Month: July 2019

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court cleared the way Friday for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.

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The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the greenlight to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using Defense Department money. Funding for the projects had been frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit over the money proceeded. The court’s four liberal justices wouldn’t have allowed construction to start.

The justices’ decision to lift the freeze on the money allows President Donald Trump to make progress on a major 2016 campaign promise heading into his race for a second term.

Trump tweeted after the announcement: “Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall. The United States Supreme Court overturns lower court injunction, allows Southern Border Wall to proceed. Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!”

The Supreme Court’s action reverses the decision of a trial court, which initially froze the funds in May, and an appeals court, which kept that freeze in place earlier this month.

The freeze had prevented the government from tapping approximately $2.5 billion in Defense Department money to replace existing sections of barrier in Arizona, California and New Mexico with more robust fencing.

The case the Supreme Court ruled in began after the 35-day partial government shutdown that started in December of last year.

Trump ended the shutdown in February after Congress gave him approximately $1.4 billion in border wall funding.

But the amount was far less than the $5.7 billion he was seeking, and Trump then declared a national emergency to take cash from other government accounts to use to construct sections of wall.

Egan Bernal became the first-ever Colombian winner of the Tour de France at the 106th edition of the world’s most prestigious road cycling tournament which wrapped up on Champs-Elysees Avenue here on Sunday.

The 22-year-old rider effectively sealed his title prior to the processional 128km stage starting from Rambouillet. He raised glasses of champagne with Ineos teammates for a celebration shortly on the stage after his win.

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Xu Shi – New Image Oil Painting Exhibition opened in Rabat on Thursday, featuring 56 paintings by Chinese painter Xu Shi and his students.

In the opening ceremony, Xu introduced the style and characteristics of the new image oil painting to nearly 100 guests.

He said that the new image oil painting combines hearing and vision, and uses pictures to express the beauty of music.

This painting technique combines the elements of Chinese traditional painting and western oil painting art, the painter said.

The oil painting exhibition, co-hosted by China Cultural Center in Rabat and the national theater Mohammed V, will last until August 1.

Chen Dongyun, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Morocco and director of China Cultural Center in Rabat, said that the exhibition provided the Moroccan people with an important window to understand and perceive modern China.

Chen hoped that the exhibition will build a bridge between Chinese and Moroccan artists and promote friendship of the two peoples.

SYDNEY – Australian swimmer Shayna Jack has revealed that the banned substance which ruled her out of the 2019 World Aquatic Championships in South Korea was a drug called Ligandrol.

Known to increase muscle growth and strengthen bone, the 20-year-old freestyler said in a statement posted to social media on Sunday evening, that substance found in her body was the result of a contaminated supplement or product.

“I did not and would not cheat,” Jack said.

“I was in complete shock, asking myself how and why is this happening to me. My brain repeated over and over: ‘I have always checked my substances’, ‘I didn’t do this’, ‘why is this happening to me?’, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.'”

“On Friday the 19th of July my B sample results were in. I had felt a sense of hope knowing I didn’t take this substance and that it was all a mistake during the testing and that I could return to compete for my country and with the team, however, that wasn’t the case.”

Citing the incident as a major “embarrassment” to Australian swimming’s governing body, Swimming Australia chief executive Leigh Russell told reporters yesterday “the adverse findings were both bitterly disappointing and embarrassing to our team, our sport and our country.”

Critical of the decision to keep the failed test a secret after it was originally stated that Jack would not join the national team in Gwangju due to “personal reasons,” former Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) chief executive Richard Ings posted to social media “we now know this was an untruth,” he said.

“The real reason, known at the time of this announcement, was she had been provisionally suspended for a positive A sample drug test. Athletes need to be frank from day one.”

But according to Russell, Swimming Australia could not legally disclose the results of the adverse drug test at that time.

“Athletes in these situations have a right to a process. That process is continuing and that is now between ASADA and our athlete.”

With Jack potentially facing a lengthy ban from athletic competition, it could be some months before a punishment is handed down.

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BEIJING – China has issued an action plan on the prevention and treatment of pneumoconiosis, vowing to fulfill the plan’s targets by the end of 2020.

Pneumoconiosis, a class of lung diseases where inhalation of dust causes interstitial fibrosis, accounts for nearly 90 percent of all occupational disease cases in the country, said Li Bin, deputy head of China’s National Health Commission (NHC), adding that the action plan aims to reduce the number of new pneumoconiosis patients.

