Kenya’s population of donkeys is once again under threat after the High Court lifted a 2020 ban on donkey slaughterhouses, allowing them to resume selling the meat and skins to Asian markets. The high price for donkey skins for use in Chinese medicine has led to donkey poaching and fears the working animals could soon go extinct. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi.Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Month: May 2021
NYC ‘Guardian Angels’ Ramp Up Patrols Amid Spike in Anti-Asian Hate
In a bid to combat the sharp increase in hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in New York City, a group of volunteers called the Guardian Angels has ramped up its presence. VOA’s Janine Phakdeetham takes you on one of their patrols in the Big Apple.Camera: Janine Phakdeetham
Video editor: Warangkana Chomchuen
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Samoa Prime Minister-elect Barred From Parliament, Unable to Officially Take Office
The small Pacific island nation of Samoa was thrown into a constitutional crisis Monday after Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi refused to leave office despite his party losing last month’s parliamentary election.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s party was narrowly defeated by the opposition party led by
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. Fiame showed up at parliament Monday to form a new government, but she and her supporters were locked out of the building.
The Supreme Court over the weekend ordered Parliament to be in session Monday so Fiame could be seated, but head of state Tuimalealiifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II cancelled the session.
“We remain in this role and operate business as usual,” Tuilaepa told reporters Monday.
Fiame and her party were sworn in during a makeshift tent ceremony outside the locked parliament building, an action Tuilaepa denounced as treasonous and illegal.
The party later issued a statement defending the swearing-in ceremony, declaring “Democracy must prevail, always.”
If Fiame manages to take power, she would be Samoa’s first female prime minister and bring an end to Tuilaepa’s 22-year hold on power. She has pledged to cancel a $100 million port development backed by China, calling it an excessive expense for a country that is already heavily in debt to Beijing.
Fiame had served as Tuilaepa’s deputy prime minister until the two had a bitter split last year.
Last month’s election ended with both Fiame’s FAST party and Tuilaepa’s HRP party with a 25-25 parliamentary tie. The electoral commission handed down a decision that gave Tuilaepa’s party an extra parliamentary seat, but the high court ruled against the commission, as well as a separate decision by head of state Tuimalealiifano to void the results and conduct a new election.
Fiame holds a bare 26-25 majority with the help of an independent parliamentary candidate who sides with her party.
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Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi Makes First Personal Court Appearance Since Coup
Aung San Suu Kyi made her first in-person court appearance Monday since she was deposed as Myanmar’s de facto leader in the February 1 military takeover.
Her lawyers told journalists in the capital Naypyitaw they were allowed to meet with Suu Kyi for 30 minutes before the hearing to discuss the case. They said the 75-year-old Nobel Peace laureate sounded and looked healthy, and wished the people of Myanmar good health.
Suu Kyi also issued a defiant message about her National League for Democracy party, saying “the people grew out of the people so it will exist as long as people support it.”
The lawyers also briefly met with ousted President Win Myint, who served in the government Suu Kyi led as state counsellor.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup. She is facing multiple criminal charges, the most serious an allegation that she accepted $600,000 in illegal payments. She has also been charged with the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, violating COVID-19 restrictions, breaching telecommunication laws and incitement to cause public unrest.
The civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after the NLD won parliamentary elections in a landslide. The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis in the Southeast Asian country that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes between several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests.
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EU Fury Mounts After Belarus Forces Landing of Plane Carrying Opposition Blogger
European leaders are vowing to punish Belarus for illegally diverting to Minsk Sunday a Lithuanian-bound Ryanair flight carrying a fugitive critic of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Their fury was fueled as more details emerged Monday of the dramatic events leading up to the diversion of the plane. The Ryanair Boeing 737 was carrying 171 passengers and crew had taken off from Athens and was flying over Belarus. It was just moments from leaving Belarusian air space when the captain was signaled by the pilot of a Belarus MiG-29 jet to land in the Belarus capital and not to proceed to the scheduled destination, Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 1 MB480p | 2 MB540p | 3 MB720p | 4 MB1080p | 6 MBOriginal | 28 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWhen the plane landed in Minsk, Belarusian security service officers detained 26-year-old opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich, who could face a death sentence on charges of helping to organize protests against President Lukashenko. Just before the aircraft landed, he gave his laptop and cell phone to a friend for safekeeping, passengers told reporters in Vilnius. Pratasevich’s girlfriend, Sofia, was also detained. And reports emerged Monday of another detainee. The plan to seize Pratasevich, who has lived in exile since 2019, also appears to have involved the participation of Belarusian KGB agents, who were present at the departure airport at Athens and boarded the jet, according to opposition activists. WATCH: RFE/RL Interview with father of detained Belarus journalist The Greek Foreign Ministry released a statement Sunday describing the forced landing as a “state hijacking” which “put the lives of all the passengers on board in danger.” That view was echoed by US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who dubbed the illegal diversion in a statement as “a shocking act.” Blinken said the “regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens. Initial reports suggesting the involvement of the Belarusian security services and the use of Belarusian military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply concerning and require full investigation,” he added. Fight onboard
In an online post before leaving Athens, Pratasevich said he was being trailed by KGB agents. “This was some suspicious crap,” he wrote. “When the plane entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew, insisting that there was an improvised explosive device onboard,” Tadeusz Giczan, an editor at the activist Telegram site Nexta, tweeted. “Eventually the crew was forced to send out an SOS, literally moments before the plane would have left Belarusian airspace. A MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk,” he said. There were also local reports that an Mi-24 helicopter gunship was used in the operation. FILE – Opposition blogger and activist Raman Pratasevich, who is accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest at the Kuropaty preserve, arrives for a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus, Apr. 10, 2017.Ryanair said in a statement that the crew was also told by Belarus aviation authorities of a “potential security threat on board” and ordered the plane to Minsk, even though Vilnius was nearer. On landing, all the passengers were searched and the flight was allowed to resume its journey five hours later. Rynair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, also said he believes that Belarus KGB agents were on board the flight. In an interview Monday with a British radio broadcaster, he said: “It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his traveling companion. We believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well.” On Monday, it also emerged that along with Pratasevich and his girlfriend, a Russian citizen studying at the European Humanities University, EHU, in Lithuania, was forced off the flight, too. EHU has demanded her release, saying she was detained by the Minsk Investigative Committee on “groundless and made-up conditions.” EU response
