International
Team USA figure skater Ilia Malinin made history on Saturday by performing the first legal one-foot backflip in more than 50 years at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
French figure skater Surya Bonaly performed the same move in 1998, but flips had been banned in 1976, meaning it resulted in a deduction to her score.
The International Skating Union lifted the ban in 2024, making Malinin’s the first legal execution of the move.
Malinin said it was exhilarating to hear the crowd cheering him on.
“It’s honestly such an incredible roar-feeling in the environment — once I do that backflip everyone is like screaming for joy and they’re just out of control,” Malinin told NPR. “The backflip is something that I’m sure a lot of people know the basics of, so I think just having that really can bring in the non-figure skating crowd as well.”
Malinin finished his routine with a score of 200.03.
National
Last Friday, the United States used its platform at a global disarmament conference to openly accuse Beijing of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020.
“I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,” U.S. Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno said at the conference.
DiNanno said China “sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments. China has used ‘decoupling’, a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide their activities from the world.”
The conference took place only one day after the treaty limiting United States and Russian missile deployment expired, prompting U.S. officials to call for a new arms control treaty for China and Russia after announcing the alleged nuclear tests.
Shen Jian, China’s ambassador on disarmament, responded to the accusation.
“China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat,” Jian said. “China firmly opposes such false narratives. The U.S. is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race.”
The 2010 New START treaty ended on Thursday, leaving the United States and Russia without constraints on strategic missile use for the first time in more than 50 years.
Local
The Regional Transport Authority of Central Oklahoma has begun a rebranding effort to rename the organization One Transit, a change aligning with its unified vision.
Former Oklahoma Governor and Chairman Brad Henry said the previous name was undescriptive and long.
“We were known as the Regional Transportation Authority of Central Oklahoma,” Henry told KOCO 5. “And that’s really a mouthful and doesn’t really explain what we’re charged with doing.”
The rebranding also marks the start of a new project. One Transit will undertake the construction of a 40-mile commuter line with 11 stops connecting locations like the Capitol and several colleges.
Henry said the project may take as long as a decade to be fully operational.
“So, we’re hopeful that we obviously need a local revenue match,” Henry said. “The only option we have under the legislation that creates the authority is sales tax. So, we’re going to be making the case for that. We’re hopeful to go to a referendum sometime early 2027. And maybe, you know, by the time we get everything constructed and actually running, I mean, I don’t know exactly, but I’d say, yeah, you know, 7-10 years.”
One Transit, founded in 2019 under a different name, is responsible for managing and implementing public transport in Oklahoma City, Norman, and Edmond.
0
0
Be First to Comment