search

British dressage star Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Paris Olympics yesterday after a video emerged showing her making “an error of judgement” during a coaching session.Dujardin, a three-time Olympic champion and joint most decorated British woman Olympian, said she had withdrawn from all competition while authorities investigated the incident.“A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgement during a coaching session,” she said in a statement, days before the Games.It was not immediately clear what the video showed.“Understandably, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) is investigating and I have made the decision to withdraw from all competition - including the Paris Olympics - while this process takes place.“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.”Dujardin was eliminated from the European Championships in 2019 after blood was found on her horse, Mount St John Freestyle, in a post-competition check. The FEI said the action taken then did not imply there was any intent to injure the horse. Dujardin, 39, could have become Britain’s most decorated woman Olympian in Paris. A medal of any colour would have taken her clear of Laura Kenny, with whom she is currently tied on six medals.“I will cooperate fully with the FEI, British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage during their investigations, and will not be commenting further until the process is complete,” she said.Dujardin was due to compete in both the individual dressage and the team event alongside Carl Hester and world champion Lottie Fry at the Paris Games. She is expected to be replaced in the team by Becky Moody. Dujardin won individual and team golds at London 2012 while riding Valegro, with the pair retaining the individual title and winning silver in the team event at Rio 2016.Olympic and equestrian authorities have taken an increasingly strict line against alleged improprieties relating to the treatment of animals in recent years.During the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, at which Dujardin won two bronze medals on Geo, a German modern pentathlon coach was thrown out for striking a horse. Authorities launched a review of the sport, resulting in the equestrian element being removed and replaced with an obstacle course in Los Angeles in 2028.The dressage competition at Paris 2024 begins on July 30 at the Chateau de Versailles.

United States gymnastics chiefs said yesterday they want to keep the pressure off Simone Biles as she bids for six gold medals at the Paris Olympics.US women’s team technical leader Chellsie Memmel said Biles must not feel they are “relying” on her and she has the option of not competing on all four apparatus in the women’s team final. “I don’t say, ‘You are keeping us all together, we’re relying on you and you alone’,” Memmel told journalists days before the Games begin in the French capital.Biles’s coach Cecile Landi approached coaching staff to discuss expectations on the four-time Olympic champion, who disclosed her mental health struggles during the Tokyo Olympics. “If she doesn’t feel like it’s going to be in her best interest to do all four events that day, is that an option for her?” Memmel said Landi asked. “And we said: absolutely. If that’s what she needs to continue to be at her best for her team and for herself, then that’s what we’re going to do because there are still four other members on our team.”Biles, 27, returns to the glare of the Olympic spotlight in women’s qualifying on Sunday with the team final on Tuesday, three years after struggling with the disorienting mental block that gymnasts call the “twisties”.Biles dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning gold in all-around, vault, floor exercise and team events. She arrived at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games with superstar billing and history in her sights. She withdrew from the majority of her events but came back to win team silver and bronze on the balance beam.Memmel said that the team did not want Biles to feel she was the glue holding them together. “So I think for her, just knowing that she has that option...now whether she takes it or not, it’s going to be completely up to her. We also talked about that with her at worlds last year, and she ultimately decided to do all four events during team finals. But I think just for her, knowing that that is a possibility, that helps.”The US women’s team includes three-time world medallist and Tokyo all-around gold medallist Suni Lee; reigning Olympic floor gold medallist Jade Carey and 2020 Olympic team silver medallist Jordan Chiles, along with 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera. “It’s like that double-edged sword for someone where she wants to be able to help but also wants to be able to be at her best,” said Memmel of Biles.The US trials earlier this month had been “pretty rough”, said former Olympic medallist Memmel of injuries to Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones and Kayla DiCello. “Simone has been doing great, she’s been solid in training, she seems to be in a really good place and she’s been a great leader for this team. I know together as a team they’re all really looking forward to the competition and it is kind of their redemption tour you know from the previous Olympic Games, so they’re excited they’re all coming together for it and Simone has been a big part of that.”Yesterday, 23-times world champion Biles looked relaxed as she went through her workout at Le Bourget Exhibition Centre training hall to the north of Paris. Her Taylor Swift music blared for her floor routine as the six-time world champion on the apparatus hit a spectacular triple-twisting double back flip. The American stopped her balance beam routine to watch the uneven bars and cheer 17-year-old Algerian Kaylia Nemour, the reigning world silver medallist on the apparatus.