EU leaders will discuss the case at a summit Monday, European Council President Charles Michel. “The incident will not remain without consequences,” he added in a statement. “Possible sanctions” would be on the table, his spokesperson said. They could include barring Belarusian airlines from over-flying EU states or landing at the bloc’s airports and suspending all flights of EU airlines through Belarusian airspace. Ground transit from Belarus into the EU could also be prohibited, say EU officials. FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Since the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus, which was officially won by Lukashenko but were widely condemned as rigged and sparked huge protests across Belarus, the EU has imposed a series of sanctions on the country.Lithuanian prosecutors say they are launching a criminal investigation into the hijacking and are considering filing terrorism charges. Lithuania’s prime minister told reporters that the prosecutors interviewed passengers and crew on their arrival in Vilnius. “The unprecedented situation will have to be investigated very thoroughly,” Ingrida Simonyte said. Belarus public broadcasters said security officials only discovered Pratasevich was on the flight after his girlfriend sent a photo of him to another activist blogger. Pratasevich, who used to work for the Telegram channel Nexta but switched to another opposition messaging app recently, was in Athens to cover a visit to Greece by Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. FILE – Belarus exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya poses during an interview with AFP on the sideline of her visit to the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2021.“It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain activist and blogger Raman Pratasevich,” she said. “Not a single person who flies over Belarus can be sure of his safety,” she added in a statement. Of the 171 people who boarded in Athens, only 165 landed in Vilnius, according to Lithuanian authorities. Pratasevich, his girlfriend and the EHU students account for three of the six who did not proceed to Vilnius. The other three are likely Belarus KGB agents, say Lithuanian officials, but there are also local reports that at least two were Russians, prompting speculation in the Belarus opposition media that they may have been Russian intelligence officers.
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New Yorkers Toast Return of Nightlife
The city that never sleeps is finally staying up after 14 months of being mostly closed for indoor dining due to the coronavirus. No other city in the United States was hit as hard as New York and the Big Apple’s nightlife reopening is a sign of hope for many worldwide. Tina Trinh reports.Camera: Tina Trinh
Producer: Tina Trinh
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Italy Cable Car Accident Kills 14
At least 14 people, including two children, were killed Sunday in northern Italy when a cable car popular among tourists fell 20 meters to the ground. A two-year-old child died instantly, and one nine-year-old died in the hospital after suffering two cardiac arrests. Another child, a five-year-old was seriously injured but conscious and speaking. He is being treated at the Regina Margherita children’s hospital in Turin. Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. About half the passengers were foreign nationals, Italian authorities said. The Italian ANSA news agency has published the names of the victims. The Stresa-Mottarone funicular travels between the resort town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore to the top of Mottarone mountain of Italy’s Piedmont region. The trip takes roughly 20 minutes. Images from the scene showed a crumped cable car on a slope overlooking the lake. Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino called it a “terrible, terrible scene,” and said the accident may have been caused by a ruptured cable and the emergency brake failed. Severino said the car overturned two or three times after crashing to the ground before being stopped by some trees. Some passengers were stuck inside the cabin while others were thrown out during the crash. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the victims “with a particular thought about the seriously injured children and their families.” The Italian government announced later Sunday that it would begin an investigation into the accident. The Stresa-Mottarone cable car was closed for repairs between 2014 and 2016. It only recently began operating after a hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cable car can typically carry about 40 passengers.
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China Probes Deaths of 21 Runners After Freak Weather Hits Ultra-marathon
An investigation was underway Monday into the deaths of 21 runners during a mountain ultra-marathon in northwest China, as harrowing testimony emerged from survivors who battled to safety through freezing temperatures and bone-chilling winds. The extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the 100-kilometer (62-mile) race held in the scenic Yellow River Stone Forest in Gansu province Saturday afternoon. Provincial authorities have set up an investigation team to look into the cause of the incident, state media reported, as questions swirled over why organizers apparently ignored extreme weather warnings from the city’s Early Warning Information Center in the lead up to the race, which attracted 172 runners. China’s top sports body also vowed to tighten safety rules on holding events across the country. Survivors gave shocking testimony of events on the rugged mountainside, where unconfirmed meteorological reports to local media said temperatures had plunged to as low as minus 24 degrees Celsius (minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit). “The wind was too strong, and I repeatedly fell over,” wrote race participant Zhang Xiaotao in a Weibo post. “My limbs were frozen stiff, and I felt like I was slowly losing control of my body… I wrapped my insulation blanket around me, took out my GPS tracker, pressed the SOS button and lost consciousness.” He said when he came round he discovered a shepherd had carried him to a cave, placed him by the fire and wrapped him in a duvet. ‘Foaming at their mouths’Marathon survivor Luo Jing told state broadcaster CCTV she saw runners struggling back down the mountain wearing only T-shirts and shorts. They “described to us people foaming at their mouths, and urged us to quit the race as soon as possible,” she said. Other survivors said insulation blankets provided by organizers were blown to shreds by strong winds. One told state media as he battled down the mountain he saw many people lying on the ground, some he believed to be dead. Gansu province is often subject to extreme weather conditions including sandstorms and earthquakes. The Gansu Meteorological Bureau had warned of “sudden heavy showers, hail, lightning, sudden gale-force winds” and other adverse weather conditions across the province in a report dated Friday. Victims included elite Chinese long-distance runners Liang Jing and Huang Guanjun, local media reported. Liang had won multiple Chinese ultramarathons in recent years while Huang won the men’s hearing-impaired marathon at the 2019 National Paralympic Games. Fury mounted on Chinese social media after the disaster, with many users blaming organizers for poor contingency planning. More than 84 million viewed the hashtag “Is the Gansu marathon accident natural or man-made?” while 130 million scoured a thread around safety concerns for marathons and cross-county races. “This is purely a man-made disaster,” wrote one. China’s top sports governing body has issued instructions to the country’s sports system to improve safety management in sports events. The previous management model for safety in races “had some problems and deficiencies,” the sports administration said in a readout published Monday, and said all organizations would now have to set up detailed contingency plans and a mechanism to halt the event quickly if needed.
