Rail journeys across the Swiss Alps will take longer for the next few months after a major derailment has left the record-breaking 35-mile (57-kilometer) Gotthard Base Tunnel partially out of action.

The world’s longest tunnel was closed last week when a freight train jumped the tracks, derailing 16 carriages and damaging about five miles of rail lines, Swiss national rail operator SBB said in a statement.

SBB said the tunnel will reopen partially on August 23, with one of the two lines through the mountains unaffected by the incident. But the reduced capacity will mean re-routing passenger trains via a scenic railway that takes up to two hours longer until early 2024.

“Until further notice, passenger trains will be diverted via the panorama route,” the SBB statement said. “The journey time is extended by 60 minutes in national traffic and between 60 and 12 minutes in international traffic.”

The company said it was examining whether passengers could be safely transported with only one track in operation but for the time being it would be closed to non-freight traffic until further notice.

Opened in 2016 after 17 years of construction, the Gotthard Base Tunnel has become a vital railway link between northern and southern Europe, as well as a destination for rail enthusiasts wanting to traverse the world’s longest and – at almost 1.5 miles below the surface – deepest tunnel.

Rail corridor

The structure runs between Erstfeld on the northern side and Bodio in the south, connecting rail traffic between the Swiss city of Zurich and Milan in Italy. It also completes a freight rail corridor between Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the Mediterranean Italian port of Genoa.

SBB said that passenger services will be running at reduced capacity until the tunnel fully reopens because the panoramic route over the mountains cannot handle double-decker trains. Additional trains would also not be running at peak times.

Swiss rail investigators are currently trying to establish the cause of the accident in which no one was injured.

“The Gotthard Base Tunnel is one of the safest in the world,” SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot told reporters on Wednesday. “The fact that such an accident could still happen hits us hard. Luckily there were no injuries but there was a lot of property damage.”

He said the company was aware that the accident would lead to inconvenience for travelers and freight customers.

“We would like to apologize for this and ask for your understanding. The teams deployed are doing everything they can to ensure that safe rail traffic through the Gotthard Base tunnel is possible again as quickly as possible.”

Argentina’s voters punished the country’s two main political forces in a primary election on Sunday, pushing a rock-singing libertarian outsider candidate into first place in a huge shake-up in the race towards presidential elections in October.

With some 90% of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei had 30.5% of the vote, far higher than predicted, with the main conservative opposition bloc behind on 28% and the ruling Peronist coalition in third place on 27%.

The result is a stinging rebuke to the center-left Peronist coalition and the main Together for Change conservative opposition bloc with inflation at 116% and a cost-of-living crisis leaving four in 10 people in poverty.

“We are the true opposition,” Milei said in a bullish speech after the results. “A different Argentina is impossible with the same old things that have always failed.”

Voting in the primaries is obligatory for most adults and each person gets one vote, making it in effect a dress rehearsal for the October 22 general election and giving a clear indication of who is the favorite to win the presidency.

The October election will be key for policy affecting Argentina’s huge farm sector, one of the world’s top exporters of soy, corn and beef, the peso currency and bonds, and ongoing talks over a $44 billion debt deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The economic crisis has left many Argentines disillusioned with the main political parties and opened the door for Milei, who struck a chord especially with the young.

“Inflation is killing us and job uncertainty doesn’t let you plan your life,” said Adriana Alonso, a 42-year-old housewife.

As polls closed in the early evening after voting system glitches caused long lines in capital Buenos Aires, all the talk in campaign hubs was about Milei, a brash outsider who has pledged to shutter the central bank and dollarize the economy.

“Milei’s growth is a surprise. This speaks of people’s anger with politics,” said former conservative President Mauricio Macri as he arrived at Together for Change’s election bunker.

Conservative Bullrich beats moderate Larreta

In the most important leadership race, within the Together for Change coalition, hard-line conservative Patricia Bullrich, a former security minister, beat out moderate Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Larreta, who pledged to get behind her campaign.

Economy Minister Sergio Massa won the nomination for the ruling Peronist coalition, as expected, and could perform more strongly in October if he can win over more moderate voters.

The unpredictable factor had been Milei, whose loud rock-style rallies are reminiscent of ex-US President Donald Trump, but he far outperformed all forecasts. Most polls had given him just shy of one-fifth of the likely vote, though were also badly wrong four years ago in the 2019 primaries.