Kylian Mbappe wanted to take part in this year’s Olympics in his home city, while there were hopes that Lionel Messi would feature for Argentina, but instead the men’s football tournament at the Paris Games will be largely devoid of star attractions.As captain of France and the most famous athlete in the country hosting this year’s Games, Mbappe’s presence in coach Thierry Henry’s Olympic squad would have been an enormous boost for organisers as well as for the team’s chances of winning gold. But Mbappe, 25, had to accept that his new club Real Madrid would not allow him to participate immediately after he played in the French side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany. That is the problem for the men’s football competition, which begins today and runs until August 9.Clubs are not obliged to release players for a tournament held outside an official FIFA window for international football, following straight on from the European Championship and Copa America.Messi, now 37 and part of the Argentina team that claimed Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, ruled himself out of Javier Mascherano’s squad for Paris shortly before the Copa America in the United States, which his country won. “I spoke with Mascherano, and we immediately agreed on the situation,” Messi said. “At my age, I don’t want to play everything and I need to make the right choices.”Henry, a French footballing great, also missed out on several other players he had hoped to call up. “The last time I had so many rejections was when I was at high school,” he joked when announcing a team in which the most recognisable names are Alexandre Lacazette, the 33-year-old Lyon striker, and new Bayern Munich signing Michael Olise. The competition is restricted to players aged under 23, apart from a maximum of three overage players per squad. As well as the superstar names, the tournament is also missing Brazil, who won gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and retained the title in Tokyo three years ago, beating Spain in the final.They failed to qualify, but Argentina must fancy their chances of ensuring a sixth straight Latin American winner of the men’s football gold medal. “Obviously our objective is to try to compete and go all the way, and I think we will have a team that can do that,” coach Mascherano, who won as a player in 2004 and 2008, said in an interview with South American confederation CONMEBOL.In Julian Alvarez, the Manchester City striker who won the 2022 World Cup and the recent Copa America, they will have one of the highest-profile players taking part. Argentina are in Group B with Iraq, Ukraine and a Morocco side who have secured the services of Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi. France kick off their campaign against the United States before also playing Guinea and New Zealand in Group A. Winners in 1992 and silver medallists in Tokyo, Spain are targeting gold after their triumph at Euro 2024. Luis de la Fuente, coach of Spain’s Euros-winning side, led the team to the final at the last Olympics. Santi Denia, his assistant three years ago, is in charge now.Leading names from the European Championship such as Lamine Yamal are not involved, but another prodigious young Barcelona talent will feature, in 17-year-old centre-back Pau Cubarsi. “He is really proud to be getting the experience of the Olympics. You never know if you will get another chance, even being so young,” Denia said of Cubarsi. Spain are in Group C with Uzbekistan, the Dominican Republic and Egypt, who did not secure the services of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

World Aquatics has carried out its most rigorous drug testing programme ever in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, with Chinese swimmers targeted.Since the beginning of January, 2,145 anti-doping tests have been conducted on Games athletes, overseen by the International Testing Agency.Including tests by other organisations, swimmers have been tested an average of 3.4 times, with 4,774 samples taken in total.“It is our top priority that our athletes compete in a clean and fair competition,” World Aquatics president Husain al-Musallam said yesterday.“Our rigorous testing programme reflects our dedication to upholding the highest standards of integrity in aquatic sports and we are grateful for the ITA’s partnership in conducting it.”Chinese swimmers were a key focus, with the 31 competing in Paris each tested at least 10 times by World Aquatics. It follows revelations in April that 23 Chinese swimmers failed tests for banned heart drug trimetazidine in 2021.They were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, where they won three golds, after anti-doping agency WADA accepted China’s explanation that the positive results were caused by food contamination at their hotel.Eleven of them are scheduled to swim in Paris. The incident, uncovered in April by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD, sparked global uproar, with US anti-doping authorities accusing WADA of a cover-up.An independent investigation overseen by a retired Swiss prosecutor cleared the agency of any wrongdoing this month. World Aquatics said it had conducted 418 tests on Chinese swimmers since January, independent of any otheranti-doping organisation and using a WADA-accredited laboratory based in Europe.Including tests conducted by other organisations, Chinese swimmers were tested on average 21 times.In contrast, Australian swimmers were tested an average of four times in the same period, and US swimmers an average of six times. Testing will continue during the nine-day swimming programme at La Defense Arena, which starts on Saturday