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Biden’s ‘Quiet Diplomacy’ with Israel May be His Trademark
The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas over Gaza continues as the conflict puts a spotlight on U.S. President Joe Biden’s approach to international challenges. Michelle Quinn reports.Produced by: Mary Cieslak
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No One’s Safe Anymore: Japan’s Osaka City Crumples Under COVID-19 Onslaught
Hospitals in Japan’s second largest city of Osaka are buckling under a huge wave of new coronavirus infections, running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a “system collapse,” and advise against holding the Olympics this summer. Japan’s western region home to 9 million people is suffering the brunt of the fourth wave of the pandemic, accounting for a third of the nation’s death toll in May, although it constitutes just 7% of its population. The speed at which Osaka’s healthcare system was overwhelmed underscores the challenges of hosting a major global sports event in two months’ time, particularly as only about half of Japan’s medical staff have completed inoculations. “Simply put, this is a collapse of the medical system,” said Yuji Tohda, the director of Kindai University Hospital in Osaka. “The highly infectious British variant and slipping alertness have led to this explosive growth in the number of patients.” Japan has avoided the large infections suffered by other nations, but the fourth pandemic wave took Osaka prefecture by storm, with 3,849 new positive tests in the week to Thursday. That represents a more than fivefold jump over the corresponding period three months ago. Just 14% of the prefecture’s 13,770 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized, leaving the majority to fend for themselves. Tokyo’s latest hospitalization rate, in comparison, is 37%.Fourth wave of COVID-19 pandemic, in Takatsuki, Osaka prefecture, Japan May 17, 2021.A government advisory panel sees rates of less than 25% as a trigger to consider imposition of a state of emergency. By Thursday, 96% of the 348 hospital beds Osaka reserves for serious virus cases were in use. Since March, 17 people have died from the disease outside the prefecture’s hospitals, officials said this month. The variant can make even young people very sick quickly, and once seriously ill, patients find it tough to make a recovery, said Toshiaki Minami, director of the Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Hospital (OMPUH). “I believe that until now many young people thought they were invincible. But that can’t be the case this time around. Everyone is equally bearing the risk.” Breaking point Minami said a supplier recently told him that stocks of propofol, a key drug used to sedate intubated patients, are running very low, while Tohda’s hospital is running short of the ventilators vital for severely ill COVID-19 patients. Caring for critically ill patients in the face of infection risk has taken a serious toll on staff, said Satsuki Nakayama, the head of the nursing department at OMPUH. “I’ve got some intensive care unit (ICU) staff saying they have reached a breaking point,” she added. “I need to think of personnel change to bring in people from other hospital wings.” About 500 doctors and 950 nurses work at OMPUH, which manages 832 beds. Ten of its 16 ICU beds have been dedicated to virus patients. Twenty of the roughly 140 serious patients taken in by the hospital died in the ICU. Yasunori Komatsu, who heads a union of regional government employees, said conditions were dire as well for public health nurses at local health centers, who liaison between patients and medical institutions. “Some of them are racking up 100, 150, 200 hours (about 1 week 1 and a half days) of overtime, and that has been going on for a year now…when on duty, they sometimes go home at one or two in the morning, and go to bed only to be awakened by a phone call at three or four.” Medical professionals with firsthand experience of Osaka’s struggle with the pandemic take a negative view on holding the Tokyo Games, set to run from July 23 to August 8. “The Olympics should be stopped, because we already have failed to stop the flow of new variants from England, and next might be an inflow of Indian variants,” said Akira Takasu, the head of emergency medicine at OMPUH. He was referring to a variant first found in India that the World Health Organization (WHO) designated as being of concern after initial studies showed it spread more easily. “In the Olympics, 70,000 or 80,000 athletes and the people will come to this country from around the world. This may be a trigger for another disaster in the summer.”
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Blinken Heads to Middle East to Build on Israel-Hamas Cease-fire
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to the Middle East Monday after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect early Friday morning. This is Blinken’s first trip to the region as the top U.S. diplomat. He will meet with Israeli, Palestinian, and regional counterparts as part of Washington’s efforts to build on the Gaza truce. The United States said it is committed to working with the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to gather international support for Gaza and Gaza reconstruction efforts. “Our focus right now relentlessly is on dealing with the humanitarian situation, starting to do reconstruction and rebuild, and engage intensely with everyone, with Palestinians, with Israelis, with partners in the region,” Blinken told CNN Sunday. Meanwhile, Egyptian mediators have been traveling across the Gaza border and met with Hamas’s West Bank-based rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in an effort to sustain the cease-fire. Egypt mediated the Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militants.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about climate change at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, Maryland, May 22, 2021.He told ABC’s “This Week” show that Palestinians need to “feel hope to live in security and dignity in a Palestinian state.” He said U.S. President Joe Biden “remains committed to a two-state solution,” with a separate state of Palestine, but acknowledged it was “not necessarily something for today.” Blinken blamed Hamas militants for the recent fighting, saying, “Hamas has brought nothing but ruin to the Palestinian people.” The Biden administration has said a two-state solution is the only answer to resolving the conflict between the two sides. “Let’s get something straight here: Until the region says, unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace,” Biden said Friday during a joint press conference with visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Biden also said it’s essential to ensure the security for Palestinians in the West Bank and help the people of Gaza. Washington said it will work with the Palestinian Authority to rebuild Gaza but not with Hamas and “in a way that will not allow Hamas to re-arm.” It’s seen as a difficult plan since the Hamas-led Palestinian militants control Gaza. Hamas had fired rockets at Israeli cities from Gaza since May 10, for what it said were rights abuses committed by Israel against Palestinians in Jerusalem. Israel retaliated with targeted artillery and airstrikes on leaders of Hamas and the group’s infrastructure. The Israelis faced international condemnation for blowing up high-rise buildings and striking refugee camps and other targets, which caused extensive civilian casualties.
