Tens of thousands of residents have
been evacuated from their homes in California as wildfires continue to burn.
Firefighters have described the blazes as some of the most ferocious they have
ever tackled.
Wind gusts weather symbol
You may be familiar with seeing the average
wind speed icons on TV, online and on the BBC Weather app. However, winds often
do the most damage when they gust, which is a sudden blast of strong wind.
When the weather forecast predicts gusts of
wind over 40mph, our wind icon will change from the usual white to black. The
black icon will help inform you in advance of potential hazards that may shape
your day - whether it's your umbrella turning inside out or more severe impact
on transport.
US apologises for swimmers' 'unacceptable behaviour'
Police questioned three of the
gold medal winners and say "they were not victims of the crimes they
claimed".
Two of the four - Gunnar Bentz
and Jack Conger - were allowed to fly out of Rio on Thursday evening.
Ryan Lochte had already left, and
James Feigen remains in Brazil.
Mr Bentz and Mr Conger had been
taken off a plane at Rio airport on Wednesday and taken for questioning.
Mr Lochte had initially said the
four were robbed at gunpoint when they were returning by taxi from a club.
But Rio's civil police head
Fernando Veloso said the four Olympic gold medallists had not been robbed.
"No robbery was committed
against these athletes. They were not victims of the crimes they claimed,'' he
said.
He told reporters that one or
more of the athletes had instead vandalised a toilet in a petrol station and
then offered to pay for the damage.
The Americans paid and left after
armed security guards intervened, he said.
One guard had justifiably drawn
his gun after one of the swimmers began behaving erratically, Mr Veloso added.
He warned that the swimmers, who
had repeatedly changed their accounts of what happened, could "in
theory" face charges of giving false testimony and vandalism.
But later on Thursday, the men's
lawyer Sergio Riera said Mr Bentz and Mr Conger had been allowed to leave the
country by a special Olympic court.
"They are on their way to
the airport," Mr Riera said.
However, Mr Feigen remains in
Brazil.
He "provided a revised statement this evening
(Thursday) with the hope of securing the release of his passport as soon as
possible," said the
US Olympic Committee (USOC).
The USOC statement confirmed the
version of events given by Mr Veloso, and added that "the behaviour of
these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of Team
USA".
Four views of Ryan Lochte
Slate:
"Maybe he's just a lunk, or
a doofus, or a Faulknerian idiot man-child, or the real-world analogue of Moose
from Archie. There are all sorts of unflattering descriptors that might apply
to Ryan Lochte."
Washington
Post:
"There is a special category
of obnoxious American 'bro' that Lochte represents, in his T-shirt and jeans and
expensive suede footwear, which he showed off on Instagram that night at the
party along with the price tag. 'We're 6k deep here,' he captioned it. Is there
anything worse, in any country, than a bunch of entitled young drunks who break
the furniture and pee on a wall?"
San
Francisco Chronicle:
"It doesn't matter what else
Lochte has done in his Olympic career. This cemented his legacy: most
embarrassing Olympic athlete."
New
York Post:
"He cried wolf and was
called on it, and that will be his burden to bear for a good long while - but
not his alone. The Ugly American is alive and well in 2016 thanks to this
dope."
Earlier, a Rio 2016
spokesman had tried to make light of the case.
"These kids tried
to have fun, they tried to represent their country to the best of their abilities,"
Mario Andrada told reporters.
"They competed
under gigantic pressure. Let's give these kids a break. Sometime you take
actions that you later regret.
"They had fun,
they made a mistake, life goes on."
