Month: August 2024

Albanians vote for new mayor of ethnic Greek town

Posted on by SeeEU

QEPARO, Albania — Albanians in the southwestern town of Himara are to vote Sunday for a new mayor after their previous choice, a member of the country’s ethnic Greek minority, was stripped of his title, convicted and imprisoned on vote-buying charges in what he and neighboring Greece have claimed was a politically motivated case.

The case against Fredis Beleris, a dual Albanian-Greek national who was elected to the European Parliament with Greece’s governing conservative party in June, has strained relations between Tirana and Athens, with Greece threatening to hold up Albania’s bid to join the European Union.

Beleris, 51, was arrested two days before the May 14, 2023, municipal elections in Himara, a town populated by ethnic Greeks on what has been dubbed the Albanian Riviera, a coastal region with burgeoning tourist development that has been rife with property disputes. He was charged and ultimately convicted of offering about 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros, $390) to buy eight votes, and is serving a two-year prison sentence.

Both candidates in Sunday’s election — governing Socialist Party candidate Vangiel Tavo and Petraq Gjikuria from the Together We Win coalition — are members of the local ethnic Greek community. Gjikuria’s 10-party coalition includes the main opposition’s center-right Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the leftwing Freedom Party of former President Ilir Meta.

The issue of property and its potential exploitation as part of Albania’s tourism boom has been at the center of both candidates’ campaigns.

In the aftermath of the fall of Albania’s communist regime in the early 1990s, property that had previously been seized by the state was distributed among residents. But this often led to disputes by those who claimed original ownership of land and homes before they were confiscated. The issue is further complicated in Himara, an area seen as potentially lucrative for future property development, by claims of ethnic bias in land distribution.

Tavo has said he will complete a process begun by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama a few months ago to provide Himara residents with property ownership certificates, while Gjikuria has pledged to better defend residents’ property rights.

The Socialists currently dominate the Town Hall’s assembly.

Beleris won last year’s election with a 19-vote lead, backed by parties opposing Rama’s governing Socialists. But he never took office, being detained until his conviction in March. An appeals court in June upheld his conviction and Albanian authorities stripped him of his title of mayor, with a new election set for August 4.

Beleris was given a five-day leave from prison to attend the European Parliament’s opening session in Strasbourg last month, and returned to Albania to serve out the rest of his sentence.

Although European Parliament members enjoy immunity from prosecution within the 27-state bloc, even for allegations relating to crimes committed prior to their election, Albania is not an EU member.

Beleris has claimed the case against him is politically motivated as an attempt by Rama to retain control of Himara and its potentially lucrative property potential. Albanian officials strongly reject those claims, citing the independence of the judiciary.

In Sunday’s vote, 23,000 voters in Himara and the surrounding areas are eligible to cast their ballots in 36 polling stations.
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Putin vows support to North Korea after devastating floods

Posted on by SeeEA

Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences to North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un over devastating floods that caused untold casualties and damaged thousands of homes, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

The North, in turn, said Sunday that Putin had also offered “immediate humanitarian support” to aid its recovery efforts, to which Kim responded that he “could deeply feel the special emotion towards a genuine friend.”

Pyongyang said this week it had seen a record downpour on July 27 which killed an unspecified number of people, flooded dwellings and submerged swaths of farmland in the north near China.

“I ask you to convey words of sympathy and support to all those who lost their loved ones as a result of the storm,” Putin said in a telegram to Kim.

“You can always count on our help and support.”

“The message of sympathy from Moscow was conveyed to the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK” on Saturday, said the official KCNA, noting it was immediately reported to leader Kim.

Kim thanked Putin for the outreach but said “already-established plans as state measures were taken at the present stage.”

Regarding the offer, Kim said, “if aid is necessary in the course, he would ask for it from the truest friends in Moscow,” KCNA reported.

Pyongyang said on Wednesday that officials who neglected their disaster prevention duties had caused unspecified casualties, without providing details on the location.

It said on Saturday that there were no casualties at all in the Sinuiju area, the region Pyongyang claimed suffered the “greatest flood damage.”

North Korea and Russia have been allies since the North’s founding after World War II and have drawn even closer since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Media in South Korea, which has offered urgent support to the victims, said this week the toll of dead and missing could be as high as 1,500.

Kim lashed out at the reports, dismissing them as a “smear campaign to bring disgrace upon us and tarnish” the North’s image.

North Korea is accused of breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.

Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on the isolated and impoverished country due to its weak infrastructure, while deforestation has left it vulnerable to flooding. 
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Harris campaign staffs up in battleground states, ‘Sun Belt’

Posted on by SeeUS

WILMINGTON, Delaware — Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign is staffing up in battleground states over the next two weeks including in the ‘Sun Belt’ that increasingly looked out of reach for President Joe Biden, citing momentum for her White House bid as grassroots engagement and fundraising soar. 

“Our grassroots engagement is proving that Kamala Harris is strong in both the Sun Belt and the Blue Wall — with multiple pathways to 270 (electoral votes),” wrote Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s battleground states director in a memo on Saturday. 

The Sun Belt refers to states including Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, and the Blue Wall includes Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. U.S. President Joe Biden won all six of those states in 2020 by thin margins, but just weeks ago, his campaign said the Sun Belt and North Carolina looked increasingly out of reach. 

Harris energizes race

Harris’ takeover of the Democratic presidential campaign has injected new energy, money and enthusiasm into the race, which is translating into a shift in polls that show her pulling even with Republican former President Donald Trump or ahead in some battleground states. 

Since Biden endorsed Harris on July 21, 200,000 volunteers have joined the Harris campaign, while over 350,000 supporters attended their first phone bank, rally or other campaign event – an over 350% increase in event attendees, Kanninen said. 

Harris’ campaign announced on Friday it raised $310 million in July, fueled by small-dollar donations. 

In the next two weeks, the campaign will add 150 more staff in the “Blue Wall,” and will more than double its staff in Arizona and North Carolina, Kanninen said. 

Harris campaign operations on the ground are more extensive than Trump’s, he said. 

“In Nevada, Team Harris has 13 offices, while Trump has just one,” Kanninen wrote. “In Pennsylvania, we have 36 coordinated offices while Trump has just three. In Georgia, we have 24 offices while the Trump team didn’t open their first until June.” 

