Category: Новини

Huan Huan, a giant panda on loan to France, gave birth to twin cubs very early Monday, according to the Beauval zoo.  The twins, born around 1 a.m., are Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi’s second and third cubs, after the first panda ever born in France, Yuan Meng, in 2017. “The two babies are pink. They are perfectly healthy. They look big enough. They are magnificent,” said Rodolphe Delord, president of ZooParc de Beauval in Saint-Aignan, central France. WATCH: Using Pandas for DiplomacySorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 16 MB480p | 23 MB540p | 33 MB720p | 74 MB1080p | 134 MBOriginal | 725 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioPanda reproduction, in captivity or in the wild, is notoriously difficult. Experts say few pandas get in the mood or even know what to do when they do.  Further complicating matters, the window for conception is small since female pandas are in heat only once a year for about 24-48 hours. Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi — the star attractions at Beauval — thrilled zoo officials in March when they managed to make “contact,” as they put it, eight times in a weekend. Veterinarians also carried out an artificial insemination, just to be sure. Huan Huan’s first cub, Yuan Meng, now weighs more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and is to be sent this year to China, where there are an estimated 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild and another 500 in captivity. Huan Huan’s newborns will not be named for 100 days, with Peng Liyuan — the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping — set to choose what they will be called, the zoo said.  
 
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A surfer jumping in to translate for the rival who’d just beaten him. High-jumping friends agreeing to share a gold medal rather than move to a tiebreaker. Two runners falling in a tangle of legs, then helping each other to the finish line.In an extraordinary Olympic Games where mental health has been front and center, acts of kindness are everywhere. The world’s most competitive athletes have been captured showing gentleness and warmth to one another — celebrating, pep-talking, wiping away one another’s tears of disappointment.Kanoa Igarashi of Japan was disappointed when he lost to Brazilian Italo Ferreira in their sport’s Olympic debut.Not only did he blow his shot at gold on the beach he grew up surfing, he was also being taunted online by racist Brazilian trolls.The Japanese-American surfer could have stewed in silence, but he instead deployed his knowledge of Portuguese, helping to translate a press conference question for Ferreira on the world stage.The crowd giggled hearing the cross-rival translation and an official thanked the silver medalist for the assist.”Yes, thank you, Kanoa,” said a beaming Ferreira, who is learning English.Days later, at the Olympic Stadium, Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar found themselves in a situation they’d talked about but never experienced — they were tied.Both high jumpers were perfect until the bar was set to the Olympic-record height of 2.39 meters (7 feet, 10 inches). Each missed three times.They could have gone to a jump-off, but instead decided to share the gold.”I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold. He did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold,” Barshim said. “This is beyond sport. This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”After they decided, Tamberi slapped Barshim’s hand and jumped into his arms.”Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful,” Tamberi said. “It was just magical.”Isaiah Jewett, of the United States, and Nijel Amos, right, of Botswana, shake hands after falling in the men’s 800-meter semifinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo.Earlier, on the same track, runners Isaiah Jewett of the U.S. and Nijel Amos of Botswana got tangled and fell during the 800-meter semifinals. Rather than get angry, they helped each other to their feet, put their arms around each other and finished together.Many top athletes come to know each other personally from their time on the road, which can feel long, concentrated, and intense — marked by career moments that may be the best or worst of their lives.Those feelings have often been amplified at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games, where there is an unmistakable yearning for normalcy and, perhaps, a newfound appreciation for seeing familiar faces.Restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have meant Olympians can’t mingle the way they normally do.After a hard-fought, three-set victory in the beach volleyball round-robin final on Saturday at Shiokaze Park, Brazilian Rebecca Cavalcanti playfully poured a bottle of water on American Kelly Claes’ back as she did postgame interviews.The U.S. team had just defeated Brazil but the winners laughed it off, explaining that they’re friends.”I’m excited when quarantine’s done so we can sit at the same table and go to dinner with them. But it’s kind of hard in a bubble because we have to be away,” said Sarah Sponcil, Claes’ teammate.For fellow American Carissa Moore, the pandemic and its accompanying restrictions brought her closer with the other surfers.The reigning world champion said she typically travels to surfing competitions with her husband and father. But all fans were banned this year, and Moore admitted she struggled without their reassuring presence in the initial days of the Games.Moore had flown to Japan with the U.S. team 10 days before the first heat, and soon adjusted to living in a home with the other surfers, including Caroline Marks, whom Moore considered the woman to beat.Moore said she didn’t know Marks well before the Tokyo Games but on the night she was crowned the winner and Marks came in fourth, her rival was the first to greet her.”Having the USA Surf team with me, it’s been such a beautiful experience to bond with them,” Moore said. “I feel like I have a whole another family after the last two weeks.”Claire Michel of Belgium is assisted by Lotte Miller of Norway after the finish of the women’s individual triathlon competition, July 27, 2021, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, Japan.After the punishing women’s triathlon last week in Tokyo, Norwegian Lotte Miller, who placed 24th, took a moment to give a pep talk to Belgium’s Claire Michel, who was inconsolable and slumped on the ground, sobbing.Michel had come in last, 15 minutes behind winner Flora Duffy of Bermuda — but at least she finished. Fifty-four athletes started the race but 20 were either lapped or dropped out.”You’re a (expletive) fighter,” Miller told Michel. “This is Olympic spirit, and you’ve got it 100%.”