How the story evolved
Sunday 14 August
§
Ryan Lochte's mother
tells US media her son has been robbed in Rio de Janeiro
§
Mr Lochte gives an account
of the events, saying he, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen
were returning by taxi from a club in the early hours of the morning when they
were robbed at gunpoint by men who forced the vehicle to pull over
§
The swimmers do not
report the incident to police or to the US Olympic Committee, and police
officers only get involved after seeing TV reports
Monday 15 August
§
Police investigating
the case say there are inconsistencies in the men's accounts
Tuesday 16 August
§
CCTV footage emerges
of the men's return to the athletes' village showing them laughing and joking,
and handing over wallets and phones as they go through the security screens
Wednesday 17 August
§
Ryan Lochte admits
there were inaccuracies in his original account of being robbed at gunpoint,
but vehemently denies
making the story up
§
Judge orders that the
passports of the four men be seized before it emerges that Mr Lochte has
already left for the US
§
Gunnar Bentz and Jack
Conger taken off a US-bound plane at Rio de Janeiro airport
Thursday 18 August
§
Brazilian police
sources tell media outlets that the men invented a story about a robbery to
disguise a dispute over a damaged bathroom door at a petrol station in Barra da
Tijuca, 16km (10 miles) from the Olympic Park
§
CCTV video emerges
that appears to show the athletes being detained and ordered to sit on the
ground
§
Gunnar Bentz and Jack
Conger enter a Rio police station for questioning
§
Head of Rio's civil
police emphatically denies a robbery took place, saying the case centred around
an incident of vandalism and payment for damage
§
Gunnar Bentz and Jack
Conger fly out of Rio, with James Feigen unable to travel as his passport is
still held by the Brazilian authorities
Who are the swimmers?
GETTY IMAGES
REUTERS
Lochte is one of the
most successful swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals, and he once had
his own reality television show in the US. In Rio, he swam in two events,
winning gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay along with Conger.
Feigen won gold in the
4x100m freestyle relay.
Bentz competed in the
4x200m preliminaries, but not the final. He still received a gold medal after
the US team's win.
Mexico Michoacan: Police accused of executing 22 in ranch assault
EPA
The Mexican government's human rights body has
accused police of killing 22 people in extrajudicial executions in a raid on a
drug cartel last year.
One police officer and
42 suspects were killed in the raid on a ranch in Tanhuato, Michoacan state, on
15 May.
Officers said they had
returned fire in self-defence but the high death toll aroused suspicions.
The National Human
Rights Commission (CNDH) says police attempted a cover-up. Police dispute the
findings.
Human rights groups in
the country have long been demanding an improvement in policing standards and
an end to arbitrary killings.
Previously, the
government said there had been no human rights violations during the raid on
the ranch.
They said a war was
being fought between two local drug gangs and those killed were believed to be
members of one of the cartels.
'Four thousand rounds'
Police used a Black
Hawk helicopter during the operation, reportedly firing some 4,000 rounds into
the ranch, known as the Rancho del Sol, during the initial assault.
The helicopter itself
was hit by gunfire, investigators found.
In its report (in Spanish; warning: contains graphic
images), the CNDH asserts that:
§
5 suspects were killed
in the helicopter attack; 22 were arbitrarily executed; 15 died in unclear
circumstances
§
2 bodies were burnt by
police
§
2 suspects were
tortured in custody
§
police moved bodies
and weapons to cover up arbitrary killings
"The
investigation confirmed facts that show grave human rights violations
attributable to public servants of the federal police,'' commission President
Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez said.
Mexico's national
security commissioner, Renato Sales, who oversees the federal police, rejected
the CNDH allegations.
"The use of
weapons was necessary and proportional against the real and imminent and
unlawful aggression," he told reporters.
"That is to say,
in our minds they acted in legitimate defence."
Michoacan has become
one of Mexico's most violent states because of the rivalry between cartels.
Weather for the week ahead
18th August 2016 Last updated at 02:59
After brief warmth, wet and windy
conditions are set to return. Matt Taylor looks at our latest long range
forecast.
Extreme weather in the USA
17th August 2016 Last updated at 20:15
The US state of Louisiana continues to
feel the effect of severe flooding. By contrast, wildfires are raging in
California.
Can you trust your thermometer?
How hard can it be to measure the temperature
of the air? Surely it's just a case of holding a thermometer out in the open
and reading off a number?