The Trump campaign did not immediately confirm the accuracy of those numbers, and it did not respond to a request for comment. 

This week Trump’s campaign was set to launch a $10 million advertising blitz in six battleground states. A super PAC supporting Trump, MAGA Inc., kicked off a parallel ad blitz after it said it will spend $32 million in three states with new ads criticizing Harris. 

Some political experts have questioned Trump’s lack of campaign infrastructure in recent days. 

“Those of us who are interested in voting are like, ‘Why don’t you need a ground game?'” political historian Heather Cox Richardson said in a Facebook livestream. “It really takes feet on the ground, knuckles on doors, meetings with people, everything to get money circulating. He is not trying to get enough votes.” 

Search for running mate. continues

Harris was expected to meet in person this weekend with the top contenders vying to join the ticket as the candidate for vice president, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources.  

She will meet with leading contenders Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for interviews on Sunday, according to sources familiar with her plans.  

Other top names include U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. 

Harris held a marginal one-percentage-point lead over Trump in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, closing the gap that opened in the final weeks of Biden’s reelection bid. 

The three-day poll showed Harris supported by 43% of registered voters, with Trump supported by 42%, within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point margin of error. 
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China stands by Maduro in Venezuela to safeguard its investments

Posted on by SeeEA

washington — Venezuela’s recent presidential election results have sparked widespread protests domestically and drawn sharp criticism internationally. While the U.S. has thrown its support behind opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez, China and Russia swiftly endorsed the incumbent, Nicolas Maduro, who has held power for 12 years. 

On Monday, Venezuela’s electoral council declared that the president had secured 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for Gonzalez. These results starkly contradicted exit polls, which had shown Gonzalez leading by a significant margin. 

 

The Carter Center, which was invited to observe the election, issued a statement that the vote “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity” and declared the outcome “cannot be considered democratic. 

Most Latin American countries, with the exceptions of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Cuba, have either rejected or expressed concern over the official election results. In contrast, China’s reaction has been markedly supportive: President Xi Jinping has fully endorsed Maduro, asserting that Beijing will “firmly support Venezuela’s efforts to safeguard national sovereignty, national dignity, and social stability.” 

“China prefers a stable Venezuela, and what they identify as [a] credible source of stability at the moment is Nicolas Maduro,” Antulio Rosales, an assistant professor of business and society at the York University, told VOA. 

 

“So, even though Maduro may stay in power via non-democratic means, it’s clear that China sees him as a more credible possibility for stability,” he noted. 

 

Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College, said the mass investment from Beijing is also a factor. 

“China has a longstanding commercial and political relationship with the leftist regime of Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro since the early 2000s, including recognizing it as a strategic partner under Hugo Chavez, and upgrading that relationship to all around comprehensive strategic partner last year under Nicolas Maduro,” he told VOA. 

 

Maduro and Xi announced last September that their bilateral relationship had been upgraded to an “all-weather strategic partnership,” the highest level of cooperation between two nations.

China now holds a substantial loan portfolio with Venezuela, representing nearly half of all Chinese loans extended to Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s estimated that China has financed more than $60 billion worth of projects in Venezuela. 

In return, China has secured essential resources from the oil-rich country, including crude oil and minerals, through an oil-for-loan model. 

Strategic importance 

Maduro is also repaying China by staunchly supporting the country on the international stage. His administration has provided unconditional backing to China, including endorsing Beijing’s one-China principle by recognizing Taiwan as an inalienable part of China. Additionally, Maduro supports China’s national security law in Hong Kong, and upholds China’s claims in the contested South China Sea. 

Venezuela is also collaborating with China in expanding social control measures. The Maduro government has acquired the Homeland Card system from China, which includes a unique personalized QR code capable of tracking individual votes and social media usage. 

“Venezuela is important to the full range of China’s ambitions in the Americas, including access to resources, markets in strategic sectors, political strategic objectives, and military options if it ever must fight a war with the United States in the Indo-Pacific,” said Ellis from the U.S. Army War College. 

Antonio C. Hsiang, a research professor at Chile’s National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies, told VOA that Venezuela has become a significant battleground in the U.S.-China rivalry. 

Hsiang argued that Venezuela’s political resistance to the United States and its efforts to undermine U.S. influence within Inter-American institutions serve as a strategic distraction for the U.S. in its own hemisphere, ultimately benefiting China. 

 

Economic liability 

 

The Chinese business community, however, is not as happy with the Maduro government. 

 

Venezuela — once the wealthiest nation in Latin America because of its status as home to the world’s largest crude oil reserves — has seen its current government’s popularity wane significantly. The decline is attributed to an economic crisis driven by falling oil prices, corruption, and flawed policies. 

 

In 2013, a sharp decline in oil prices, a key export for Venezuela, triggered a severe economic and political crisis. The country’s GDP contracted by 75% between 2014 and 2021. Annual inflation surged to upwards of 130,000% in 2018, according to its central bank. These factors culminated in Venezuela’s suspension of loan repayments in 2020, including those to its largest creditor, China. 

“China is not particularly concerned with issues of transparency or corruption domestically [in Venezuela],” Rosales said. “Beijing is more focused on Caracas’ inability to execute some of the projects it has committed to.” He observed that Chinese businesses have stopped further investing into the country. 

It may take weeks or even months to determine whether China’s bet on Maduro will pay off. Rosales suggested that China’s concerns regarding Venezuela, though, are unlikely to shift — even if the opposition party comes to power. 

“China maintains good relations with countries like Chile, which has long been governed by pro-market regimes, as well as with Brazil, which has been led by center-left governments,” he pointed out. 

“It’s important to recognize that, regardless of who is in power, China’s primary concerns will remain the same: long-term stability, the ability to carry out projects, and the capacity to repay debt,” said Rosales. 
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Al-Qaida affiliate says it has 2 Russian hostages in Niger, shows video

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DAKAR, Senegal — Two men claiming to be Russian nationals and saying they were taken captive in Niger by militants linked to al-Qaida appeared in a video published on a media platform affiliated to the extremist group.

The video, which appeared on the az-Zallaqa platform Friday night, showed two men who said they were seized by the militants while working in Baga in northeastern Niger.

