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Tiger Woods announced Monday he won’t compete in the Hero World Challenge at The Albany Golf Course in The Bahamas Dec. 5-8. Woods, 48, is recovering from microdecompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in his lower back on Sept. 13. Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Nick Dunlap are the three sponsors exemptions, Woods said. “I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year at the Hero World Challenge, but always look forward to being tournament host and spending the week with @HeroMotoCorp. Excited to welcome our exemptions @JustinThomas34, @JDayGolf and @NickDunlap62 into the field,” Woods wrote on X. Woods had said after his last round at Royal Troon in July that he didn’t plan on playing any competitive golf again during the calendar year until the Hero World Challenge. Woods hosts the event which benefits his foundation. Tiger Woods out for Hero World Challenge, 2025 status TBD Woods underwent surgery in West Palm Beach, Florida, believed to be his sixth back procedure in the last decade, per Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated . He has continued to deal with complications from his near fatal car crash in 2021, in which he suffered open fractures to both his tibia and fibula bones. The 15-time major champion competed in just five events this past season for a total of 11 rounds. He withdrew from the second round of the Genesis Invitational in February after suffering from flu-like symptoms. Woods made the cut and finished 60th at the Masters, and then missed the cut in the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship. There will be no shortage of star power in the Hero World Challenge despite Woods being out for the event. Among those in the field: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Åberg, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre, Sam Burns and Brian Harman. This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.
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Dell, HP, Workday, and more set to report earnings TuesdayIt was December 2, 1805. The fields of Austerlitz were cloaked in fog. Napoleon Bonaparte outnumbered and ostensibly retreating, faced the combined might of the Austrian and Russian imperial armies. The Allies believed they had him cornered. They saw the French emperor’s lines thinning and his forces retreating from a key high ground, the Pratzen Heights. Sensing an opportunity, they charged forward, confident that victory was within their grasp. Yet, what unfolded next would shatter their hopes. As the Allies surged, Napoleon unleashed a meticulously planned counteroffensive, splitting their forces and driving thousands of soldiers onto a frozen lake. When French artillery rained cannonballs onto the fragile ice, it gave way, and entire regiments plunged into the freezing waters below. Austerlitz, later immortalized as the “Battle of the Three Emperors,” was not just a triumph of force but of strategy, deception, and preparation. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the fog of war has moved from battlefields to boardrooms and global markets. The U.S.-China trade war is a modern-day Austerlitz, where tariffs and currency maneuvers have replaced cannonballs and cavalry charges. In 2018, when Donald Trump levied tariffs on Chinese goods, it was an ambush reminiscent of the Allied assault on Napoleon’s ostensibly weakened forces. Trump saw an opening to weaken China’s economic dominance. He expected the tariffs to leave China vulnerable. Initially, the move appeared to succeed. China’s exports faltered, its stock markets stumbled, and Beijing scrambled to contain the damage. But, like Napoleon retreating to draw his enemies into a trap, China was not as vulnerable as it seemed. Over the years, China has hardened its economic defenses, just as Napoleon meticulously prepared his army before Austerlitz. President Xi Jinping’s government has shifted its trade strategies to flood emerging markets with exports, ensuring a broader base of demand. By devaluing the yuan, Beijing made Chinese goods cheaper abroad, effectively neutralizing the tariffs’ impact. This currency manipulation acted like Napoleon’s cannon fire on the ice, destabilizing U.S. manufacturers and forcing global competitors to operate on China’s terms. The infamous “China price” has become a weapon as potent as any artillery barrage, undercutting rivals and consolidating Beijing’s control over key industries. Much like Napoleon’s use of terrain, China has exploited the dynamics of the global economy to its advantage. Trump, for all his strengths and his admirable vision back toward a more just, sustainable U.S. economy, finds himself in a position not unlike the Allies at Austerlitz – overextended and overly confident in its initial moves. The belief that tariffs alone could cripple China underestimated Beijing’s resilience and capacity for adaptation. Chinese leaders, like Napoleon, understand the importance of timing and preparation. They have avoided direct confrontation, opting instead for a strategy of attrition, flooding global markets with inexpensive goods and undercutting U.S. industries. Meanwhile, the devaluation of the yuan functions as a defensive maneuver, absorbing economic shocks and allowing Chinese exporters to remain competitive despite the tariffs. But the parallels between Austerlitz and the trade war extend beyond strategy. They also give us critical lessons about the risks of hubris and the power of long-term