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US Restricts Visas, Aid Over Conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region
The United States on Sunday announced visa restrictions on Ethiopian and Eritrean officials accused of fueling the 6-month-old war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, saying those involved had “taken no meaningful steps to end hostilities.”
“People in Tigray continue to suffer human rights violations, abuses, and atrocities, and urgently needed humanitarian relief is being blocked by the Ethiopian and Eritrean militaries as well as other armed actors,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“Despite significant diplomatic engagement, the parties to the conflict in Tigray have taken no meaningful steps to end hostilities or pursue a peaceful resolution of the political crisis,” he added.
Blinken also announced wide-ranging restrictions on economic and security assistance to Ethiopia, adding that the U.S. would continue humanitarian aid in areas such as health, food and education.
He said the visa restrictions targeted “current or former Ethiopian or Eritrean government officials, members of the security forces, or other individuals — to include Amhara regional and irregular forces and members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).”
The Tigray conflict erupted in early November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to detain and disarm leaders of the regional ruling party, the TPLF.
Abiy said the move came in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps.
Eritrean troops, who teamed up with the Ethiopian military, have been implicated in multiple massacres and other atrocities during the Tigray conflict, allegations Asmara denies.
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the killings, forced removals, systemic sexual violence, and other human rights violations and abuses,” Blinken said.
“We are equally appalled by the destruction of civilian property including water sources, hospitals, and medical facilities, taking place in Tigray.”
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George Floyd’s Family Holds Rally Marking One Year Since His Death
Members of George Floyd’s family, and others who lost loved ones to police encounters, joined activists and residents in Minneapolis on Sunday for a march that was one of several events planned nationwide to mark the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.Hundreds of people gathered for the rally in front of the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis where the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin concluded a month ago, many carrying signs with pictures of Floyd, Philando Castile and other Black men who died while in police custody. Amid chants of “no justice, no peace!” and “Say his name,” Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter watched alongside a dozen of Floyd’s family members as speakers called for justice for the families of the victims.”It has been a long year. It has been a painful year,” Floyd’s sister Bridgett told the crowd Sunday. “It has been very frustrating for me and my family for our lives to change in the blink of an eye — I still don’t know why.”Tuesday will mark one year since Floyd, who was Black, died after Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleaded for air. Chauvin, who is white, has since been convicted of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, which sparked worldwide protests and calls for change in policing in the U.S.Speakers at the event included several local activists, Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called on the U.S. Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The legislation, which would bring about the most significant changes to policing on the federal level, would ban the use of chokeholds and establish a national database of police misconduct.Family members of Daunte Wright march for the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 23, 2021.”We want something coming out of Washington. We want something that will change federal law,” Sharpton said. “There’s been an adjournment on justice for too long. It’s time for them to vote and make this the law.”The George Floyd Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Floyd was born, is hosting a series of events in Minneapolis this weekend and early next week to honor Floyd on the anniversary. The nonprofit was launched by Floyd’s siblings in September 2020 to help combat racial inequities in Black and brown communities in their brother’s honor. Other events in Minneapolis ahead of the anniversary include a virtual “day of action” that encourages people to organize remotely and two panels with the families and other activists on Monday, followed by a community festival and candlelight vigil on Tuesday.In New York on Sunday, Floyd’s brother, Terrence, attended a Brooklyn gathering in his brother’s memory organized by Sharpton and told supporters not to forget his brother or victims of racist violence.”If you keep my brother’s name ringing, you’re going to keep everybody else’s name ringing,” Terrence Floyd said. “Breonna Taylor, Sean Bell, Ahmaud Arbery, you could go through the whole list. There’s a lot of them.”Executive director Jacari Harris said the group has received donations from the Minneapolis Foundation, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and athletic shoe and apparel retailer Finish Line, among others. Despite large grants from corporations and other organizations, Harris the average donation to the nonprofit was $47.Harris said the group has also funded an initiative in Fayetteville to help reduce homelessness, a scholarship program for law school students and an internship program at Texas A&M University, where Floyd went to school.