The men, seated side by side and dressed in traditional local clothing, spoke into the camera. One identified himself as Yury, saying he is a geologist and was working for a Russian company when he was arrested by JNIM, the al-Qaida affiliated group in the region. The other man said his name, which was harder to make out, and said he’d been in Niger for a month.

The AP cannot independently verify the video or the date it was filmed. The men, who spoke in English, did not say when they had been detained.

A security source in Niger, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the pair were taken about a week ago while visiting gold mines.

This is the first known sighting of the men. If their account is confirmed, they would be the first Russians in the Sahel believed to be kidnapped by jihadis despite a strong and growing Russian presence across the region.

Russia has capitalized on the deteriorating relations between the West and coup-affected Sahel nations in West Africa to send fighters to the region and assert its influence. Wagner, Russia’s shadowy mercenary group, has been active in the Sahel — the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert — as the mercenaries profit from seized mineral riches in exchange for their security services.

In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, notably France and the United States, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.

The video comes days after al-Qaida claimed and an attack that dealt Wagner its deadliest blow in recent years, when it ambushed and killed at least 50 fighters in Mali. At least two Russians were taken captive by rebels, who were also involved in the attack.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment about the hostages.

The abductions are a significant hit to Wagner’s efforts in Niger, said Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, a security think tank, who first reported the Russians had been taken. The fact that al-Qaida used the word “captives” and not hostages, in the video, points to a potential desire for a prisoner swap with jihadis being held by military regimes in the Sahel, he said.

Nasr said the hostages were taken on July 19 during a battle between jihadis and Niger’s military in Baga.

He said this based on a photograph sent to him by JNIM in the aftermath of the attack and showing the men’s faces, which he identified as the Russian captives in the video.

The jihadis also confirmed to him the date the men were taken and their nationalities.

The Russians are the only known foreign non-African hostages currently believed to be held by jihadi groups in the Sahel, he said.

Jihadi groups have been abducting hostages for ransom to fund their operations and expand their presence. At least 25 foreigners and untold numbers of locals have been kidnapped in the Sahel since 2015, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

French journalist Olivier Dubois was released last year after being kidnapped from northern Mali in April 2021 and the last known Western hostages were three Italians freed in February, after being kidnapped by jihadis from Mali in 2022. 
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Katie Ledecky swims into Olympics history, winning 800 freestyle in Paris

Posted on by SeeUS

NANTERRE, France — Every year on August 3, Katie Ledecky is reminded of her first Olympic gold medal. 

She was just 15 years old, a reserved high schooler who had surprisingly made the U.S. swim team for the London Games. Then she went out and shocked the world, beating everyone in the 800-meter freestyle. 

Twelve years to the day, Ledecky did it again. 

Not a stunner, but one for the ages. 

Gold medal No. 9. 

Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus, the “Terminator,” to win the 800 free Saturday night. 

It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and the ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone. 

She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place. 

The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps with 23. 

Ledecky was very aware of the significance of the date. 

“Every August 3rd, the video [of her first Olympic gold] gets posted somewhere and you kind of reminisce,” she said. “So, when I saw it was August 3rd, I was like, ‘Oh boy, I’ve got to get the job done.'” 

That she did, going faster than her winning time in Tokyo to finish in 8 minutes, 11.04 seconds. Titmus was right on her shoulder nearly the entire race, but Ledecky pulled away in the final 100. 

Titmus, who beat Ledecky in the 400 freestyle, settled for silver at 8:12.29. The bronze went to another American, Paige Madden at 8:13.00. 

Phelps had been the only swimmer to win the same event at four straight Olympics, taking gold in the 200 individual medley at Athens, Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro. 

Now he’s got company. 

Titmus added some perspective to Ledecky’s consistency over the last dozen years, noting where she was when the American won that first gold in London. 

“I was in grade six in primary school,” Titmus said. “That’s how remarkable she is.” 

Their friendly rivalry has driven both to greater heights. They each won two golds and four medals at these games, which pushed Ledecky to 14 overall and left the 23-year-old Aussie with four golds and eight medals in her career. 

“To think that eight years later, I challenged her into her fourth consecutive in the 800 is pretty cool,” Titmus said. “So I’m really proud of myself and I feel very honored and privileged to be her rival, and I hope I’ve made her a better athlete. She has certainly made me become the athlete I am. I felt so privileged to race alongside her.” 

Dominant for a dozen years

Ledecky has dominated the distance freestyle events over the last dozen years — and isn’t done yet. She’s made it clear she plans to keep swimming at least through the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

 

“It’s not easy,” Ledecky said. “I’ll take it year by year, and we’ll see if I can keep giving everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.” 

Another gold for Canadian teenager  

Summer McIntosh stamped herself as one of the swimming stars of the Paris Olympics with her third individual gold medal, winning the 200 individual medley. 

The 17-year-old Canadian chased down American Alex Walsh and held off another U.S. swimmer, Kate Douglass, to finish in an Olympic record of 2:06.56. 

Douglass grabbed the silver in the star-studded final at 2:06.92, but the Americans lost the bronze when Walsh, the silver medalist in this event at Tokyo who recorded a time of 2:07.06, was disqualified because she did not finish the backstroke segment on her back. 

Kaylee McKeown, who touched fourth, was bumped up to the bronze at 2:08.08. 

It was a bitter blow for Walsh, whose younger sister, Gretchen, has won a gold medal and two silvers in Paris. 

McIntosh set several world records ahead of the Paris Olympics, and she backed up the enormous expectations by claiming a starring role at La Defense Arena along with Léon Marchand and Ledecky. 

McIntosh also won gold medals in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM, plus a silver in the 400 freestyle. She fell just 0.88 seconds — the margin of her loss to Titmus — shy of matching Marchand’s four individual golds. 

“It’s pretty surreal,” said McIntosh, who became the first Canadian athlete to win three golds in a single Olympics. “I’m just so proud of myself and how I’ve been able to recover and manage events. 

US sets world record 

 

The United States made up for a disappointing showing in Tokyo by setting a world record in the 4×100 mixed medley relay. 

Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske held off China for a winning time of 3:37.43, breaking the mark of 3:37.58 set by Britain when it won gold in the wild and woolly event’s Olympic debut three years ago. 

With each team picking two men and two women, the U.S. and China both went with their male swimmers in the first two legs. 

