LONDON (AP) — The body of former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was flown back to Scotland on a private jet Friday, six days after the politician died suddenly in North Macedonia.
A trumpet sounded as Salmond’s coffin, draped in Scotland’s blue-and-white Saltire flag, was loaded onto the plane at Ohrid airport in the country’s southwest by six members of North Macedonia's military. The 69-year-old politician died of a heart attack on Saturday while attending a conference in the lake resort city.
The flight, chartered by Scottish businessman Tom Hunter, landed Friday afternoon in Aberdeen, near Salmond's home in northeast Scotland. A bagpiper played as the coffin was carried from the plane and met by Salmond's relatives and members of his Alba political party.
Plans are being put in place for a private family funeral along with a public memorial service.
Salmond led the Scottish National Party for a decade and a half, taking Scotland up to the brink of independence from the United Kingdom in a 2014 referendum.
He transformed the SNP from a fringe party to a dominant force in Scottish politics and served as first minister from 2007 to 2014. In the referendum, Scots rejected independence, with 55% voting against and 45% in favor.
Salmond subsequently resigned and was replaced by his longtime ally, Nicola Sturgeon. Their later split dominated Scottish politics for years.
In 2019, Salmond was charged with sexual assault and attempted rape after allegations by nine women who had worked with him as first minister or for the party. He was acquitted after a trial in March 2020.
In 2021 he left the SNP and created a new party called Alba — the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland — to press for a new independence referendum.
Members of the family and acting Alba leader Kenny MacAskill, left, greet the coffin of former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond at Aberdeen Airport, Friday Oct. 18, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
Image issued by the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy of Alex Salmond attending the the Ohrid Forum on Cultural Diplomacy in Ohrid, North Macedonia on Friday Oct. 11, 2024. (Academy for Cultural Diplomacy via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets insist their greatest rebound of 2024 may be yet to come.
“If we come back from this, then it’s going to be a heck of a story. We're going to be adding to that whole Grimace, OMG stuff," Brandon Nimmo said after New York fell into a 3-1 NL Championship Series deficit with a 10-2 dud against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.
They dropped six games back of a wild-card berth with a 22-33 start and made the playoffs.
They were two outs from elimination before Pete Alonso's three-run home run saved them in the Wild Card Series at Milwaukee.
They rallied with five runs in the eighth inning of the Division Series opener at Philadelphia and got a go-ahead grand slam from Francisco Lindor in the sixth inning of Game 4 to finish the Phillies.
“It's taught us a lot about our character and who we are in our identity as a team. We’re a super resilient bunch, and we’ve had to pretty much answer the bell all year," Alonso said. “The one word I can think of for the 2024 Mets other than Grimace is resiliency. That’s just who we are."
Hopeful of reaching the World Series for the first time since 2015 and winning the title for the first time since 1986, New York has been outscored 30-9 by the Dodgers. Mets pitchers have walked 31 and batters have gone 4 for 29 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 11 in the last two defeats.
Alonso is hitting .133 (2 for 15) with no RBIs. Nimmo .200 (3 for 15) with one RBI and Lindor .250 (4 for 16) with one RBI.
“If you have no belief, you shouldn't be here,” Lindor said. “You got to believe. You got to fight for what we want.”
David Peterson will make his first start since Sept. 29, the next-to-last day of the Mets' regular season, after six relief appearances in the playoffs.
“I feel ready to go as deep as necessary," he said. “Looking forward to it and ready to give every pitch I have.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza did not give his team a rah-rah speech after the game, instead saving his thoughts for Friday.
“I’ll go in the same way I’ve been doing the whole year.” he said. “I’ll stop by the hitters meeting or the pitchers meeting, small settings. But I definitely will say something.”
Los Angeles overcame a 3-1 NLCS deficit in 2020 and went on to win the World Series. The Mets realize the task is difficult but not impossible.
All the adversity they've overcome this year gives Mets players hope.
“We have history with it, so this isn’t new,” Nimmo said. “We we can do it. This team is very capable. It’s a very good team. But it’s just going to take all of us pulling together and it all working on the same cylinder and, honestly, some good things are going to have to come our way. We're going to have to have some balls drop.”
Alonso, eligible for free agency after the World Series, said he isn't thinking about the possibility of Friday being his final game with the Mets.
“I’m so focused on just trying to win for these guys. This group is really special and it’s been an absolute blast this year," he said. "We’ve accomplished a lot but this is going to be an incredible challenge and I’m really excited to go into battle tomorrow with with the guys in this clubhouse.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Mets pitcher Jose Quintana leaves the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets pitcher José Buttó leaves the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Jesse Winker reacts after flying out against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez gets hit by pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets' Francisco Alvarez gets hit by pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A New York Mets fan watches during their loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Mets watch during the ninth inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
