Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Tuesday, 27 February 2018
A 22-Year-Old Woman Was Just Mauled to Death by a Lion
(JOHANNESBURG) — South African media say a lion has killed a 22-year-old woman at a game lodge north of Pretoria.
The African News Agency says the female lion mauled the woman in the Hammanskraal area on Tuesday.
Nick Dollman of Netcare 911 told the news agency that paramedics from the group were called to the scene, but the woman died from severe injuries.
Monday, 26 February 2018
Sunday, 25 February 2018
Saturday, 24 February 2018
Friday, 23 February 2018
Thursday, 22 February 2018
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Monday, 19 February 2018
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Friday, 16 February 2018
California Man Pleads Guilty of Using Stolen Identities to Set Up and Sell Bank Accounts in Russia Probe
(WASHINGTON) — A California man has pleaded guilty to unwittingly selling bank accounts to Russians meddling in the US elections.
Richard Pinedo of Santa Paula pleaded guilty earlier this month to using stolen identities to set up bank accounts that were then used by the Russians. A Justice Department spokeswoman says Pinedo did not know at the time he was dealing with Russians.
The plea deal is the third in special counsel Robert Mueller’s continuing Russia probe. It was revealed the same day prosecutors charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies with an extensive scheme to meddle in the U.S. elections.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller Charges 13 Russians With Election Interference
(WASHINGTON) — The office of special counsel Robert Mueller says a grand jury has charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities.
The defendants are accused of violating U.S. criminal laws to interfere with American elections and the political process.
Charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Kosovo’s America Obsession
A statue of former President Bill Clinton in the capital, Pristina, on July 4, 2016. Clinton was present during the unveiling in 2009.
Kosovo’s America Obsession
In the year since Donald Trump took office, according to recent polling by the Pew Research Center, even allies are increasingly likely to view U.S. power and influence more as a threat than a comfort. But none of that seems to have affected Kosovo, which celebrates its 10th anniversary as an independent country on Feb. 17.
The ethnically Albanian and predominantly Muslim statelet at the southern-most tip of what was once Yugoslavia is perhaps the most pro-American country in the world. Its capital, Pristina, has boulevards named for presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (spelled Xhorxh Bush) and a street named for Bob Dole. It also features an 11-foot tall statue of Clinton.
A view of Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina.
Diners enjoy a meal at the Route 66 restaurant in Pristina in June 2017.
The U.S. Embassy’s Facebook page has 297,063 followers, or one in every six people in the country. Clinton (Klinton) and Hillary are popular children’s names, and one of the ultimate status symbols is a house with pillars and a white dome. Not even Donald Trump’s condemnation of Muslims has dampened Kosovo’s enthusiasm for America. In a January 2018 Gallup survey asking how other countries view U.S. leadership, Kosovo ranked first in the world, with 75% approval of the Trump administration.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Madrid-based photographer César Dezfuli, who captured Kosovo’s love for America in these images. Dezfuli became intrigued after watching “A Single Frame,” a documentary about a photograph of a young boy taken during the Kosovo war. Mentioned in the film was Ruzhdi Kuçi, known as “Amerikani,” who had turned his home into a shrine to the United States. “I had heard about the statue of Bill Clinton, and then when I found out about ‘Amerikani,’ I was intrigued. I thought there must be more. And there was,” Dezfuli said.
Klinton Bajgora, then 13, sits between his parents during a family portrait at their home in the countryside of Podujevo, north of Pristina, in June 2017. He was named Klinton in honor of Bill Clinton, to whom his father feels a great devotion due to the U.S. role. Klinton was his father’s first son born after the war.
A women’s clothing store on Bill Clinton Boulevard in July 2016.
Kosovo’s obsession with America flows from its role in its creation.
The U.S. led the 1999 NATO bombing campaign that paved the way to Kosovo’s independence. At the time, the Kosovo Liberation Army, a haphazard bunch of guerrilla fighters, was at war with Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbian army. The guerrillas were getting creamed, and Serbian troops were moving town by town, expelling Kosovars from their homes.
A building owned by the former deputy prime minister of Kosovo, Ramiz Kelmendi, who has several properties that mimic American government buildings, in July 2017.
The home of Qamil Brahimi, an Albanian-Kosovar who found refuge in the U.S. during the war, is decorated for Independence Day celebrations in Ferizaj, his hometown south of Pristina, in July 2017. He lives in New York but his family spends summer holidays in Kosovo.
The Ferizaj home of Ruzhdi Kuçi, known as “Amerikani,” is decorated like a shrine to the U.S.
Inside a shooting range on the outskirts of Pristina.
Mindful of Milosevic’s slaughter of thousands of Muslim men and boys in nearby Bosnia four years earlier, Washington forced the Serbs to withdraw. It then played a prominent role in rebuilding Kosovo after the war, leading aid efforts and providing 7,000 troops, more than any other country, to the Kosovo peacekeeping force. A few hundred U.S. troops still remain in Kosovo today.