Murphy put the U.S. in front on the backstroke, China’s Qin Haiyang slipped past Nic Fink on the breaststroke, but Walsh put the Americans back in front on the butterfly before Huske held off Yang Junxuan to secure the gold. 

The Chinese team, which also included Xu Jiayu and Zhang Yufei, took silver in 3:37.55. The bronze went to Australia in 3:38.76. 

Marchand swam the breaststroke leg for France but couldn’t add to his already impressive haul of four individual golds. The French finished fourth, more than two seconds behind the Aussies. 

When the British won gold in 2021, the Americans finished fifth. Britain was seventh this time. 

Hungarian claims butterfly gold 

Kristóf Milák of Hungary won the men’s 100 butterfly, chasing down three swimmers on the return lap. 

Milák was only fourth at the turn, but he rallied to touch in 49.90. Canada grabbed the silver and bronze, with Josh Liendo finishing in 49.99 and Ilya Kharun next at 50.45. 

Milák had failed to defend his Olympic title in the 200 butterfly, settling for a silver behind French star Marchand. 

Milák claimed silver in the 100 fly three years ago, but he didn’t have to worry about the guy who beat him in that race. American Caeleb Dressel stunningly failed to qualify for the final, posting only the 13th-fastest time in the semifinals Friday. 

Kharun added another bronze to the one he garnered in the 200 butterfly. 
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Firefighters battle California wildfire ahead of storms, lightning

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chico, california — Firefighters made progress Saturday against California’s largest wildfire of the year ahead of expected thunderstorms that could unleash fire-starting lightning and erratic winds and erode progress made over the past week. Dry, hot conditions posed similar threats across the fire-stricken West. 

“We’re not completely out of the woods yet, but we’re looking very, very good,” CalFire official Mark Brunton said in a video update Saturday. “This is moving at a very fast pace.” 

Containment of the Park Fire, now California’s fourth-largest wildfire on record, is at 27% as of early Saturday. Brunton said the relatively milder weather the last few days allowed firefighters to build containment lines. 

But hotter weather, fuels and terrain will continue posing challenges for the estimated 6,500 firefighters battling the fire, which has spread over 1,621 square kilometers since allegedly being started by arson in a park in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley city of Chico. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles covers about 1,302 square kilometers. 

Suppression crews will also start removing damaged infrastructure in some areas Saturday to allow residents to return home. 

The fire originated at low elevations, where it quickly burned through thick grass and oaks, destroying at least 567 structures and damaging 51 so far. As it has climbed higher, the vegetation has changed to a greater concentration of trees and brush, Cal Fire said. 

The fire’s push northward has brought it toward the rugged lava rock landscape surrounding Lassen Volcanic National Park, which has been closed because of the threat. 

“There’s a lot of really steep drainages in that area,” CalFire spokesperson Devin Terrill said. “It takes a lot more time to access those areas.” 

After a brief respite, firefighters are now bracing for treacherous conditions of hot and dry weather, along with expected thunderstorms with potential thunder strikes and gusty winds. 

The collapse of thunderstorm clouds can blow wind in any and all directions, said Jonathan Pangburn, a fire behavior analyst with Cal Fire. “Even if there’s not lightning per se, it is very much a safety-watch-out environment for our firefighters out there,” Pangburn said. 

The Park Fire is among almost 100 large fires burning across the western U.S. Evacuation orders were in effect for 28 of the fires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. 

Three wildfires burned in Colorado on Friday near heavily populated areas north and south of Denver, with about 50 structures damaged or destroyed, thousands of people under evacuation orders, and human remains found in a destroyed house earlier this week. 

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a blaze threatening hundreds of homes near the Colorado city of Littleton as arson. 

Karlyn Tilley, a spokesperson for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said the investigation is ongoing and they are using a dog specially trained to sniff out sources and causes of fires. Tilley said just because they suspect the fire was human-caused doesn’t mean it was intentional. 

Firefighters were making good progress on the fire despite the steep, rocky terrain and blistering heat, and no houses had been burned, officials said. 

The cause and origin of a fatal blaze west of the town of Lyons was being probed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with specially trained fire investigators from the agency helping local authorities, agency spokesperson Crystal McCoy said. The area blackened by that fire remained relatively unchanged after it burned five houses. 

The largest of the Colorado fires, west of Loveland, grew to 38.5 square kilometers after previously burning 49 homes and other structures. Its cause is under investigation. 

Scientists say extreme wildfires are becoming more common and destructive in the U.S. West and other parts of the world as climate change warms the planet and droughts become more severe. 
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Trump, Vance head to Georgia after Harris event in same arena

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Former President Donald Trump returns Saturday to Georgia, which he lost four years ago, to campaign in a state that Democrats and Republicans see as up for grabs yet again.

Trump’s 5 p.m. event alongside his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, comes just days after Vice President Kamala Harris rallied thousands in the same basketball arena at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

Both parties are focusing on Georgia, a Sun Belt battleground that Democrats had signaled just two weeks ago they would sideline in favor of a heavier focus on the Midwestern “blue wall” states. President Joe Biden’s decision to end his campaign and endorse Harris fueled Democratic hopes of an expanded electoral map.

“The momentum in this race is shifting,” Harris told a cheering, boisterous crowd on Tuesday. “And there are signs Donald Trump is feeling it.”

Biden beat Trump in the state by 11,779 votes in 2020. Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to change the outcome. Trump was later indicted in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the election, but the case remains on hold while courts decide whether the Fulton County district attorney can continue to prosecute it.

In announcing Saturday’s rally, the Trump campaign accused Harris of costing Georgians money due to inflation and higher gas prices, which have risen from pandemic-era lows at the end of the Trump administration. The campaign also noted the case of Laken Riley, a nursing student from the state who was killed while jogging in a park on February 22. A Venezuelan citizen has been indicted on murder charges in her death.

Trump and his allies have repeatedly labeled Harris the current administration’s “border czar,” a reference to her assignment leading White House efforts on root causes of migration.

But in recent days, Trump has lobbed false attacks about Harris’ race and suggested she misled voters about her identity. Harris has stated for years in public life that she is Black and Indian American.

