrote in the post.

“Out of every tragedy, there is an opportunity to come together with deeper purpose. While today’s events have shaken us all, they also shine a light on the strength of our community, the bravery of our first responders, and the resilience of the families we serve.

“At ARC, we believe in creating life – not just in the biological sense, but in the emotional and spiritual sense, too,” the post said.

The clinic expects to reopen Monday.

The Center for Reproductive Services and the American Coalition for Telemedicine told CBS News that they had not heard of any threats to their facilities or the organizations they work with across the country.

“We were able to save all of the embryos at this facility,” Davis said. “Good guys, 1, bad guys, 0.”

The blast could be felt more than a mile away from the blast zone and pieces of vehicles were thrown hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away.

“You can use your imagination for how big that bomb device was,” Davis said.

People at The Skylark Hotel, about 500 yards from the clinic, said they felt the explosion.

Palm Springs city officials said in a Facebook post that the blast occurred near several healthcare facilities.

“We believe he was the subject found by the vehicle,” Davis said.

The vehicle was a 2010 silver Ford Fusion sedan.

Davis said this is the largest bombing ever investigated in Southern California.

“It does require some planning and some skill to build a bomb of this kind, although we have seen similar devices with even more significant damage before including the horror of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the blast that rocked the World Trade Center during the first attack in February 1993,” Law Enforcement analyst Richard Esposito told CBS News.

Barkus has not been in the FBI’s radar, according to Davis.

In writing or recordings, the suspect was against bringing people into the world against their will, according to CBS law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

“The subject had nihilistic ideations and this was a targeted attack,” Davis said. “We believe he was attempting to livestream it and yes, that is also part of our investigation.”

On Saturday, Davis said: “Make no mistake, this is an intentional act of terrorism.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also sent agents to help with the investigation.

“Yesterday, a man intent on harming others in our city failed. Palm Springs survived and we are stronger and more resilient as a result,” Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills said during Sunday’s news conference. “Our determination to continue life as we know it here in Palm Springs continues unabated and you’ll see this city dynamically grow as a result of this.

Late Saturday, the FBI and the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office evacuated residents in the Twentynine Palms neighborhood where the suspect lived and more than 50 miles from the blast.

“I can confirm that we were executing a search warrant at that location in Twentynine Palms as a result of this explosion here,” Davis said. “Some residents were evacuated in the neighboring area as a practice of protocol and safety. We do not believe that there is an ongoing threat to the public in the Twentynine Palms area as a result of this investigation.”