A powerful 6.9-magnitude aftershock jolted quake-hit southern Philippines late Friday, triggering a fresh tsunami alert just hours after an earlier warning was lifted, authorities said. At least five people were killed, officials said, and there were reports of damage.
The first earthquake, a 7.4 magnitude quake in the morning, killed at least five people, set off landslides, damaged hospitals and schools and prompted evacuations of coastal areas nearby because of a tsunami warning, which was later lifted.
The second one had a preliminary 6.9 magnitude. Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology chief Teresito Bacolcol said that Friday night’s earthquake that jolted Manay town in Davao Oriental province was caused by movement in the same fault line, the Philippine Trench, at a depth of 6 miles.
The aftershock prompted the Philippine seismology office to warn of “life-threatening wave heights” and urge coastal residents to “immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., facing his latest natural disaster after a recent deadly quake and back-to-back storms, said the potential damage was being assessed and rescue teams and relief operations were being prepared and would be deployed when it was safe to do so.
The first quake was centered at sea about 27 miles east of Manay town in Davao Oriental province and was caused by movement in the Philippine Trench at a depth of 14 miles.
At least five people were killed, including two patients who died of heart attacks at a hospital during the first earthquake and a resident who was hit by debris in Mati city in Davao Oriental, Ednar Dayanghirang, regional director of the government’s Office of Civil Defense, told The Associated Press by telephone.
In this photo provided by the Bureau of Fire Protection, a firefighter walks past a damaged structure following a strong earthquake in Davao Oriental province, southern Philippines on Friday Oct. 10, 2025.
Bureau of Fire Protection via AP
Two villagers died and several others were rescued with injuries by army troops and civilian volunteers in a landslide set off by the first quake in a remote gold-mining village in Pantukan town in Davao de Oro province near Davao Oriental, Dayanghirang said.
Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said that several buildings sustained cracks in their walls, including an international airport in Davao city, but it remained operational without any flights being canceled, Alejandro said.
“I was driving my car when it suddenly swayed and I saw power lines swaying wildly. People darted out of houses and buildings as the ground shook and electricity came off,” Jun Saavedra, a disaster mitigation officer of Governor Generoso town in Davao Oriental, told The Associated Press by cellphone.
“We’ve had earthquakes in the past, but this was the strongest,” Saavedra said, adding that the intense ground swaying caused cracks in several buildings, including a high school, where about 50 students were brought to a hospital by ambulance after sustaining bruises, fainting or becoming dizzy because of the first quake.
Governor Generoso is a town about 62 miles south of Manay, where school classes in all levels were also suspended.
Children evacuated schools in Davao city, which has about 5.4 million people and is the biggest city near the epicenter, about 155 miles west of Davao Oriental province. In Davao city, a plane that had just landed with an AFP photographer on board shook as the crew prevented passengers from immediately deplaning.
They were later allowed to disembark, but were made to wait outside on the tarmac, instead of being taken inside the passenger terminal.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said that small waves were detected on the coasts of the Philippines and Indonesia before the threat passed about two hours after the first quake. It said that small sea fluctuations may continue.
A tsunami warning that set off evacuations in six coastal provinces near Davao Oriental was later lifted without any major waves being detected, chief government seismologist Teresito Bacolcol said.
Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said that small tsunami waves were detected in North Sulawesi province with heights ranging from 3.5 to 17 centimeters (1.3 to 6.7 inches) in Melonguane, Beo, Essang and Ganalo in Talaud Islands districts.
The Philippines is still recovering from a Sept. 30 earthquake with a 6.9 magnitude that left at least 74 people dead and displaced thousands of people in the central province of Cebu, particularly in Bogo city and outlying towns.
The archipelago also is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, making disaster response a major task of the government and volunteer groups.
Also Friday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck Friday off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The U.S. Geological Survey said that it was centered in the Bismarck Sea 257 miles northeast of Lae, the South Pacific island nation’s second-most populous city.
Lae police official Mary Jane Huafilong said that no damage was reported.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the southern Philippines island of Mindanao early Friday morning local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, prompting a tsunami warning for the local region.
The earthquake, which struck at 9:43 a.m. local time, was centered in the Philippine Sea, about 12 miles east of the small town of Santiago, the USGS said. It occurred at a depth of about 36 miles.
A “destructive tsunami is expected with life-threatening wave heights” on the archipelago nation’s east coast, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported. Coastal residents in these areas “are strongly advised to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move farther inland,” it added.
It was not immediately clear if there was any damage or injuries from the quake.
The U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center said there was no risk of a tsunami to Hawaii or the West Coast of the U.S. from the quake.
This follows a magnitude-6.9 earthquake which struck the Philippines on Sept. 30. That earthquake left dozens of people dead in the central Philippine province of Cebu and caused significant damage in the region.
We set out across the Indo-Pacific in August to assess U.S. military readiness and consult with allies. In the Philippines, Palau and Taiwan, we found partners determined to resist Chinese coercion and willing to share the burden.
In Taiwan we spoke with President Lai Ching-tse and senior officials. They understand the gravity of the threat and are responding with urgency to meet it. Mr. Lai has committed to increasing defense spending and mobilizing the public behind a resilience plan.
Manila, Philippines — At least 69 people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit a central Philippine province Tuesday night.
The magnitude-6.9 quake hit at about 10 p.m. and trapped an unspecified number of residents in collapsed houses, nightclubs and other businesses in the hard-hit coastal city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province, officials said.
Scenes showing damages, injuries and chaos in the streets of Cebu following a magnitude-6.9 earthquake that jolted parts of the island, in Cebu, Philippines, on Sept. 30, 2025.
Handout/Cebu Governor’s Office/Anadolu via Getty Images
Rescuers scrambled to find survivors Wednesday. Army troops, police and civilian volunteers backed by backhoes and sniffer dogs were deployed to carry out house-to-house searches for survivors.
Bogo is a city of about 90,000 people. About half the deaths were reported there, officials said.
The death toll in Bogo was expected to rise, according to officials, who said intermittent rain and damaged bridges and roads were hampering the race to save lives.