At her rally in Atlanta, Harris called Trump and Vance “plain weird” — a lane of messaging seized on by many other Democrats of late — and taunted Trump for wavering on whether he’d show up for their upcoming debate, currently on the books for September 10 on ABC.

Saying earlier that he would debate Harris, Trump has more recently questioned the value of a meetup, calling host network ABC News “fake news,” saying he “probably” will debate Harris, but he “can also make a case for not doing it.”

The fact that Harris and Trump have been focusing resources on Georgia underscores the state’s renewed significance to both parties come November. Going to Atlanta puts Trump in the state’s largest media market, including suburbs and exurbs that were traditional Republican strongholds but have become more competitive as they’ve diversified and grown in population.

In a strategy memo released after Biden left the race, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon — who held the same role for Biden — reaffirmed the importance of winning the traditional Democratic blue wall trio of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but also argued that Harris’ place atop the ticket “opens up additional persuadable voters” and described them as “disproportionately Black, Latino and under 30” in places like Georgia.

Next week, along with her eventual running mate, Harris plans to visit that Midwestern trifecta, along with North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. On Friday, she will make another stop in Georgia.
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Nigerian police teargas protesters, arrest dozens

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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s police on Saturday arrested dozens of protesters and fired teargas to disperse those trying to march to government offices in the capital, Abuja, on a third day of demonstrations over a cost-of-living crisis.

In northern Kano state, at least one person was shot in the neck and rushed to a hospital, witnesses said.

At least 13 people were killed on Thursday when protests turned violent, Amnesty International said, blaming police for using live rounds.

Police said on Saturday that in three days of protests, seven people died, but they denied responsibility. Nearly 700 people were arrested during the protests and nine officers injured, police added in a statement.

Police have sought to confine protesters to the outskirts of major cities to avoid disruptions to business and traffic.

On Saturday, demonstrators gathered at a major stadium in Abuja, but police used teargas to disperse them when they attempted to march on a major road into the center of the city.

“Many Nigerians are feeling the same pains, so I believe they will come out and protest. I will be here ‘til midnight,” said protester Julius Chidiebere before police fired teargas.

Dozens of protesters were arrested and driven away in police vans, Reuters journalists said.

Police and the army intensified patrols in Kano State, where some protesters attempted to break into a police station near the neighborhoods of Kurna and Rijiyar Lemo.

In the commercial hub of Lagos, more than 1,000 protesters gathered peacefully to denounce economic hardship worsened by President Bola Tinubu’s reforms that started last year with the removal of a popular fuel subsidy and the devaluation of the currency, which sent inflation soaring.
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Aerosmith ends touring, citing permanent damage to singer’s voice

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LOS ANGELES — Aerosmith says Steven Tyler’s voice has been permanently damaged by a vocal cord injury last year and the band will no longer tour.

The iconic band behind hits such as “Love in an Elevator” and “Livin’ on the Edge” posted a statement Friday announcing the cancellation of remaining dates on its tour and provided an update on Tyler’s voice.

“He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible,” the statement said. “We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision — as a band of brothers — to retire from the touring stage.”

Tyler announced he injured his vocal cords in September during a show on the band’s Peace Out: The Farewell Tour. Tyler said in an Instagram statement at the time that the injury caused bleeding but that he hoped the band would be back after postponing a few shows.

Tyler’s soaring vocals have powered Aerosmith’s massive catalog of hits since its formation in 1970, including “Dream On,” “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” They were near the start of a 40-date farewell tour when Tyler was injured.

“We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing. As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other,” the band said in Friday’s statement to fans.

“It has been the honor of our lives to have our music become part of yours,” the band said. “In every club, on every massive tour and at moments grand and private you have given us a place in the soundtrack of your lives.”

Aerosmith is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a four-time Grammy-winning band. In addition to Tyler, its members are Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer.
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Former Ukrainian tennis star puts sports training to use on front lines

Posted on by SeeEU

Ukrainian tennis player Alex Dolgopolov was once ranked 13th in the world. But shortly after Russia invaded his homeland in 2022, he volunteered to fight on the front lines. Anna Kosstutschenko met with the tennis star turned drone operator. Camera: Pavel Suhodolskiy.
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Harris foreign policy would bring continuity with some distinct emphases

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With Democratic nominee Kamala Harris set to face off with Republican Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency, Harris’ positions on military support to Israel and Ukraine; a rising China; and the migrant crisis at the southern border are under increased scrutiny. As VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports, expect a continuation of Biden administration policies with a few shifts in emphasis.
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6.8-magnitude earthquake hits off Philippines’ Mindanao

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Manila, Philippines — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines on Saturday, the United States Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The shallow quake hit just before 6:30 a.m. about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the village of Barcelona on the east side of Mindanao island, the USGS said.

Many people were sleeping when the strong shaking jolted them from their beds.

The local seismological agency said no damage was expected from the earthquake.

In Lingig municipality, where Barcelona is located, local disaster officer Ian Onsing said he was woken by the tremor.

“The shaking was quite strong. The things around here were moving. I guess, the shaking took around 10 to 15 seconds,” he told AFP by telephone. “So far, there are no reported casualties or damage. We are now monitoring the shores for any rough movement.”

In the municipality of Hinatuan, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Barcelona, local disaster officer Jerome Ramirez saw appliances “moving for around 30 seconds” from the strong shaking.

He also said there had been no reports of injuries or damage in coastal communities in the area.

“Now we are just monitoring for possible aftershocks,” Ramirez told AFP by telephone.

A series of aftershocks were felt in some areas in Mindanao, with the strongest at 6.3 magnitude about 36 kilometers (22.3 miles) east of Barcelona, according to the USGS.

“Aftershocks are happening here every two minutes, but we’re glad it’s not as strong as the earthquake this morning,” Onsing said.

Earthquakes regularly strike the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of intense seismic and volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive quakes come at random with no technology available to predict when and where they will happen.

In December, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck off Mindanao, briefly triggering a tsunami warning.

That sent residents along the east coast of the island fleeing buildings, evacuating a hospital and seeking higher ground. At least three people died.
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Chinese commentator goes silent on social media after controversial post

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China’s state-run tabloid Global Times, has gone silent on social media for a week after his analysis of China’s economic policies triggered a backlash from Chinese state media and other prominent commentators.