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Ageless Wonder Mickelson Wins PGA to Be Oldest Major Champ
Phil Mickelson has delivered so many thrills and spills over 30 years of pure theater that no one ever knows what he will do next.His latest act was a real stunner: A major champion at age 50.Mickelson captured his sixth major and by far the most surprising Sunday at the PGA Championship. He made two early birdies with that magical wedge game and let a cast of contenders fall too far behind to catch him in the shifting wind of Kiawah Island.He closed with a 1-over 73, building a five-shot lead on the back nine and not making any critical mistakes that kept him from his place in history.“This is just an incredible feeling because I believed it was possible, but everything was saying it wasn’t,” said Mickelson, who had gone more than two years since his last win and had not won a major in nearly eight years. He had not even contended in a major in five years.Julius Boros for 53 years held the distinction of golf’s oldest major champion. He was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship in San Antonio.Pure chaos broke out along the 18th hole after Mickelson hit 9-iron safely to just outside 15 feet that all but secured a most improbable victory. Thousands of fans engulfed him down the fairway — a scene typically seen only at the British Open — until Mickelson emerged into view with a thumbs-up.That might have been the most pressure he faced on the back nine of the Ocean Course.“I don’t think I’ve ever had an experience like that, so thank you for that,” Mickelson said at the trophy ceremony. “Slightly unnerving, but exceptionally awesome.”Just like he plays the game.Chants of “Lefty! Lefty! Lefty!” chased him onto the green and into the scoring tent, his final duty of a week he won’t soon forget.Three months after 43-year-old Tom Brady won a seventh Super Bowl, Mickelson added to this year of ageless wonders. Mickelson became the first player in PGA Tour history to win tournaments 30 years apart. The first of his 45 titles was in 1991 when he was still a junior at Arizona State.Mickelson became the 10th player to win majors in three decades, an elite list that starts with Harry Vardon and most recently added Tiger Woods.“He’s been on tour as long as I’ve been alive,” Jon Rahm said. “For him to keep that willingness to play and compete and practice, it’s truly admirable.”Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen had their chances, but only briefly. Koepka was 4 over on the par 5s when the game was still on and closed with a 74. Oosthuizen hit into the water as he was trying to make a final run and shot 73.“Phil played great,” Koepka said. “It’s pretty cool to see, but a bit disappointed in myself.”Mickelson finished at 6-under 282.The victory came one week after Mickelson accepted a special exemption into the U.S. Open because at No. 115 in the world and winless the last two years, he no longer was exempt from qualifying. He had not finished in the top 20 in his last 17 tournaments over nearly nine months. He worried that he was no longer able to keep his focus over 18 holes.And then he beat the strongest field of the year — 99 of the top 100 players — and made it look easy.The PGA Championship had the largest and loudest crowd since the return from the COVID-19 pandemic — the PGA of America said it limited tickets to 10,000, and it seemed like twice that many — and it was clear what they wanted to see.The opening hour made it seem as though the final day could belong to anyone. The wind finished its switch to the opposite direction from the opening rounds, and while there was low scoring early, Mickelson and Koepka traded brilliance and blunder.Koepka flew the green with a wedge on the par-5 second hole, could only chip it about 6 feet to get out of an impossible lie and made double bogey, a three-shot swing when Mickelson hit a deft pitch from thick grass behind the green.Mickelson holed a sand shot from short of the green on the par-5 third, only for Koepka to tie for the lead with a two-shot swing on the sixth hole when he made birdie and Lefty missed the green well to the right.Kevin Streelman briefly had a share of the lead. Louis Oosthuizen was lurking, even though it took him seven holes to make a birdie.And then the potential for any drama was sucked out to sea.Oosthuizen, coming off a birdie to get within three, had to lay up out of the thick grass on the 13th and then sent his third shot right of the flag and into the water, making triple bogey.Just like that, Mickelson was up by five and headed toward the inward holes, the wind at his back on the way home with what seemed like the entire state of South Carolina at his side.
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No Court Decision on Suez Canal’s Claim Over Massive Vessel
An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday said it lacks jurisdiction to consider the Suez Canal Authority’s demands to uphold financial claims that led to the seizure of the massive Ever Given ship after it blocked the waterway in March. The authority and the ship’s owner are in dispute as to whose fault it was that the ship ran aground in the canal linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea — and how much compensation should be paid. The appeals chamber of the Ismailia Economic Court referred the case to a lower court to decide whether the Ever Given can legally be held until the settlement of the compensation claim between the Suez Canal Authority and Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the ship’s Japanese owner, according to Hazem Barakat, a lawyer representing the vessel’s owner.The Ever Given was on its way to the Dutch port of Rotterdam on March 23 when it slammed into the bank of a stretch of the canal about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.A massive effort by a flotilla of tugboats, helped by the tides, freed the skyscraper-sized ship six days later, ending the crisis and allowing hundreds of waiting vessels to pass through the canal. The Suez Canal Authority on Sunday revealed for the first time that a salvage boat capsized during the operation, leaving one worker dead.Since it was freed, the Panama-flagged vessel, which carries cargo between Asia and Europe, has been ordered by authorities to remain in a holding lake midcanal while its owner and the canal authority try to settle the compensation dispute. At first, the Suez Canal Authority demanded $916 million in compensation, which was later lowered to $550 million, the head of the canal authority, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabie, said in comments Sunday on a television program. The compensation amount would account for the salvage operation, costs of stalled canal traffic and lost transit fees for the week the Ever Given blocked the canal.Barakat, the lawyer, said the next court hearing on the case will take place on May 29.The six-day blockage disrupted global shipment. Some ships were forced to take the long alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip, requiring additional fuel and other costs. Hundreds of other ships waited in place for the blockage to end.About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, a pivotal source of foreign currency to Egypt. Some 19,000 vessels passed through the canal last year, according to official figures.
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DRC Volcano Eruption, Ensuing Chaos Leave at Least 15 Dead
Torrents of lava poured into villages after dark in eastern Congo with little warning, leaving at least 15 people dead amid the chaos and destroying more than 500 homes, officials and survivors said Sunday.The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on Saturday night sent about 5,000 people fleeing from the city of Goma across the nearby border into Rwanda, while another 25,000 others sought refuge to the northwest in Sake, the U.N. children’s agency said Sunday.More than 170 children were feared missing Sunday, and UNICEF officials said they were organizing transit centers to help unaccompanied children in the wake of the disaster.Goma ultimately was largely spared the mass destruction it suffered the last time the volcano erupted back in 2002. Hundreds died then and more than 100,000 people were left homeless. But in outlying villages closer to the volcano, Sunday was marked by grief and uncertainty.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A general view shows smoke and flames at the volcanic eruption of Mount Nyiragongo near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 22, 2021.Residents said there was little warning before the dark sky turned a fiery red, sending people running in all directions. One woman went into labor and gave birth while fleeing the eruption to Rwanda, the national broadcaster there said.Smoke rose Sunday from smoldering heaps of lava in the Buhene area near the city.”We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood,” Innocent Bahala Shamavu said. “All the houses in Buhene neighborhood were burned and that’s why we are asking all the provincial authorities and authorities at the national level as well as all the partners, all the people of good faith in the world, to come to the aid of this population.”Elsewhere, witnesses said lava had engulfed one highway connecting Goma with the city of Beni. However, the airport appeared to be spared the same fate as 2002 when lava flowed onto the runways.Goma is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission. While Goma is home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of surrounding eastern Congo is under threat from myriad armed groups vying for control of the region’s mineral resources.