Al Sadd has officially announced the appointment of Felix Sanchez as the head coach of its football team.The contract, effective from the upcoming 2024-2025 Qatar Stars League (QSL) season, spans two years, concluding in the summer of 2026.Sanchez, 48, will join the team in their current pre-season training camp in Malaga, Spain, which continues until July 29.Prior to this role, Sanchez gained extensive experience coaching Qatar’s youth national teams at the Aspire Academy. He subsequently led the Qatar national football team from 2017-2022.Distinguished coaching careerSanchez has had a distinguished coaching career, marked by significant achievements with Qatar’s national teams.He guided the Qatari youth team to victory in the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship, defeating North Korea in the final with a goal from Akram Afif, a player Sanchez later guided to dizzy heights.Subsequently, he led the Qatari Olympic team to the final of the AFC U-23 Championship. Sanchez’s crowning achievement came in 2019 when he led the Qatari national team to their first-ever Asian Cup title, defeating Japan 3-1 in the final.The team also reached the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Championship in 2021.Following Qatar’s early exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sanchez stepped down as the national team’s coach.He subsequently took charge of the Ecuadorian national team but was dismissed after their round-of-16 defeat at the Copa America.Meanwhile, Al Sadd, fresh off a domestic double (QSL and Amir Cup), is gearing up for the new season.The club has strengthened its squad with the signing of Spanish striker Rafa Mujica on a four-year deal.

Kenya’s vaunted distance runners head to the Olympics struggling to emerge from beneath the shadow of a lengthy list of doping scandals that have tarnished the African nation’s proud reputation as a track and field powerhouse.Marathon runner Beatrice Toroitich became the latest Kenyan athlete to fall foul of anti-doping rules last month when she was banned for life following a third positive drugs test.That case followed a six-year sanction imposed on world 10km road race record holder Rhonex Kipruto earlier in June, while long-distance runner Rodgers Kwemoi was also banned for six years for anti-doping violations in May. In total nearly 100 Kenyan athletes, mainly long-distance runners, have been sanctioned for drugs offences since 2017, caught in a sweeping crackdown waged by the Anti-Doping Association of Kenya (ADAK) in the wake of doping scandals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.“Kenya is making big strides in the fight against doping,” ADAK chief executive Sarah Shibutse told AFP in an interview. “We’re not relenting in this fight that’s at the heart of our national pride.”Kenyan athletes competing in Paris have been subjected to a stringent testing regime, undergoing three out-of-competition tests in the 10 months leading up to the Olympics.Kenyan anti-doping chiefs have enlisted the support of the independent Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the Kenyan sports ministry and the country’s law enforcement bodies to help in the investigation and testing of athletes.Shibutse said that in turn has led to the closure of several pharmacies in the Rift Valley - the spiritual heartland of Kenyan distance running - suspected of funnelling performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.‘For their own good’Testing meanwhile has intensified dramatically, with 2,000 tests carried out in the past year. ADAK aims to triple that number to 6,000 per year eventually.Shibutse says the volume of tests will continue to increase until “athletes get to understand that we’re doing this for their own good.”“We are having more samples being collected which means more positive doping cases are being detected than before. This is a sign that the process is working,” Shibutse said.During a fact-finding trip to Kenya in March 2023, AIU chief Brett Clothier warned that athletes needed to brace themselves for tougher action against drug-taking in the sport.“One thing that everyone should be aware of is that with more testing, more cases will be reported, but that doesn’t mean more doping. That is what is coming but it is the pathway to address this problem once and for all,” Clothier said.ADAK head of anti-doping education and research Martin Sisa Yauma said the use of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), which tracks an athlete’s blood values over time, has been used effectively to nab recent dopers including Kipruto, the world junior 10,000m champion Rodgers Kwemoi and former Commonwealth and African 10,000m champion Joyce Chepkirui.For those athletes attempting to rebuild their careers after being caught doping, the road back to elite competition is often a struggle.Mark Otieno, a former national 100m champion, who was banned for two years for using the prohibited anabolic steroid methasterone before the Tokyo Olympics, made a return last November to try and qualify for the Paris Olympics.“I’m not wishing it (doping ban) to happen to someone else,” said Otieno, after failing to make the Olympic 100m qualifying time of 10.00sec.

