DAVID HALE

AP Top 25 Podcast Football FILE - Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney speaks during the Atlantic Coast Conference NCAA college football media day in Charlotte, N.C., in this Wednesday, July 17, 2019, file photo. The post-Trevor Lawrence era begins at Clemson with the Tigers still the prohibitive favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference for a seventh straight season. On the latest AP Top 25 Podcast, David Hale from ESPN joins AP’s Ralph Russo to preview the ACC from Clemson at the top to Syracuse at the bottom. On the latest AP Top 25 Podcast, David Hale from ESPN joins the AP's Ralph Russo to preview the ACC from Clemson at the top to Syracuse at the bottom. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://APpodcasts.com___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

The post-Trevor Lawrence era begins at Clemson with the Tigers still the prohibitive favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference for a seventh consecutive season.

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener.

Starlin Castro hit a go-ahead, two-run single off closer Hector Neris in the ninth inning and the Washington Nationals rallied three times to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 13-12.

In a bizarre scene, stadium workers using tractors scrambled to hoist the protective netting behind home plate after it suddenly collapsed Sunday, interrupting the Philadelphia Phillies’ 12-6 win over the Washington Nationals.

Pete Alonso capped New York’s six-run eighth inning with a three-run double, and the Mets used a defensive meltdown by Philadelphia and a replay reversal to beat the Phillies 8-7.

Tyler O’Neil scored on David Hale's game-ending wild pitch in the 10th inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Thursday to split their four-game series.

A senior U.S. official has warned that Lebanese politicians who continue to block reforms in the crisis-hit country could face punitive actions by Washington and its allies.

FILE - In this August 5, 2020 file photo, smoke rises from the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)BEIRUT A team of FBI investigators is due to arrive in Lebanon this weekend to take part in the probe of Beirut's massive explosion, a senior U.S official said on Saturday after visiting the location of the blast. David Hale, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, called for a thorough and transparent investigation. Hassan Nasrallah said the cause of the explosion is still unclear, adding that any international probe would also have to clear Israel of any responsibility in the port explosion. On Friday, the United Nations launched a $565 million appeal for Lebanon with immediate humanitarian assistance and initial recovery efforts.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Nick Nelson throws in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020, in New York. He had pitched three hitless innings for his major league debut in the New York Yankees' 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night. Thats as good a velocity as weve seen on his fastball really in the last couple of years, Boone said. I dont think he pitched as bad as what the score was," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. ... Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi was back in the lineup after a night off.

Impeachment begins in the House, the lower chamber, which debates and votes on whether to bring charges against the president via approval of an impeachment resolution, or articles of impeachment, by a simple majority of the bodys members. Clintons Senate impeachment trial, which did not end in a conviction, lasted five weeks. In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERSWHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED? In the unlikely event the Senate convicted Trump, Vice President Mike Pence would become president for the remainder of Trumps term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The following are quotations from the fifth day of public hearings by the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Thursday, in an impeachment inquiry examining President Donald Trumps dealings with Ukraine. WITNESS FIONA HILL, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE AND RUSSIA:Some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country - and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did. This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.Right now, Russias security services and their proxies have geared up to repeat their interference in the 2020 election. We are running out of time to stop them. And Republicans believe we should take meddling seriously by all foreign countries, regardless of which campaign is the target.ADAM SCHIFF, DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE:In the coming days, Congress will determine what response is appropriate.

The fourth round of public impeachment hearings begins with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who is slated to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday morning. It is likely to be the most pivotal testimony yet in the House impeachment investigation into whether President Donald Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open probes into Trump's political rivals. In the call, according to Holmes, Trump asked whether Zelenskiy is "going to do the investigation." Sondland told the president that Zelenskiy is "going to do ... anything you ask him to," according to Holmes' testimony. Sondland had not disclosed his July 26 call with Trump in previous private testimony with the committee.

Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] The fourth round of public impeachment hearings continues with Defense Department official Laura Cooper and State Department official David Hale, who are scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday afternoon. "And they were trying to find ways to engage the President on this." Hale described in his closed-door testimony an effort by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to determine who was behind a media campaign to tarnish the then-U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. That potential abuse of power is at the heart of the case the Democrats are building against Trump in the impeachment inquiry.

The third round of public impeachment hearings continues with former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker and National Security Council official Tim Morrison testifying this afternoon. The House impeachment investigation focuses on whether President Donald Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to open investigations into his political rivals. Volker said he was motivated to participate in the shadow foreign policy by a desire to improve U.S.-Ukrainian relations. Morrison during his closed-door deposition last week said that he advised lawyers on the national security council that the phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy could be "damaging" if it got out. In his testimony, Vindman said Trump ignored prepared talking points on corruption from his national security staff.

Gordon Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, arrives to the Capitol for his deposition as part of the House's impeachment inquiry on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. A top Trump donor and top Trump administration diplomat could become a top witness for House Democrats Wednesday, when he testifies publicly as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is set to appear for a public hearing Wednesday at 9 a.m. While a transcript of Sondland's closed-door testimony from mid-October has already been made public, it's far from clear what he will say in his public hearing. In the call with Sondland, Trump asked if Zelenskiy is "gonna do the investigation," Holmes testified.

Doors to the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) are seen where closed-door hearings and depositions are held with the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees at the U.S. Capitol on Nove. 4, 2019, in(CNN) - David Hale, a high-ranking official in the State Department, is testifying behind closed doors before House impeachment investigators on Wednesday, the first witness in the probe to participate in a deposition this week. His path to foreign affairs began with his grandparentsA native of Bridgewater, New Jersey, Hale graduated from Bridgewater-Raritan East High School. He then graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and joined the foreign service in 1984. In 2013, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave him the Distinguished Service Award, according to an archived State Department website.

The United States is prepared to exchange ambassadors with Belarus, a top-ranking State Department official announced Tuesday -- a significant step in thawing relations between the two countries. MINSK, Belarus - The United States is prepared to exchange ambassadors with Belarus, a top-ranking State Department official announced Tuesday -- a significant step in thawing relations between the two countries. In 2015, in exchange for the release of Belarusian political prisoners, the US lifted sanctions on nine state-owned entities. Hale, who met with Lukashenko on Tuesday, said the US could "discuss further easing of sanctions" if Belarus continues to make progress toward democracy. "The United States respects Belarus' desire to chart its own course and to contribute to peace and stability in the region," he said.