News

Argentinian ballerina released from B.C. hospital after rollerblading accident

VANCOUVER — A promising young Argentinian ballerina who was severely injured in a rollerblading accident has been released from hospital.

Twenty-year-old Lucila Munaretto says the experience has been a positive one overall given how much she has learned about patience and gratitude.

Munaretto broke a number of bones, including her pelvis, and suffered severe head trauma when she rolled through a stop sign and hit a car in North Vancouver six weeks ago.

She shocked family and friends when she awoke from a coma in late August.

The day after her release Munaretto visited friends at her dance studio, and is otherwise focused on her recovery so she can dance again.

She attributes her speedy recovery thus far to both God and her love of dance.

The Canadian Press

Slavin scores winner as Hurricanes down Senators in NHL pre-season play

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Jaccob Slavin broke a tie late in the third period and Cam Ward made 26 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Sunday in NHL pre-season play.

Slavin broke down the right side and put a shot over Andrew Hammond after taking a feed from Kris Versteeg.

Brock McGinn opened the scoring the scoring for Carolina in the first period after being sent in on a breakaway by Riley Nash.

Shane Prince tied it in the second after taking advanatge of a Hurricanes turnover. Hammond made 24 saves for the Senators.

The Canadian Press

Macho Harris with three picks as Riders down Alouettes 33-21

REGINA — Macho Harris tied a Saskatchewan record with three interceptions in a game — bringing one back for a touchdown — as the Roughriders beat the visiting Montreal Alouettes 33-21 to earn only their second victory of the season.

Jerome Messam rattled off 111 rushing yards and scored one TD for Saskatchewan (2-11), which kept its slim playoff hopes alive. The Alouettes (5-7) failed to keep pace in a tight East Division in front of 30,843 fans at Mosaic Stadium.

Harris picked off Alouettes quarterback Jonathan Crompton on the first drive of the game at the Riders 46-yard line and brought it back 26 yards. On the next play, Kevin Glenn hit Rob Bagg for a 38-yard TD strike. Paul McCallum missed the convert wide right.

Following a Montreal single on the next drive, Glenn went deep again, hooking up with Naaman Roosevelt for 49 yards — leading to a 24-yard McCallum field goal at 7:17 of the first quarter to increase the lead to 9-1. Roosevelt (three catches for 68 yards) and Bagg (three catches for 63 yards) led all Riders receivers.

Harris's second interception of the game with 1:16 left in the first half led to a 14-yard McCallum field goal, giving Saskatchewan a 15-1 lead at half.

After going eight for 18 with 97 yards and two interceptions, Crompton was pulled to start the second half in favour of Rakeem Cato.

The change didn't help Montreal, as Cato tossed up an interception at 4:37 in the third quarter to Harris, who returned his third pick of the game 50 yards for a TD — putting the game out of reach. Cato finished 14 for 21 with 170 yards with one touchdown and a pair of picks.

S.J. Green (four catches for 78 yards) and Brandon Rutley (16 carries for 73 yards) led the Alouettes on offence.

NOTES: Several players have recorded three interceptions in a game for Saskatchewan. Most recently, former Rider safety James Patrick achieved the feat in an Aug. 28, 2010 bout against the Edmonton Eskimos. Glenn threw for 212 yards in the game to extend his streak to six consecutive games of 200-plus yards passing. Alouettes defensive lineman John Bowman recorded two sacks in the game, giving him 92 for his career. He ranks No. 1 among active players and  No. 12 in CFL history, five behind Mike Walker (96).

Jonathan Hamelin, The Canadian Press

Encana says blowout at northern Alberta natural gas well has been capped

FOX CREEK, Alta. — A blowout at a well in northern Alberta that has been venting natural gas and small amounts of a toxic chemical has been capped.

Encana (TSX:ECA) says in an update on its website that the damaged wellhead 18 kilometres from Fox Creeek has been brought under control and that the flow of natural gas and condensate has been stopped.

The blowout happened Sept. 21 at the well, which is licensed to produce hydrogen sulphide, a poisonous gas that smells like rotten eggs.

Company spokesman Jay Averill said last week that monitoring data showed low levels of hydrogen sulphide have been released, but they were well beneath those that would pose a health risk.

Encana says on its website that it is committed to fixing any environmental damage.

It says it's also still working to determine the cause of the incident.