Turnout was under 70%, the lowest for a primary election since they started to be held in Argentina over a decade ago.

Whoever wins in October, or more likely in a November runoff, will have big decisions to make on rebuilding depleted foreign reserves, boosting grains exports, reining in inflation and on how to unwind a thicket of currency controls.

Jorge Boloco, 58, a merchant, said Argentina needs a “course into the future,” but no party offered a clear way forward.

Maria Fernanda Medina, a 47-year-old teacher, said she had also lost some optimism about politicians truly bringing change after many years of revolving economic crises.

“I don’t have much hope because in every election I feel a little disappointed,” she said as she cast her ballot in Tigre, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. “But hey, we can’t lose all hope, right?”

Saudi Arabia has appointed its first ambassador to the Palestinians, in a move that comes amid talks with the United States over a possible deal to normalize relations between the Gulf kingdom and Israel.

In a show of support to Palestinians, Saudi Arabia named its ambassador to Jordan, Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, as “Non-resident ambassador to the State of Palestine and Consul General in Jerusalem.”

A ceremony took place Saturday in the Jordanian capital Amman, where Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic adviser received Al-Sudairi’s credentials, reported the Saudi state news agency (SPA).

The Palestinian Authority welcomed the appointment, saying that the “timing of the decision reflects the interest of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Palestinian cause,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement Sunday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Tel Aviv’s 103 FM radio station Sunday that Israel was aware of Saudi Arabia’s planned appointment, but that the kingdom did not coordinate with Israel on the matter.

“They didn’t coordinate with us and they didn’t have to coordinate with us,” Cohen said, adding that the Saudi ambassador’s appointment comes amid “the advancement of talks between the US and the Saudis regarding Israel.”

“The Saudis wanted to send a message to the Palestinians that they didn’t forget them,” Cohen said.

The Israeli official however added that Israel would not permit the opening of any diplomatic representations for the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Israel considers Jerusalem to be its capital, despite the United Nations not recognizing it as such. Palestinians maintain that the eastern part of the city should serve as the future capital of a Palestinian state. The US recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in 2017 under then-President Donald Trump, a decision that was adamantly opposed by Palestinians.

This is Saudi Arabia’s first ambassadorial appointment to the Palestinian Authority. The kingdom has had diplomatic relations with the PA, but the level of representation and the nature of the relationship between the two have varied over time.

All members of the Arab bloc, including Saudi Arabia, recognize Palestinian statehood and the kingdom maintains a Palestinian embassy in the capital Riyadh.

Historically, Saudi Arabia has been supportive of the Palestinian cause and has provided financial aid to the PA. Riyadh proposed an “Arab Peace initiative” in 2002, which broadly offered Israel security and “normal relations” in exchange for its withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Israel rejected the initiative.

The move comes amid reports of a normalization deal in the works between Saudi Arabia and Israel, with the Unites States involved in the rapprochement. The details and timing of the agreement are not yet known.

Miller’s comments came after a Wall Street Journal report saying that the US and Saudi Arabia had agreed on the “broad contours” of a normalization deal.

A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for the Ukrainian city of Kupyansk and its surrounding areas, as Russia intensified shelling of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region and claimed to have captured Ukrainian positions near the city on Thursday.

Kupyansk, which lies close to the Russian border, fell to Moscow’s forces within the first week of their invasion in February last year. It remained under Russian control for several months, before a swift Ukrainian offensive liberated the city in September, along with a number of other settlements in the region.

But in recent weeks Russia has stepped up its efforts to capture the city for a second time. A local Ukrainian official said Thursday that substantial Russian reinforcements had turned the northern front of Kharkiv region into the “epicenter” of hostilities, “where the enemy is concentrating its main efforts.”

Kupyansk authorities estimated that around 12,000 people, including more than 600 children, are now subject to evacuation orders.

Evacuations of this scale are infrequent. Russian-appointed officials organized partial evacuations of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in May, amid shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Thousands were also evacuated from the Kherson region in June, after the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam caused severe flooding.

But Ukrainian authorities have not ordered an evacuation of this scale since October last year, when they launched an offensive to reclaim territories captured by Russian forces in Kherson and sought to protect civilians by removing them first.

The Kupyansk evacuation order includes settlements to the north and east of the city – on both sides of the Oskil river. Ukrainian forces have held onto positions on the east bank, but are getting pummeled by dozens of air strikes and artillery barrages every day.