Hu, a prominent nationalistic commentator known for his outspoken style on social media, has not shared anything on any of his social media accounts, including the microblogging site Weibo, Chinese messaging app WeChat and X, formerly known as Twitter, since July 27.

His silence comes after his July 22 WeChat opinion article pointing out that the Communist Party had left out a key phrase, “state sector is the mainstay of the Chinese economy,” from the resolution on reforming the Chinese economy adopted by China’s top leadership during the Third Plenum, a closed-door conclave that laid out key economic policies for the next five years.

He claimed that the move, which deviates from the Communist Party’s usual practice of reiterating the slogan in official documents, shows that China is hoping to “achieve true equality between the private and state-owned economy.”

Hu’s comments in the article, which has since been removed from WeChat, triggered widespread criticism on Chinese social media outlets, as some conservative commentators accused him of misinterpreting the resolution, which vowed to “consolidate and develop the state-owned economy.”

In addition to online criticism, China’s state-run People’s Daily also published an opinion article on July 30, reiterating that China’s fundamental position on the state and private sectors has not changed and will not change in the future.

The party “will be able to inject a surging impetus into the promotion of Chinese-style modernization by adhering to and perfecting the basic socialist economic system, promoting stronger and better state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, and creating a favorable environment and providing more opportunities for the development of the nonstate sector of the economy,” the article said.

Bloomberg News reported that Hu has been banned from posting on social media, citing an anonymous source, but in a brief response to Hong Kong’s Sing Tao Daily, Hu refused to elaborate on his unusual silence.

“Personally, I don’t want to say anything. Just read what’s on the internet. Please understand,” he told Sing Tao Daily.

Some analysts say the incident reflects the Chinese government’s attempt to tighten control over discussions and narratives about China’s economy, which remains sluggish despite the government’s plan to roll out reform following the plenum.

“As the Chinese economy gets into a more precarious situation, the leadership in China becomes increasingly aware that it is a source of instability, so they decide to double down on control over economic and business information,” Dexter Roberts, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, told VOA by phone.

Other experts say Hu’s silence, which departs from his usual outspoken style on social media, also shows that he has crossed the line by publicly contradicting party policy.

“His comments have crossed the red line set up by the Communist Party, and the severity of the punishment, which is an outright ban from posting on social media, sends a warning to the rest of China that authorities have zero tolerance for opinions that deviate from the official line,” said Hung Chin-fu, an expert of Chinese politics at National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan.

In his view, while the resolution mentioned the goal of expanding China’s private sector, development of the private sector still needs to be guided by the party, which means that the state sector will still play a dominant role in that process.

“China’s top leadership will allow some discussions on the development of its private sector, but they don’t want those voices to overshadow the official narrative,” Hung told VOA by phone.

Some analysts say Hu’s silence on social media may be a result that is in line with existing laws in China. “The new Chinese Communist Party Disciplinary Regulations explicitly forbids people like Hu from jumping the gun like he did,” Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at Australian National University, told VOA in a written response.

While Hu is unlikely to face a total ban on social media, Roberts said, he may become more careful when commenting on topics related to the Chinese government’s policies or sensitive domestic issues in the future.

“There is less and less tolerance for outspoken people like Hu in China these days, so I don’t think something like this [can] happen to him without there being longer-term repercussions,” he told VOA.

Sung said Hu’s case also shows the growing risks Chinese people, including those working for the Communist Party, face when commenting on sensitive issues.

“Hu’s episode probably speaks to how hard it is to know where the red line is for anyone engaging in public political discourse in China today — even for a real insider like Hu, who worked in the party’s propaganda system for 28 years,” he said.
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Ukrainian military says it attacked Russian airfield, oil depots

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KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine’s military said on Saturday it had attacked Russia’s Morozovsk airfield and several oil depots and fuel storage facilities in three Russian regions overnight.

The attack on the airfield hit an ammunition depot where Russian forces stored guided aerial bombs among other equipment, the military said.

“Russian combat aviation must be destroyed wherever it is, by all effective means. It is also quite fair to strike at Russian airfields. And we need this joint solution with our partners — a security solution,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russian forces used over 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine in the past week. The attack on oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions set fire to at least two oil tanks, according to the Ukrainian military report.

The Ukrainian president has repeatedly called on his Western allies for permission to use their weapons for long-range attacks on Russia, in addition to striking military targets close to the border.

In Russia, local officials reported that tanks at a fuel storage depot in the Kamensky district of Rostov region caught fire as a result of a drone attack.

The regional governor of Belgorod also said Ukraine-launched drones caused a fire at an oil storage depot there, adding that the fire was extinguished and no one was injured.

Ukraine has dramatically stepped up its use of long-range drones this year to attack Russian oil facilities, attempting to damage sites fueling Russian forces and the country’s economy in Moscow’s 29-month-old invasion.
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Vietnam’s president confirmed as new Communist Party chief

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Vietnamese President To Lam was confirmed Saturday as the new chief of the Communist Party after his predecessor died July 19.

Lam will be the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s most powerful political role, state media said. It was unclear if Lam will stay in his role as president.

The previous general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, dominated Vietnamese politics since he became party chief in 2011. He was elected to a third term as general secretary in 2021. He was an ideologue who viewed corruption as the gravest threat facing the party.

In his first speech as the Communist Party chief, Lam said that him taking the reigns was because of “an urgent need to ensure the leadership of the party.”

Lam said he would maintain the legacies of his predecessor, notably the anti-corruption campaign that has rocked the country’s political and business elites and a pragmatic approach to foreign policy known as bamboo diplomacy — a phrase coined by Trong referring to the plant’s flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of global geopolitics.

Lam spent over four decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming the minister in 2016. As Vietnam’s top security official, Lam led Trong’s sweeping anti-graft campaign until May, when he became president following the resignation of his predecessor, who stepped down after being caught by the campaign.

Big changes in Vietnam’s strategic approach are unlikely, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, but Lam’s relative newness to governing meant that it remains to be seen how he will lead.

Given the current composition of the upper echelons of Vietnamese politics, Giang said it was possible that Lam’s promotion could mean an end to the internal fighting that has rocked the party for several years.

“To Lam is the new unchallenged power who will dominate Vietnamese politics in the years, if not a decade, ahead,” he said.

Giang said the party will vote for the general secretary again in 2026, and Lam’s performance will be a factor.