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Usain Bolt once tightly held on to the mantle of World’s Fastest Man in his lightening quick sprints at multiple Olympic Games.  That mantle now, however, has passed on to a Texas-born Italian — 26-year-old Lamont Marcell Jacobs who finished the 100-meter race in 9.8 seconds, clinching Italy’s first medal in the event.  “I mean, 9.8 from the Italian guy?” Canada’s Andre DeGrasse said. “I didn’t expect that. I thought my main competition would be the Americans.” DeGrasse won a bronze in the sprint with a time of 9.89. American Fred Kerley who finished second for the silver in 9.84 seconds, said of Jacobs: “I really don’t know anything about him.” They know now that Jacobs roundly beat them and took home the gold.Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, of Puerto Rico celebrates after winning the gold in the women’s 100-meters hurdles final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico won the gold for the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Camacho-Quinn was born in the U.S. and attended college in Kentucky. She decided, however, to compete under Puerto Rico’s flag since her mother is Puerto Rican. Two men tied to win the men’s high jump, after each failed three times to conquer the Olympic-record height of 2.39 meters (7 feet, 10 inches). An official told Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar that they could share the gold medal and that is what the two athletes decided to do. In another dramatic turn of events at the Tokyo Games, one of the women in a 1,500-meter heat, fell over a runner who had fallen.  Sifan Hassan, the Ethiopian-born Dutch runner tried unsuccessfully to jump over Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok who had fallen in a mishap. But Hassan never took her eyes off the prize, recovering quickly. She got up and ran past one runner after another to win the heat in 4 minutes, 5.17 seconds to move onto the semi-finals.  Some information in this report comes from the Associated Press. 
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Miles Robinson scored on a header in the 117th minute, and a United States junior varsity lineup upset a mostly front-line Mexico team 1-0 on Sunday night to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Kellyn Acosta, the only player in the U.S. starting lineup who gets playing time when the first-choice roster is together, took a free kick, and Robinson out-jumped Edson Alvarez and headed the ball in on one hop to the right of goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera. Robinson, a 24-year-old defender in his fourth Major League Soccer season with Atlanta, got his third international goal in nine international appearances, his second goal of the tournament.     Matt Turner got his fifth shutout in six matches of the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean. The Americans won all three knockout matches by 1-0 scores. The U.S. won its seventh Gold Cup title, its first since 2017, matching Mexico for the most in the 15 tournaments. Canada won in 2000. It was just the second victory for the Americans in seven finals against El Tri. The U.S. has won nine consecutive games overall and 14 home games in a row. Top players, who are with their clubs for European preseasons, will return when the U.S. opens World Cup qualifying at El Salvador on Sept. 2. Mexico starts at home that day against Jamaica.    Before an overwhelmingly pro-Mexico crowd, El Tri started seven of the 11 players who began the Nations League final that the U.S. won in extra time in June on Christian Pulisic’s 114th-minute penalty kick: defenders Luis Rodriguez, Nestor Araujo, Hector Moreno and Jesus Gallardo plus midfielders Alvarez, Jesus Corona and Hector Herrera. The newcomers were Talavera, midfielders Jonathan dos Santos and Orbelin Pineda, and forward Rogelio Funes Mori, starting in place of goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa plus Carlos Rodriguez, Uriel Antuna and Hirving Lozano. The U.S. lineup included nine players from Major League Soccer. The field CONCACAF chose was 69 yards wide, narrower than the recommended 75 yards. U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter made four changes from the lineup in the semifinal win over Qatar, inserting Cannon for Shaq Moore, Bello for Sam Vine, Williamson for Gianluca Busio and Zardes for Daryl Dike.     Defender Henry Kessler made his debut for the U.S. in extra time stoppage time. 