“We’re still in the golden hour of our search and rescue,” Office of Civil Defense Deputy Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said in a news briefing. “There are still many reports of people who were pinned or hit by debris.”
The Philippine government is considering whether to seek help from foreign governments based on an ongoing rapid damage assessment, Alejandro said.
Workers were trying to transport a backhoe to hasten search and rescue efforts in a cluster of shanties in a mountain village hit by a landslide and boulders, Bogo city disaster-mitigation officer Rex Ygot told The Associated Press early Wednesday.
Residents stay on the streets on Oct. 1, 2025 near the debris of damaged buildings amid frequent aftershocks following a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that jolted parts of Bogo City, in the province of Cebu in the Philippines.
Daniel Ceng / Anadolu via Getty Images
“It’s hard to move in the area because there are hazards,” said Glenn Ursal, another disaster-mitigation officer, who added that some survivors were brought to a hospital from the mountain village.
Deaths also were reported from the outlying towns of Medellin and San Remigio, where three coast guard personnel, a firefighter and a child were killed by collapsing walls and falling debris while trying to flee to safety from a basketball game in a sports complex that was disrupted by the quake, town officials said.
The quake was one of the most powerful to batter the central region in more than a decade and struck while many people slept or were at home.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning and advised people to stay away from the coastlines of Cebu and the nearby provinces of Leyte and Biliran due to possible waves of up to 3 feet.
No such waves were reported and the tsunami warning was lifted more than three hours later, but thousands of traumatized residents refused to return home and chose to stay in open grassy fields and parks overnight despite intermittent rains.
Cebu and other provinces were still recovering from a tropical storm that battered the central region on Friday, leaving at least 27 people dead, mostly from drownings and falling trees, knocking out power in entire cities and towns and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
Schools and government offices were closed in the quake-hit cities and towns while the safety of buildings was checked. More than 600 aftershocks have been detected after Tuesday night’s shaker, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Teresito Bacolcol said.
Rain-soaked mountainsides were more susceptible to land- and mudslides in a major earthquake, he warned.
“This was really traumatic to people. They’ve been lashed by a storm then jolted by an earthquake,” Bacolcol said. “I don’t want to experience what they’ve gone through.”
The Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean. The archipelago is also lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms each year.
HANOI (Reuters) -Typhoon Bualoi made landfall in northern central Vietnam in the early hours of Monday, damaging houses and knocking down power grids, with at least one person dead and 12 fishermen missing as the storm brought flooding rains and huge swells.
The typhoon was over Nghe An province as of 0800 (0100 GMT), with maximum wind speeds weakening to 88 kph from 117 kph when it made landfall hours earlier, according to the national weather forecast agency.
Before making landfall, Bualoi had moved along the country’s coastline for several hours, causing waves as high as eight metres, according to the national weather agency.
One person died after being caught in floodwater in Hue city, while 12 fishermen were missing after huge waves sank four fishing boats off Quang Tri province, state media reported.
Ahead of the typhoon hitting, the government evacuated more than 28,500 people, while hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed as four airports in central provinces were closed.
The cyclone has triggered heavy rains across most of Vietnam since Saturday, and authorities have warned of the risk of severe floods and landslides.
Rainfall in several parts of the country was forecast to hit 500 millimetres from Sunday night through Tuesday, according to the weather agency.
With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to typhoons that are often formed east of the Philippines, where at least 10 people died after Bualoi hit last week.
Thousands of villagers in the Philippines have been moved to safety as Super Typhoon Ragasa brings torrential rains and powerful winds as it passes over the archipelago on its way toward Hong Kong and southern China.
Why It Matters
The storm is skirting the northern Philippines and southern Taiwan on Monday and is expected to slam into southern China’s densely populated Guangdong province, and the Asian financial hub Hong Kong, from Tuesday.
It is likely to disrupt travel and commerce in the region for at least two days.
A man walks along a road in heavy rain from Super Typhoon Ragasa in Lal-lo town, Cagayan province, the Philippines on September 22, 2025. Taiwan. A man walks along a road in heavy rain from Super Typhoon Ragasa in Lal-lo town, Cagayan province, the Philippines on September 22, 2025. Taiwan. John Dimain/AFP/Getty Images
What To Know
At around midday on Monday in the Philippines, the storm was centered just to the north of its northernmost island of Luzon, roaring over the waters separating the Philippines from southern Taiwan.
“Life-threatening conditions persist over the northern position of northern Luzon,” the Philippine state weather agency PAGASA said. “Widespread incidents of severe flooding and landslides expected.”
Ragasa had sustained winds of 134 miles per hour and gusts of up 165 mph as it headed west at 12 mph and the weather agency warned of a “high risk of life-threatening storm surge” of more than 3 meters (around 10 feet.)
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suspended government work and classes at all levels on Monday in the capital and 29 provinces in the main northern Luzon region.
More than 500,000 people in six northern provinces have been evacuated, a disaster official told DZRH radio, Reuters reported. The number is expected to rise as authorities mobilize more residents.
Philippine domestic flights were suspended in northern provinces and fishing boats and inter-island ferries were banned from leaving ports due to the very rough seas.
A map shows the known and projected paths of Typhoon Ragasa from September 22-26.
Taiwan issued a sea and land typhoon warning, especially for southern parts of the island, while Hong Kong warned of rapidly worsening weather on Tuesday.
Guangdong province in China raised its wind emergency response to Level II, the second-highest in a four-tier warning system, on Monday, while schools in the cities of Zhuhai and Jiangmen will be suspended from Tuesday, the China Daily reported.
The storm was expected to have a severe impact in Guangdong until Thursday, the newspaper said, citing the provincial meteorological observatory.
What People Are Saying
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement to media: “Preemptive evacuations have been conducted and we are immediately responding to the needs of those in evacuation centers. We are closely monitoring the situation, and all government agencies are on alert to provide assistance wherever and whenever needed.”
What Happens Next
The storm will hit Hong Kong on Tuesday and then move into southern China’s Guangdong province.