planning. Napoleon’s genius lay not only in his military tactics but in his ability to see several moves ahead, anticipating and exploiting the overconfidence of his enemies. Similarly, China’s strategy demonstrates a long view of economic warfare, one that prioritizes resilience and adaptability over immediate victories. By diversifying its trade partners and pouring national resources into its manufacturing base, Beijing has created a buffer against the economic pressures imposed by Washington. The United States, on the other hand, risks repeating the Allies’ mistakes. Overreliance on the dollar’s dominance, combined with political and economic fragmentation at home, has left Trump vulnerable to counterattacks. Just as the Allies underestimated Napoleon’s ability to strike decisively, Trump has underestimated China’s capacity to absorb blows and retaliate in ways that reshape the global economic landscape. The fog of economic war cloaks the real strengths and weaknesses of each side, making it all the more crucial to understand the dynamics at play. At Austerlitz, Napoleon turned the tide of battle with a single decisive move – the destruction of the ice-bound lake that swallowed thousands of Allied soldiers. This dramatic moment was memorably recreated in Ridley Scott’s 2023 film Napoleon. Scott showed the unpredictable, surprising nature of warfare. Similarly, in the trade war, a single misstep – whether a poorly calibrated tariff, an underappreciation of China’s control over supply chains, or a financial crisis – could shatter the fragile balance of power. Both sides are vying for dominance in a global economy that increasingly resembles the thin ice of that fateful battlefield. What if Napoleon could give strategic advice to Trump? Let’s imagine. First, he would likely stress the importance of understanding the opponent’s true strengths and weaknesses. Just as Napoleon studied the terrain and movements of his enemies, Trump must conduct a comprehensive assessment of China’s economic vulnerabilities and strengths rather than relying on outdated assumptions. Second, Napoleon would advise against overextension. He understood that no force, no matter how powerful, can win if it spreads itself too thin. For Trump, this means focusing on shoring up his own economic foundations – investing in domestic manufacturing, securing critical supply chains, and strengthening alliances with other nations to counterbalance China’s global influence. Trump also risks spreading himself too thin if he spends his time and attention encouraging financial market bubbles that risk misallocating scarce capital. Finally, Napoleon would emphasize the importance of timing and decisive strikes. Just as he waited for the perfect moment to counterattack at Austerlitz, Trump must be patient and deliberate in his strategy. Will tariffs with thousands of Commerce Department exemptions be a decisive strike? Or will China view them as bluffs, based on the 2018 experience, as it sets up shell companies in Vietnam and Mexico? It’s hard for me to imagine tariffs being successful in achieving Trump’s goals without at least temporary pain and restructuring in the way many global companies do business. Finally, Napoleon might remind Trump, “Never invade Russia, or shoot missiles at it, in the winter... or in the spring, for that matter.” Although Trump, unlike Joe Biden, long ago realized that extending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, rather than urging peace talks, is one of the most tragic, wasteful, and stupid decisions in history. Editor’s note: Members of Jim Rickards’ Strategic Intelligence Pro can read the rest of Dan’s research, along with the accompanying stock pick, here.ESPN, TNT Sports Tag-Team on Emirates NBA Cup Production in Las Vegas The long and winding trek to the Emirates NBA Cup will conclude over the next few days at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Saturday’s doubleheader will decide which two teams will battle it out for the second-annual trophy. In a March Madness–esque effort, ESPN and TNT Sports will each produce a semifinal matchup from the arena, relying on help from each other and the league’s broadcast-operations department. “[These games] feel different because we’re in a neutral venue and working much closer with the NBA,” says . “We’re able to do things that we wouldn’t be able to do in an ordinary NBA arena.” After a successful inaugural competition in 2023, the NBA Cup tourney’s start a month ago demonstrated the teams’ buy-in, with new jerseys, newly designed courts, and an enhanced commitment to play with heart and grit. Fans have turned up to the venues to watch in person, and viewers have tuned in to broadcasts on national and regional networks. As the tournament hits its final stage, the tension on the court will continue to ratchet up. And the championship-level game will be matched by championship-level technologies and workflows. “It feels like we’re in the playoffs despite being in the middle of the season,” says . “This year, it has been a little bit easier after last year’s tournament and with the great working relationship that we have with the league.” TNT Sports, which will broadcast the first semifinal, will deploy an impressive tech arsenal, including 10 hard cameras, six handhelds, four super-slow-motion cameras, its standard above-the-rim robotic camera at each basket, an RF Steadicam, and live coaches mics heard in real time. Another TNT Sports’ standard is remote graphics production from its Techwood facility in Atlanta, an effort that began on . Airing on ESPN, the second semifinal and Tuesday night’s final will be the first productions to boast five shallow–depth-of-field cameras: a Sony FR7 PTZ robo on each bench, a new Canon C80 on an RS-4 Pro gimbal, and an RF handheld with capabilities to add virtual graphics. Other tech toys include an ARRI ALEXA35 4K Live Production System camera with a Fujifilm DUVO 25-1000mm box lens, SMT Optics strategy tracker and shot-distance tracker with NBA Hawk-Eye data, and TGI Sport on-court virtual advertising. Each broadcaster will have a dedicated configuration in the compound. TNT Sports will roll with its West Coast workhorse, NEP Supershooter 8 A and B units, as the main game truck and NEP TS2 for an onsite edition of emanating from the outdoor plaza of T-Mobile Arena. ESPN will be working from NEP EN3 A and B for game coverage and Live Media Group MU-14 for onsite versions of and . The game truck will share multiple camera feeds for studio coverage, and the studio team’s virtual jib camera will be integrated into the live game telecast. On Saturday, TNT Sports and ESPN will come together to produce two semifinal games in a single night. Although the schedule at T-Mobile Arena is a lot more favorable this year — the tech infrastructure for last year’s portion in Las Vegas because of a Vegas Golden Knights game — key to the tournament’s success is to reflect on last year’s effort and adapt strategies for this weekend. “We tried sticking to the blueprint and made the necessary adjustments for replicating it,” says Brown. “The NBA made some tweaks, but we looked to leverage the lessons learned from last year.” A neutral-site production for a trophy game is reminiscent of the NBA Bubble during the COVID-shortened season in 2020. As two of the NBA’s domestic rightsholders, TNT Sports and ESPN had long had a strong partnership, but that effort at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando strengthened their relationship. Four years later, that time together is reflected in Las Vegas. “The camaraderie and friendship that we have with TNT Sports is unmatched,” says Okuno. “When it comes to operations, we’re always there to help each other out. When the NBA Cup came into our schedules last year, we took the approach of doing it together.” This willingness to work together in the same venue has translated into sharing selected resources and equipment. TNT Sports’ RF Steadicam, for example, will be used on ESPN’s nightcap on Saturday. ESPN, for its part, is offering Skycam, court-length RailCam, a Sony HDC-5500 low-slash camera, and robotic PTZ cameras. The ESPN-provided cameras will be operating in 1080p/59.94 fps SDR for both semifinal games. Audio will be shared via MADI and Dante paths, along with comms between the broadcasters’ onsite trucks. To free up space in the shared broadcast compound, the broadcasters will deploy a few remote workflows. Besides TNT Sports’ remote graphics from Techwood, ESPN graphics, clock and score, and four EVS replay operators for game coverage will be located in Bristol, CT. The final cut of the studio show will be distributed from ESPN’s production facility in Los Angeles. In addition, to manage the respective team’s workload, the broadcasters split their crews to produce the two remaining quarterfinal matchups in New York City and Houston on Wednesday. The new NBA-sanctioned competition is bringing in new viewers on its own, but, to offer more viewing options, TNT Sports will execute its last . Having debuted on , the alternative broadcasts will once again place the roster of the teams into the world of , with player icons, badges, and energy bars. When you add this activation to a full plate of production responsibilities, it’s another wrinkle that Brown and his crew have to account for. “This will add some complexity to our setup,” he notes, “since we’ll have a couple of dedicated cameras for this altcast. We’ve really leaned into alternative telecasts, and, for the avid basketball fan, it serves as an awesome companion. The [ ] trails about four seconds behind the main telecast, so it gives fans a chance to react to what they’re seeing on TV and then look over to see the stats associated with that same play.” On ESPN, the broadcasts will bring on-court sound to life via new Digital Q5X Player Mic-Xs. A staple of for many seasons, their use has been refined over the past two years, particularly for better sound quality and less obstruction on the player and uniform. A tech playground for the league and ESPN, the two latest NBA Summer Leagues at the Thomas & Mack — a short, 2.5-mile drive down Tropicana Ave. from T-Mobile Arena — was the perfect place to experiment with the refined implementation. We had to test it very thoroughly and incorporated the players’ input [into our testing],” notes Okuno. “We also had to make sure that it was transmitting [the signal] accurately.” Many sports fans look forward to the holiday season, to settling down with loved ones during a relatively slower time of the year. For sports-production professionals, it’s an extremely busy portion of their work schedule, but the crews at ESPN and TNT Sports are made up of hardworking folks who value their time together. At ESPN, Okuno is joined by , , , , , and of game operations and , , , and of studio operations. At TNT Sports, Brown is joined by ; ; ; ; and . The common goal of producing a quality televised product, along with viewers flocking to watch the action, results in a highly anticipated three-game ending to the tournament in its second year. “The standard was set very high last year to produce an NBA Finals–level production in 2023,” notes Okuno. “This year’s Emirates NBA Cup is about elevating our camera and audio technology.”‘I’m not a quitter’: Mettam responds to ‘catastrophic’ polling that suggests Zempilas should be Liberal leader