The Canadian Press

Officers who died in the line of duty are honoured in cross-country services

EDMONTON — As memorial services across Canada recognized peace officers who have died in the line of duty, two cases in northern Alberta this past year showed just how dangerous their jobs can be.

RCMP Const. David Wynn was shot while attempting to apprehend a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation north of Edmonton in January, while Const. Daniel Woodall was shot and killed in June when he executed an arrest warrant related to hate crimes.

Woodall's name was the last of 100 that were read during a service at the Alberta legislature on Sunday honouring police, sheriffs and conservation officers in the province.

His widow laid the first wreath.

"It's meant a lot seeing all these police families and all the police officers marching. It's a big family, and you can tell it's all a close-knit family and it's always going to be that way," Claire Woodall told reporters after the ceremony.

Woodall and Wynn were also recognized at a national ceremony held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, which also honoured Rhonda Commodore, a Manitoba corrections officer and Toni Kristinsson, a BC Department of Transport enforcement officer, who lost their lives in the past year.

Commodore, 44, was a passenger in a van taking six prisoners from The Pas to Dauphin last November when the driver lost control and she was ejected from the vehicle. Kristinsson, whose job involved checking for such things as loads, licences and insurance, was driving home near the end of his shift in February when his vehicle collided with a commercial transport truck.

Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill, who is the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, told the Ottawa ceremony that prayers are said every year at the annual event that no new names will be added to the memorial.

"Sadly this year our wish has not been fulfilled ... we struggle to understand why and we wonder how things might have been," Weighill said.

""There is little comfort in these thoughts. All we can do to ease our collective loss is to come together as we have today."

This year's memorial service also marked 10 years since the Mayerthorpe tragedy. On March 3, 2005, James Roszko used a military assault rifle to kill four Mounties near the town of Mayerthorpe, Alta.

During the sombre service in Edmonton, an RCMP service dog, Aztec, brought smiles to many faces by barking enthusiastically every time a commander called the hundreds of police and peace officers on the legislature grounds to attention.

"Each and every day, police and peace officers are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe," said Kathleen Ganley, Alberta's justice minister and solicitor general.

"All police and peace officers have my heartfelt and unending respect and gratitude for the work they do."

 

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press

Canada wins fourth straight world indoor lacrosse title with win over Iroquois Nationals

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Canada's dominance in box lacrosse continues.

A 12-8 victory over the Iroquois Nationals on Sunday earned Canada its fourth consecutive world indoor championship and stretched its all-time record to 23-0.

Curtis Dickson scored four goals, Shawn Evans and Dan Dawson had two each while Zack Greer, Dhane Smith Steve Priolo and Stephan Leblanc added one apiece for Canada.

Matt Vinc got the win in net.

Iroquois scorers were Jeff Shattler and Randy Staats with two each, Johnny Powless, Miles Thompson, Lyle Thompson and Jerome Thompson.

Dickson opened the scoring 56 seconds in from the top of the attack's right side.

After the Nationals went ahead 2-1, Evans intercepted a pass near the crease, faked two shots and put the ball behind goalie Angus Goodleaf to tie it. The Nationals went ahead again, but Dickson tied it 3-3 with Vinc out and an extra attacker on the floor on a delayed penalty.

Canada jumped ahead 5-3 with goals early in the second quarter.

Dawson planted a bounce shot in a lower corner of the net from the middle of the zone and Greer pulled a rebound out of the crease to score Canada's second power-play goal.

Shattler replied before Smith muscled his way through two checkers to score from the right side of the crease between Goodleaf's legs for a 6-4 lead. Staats made it 6-5 before half.

In the third quarter, Dawson and Dickson scored Canada's third and fourth power-play goals — Dawson on a breakaway and Dickson off a cross-crease pass from Mark Matthews — to make it 8-5.

Shattler replied with a power-play goal and Lyle Thompson's goal in the opening minute of the fourth made it 8-7.

Priolo raced towards Goodleaf on a breakaway and beat him with a bouncer at 4:21, and Leblanc fired in an overhand bullet from the left side at 5:03 for a 10-7 lead.

A third Iroquois power-play goal, this one by Staats, made it 10-8 with just over five minutes left.

Evans delivered the dagger. His overhand shot from the middle of the zone went over Goodleaf's right shoulder and into the net for an 11-8 lead.

Goodleaf was lifted for an extra attacker and Dickson scored an empty-net goal 1:09 left.