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DRC Residents Coping with Devastation from Volcano Eruption
Thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo fled their homes to escape lava flows from an erupting volcano near Goma. While most of the city was spared, those who returned to the outskirts Goma Sunday found their homes destroyed. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.
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IOC VP Gets Backlash for Saying Olympics Are on, Virus or Not
If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors. The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.”
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Italian Eurovision Singer to Take ‘Voluntary Drug Test,’ Organizers Say
The singer for Italy’s Eurovision Song Contest winning rockers Maneskin will take a voluntary drug test after denying speculation that he was snorting cocaine during the broadcast, organizers said Sunday. Red lederhosen-clad vocalist Damiano David will be tested after going back to Italy, following viral footage of him leaning over a table in the hospitality area of the competition in Rotterdam. “We are aware of the speculation surrounding the video clip of the Italian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Green Room last night,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement. “The band have strongly refuted the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will take a voluntary drug test after arriving home,” it added. “This was requested by them last night but could not be immediately organized by the EBU.” The Maneskin singer was asked about the footage during the winners’ press conference early on Sunday, and said he had been looking down because guitarist Thomas Raggi had broken a glass. “I don’t use drugs. Please, guys. Don’t say that really, no cocaine. Please, don’t say that,” David said. The band later said on their Instagram stories that they were “ready to get tested because we have nothing to hide.” “We are really shocked about what some people are saying about Damiano doing drugs. We really are AGAINST drugs and we never used cocaine,” they said. The EBU said evidence at the scene backed up David’s account about the glass smashing. “The band, their management and head of delegation have informed us that no drugs were present in the Green Room and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer,” its statement said. “The EBU can confirm broken glass was found after an on site check. We are still looking at footage carefully and will update with further information in due course.” Maneskin fought off stiff competition from France and Switzerland, surging to victory on the back of the public vote to win with 524 points.
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Belarus Journalist Arrested after Flight Diverted to Minsk
A Belarusian journalist wanted by the government of Alexander Lukashenko was arrested after the plane he was traveling on made an unscheduled landing in Minsk on May 23 after what appears to have been a false bomb threat.Raman Pratasevich was taken away by police shortly after the Ryanair flight, which was on a scheduled route from Athens to Vilnius, landed in the Belarusian capital.No bomb was found, according to Belarussian media reports. No further details were immediately available. It was unclear who had reported the bomb threat. The headquarters of Belarusian opposition leader Svaitlana Tsikhanouskaya reported that the Ryanair flight crew received a message about a bomb on board the plane and that a MiG-29 military fighter was dispatched to escort the passenger jet to the airport in Minsk.Tsikhanouskaya’s office said the flight was near the border with Lithuania when the message was received. It was closer to the airport in Vilnius but instead it headed to Minsk.Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said it was an “unprecedented event” that a civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forced to land in Minsk.”Flag of Belarus regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevic urgently!” Nauseda said on Twitter.Pratasevich was a key administrator of the Telegram channel NEXTA Live, which has been covering the protests that broke out in Belarus following the country’s disputed presidential election last August.In November, Belarusian authorities announced that Pratasevich, along with Stsyapan Putsila — also a NEXTA Live administrator — were being investigated on suspicions of organizing mass disorder, disrupting the social order, and inciting social hatred.Belarus has been rocked by protests since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the landslide winner of the poll amid allegations of vote-rigging. Since then, more than 30,000 people have been detained, hundreds beaten or tortured, and journalists targeted in the crackdown by Lukashenka, whose government has been hit by Western sanctions.In October, a court in Minsk designated the NEXTA Live channel and its logo as extremist and instructed the Information Ministry to restrict access to information resources using the name and logo of the Telegram channel, as well as their distribution in the Belarusian segment of the Internet.NEXTA Live then changed its name and logo, switching from the Latin transliteration of its name to a Cyrillic one.Fearing prosecution, Pratasevich and Putsila fled the country and their whereabouts have not been known.In October, Putsila, along with several Belarusian activists, received the European Parliament’s 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.Media in Belarus have been targeted by the Lukashenka government in the ongoing crackdown. The watchdog Reporters Without Borders has designated Belarus as the most dangerous spot in Europe for journalists.On May 21, Belarusian security forces raided a Minsk studio used by a Polish-based TV station that has produced investigations critical of Lukashenka and his associates.Belsat said uniformed officers broke into a studio on May 21 used for producing a talk show, detaining six people, including four cameramen.In April, the channel published an investigation into the business dealings of Lukashenka’s daughter-in-law and others associated with him.Earlier this year, two journalists for Belsat were handed what their lawyers called an “absurd” sentence of two years in prison each for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November.Earlier this week, police launched a probe of the country’s largest independent online media outlet, Tut.by, searching the homes of several of its editors and blocking its website.Meanwhile, a Minsk court on May 21 sentenced another reporter who covered the police raid on Tut.by to a 15-day prison sentence, a media advocacy group said.The Belarusian Association of Journalists said 27 media workers are currently behind bars, either awaiting trial or serving sentences.
