Last week, it was Michael Phelps reminding us that the Olympics are more than a passing photo op or filler for your Facebook feed. The American swimmer’s 12th individual medal matched a record of another famous Olympic athlete — from more than 2,100 years ago! Leonidas of Rhodes, a runner, had won 12 solo medals at four Games between 164 and 152 BC, considered one of the world’s oldest records.
Last night it was Usain Bolt’s chance to reach for Olympic “immortality,” taking home his third straight 100-meter dash title. In a year littered with doping scandals, some athletes can still achieve legendary status through sheer talent alone. The 9.81 seconds it took him to complete 100 meters in yesterday’s final, was actually the slowest of the three winning Olympic results for the now 29-year-old Jamaican star. But perhaps it was victory that carried the most meaning. “It wasn’t the perfect race, but the fact is I won,” he told reporters after the race.
Bolt was bullish about his chances to add to his legend, ahead of the 200m and 4x100m relay events later this week, aiming for a “triple triple” of three gold medals in three sprints in three consecutive Games. The crowning of the “fastest man on earth” is perhaps the singular defining moment for each Olympics. Doing it three Games running is a feat (and feet!) for the ages.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY
- India celebrates 70 years of independence from British rule.
- Japan commemorates 71st anniversary of the end of World War II, which also marks the independence of South Korea.
- Clinton and Biden campaign together for the first time in Pennsylvania.
BOKO HARAM RELEASES CHIBOK GIRLS VIDEO
Islamist group Boko Haram released a video showing some of the 276 girls abducted from their northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014, Vanguard reports toayy. One terrorist says in the video that about 40 girls “have been married by the decision of Allah,” while others “have died as a result of aerial bombardment.” The Nigerian army is now looking for a journalist and two men who were reportedly sent the footage before public release. Read more from Al Jazeera.
SUSPECT ARRESTED IN NEW YORK IMAM SHOOTING
New York police have arrested a man suspected of killing an imam and his friend outside a mosque in Queens. The shooting, which occurred on Saturday afternoon, may have been motivated by an ongoing feud between Muslims and Hispanics in the neighborhood, the New York Daily News reports.
ANOTHER NIGHT OF VIOLENCE IN MILWAUKEE
A second night of protests in the city of Milwaukee escalated into violence with reports of gunfire, while protesters torched businesses and threw rocks at police officers. The protests were triggered by the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith, an African-American shot dead in a police chase after he refused to drop his gun. Read more from USA Today.
VERBATIM
“Modern medical techniques have allowed me to scrutinize the universe,” former Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote in a public letter published for his 90th birthday on Saturday. Castro, who expressed his “deepest gratitude” for the well-wishers, also seized the opportunity to criticize U.S. President Barack Obama for not apologizing to the Japanese during his visit to Hiroshima. “He lacked the words to ask for forgiveness for the killings of hundreds of thousands of people,” he wrote.
MORE CIVILIANS KILLED IN ALEPPO
Heavy fighting in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo continued over the weekend with reports of several civilians caught in the crossfire between Syrian and Russian troops on the one hand and rebel fighters on the other, The New York Times reports. In Iraq meanwhile, Kurdish fighters have launched a new offensive to try and remove ISIS from the city of Mosul, the terrorist group’s Iraqi “capital.”
— ON THIS DAY
The hippie movement peaked 47 years ago, at the opening of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair. This and more in your 57-second shot of history.
U.S. SWIMMERS ROBBED AT GUNPOINT IN RIO
Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. swimmers were held at gunpoint and robbed early on Sunday in Rio by a group of thugs posing as armed police officers. “What is more important is that we are safe and unharmed,” Lochte said later in a statement. This unfortunately isn’t the first crime report to emerge out of the Olympics, and many athletes teams are taking extra precautionary measures, according to The Wall Street Journal.
2019
Britain’s exit from the EU could be delayed until 2019, as the new British government won’t be ready to initiate the process early next year as initially anticipated, The Sunday Times reported. Crucial elections in France and Germany next year were also named as a cause for the delay.
FIVE DEAD IN LOUISIANA FLOODS
At least five people have died in what has been described as historic flooding in Louisiana. President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration for the state.
— MY GRAND-PERE’S WORLD
Of Metal And Meal — Tangermünde, 1975
HONG KONG PROTEST LEADERS AVOID JAIL
Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, two of the most prominent leaders of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, were spared jail but were sentenced to community service. A third leader, Alex Chow, was handed a three week prison sentence, suspended for a year. Read more from the South China Morning Post.
— WORLDCRUNCH-TO-GO
Reflecting on the evolution of feminine fashion over the past decade, from “the porn-star look sported in the good old days” by performers like Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears” to Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress, Süddeutsche Zeitung‘s David Pfeifer explains how fashion, for popstars and politicians alike, is a way of communicating without words. “Women can’t simply be dressed; they have to be dressed the way they want to be perceived. And that is why women are usually right when they stand in front of their wardrobes and say, “I don’t have anything to wear.” The woman who utters this sentence is not referring to the number of garments in her possession. She’s talking about her inability to express herself for that particular occasion, or in her particular state of mind. Read the full article: That Straight Red Line From Lady Gaga To Angela Merkel.
MORE STORIES, EXCLUSIVELY IN ENGLISH BY WORLDCRUNCH
- The Shammar, The Tribe Fighting ISIS On The Front Lines — La Stampa
- Pokemon Go Gives Lesson To Online Health Sector — Les Échos
- Why Alaskan Cod Might Not Actually Be From Alaska — Die Welt
AN UNUSUAL ARCHER
Meet Matt Stutzman, one of the world’s best archers, who has no arms.
— Crunched by Marc Alves & Giacomo Tognini