Typhoon Ragasa continued to intensify over the weekend in the western Pacific, raising concerns that some communities in Southeast Asia could face a super typhoon over the next week.
The cyclone, known in the Philippines as “Nando,” reached typhoon status on Saturday and was expected to reach the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane by the start of the workweek.
Satellite imagery showed a distinct eye had formed before the cyclone moved into the Luzon Strait, between the Philippines and Taiwan.
The worst of the weather was expected to stay south of Taiwan but clip the northern Philippines as the system is forecast to move westward into the South China Sea.
Satellite observations estimated that water temperatures are in the range of 82–88 degrees Fahrenheit ahead of the cyclone, which is considered sufficient to allow for significant intensification.
While the definition of a super typhoon varies among meteorological organizations, most use the benchmark of sustained wind speeds of at least 150 mph, which is the equivalent to a strong Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
By the end of the upcoming workweek, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects the system’s final landfall to occur somewhere west of Hong Kong, and due to its slow forward movement, it may produce several feet of rainfall over countries such as Vietnam and Laos.
In addition to Ragasa, Neoguri is also expected to become a powerful typhoon, but because of its more northern latitude in the western Pacific, it will mostly remain a concern only for marine interests.
Neoguri is expected to become more annular in appearance, meaning its eye and central dense overcast will resemble a tire or a doughnut in shape.
An annular appearance typically means that a cyclone is resistant to environmental factors, such as dry air and hostile upper-level winds, which can help prolong the system’s lifespan.
Ragasa and Neoguri are the 18th and 19th named storms to form in the basin during what has been a slow and delayed start to the season.
While the season technically runs year-round, the first named system didn’t form until June 11, marking the fifth-slowest start on record.
According to computer models, additional tropical disturbances are expected to develop during the coming weeks, but fortunately, none appear as impactful as Ragasa.
China’s coast guard accused a Philippine ship of deliberately ramming one of its vessels on Tuesday near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippines denied it, saying China’s forces used powerful water cannons that damaged its ship and injured a crew member.
A Chinese coast guard statement said more than 10 Philippine government ships coming from various directions entered the waters around the shoal, which is called Huangyan Island in Chinese. It said it deployed water cannons against the vessels.
The encounter came six days after China announced it was designating part of Scarborough Shoal as a national nature reserve. The Philippine government, which calls the shoal Bajo de Masinloc, filed a diplomatic protest.
China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly around outcroppings in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The two countries are among several that have competing claims to territory in the waters, which are of strategic importance and home to valuable fishing grounds.
The Philippine coast guard said two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Filipino fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, with powerful water cannons for nearly 30 minutes “resulting in significant damage,” including in the captain’s cabin and the bridge. A glass window was shattered and injured a personnel while the deluge of water caused a short circuit that affected electrical outlets and five outdoor air-conditioning units, it said.
A Chinese navy warship also broadcast a radio notice “announcing live-fire exercises” at the shoal which caused panic among Filipino fishermen, said the Philippine coast guard.
The Philippine coast guard and fisheries ships were deployed to the shoal on Tuesday to provide fuel, water, ice and other aid to more than 35 fishing boats in the area.
And in September 2024, a CBS News “60 Minutes” crew witnessed an incident in which a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed into a Philippine coast guard ship that had deployed for a mission to resupply ships and stations in the South China Sea.
The high-seas accident last month has raised concerns about maritime safety and questions about the extent to which the U.S. should involve itself in longstanding tensions between those countries.
Several friendly countries have backed the Philippines on the nature reserve.
A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Chinese action “yet another coercive move to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors.”
The U.K. and Australia also expressed concern, and the Canadian Embassy in the Philippines said it opposed attempts to use environmental protection as a way to take control over the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
The Trump administration has supported the Philippines in its dispute with China. In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Philippines and he and Rubio have assured the Philippines that the U.S. commitment to the country’s defense remains iron-clad.
Senate President Francis Escudero has been removed from his position following public outcry over his suspected involvement in the misallocation of funds intended for flood mitigation efforts. The controversy centers on allegations that Escudero aided in awarding contracts to certain contractors, some of whom were accused of substandard work or, in some cases, not completing the projects at all.
High-ranking Filipino Official Cited in Corruption Scandal
The funds in question were allocated to strengthen flood safeguards in areas frequently affected by inundations. Investigations have revealed that some of the contractors involved may have engaged in improper practices, including the use of subpar materials and, in certain instances, the non-execution of the projects.
Additionally, there are allegations that money from these public tenders was laundered through casinos in Manila, Cebu, and Clark. Escudero is reportedly linked to one of the contractors, Centerways Construction and Development, which made substantial donations to his political campaign. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has issued a show-cause order to Lawrence Lubiano, president of Centerways, to explain the donation.
The officials and contractors involved in this scandal have been referred to as the “BGC Boys” by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson. Lacson has alleged that these individuals conspired to siphon off funds intended for flood control projects.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the country’s gambling regulator, has characterized the manner in which these activities were carried out as “not so covert money-laundering.”
Officials and Everyone Involved to Face Probe, Potential Penalties
In response to the allegations, Lacson stated, “My office has submitted their names and aliases to the Anti-Money Laundering Council since casinos are covered persons under the amended anti-money laundering act,” indicating that those responsible are being targeted.
The Philippines Anti-Money Laundering Council has confirmed that it is investigating the allegations to determine how and why the funds were allocated and whether the projects were completed in accordance with the law.
Matthew David, executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, assured that there are corresponding penalties under the rules on administrative cases against covered persons, depending on the possible violation.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has nullified over PHP 200 million (about $3.52 million) in casino winnings claimed by government officials and employees between January and July this year. The action could be seen as another step in the regulator’s attempts to stamp out illegal gambling.
PAGCOR Voids Illegal Winnings from Gambling
PAGCOR chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco stated that the winnings were withheld following a secondary verification process, which identified the claimants as individuals prohibited from entering casinos due to their roles in public service. This restriction covers all government personnel, including elected local officials and civil servants.