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Congo Volcano’s Lava Flows Short of Goma; 5 Dead in Crash
Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo unleashed lava that destroyed homes on the outskirts of Goma, but witnesses said Sunday that the city of two million had been mostly spared after the volcano erupted at night and sent thousands fleeing in panic. Authorities said at least five people had died in a road crash while trying to leave Goma, but cautioned it was too early to give a death toll in the hardest hit communities. More than 500 homes had been destroyed, according to Constant Ndima, military governor for the affected region. Residents said there was little warning before the dark sky turned a fiery red, leading to fears that the eruption could cause the same kind of devastation as the last time in 2002 when hundreds died. The U.N. peacekeeping mission had said late Saturday that it didn’t appear the lava was flowing toward Goma based on reconnaissance flights, but untold thousands still set off fearing the worst. Some boarded boats onto Lake Kivu while others attempted to reach Mount Goma, the highest elevation point. At least 3,000 fled across the nearby border into Rwanda. A general view shows smoke and flames at the volcanic eruption of Mount Nyiragongo near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 22, 2021.On Sunday, residents ventured out to assess the damage after a night of panic. Smoke rose from smoldering heaps of lava in the Buhene area near the city. “We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood,” said Innocent Bahala Shamavu. “All the houses in Buhene neighborhood were burned and that’s why we are asking all the provincial authorities and authorities at the national level as well as all the partners, all the people of good faith in the world, to come to the aid of this population.” Elsewhere witnesses said lava had engulfed one highway connecting Goma with the city of Beni. However, the airport appeared to be spared the same fate as 2002 when lava flowed onto the runways. Goma is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission. While Goma is home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of surrounding eastern Congo is under threat from a myriad of armed groups vying for control of the region’s mineral resources.
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IOC VP Gets Backlash Saying Olympics Are on, No Matter Virus
If John Coates was trying to stir controversy, he succeeded.An International Olympic Committee vice president, Coates was asked a few days ago by a Japanese reporter at an online news conference if the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead, even if a state of emergency were in force in Japan.Coates replied: “Absolutely, yes.”Coates said what the IOC and local organizers have been trying to persuade the Japanese public about for months: The postponed Olympics with 11,000 athletes from 200 nations and territories will open on July 23 and will be “safe and secure.”But his defiant tone has stirred a backlash in Japan where 60-80% in polls say they do not want the Olympics to open in two months in the midst of a pandemic.Just over 12,000 deaths in Japan — good by global standards, but poor in Asia — have been attributed to COVID-19. But Tokyo and Osaka and several other areas are under a state of emergency until May 31. And it’s likely to be extended.There is fear of new variants spreading with only a tiny percentage of Japanese vaccinated. Estimates range between 2% and 4%.“Right now, more than 80% of the nation’s people want the Olympics postponed or canceled,” Japanese billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son said over the weekend. He is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks baseball team.“Who is forcing this to go ahead, and under what rights?” Son added.Technically, the games belong to the International Olympic Committee and only it has the power to cancel. Of course, any move would have to be negotiated with Japanese organizers.There is no suggestion this will happen.Social media criticized Coates, and also went after IOC President Thomas Bach who has said repeatedly that everyone must “sacrifice” to pull off these Olympics, which have already banned fans from abroad. A decision on local fans attending — if any — will be made next month.The IOC relies on selling television rights for 75% of its income, and Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare the games. Government audits suggest the figure is much higher. All but $6.7 billion is public money.The Shukan Post magazine said in its latest issue that organizers have booked all the rooms during the Olympics in at least four of Tokyo’s most expensive hotels. The magazine called the accommodations “fitting or royalty” for the IOC and others.Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Friday the “Olympic family, IOC and international federations” would amount to 23,000 visitors. The magazine said the IOC would pay up to $400 per night for rooms, with local organizers making up any difference.Many of Japan’s newspapers are among more than 60 local Olympic sponsors that have contributed more than $3 billion to local organizers. They have been restrained in their criticism, although one of them — the Hokkaido Shimbun — did call for unspecified action from Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Suga has said it’s the IOC that must determine the fate of the Olympics.“That inaction itself is forfeiting the responsibility over people’s lives and health. Those in charge should take that to heart.”The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, which is not a sponsor, called for a cancellation in an editorial on Sunday.“We are in no mood to celebrate an event filled with fear and anxiety,” the newspaper said. “The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled … The government must make the decision to protect the lives and livelihood of the people.”Organizers and the IOC say that the games will be safe because of extensive testing and building a bubble around the athletes. It says more than 80% of the residents in the Olympics Village, located on Tokyo Bay, will be vaccinated.The comments of Atsuko Saitoh, who identifies herself as midwife and former university professor, are representative of the criticism on social media. She has run unsuccessfully for Japan’s upper house and is running in the next lower house election.“Bach and Coates do not value the lives of the athletes, others involved or the people of the host nation. It’s tantamount to predicting terrorism to say that the games will be held under an emergency, despite the overwhelming opposition in public opinion.”