Andy Murray confirmed on Tuesday that he will retire after the Paris Olympics, closing another chapter in tennis’s golden age.The 37-year-old, a two-time Olympic champion, is planning to play in the singles and doubles at his fifth Games.“Arrived in Paris for my last-ever tennis tournament @Olympics,” the three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one posted on social media.“Competing for Great Britain has been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get to do it one final time.”Murray has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, slumping to 121st in the world.The Scot has played with a metal hip since 2019 and suffered ankle damage earlier this year before undergoing surgery to remove a spinal cyst, which ruled him out of singles at Wimbledon.Instead, he played doubles with brother Jamie and was defeated in the first round before an emotional tribute arranged by tournament chiefs.“It’s hard because I would love to keep playing but I can’t,” admitted Murray at the All England Club. “Physically it is too tough now, all of the injuries, they have added up and they haven’t been insignificant.”Murray famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion at Wimbledon when he triumphed in 2013, defeating career-long rival Novak Djokovic in the final.He added a second title in 2016, taking his career majors total to three after breaking his duck at the 2012 US Open. Murray won gold at the 2012 Olympics on an emotional day at the All England Club when he defeated Roger Federer just weeks after he had lost the Wimbledon final to the Swiss on the same Centre Court.Four years later, he defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first player, male or female, to win two Olympic singles golds.Murray also led Britain to the Davis Cup title in 2015, the country’s first in 79 years.He has won 46 titles in all and banked around $65mn in prize money.International Tennis Federation president Dave Haggerty said Murray had “lived and breathed the values of tennis throughout his long career, championing equality and helping to send the message that our sport is for everyone”.Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney hailed Murray as “our greatest-ever sportsman”.“Heartfelt thanks to @andy_murray for an outstanding and inspiring career which has made a profound impact on so many,” he posted on X.Murray’s mother, Judy, commented in a post on X: “5th Olympics. Final tournament,” followed by a symbol representing an explosion.The British star’s success came in an era dominated by Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.The so-called ‘Big Three’ have hoovered up 66 Grand Slam titles between them but time is catching up with the icons of the sport.Federer won 20 majors before he retired in 2022. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, is 38 years old and has played just six tournaments all year as he battles injury. Djokovic, 37, the holder of 24 majors, has been deposed as Australian Open and Roland Garros champion in 2024.Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian, succeeded him as champion in Melbourne and took his world number one ranking.Carlos Alcaraz, 21, won the French Open and successfully defended his Wimbledon title, sweeping Djokovic off court in a one-sided final earlier this month.If Djokovic loses his US Open title in September, it will be the first time since 2002 that at least one of the three giants has failed to win a Slam title.The tennis competition in Paris begins at Roland Garros on July 27 and ends on August 4.

Ollie Pope believes England could yet score 600 runs in a single day of Test cricket in the right circumstances for Ben Stokes’ men.Pope was one of three century-makers for the hosts as England won the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge by 241 runs, with Harry Brook and Joe Root following him to three figures in a series-clinching success.Victory in Nottingham was also the first time England had passed 400 in both innings in the 147-year history of Test cricket.Pope was one of four batsmen to score a hundred when England piled up 506-4 on the first day against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in December 2022, despite facing a mere 75 overs.And the England vice-captain believes the team now have the capacity to surpass that feat, but also an ability to adapt to more bowler-friendly conditions as they refine their aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach. “I think when Baz (England coach Brendon McCullum) and Stokesy took over, we were a batting unit with, not a lack of experience, but a lack of confidence at the time,” said Pope.At the time it was about building confidence, now it’s about hopefully becoming more and more ruthless.“Sometimes we might score 280-300 in a day but that’s OK and probably because we’re reading situations.”The 26-year-old Surrey star added: “We saw at Trent Bridge, when the lights were on and it started swinging more that was the time just to manage the game a little bit and that’s something we want to keep getting better and better at.“But there might be a day where we go and get 500 or 600 at some point in the future as well. That’s a cool thing to have.”England, who previously thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs at Lord’s, have now won a Test series for the first time since 2022 as they lead 2-0 ahead of this week’s finale at the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham.Drawn campaigns against New Zealand and Australia in 2023, and this year’s 4-1 loss in India, checked England’s progress.They have since undergone a significant revamp of the team, with England record wicket-taker James Anderson, 100-cap veteran Jonny Bairstow, wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and experienced spinner Jack Leach all making way for fresh talent.The newcomers have all made impressive starts, with fast bowler Gus Atkinson taking 12 wickets at Lord’s, off-spinner Shoaib Bashir grabbing a five-wicket haul at Trent Bridge and Jamie Smith shining as wicketkeeper-batsman.“I think there were some big calls and some tough calls to make on guys, but it feels at the minute that we’ve got a really nice balanced attack and batting line-up as well,” said Pope.“We want to give guys confidence and that we’re building the team around them, but at the same time, in international cricket there’s always going to be pressure for spots. It’s been shown in the last few weeks that the guys who have come in have done beautifully and we can keep building from here.”Asalanka to lead Sri Lanka in T20s against IndiaSri Lanka named all-rounder Charith Asalanka as captain of their Twenty20 side on Tuesday ahead of a three-match series against world champions India starting this weekend.The 27-year-old replaces Wanindu Hasaranga, who stepped down as skipper in the shortest format after Sri Lanka failed to make the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies last month.Sri Lanka and India will play three T20s in Pallekele from Saturday before meeting in three one-day internationals.Kusal Mendis leads Sri Lanka’s ODI side while Dhananjaya de Silva is the test captain. De Silva and veteran Angelo Mathews were not included in the 16-man T20 squad but there was a place for Hasaranga.India will also have a new captain in Suryakumar Yadav, who took charge of the T20 team after the retirement of Rohit Sharma following their triumphant World Cup campaign.T20I squad: Charith Asalanka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando.