The enforcement follows public backlash after it was revealed that suspended Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Henry Alcantara had been frequently gambling in casinos. Alcantara admitted that he and fellow employees from the DPWH Bulacan office used fake names and IDs, and may have even been granted VIP access. PAGCOR has launched an investigation into these claims.
Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission has reminded government employees that gambling during work hours, whether in person or online, can be grounds for charges of conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service. Such actions may lead to disciplinary measures under existing civil service regulations.
PAGCOR Wants Stricter Regulations But Not Total Ban
The latest moves from PAGCOR could be seen as part of the broader vow to stop illegal gambling that Tengco reaffirmed last week. He also maintained this idea during the Light & Wonder Symposium at Newport World Resorts in Pasay City a couple of days ago. Tengco cautioned against a total iGaming ban in the Philippines, saying that PAGCOR supports stricter regulations but also that the organization is against a total ban of online gambling.
The speech comes at a time when the country is still dealing with the effects of iGaming in the wake of the ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). Financial institutions have begun to scale back their involvement with online gaming, while the Senate, under the leadership of committee chair Sen. Erwin Tulfo, is preparing to launch an investigation into the sector. A late August report revealed that online gaming activity in the Philippines may have dropped by as much as 50%, largely due to the recent withdrawal of several e-wallet providers from the industry.
Tengco emphasized that, through responsible growth, strict compliance, and greater transparency, the Philippines has the potential to build a safer, more robust, and globally competitive iGaming industry. He also highlighted PAGCOR’s ongoing efforts to enhance gaming standards, which include the implementation of stricter advertising regulations, among other initiatives.
MIAMI (AP) — Smartmatic, the elections-technology company suing Fox News for defamation, is now contending with a growing list of criminal allegations against some of its executives — including a new claim by federal prosecutors that a “slush fund” for bribing foreign officials was financed partly with proceeds from the sale of voting machines in Los Angeles.
The new details about the criminal case surfaced this month in court filings in Miami, where the company’s co-founder, Roger Pinate, and two Venezuelan colleagues were charged last year with bribing officials in the Philippines in exchange for a contract to help run that country’s 2016 presidential elections. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic, has pleaded not guilty.
To buttress the case, federal prosecutors are seeking to introduce evidence they argue shows that some of the nearly $300 million the company was paid by Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a fund controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means.
Smartmatic itself hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, nor have U.S. prosecutors accused Smartmatic or its executives of tampering with election results. Similarly, they haven’t accused Los Angeles County officials of wrongdoing, or said whether they were even aware of the alleged bribery scheme. County officials say they weren’t.
But the case against Pinate is unfolding as Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit accusing Fox of defamation for airing false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Fox says it was legitimately reporting newsworthy allegations.
Smartmatic said the Justice Department’s new filing was filled with “misrepresentations” and is “untethered from reality.”
“Let us be clear: Smartmatic wins business because we’re the best at what we do,” the company said in a statement. “We operate ethically and abide by all laws always, both in Los Angeles County and every jurisdiction where we operate.”
Fox questions Smartmatic’s dealings in LA
Still, Fox has gone to court to try to get more information about L.A. County’s dealings with Smartmatic. The network has long tried to leverage the bribery allegations to undermine Smartmatic’s narrative about its business prospects – a key component in calculating any potential damages — and portray it as a scandal-plagued company brought low by its own legal problems, not Fox’s broadcasts.
South Florida-based Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success working for the government of the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.
It was awarded its contract to help with Los Angeles County elections in 2018. The contract, which Smartmatic continues to service, gave the company an important foothold in what was then a fast-expanding U.S. voting-technology market.
But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave President Donald Trump’s lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.
Fox itself eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s lawyers complained, but it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York.
“Facing imminent financial collapse and indictment, Smartmatic saw a litigation lottery ticket in Fox News’s coverage of the 2020 election,” the network’s lawyers said in a court filing.
Smartmatic has disputed Fox’s characterization in court filings as “lies” and “another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation.”
LA clerk deposed about trip, gifted meal
As part of its effort to investigate Smartmatic’s work in Los Angeles, Fox has sued to force LA County Clerk Dean Logan to hand over public records about his dealings with Smartmatic’s U.S. affiliate.
Fox’s lawyers also questioned Logan in a deposition about a dinner a Smartmatic executive bought for him at the members-only Magic Castle club and restaurant in Los Angeles and a Smartmatic-paid trip that Logan made to Taiwan in 2019 to oversee the manufacturing of equipment by a Smartmatic vendor. U.S. prosecutors claim that vendor was deeply involved in the alleged kickback scheme in the Philippines. The five-day trip included business class airfare, hotel and numerous meals as well as time for sightseeing, Fox said.
“The trip’s itinerary demonstrates that the trip was not a financial inspection or audit. It was a boondoggle,” Fox said in court filings.
Logan, who did not report the gifts in his financial disclosures, said in his 2023 deposition that the meal at the Magic Castle was a “social occasion” unrelated to business and that he was not required to report the trip to Taiwan because his visit was covered by the contract.
Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Logan’s office, said in a statement that the bribery allegations are unrelated to the company’s work for L.A. County and that the county had no knowledge of how the proceeds from its contract would be used. All of Smartmatic’s work has been evaluated for compliance with the contract’s terms, Sanchez added, and as soon as Pinate was indicted he and the other defendants were banned from conducting business with the county.
As for the trip to Taiwan, Sanchez said another county official joined Logan for the trip and the two conducted several on-site visits and conducted detailed reviews of electoral technology products that were required prior the start of their manufacturing. Logan’s spouse accompanied him on the trip, but at the couple’s own expense, the spokesman added.
“Unfortunately, this is an attempt to use the County as a pawn in two serious legal actions to which the County is not a party,” Sanchez said.
Smartmatic has settled two other defamation lawsuits it brought against conservative news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network over their 2020 U.S. election coverage. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed.
Prosecutors claim bribe paid in Venezuela
U.S. prosecutors in Miami have also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuela’s longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatic’s abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused President Nicolas Maduro ‘s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly.
Smartmatic has denied the bribery allegations, saying it ceased all operations in Venezuela in 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again.