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Biles Makes History in Return to Competition at US Classic
Time on her hands and a world-class gym at her disposal after the 2020 Olympics were postponed, Simone Biles started experimenting almost as a way to stave off the monotony of training.Pretty soon a vault that she occasionally tinkered with for fun — the Yurchenko double pike — started to look like a vault she could pull off in competition.So, what if it had only historically been done by men? So, what if the International Gymnastics Federation seemed intent on not giving the vault a difficulty value commensurate with its complexity?The vault exists. She can do it. So, why not? She did not stick around for another year just to fool around. She stuck around to keep making history. So, she did. Again.Hands seemingly magnetized to her hamstrings as she soared off the vaulting table, Biles drilled the Yurchenko double pike during her victory at the U.S. Classic on Saturday night. The 24-year-old defending world and Olympic champion generated so much momentum she took a couple of big hops upon landing before letting out a semi-relieved smile.Get ready to add another element in her name in the sport’s Code of Points, even she thinks the 6.6 start value for the Yurchenko double-pike — just a tick above significantly less difficult vaults — is as high as it should be. “That’s on the (International Federation of Gymnastics) that’s not on me,” Biles said. “They have an open-end code of points and now they’re mad people are too far ahead and excelling.”And no one in the sport has ever excelled as much as Biles. Her all-around score of 58.400 in her first event in more than 18 months (about 1 and a half years) was easily the best of the night even though she shorted her dismount on floor exercise and sailed off the uneven bars.“I’m not really mad about today,” she said.No need to be. After teasing the Yurchenko double-pike for the better part of a year and then unveiling it during training on Friday — a move that caught the attention of people like NBA star LeBron James — Biles made it official in front of the women trying to join her on the Olympic team this summer.Wearing a white leotard with a rhinestone goat — a nod to her status as the Greatest of All-Time —Biles sprinted down the runway, did a roundoff onto the springboard followed by a back handspring onto the vault, finishing with two backflips with her legs ramrod straight and her hands clasping the back of her legs.It was not quite perfect. No worries, she will get more chances over the next two months. Even though she does not agree with the way it is being judged, she has no plans to stop throwing it.“I know it’s not the correct one, but I can still do it,” Biles said. “So why not just show off my ability and athleticism?”Same as it ever was for Biles, whose spot on the U.S. Olympic Team is assured. The other spots remain up in the air, though Jordan Chiles is making a serious case to join good friend Biles on the plane to Tokyo.The 20-year-old proved her victory in the Winter Cup in February was no fluke. Chiles finished second in the all-around (57.100) to Biles and ranked in the top four in each of the four events.“I (proved) I can do this multiple times and not just a one-time thing,” Chiles said.Kayla DiCello came in third, buoyed by a victory on bars. The 17-year-old was in the mix to make the Olympics a year ago but said the decision to push the games to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic helped her because it gave her time to add difficulty to her routines necessary to separate herself from a talented and crowded field.A field that includes 2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd. The 19-year-old competed on beam and floor exercise in her first competition since March 2020. Competing slightly watered-down routines, her scores were not where they will need to be in time for Olympic Trials in late June.Hurd, however, is not panicking.“Yeah, I was shaky, but usually in the beginning of my (competition) season I am a little bit shaky and a little bit sloppy and not at my best,” she said. “I don’t want to be great now, I want to be great later.”Sunisa Lee, who won three medals at the 2019 world championships, came off both bars — her signature event — and beam. Riley McCusker, a world championship team member in 2018, appeared to injure her left leg on her vault and is being evaluated. McKayla Skinner, an Olympic alternate in 2016 and three-time world championship team member, came off the beam but drilled two vaults in her first meet since a number of health issues, including battles with COVID-19 and pneumonia.“It was interesting to see a little more falls (overall) than what we thought we would see,” said national team coordinator Tom Forster. ” (But) we have missed so many competitions since 2019 … The ones who were really ready rose to the top, is what it looks like, so I think (the Olympic picture) seems clear.”Chellsie Memmel clenched her fists in joy after landing her vault in her first competitive meet in more than nine years. The 2005 world all-around champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist’s score of 13.750 did not matter. Neither did a nervous beam routine that finished with an 11.800. Saturday was about simply arriving at the moment itself.“I was just overwhelmingly happy that it went OK today,” Memmel said. “Obviously, beam I would have to have it gone better, but I’m still happy with everything that I did and happy that I was out on the floor, that I put myself out there to even get to this point, to try this again, to, you know, to put on a and to register for a competition.”Memmel is petitioning for a spot in next month’s national championships, one that women’s national team coordinator Tom Forster said will be accepted.
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CDC Investigates Reports of Heart Inflammation After COVID Inoculations
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is investigating reports that young people have developed myocarditis, or heart inflammation, after being inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine.The agency’s vaccine safety group said in a recent report that there have been “relatively few reports“ of the heart inflammation, but most tended to occur in male teenagers and young adults, usually after a second vaccine dose.“Most cases appear to be mild, and follow-up of cases is ongoing,” the safety group said.In another development, two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca are about as effective against the coronavirus variant first found in India as they are against the variant first found in England, according to a study by Public Health England announced Saturday.The study found that Pfizer’s vaccine is 88% effective against B.1.617.2, or the Indian variant, and 93% effective against B.1.1.7, now known as the Kent variant. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is 60% against the Indian variant and 66% effective against the English variant.In both cases, the effectiveness was measured two weeks after the second shot and against symptomatic disease. The Kent variant is the dominant strain in England but health officials fear the Indian strain may outpace it.In England, health authorities have stretched the time between the two doses to as much as three months in order to get more people vaccinated and stop the coronavirus in its tracks. Against the variants, though, two shots are better than one, so for clinically vulnerable people or those older than 50, the period between the two shots will be cut to eight weeks.“I’m increasingly confident that we’re on track for the road map [to reopening], because this data shows that the vaccine, after two doses, works just as effectively [against the Indian variant],” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told broadcasters.Kaiser Health News reported that during the pandemic many older people have become “physically and cognitively debilitated and less able to take care of themselves.”While no large-scale study has recorded the extent of the problem, Kaiser said doctors and physical therapists are reporting that seniors are losing muscle mass and strength, resulting in problems with mobility and balance.“What I’d love to see is a national effort, maybe by the CDC, focused on helping older people overcome these kinds of impairments,” Linda Teodosio, a physical therapist and division rehabilitation manager in Bayada Home Healthcare’s Towson, Maryland, office told Kaiser.India casesOn Sunday, India’s health ministry reported 240,842 new COVID infections and nearly 4,000 deaths from the virus in the previous 24-hour period.The Indian government said Saturday that while COVID-19 infections remain high as they spread to overburdened rural areas, the infections are stabilizing in some parts of the country.As India struggles with a faltering health care system and vaccine shortages, experts have warned of a third wave of infections in coming months.Johns Hopkins University said early Sunday there are 166.7 million global COVID-19 infections. The U.S. has 33.1 million, followed by India with 26 million. Brazil is ranked third with 16 million.
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