Andriy Kanashevych, acting head of the Kupyansk District Military Administration, said it was difficult to say how many people had already left, because it was unclear how many had remained in Kupyansk after it was liberated last year.

Kanashevych told Ukrainian television he expected those affected by the order to “pack up and leave,” but added “we realize that not everyone will want to do so.”

However, he warned that Russian assaults had markedly intensified this week, saying that “more powerful weapons are being used” and warning of “a significant threat to local residents.”

“Russian terrorists are becoming even more cynical and completely indifferent to human life. As a result, almost every day we have dead and wounded among the civilian population,” he said.

The new ‘epicenter’

Russia has been preparing to mount an advance on Kupyansk for several weeks.

In July, Serhii Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian spokesman for the Eastern Military Grouping, warned that Russia had dramatically bolstered its forces in the region.

“The enemy has concentrated a very powerful grouping on the Lyman-Kupyansk direction, with over 100,000 personnel, over 900 tanks, and over 370 MLRS (rocket launchers),” Cherevatyi said, adding that Russian forces were “putting everything into breaking through our defense.”

Earlier this week, Ukrainian authorities had urged Kupyansk residents to evacuate children and those with limited mobility. At least three civilians were killed and nine others injured in a Russian missile attack near the city on Tuesday.

The strikes intensified throughout this week, with the city council building in Kupyansk targeted in an airstrike overnight Wednesday, which killed two people.

“Over the past 24 hours, Russians massively shelled settlements of Bohodukhiv, Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Izium and Kupyansk districts with guided aerial bombs and other weapons,” said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Thursday that its forces had captured Ukrainian positions and observation points around the village of Vilshana, northeast of Kupyansk, adding that its forces had defeated up to a platoon of infantry in the area (between 20-50 soldiers).

By concentrating their efforts on Kupyansk and the surrounding area, Russia is hoping to fix Ukrainian troops in the region, preventing them from assisting in Kyiv’s counteroffensive elsewhere – especially in attempts to reclaim territory around Bakhmut, south of Kupyansk in Donetsk region.

This strategy also aims to bring Russia closer to one of its stated goals – of securing all of the eastern Luhansk region and possibly reaching the natural barrier of the Oskil.

Russia may also have attempted to exploit potential vulnerabilities in Ukrainian defenses where it suspected units may be weaker.

Since recapturing Kupyansk and other parts of Kharkiv region in September last year, Ukraine has embarked on an ambitious offensive in the south. Its forces are stretched at multiple points, along a front line extending nearly 1,000 kilometers. Ukrainian officials say that Russian forces expended half a million rounds of munitions in one recent week on the Kupyansk-Svatove front alone.

Ruslan Muzychuk, a Ukrainian National Guard spokesman, told Ukrainian television Thursday that “the Kupyansk direction remains the epicenter of hostilities, where the enemy is concentrating its main efforts.”

“The number of enemy forces and means and its recent activation in this area of the front are aimed at trying to turn the tide in this section of the front.”

NBA star James Harden expressed disbelief after Chinese fans snapped up 10,000 bottles of his own-branded wine in seconds, demonstrating the massive reach of livestreaming in the country, where basketball is loved by millions.

The veteran Philadelphia 76ers guard on Tuesday joined the livestream of online celebrity Crazy Brother Yang to promote his J-Harden brand wine as 15 million viewers tuned in, state-run tabloid Global Times reported.

“How many bottles do you usually sell in a day … from one store?” Yang asked Harden, who replied: “A few cases.”

Yang then told the star to watch how quickly they could sell them. “Show me,” Harden replied, sitting back with his arms crossed.

“Ready? Go!” Yang told viewers. Just 14 seconds later, he shouted: “Stop!”

With 5,000 orders placed at $60 for two bottles, according to Global Times, the quick-as-a-flash sales raked in $300,000.

“No way!” Harden said, as he checked a computer monitor before bursting into laughter and applause.

Livestream shopping has exploded in popularity in China in recent years, becoming a multibillion-dollar industry. It combines entertainment and e-commerce, with the host offering viewers flash deals or discount coupons in real time. Viewers can instantly buy goods from streamers and click to send their favorite stars virtual “gifts.”