The action plan pledges that by the end of 2020, authorities must grasp the dust hazards situation of related employers and the employers’ reporting of the health of occupational pneumoconiosis patients to supervisors.

Marked progress will be made in the rectification and control of dust hazards in industries including coal mining, non-coal mining, metallurgy and construction materials, according to the action plan.

The work-related injury insurance must cover more than 80 percent of employees working in these industries, it says.

The action plan also specifies major tasks, including enhancing treatment and relief for pneumoconiosis patients and beefing up supervision and inspection on employers with high risk of dust hazards.

The action plan was jointly formulated by 10 departments including the NHC, the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

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SAINT-MICHEL-DE-MAURIENNE, France — One big Alpine stage completed, just two more to go, and Julian Alaphilippe is still in yellow with France yet another step closer to having a first Tour winner since 1985.

Continuing to contribute more than anyone to making this the most exciting Tour de France in decades, the French rider recovered from a moment of weakness on the lunar-landscaped Galibier pass and sped down treacherous hairpin bends on the other side to preserve his race lead Thursday.

“It was a day of folly,” Alaphilippe said.

“I unplugged my brain and I was on the limit on each bend,” he said. “I did a crazy descent, where I took risks. I wanted to save my jersey.”

Job done.

But it wasn’t a perfect day for Alaphilippe. With a decisive, well-placed attack on the slopes of the Galibier — the last of three climbs to above 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) on Stage 18 — Colombian rider Egan Bernal got away from Alaphilippe and ate into his lead.

Bernal vaulted from fifth to second in the overall standings. Having started the day 2 minutes, 2 seconds behind Alaphilippe, Bernal is now just 90 seconds behind him.

Bernal’s teammate, defending champion Geraint Thomas, tried to make it a one-two punch by also attacking on the last hairpins leading to the top of that climb, lined by excited crowds.

But with Alaphilippe starting to wobble on the ascent, Thomas couldn’t make the offensive stick. Alaphilippe caught him again on the downhill to the finish. Thomas is still 1:35 behind Alaphilippe, as he was at the start of Stage 18, but slipped back to third overall behind Ineos teammate Bernal.

Colombian rider Nairo Quintana won his first stage, flying away from everyone on the Galibier and putting some color back into what so far had been an underwhelming Tour for the former two-time runner-up. Quintana vaulted from 12th overall to seventh, now 3:54 behind Alaphilippe.

With Quintana and Spanish riders Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde, Movistar now has three riders in the top 10, a possible launching pad for the team to launch more attacks in the last two Alpine stages.

“If we find a favorable ground over the next two days, we will keep attacking,” Quintana said.

But Alaphilippe is proving tough to dislodge. He has now worn the yellow jersey for 13 stages at this Tour, the most by any French rider at a single edition since Bernard Hinault held it for 17 days in winning the race for a fifth time in 1985.

With opportunities running out for rivals aiming to unseat him, Alaphilippe knew he’d be in for a torrid time among the huge barren slopes of scree leading to the Galibier, rising to a lung-burning 2,642 meters (8,668 feet) above sea level and first climbed by the Tour in 1911.

“It was a big mouthful,” Alaphilippe said. “I had imagined the worst.”

But he continues to confound even his own expectations.

Although his lead has shrunk, with the duo of Bernal and Thomas breathing down his neck, Alaphilippe is closer than ever to the podium in Paris on Sunday.

Two huge obstacles lie between Alaphilippe and Paris in the shape of two more Alpine stages, both with uphill finishes.

Few had expected him to hold his own in the Pyrenees and, now, on the first day in the Alps.

But he’s making believers with each extra step closer to the finish.

“No matter where I finish in Paris, this Tour will have left a mark on French people,” he said. “And I’ll have learned a lot about myself.”

AP

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The Blues midfielder has called for a collective effort to replace the Belgium superstar after he struck another goal in pre-season

Ross Barkley has called on his Chelsea team-mates to chip in with goals to replace those lost following the summer departure of the “exceptional” Eden Hazard.

Belgium international Hazard scored 21 goals and provided 18 assists in his final season at Stamford Bridge before his big-money move to Real Madrid over the summer.