 

The Canadian Press

NDP, Tories hit homegrown hot-button issues ahead of next leader’s debate

OTTAWA — All three main federal parties concentrated on homegrown, hot-button issues and largely kept their foreign policy powder dry ahead of the next leader's debate.

New Democrats put themselves squarely in the spotlight with Tom Mulcair outlining, in broad strokes, the party's plan to address climate change. But in a half-hour long question and answer session with party members and the media, he forcefully reiterated his case to repeal two signature pieces of the Harper government's security and anti-terror agenda.

Not to be outdone, the Conservatives rolled out two cabinet ministers to take shots at the Liberals over Justin Trudeau's suggestion his party would scrap some aspects of the mandatory minimum sentencing law, another marquee piece of legislation for a government that paints itself as tough on crime.

Tony Clement and Julian Fantino, speaking in Vaughan, Ont., also went after Trudeau for interview comments earlier in the weekend where he was quoted as saying deficits are a way of measuring economic growth and success of a government.

Both ministers, additionally, piled on the $146 billion costing of the Liberal platform, released Saturday in Ottawa, saying it would "destabilize" the economy.

Trudeau and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper were both off the campaign trail in anticipation of Monday's foreign policy debate.

Mulcair, in Toronto to talk climate change, gave a taste of how acrimonious the exchange could get by accusing the Conservatives of holding back until the middle of the election campaign on the plan to strip the citizenship of the convicted Toronto 18 terror ringleader.

Zakaria Amara, a Jordanian-Canadian, had his Canadian citizenship formally revoked under Bill C-24, controversial legislation passed in the spring.

"This is Mr. Harper strutting his stuff for his right-wing base," Mulcair said. "This is a game being played on the backs of all Canadians who have different origins than 'old stock Canadians' and I'm going to stand up against it.

"I find it lamentable that in a free and democratic society, someone takes joy in saying that we're going to have two levels of citizenship. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian."

He repeated earlier pledges to repeal and rewrite parts of C-24 — known as the Strengthening Citizenship Act — in particular the revocation and intent-to-reside clauses that have become the subject a constitutional challenge. Mulcair also said an NDP government would repeal Bill C-51, the government's lightning rod surveillance bill, during the first session of a new Parliament.

"We know the safest societies are those that protect and defend the rights and freedoms of their citizens," he said.

All of that is potentially grist for Monday's debate.

Earlier in the day Sunday, Fantino took questions on the Amara case and kept his sights firmly locked on Trudeau, who is also in favour of scrapping portions of C-24.

"Let's get real," Fantino said while suggesting the Liberal leader was making excuses for both terrorists and hardened criminals. At times, his tough comments on mandatory minimum sentences turned into a tirade, where he said criminals don't take advantage of the "great services" in prison for rehabilitation and career offenders who are kept "isolated and insulated" don't reoffend when they are released.

Almost lost in the shuffle was the NDP's plan to address climate change, one that would allow provinces to opt out if their efforts to minimize carbon emissions are as good or better than those of the federal government.

"We're not going to replace something that's working," Mulcair said. "The important thing is to set the (national) objective.

The money raised by the federal government through putting a price on carbon would go to the provinces for reinvestment in additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said.

Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press

Donaldson hits walkoff homer to make Jays regular-season home finale party time

TORONTO — The party continued Sunday as Josh Donaldson's walkoff solo homer gave Toronto a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Blue Jays' regular-season home finale.

Donaldson was doused with Gatorade by delirious teammates as he crossed the plate, to chants of M-V-P, after driving a ball deep to left field for his 41st homer of the season. The third baseman was then doused with popcorn during his post-game interview.

Justin Smoak, who had driven in three runs already, started the Jays' rally with a one-out single in the eighth. Pinch-runner Dalton Pompey stole second and Kevin Pillar doubled him home to tie the game at 4-4.

Ben Revere kept it even in the ninth with a diving catch that saw four Jays converge on a Steven Sousa Jr. fly ball.

It was back to business for Toronto (90-65) after a short but wild post-game celebration Saturday of mark securing at least a wild-card berth. The champagne and cigars were put away, at least for a while.

The fans were still partying, however. The Jays got a standing ovation coming off the field after batting practice as well as in the third inning when they came out to salute the crowd as part of Fan Appreciation Weekend.

Mikie Mahtook homered for Tampa (75-81).

The Jays fought back from 4-1 and had chances to pull even down 4-3 before the eighth.

