Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez reveals she competed at the Paris Olympics while 7 months pregnant
Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez reveals she competed at the Paris Olympics while 7 months pregnant/node/2559331
Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez reveals she competed at the Paris Olympics while 7 months pregnant
Hayoung Jeon of South Korea in action against Nada Hafez of Egypt. (Reuters)
Updated 30 July 2024
Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez reveals she competed at the Paris Olympics while 7 months pregnant
Updated 30 July 2024
PARIS: Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez has revealed that she fought at the Paris Olympics while seven months pregnant. Hafez posted on Instagram that she was “carrying a little Olympian one” hours after she had reached the round of 16 in women’s saber Monday. The 26-year-old fencer from Cairo upset Elizabeth Tartakovsky of the United States, a former NCAA champion, before losing to Jeon Hayoung of South Korea. “My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional,” Hafez wrote. “The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life & sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it. I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!” A former gymnast with a degree in medicine, Hafez is a three-time Olympian who won gold medals in the individual and team saber events at the 2019 African Games. She finished Monday’s competition officially ranked 16th, her best result in any of her three Olympic appearances.
Visa’s 24/7 war room takes on global cybercriminals/node/2607165/world
Visa’s 24/7 war room takes on global cybercriminals
The warning signs are clear: anything that seems too good to be true online is suspicious, and romance opportunities with strangers from distant countries are especially dangerous
Visa maintains identical facilities in London and Singapore, ensuring 24-hour global vigilance
Updated 4 min 53 sec ago
AFP
ASHBURN, United States: In the heart of Data Center Alley — a patch of suburban Washington where much of the world’s Internet traffic flows — Visa operates its global fraud command center.
The numbers that the payments giant grapples with are enormous. Every year, $15 trillion flows through Visa’s networks, representing roughly 15 percent of the world’s economy. And bad actors constantly try to syphon off some of that money.
Modern fraudsters vary dramatically in sophistication.
To stay ahead, Visa has invested $12 billion over the past five years building AI-powered cyber fraud detection capabilities, knowing that criminals are also spending big.
“You have everybody from a single individual threat actor looking to make a quick buck all the way to really corporatized criminal organizations that generate tens or hundreds of millions of dollars annually from fraud and scam activities,” Michael Jabbara, Visa’s global head of fraud solutions, told AFP during a tour of the company’s security campus.
“These organizations are very structured in how they operate.”
The best-resourced criminal syndicates now focus on scams that directly target consumers, enticing them into purchases or transactions by manipulating their emotions.
“Consumers are continuously vulnerable. They can be exploited, and that’s where we’ve seen a much higher incidence of attacks recently,” Jabbara said.
The warning signs are clear: anything that seems too good to be true online is suspicious, and romance opportunities with strangers from distant countries are especially dangerous.
“What you don’t realize is that the person you’re chatting with is more likely than not in a place like Myanmar,” Jabbara warned.
He said human-trafficking victims are forced to work in multi-billion-dollar cyber scam centers built by Asian crime networks in Myanmar’s lawless border regions.
The most up-to-date fraud techniques are systematic and quietly devastating.
Once criminals obtain your card information, they automatically distribute it across numerous merchant websites that generate small recurring charges — amounts low enough that victims may not notice for months.
Some of these operations increasingly resemble legitimate tech companies, offering services and digital products to fraudsters much like Google or Microsoft cater to businesses.
On the dark web, criminals can purchase comprehensive fraud toolkits.
“You can buy the software. You can buy a tutorial on how to use the software. You can get access to a mule network on the ground or you can get access to a bot network” to carry out denial-of-service attacks that overwhelm servers with traffic, effectively shutting them down.
Just as cloud computing lowered barriers for startups by eliminating the need to build servers, “the same type of trend has happened in the cybercrime and fraud space,” Jabbara explained.
These off-the-shelf services can also enable bad actors to launch brute force attacks on an industrial scale — using repeated payment attempts to crack a card’s number, expiry date, and security code.
The sophistication extends to corporate-style management, Jabbara said.
Some criminal organizations now employ chief risk officers who determine operational risk appetite.
They might decide that targeting government infrastructure and hospitals generates an excessive amount of attention from law enforcement and is too risky to pursue.
To combat these unprecedented threats, Jabbara leads a payment scam disruption team focused on understanding criminal methodologies.
From a small room called the Risk Operations Center in Virginia, employees analyze data streams on multiple screens, searching for patterns that distinguish fraudulent activity from legitimate credit card use.
In the larger Cyber Fusion Center, staff monitor potential cyberattacks targeting Visa’s own infrastructure around the clock.
“We deal with millions of attacks across different parts of our network,” Jabbara noted, emphasizing that most are handled automatically without human intervention.