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From a 10-year-old to a Muppet to a president-elect, NYSE bell-ringers range from famous to obscureThe decision by special counsel Jack Smith, who had fiercely sought to hold Mr Trump criminally accountable for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, represented the end of the federal effort against the former president following his election victory this month despite the election-related cases and multiple other unrelated criminal charges against him. The move, announced in court papers, marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021. In court papers, prosecutors said the Justice Department’s position “is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated”. Mr Smith’s team emphasised that the move to abandon the prosecutions, in federal courts in Washington and Florida, was not a reflection of their view on the merits of the cases but rather a reflection of their commitment to longstanding department policy. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” the prosecutors wrote in Monday’s court filing in the election interference case. The decision was expected after Mr Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted. Mr Trump has cast both cases as politically motivated and has vowed to fire Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January. The 2020 election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing the Republican as he vied to reclaim the White House. However, it quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Mr Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The US Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Mr Smith’s team filed a lengthy brief in October laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will over voters after he lost to President Joe Biden.
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This January 2018, file photo provided by the Chicago Police Department shows Marilyn Hartman. ... [+] Hartman, who authorities say is a serial stowaway, pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018 after she was accused of flying ticketless from Chicago to London. A judge released the 66-year-old woman after the Jan. 18 incident and told her to stay away from airports. However Hartman was arrested again at O’Hare International Airport about a week later. She was sentenced to 42 months in prison in 2022. (Chicago Police Department via AP, File) On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a woman later identified as Svetlana Dali, 57, arrived at New York’s JFK Airport. She went through security and boarded Delta flight 264 to Paris. Just one problem: she didn’t have a ticket or a boarding pass. She was a stowaway. Somehow, she went through TSA security screening at JFK, avoiding identity verification and boarding status stations to get abroad the plane. She then apparently hid in a lavatory, switching to a different one until she could find a seat on the not-full flight. She was eventually arrested on landing in Paris. Dali was returned to New York by French authorities a few days later, although she had an outburst on the aircraft and had to be restrained. Dali, a U.S. permanent resident originally from Russia, appeared in a federal court in Brooklyn on Dec. 6. At the hearing it was revealed that she had previously tried to board a plane at Miami International Airport in February. She walked into the “arrivals” section, then worked her way into customs, then into departures, where she tried and failed to get on board aircraft. Despite this history, she was released without bail. The judge did stipulate she had to meet a detailed set of conditions. Dali, who was apparently homeless, had to agree to stay with a friend from church in Philadelphia, submit to wearing a GPS monitoring device, receive a mental health evaluation, and surrender any travel documents. Is Dali’s stowaway flight to Paris a one-in-a-billion fluke? Not according to CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo, former inspector general for the US Department of Transportation. “It’s a really big deal and it leaves our vulnerabilities exposed to the world,” she said in a CNN story . “Everyone knows the threats are out there and the TSA just failed horribly, as did Delta Air Lines. So if people approach this properly, this could be the wake-up call that we need to keep flyers and the people over whose heads we fly safe.” iOS 18.2—Update Now Warning Issued To All iPhone Users Microsoft Warns 400 Million Windows Users—Do Not Update Your PC Selena Gomez And Benny Blanco Are Engaged—And The Internet Has Opinions Travelers stand in a long line for security screening at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International ... [+] Airport on June 28, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says they are anticipating a "sustained period of high passenger volumes" that will break previous travel records. