Author: Reporter

A hot-air balloon brought an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy sky and singer Celine Dion belted from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on July 26, with a four-hour-long, rule-breaking opening ceremony that unfurled along the Seine River. On-and-off showers 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. With the ambitious ceremony, the stakes for France were immense....

A massive security operation was deployed on July 26 in Paris to keep the opening ceremony of the Olympics safe. The capital’s streets are blocked off, squadrons of police are on patrol and imposing metal-fence security barriers have been erected like an iron curtain on both sides of the River Seine. Up to 45,000 police and gendarmes as well as 10,000 soldiers have been deployed for Olympic security. Here is a look at what has happened with security so far: FRENCH RAIL NETWORK SABOTAGED Widespread and “criminal” acts of vandalism including arson attacks hit France’s high-speed rail network on...

Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly that he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he was elected president again. The United Nations ambassador for Russia said the criminally convicted Republican candidate’s assertion was absurd. When asked to respond to the claim from the presumptive Republican nominee, Vassily Nebenzia told reporters recently that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.” At a CNN town hall in May 2023, Trump said: “They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24...