In fact, it is surprisingly difficult to get a
consistent, accurate measure of air temperature. Put a thermometer in the shade
and it will give one figure. Move it into the sunshine and it will rocket up
several degrees. The reading will change if you move it closer to a wall, high
above your head or down on the ground.
Met Office
If you want to compare
temperature records over a long period of time or in different places then it
is essential to standardise the way the readings are taken, so that you are
comparing like with like. Weather stations around the world keep their
thermometers (mostly digital rather than mercury and glass these days) in a
white-painted box with slatted sides, designed to allow the air to flow through
but keep direct sunshine out. The most widely used design is known as a
Stevenson screen, which is mounted at an agreed standard height of between 1.25m
and 2m, in an open site well away from trees and buildings.
So when temperatures
are soaring and the car thermometer is going off the scale, that's telling you
a lot about the heat capacity of sun-baked metal but you won't be able to claim
a new record.
Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt reaches men's 200m final but Justin Gatlin out
Usain
Bolt ran his fastest time of the season to win his Olympic 200m semi-final in
19.78 seconds as Justin Gatlin missed out on a place in the final.
Jamaica's Bolt has already won the 100m and is
now aiming for an eighth Olympic gold by retaining his 200m title.
But American Gatlin, who won silver behind
Bolt in the 100m final, only finished third in his semi-final.
Britain's Adam Gemili, 22, reached Thursday's
final (02:30 BST, Friday) as one of two fastest losers.
Gatlin, 34, banned twice for doping offences,
clocked 20.13 and failed to progress along with another big name - Yohan Blake.
The Jamaican, who won silver behind Bolt in
London four years ago, has been hampered by injury over the past couple of
years and faded to finish sixth in 20.37 seconds.
LaShawn Merritt, who has run 19.74 this year,
is likely to pose the biggest challenge to Bolt in the final.
But Bolt believes he can break his world
record of 19.19 and could even go under 19 seconds in the final.
"I definitely think I can try for the
world record, I definitely feel that," he said. "I need to run
efficiently and get into the straight and run the perfect race."
Bolt said he would have a better chance of
achieving his goal to run under 19 seconds if he gets a high lane, adding:
"If I get a lower lane it's always harder for me to run the corner when it
is tighter."
On Gatlin's exit, Bolt told BBC Radio 5 live:
"Everybody's in shock. You can tell from the 100m he's getting old. It's a
fact the older you get, the rougher it gets to double.
"Next year if I go to the World
Championships [in London] I'm not going to double. I'm going to do the 100m and
that is it."
Listen:
Bolt on his chances of setting a new world record
'Lazy' Bolt eases into final
De Grasse and Bolt
enjoyed a moment of fun as they crossed the line
Bolt has won all seven of his previous Olympic finals,
claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both Beijing 2008 and
London 2012.
Here, the 29-year-old was laughing as he crossed the line
just two hundredths of a second ahead of Canada's Andre de Grasse.
"Andre was supposed to slow down. He didn't,"
he joked.
"I said: 'What are you doing, it is the semis?' He
said he had to push me.
"I was a bit lazy, I don't know why, but I executed
it."
Day-by-day
guide to what's on
Latest medal table
Gatlin falls
short again
Gatlin is a divisive figure in athletics, having returned
to the sport after serving two bans.
He claimed Olympic bronze at London 2012 and silver
behind Bolt in the 2015 World Championships.
After missing out on 100m gold on Sunday, he fell short
in the 200m after appearing to lose focus when he glanced across the track 60
metres from the finish.
Gatlin, who ran 19.75 last month - the second fastest
time of the year, said afterwards he had been hampered by an ankle injury.
"I'm happy to still be here for the relays," he
said. "My ankle is giving me a lot of problems. I can't run properly and I
had a tight turn in lane three."
Gemili
determined to 'push on'
Gemili, 22, was third in 20.08, with his place in the
final confirmed following the third semi-final.
"I really tightened up. I'm in a lot better shape
than 20.08. I was really disappointed seeing that," he said.
"But that's a good thing I suppose that I'm not
satisfied with that and I will go and push on."