New Chelsea manager Frank Lampard will have to figure out how to replace that contribution given he is operating under a transfer ban, with only January signing Christian Pulisic and the returning loan players added to last season’s squad.

Barkley is one of the players who could be looked upon to step up after Hazard’s exit and the England international scored a first-half free-kick in Sunday’s 4-3 away win over Reading.

The former Everton midfielder believes it is incumbent on the whole squad, and not just Callum Hudson-Odoi and Pulisic, to compensate for the goals lost by Hazard’s sale.

“You have to fill in,” Barkley said at the Madejski Stadium. “Everyone in the squad understands that he (Hazard) was a great player, but he is gone. He has new challenges now and we have to replace his goals and create the chances. We have that much quality in the squad we will all step up to the plate.

“Last season when Eden wasn’t playing we still won games, we still created chances. We know he is an exceptional player, but we have exceptional players in the squad. We have young ones that will step up and produce the goods as well.

“We have Callum coming back from injury and we have signed Christian Pulisic, he is an exceptional talent. We have wingers who can create from tight positions, players who can shoot from distance and strikers – young and experienced – who are hungry for goals.

“We have all come back from pre-season hungry, especially under the new manager. We are all working hard every day in training and doing double sessions all the time, getting ready for the new season.

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“There is a lot we can improve on – you could see that against Reading as we conceded three goals. We scored four so there were positives, too, and I am looking forward to the season.”

Chelsea’s win at Reading saw them score four for the second time in pre-season, while Barkley was netting his second goal in two games after scoring a fine effort in the 2-1 win over Barcelona in Japan.

Barkley is now 18 months into his spell at Chelsea and wears the same No. 8 shirt which Lampard wore with distinction during his own time at Stamford Bridge when he scored a club-record 211 goals. Barkley played with Lampard for England and acknowledge that his new boss was one of his idols as he came through the Everton academy.

“Yes, he was one of my idols as a kid,” Barkley added. “I was always watching Match of the Day as a kid, you always saw him every week scoring goals. That’s what you like to see and now he is our manager, it is brilliant for all the players in the squad.

“He’s got all the respect from the players for the player he was and the person he is. Every day, whether it be around the building or on the training pitch, he is speaking to everyone trying to give them tips on how to improve.

“He will help all the midfielders. He is a legend of the game, the highest goal-scoring midfielder in Premier League history, so we are going to take all he has to give us and the experience he has from the past on board.

“We will keep improving and he will help us. It is a new manager and a new formation – we’ve had to adapt to the different systems we are going to play. [It’s about being] hungry for goals, just have the desire to get in the box.

“At the minute I have been playing a bit further forward, to think like a striker, especially as a No. 10, but try to help out defensively and work hard off the ball.”

Chelsea now face Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Monchengladbach in their final two pre-season games ahead of their opening Premier League fixture away to Manchester United on August 11.

Lampard has afforded extra playing time to youth and loan players ahead of the new season as the club contend with a transfer ban. Often ignored or loaned out, homegrown academy players like Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori are getting a chance under Lampard’s coaching team.

Barkley says that the new direction under the Chelsea legend has increased competition for places during pre-season and is impressed with the club’s young talent.

“The likes of Tammy, Mason have scored goals in pre-season and you can see the hunger in them. I was the same,” Barkley concluded. “I went out on loan and then I got my chance at Everton.

“When you get your chance, you just have to be ready and believe that chances will come, that you are going to step forward and produce. When you have that extra bit of quality, you can see the belief. The players that are getting a chance now are really confident lads.

“They believe that they’re meant to be here. You can see that in the training sessions and the games. I’m sure they will get opportunities during the season and will show what they’re capable of.

“It’s Chelsea and you will always have competition for places here. You have to work hard and your chances will come.”

The Scottish full-back feels a crop of returning stars will help the Reds rediscover their best form in time for the start of the 2019-20 campaign

Andrew Robertson is hopeful that Liverpool will return to full-strength quickly after a comprehensive pre-season friendly defeat against Napoli.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were beaten 3-0 by the Italian giants at Murrayfield in Scotland on Sunday, much to the disappointment of the 70,000 supporters watching on from the stands.

The Reds have only picked up two wins from their six summer fixtures to date, with a trip to Geneva to face Lyon up next on Wednesday before next Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Manchester City.