With one out in the seventh, Revere hit a swerving double deep to left-centre that eluded two Rays outfielders and, one out later, took third on a passed ball. But Jose Bautista hit a hard groundout to third to end the threat.

Donaldson kept the Jays close in the eighth with a heady play, tagging out Mahtook at third as the Rays outfielder struggled to get back on a sharply hit grounder. Opening the inning, Mahtook had singled, moved to second on an error and stole third. A double play ended the Rays' charge.

Smoak doubled home a run in the first inning and hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Brandon Gomes to cut the Tampa lead to 4-3. Smoak's 17th home run of the season upped his RBI total to a career-high 56.

Toronto ended up 53-28 at the Rogers Centre. Tampa, meanwhile, wrapped up the away portion of its season at 39-39, ending its five-season streak of going .500 or better on the road.

The Jays finish the regular season on the road with four games in Baltimore and three in Tampa.

The 53 home wins match the Jays' 1992 total and is second only to 1985 (54). 

Toronto has been a juggernaut the last two months, going 41-15 since July 26 when it was 50-50.

Starter Mark Buehrle, who was 5-1 with a 2.94 ERA over his last 10 home starts, pitched six solid innings for the Jays. He gave up four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk in a 90-pitch outing that featured 60 strikes.

The 36-year-old left-hander, a pending free agent, stands 8 2/3 innings shy of 200 innings for the 15th straight season. The only others to do it are Hall of Famers Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry.

The sellout crowd of 47,287 — the 12th straight and 27th sellout of 2015 — upped the season home total to 2,794,891, the club's highest since 1995 (2,826,483).

With a wild-card already assured, the goal is to win the American League East and secure home-field advantage. Toronto went into Sunday play with a four-game lead over the New York Yankees and a magic number of five to win the division.

The Yankees played the White Sox on Sunday.

Toronto entered the day tied with Kansas City for the best record in the AL at 89-85. Amazingly the Jays were 51-51 on July 29 while the Royals were 61-39.

Buehrle gave up a triple to Brandon Guyer on his first pitch of the game and paid for it two outs later on Logan Forsythe's RBI single. Toronto answered with Smoak's RBI ground-rule double, leaving two men on in the first.

Mahtook, a rookie who the first homer of his career off Buehrle in April, hammered a two-run shot to right-centre in the third to make it 3-1 Tampa. Guyer was on base after being hit by Buehrle.

A Richie Shaffer sacrifice fly after back-to-back Tampa singles made it 4-1 in the fourth.

Tampa's Matt Andriese, making a spot start, gave up a run and then retired seven straight before exiting after three innings and 54 pitches. Recalled Aug. 19, all 10 of his previous appearances had been in relief.

___

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

Start of Steelers-Rams delayed by small fire, long cleanup effort

ST. LOUIS — The start of the St. Louis Rams game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed nearly 30 minutes by a small fire from sparks emitted during a pyrotechnic display for player introductions.

"Out of an abundance of caution for player safety, the game was delayed to clean any residue from the turf," the Rams said in a statement.

"NFL officials were involved from the onset to monitor the cleanup process."

The cleanup effort appeared to be hampered by a malfunctioning wet-dry vacuum used to remove fire extinguisher foam. There was a small circular mark between the 3 and 4-yard line near the north end zone as the game began.

In the first three quarters, neither team had any plays close to the mark.

It appeared the fire started as the rest of the Rams players trotted through towers that shot flames high into the air.

At one point during the delay, Rams players did stretching exercises. Later, both teams left the field.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

The Associated Press

Canadian Anthony Bennett signs with Toronto Raptors after 2 rough NBA seasons

TORONTO — Anthony Bennett is coming home to play.

The 22-year-old from Toronto announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Raptors, confirming a move that has been the subject of speculation for the past couple of days.

"Glad to officially be a part of the Raptors organization, Excited to get this year started !!! #LetsGo," Bennett tweeted.

Bennett reportedly signed a one-year, league-minimum deal.

The Canadian has had a rough two seasons in the NBA since he was the surprise No. 1 overall pick drafted by Cleveland in 2013.

He battled injuries in both his rookie season with the Cavaliers, and second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he landed in the Kevin Love deal.  

Bennett averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 57 games for the Timberwolves last season. 

The UNLV product got a fresh start with Canada's national team over the summer, playing well at both the Pan American Games in Toronto and the FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in Mexico City.

He joins fellow Toronto native Cory Joseph with the Raptors, who hold their season-opening media day Monday. 

