The Latest on the first high school football game since a devastating wildfire in a Northern California town (all times local):
10:10 p.m.
Paradise defeated Williams High School 42-0 at Om Wraith Field on Friday in front of thousands of people that packed the stadium.
Paradise High School varsity football player Silas Carter puts his hat over his heart as he and others of the varsity team stand at attention for the playing of the national anthem before the junior varsity football team's game against Williams High School, in Paradise, Calif., Friday, Aug. 23, 2019. This is the first game for the school since a wildfire in November killed multiple people and destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings, including the homes of most of the Paradise players. (AP PhotoRich Pedroncelli)
For many, it was one of the few times they have returned to the Northern California town since a wildfire destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings and killed 86 people.
The football team had 56 members last year. This year, it has 35 because so many of the students have had to move away. Most of those who remain have to commute from nearby towns.
Sixty-seven-year-old Linda Davis had been living with her mom in Paradise when their home was destroyed in the fire. She says it was good to see everybody happy again for a change.
Jason Walton holds his 6-month-old daughter Dusty as his wife, Tayler, puts a pair of ear protectors on the infant before the they attend the Paradise High School football game against Williams High School in Paradise, Calif. Friday Aug. 23, 2019. The couple, who were high school sweethearts, attended Paradise, where he played on the football team and she was a cheerleader. This is the first game for Paradise since a fatal wildfire destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings, including the homes of most of the players. (AP PhotoRich Pedroncelli)
11:35 a.m.
A high school football team in a Northern California town that was mostly destroyed by a wildfire is a year ago is playing its first game since the blaze.
The Paradise High School Bobcats are scheduled to play Williams High School on Friday. It's their first time back since a wildfire destroyed nearly 19,000 buildings and killed 86 people in November 2018.
Head Coach Rick Prinz said the team has 35 players, down from 56 last year as the school has lost nearly half of its students who were forced to move away.
School officials said they expect about 5,000 people to attend the game. The team will enter the field through the home stands, led by last year's seniors who never got to play in their final game.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
