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Firing of National Security Agency Chief Rattles Lawmakers

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Firing of National Security Agency Chief Rattles Lawmakers

As soon as word spread that President Trump had fired Gen. Timothy D. Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, current and former administration officials began floating theories about why he had been let go.

Had General Haugh opposed one of Mr. Trump’s initiatives, perhaps moved too slowly on purging officers who had worked on diversity issues? Or was he a casualty of the administration’s shifting priorities to counter narcotics?

Whether any of that was true, it had little, if anything, to do with why he was fired.

General Haugh was ousted because Laura Loomer, a far-right wing conspiracy theorist and Trump adviser, had accused him and his deputy of disloyalty, according to U.S. officials and Ms. Loomer’s social media post early Friday. He was one of several national security officials fired this past week on her advice.

“I predict you are going to see some nonsense statement about some policy difference or something General Haugh wasn’t doing, but we all know what happened,” said Senator Angus King, a Maine independent who is on the intelligence and armed services committees. “Laura Loomer said it. She is the one who told Trump to fire him.”

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Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and former majority leader, lamented that the Trump White House had ousted General Haugh and was appointing people to Pentagon posts who were skeptical of America’s engagement with allies and the world.

“If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff?” Mr. McConnell said. “I can’t figure it out.”

The criteria Ms. Loomer appears to be using as she looks to oust people she sees as disloyal is their connections to critics of the Trump administration.

In her social media post, Ms. Loomer said General Haugh had been chosen by Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whom she called a traitor.

Ms. Loomer said General Haugh’s deputy at the National Security Agency, Wendy Noble, was close to James Clapper, a former director of national intelligence and fierce critic of Mr. Trump.

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As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Milley reviewed the appointments of hundreds of officers to key positions. Mr. Clapper, the longest-serving director of national intelligence in the Obama administration and a senior defense intelligence official under George W. Bush, has ties to officials throughout the spy agencies.

Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said he had worked closely with General Haugh and never saw anything to suggest disloyalty or a lack of competence.

“I fear this is just the hourly installment in the Laura Loomer clown car aspect of this administration,” Mr. Himes said.

He said that it was important to have a detail-oriented leader at the top of the N.S.A., and that he was concerned General Haugh’s ouster could lead to policy changes.

Mr. Himes also said he was concerned that the Trump administration could try to split the jobs of N.S.A. director and head of Cyber Command.

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Since U.S. Cyber Command was created, the director of the National Security Agency has led that organization. Some within the Trump administration, and veterans of his first term, want the two jobs separated. That would allow a military officer to lead Cyber Command but give the president or the defense secretary the license to name a civilian to lead the agency.

The two agencies work closely together, but have different roles. The National Security Agency penetrates telecom and computer networks overseas, collecting communications intercepts. Cyber Command conducts offensive and defensive operations on computer networks overseas. The command helps allied countries defend their networks and hunts for malware and breaches by Russia and other adversaries.

It also conducts offensive operations against the networks of adversaries to disrupt their ability to attack the United States.

A succession of N.S.A. directors have argued that one military officer should lead both agencies to improve coordination. But some Trump administration officials believe that it is important to have a civilian in charge one of the most important spy agencies.

Some Trump administration officials have been critical of the N.S.A.’s broad power to intercept phone calls overseas, because some Americans have been caught up in those efforts.

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Mr. Himes said he opposed splitting the jobs. While there is an argument for separating them if done carefully, Mr. Himes said he doubted the Trump administration would proceed in such a manner. The administration was already imposing irrational cuts on the N.S.A. that were costing the agency skilled people, he said.

“Given this administration’s break-it-first-then-fix-it style of operating, I am concerned,” Mr. Himes said. “It is not the low performers or obsolete skill sets that are being fired. In many cases it is some of our most valuable people. And this very directly makes us less safe.”

Beyond the structure of the commands, some Trump administration officials want the N.S.A. to move faster on White House initiatives.

But Mr. Himes said there was no evidence the N.S.A. was slow rolling administration priorities, and he added that General Haugh was working to step up collection on drug cartels.

“I can say with certainty that the N.S.A. was reorienting its priorities,” Mr. Himes said. “In fact in some ways they were shifting in ways that made me a little concerned that the pivot to Asia and counterterrorism collection would get short-shrifted.”

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Mr. King said it was deeply dangerous to remove General Haugh at a time when Chinese intelligence agencies were penetrating telecom networks and ransomware attacks backed by Russia on hospitals were continuing.

“Our country is under attack right now in cyberspace, and the president has just removed our top general from the field for no reason at the recommendation of someone who knows nothing about national security or even the job this general does,” Mr. King said.

