MINNEAPOLIS — For Hezly Rivera, this all seemed improbable a week ago. Perhaps her best chance of making the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team waited four years in the future. Several other Americans entered these trials with a clear edge over the 16-year-old. But as top athletes suffered injuries, Rivera’s outlook dramatically changed.
And now, here she is celebrating as one of the five women who will represent the United States in Paris. Read More...
CARACAS, Venezuela — Maria Corina Machado has hiked overpasses, walked highways, ridden motorcycles, sought shelter in supporters’ homes and seen her closest collaborators detained and persecuted. She has held the calloused hands of crying men, worn dozens of gifted rosaries and listened to the pleas of the young and old while crisscrossing Venezuela.
The ruling party has blocked Machado from running in Sunday’s hotly contested presidential election, but fueled by that ban, she has become the driving force for the main opposition coalition and a symbol of hope, courage and perseverance for millions of Venezuelans. Read More...
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the leading Republican in the party’s primary in the gubernatorial race, made headlines over the weekend for receiving the endorsement of Donald Trump — with the former president saying he is “Martin Luther King on steroids” — and for having a history of making anti-LGBTQ+, Islamophobic and antisemitic statements.
Robinson is one of three Republicans seeking their party’s nomination in the North Carolina gubernatorial race, which is likely to be one of the biggest and most pivotal races for a governor’s mansion in the country in November. Read More...
