Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious but rainy opening ceremony on the Seine River
PARIS (AP) — Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River. On-and-off showers — the first rain at a Summer Olympics’ opening ceremony in more than 70 years — did not seem to hamper the enthusiasm of the athletes. Some held umbrellas as they rode boats down the river in a showcase of the city’s resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network. Widespread travel disruptions triggered by what French officials called coordinated arson attacks on high-speed rail lines as well as the weather had dampened the mood ahead of the ceremony.
Arsonists attack French high-speed rail system hours before opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics
PARIS (AP) — Arsonists attacked France’s high-speed rail network early Friday, setting fires that paralyzed train travel to Paris for some 800,000 people across Europe, including athletes heading to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Targeting remote locations far from the capital, the apparently coordinated attacks sought to cut off rail routes into the city from all directions. The fires were predominantly set in pipes containing critical signaling cables for the system known as the TGV. There were no reports of injuries. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the damage would not affect the ceremony in which 7,000 Olympic athletes were due to sail down the Seine past iconic Parisian monuments such as Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum and the Musee d’Orsay.
Trump welcomes Netanyahu to Mar-a-Lago, mending his relationship with a key political ally
WASHINGTON (AP) — A beaming Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to their first face-to-face meeting in nearly four years on Friday, patching up a political alliance important to both men that had broken down when the Israeli leader offended Trump by being one of the first to congratulate Joe Biden on his 2020 presidential victory. Asked by journalists if his U.S. trip was making progress toward a Gaza cease-fire at home, Netanyahu said, “I hope so,” and added that Israel was eager for an agreement. Netanyahu handed Trump a framed photo that the Israeli leader said showed a child who has been held hostage by Hamas-led militants since the first hours of the war.
Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris, giving her expected but crucial support
ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris in her White House bid, giving the vice president the expected but still crucial backing of the nation’s two most popular Democrats. The endorsement, announced Friday in a video showing Harris accepting a joint phone call from the former first couple, comes as Harris builds momentum as their party’s likely nominee after President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection bid and endorse his second-in-command against Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump. It also highlights the friendship and potentially historic link between the nation’s first Black president and the first woman, first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to serve as vice president, who is now vying to break those barriers at the presidential rank.
Powerful cartel leader ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was lured onto airplane before arrest in US, AP source says
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada got on an airplane to the U.S. believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going.
Mexico’s president downplays cartel violence that drove nearly 600 Mexicans into Guatemala
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked Guatemala on Friday for helping the nearly 600 Mexicans who have crossed into Guatemala to escape drug cartel violence, but also minimized the violence that drove them there. In his first comments since the refugees fled earlier this week, the president went on to add that Mexico is a large country, and like many other parts of the world, “there are conflicts.” “Our (political) adversaries want to see that our government is unstable, that violence dominates and our country is being destroyed,” he said. The National Guard would secure the area and the situation would soon be resolved, he said.
Harris will carry Biden’s economic record into the election. She hopes to turn it into an asset
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key question is looming for Vice President Kamala Harris as she edges closer to gaining the Democratic presidential nomination: Can she turn the Biden-Harris economic record into a political advantage in a way that President Joe Biden failed to do? In some ways, her task would seem straightforward: The administration oversaw a vigorous rebound from the pandemic recession, one that shrank the U.S. unemployment rate to a half-century low of 3.4% in early 2023 — far below the painful 6.4% rate when Biden and Harris took office in 2021. The rate stayed below 4% for more than two years, the longest such stretch since the 1960s.
Recall of Boar’s Head deli meats announced during investigation of listeria outbreak
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials Friday announced a recall of some Boar’s Head liverwurst and deli meats as they investigate a listeria outbreak that has sickened nearly three dozen people and caused two deaths. Boar’s Head Provisions Co. recalled liverwurst because it may be tainted with the listeria bacteria, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. The agency said a sample of Boar’s Head liverwurst from a Maryland store tested positive for listeria. The company is also recalling deli-sliced meats made the same day on the same line as the contaminated liverwurst at a Virginia plant, the USDA said. The sample was from an unopened package, collected by health officials as part of an investigation into the listeria outbreak.
A tanker plane crash has killed a firefighting pilot in Oregon as Western wildfires spread
A tanker plane that disappeared in eastern Oregon while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states has been found, and the pilot on board is dead, authorities said Friday. A Grant County Search and Rescue team located the aircraft Friday morning and confirmed the death, said Lisa Clark, a Bureau of Land Management information officer for the Falls Fire. The single-engine tanker, a small and nimble plane that looks like a crop duster, was located in steep, forested terrain on Friday morning after the search was suspended at nightfall the day before, Clark said. The plane contracted by the U.S.
Snoop Dogg carries the Olympic torch before opening ceremony in Paris
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Snoop Dogg is seemingly everywhere during the Paris Olympics, but on Friday morning you could catch him carrying the Olympic torch ahead of the opening ceremony. He was one of the final torch bearers of the Olympic flame, which was lit in April in Greece and slowly has journeyed toward Paris since. Snoop Dogg’s leg was in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. In an interview earlier this week, the multihyphenate expressed gratitude toward the U.S. and France for the opportunity. “I look at this as a prestigious honor and something I truly respect. I would have never dreamed of nothing like this,” he said.
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