His team-mate Danny Talbot clocked a personal best 20.25,
the same time as Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, but it was not enough for either to
go through.
The top two in each semi-final qualified automatically,
along with the two fastest losers.
Analysis
Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic gold
medallist on BBC One:
"Adam Gemili got really tight at the end - his
shoulders were up high and that makes it really tough.
"It was an interesting run by Usain Bolt, he got out
fast and quick and let off a bit. De Grasse decided he was going to have a bit
of fun and go and get him.
"Gatlin made a bit of a mistake. He relaxed. He
didn't realise the others were upon him and then he tried to get back into it
but you can't do that with the class of this field.
"That was a huge mistake and he will know it. A very
strange race."
US ready to 'hand over' the internet's naming system
THINKSTOCK
The Domain Naming System, DNS, is
one of the internet’s most important components.
It pairs the easy-to-remember web
addresses - like bbc.com - with their relevant servers. Without DNS, you’d only
be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers
such as "194.66.82.10".
More by circumstance than
intention, the US has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled -
but not for much longer.
It will give up its power fully
to Icann - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - a
non-profit organisation.
The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it
wasn’t until now that the US said
it was finally satisfied that Icann was ready to make the change.
Icann will get the “keys to the
kingdom”, as one expert put it, on 1st October 2016. From that date, the US
will lose its dominant voice - although Icann will remain in Los Angeles.
If anyone can, Icann?
Users of the web will not notice
any difference - that’s because Icann has essentially being doing the job for
years anyway.
But it’s a move that has been
fiercely criticised by some US politicians as opening the door to the likes of
China and Russia to meddle with a system that has always been “protected” by
the US.
"The proposal will
significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet,”
warned a letter signed by several Republican senators, including former
Presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz.
Whether you think those fears are
justified depends on your confidence in the ability of Icann to do its job.
THINKSTOCK
It was created in 1998 to take over the task of assigning
web addresses. Until that point, that job was handled by one man - Jon Postel.
He was known to many as the “god of the internet”, a nod to his power over the
internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the systems that
underpin networking.
Mr Postel, who
died not long after Icann was created,was in charge of the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA). Administration of the IANA was contracted to the
newly-formed Icann, but the US's National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, kept its final say
over what it was able to do.
It’s that final detail that is
set to change from October. No longer will the US government - through the NTIA
- be able to intervene on matters around internet naming.
It rarely intervened. Most
famously, it stepped in when Icann wanted to launch a new top-level domain for
pornography, “.xxx”. The government wanted Icann to ditch the idea, but it
eventually went ahead anyway.
From October, the “new” Icann
will become an organisation that answers to multiple stakeholders who want a
say over the internet. Those stakeholders include countries, businesses and
groups offering technical expertise.
Best option
“It's a big change,” remarked
Prof Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey.
"It marks a transition from
an internet effectively governed by one nation to a multi-stakeholder governed
internet: a properly global solution for what has become a global asset."
Technically, the US is doing this
voluntarily - if it wanted to keep power of DNS, it could. But the country has
long acknowledged that relinquishing its control was a vital act of
international diplomacy.
Other countries, particularly
China and Russia, had put pressure on the UN to call for the DNS to be
controlled by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union.
GETTY IMAGES
Instead, the US has used its
remaining power over DNS to shift control to Icann, not the UN.
In response to worries about
abuse of the internet by foreign governments, Icann said it had consulted
corporate governance experts who said its the prospect of government
interference was “extremely remote”.
"The community’s new powers to challenge board
decisions and enforce decisions in court protect against any one party or group
of interests from inappropriately influencing Icann,” the group said in a Q&A section on its website.
As for how it will change what
happens on the internet, the effects will most likely be minimal for the
average user.
"This has nothing to do with
laws on the internet,” Prof Woodward said.
"Those still are the
national laws that apply where it touches those countries.
"This is more about who
officially controls the foundations of the Internet/web addresses and domain
names, without which the network wouldn't function."
Weather for the week ahead
17th August 2016 Last updated at 03:33
Warm weather so far this week, but
rain is on the way.
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