Liverpool have been without a number of key superstars during their pre-season campaign, including Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

All three men are expected to report for training on Monday following extended breaks after international tournaments, with Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri also set to re-join the squad this week having recovered from injury.

Sadio Mane will return slightly later after reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final with Senegal on July 19 and Robertson is eager for the group to reunite in full before the start of the new season. 

Speaking after the defeat to Napoli, the 25-year-old told Liverpool’s official website: “The lads coming back, even if they don’t play, it gives you a lift when they train and with the way they go about their business.

“It doesn’t matter if they play on Wednesday or not, that’s completely up to the manager three days in, but that’s irrelevant: if they’re back in training and back around the place then it makes a difference. 

“Mo and Bobby are two of our main men and Alisson was magnificent last season. They are huge characters in the changing room as well so that’ll be massive for us, and then Sadio will come back the following week. 

“Once we get the whole team back together, and I think Shaq and Naby aren’t far off too, they’re players that are familiar around the set-up and around the system and that’s what we need. The quicker we get all of us back together then hopefully the better. 

“But it’s not anyone else’s fault, the young lads or whatever who have come in, we’ve all not been good enough and maybe Bobby and Mo and people like that will give us the lift that we need. Hopefully, that does happen.”

Klopp has had the chance to blood some of the younger members of his squad in the absence of household names, with the likes of Rhian Brewster and Harry Wilson given the chance to prove themselves.

Liverpool’s newest signing Harvey Elliott was granted his debut against Napoli and Robertson praised the 16-year-old before highlighting the overall impact the academy stars have had this summer.

“They’ve been great [throughout pre-season] and when young kids come in it’s a breath of fresh air sometimes,” the Scotland international added.

“Harvey Elliott only signed this morning and he’s come on and done magnificently for 15 minutes. He’s only 16 years old and I think people forget that. 

“Rhian’s had a great pre-season, Harry Wilson looked good when he came on today. Look, we need these players to push us and they need to push us in every single position and if they do that then the gaffer will give them the chance. 

“Fair play to them, when they came on and we were all off then it did look better. I was watching and it looked a lot better than we felt in the first half so credit to them. 

“But now it’s up to us to put in the performances, we’ve got one more game before it gets competitive and we need to get up to speed now.”

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Coming off a blistering season in Ligue 1, the Ivory Coast international star has everything at his disposal to be a big hit at the Emirates

Over the years, Lille have sent a string of players to the Premier League but none have commanded a fee close to the €80 million (£72m/$89m) that Arsenal are set to lavish upon the club to secure the services of attacker Nicolas Pepe.

The Gunners have, of course, done business with LOSC previously, notably signing Gervinho from the 2010-11 side that won Ligue 1. If the Ivorian proved to be a flop in the Premier League, netting a disappointing nine league goals over the course of 46 appearances, his team-mate in France’s far north, Eden Hazard, proved altogether more successful at Chelsea.

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Despite the weight of expectation generated by the transfer dogfight over his signature, the massive fee involved and the fact that he is being touted as the ‘new Henry’, Pepe is equipped with all the tools to follow in Hazard’s footsteps by becoming a star in England.

Even without knowing where the player’s future lay when speaking in February, Lille boss Christophe Galtier seemed to hint that Arsenal would be the best option for the Ivory Coast star.

“We’ve not talked about it, but I see him going to a club that plays all in red and likes to have their wide players cut inside on their stronger foot,” Galtier said, showing his clairvoyance is every bit as strong as his management.

Playing off the right wing, the left-footed Pepe amassed 22 goals and 11 assists in Ligue 1 last season. Put into context, only 11 players managed double figures in both categories in all of Europe’s big five leagues over the course of 2018-19.

Meanwhile, only three players, Lionel Messi (49), Kylian Mbappe (40) and Fabio Quagliarella (34) were directly involved in more league goals all season. 

Looking back to Hazard’s best year in France – the 2011-12 campaign, one year after the title win – he managed 20 goals and 15 assists. The Belgian was just 21 at the time but Pepe only turned 24 on May 29. Just like Hazard, he has considerable room for improvement and a move to England should help him realise his potential.

* Season 2018-19 (league only)

Indeed, Oscar Damiani, an agent who specialises in French football, has not been shy about talking up his client.

“He can reach the highest level,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport when it seemed likely Pepe was bound for Napoli. “He’s a great striker, technical and fast.