“There are no slush funds, no gifted house,” the company said. Instead, it accused Fox of engaging in “victim-blaming” and attempts to use “frivolous” court filings “to smear us further, twisting unproven Justice Department allegations.”
TALISAY, Philippines — The number of dead and missing in massive flooding and landslides wrought by Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines has exceeded 100 and the president said Saturday that many areas remained isolated with people in need of rescue.
Trami blew away from the northwestern Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 81 people dead and 34 others missing in in one of the Southeast Asian archipelago’s deadliest and most destructive storms so far this year, the government’s disaster-response agency said. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from previously isolated areas.
Dozens of police, firefighters and other emergency personnel, backed by three backhoes and sniffer dogs, dug up one of the last two missing villagers in the lakeside town of Talisay in Batangas province Saturday.
A father, who was waiting for word on his missing 14-year-old daughter, wept as rescuers placed the remains in a black body bag. Distraught, he followed police officers, who carried the body bag down a mud-strewn village alley to a police van when one weeping resident approaching him to express her sympathies.
The man said he was sure it was his daughter, but authorities needed to do checks to confirm the identity of the villager dug up in the mound.
In a nearby basketball gym at the town center, more than a dozen white coffins were laid side by side, bearing the remains of those found in the heaps of mud, boulders and trees that cascaded Thursday afternoon down the steep slope of a wooded ridge in Talisay’s Sampaloc village.
President Ferdinand Marcos, who inspected another hard-hit region southeast of Manila Saturday, said the unusually large volume of rainfall dumped by the storm — including in some areas that saw one to two months’ worth of rainfall in just 24 hours — overwhelmed flood controls in provinces lashed by Trami.
“The water was just too much,” Marcos told reporters.
“We’re not done yet with our rescue work,” he said. “Our problem here, there are still many areas that remained flooded and could not be accessed even big trucks.”
His administration, Marcos said, would plan to start work on a major flood control project that can meet the unprecedented threats posed by climate change.
More than 4.2 million people were in the path of the storm, including nearly half a million, who mostly fled to more than 6,400 emergency shelters in several provinces, the government agency said.
In an emergency Cainet meeting, Marcos raised concerns over reports by government forecasters that the storm — the 11th to hit the Philippines this year — could make a U-turn next week as it is pushed back by high-pressure winds in the South China Sea.
The storm was forecast to batter Vietnam over the weekend if it would not veer off course.
The Philippine government shut down schools and government offices for the third day on Friday to keep millions of people safe on the main northern island of Luzon. Inter-island ferry services were also suspended, stranding thousands.
Weather has cleared in many areas on Saturday, allowing cleanup work in most areas.
Each year, about 20 storms and typhoons batter the Philippines, a Southeast Asian archipelago which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and flattened entire villages.
A former Florida congressional candidate was charged for an election-related threat to kill his primary opponent, U.S. Representative Anna Paulina Luna.
An indictment was recently unsealed charging the Florida Republican with threatening to kill his primary opponent in the 2021 election for the 13th Congressional District of Florida and a private citizen and acquaintance of his opponent.
According to the indictment, 41-year-old William Robert Braddock III, of St. Petersburg, and Victim 1 were candidates in the Republican primary election to represent the 13th Congressional District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Victim 2 was a private citizen and acquaintance of Victim 1.
According to 2021 court documents, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna reported that Braddock was stalking her and wanted her dead.
On June 8, 2021, Braddock made several threats to injure and kill Victim 1 and Victim 2 during a telephone call with Victim 2. Specifically, Braddock threatened, in part, to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make Victim 1 disappear. After making the threats, Braddock left the United States and was later found to be residing in the Philippines. Braddock was recently deported from the Philippines to the United States and made his first court appearance in Los Angeles.
The former Republican Florida congressional candidate is charged with one count of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. If convicted, Braddock faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.
The FBI Tampa Field Office is investigating the case with support from the St. Petersburg Police Department. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, FBI’s Office of the Legal Attaché in Manila, and U.S. Marshals Service provided substantial assistance. The investigation also benefited from foreign law enforcement cooperation provided by the Philippine Department of Justice and Philippine Bureau of Immigration.
Trial Attorney Alexandre Dempsey of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlton Gammons for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force. Announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and launched by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco in June 2021, the task force has led the department’s efforts to address threats of violence against election workers, and to ensure that all election workers — whether elected, appointed, or volunteer — are able to do their jobs free from threats and intimidation. The task force engages with the election community and state and local law enforcement to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and has investigated and prosecuted these matters where appropriate, in partnership with FBI Field Offices and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. Three years after its formation, the task force is continuing this work and supporting the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and FBI Field Offices nationwide as they carry on the critical work that the task force has begun.
Under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Monaco, the task force is led by PIN and includes several other entities within the Justice Department, including the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Civil Rights Division, National Security Division, and FBI, as well as key interagency partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
To report suspected threats or violent acts, contact your local FBI office and request to speak with the Election Crimes Coordinator. You may also contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or file an online complaint.
Complaints submitted will be reviewed by the task force and referred for investigation or response accordingly. If someone is in imminent danger or risk of harm, contact 911 or your local police immediately.
First, a report on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot prosecutions. Then, how a Philippines, China clash could draw in the U.S. And, Dua Lipa: The 60 Minutes Interview.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
If there’s going to be a military conflict between the United States and China, the thinking in Washington goes, it will most likely happen if China tries to invade Taiwan. But lately tensions have escalated precariously in another part of the South China Sea-the waters off the western coast of the Philippines where an international tribunal ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights. But China claims almost all of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most vital waterways through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow each year. To assert its claims, China has been using tactics just short of war — leading to violent confrontations. The United States has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, which could mean American intervention. It’s been called “the most dangerous conflict no one is talking about.” And last month we saw for ourselves just how dangerous it can be…
When we boarded the Philippine Coast Guard ship Cape Engaño last month, it was supposed to be for a routine mission resupplying ships and stations in the South China Sea.
But in the middle of our first night …
Sirens raged… crew members rushed between decks.