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) How the TSA and local, national and international security agencies respond is, so to speak, up in the air. But it’s worth noting that Dali’s dalliance with Delta is hardly the first stowaway incident that raises security concerns. In November 2021, a disheveled stowaway emerged from an electrical compartment of an airliner in Miami, after an American Airlines flight from Guatemala City. Airport workers asked him in Spanish if he was OK and gave him water, after three hours flying at temperatures ranging from -40 to -70 degrees. Incredibly, the man, 26-year-old Jehffrey Gutirres, 26, was arrested again in May of 2023. He was charged with trespassing for sneaking into a compartment of another American Airlines at Bush Intercontinental Airport. The compartment contained critical steering and hydraulic components, with police saying Gutirres possibly putting the lives of 166 passengers in “grave danger.” His destination? Miami. Gutirres was apparently trying to escape prosecution for yet another stowaway attempt in April of that year. He had climbed an airport fence and run across the tarmac to the aircraft. A third stowaway, Marilyn Hartman, is so well known that she has her own Wikipedia page . Known as the “serial stowaway,” Hartman’s claim to fame is stowing away on at least 22 commercial airline flights since 2014. During most of that time, she was living in Chicago-area mental health facilities. Hartman reportedly flew to Copenhagen, Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jacksonville and London, using "techniques" like picking up a discarded boarding pass or using her hair to cover her face. An official from the Lycee Municipal Simone Ehivet Gbagbo school shows a 'disappeared' poster with ... [+] an image of missing 14-year-old Ivorian schoolboy Ani Guibahi Laurent Barthelemy, in Abidjan on January 10, 2020. The child stowaway Ani Guibahi Laurent Barthelemy, was found dead in the undercarriage of an Air France Boeing 777, that took off late at night on January 7, arriving at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport early January 8, after a flight lasting six and a half hours. CCTV footage shows the child "clung onto the aircraft's undercarriage as it was preparing for takeoff." (Photo by SIA KAMBOU/AFP via Getty Images) Hartman, 73, whose attorneys said she was mentally ill and homeless, was sentenced to 42 months in prison in 2022. So her “compulsive” stowaway behavior is at least temporarily arrested. Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn said Hartman's conduct showed "no hint of menace, but plenty of pathos , paranoia, and confusion." He argued against imprisonment and for mental health treatment, noting she had had revealed "holes and vulnerabilities in airport security." Stowaways, once viewed as plucky, charming eccentrics, are a romantic staple of literature and film. The popular children’s book , By The Great Hornspoon! , is a historical fiction about a stowaway and his butler during the California gold rush. Marilyn Hartman was called a real-life Ada Quonsett, after the "harmless little old lady and habitual stowaway" character, played by Helen Hayes, in the 1970 movie Airport . But today’s flight stowaways run a much higher risk of arrest or death. Many are actually migrants, seeking to escape grinding poverty. Some have hidden in the wheel wells of aircraft, only to fall to their death when the landing gear deploys. Others have frozen to death on a long flight at 35,000 feet, where the temperature can reach -54°C (-65°F). Such stowaways also create a risk for the paying passengers and crew of the aircraft. The 9/11 attacks 23 years ago remain the deadliest day in airline history. Four American airliners were taken over by 19 hijackers and used as weapons. The final death toll was just under 3,000 people. Three Florida airports were among the top 10 for weapons seizures in the United States in 2019, a ... [+] year in which authorities confiscated more firearms than at any other time since the formation of the TSA. (Sun Sentinel file photo/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) All of the hijackers were ticketed passengers. Since that time security has been greatly enhanced. Boarding passes and identification are checked. The pilot’s door has been reinforced and is locked, air marshals are frequently in attendance, and for all our irritation, the TSA screens millions of passengers each day. Last year alone, TSA found and seized over 6700 firearms . With all this, it is incredible that unticketed passengers are still slipping onto international flights in 2024. The security camera video at JFK reportedly show Dali “blending in” with a flight crew. Then at the gate TSA sources said she put herself amidst a family traveling together as they presented multiple tickets and passports at once. CNN’s aviation expert, Schiavo, was not impressed by TSA’s explanation. “This is no excuse,” Schiavo said. “They are supposed to treat each person as a separate security threat. The TSA mantra is ‘every passenger, every time.’ They are not supposed to treat groups any differently than solo. Each person must be identified and have a ticket.” Passengers on Dali’s flight to Paris were not told a ‘harmless stowaway’ was onboard. Instead, the pilot told fliers to stay seated as French police boarded to deal with “a serious security issue,” one passenger told CNN. Passengers go through security check by TSA at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, Jan. ... [+] 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) TSA spokespeople said that investing in electronic gate technology, or e-gates, integrated with facial recognition systems at checkpoints, might help prevent such stowaway incidents. Technology may well be part of a solution. But as stowaways have shown over and over again, security remains a very human problem.
