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Bears look to their past, interview former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera

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Bears look to their past, interview former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera
Sport

Sport

Bears look to their past, interview former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera

2025-01-13 10:40 Last Updated At:11:01

The Chicago Bears reached into their past and interviewed former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera for their head coaching job on Sunday.

Known as “Riverboat Ron” for his aggressive decisions, Rivera is 102-103-2 in 13 years as a coach, including nine with Carolina and four with Washington. He led the Panthers to a 76-63-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance by the 2015 team before getting fired late in the 2019 season. Rivera was 26-40-1 with Washington from 2020-23 and never had a winning record, though the 2020 team made the playoffs by winning a weak NFC East at 7-9.

Rivera, who also interviewed for the New York Jets' vacancy, has a long history in Chicago as a linebacker and an assistant coach.

Riveral played in 137 games and made 56 starts in a nine-year career with the Bears and was part of the 1985 team that won the franchise's lone Super Bowl behind the famed “46” defense. He was also defensive coordinator under Lovie Smith from 2004 to 2006, when a defense led by Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher led Chicago to its only other Super Bowl appearance.

The Bears finished last in the NFC North at 5-12 this season. They are looking to replace Matt Eberflus, who was fired on Nov. 29.

The Bears interviewed Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on Saturday. They have also interviewed former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel was hired by New England on Sunday.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera speaking during a press conference at the end of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Jan. 7, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera speaking during a press conference at the end of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Jan. 7, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

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Greek rights groups call for criminal charges over deadly 2023 migrant shipwreck

2025-02-07 03:04 Last Updated At:03:10

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Rights groups are seeking criminal charges against Greek coast guard members over a deadly 2023 migrant shipwreck, after the country’s ombudsman said there were indications that officers overlooked the danger of the boat sinking.

The Adriana, a massively overcrowded fishing trawler, had been heading from Libya to Italy with an estimated 500-750 people on board when it sank in international waters west of Pylos in western Greece in June 2023. Only 104 people survived, while 82 bodies were recovered. The rest went down with the trawler in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean.

An independent investigation by Greece’s ombudsman into the shipwreck concluded this week that there were “clear indications” that eight senior coast guard officers should face disciplinary action for overlooking the dangers posed by the trawler.

The coast guard, which had been notified about the boat by Italian authorities, had been shadowing the vessel for hours as it sailed in international waters but within Greece’s area of responsibility for search and rescue.

At the time, the coast guard said the Adriana's captain had insisted he did not want assistance and wanted to continue sailing to Italy. But several survivors said passengers had been calling for help repeatedly, and said that the boat capsized during an attempt by the Greek coast guard to tow it.

The ombudsman said Monday its report noted “a series of serious and reproachable omissions in the search and rescue duties by senior officers of the Hellenic Coast Guard which constitute clear indications” for establishing a case against the officers for endangering the lives of the Adriana’s passengers.

The independent body began its own investigation in November 2023 after “the direct refusal of a disciplinary investigation by the Coast Guard,” it said.

The Shipping and Island Policy Ministry, under whose jurisdiction the coast guard lies, rejected the ombudsman’s report, accusing it of “attempting to shift the conversation from the criminal smuggling networks to the members of the coast guard, who fight day and night for the protection of the country.”

It accused the report of frequently favoring versions of events that called into question the coast guard’s actions “without the slightest credible evidence.”

“At a time when irregular migration is causing global concern, the government remains steadfastly committed to a strict but fair policy of guarding the country’s borders,” the statement said.

Rights groups hailed the ombudsman’s report, and blasted the government’s reaction. The ministry’s statement “is a monument of hypocrisy but also a confession it will continue to cover up the crime,” said the Movement United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat, or KEERFA. The group organized a protest rally late Thursday outside a naval court in the Greece's main port city of Piraeus. Demonstrators, many from the Pakistani migrant community in Greece, held up a large banner displaying numerous photographs of victims of the shipwreck, along with images of their identification documents.

Lawyers representing some of the survivors filed a request with the Piraeus naval court in December seeking criminal charges to be brought against members of the search and rescue operation.

FILE - This undated handout image provided by Greece's coast guard on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, shows scores of people on a battered fishing boat that later capsized and sank off southern Greece. (Hellenic Coast Guard via AP, File)

FILE - This undated handout image provided by Greece's coast guard on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, shows scores of people on a battered fishing boat that later capsized and sank off southern Greece. (Hellenic Coast Guard via AP, File)

Survivors and other members of the Pakistani community in Greece hold a banner with pictures of victims of one of the worst migrant boat tragedies during a protest by the Movement United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat, or KEERFA, outside the naval court in Piraeus, near Athens, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Survivors and other members of the Pakistani community in Greece hold a banner with pictures of victims of one of the worst migrant boat tragedies during a protest by the Movement United Against Racism and the Fascist Threat, or KEERFA, outside the naval court in Piraeus, near Athens, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

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