Cecilia Vega: It’s 4 in the morning. We’ve all been sound asleep. This alarm just went off on the ship. We were told to wake up and put our life jackets on because we’ve just been rammed by a Chinese boat.
There was confusion… fear. Our team was told to stay inside the cabin for safety.
It was unclear if we would take on water…. or if the Chinese would try to force their way on board…
60 Minutes
Philippine crew members prepared for that possibility and stood by the hatch holding clubs in case they had to fend off the Chinese.
This cellphone video taken by the Filipinos shows the moment just after impact– the Chinese coast guard ship- 269 feet long and nearly twice the size of the Cape Engaño– jammed into the Philippine’s starboard quarter- the rear right side of the ship.
When the Chinese pulled away…the Filipinos found a three-and-a-half-foot hole…an officer told us we were lucky the damage was above the water line…
Cecilia Vega: There are… you can’t see here in the dark– about four or five different Chinese boats surrounding us, at the moment. And the crew tells me they can see on the radar that more are coming right now
This happened about 60 nautical miles off the coast of the Philippines — and about 660 nautical miles from China… on the way to a place called Sabina Shoal…
Manila and Beijing have stationed Coast Guard vessels around the shoal in recent months, with the Philippines fearing China will take control…
In 2016, an international tribunal at the Hague ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights in a 200-mile zone that includes Sabina Shoal and the area where the Cape Engaño was rammed.
China does not recognize the ruling and says the South China Sea has been its territory since ancient times.
Cecilia Vega: We’re just getting our first light. And now, we have a much better sense of just how surrounded we are by Chinese vessels. You can see these two right here actually say, “China Coast Guard,” We’re at a complete standoff. We’ve been here for, going on, two hours now, not moving. It’s unclear whether we can even turn around and go back, if we wanted to. We’re just completely surrounded by Chinese ships.
Fourteen in all… including a militia of large fishing vessels used to help occupy territory and block ships like the one we were on…
The Filipinos tried to negotiate a way out, but ultimately were forced to abandon the first stop of their mission.
Cecilia Vega: He said we’re not going to Sabina
In their damaged boat… they had to take a long detour to their next supply drop, as Chinese ships followed closely.
By this time, the Chinese had already publicized their version of the incident — accusing the Filipinos of instigating the conflict and highlighting our team’s faces– accusing us of being part of a propaganda campaign
Chinese video: The Philippines has turned the South China Sea into its theater …deliberately ramming a Chinese Coast Guard ship, with Western journalists right there to capture the drama…
Cecilia Vega: they’re saying that this is your fault, this collision.
Captain Labay: If you do the ramming, the other ship would ha– would have the damage, not your ship.
Captain Daniel Labay, the top-ranking officer on the Cape Engaño, took us below deck to survey the damage..
Cecilia Vega and Captain Daniel Labay
60 Minutes
He told us it would not stop them from continuing on.
Captain Labay: This is our place. This is our exclusive economic zone. It’s– this is the Philippines.
Over the past two years, the Chinese have turned the South China Sea into a demolition derby– repeatedly ramming Philippine ships and blasting them with water cannons…
But what we saw on the Cape Engaño represented a significant escalation– bringing the battle lines closer than ever to the Philippine shore.
Within hours of the collision the Biden administration condemned China for what it called “dangerous and destabilizing conduct.”
Cecilia Vega: This has become an international incident what happened on your ship this morning.
Captain Labay: I’ve been assigned here for two years, and this is just what we deal with every day.
Cecilia Vega: Is it getting worse now?
Captain Labay: Yes, it’s– it’s getting worse.
Cecilia Vega: What’s behind this uptick in tension? What changed?
Gilbert Teodoro: I think, well, what changed is the determination of the Philippines to say, “No.”
Cecilia Vega: You’re standing up to China?
Gilbert Teodoro: Oh yes. Yes, and they don’t like it.
Gilberto Teodoro is the Philippine secretary of national defense.
Gilbert Teodoro: The proverbial schoolyard bully is the best example of what China is, you know. It– it just muscles you over.
Gilbert Teodoro
60 Minutes
For example, he says: the aptly named Mischief Reef in the Philippines’ economic zone once looked like this…. it now looks like this. In the 1990s, the Chinese took it over and started turning the reef into a military base.
As the Cape Engaño passed near Mischief Reef…a Chinese Navy destroyer appeared…
E.J. Cruise: China Navy warship, 105….this is MRV 4411…
The Filipinos repeatedly asked for safe passage…
E.J. Cruise: Please keep clear of our passage and maintain safe distance. Over.
Each time there was no response… in a game of cat and mouse … the destroyer edged forward.
The Filipinos — forced to come to a stop and adjust course to avoid another collision.
Ray Powell: China has decided that at this point in their history, they are large enough so that they can buck the law.
In Manila, we met retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Ray Powell who runs the nonprofit Sealight…
… which tracks China’s actions in the South China Sea.
Cecilia Vega: How do they get away with this?
Ray Powell: There’s a law and there’s a judge, but there’s no– there’s no enforcer. There’s no prosecutor. There’s nobody to put ’em in jail
Cecilia Vega: There’s no sheriff out, unless, I suppose, the U.S. decides to intervene, which then, when then becomes the world policeman?
Cecilia Vega: I wanna understand a scenario in which that red line could be crossed.
Ray Powell: You were just involved in a situation where you were hit by a larger ship. Imagine if that ship had sunk your ship and several people had died. What would the Philippines then feel compelled to do? They probably wouldn’t go instantly to war. But they might instantly get onto a war footing. They might go to the United States and say, “This looks a lot like an armed attack to us. We were hit by a ship and people died.”
Cecilia Vega: And in a scenario like that, would the United States be obligated to intervene?
Ray Powell: Look, every treaty– in– in the end depends on the political will of the parties. What I will say is if the United States fails or appears to fail to meet its treaty obligations, the entire U.S. treaty and alli– alliance and treaty structure is built on credibility.
Cecilia Vega: Your word means nothing?
Ray Powell: If it means nothing to the Philippines, what does it mean to Japan? What does it mean to Australia? What does it mean to NATO?