 

The Canadian Press

Broadbent Institute raises new questions about CRA auditing of charities

OTTAWA — The Broadbent Institute, a left-leaning think-tank, has levelled another broadside at the Harper government over the Canada Revenue Agency's auditing of charities.

The organization says the country's most active right-leaning charities continue to report zero "political" activity in their latest filings and that raises fresh questions about how conservative-oriented charities are interpreting the revenue agency's rules.

"This report makes clear that the CRA rules around political activity are interpreted, to put it charitably, quite differently by many right-leaning charities," the report said. 

Rick Smith, Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute, says nine-out-of-10 right-leaning charities, including the Fraser Institute, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and Focus on the Family, reported conducting no political activity last year.

But he claims each of them did carry out activities in 2014 that appear to meet CRA’s definition of “political.”

Smith points to a Focus on the Family study that supports income splitting, a pillar of the Conservative government's re-election strategy and the Canadian Constitution Foundation's support of two-tiered health care.

Smith says his group is renewing its call for an independent inquiry to examine the revenue agency's processes in order to make sure they are not subject to political pressures or interference.

Last year, the institute released a similar survey looking at tax data from same 10 right-leaning charities between 2011 to 2013 and cross-referenced that with publicly information on their activities during those years.

“Back in 2012, we know the Harper government allocated money to ramp up political activity audits of environmental charities," Smith said in a statement. 

"The auditing scope was then extended to include anti-poverty, foreign aid and human rights groups. So what exactly is the CRA doing about right-leaning charities consistently reporting zero political work? Has it triggered audits just like the blanket audits of charities the government is less fond of?"

Under the law, a charity is permitted to spend no more than 10 per cent of its resources on “political” activities and direct partisan activity is prohibited.

 

The Canadian Press

Marner, Glencross and Setoguchi cut from Maple Leafs’ training camp roster

TORONTO — First-round draft pick Mitch Marner was reassigned to the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Marner was drafted fourth overall on June 26.

Toronto's current training camp roster includes a total of 23 forwards, 15 defencemen and four goaltenders.

Veteran forwards Curtis Glencross and Devin Setoguchi were released from their professional try-out contracts.

Goaltender Rob Madore was reassigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

The Canadian Press

NDP tables climate change plan, Conservatives criticize Trudeau ahead of debate

OTTAWA — Two of the three major political parties tried to score domestic political points on Sunday, one day ahead of a major foreign policy debate by the leaders.

New Democrats released their plan to address climate change, one that would allow provinces to opt out if their efforts to minimize carbon emissions are as good or better than those of the federal government.

Tom Mulcair says the money raised by the federal government through putting a price on carbon would go to the provinces for reinvestment in additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

At the same time, the federal Conservatives attempted to pull a one-two political punch on the Liberals, accusing Justin Trudeau of making excuses for criminals and measuring economic growth through deficits.

Veteran cabinet ministers Tony Clement and Julian Fantino held an event in Vaughan, Ont., picking apart comments Trudeau made in a weekend interview with Global Television's The West Block.

Fantino attacked the Liberal proposal to do away with mandatory minimum sentences in a series of tough comments that at times turned into a tirade, where he said criminals don't take advantage of the "great services" in prison for rehabilitation and career offenders who are kept "isolated and insulated" don't reoffend when they are released.

The Canadian Press

Pierre Karl Peladeau puts off plan to sell signed hockey jerseys until after Oct 19

QUEBEC — Parti Quebecois Leader Pierre Karl Peladeau's team has temporarily given up on a plan to sell hand-signed hockey jerseys, at $150 apiece, in order to pay the cost of his leadership campaign.

The offer, found on Peladeau's campaign website, was removed so as not to undermine the Bloc Quebecois' fundraising campaign, according to Annick Belanger, Peladeau's communications director.

Until last week, visitors to Peladeau's website were encouraged to order their own "PKP 2015" hockey jersey, "with Pierre Karl's Peladeau's autograph, for only $150."

Belanger confirmed that the decision to sell the blue jerseys, which are identical to the ones worn by Peladeau supporters during his leadership campaign, was taken in mid-August.

The initiative was designed to replenish the coffers of Peladeau's campaign organization, which was left with a $132,000 debt when the race wrapped up in May.

As of yet, no sales have been completed, Belanger said. She said the offer will return after the Oct. 19 federal election.

Peladeau is the only one of the six Parti Quebecois leadership candidates who still must gather donations to balance his budget, which far exceeded that of his rivals.

