Monday, August 12, 2024
It is August 12, 2024. Here is today’s news.
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Olympics: U.S. leads medal count
The United States of America had the most medals in the Paris Olympics with 126 medals. China is in second with 91 medals. Both the U.S. and China are tied for the gold medal tally with 40 each. NPR explained that most of the U.S. gold medals came from swimming and track, while China had most of its gold medals from diving, shooting, table tennis, and weightlifting.
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Jordan Chiles bronze medal dispute
There is one Olympics medal that is in dispute — the bronze medal for gymnastics individual floor finals that went to American Jordan Chiles. During the competition, judges gave Chiles a score that would have given her 5th place but her coach appealed, telling the judges that they didn’t give enough points for a more difficult move. The judges realized the mistake and the new score gave Chiles the bronze. But that medal was stripped after the Court of Arbitration for Sport found that the appeal was filed past a one-minute deadline. USA Gymnastics said they disagree and have submitted evidence that the appeal was filed on time.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/11/nx-s1-5071150/paris-olympics-medal-total-us-gold
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Plane crashes in Brazil, killing 61
On Friday in Brazil, a passenger plane with 61 people on it crashed into a residential area and all on board were killed. Videos on social media showed the plane spinning and falling from the sky. The plane was operated by a regional carrier called Voepass. It is not clear what caused the crash. Investigators said the pilots did not call for help. AP News said it was the deadliest airline crash since January 2023, when 72 people died in a plane crash in Nepal. Both planes were an ATR 72, which is manufactured by a French-Italian company called ATR.
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-plane-crash-sao-paulo-394427322513643f4eaf517e4ac4c85e
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U.S. military deploys submarine to Middle East
CNN reported that the U.S. military said it is anticipating an Iranian-Hezbollah attack against Israel from Lebanon and has deployed a powerful submarine and accelerated the arrival of a carrier strike group to the Middle East. The U.S. military usually keeps it a secret where its submarines are and analysts said the announcement means the U.S. is trying to deter Iran from attacking. Tensions in the region have increased after Israel killed the top military commander of Hezbollah and the assassination of Hamas’ political leader a few weeks ago. On Sunday night, Hezbollah launched around 30 rockets into northern Israel. During all this, there are still efforts to bring a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/11/politics/defense-secretary-strike-group-iran/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/11/middleeast/israeli-military-looming-iranian-attack-intl/index.html
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Trump returns to X (Twitter)
Donald Trump returned to X (formerly Twitter) today and made several posts. He will be interviewed by X’s owner Elon Musk tonight. During Trump’s 2016 presidential run and eventual presidency, he often posted on Twitter (@realDonaldTrump) and usually had one of the highest numbers of followers and engagements. After the Jan. 6 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was fueled by Trump’s false claims of election fraud, he was banned by Twitter. Then in 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter, changed it to X, and reinstated Trump’s account. Trump didn’t use X, preferring to post from his own Truth Social platform. Now, Trump’s back on X. When I scrolled down Trump’s account and timeline, it shows several recent posts about his campaign against Kamala Harris, about his interview with Musk tonight, and no other posts dating back to Jan 8, 2021 — except for one post in 2023 after Trump was arrested in Georgia on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election. So it’s a return to X (Twitter) after almost three years. It’s clearly a way for Trump to attract more attention and support in his bid to return to the White House.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/12/technology/donald-trump-elon-musk-x.html
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That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.