In fact, 1999 was actually the second time Washington helped Albanians get a state. During World War I, Fan Noli, an Albanian diplomat, scholar, poet and founder of the Albanian Orthodox church, started an Albanian-American association in Boston.
Jashar Jashari, 22, who works as a boxing coach at the Kickbox Rigoro Gym Pristina and competes in national leagues, in June 2017. His dream is to be a professional boxer and to move to the states.
Boys during a friendly basketball tournament, named “Thank You USA,” that commemorates the Fourth of July.
Eddie Steven, wearing an American flag-styled swimsuit, enjoys a waterslide at the California Resort on the outskirts of Pristina. The son of the resort’s founder, his family lives in California where his father, Rox, arrived in 1990 as a refugee.
In 1917, Noli wrote a poem, now famous among Albanians, entitled, “Mother, Be Not Afraid, for You Have Sons in America.” It’s an allegory of the Albanian motherland as a widow, her sons and husbands killed in war. Noli reassures her that America will come to her defense, and then did his part to make good on the vow, convincing President Woodrow Wilson of the Albanians’ need for statehood. Wilson in turn pushed the case with his reluctant allies, and the state of Albania was subsequently accepted into the League of Nations.
Afterward, many Albanian baby boys were named Wilson.
Inside a food shop, which includes a flag in its logo and is run by a pro-American owner.
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César Dezfuli is a Spanish-Iranian photographer based in Madrid. Follow him on Instagram @dezfuli.
Stacy Sullivan, who reported in Kosovo for TIME during the Balkans War, is the Deputy Director, Editorial and Strategic Communications, at the ACLU. She is the author of ‘Be Not Afraid, For You Have Sons in America‘ (St. Martin’s Press, 2004).
Andrew Katz, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s Deputy Director of Multimedia. Follow him on Twitter @katz.
Thursday, 15 February 2018
The Most Stunning Photos From the 2018 Winter Olympics
Stunning Photos From the PyeongChang Olympics
Every Olympics offers an extraordinary spectacle for photographers, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea have been no exception. With athletes moving at dizzying speeds, vibrant colors popping against white backgrounds of ice and snow and bright lights casting nighttime slopes into sharp relief, the Winter Games are a photographer’s dream. But the constant repetition of the same runs and moves also brings a challenge — and so photographers need to bring a newfound creativity to the way they work.
As major moments unfold before them, like figure skater Adam Rippon dazzling on the ice, or snowboarder Chloe Kim soaring through the air to Olympic gold, photographers capture the newsworthy moments. But beyond that, through long days and cold temperatures, they find the time to use techniques like slowing their shutter speed and panning their camera with the movement of the athlete to create beautiful photos like the ones featured here.
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They are taking a single moment beyond what is visible, creating art from movement. Here are some of TIME’s favorite images from these photographers at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Valentin Cretu of Romania during his second practice run in the luge ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Mike Egerton—PA Images/Getty Images
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada compete in the Figure Skating Team Event Ice Dance Free Dance on Feb. 12, 2018. Dean Mouhtaropoulos—Getty Images
Chloe Kim of the U.S. competes in the Women’s Halfpipe Qualification at the Phoenix Snow Park on Feb. 12. Dylan Martinez—Reuters
Kali Christ of Canada competes during the Ladies 1,500m Long Track Speed Skating final on Feb. 12. Ronald Martinez—Getty Images
Noriaki Kasai of Japan competes during Men’s Normal Hill Individual Qualification on Feb. 8. Lars Baron—Getty Images
Ted-Jan Bloeman of Canada skates to a silver medal during the Men’s 5000m Speed Skating on Feb. 11. Harry How—Getty Images
Liubov Nikitina, an Olympic athlete from Russia, competes in the women’s aerials qualification event on Feb. 15. Martin Bureau—AFP/Getty Images
Silje Norendal of Norway competes in the Snowboard Ladies’ Slopestyle Final on Feb. 12. Adam Pretty—Getty Images
Adam Rippon of the United States competes in the Figure Skating Team Event Men’s Single Free Skate on Feb. 12. Dean Mouhtaropoulos—Getty Images
Nina Haver-Loeseth of Norway competes in the Women’s Giant Slalom at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre on Feb. 15. Mike Segar—Reuters
Jaroslav Soukup of Slovakia during a men’s official training session on Feb. 13. Andrew Medichini—AP/Shutterstock
Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the U.S. speeds down the slope during a training session for the Men’s Downhill race on Feb. 8. Christian Bruna—EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Leide Priedulena of Latvia slides down the track during women’s skeleton training at the Olympic Sliding Centre on Feb. 12. Ezra Shaw—Getty Images
Kim Bubello, who edited this photo essay, is a multimedia editor at TIME Magazine. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
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