Visa maintains identical facilities in London and Singapore, ensuring 24-hour global vigilance.
Win gives Mexico its record 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup title
Mexico improved to 6-2 in Gold Cup finals against the US
Updated 17 min ago
AP
HOUSTON, Texas: Edson Álvarez scored a tiebreaking goal in the 77th minute after a video review reversed an offside call, and Mexico beat the United States 2-1 on Sunday night for its record 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup title.
Chris Richards put the US ahead in the fourth minute, heading in a Sebastian Berhalter free kick for the second time in the tournament, but Raúl Jiménez tied the score in the 27th with his third goal of this Gold Cup.
Mexico was awarded the free kick when Diego Luna fouled Alexis Vega on a flank. Johan Vásquez flicked the restart across the goal mouth and Álvarez burst past the defense, redirecting the ball from 3 yards just inside Matt Freese’s far post. While the play was initially called offside, the goal was awarded by the VAR, and Mexico defended its title from 2023 while improving to 6-2 in Gold Cup finals against the US
Patrick Agyemang had a chance two minutes into stoppage time but he didn’t make good contact on his short-range shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Luis Malagón.
A sellout crowd of 70,925 at NRG Stadium was about 70 percent pro-Mexico and booed US players when they walked out for pregame warmups. Mexico dominated with 60 percent possession and had 12 corner kicks to none for the Americans.
This was the last competitive match for the US and Mexico before co-hosting next year’s World Cup with Canada.
The US, which has seven Gold Cup titles but none since 2021, used a starting lineup with only a handful of players currently projected as World Cup starters, missing regulars due to vacation, injuries and the Club World Cup.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino used their absence to evaluate players who could push for starting jobs during the friendlies this fall and next spring, and Luna and Agyemang emerged as contenders for World Cup roster spots.
Richards out the US in front when he headed Berhalter’s free kick from about 40 yards off the crossbar. The ball bounced straight down and just crossed the goal line.
Jiménez scored his 42nd international goal, third-most in Mexican history. He burst past the defense and one-timed the pass from Marcel Ruiz, beating Freese from about 10 yards on a shot that might have nicked defender Tim Ream.
Jiménez celebrated by grabbing a Mexico No. 20 jersey with “DIOGO J” in honor of Diogo Jota, his former Wolverhampton teammate who died in a car crash Thursday in Spain. Jiménez ran to a corner, sat down with the jersey and mimicked playing a video game.
BRICS nations slam US tariffs, but avoid naming Trump
The bloc is divided about much, but found common cause when it comes to Trump and his stop-start tariff wars
Trump has now warned he will impose unilateral levies on partners unless they reach “deals” by August 1
Updated 07 July 2025
AFP
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: BRICS leaders at a summit on Sunday took aim at US President Donald Trump’s “indiscriminate” import tariffs.
The 11 emerging nations — including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — account for about half the world’s population and 40 percent of global economic output.
The bloc is divided about much, but found common cause when it comes to the mercurial US leader and his stop-start tariff wars — even if they avoided naming him directly.
Voicing “serious concerns about the rise of unilateral tariff” measures, BRICS members said the tariffs risked hurting the global economy, according to a summit joint statement.
They also offered symbolic backing to fellow member Iran, condemning a series of military strikes on nuclear and other targets carried out by Israel and the United States.
In April, Trump threatened allies and rivals alike with a slew of punitive duties, before offering a months-long reprieve in the face of a fierce market sell-off.
Trump has now warned he will impose unilateral levies on partners unless they reach “deals” by August 1.
In an apparent concession to US allies, the summit declaration did not criticize the United States or its president by name at any point.
Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be seen as a Chinese-driven counterbalance to US and western European power.
But as the group has expanded to include Iran, Ƶ and others, it has struggled to reach meaningful consensus on issues from the Gaza war to challenging US global dominance.
BRICS nations, for example, collectively called for a peaceful two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict — despite Tehran’s long-standing position that Israel should be destroyed.
An Iranian diplomatic source said his government’s “reservations” had been conveyed to Brazilian hosts. Still, Iran stopped short of rejecting the statement outright.
Xi Jinping, Putin skip summit
The political punch of this year’s summit has been depleted by the absence of China’s Xi Jinping, who skipped the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
The Chinese leader is not the only notable absentee. Russian President Vladimir Putin, charged with war crimes in Ukraine, also opted to stay away, participating via video link.
He told counterparts that BRICS had become a key player in global governance.
The summit also called for regulation governing artificial intelligence and said the technology could not be the preserve of only rich nations.
The commercial AI sector is currently dominated by US tech giants, although China and other nations have rapidly developing capacity.
