Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) reacts after throwing an interception to New England Patriots strong safety Malcolm Butler during Super Bowl XLIX. David Goldman / AP
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) reacts after throwing an interception to New England Patriots strong safety Malcolm Butler during Super Bowl XLIX. David Goldman / AP

Russell Wilson shoulders the blame for Seattle’s Super Bowl near-miss



When most of the world expected Marshawn Lynch to get the ball, Russell Wilson saw a formation that made passing from the 1 the right call for the Seattle Seahawks with the Super Bowl on the line.

It didn’t work.

Malcolm Butler stepped in front of Wilson's pass intended for Ricardo Lockette and made his first career interception to seal the New England Patriots' 28-24 win over the Seahawks on Sunday.

“I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Wilson said. “I put the blame on me. I’m the one that gave him the ball.”

Wilson twice rallied the Seahawks (14-5) from deficits in the first half and his 3-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin gave Seattle a 24-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.

But he made the biggest mistake of his career on the final pass. The interception came two weeks after Wilson threw four picks in the NFC championship game only to rally Seattle to an overtime win over Green Bay.

“It definitely hurts,” Wilson said. “I hate the feeling that I’m the one who lost it. I keep my head up, though. I know that I prepare and I get ready. I know I play my heart out.”

Wilson finished 12 of 21 for 247 yards and had two TD passes. He ran for 39 yards and was sacked three times. The third-year pro will hear criticism for his final pass throughout the offseason and longer.

“I hate losing,” Wilson said. “It was one play that he made a great play on.”

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell tried to take the blame for making the call to pass the ball with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“We sent in our personnel and they sent in goal-line (defense); it’s not the right matchup for us to run the football,” Carroll said. “So on second down, we throw the ball really to kind of waste the play. If we score, we do. If we don’t, then we’ll run it on third and fourth down. We had three wide receivers, a tight end and one back in that situation. They had extra guys at the line of scrimmage so we don’t waste a run play at that.”

Lynch powered his way to a 3-yard TD run in the first half and finished with 102 yards on 24 carries. Bevell said the clock was a factor, however.

“We wanted to use as much time as we could,” Bevell said. “I make the calls and I wish Carroll would tell me to do something different, but we communicate, we talk and I make all the calls.”

Lynch didn’t speak to reporters, as usual. Many of his teammates supported the call, though All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner questioned it.

“We’ve got Marshawn Lynch, one of the best running backs in the league, and everybody makes their decisions and unfortunately, we didn’t give him the ball,” Wagner said.

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Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world

New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.

The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.

Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.

“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.

"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.


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