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This year’s 1455 Summer Literary Festival — an annual free 3-day virtual program sponsored by a group of universities in Virginia — featured over 200 authors, poets, and creative artists sharing their insights into the art of storytelling. Maxim Moskalkov has the story. Camera: Mike Maisuradze   
 
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Usain Bolt might be long gone from the sprint scene. It doesn’t mean Jamaica has slowed down one bit.Nobody has, at least not on the women’s side of the sport.An opening day at the Olympics that’s supposed to produce little more than a brisk jog for the world’s best at 100 meters turned into something very different Friday.Reigning world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran her heat in the nearly empty Olympic Stadium in 10.84 seconds. Her Jamaican rival, defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, finished in 10.82. And Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the Ivory Coast sprinter who finished an excruciating fourth in Rio de Janeiro, kept saying “Wow! Wow!” after she crossed the finish line in a blistering personal best of 10.78.“I’m in shock, actually,” Ta Lou said. “But I know I’m ready.”They were the fifth, sixth and seventh-fastest times of the year, produced on a day when seven of 54 sprinters hit a personal best — all in an opening round that’s supposed to be designed more for shaking out cobwebs than watching the clock.All that even though the field was missing this season’s third-fastest runner, Sha’Carri Richardson, who is back home in the United States following a doping ban.By comparison, only one runner, Fraser-Pryce, cracked 11 seconds in the opening round five years ago in Rio de Janeiro. She went on to win the bronze, behind Thompson (who has since gotten married) and American sprinter Tori Bowie.“I mean, a lot of sprinters are dominating,” Thompson-Herah said.Fraser-Pryce came in as the favorite for Saturday’s final, which is already showing signs of living up to the hype. She ran a 10.63 back in June that has some thinking even Florence Griffith Joyner’s 33-year-old world record of 10.49 seconds could finally be at risk this year.“Honestly, I have no idea,” Fraser-Pryce said when asked about the mark. “It’s super, super competitive. You want to make sure you focus on each round and the things you’re supposed to do.”There were so many unknowns coming into the Olympics – namely if the year-long delay, the empty stadium or the stress of being cooped up in a hotel room in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games would hurt the athletes. At least one group — the women’s sprinters — answered all those questions with an emphatic “No.”Another unknown: Would this be a fast track?“Clearly,” said Daryll Neita of Britain, who ran a personal best 10.96. “It’s going to be a very fast championship, let’s put it that way. It feels amazing.”The first of 48 gold medals on the line over the nine-day meet was up for grabs later Friday in the men’s 10,000. Favorites include Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda and Selemon Barega of Ethiopia.Other morning action on Day 1 went to form. Rai Benjamin of the United States and world-record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway cruised easily through their heats in the 400-meter hurdles, keeping a gold-medal showdown in the cards. Will it take another world record to win?“Maybe someone else will do it,” Warholm joked. “I’ve done my job.”Athing Mu, a contender in the women’s 800, moved through the first round of her race and didn’t seem too bothered that the track announcer mispronounced her name. (For the record, it’s pronounced “uh-THING moh”).“I’m sure everyone saw my face,” the American said. “I don’t even know what he said. It was terrible.”Ju’Vaughn Harrison made it to the high jump final, keeping alive the American’s quest for a high jump-long jump double. Also advancing in high jump was world champion Mutaz Barshim, who wowed his home crowd two years ago when he won the world title in Doha.With thousands of empty green, white and burgundy seats staring back at them, all the “oohs” and “ahhs” for this one came from the athletes themselves. After Round 1 of that women’s 100, there was plenty to get excited about.“It’s whoever gets to the line first wins,” said another contender, Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria, whose 11.05 felt ordinary on this day. “Sometimes it’s not about the time, but about the position.”But sometimes, maybe this time, it could be about both.
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