Vice-President Kamala Harris assailed Donald Trump yesterday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, while a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed her taking a marginal lead over Trump, the Republican nominee.“In this campaign, I promise you I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousands at West Allis Central High School in a Milwaukee suburb in Wisconsin, a crucial battleground state in the November 5 election.“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?” she asked.Harris swiftly consolidated her party’s support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from members of his party who worried about his ability to beat Trump or to serve for another four-year term.She wrapped up the nomination on Monday night by winning pledges from a majority of the delegates who at next month’s party convention will determine the nominee, the campaign said.Most Democratic lawmakers have lined up behind her candidacy, including the party’s leaders in the Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris yesterday at a joint press conference.An unofficial survey of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well over the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but no-one else received any votes in the AP survey; 54 delegates said they were undecided. Harris’ rise dramatically reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their options.Saddled with concerns that included his health and persistent high prices crimping Americans’ household finances, Biden had been losing ground against Trump in opinion polls, particularly in the competitive states that are likely to decide the election, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Nevada.The Wisconsin event offered another opportunity for Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice-president, to reset the Democrats’ campaign. Harris has been raking in campaign contributions. Her campaign said on Monday she had raised $100mn since Sunday, topping the $95mn that the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.While a wave of senior Democrats have lined up behind Harris, the racial justice group Black Lives Matter yesterday challenged the party’s swift move.It called for a national virtual snap primary ahead of the August 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party will formally nominate its candidate.“We call for the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.Biden said on X that he would deliver a speech tonight from the Oval Office explaining his decision to end his campaign. He was returning to Washington yesterday after spending several days in isolation at home with Covid-19. The president has tested negative and no longer has symptoms, the White House doctor said in a letter yesterday.Trump and his allies have tried to tether Harris to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.“Kamala Harris’ dismal record is one of complete failure and utter incompetence. Her policies are Biden’s policies, and vice versa,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.Wisconsin is among a trio of Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical for Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.“There are independents and young people who did not like their choices, and Harris has a chance to win them,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising.Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, said Harris could also help bring back crucial Black voters.“Many of them didn’t come along because they were distracted by his (Biden’s) age, distracted by his appearance,” he said.Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison, in an interview on NBC’s Today programme, said the party had to move quickly to get the ticket on ballots in all 50 states, and that the vice-presidential pick needed to be made by Aug. 7.“This process is going to be fair, transparent, open but it’s going to be fast,” Harrison said.Potential running mates include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with internal policy discussions.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle (pictured) resigned yesterday, a day after acknowledging that the agency had failed in its mission to prevent an assassination attempt against Donald Trump.Cheatle was facing bipartisan calls to step down after a 20-year-old gunman wounded the former Republican president and current White House candidate at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.“It is overdue, she should have done this at least a week ago,” Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters. “I’m happy to see that she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats.”President Joe Biden thanked Cheatle for her nearly three decades in the Secret Service and said she had “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation throughout her career.”“We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Biden said in a statement. He said he would appoint a new director soon.Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that Secret Service deputy director Ronald Rowe, a 24-year veteran of the agency, would serve as acting director until a replacement is named for Cheatle.Reacting to her resignation, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. It was my great honour to do so!”Cheatle appeared before a congressional committee on Monday and said the attack on Trump represented “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades” — a reference to the 1981 shooting of Ronald Reagan.Both Republicans and Democrats called on Cheatle to resign during the tense House hearing.She drew the ire of lawmakers from both parties by refusing to provide specific details about the attack, citing the existence of multiple active investigations.The gunman opened fire on Trump with an AR-style assault rifle just minutes after he began speaking at the campaign event.Perched on the roof of a nearby building, he was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper less than 30 seconds after firing the first of eight shots.Cheatle said the Secret Service was alerted “two to five times” ahead of the attack about a “suspicious individual” at the rally, but was unable to locate him before he opened fire.Investigators have concluded that the gunman, who lived in a town about 50 miles from Butler, acted alone, and have not been able to identify any strong ideological or political leanings.Two rally attendees were seriously wounded in the attack and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter was shot dead.Trump’s former physician said over the weekend that the Republican candidate sustained a gunshot wound on his right ear.“The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear,” ex-White House physician Ronny Jackson said.Cheatle served as a Secret Service agent for 27 years before leaving in 2021 to become the head of security for PepsiCo in North America.She was named to head the agency by Biden in 2022.