The streamers sell everything from makeup and skincare to laundry detergent, and top hosts can earn millions of dollars a year – prompting many to quit their full-time jobs in the hopes of becoming an online star.

Harden’s livestream quickly trended on Chinese social media, with some fans joking that he should play in China rather than the NBA and reap the benefits of his fan base there.

Basketball is enormously popular in China, in no small part thanks to Chinese legend Yao Ming’s Hall of Fame NBA career. The league also has a long history in the country, having spent several decades and millions of dollars to build courts, bring stars over for preseason games and initially give broadcast rights away for free.

That popularity among hundreds of millions of Chinese fans translates to lucrative sponsorship deals for the league and its star players. Before the pandemic, China made up at least 10% of the league’s current revenue, according to one analyst.

But there’s also risk to doing business in China, which the NBA was forced to face in 2019 after becoming embroiled in political controversy when then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests.

In response, the NBA’s Chinese partners suspended ties with the league, state broadcaster CCTV halted all broadcasts of matches, and the Chinese government said the NBA needed to show “mutual respect.”

Morey apologized and deleted the tweet, and the NBA said his comments were “regrettable” – but that sparked a backlash from fans in the United States and Hong Kong, who accused the league of censorship and bowing to Beijing.

Harden, who was with the Rockets at the time, also said sorry for the controversy. “We apologize, we love China, we love playing here,” he told reporters a few days after Morey’s tweet. “We love everything they are about. We appreciate the support they give us individually and as an organization.”

This week, Harden lashed out at Morey – now president of the 76ers – amid ongoing trade speculation surrounding the 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player.

“Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of,” Harden said during an event in China.

Footage of Harden’s comments has been widely circulated on social media. The comments were in response to a question from the crowd about ending trade talks, according to NBA.com.

No matter what happened in Wednesday’s semifinal, history was going to be made one way or another inside Stadium Australia.

Neither Australia nor England had ever reached a Women’s World Cup final and it was the latter’s aspirations which were realized in the end.

The Lionesses looked brilliant against the co-host and fully deserved their 3-1 victory, setting up a title-deciding clash against Spain in the process.

Although reaching a World Cup final was new ground for all the England players, it was familiar territory for their head coach.

Sarina Wiegman is a specialist in major tournament success and is now the first coach, male or female, to reach a World Cup final with two different nations having already done so with the Netherlands in 2019.

It’s not just at the World Cup that Wiegman has enjoyed success. The 53-year-old also led the Netherlands and England to European Championships glory in 2017 and 2022 respectively.

When asked how she felt about building on her already remarkable record, Wiegman said it felt like she was “in the middle of a fairytale.”

“I can hardly describe how proud I am of the team, they’ve adapted before the tournament, during the tournament and now in this game again. How we came through and found a way to win again, it’s so incredible,” she told reporters.

“This team has ruthlessness. Whether it’s up front or in defense, we really want to keep the ball out of the net, we really want to win and we stick together and we stick to the plan, and it worked again.”

Prince William praise

Under Wiegman, the Lionesses have captured the imagination of their nation and the semifinal victory was even given the royal seal of approval.

Prince William, who is president of England’s Football Association, led the celebrations after watching the reigning European champion book its ticket for Sunday’s final.

“What a phenomenal performance from the @Lionesses – on to the final!” William said in a post from Kensington Palace on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Commiserations to @TheMatildas, you’ve played brilliantly and been fantastic co-hosts of this World Cup.”

Sporting royalty also joined in with the celebrations, with former England men’s captain David Beckham sending his praise.

“Amazing achievement, congratulations @lionesses,” he wrote on Instagram.

While England will rightly attract the majority of attention for its record-breaking achievement, the Australian team will be proud of the part it played.

The Matildas have inspired a new generation of soccer fans with their run at the tournament and the players gave all they had against England.

The game will always be remembered for Sam Kerr’s stunning equalizer but also for the atmosphere generated by over 75,000 people inside the stadium.

The crowd was a living, breathing example of what this Australian team has done for soccer in the country.

Almost all the players, from both sides, commentated on the atmosphere as they walked off the pitch.

Australia captain Kerr was particularly dejected after the full-time whistle, but still praised the fans for what they produced inside the stadium.

“We can’t thank the fans enough, they’ve been amazing,” the striker told reporters.

“We felt the love all over the country. Just to see the support we’ve had has really pushed us on. Hopefully, this stays around because this has been amazing for us.”