In an interview, Belanger told The Canadian Press the offer was suspended Thursday after it became clear the volunteers for the hockey sweater sales were all mobilized by the Bloc Quebecois campaign that began over a month ago.

"The campaign has been pushed back in order to concentrate efforts on the Bloc Quebecois fundraising campaign," Belanger said.

Belanger confirmed the operation would start up again next month in order to finish up "the fundraising campaign for Mr. Peladeau's leadership race."

The new Parti Quebecois leader spent $405,000 (excluding an amount of $11,575 in unpaid claims) on his campaign, which exceeded the $284,950 he received in donations.

Last week, Quebec's chief electoral officer confirmed the initiative was within the rules since the maximum donation for a leadership race is $500, as opposed to the $100 ceiling for election campaign contributions.

Election office spokesman Denis Dion confirmed that candidates have a one-year period to pay back their debt, and they can request permission to extend the deadline to a maximum of three years.

The financial records of the candidates submitted to the chief electoral officer show that Alexandre Cloutier ran the second-most expensive campaign at $79,890, which was equivalent to the amount he took in.

Alexandre Robillard, The Canadian Press

Raonic beats Sousa to win St. Petersburg Open for first title in over a year

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Canada's Milos Raonic won the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday with a gruelling three-set victory over Joao Sousa in the final.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., held off stern pressure from Sousa to wrap up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win after having been broken in the second set for the first time in the tournament.

Raonic's first title since the Washington Open in August 2014 strengthens his slim hopes of reaching the ATP Finals. He is now No. 9-ranked but is well behind the top eight in the year-to-date ranking used to determine tour finals qualification.

Sousa drops to 1-5 in career ATP finals.

Earlier Sunday, Treat Huey of the Philippines and Henri Kontinen of Finland won the St. Petersburg doubles title.

The Associated Press

Schilling set to return to ESPN for post-season coverage following benching for tweet

LOUDON, N.H. — Curt Schilling is headed back to TV for ESPN.

Schilling said Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway he would return to work for the sports network as part of its baseball post-season coverage team. ESPN confirmed that Schilling would return to the studio for "Baseball Tonight" following its coverage of the American League wild-card game.

Schilling was benched earlier this month from on telecasts for the rest of the regular season and the wild-card game on Oct. 6. in the wake of his anti-Muslim tweet.

The former star pitcher and "Sunday Night Baseball" analyst was pulled by ESPN from a major league game and the network's coverage of the Little League World Series last month after he retweeted a post that compared Muslims and Nazi-era Germans. He has one year left on his contract.

At the time, Schilling said he'd made a "bad decision."

Schilling later sent an email to a sports media site about his Twitter post, causing a further uproar.

ESPN said at the time of his punishment "Curt's actions have not been consistent with his contractual obligations nor have they been professionally handled; they have obviously not reflected well on the company."

Schilling, who also has used Twitter to defended his family over personal attacks, said social media has become "the new 30-second commercial" and too many people want to go viral "for all the wrong reasons."

"A lot of people have told me in the past, you tell it like it is," he said. "I try to explain to people that I don't. I tell it like I think it is."

Schilling, who has been treated for mouth cancer, is a three-time World Series champion with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Red Sox. He played from 2004-07 with the Red Sox, who won the World Series in his first and last seasons with them.

He delivered the prayer before Sunday's NASCAR race.

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press

Lance Armstrong settles case with promotions company; pursued on doping evidence since 2005

AUSTIN, Texas — With a payment and an apology, Lance Armstrong has settled a decade-long dispute with a promotions company that sought repayment of more than $10 million in bonuses it paid the former cyclist during a career that was later exposed to be fueled by performance-enhancing drugs.

Dallas-based SCA Promotions first pursued evidence of doping against Armstrong in 2005. Although the company paid Armstrong in 2006, the testimony in its lawsuit and arbitration case helped lay the foundation for later doping charges that ultimately got Armstrong banned from the sport and stripped of his record seven Tour de France victories.

SCA demanded repayment in 2013 after Armstrong publicly admitted using steroids and other doping methods. Although Armstrong's lawyers had insisted there was no legal ground for a "redo" on the previous voluntary settlement, an arbitration panel ordered Armstrong to pay a $10 million penalty for lying under oath in the original case.

