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Bobby Allison, NASCAR Hall of Famer and 3-time Daytona 500 winner, dies at 86

Published

2 months ago

November 9, 2024

Bobby Allison, NASCAR Hall of Famer and 3-time Daytona 500 winner, dies at 86

Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, died Saturday. He was 86.

NASCAR released a statement from Allison’s family that said he died at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. A cause of death wasn’t given, but Allison had been in declining health for years.

Allison moved to fourth on NASCAR’s Cup Series victory list last month when chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in 1971. The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision, giving Allison 85 wins and moving him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip.

France and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. With it, Allison trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup wins.

Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class, in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the series title race five times, and a three-time winner of the Daytona 500.

He helped put NASCAR on the map with more than his driving. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the closing laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 served as one of the sport’s defining moments.

“Cale went to beating on my fist with his nose,” Allison has said repeatedly, often using that phrase to describe the fight. “Cale understands like I do that it really was a benefit to the interest of racing. It proves that we were sincere.”

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AP Sports Writer Mark Long contributed to this report.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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World

Armed men fire on Haiti hospital reopening, killing at least 2

Published

5 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Armed men fire on Haiti hospital reopening, killing at least 2

At least two people were killed and others injured on Tuesday when armed men opened fire on a group of journalists who gathered for a government press conference set to announce the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital, a witness to the attack told Reuters.

World

US citizen imprisoned in Russia given new 15-year sentence in wake of espionage conviction

Published

5 hours ago

December 25, 2024

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US citizen imprisoned in Russia given new 15-year sentence in wake of espionage conviction

A Russian-born U.S. citizen who was already behind bars in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second sentence for espionage.

Eugene Spector was sentenced to a new 15-year term for his espionage conviction, according to Russian news agencies. Spector was born and raised in Leningrad, Russia, but later moved to the U.S. and became a citizen.

A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year, although details surrounding the case were not made publicly available.

RUSSIA ARRESTS US CITIZEN ON ESPIONAGE CHARGES: REPORT

Eugene Spector, a Russian-born U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia on a bribery conviction, has been handed a second 15-year jail term for espionage. (AP)

The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen in Russia being sentenced and that it was monitoring the situation.

Spector, a former executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced in September 2022 to three and a half years in prison for enabling bribes to an aide of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

WALL STREET JOURNAL’S EVAN GERSHKOVICH REVEALS SHADOWY KREMLIN FIGURE BEHIND IMPRISONMENT IN RUSSIA

A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year. (iStock)

The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for accepting bribes of two expensive overseas vacation trips.

Dvorkovich was a deputy prime minister under former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 to 2018. Dvorkovich is currently head of the international chess federation FIDE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

World

Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan: Emergencies ministry

Published

6 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan: Emergencies ministry

BREAKING,

Passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau.

An passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.

Fourteen people had survived the crash and had been hospitalised, according to the local health officials.

“At the moment, 14 survivors have been taken to the regional hospital, including five in intensive care,” the health ministry’s regional department said in a statement. The Emergencies Ministry said fire services had put out the blaze

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.

Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.

Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

More to follow.