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Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame manager of Atlanta Braves, dies at age 84

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Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame manager of Atlanta Braves, dies at age 84

Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox waves to the crowd as he is introduced at a ceremony to open the Braves’ new stadium before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, April 14, 2017, in Atlanta.

John Bazemore/AP


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John Bazemore/AP

ATLANTA — Bobby Cox, the folksy manager of the Atlanta Braves whose teams ruled the National League during the 1990s and gave the city its first major title as well as World Series trips that fell short, has died. He was 84.

The Atlanta Braves announced Cox’s death Saturday; details weren’t immediately available. Cox had a stroke in 2019.

“Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform. He led our team to 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants, and the unforgettable World Series title in 1995. His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched,” the Braves said in a statement.

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Cox took over a last-place team in June 1990 and led the Braves to a worst-to-first finish in 1991, losing the World Series to the Minnesota Twins in seven games. That was the start of what was to be a record 14 consecutive division titles, a feat no professional team in any sport had accomplished.

He managed the Braves for 25 years and led Atlanta to its only World Series title in 1995, retired after the 2010 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 — enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” the Braves said.

As of Saturday, Cox ranks fourth all-time with 2,504 wins, fifth with 4,508 games, first with 15 division titles including a record 14 in a row, first with 16 playoff appearances and fourth with 67 playoff victories.

Only Connie Mack, John McGraw and Tony La Russa had more regular-season wins than Cox. His 158 regular-season ejections also was the most among managers.

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“He is the Atlanta Braves,” catcher Brian McCann said in 2019. “He’s the best.”

McCann described Cox as an “icon” and “one of the best human beings any of us have ever met.”

The Braves retired Cox’s No. 6 jersey in 2011, when he joined the team’s Hall of Fame.

Cox spent 29 seasons as a major league manager, including four with Toronto. He managed 16 postseason teams. He brought an old-school approach to the dugout. He always wore spikes and stirrups, and his fatherly demeanor inspired loyalty from his players.

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The New Harvard Trend? Getting Punched in the Face.

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The New Harvard Trend? Getting Punched in the Face.

Her opponent at the Babson fight night was her Harvard teammate Muskaan Sandhu, 18, a freshman, who had sparred before. No one likes getting hit, Ms. Sandhu said, but she liked learning that she could take a punch.

It made her feel she could do anything. “After the fight, I never felt so capable in my life,” she said.

Modern life — lived on screens or amid the constant distraction of screens — can feel isolating. She sees boxing as a way to engage with people. “You feel really human,” she said. “You feel a connection with the person you’re fighting. Like we’re in this together.”

Mr. Lake said he intended for Harvard’s club to join the National Collegiate Boxing Association, a nonprofit that provides structure and safety rules. The N.C.B.A. represents about 840 athletes, an 18 percent increase from a year ago, said the group’s president, George Chamberlain, who coaches the University of Iowa’s boxing club.

The well-attended fight night at Babson, which also included boxers from Brandeis University, reflected the growing interest.

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Before it began, a volunteer passed out waiver documents. Most of the boxers immediately flipped to the end and signed. Mr. Jiang, of Harvard, appeared to be the only one who read it.

He was a mixed martial arts fan who resolved to try a combat sport in college. “I like the technique side of it,” Mr. Jiang said of boxing, “the science behind the sport.”

His fight plan, he explained, was to control the action with his jab and occasionally throw the right hand, to maintain good defense and try to tire out his opponent.

It seemed a solid strategy — though, as the heavyweight Mike Tyson famously noted, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

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Frontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport

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Frontier Airlines plane hits person on runway during takeoff at Denver airport

A Frontier Airlines plane hit a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said.

The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote.

Neither the airport nor the airline has disclosed the person’s condition.

“We’re stopping on the runway,” the pilot of the plane involved told the control tower at one point, according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”

The pilot told the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board – and that an “individual was walking across the runway”.

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The air traffic controller responded that they were “rolling the trucks now” before the pilot told the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft”.

“We are going to evacuate on the runway,” the pilot added.

Frontier Airlines said in a statement that flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision – and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff”. It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the person.

The plane, an Airbus A321, “was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members”, the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”

Passengers were then evacuated using slides, and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal.

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Denver’s airport said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had been notified and that runway 17L – where the incident took place – will remain closed while an investigation is conducted.

Friday’s episode at Denver’s airport came one day after a Delta Airline employee died on Thursday night at Orlando’s international airport when a vehicle struck a jet bridge next to an airplane with passengers onboard, as the local news outlet WESH reported.

Meanwhile, on 3 May, a United Airlines plane arriving in Newark, New Jersey, from Venice, Italy, clipped a delivery truck and a light pole, which in turn struck a Jeep. Only the delivery truck driver was injured, but the plane was damaged extensively and the NTSB classified the case as an accident while also opening an investigation.

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