Desperate search for missing girls as death toll in Texas floods jumps to 78
Texas public safety chief fears the death toll could rise farther as forecasters warned of new deluges
Trump brushes off concerns his administration’s w ide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting had left local warning systems worse-off
Updated 57 min 30 sec ago
AFP
HUNT, Texas: Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 78 people, with forecasters warning of new deluges.
US President Donald Trump said he would “probably” visit the southern state on Friday.
The president brushed off concerns his administration’s wide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had left local warning systems worse-off.
Instead, Trump described the flash floods as a “100-year catastrophe” that “nobody expected.”
At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha said, while at least ten more people were killed by flooding in nearby areas.
“You will see the death toll rise today,” warned Texas public safety chief Freeman Martin at a press conference.
“Across the state, in all the areas affected by flooding, there are 41 known missing,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.
As questions grew about why warnings did not come sooner or people were not evacuated earlier in the area popular with campers, Trump said the situation was a “Biden setup.”
“That was not our setup,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that he would “not” hire back meteorologists when probed about staff and budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS).
Asked about whether he would change his plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he responded: “FEMA is something we can talk about later.”
Trump, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state-level, also signed a major disaster declaration that freed up resources for Texas.
In central Texas, some 17 helicopters joined the search for missing people, including ten girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where about 750 people had been staying when disaster struck.
In a terrifying display of nature’s power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation.
Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings at the camp were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday that slow-moving thunderstorms threatened more flash floods over the saturated ground of central Texas.
Governor Abbott warned that heavy rainfall could “lead to potential flash flooding” in Kerrville and surrounding areas, as officials warned people against going near the swollen river and its creeks.
The flooding began at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend as months’ worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept.
The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) — more than a two-story building — in just 45 minutes.
Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as “Flash Flood Alley.”
A drone view shows flooded houses, following torrential rains that unleashed flash floods along the Concho River in San Angelo, Texas, US, on July 4, 2025, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. (Patrick Keely via REUTERS )
Scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense.
Officials said while rescue operations were ongoing, they were also starting the process of debris removal.
“There’s debris all over the place that makes roads impassable, that makes reconstruction projects unachievable,” Abbott said.
People from elsewhere in Texas converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing.
Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but local officials urged them to stop, citing a danger for rescue aircraft.
One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to help.
“There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away,” Durda told AFP. “That’s who the family requested help for, but of course, we’re looking for anybody.”
Justin Morales, 36, was part of a search team that found three bodies, including that of a Camp Mystic girl caught up in a tree.
“We’re happy to give a family closure and hopefully we can keep looking and find some of the... you know, whoever,” he told AFP.
“Help give some of those families closure. That’s why we’re out here.”
Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red Sea, UK military says
The ship was first targeted by gunfire and self-propelled grenades launched from eight small boats, with armed security on the ship returning fire, UKMTO said
Updated 07 July 2025
AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel Sunday night as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a monthslong campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels there.
Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels’ media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge an assault.
A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.
Shortly before midnight in Yemen, Israel’s military issued a warning for three Houthi-held ports and said airstrikes would begin shortly in Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif along with at the Ras Al-Khatib power station. Attack comes at a delicate time
The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
“It likely serves as a message that the Houthis continue to possess the capability and willingness to strike at strategic maritime targets regardless of diplomatic developments,” wrote Mohammad Al-Basha, a Yemen analyst at the Basha Report risk advisory firm.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center first said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had returned fire against an initial attack and that the “situation is ongoing.” It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country’s Houthi rebels.
“Authorities are investigating,” it said. It later said the ship was on fire after being “struck by unknown projectiles.” Possibly a major escalation
Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been “attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea.”
Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel.
The US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet referred questions to the military’s Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident without elaborating.
Moammar Al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels for the attack. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity the attack took place and had been heading north.
“The attack also proves once again that the Houthis are merely a front for an Iranian scheme using Yemen as a platform to undermine regional and global stability, at a time when Tehran continues to arm the militia and provide it with military technology, including missiles, aircraft, drones, and sea mines,” Al-Eryani wrote on the social platform X.
The Magic Seas’ owners did not respond to a request for comment. Houthi attacks came over Israel-Hamas war
The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The group’s Al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged the attack occurred, but offered no other comment on it as it aired a speech by its secretive leader, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi. However, Ambrey said the vessel targeted met “the established Houthi target profile,” without elaborating.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel, though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel. On Sunday, the group claimed launching a missile at Israel which the Israeli military said it intercepted. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.
The Yemeni Coast Guard, which is loyal to the exiled government, has engaged in a firefight with at least one vessel in the Red Sea in the past as well.
Pirates from Somalia also have operated in the region, though typically they’ve sought to capture vessels either to rob or ransom their crews. But neither the Yemeni Coast Guard nor the pirates have been known to use drone boats in their attacks.