“For now, however, it seems a new era has come,” he said.
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At least 32 killed in militant attack on Mogadishu beach

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WASHINGTON — At least 32 people were killed and 63 others were injured after al-Shabab militants attacked a crowded beachfront area in Mogadishu, Somalia, Friday night, according to a Somali police spokesperson, Major Abdifatah Aden Hassan.

The attack started around 10 p.m. local time with an explosion by a suicide bomber at the crowded beach as beachgoers were on a late weekend night out. 

Purported video clips published by local media sites showed many people lying on the beach, some seemingly dead, others badly injured.

After the first explosion went off, three al-Shabaab gunmen stormed a beachfront dining and entertainment building.

In addition to the civilians killed, all three attackers were shot and killed by security forces, police said. A fourth militant blew himself up, the report added.

The Somali government immediately deployed security forces to engage the attackers, witnesses said. Security forces told state media they ended the siege nearly four hours after the attack.

Mogadishu hospitals appealed for blood donations to assist those injured in the attack.

Al-Shabaab, through its official radio, claimed responsibility for the attack and for sending suicide attackers.

Al-Shabab has attacked Lido Beach restaurants and hotels multiple times over the years because it is a favorite spot for families, young people and returning diaspora members to socialize. 
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Minority farmers set for $2 billion from USDA after years of discrimination

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COLUMBIA, Missouri — The Biden administration has doled out more than $2 billion in direct payments for Black and other minority farmers discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the president announced Wednesday.

More than 23,000 farmers were approved for payments ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, according to the USDA. Another 20,000 who planned to start a farm but did not receive a USDA loan received between $3,500 and $6,000.

Most payments went to farmers in Mississippi and Alabama.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters that the aid “is not compensation for anyone’s loss or the pain endured, but it is an acknowledgment by the department.”

The USDA has a long history of refusing to process loans from Black farmers, approving smaller loans compared to white farmers, and in some cases foreclosing quicker than usual when Black farmers who obtained loans ran into problems.

National Black Farmers Association Founder and President John Boyd Jr. said the aid is helpful. But, he said, it’s not enough.

“It’s like putting a bandage on somebody that needs open-heart surgery,” Boyd said. “We want our land, and I want to be very, very clear about that.”

Boyd is still fighting a federal lawsuit for 120% debt relief for Black farmers that was approved by Congress in 2021. Five billion dollars for the program was included in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package.

But the money never came. White farmers in several states filed lawsuits arguing their exclusion was a violation of their constitutional rights, which prompted judges to halt the program shortly after its passage.

Faced with the likelihood of a lengthy court battle that would delay payments to farmers, Congress amended the law and offered financial help to a broader group of farmers. A new law allocated $3.1 billion to help farmers struggling with USDA-backed loans and $2.2 billion to pay farmers who the agency discriminated against.

Wardell Carter, who is Black, said no one in his farming family got so much as access to a loan application since Carter’s father bought 34.4 hectares of Mississippi land in 1939. He said USDA loan officers would slam the door in his face. If Black farmers persisted, Carter said officers would have police come to their homes.

Without a loan, Carter’s family could not afford a tractor and instead used a horse and mule for years. And without proper equipment, the family could farm at most 16.2 hectares of their property — cutting profits.

When they finally received a bank loan to buy a tractor, Carter said the interest rate was 100%.

Boyd said he’s watched as his loan applications were torn up and thrown in the trash, been called racial epithets, and was told to leave in the middle of loan meetings so the officer could speak to white farmers.

“We face blatant, in-your-face, real discrimination,” Boyd said. “And I did personally. The county person who was making farm loans spat tobacco juice on me during a loan session.”

At 65, Carter said he’s too old to farm his land. But he said if he receives money through the USDA program, he will use it to get his property in shape so his nephew can begin farming on it again. Carter said he and his family want to pitch in to buy his nephew a tractor, too. 
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Simone Biles raises gymnastics bar so high that 5 skills bear her name

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paris — It is not enough — it has never been enough — for Simone Biles to do gymnastics.

The 27-year-old American star has been intent almost from the start on pushing the sport in new directions by doing things that have never been done before. That could continue this week when she tries for her eighth Olympic medal in Paris.

Five elements currently bear her name in the Code of Points after she successfully completed them in an international competition: two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam.

A quick primer.

Biles I (Floor exercise version)

She was just a teenager and recently minted national champion when Biles performed a tumbling pass at the 2013 world championships that she completes by doing a double layout with a half-twist at the end.

The move looks dangerous — Biles is essentially flying blind — but she and former coach Aimee Boorman came up with it because it was less taxing on her legs.

“It was almost kind of necessity is the mother of invention,” Boorman told The Associated Press in 2015. “Her calf was hurting. She had bone spurs in her ankles and she’s really good at floor with landings.”

Biles II (floor exercise version)

Biles returned to the sport in 2018 following a two-year layoff after winning the all-around at the 2016 Olympics.

Not content to merely repeat herself, Biles began working on a triple-twisting, double flip that is now known simply as ” the triple-double.” She unveiled it while winning the 2019 U.S. Championships then did it again at the world championships a few months later when she won the fifth of her record six world all-around titles.

“I wanted to see how it looked,” she explained afterward.

Biles I (vault version)

As with a lot of gymnastics elements, Biles took a Cheng vault and added another layer of difficulty — this one an extra half twist on a vault originally done by China’s Cheng Fei.

The vault requires Biles to do a round-off onto the vault, then a half-twist onto the table before doing two full twists. It entered the Code after she made it part of her routine at the 2018 world championships.

“I’m embarrassed to do floor and vault after something like that,” U.S. men’s gymnast Yul Moldauer said in 2018. “You see Simone do that and she’s smiling the whole time. How does she do that?”

Biles II (vault version)

This may be the most dazzling, most daring one of them all.

The Yurchenko double pike had never been completed by a woman in competition, and few men have even tried. She began tinkering with it in 2021, but it’s in the last year that it has morphed into perhaps the most show-stopping thing done in the sport.

The vault asks Biles to do a round-off back handspring onto the table, then two backward flips in pike position with her hands essentially clasped to her knees. She does it with so much power, she can sometimes overcook it. At the U.S. Olympic trials last month, it drew a standing ovation.