The U.S. has not had a permanent military presence in the Philippines since 1992. Though it does conduct regular joint exercises, and this year committed $500 million in military aid to Manila and another 128 million to upgrade bases.
We met General Romeo Brawner, the military chief of staff, at one of those bases, after he landed in his fighter jet following an aerial reconnaissance flight over the South China Sea.
Cecilia Vega: How much time do you spend focused on China?
General Romeo Brawner: Almost the whole day
Last year General Brawner visited the Philippines’ equivalent of the Alamo, a grounded World War II battleship called the Sierra Madre, manned by soldiers and used to hold down Manila’s claim to a disputed area in the South China Sea.
It was the scene of the most violent incident to date.
General Romeo Brawner:
60 Minutes
In June, when the Philippine Navy tried to resupply those troops, the Chinese blocked the delivery… it was near hand to hand combat.
General Romeo Brawner: What was surprising was that they had bladed weapons with them. They had spears with them.
Cecilia Vega: You had never seen that before.
General Romeo Brawner: We have not seen that before. And they began– attacking our boats. They started puncturing our boats with their spears
A Filipino Navy SEAL lost his right thumb after the Chinese rammed his boat.
General Romeo Brawner: They stole our equipment. They destroyed our equipment. They hurt our personnel. And these are the doings of pirates. I warned our personnel – if this happens again, you have the right to defend yourselves.
Cecilia Vega: If the Chinese were to fire upon your men and your men fire back, sir, that sounds like the makings of the– the beginning of a war.
General Romeo Brawner: Yes. Yes, indeed, indeed
Defense Secretary Teodoro told us there are ongoing conversations between Washington and Manila about which scenarios would trigger U.S. involvement
Cecilia Vega: Do you worry that perhaps some unpredictable incident at sea could cause tensions to escalate? And then, you know, suddenly the Philippines, not Taiwan, becomes the flash-point in the South China Sea–
Gilbert Teodoro: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, definitely.
Cecilia Vega: If China were to take the Sierra Madre, would that merit America’s intervention?
Gilbert Teodoro: If China were to take the Sierra Madre, that is a clear act of war on a Philippine vessel.
Cecilia Vega: And you would expect American intervention–
Gilbert Teodoro: And we will react. And naturally, we would expect it.
Cecilia Vega: You’re talking about a rusty, old warship. How realistic is it to expect the United States to intervene over the fate of a warship like that?
Gilbert Teodoro: There are people in there, that is an outpost of Philippine sovereignty. So we’re not talking about a rusty, old vessel solely. We’re talking about a piece of Philippine territory in there.
President Biden has invited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House twice in the past 16 months… and assured him of America’s support…
President Biden: “I wanna be very clear. The United States defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad.”
Earlier this year Washington sent the Philippines a powerful weapon during joint exercises – a mid-range missile system capable of reaching mainland China.
Cecilia Vega: That clearly angered China in a big way
Gilbert Teodoro: Well, that’s none of their business. This is for Philippine defense.
Cecilia Vega: It’s none of China’s business that you have a missile that could reach their shores?
Gilbert Teodoro: What happens within our territory, it is for our defense. We follow international law. What’s the fuss?
Cecilia Vega: Do you plan to keep mid-range missiles capable of reaching mainland China at some of your bases?
Gilbert Teodoro: I can neither confirm nor deny if there is such a plan.
Cecilia Vega: You say, “What’s the fuss?” China says that you’ve brought the risk of war into the region by doing this.
Gilbert Teodoro: That’s what they always say. Everything the world does that they don’t like is the fault of the world.
Cecilia Vega: But how do you think this ends though? You don’t expect China to pack up and leave, do you?
Gilbert Teodoro: I really don’t know the end state. All I know is that we cannot let them get away with what they’re doing.
Produced by Andy Court and Jacqueline Williams. Associate producer, Annabelle Hanflig. Broadcast associates, Katie Jahns. Edited by Sean Kelly.
Among the victims were a newborn baby and a one-year-old boy who were killed in a landslide in the mountains of northwestern Vietnam.
At least 24 people have been killed and 299 injured in Vietnam amid landslides and floods triggered by Typhoon Yagi.
The typhoon was Asia’s most powerful storm this year and made landfall on Vietnam’s northeastern coast on Saturday, after causing havoc in China and the Philippines.
Among the victims were six people, including a newborn baby and a one-year-old boy, who were killed in a landslide in the Hoang Lien Son mountains of northwestern Vietnam.
Their bodies were discovered on Sunday, a local official told the AFP news agency.
Other victims included a family of four who were killed after heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse onto a house in mountainous Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, state media reported.
The Vietnamese government said the storm disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong in the northeast.
The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall had ranged between 208mm and 433mm (8.2 inches to 17 inches) in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours.
“Floods and landslides are damaging the environment and threatening people’s lives,” the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said in a report.
Yagi weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were under half a metre (1.6 feet) of water and there was no electricity.
At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 70km (43 miles) up the coast from the city, the disaster management authority said 30 vessels sank after being pounded by strong wind and waves.
The typhoon also damaged nearly 3,300 houses, and more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of crops in the north of the country, the authority said.
Before arriving in Vietnam, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others.
Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A dismissed town mayor who fled the Philippines after being accused of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam center catering mostly to clients in China has been arrested near Indonesia’s capital, officials said Wednesday.
Indonesian authorities arrested Alice Guo at a house in Jakarta’s satellite city of Tangerang just before midnight on Tuesday, according to Khrisna Murti, chief of the international division of the National Police.
Guo was in custody and awaiting deportation to the Philippines, Murti said, adding that her arrest was the result of “cooperation between Indonesian and Filipino’s police.”
“Let this serve as a warning to those who attempt to evade justice,” Marcos said and added that arrangements were being made to bring Guo back to the Philippines where she faces a slew of criminal charges.
After Guo fled the Philippines in July, she was tracked in Malaysia and Singapore before turning up in Indonesia. Two companions, who reportedly slipped out of the Philippines with her without going through normal immigration and clearing procedures, were recently arrested in Indonesia.