A top WHO official said yesterday he was “extremely worried” over possible outbreaks in war-torn Gaza after poliovirus was detected in the sewage, warning that communicable diseases could cause more deaths than injuries.United Nations agencies said last week that the Global Polio Laboratory Network found vaccine-derived type-2 poliovirus in six environmental samples collected from the sewage in the Gaza Strip on June 23. Ayadil Saparbekov, the World Health Organisation’s head of health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territories, stressed that “we have not yet collected human samples” so it remains unclear if anyone has actually been infected with the virus.But he acknowledged to reporters in Geneva via video-link from Jerusalem, “I am very much worried”.A type of vaccine against polio – a crippling and potentially fatal viral disease that mainly affects children under the age of five — contains small amounts of weakened but live polio which can occasionally cause outbreaks. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) replicates in the gut and can be passed to others through faecal-contaminated water — meaning it won’t hurt the child who has been vaccinated, but could infect their neighbours in places where hygiene and immunisation levels are low.While epidemiological studies and risk assessments are continuing, Saparbekov said he was deeply concerned at the prospect of any diseases spreading in Gaza, which is facing a towering humanitarian crisis after more than nine months of war following Hamas’s deadly October first week storming of Israel.“I’m extremely worried about outbreaks happening in Gaza,” he said, pointing to the confirmation late last year that hepatitis A was spreading, “and now we may have polio”.“With the crippled health system, lack of water and sanitation, as well as lack of access of the population to health services... this is going to be a very bad situation,” he warned.“We may have more people dying of different communicable diseases than from the injury-related diseases.”

The stress shows on the face of Samiha Ismail who since October first week last year has been stuck in her home in an occupied West Bank village that lives in constant fear of attack by Israeli settlers.The day after the Hamas raid into southern Israel, settlers entered Susya, a hilltop village in the south of the West Bank, vowing retribution and “humiliation”, the 53-year-old Palestinian recalled.More than nine months on, Ismail is among 450 inhabitants who spend most of the day indoors. Even their sheep are not allowed out of their sheds.“Every time we take them to pasture, the settlers chase us,” the panicked Ismail said.Instead, the sheep of Israeli settlers now dot the nearby hills.Susya’s inhabitants say their livelihood has gone. One international aid group has sent counsellors to help Susya residents with their mental health.“Before the war, we would have defended our land, but today nobody moves,” she said.The settlers are armed and protected by the army, she added, and her husband and son have been “beaten up” several times.Israeli authorities did not respond to AFP’s questions about violence in the region.Since the start of the Gaza war, Israeli settlement of the occupied West Bank — considered illegal under international law — has hit new records.Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, some 490,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank alongside some 3mn Palestinians.In June, the Israeli government declared more than 12 square kilometres of the West Bank to be state land, the largest land appropriation since the 1993 Oslo Accords set out the foundations for land use in the territory.Land that is declared as Israeli state property can be used for more settlements.In addition, 25 settlement outposts — not even authorised by Israel — have sprung up across the West Bank since the start of the year, according to Peace Now, a settlement watchdog.Men in military fatigues have meanwhile raided Susya at night, kicking down doors and looting property including donkeys and mules, locals said.Some have even entered houses at night to intimidate residents. “Most of us no longer sleep at night,” Ismail said.Mohamed al-Nawajaa, 78, was born before the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948 — known as the Nakba, or catastrophe, to Palestinians.“After October first week last year, they took all these hills. We were kicked out in 1948, 1967... and now again in 2024. But this land is ours,” the shepherd said, his head wrapped in a traditional keffiyeh scarf.