“He is great on the counterattack and is able to accelerate for long distances. He plays wide but goes straight at goal, scoring lots of goals and getting a lot of assists. But he plays a little alone, and tactically is a bit rough.” 

Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho can be counted among Pepe’s fans, while Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel implied an interest in the winger when he said earlier this season that he could “play for them tomorrow”, such is his quality.

Another man who has had a long and illustrious career at the highest level, club-mate Jose Fonte, a veteran of over 150 Premier League matches with Southampton and West Ham, and a European Championship winner with Portugal, has said that Pepe can mingle with the very best.

“He could play for a Real Madrid, a Barcelona – any team,” the centre-back told RMC in October.

“But he has to continue to want to learn, to have his feet on the ground, continue to work and progress every day. That’s the only way he can reach and maintain a high standard of play. But it’s clear he’s got the talent.”

This was evident throughout last season as he led Lille to an unexpected runners-up finish in Ligue 1, charging up the table after a relegation scrap a year earlier.

There was no let-up in his quality and, encouragingly for Arsenal given they have just seen Alexandre Lacazette limp out of a pre-season match with Lyon, there has been no suggestion that he has any physical weaknesses.

Another asset that will help him adapt when he finally moves to England is his strong mentality.

Whereas Gervinho showed weakness in that regard, there is no suggestion that Pepe will wilt under pressure. Having gone through difficult periods in his career before, he appreciates both the need to work and that he is not yet the finished product.

“In terms of efficiency, I’m in the middle of a very big step, at a very good level. But I think I can do even better,” he explained last September to L’Equipe .

Certainly, there were still some doubts swirling over his capability back then.

He had a mixed first season in Lille, struggling initially under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa, who used him fruitlessly as a centre-forward, then excelling under Galtier. The coach had a major influence in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang blossoming in front of goal at Saint-Etienne and worked similar magic on Pepe.

A rigorous manager, Galtier has also sought to develop the player’s defensive work-rate and positional sense, aspects that still need refining as Pepe readies himself to make the short jump across The Channel, having made his first steps in the professional game at Angers.

Year on year, he has improved each aspect of his game but this will be his biggest test to date.

Pepe, though, is well prepared for the challenge and Arsenal fans are rightly excited about the prospect of him lining up at the Emirates for the foreseeable future.

A new exhibition at the Palace Museum provides a panoramic view of the role played by jade in 5,000 years of Chinese culture, Wang Kaihao reports.

In 1748, the 37-year-old Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wrote an ode extolling the exquisite beauty of a fan-shaped jade artifact he owned, huang, after it was presented to him at the royal palace, the Forbidden City.

In his poem, the emperor attributed the antique to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), but its exact age remained a mystery to him. In the following decades, many similar jade pieces were presented to him, and the emperor was so fond of holding them that they developed their own unique patina. He even added gold and enamel to the pieces for embellishment.

Nevertheless, the question of age kept bothering him. In 1778, he wrote another poem suggesting that these “Han objects” might belong to an earlier time.

But, as we know today, these objects are far older than the emperor could have realized.

The Qing ruler may not have been able to imagine that he was having a dialogue with an object dating back 5,000 years. However, modern-day visitors to the Forbidden City in Beijing, which is also known as the Palace Museum, can experience a panoramic view of the brilliant jade civilization of Liangzhu Culture, which was based in what is today’s Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

On July 6, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in Hangzhou were inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage list, which recognizes the significance of the site as an indicator of the early stages of Chinese civilization. The city was inhabited for a millennium from 3300 to 2300 BC, according to archaeological research.

Just 10 days later, the exhibition Ancient China: A 5,000-year Civilization Demonstrated by Jade opened at the Palace Museum, just in time to feed public curiosity and unveil the charm of this realm of deities and kings. Nearly 260 objects, including Emperor Qianlong’s precious jade collection, gathered from 17 museums and research institutes nationwide, have gone on display at the Hall of Martial Valor at the Palace Museum for this major occasion. The exhibition will run through Oct 20.

“Almost accidentally, Qianlong was probably the first researcher into Liangzhu jades,” says Gao Menghe, chief curator of the exhibition and an archaeology professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, half-jokingly.

“As Liangzhu was one of the earliest known palatial cities in China, and the Forbidden City is the last royal palace of Chinese imperial times, we can feel an interesting chemistry running through time in this space,” he says.

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