“No, it’s not normal,” longtime coach Laurent Landi said after she drilled it at the 2023 U.S. Championships. “She’s not normal.”

Biles I (balance beam version)

For all of her explosive tumbling, Biles is a wonder on balance beam, too, where she can make doing intricate moves on a four-inch-wide piece of wood seem almost casual.

The same year she debuted the triple-double on floor, she added a double-twisting, double-tucked dismount off the beam. She stuck it at the 2019 world championships, though she has since taken it out of her repetoire.

What does the new uneven bars skill look like?

The skill Biles submitted requires her to do a forward circle around the lower bar before turning a handstand into a 540-degree pirouette. USA Gymnastics teased the move on X ahead of the Games. She didn’t attempt it during the team or all-around competitions but still won gold in both.
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France shifts Western Sahara stance, seeking closer ties with Morocco

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RABAT, Morocco — France has thrown its support behind Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting a decades-old position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remains stalled.

In a letter to King Mohammed VI, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called the plan that Morocco proposed in 2007 to offer the region limited autonomy under its sovereignty the “only basis” to solve the conflict. The shift deals a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has for decades claimed to be the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people.

“The present and future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Macron wrote in a letter made public on Tuesday. “France intends to act consistently with this position at both national and international level.”

Macron’s move is unlikely to change the key tenets of the territorial dispute but could deepen France ties with Morocco, which has long blamed it for drawing the colonial borders it sees as the root of the conflict. France signaled earlier this year that it was open to investing in Moroccan projects in the disputed territory.

The move could strain diplomatic relations in North Africa, further alienating both France and Morocco from Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front’s claims and allows it to operate as a self-declared government in exile from refugee camps within its borders.

It follows similar shifts from the United States, Israel, Spain and a growing list of African nations that have established consulates in the territory.

In a statement, Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s Royal Cabinet called France’s shift “a significant development.” A high-ranking Moroccan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity noted France’s role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and called it “a game-changer” amid an international shift toward Morocco’s position.

The move was preemptively rebuked by both Algeria and the Polisario Front in the days leading up to the publication of letter, which Algeria said it was made aware of by France in the days prior.

The Polisario’s Mohamed Sidati accused France of acting at odds with international law and backing Moroccan expansionism as its influence wanes throughout Africa.

“Whatever hardships Morocco tries to impose on us with the support of France, the Sahrawi people will continue to stubbornly defend their rights until they obtain the definitive departure of the Moroccan aggressor from their territory and general recognition of the legitimacy of their struggle for self-determination and independence,” Sidati, the Foreign Minister of the self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, said in a statement on Monday.

Algeria called Morocco and France “colonial powers, new and old” and announced it would withdraw its ambassador from Paris.

“The French decision is clearly the result of a dubious political calculation, a morally questionable judgement and legal interpretations that are neither supported nor justified,” Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last week.

Western Sahara is roughly the size of Colorado, encompassing a stretch of desert rich in phosphates and sitting along an Atlantic coastline rich in fish. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a regional conflict and putting it at odds with the pro-independence Polisario Front over the region that the United Nations considers a “non-self-governing territory.”

Morocco quickly moved to occupy the majority of the land, fighting off guerilla warfare from the Polisario until the U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote prevented the referendum from taking place.

Morocco has long sought political recognition of its claim from its other nations, while the Polisario has prioritized fighting legal battles to assert the people of the region’s right to self-determination.

Sporadic violence has ensued since the Polisario renewed armed conflict in 2020, ending a 29-year truce. Morocco has since embarked on expansive economic development efforts, constructing ports, highways and hotels.
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Maui fire lawsuit parties reach $4B global settlement, court filings say

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HONOLULU — The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

The term sheet with details of the settlement is not publicly available, but the liaison attorneys filed a motion Friday saying the global settlement seeks to resolve all Maui fire claims for $4.037 billion. The motion asks the judge to order that insurers can’t separately go after the defendants to recoup money paid to policyholders.

“We’re under no illusions that this is going to make Maui whole,” Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney selected as one of four liaisons for the coordination of the cases, told The Associated Press. “We know for a fact that it’s not going to make up for what they lost.”

Thomas Leonard, who lost his Front Street condo in the fire and spent hours in the ocean behind a seawall hiding from the flames, welcomed the news.

“It gives us something to work with,” he said. “I’m going to need that money to rebuild.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a statement that seven defendants will pay the $4.037 billion to compensate those who have already brought claims for the August 8, 2023, fires that killed 102 people and destroyed the historic downtown area of Lahaina on Maui.

Green said the proposed settlement is an agreement in principle and would “help our people heal.”

“My priority as governor was to expedite the agreement and to avoid protracted and painful lawsuits so as many resources as possible would go to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.

He said it was unprecedented to settle lawsuits like this in only one year.

“It will be good that our people don’t have to wait to rebuild their lives as long as others have in many places that have suffered similar tragedies,” Green said.

Hawaiian Electric CEO Sheelee Kimura said the settlement will allow the parties to move forward without the added challenges and divisiveness of litigation.

“For the many affected parties to work with such commitment and focus to reach resolution in a uniquely complex case is a powerful demonstration of how Hawaiʻi comes together in times of crisis,” Kimura said in a statement.

Hawaiian Electric said the settlement will help reestablish the company’s financial stability. It said payments would begin after final approval and were expected no earlier than the middle of next year.

Gilbert Keith-Agaran, a Maui attorney who represents victims, including families who lost relatives, said the amount was “woefully short.” But he said it was a deal plaintiffs needed to consider given Hawaiian Electric’s limited assets and potential bankruptcy.

Lowenthal noted there were “extenuating circumstances” that made lawyers worry the litigation would drag on for years.

Now that a settlement has been reached, more work needs to be done on next steps, like how to divvy up the amount.

“This is the first step to allowing the Maui fire victims to get compensation sooner than later,” Lowenthal said.

More than 600 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires, which burned thousands of homes and displaced 12,000 people. In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to participate in settlement talks.

Four other defendants did not immediately respond to email messages or phone calls seeking comment. They are Maui County, Hawaiian Telcom, Kamehameha Schools — formerly known as Bishop Estate — and West Maui Land Co.

Spectrum/Charter Communications declined to comment.
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