Guo ran as a Filipino candidate in 2022 elections and won as mayor of the rural town of Bamban in Tarlac province north of Manila. She was accused of helping establish a massive complex with several buildings near the town hall as a hub for an illegal online gambling and scam outfit that catered mostly to clients in China, where gambling is forbidden.
A Senate committee ordered Guo arrested after she refused to appear in hearings looking into the illegal gambling business that flourished under Marcos’s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who nurtured cozy ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping while often criticizing the United States and European countries.
Guo has also been accused of concealing her Chinese nationality to run for public office, which is reserved for Filipino citizens only. At the time, a few senators suggested she may be working as a Chinese spy.
Guo has denied any wrongdoing but was dismissed from her post for grave misconduct by the Ombudsman, an agency that investigates and prosecutes government officials accused of crimes, including graft and corruption.
The crackdown on the Chinese-run online gambling outfits — estimated to number more than 400 across the Philippines and employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asian nationals — was backed by Beijing.
It resulted in the shutdown in the Philippines of sprawling complexes, where authorities suspect thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese and other nationals mostly from Southeast Asia have been illegally recruited and forced to work in dismal conditions.
Philippine senators say the massive online gambling industry has flourished largely due to corruption in government regulatory agencies and big payoffs to officials.
Indonesia and the Philippines signed an extradition agreement in 1976.
___
Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines. Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
The longtime friends and U.S. gymnastics teammates knew they needed to find a way to honor Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade. They just weren’t sure how.
What they came up with after Andrade’s gold medal on floor exercise at the end of 10 days inside Bercy Arena symbolized the state of their sport at the 2024 Games.
Where it is. And hopefully where it’s going.
Biles, the unequivocal Greatest of All Time, and Chiles, a three-time Olympic medalist whose journey back to the Games was a testament to talent and grit, dropped down to one knee. It was a show of respect to Andrade, whose excellence is symbolic of a sport that is getting more diverse, more inclusive and perhaps more positive as it goes.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said about a moment that soon went viral, with even the Louvre itself suggesting it might be worthy enough for a spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Mona Lisa.
Fitting for an Olympics that offered masterpieces everywhere you looked.
Biles eagerly shares the stage
Biles and the American women finished off their “Redemption Tour” by reclaiming gold in the team final. Biles exorcised whatever inner doubt remained from the Tokyo Games — and shut up the haters in the process — by winning a second all-around title eight years after her first.
Andrade led Brazil to its first Olympic team medal (a bronze), then added three more in the individual competition, finishing runner-up to Biles in the all-around and vault before becoming the first woman in memory to edge Biles in a floor exercise final.
The Italian women won their first team medal in nearly a century. Japan put together a stirring rally on high bar in the last rotation to slip by rival China for gold. The U.S. men and “Pommel Horse Guy” Stephen Nedoroscik returned to the Olympic podium for the first time in 16 years. Carlos Yulo of the Philippines tripled his country’s Summer Olympic all-time gold medal count in a mere 24 hours.
The good vibes were everywhere, led by Biles, who seemed to make it a point to take her vibrant spotlight and redirect it toward the other women on the floor as often as possible.
That was never more evident than what could have been the last day of her career. The 27-year-old’s voice could be heard shouting encouragement to each of the other balance beam finalists inside an eerily quiet arena. Regardless of nationality. Regardless of age. Regardless of score. Regardless of how well she might know them.
Afterward, Biles spoke glowingly of Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito, who earned gold and bronze in beam after half the field — Biles included — fell inside an arena so still that Biles joked she could hear cell phones buzzing.
“I’m super excited and proud of them because now they’re building bricks (for a program) for the other Italian girls,” she said.
U.S. women’s team dismantles stereotypes
Jordan Chiles, of the United States, and Simone Biles, of the United States, celebrate after the women’s artistic gymnastics individual floor finals in Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. Biles won the silver medal and Chiles the bronze medal. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Those bricks have long been in place in the U.S., yet what Biles, Chiles, six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee and three-time Olympic medalist Jade Carey did in Paris is destroy the “little girls in pretty boxes” stereotype that has lingered over the sport for decades once and for all.
The four 20-somethings — oh, and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, too — came to France with a score to settle. Biles to put those strange days in Japan three years ago firmly in the rearview mirror. Lee to rid herself of the “imposter syndrome” that kept nagging at her following her all-around gold in Tokyo and the health issues that pushed her to the verge of quitting over and over again. Chiles and Carey to put the Americans back on top after ceding the top of the podium to Russia.
The group checked every box. The U.S. won eight of 18 possible medals, including four for Biles to boost her Olympic total to 11, tied for the second most ever by a women’s gymnast in the history of the event.
Yet just as important as the results was the process they took to get there. There was pressure but there was also joy in abundance for the oldest team the Americans have ever brought to the Games, a team that has dubbed itself “The Golden Girls.”
“It’s been so much fun,” Carey said. “And I think so many have seen that, that we’re just having fun out there. And I think that’s bringing out the best gymnastics from us.”
‘We did it’
A decade ago, the core four would be heading off into retirement while the next wave of prodigies came along. It says something about the rapidly shifting demographics on the floor and the rising interest in women’s gymnastics at large that not one of them — Biles included — has made any firm decisions about their future.
Biles nudged the door toward Los Angeles 2028 open when she said over the weekend “never say never.” Lee, still just 21, is taking time before weighing her options. Carey and Chiles will join Biles on her post-Olympic tour and have college eligibility remaining.
No one is in a hurry. Biles in particular. She chastised the media for pressing about the future so soon after the biggest moment of athletes’ lives. For a long time — for too long, in hindsight — she fixated on what’s next.
No longer. She was intent on soaking in her third Olympics. Of enjoying it. And she did, from the first pressure-packed rotation in qualifying to that moment with Chiles and Andrade, when the last of the weight she’s been carrying for years lifted off her shoulders, perhaps for good.
“There’s nothing left,” Biles said. “We did our job, you know what I’m saying? So yeah, it was hard, but we did it.”