Blues head to Woking tonight sitting 16th in the standings. But Coker is certain the Shrimpers still have what it takes to secure a top seven finish. “I think we can get play-offs,” said Coker. “I think it’s still quite tight and hopefully we can put a good run together with positive performances and results. “You take it game by game and look to build. “We’ve had some changes and it’s about getting used to how everyone plays but we’re getting there and want to try and get a run together.” Blues, who sit seven points below the play-offs, drew 2-2 with title chasing Forest Green Rovers on Saturday. And Coker took plenty of positives from how the Shrimpers twice fought back to secure a share of the spoils. “We can definitely take some positives from the game on Saturday,” said Coker. “We showed really good fighting spirit and going toe to toe with the team top of the league is something we can take moving forward.” Coker made sure of a point for Blues with his third goal in four games. And the 21-year-old is keen to keep on hitting the back of the net. “The gaffer and the management team always speak about eights getting in the box and getting around the area to get shots on goal,” said Coker. “Hopefully they keep falling for me and I can keep putting them in. “I don’t really put pressure on myself with any targets or anything like that but I’d obviously like to get more and beat my tally of six from last season. “Working day in day out on that and the positions we get into helps with that but I always scored a few goals in the youth team so hopefully I can keep on doing it.” In fact, so strong is Coker’s finishing that he often featured as a striker in his youth. “I started off as a striker but I wasn’t the quickest so I went to midfield,” said Coker. “In fairness my strikes haven’t been too clean recently but they’re going in so that’s all that matters so hopefully I can keep it going.” Coker now has four goals in 12 appearances this season and will look to work his way onto the score-sheet against Woking this evening. However, the midfielder is expecting a difficult 90 minutes. “It’s another tough game and it’s always tough there,” said Coker. “We’ve got to stand up to it, play our game and play the way we did on Saturday. “If we do that hopefully we’ll get the three points.”
TOMS River, N.J. (AP) — A U.S. senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns them. “We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday as concerns about the drones spread across Capitol Hill. People in the New York region are also concerned that the drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, he said, demanding more transparency from the Biden administration. The White House said Thursday that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels. “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said, echoing statements from the Pentagon and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. The drones appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security. The FBI has been investigating and has asked residents to share any videos, photos or other information about the drones. On Wednesday, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said they are not U.S. military drones. The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once. The worry stems partly from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. In a post on the social media platform X, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified. Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey were larger than those typically used by hobbyists. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was frustrated by the lack of transparency, saying it could help spread fear or misinformation. “We should know what’s going on over our skies,” he said Thursday. Fantasia, a Morris County Republican, was among several lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss the sightings from the New York City area across New Jersey and westward into parts of Pennsylvania, including over Philadelphia. It is unknown at this time whether the sightings are related. Two Republican Jersey Shore-area congressmen, U.S. Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, say the military should shoot down the drones. Smith said a U.S. Coast Guard commanding officer briefed him on an incident over the weekend in which a dozen drones followed a motorized Coast Guard lifeboat “in close pursuit” near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park in Ocean County. Coast Guard Lt. Luke Pinneo on Wednesday told The Associated Press “that multiple low-altitude aircraft were observed in the vicinity of one of our vessels near Island Beach State Park.” Associated Press reporters Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and reporter Darlene Superville and videojournalists Serkan Gurbuz and Nathan Ellgren in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.