Special atmosphere

It was an achievement recognized by one of Australia’s most internationally recognized athletes, Cathy Freeman.

The gold medal-winning athlete herself inspired the nation with her memorable and unifying victory in the 400 meters at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

“So incredibly proud of our girls! You gave it everything and inspired an entire nation! Hold your head up high and here’s to the future,” she wrote on X.

While England will play for a maiden World Cup title against La Roja on Sunday, Australia will battle Sweden in the third-place playoff on Saturday.

It’s not the final match that the squad was hoping for, but Australia’s head coach Tony Gustavsson said the team can still look back fondly on its campaign.

“I am proud, but I’m also sad that we could have made them even prouder tonight with a win,” he told reporters after the game.

“I feel for so many tonight when you look at this. The players left it all out there. I think that’s why the fans are thanking them.”

While one nation laments what could have been, another dreams of that which could be – the heartbreak and elation of sport encapsulated in 90 hard-fought minutes in Sydney.

Here’s a look at the 2024 presidential debates.

August 23, 2023

Event Type: Republican Debate

Location: Fiserv Forum Milwaukee, WI

Hosts: Fox News

Moderators: Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum

September 27, 2023

Event Type: Republican Debate

Location: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Simi Valley, CA

Hosts: FOX Business, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, Rumble and Univision

A long, emotional day for Australian soccer fans turned into an even longer trip home when severe delays stranded thousands on train platforms at Stadium Australia after the nation’s disappointing 3-1 loss to England in the World Cup semifinal.

For many, it was a fitting end to a draining night that saw Australia’s newest sporting superstars, the Matildas, fall frustratingly short of their first ever World Cup final.

After the match, a downcast Sam Kerr – Australia’s talismanic superstar and captain – told reporters she was lost for words.

“Unfortunately, this World Cup hasn’t gone as planned. I can’t blame it all on myself, but it’s hard not to feel bad right now,” she said.

Before the match kicked off, Australians had lifted their heroes onto their shoulders, but when the final score gave the game to England, they weren’t prepared to put them down.

“They’ve still got the hard work to do. And they will rally, and they will make us proud on Saturday,” she said, referring to Australia’s clash against Sweden in the third-place playoff.

“Rose gold,” added Harold Marshall. “That’s what we call it.”

After Wednesday’s game, politicians, sports stars and supporters lined up to commend the players.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said they had “shown incredible skill, ferocity and flair,” while Foreign Minister Penny Wong said they had “made Australia so proud.”

“You played some great football and along the way you have changed the country. We’re all behind you, always,” Wong posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Olympic runner Cathy Freeman, whose 400-meter dash for gold captivated the nation at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, also added words of encouragement.

“So incredibly proud of our girls! You gave it everything and inspired an entire nation! Hold your head up high and here’s to the future!” she posted on X.

So incredibly proud of our girls! You gave it everything and inspired an entire nation! Hold your head up high and here’s to the future! #matildas

— Cathy Freeman (@CathyFreeman) August 16, 2023

Close match

Emotions ran high throughout the evening as spectators perched on edge of their seats, ready to spring to their feet every time Australia had a shot at goal.

The sound of drums echoed and fans launched into songs whose lyrics were distributed online by the Matildas’ dedicated supporters’ group: “Come on, Matildas!”

Sam Kerr’s stunning kick – arguably the goal of the tournament – to equalize the score at one goal apiece shook the stadium as fans roared their approval.

But as England pulled ahead with a second goal and then a third, the singing lost some of its volume and exuberance, and some fans sat quietly down, despair etched on their foreheads.

As the time ran out on a dream comeback, the dejected players huddled before walking around the pitch to thank their supporters.

Kerr gave Chelsea teammate Millie Bright her jersey, which the Lionesses defender wore as she told reporters that the England team had “started to click.”

“We’re getting the ball in the back of the net, which is nice,” she added.

The long ride home

Outside the stadium, the Australian flags that had been held aloft earlier in the night were wrapped around shoulders for warmth as fans attempted to go home.

Normally, trains run frequently to the city center, but hours after the match, thousands were left stranded in long queues on the platform after officials said a nearby station was damaged by vandalism. Some people gave up and started walking.

Jennie Gannaway, 72, and her son, Christopher, 34, had left their home in Newcastle on the New South Wales coast at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday to take the 2.5-hour train ride to Sydney for the game.