"I am pleased to have this matter behind me and I look forward to moving on. I do wish to apologize to SCA and its (chief executive), Bob Hamman, for any misconduct on my part in connection with our dispute and the resulting arbitration," Armstrong said in a statement Sunday to The Associated Press.

Armstrong did not reveal how much he paid SCA. Company officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The SCA dispute was just one of several to hit Armstrong since his admission to doping. He previously settled a similar bonus payments dispute with Acceptance Insurance, which had sought $3 million.

Armstrong still faces a federal whistleblower lawsuit in which the federal government is seeking repayment of more than $30 million the U.S. Postal Service paid to sponsor his teams from 1998-2004. Penalties in that case could reach the $100 million range.

The federal case was initially filed by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis in 2010. The government joined the case in 2013.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory because of doping, is scheduled to be deposed on Monday. The case is not set for trial until 2016.

Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press

Reid Coolsaet clocks fastest marathon by Canadian in 40 years at Berlin

BERLIN — Reid Coolsaet recorded the fastest marathon time by a Canadian in 40 years on Sunday.

The 36-year-old from Hamilton crossed in two hours 10 minutes and 29 seconds to finish sixth among a strong field at the Berlin Marathon.

He's now the second fastest Canadian ever behind Jerome Drayton, whose elusive national record of 2:10.09 set in 1975 remains intact.

"Very happy with sixth at Berlin Marathon and (personal best)," Coolsaet said. "Feel better about Rio (next summer's Olympics), as well beating a lot of quality athletes."

Coolsaet was on Canadian-record pace through the first 25 kilometres.

"Then one pacer dropped out, and the other slowed," he said. By 30 kilometres I was too far behind pace. I was able to pick it up for the last 12.2 kilometres, but it was too late."

Canada's Dylan Wykes previously held the fastest time behind Drayton — he ran 2:10.47 at Rotterdam in 2012. 

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won in 2:04.01, despite developing problems with his insoles around the 20-kilometre mark. Kenya's Eliud Kiptanui in second on 2:05:22 and Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia in third in 2:06:57.

Kipchoge shaved three seconds off his previous personal best time and 41 seconds off the previous fastest mark of the year that he set at the London Marathon on April 26.

Conditions were ideal on a cool, crisp autumn morning in Berlin. More than 41,000 runners from 131 countries were registered to run.

— With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press

Zenit striker Hulk accuses Russian fans of racism after match with Spartak Moscow

MOSCOW — Zenit St. Petersburg's Brazilian striker Hulk claimed he was racially abused during a match against Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League.

When Hulk was substituted after scoring in the 2-2 draw, he blew kisses to the stands and later said this was because "unfortunately the same situation keeps happening, racism from the stands," in comments published Sunday on Zenit's website.

Last season, Spartak and Torpedo Moscow were punished over separate incidents involving their fans, who directed monkey chants at Hulk. The Brazilian has made blowing kisses his signature response to such incidents.

"I'm not going to react. I've already talked about that," he said Sunday. "That's why I keep sending everyone kisses and answering with my game on the pitch. It's not worth it to discuss these things."

The head of the Russian Football Union's disciplinary committee, Artur Grigoryants, told Russian agency Tass that racist abuse had not been mentioned in the match delegate's official report.

Hulk said in July that racist behaviour was present at "almost every game" in Russia, where he has played since 2012, and that he feared it could mar the 2018 World Cup. Hulk has played 43 times for Brazil and remains the Russian league's record signing after Zenit paid at least 40 million euros ($45 million) for him from Porto three years ago.

After the Torpedo incident, Zenit coach Andre Villas-Boas branded the abuse of Hulk a "disaster" for Russian football, adding: "The insults, the racist insults to Hulk, they go around the world, and this is the image of the Russian Premier League."

In December, Hulk alleged he was racially abused by Russian referee Alexei Matyunin during a league game. The referee was cleared by a Russian Football Union panel, which ruled there was insufficient evidence.

In the first game of the new Russian league season in July, Ghanaian player Emmanuel Frimpong, formerly of Arsenal, said he was racially abused by the crowd while playing for FC Ufa against Spartak.

Frimpong was sent off for an offensive gesture to Spartak fans and banned for two games.

Frimpong said on Twitter: "I'm going to serve a sentence for being abused ... and yet we (are) going to hold a World Cup in this country."

A report published in February by the anti-discrimination group FARE found more than 200 incidents of racist and discriminatory behaviour linked to Russian football over two seasons. The Russian government disputes the figures.

The Associated Press