They had planned to be home by about midnight, but as the clock ticked into Thursday, they were still standing with others on the platform near the stadium, phoning home to warn family they’d be late. At best, they hoped to be home by 4 a.m.

The mother and son have completed the same journey many times to see the Matildas play in Sydney, and though her back ached after the 14-hour day, Gannaway had no regrets.

Fan Mariela Pocklington said, win or lose, this Women’s World Cup had shown the joys of soccer to new audiences and she expects more girls will sign up to play the Beautiful Game.

“The effect after the Lionesses won the Euros was massive. They had a lot of girls that joined. Here will be the same,” she predicted.

The question remains if England can add another trophy to the cabinet and complete a historic major tournament double when they meet Spain in the final on Sunday.

The day before, the Matildas will look to salve the pain somewhat and take on Sweden for third place.

Australian defender Steph Catley told reporters Wednesday the team was determined to win.

“We’ve gone home from the Olympics empty handed. We’re not going to be doing that this time,” said Catley.

“We’re going to bounce back, we’re going get ourselves right and turn up for that game and give everything we have, like we always do.”

It’s a sentiment that epitomizes this Australia side and one which – win or lose on Saturday – will undoubtedly make this nation proud.

Here’s a look at some statistics from Hurricane Katrina.

August 29, 2005

Katrina makes landfall near Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 3 storm with winds near 127 mph.
– Severe flooding damage to cities along the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Biloxi, Mississippi.
– Numerous failures of levees around New Orleans led to catastrophic flooding in the city.
– About 25,000 storm evacuees were sheltered at the Louisiana Superdome, a sports arena. Wind and water damage to the roof created unsafe conditions, leading authorities to conduct emergency evacuations of the Superdome.
– The total damage from Katrina is estimated to be $125 billion (or $193.8 billion in 2023 dollars), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Fatalities

NOAA report
– Direct deaths: 520
– Indirect deaths: 565
– Indeterminate cause: 307
– Total number of fatalities: 1,392

In an analysis of 971 fatalities in Louisiana and 15 additional deaths of storm evacuees, 40% of deaths were caused by drowning. 25% were caused by injury and trauma and 11% were caused by heart conditions.

Nearly half the fatalities in Louisiana were people over the age of 74.

Private Insurance Payments

Insurance Information Institute Report

Insurance companies have paid an estimated $41.1 billion on 1.7 million different claims for damage to vehicles, homes, and businesses in six states. Nearly 56% of the losses occurred in Louisiana and nearly 30% occurred in Mississippi.

By 2007, 99% of the 1.2 million personal property claims had been settled by insurers.

National Flood Insurance Payments

The National Flood Insurance Program paid out $16 billion in claims.

June 2006 – The Government Accountability Office releases a report that concludes at least $1 billion in disaster relief payments made by FEMA were improper and potentially fraudulent.

Impact on the Gulf Coast

More than one million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm. At their peak, hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. Later, approximately 114,000 households were housed in FEMA trailers.

During the first ten years after the storm, FEMA provided more than $15 billion to the Gulf states for public works projects, including the repair and rebuilding of roads, schools and buildings. The agency also provided $6.7 billion in recovery aid to more than one million people and households.

The majority of all federal aid, approximately $75 billion of $120.5 billion, funded emergency relief operations.

Impact on New Orleans

The population of New Orleans fell from 484,674 in April 2000 to 230,172 in July 2006, a decrease of over 50%. By 2022, the estimated population had increased to 369,749, according to the Census.

70% of New Orleans’ occupied housing, 134,000 units, were damaged in the storm.

A video of a tourist climbing into Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain to fill her water bottle has circulated online.

The footage, filmed last month, shows the woman walking over a row of rocks to reach the center of the 18th-century landmark as onlookers watch in horror.

After filling her bottle from a spout of the fountain, she attempts to walk away, before a guard blows a whistle and paces towards her.

The two engage in a brief discussion before the guard takes the tourist away. It remains unclear what happened to the tourist after the incident, and whether she was arrested or fined.

@perrinebridge

What is this lady thinking?! Video credit to @lex #trevifountain #italy #rome #romeitaly #trevi

♬ original sound – Walmart Jason Statham

Tourists can be fined up to 500 euros for entering the fountain, which is widely considered one of the city’s best known landmarks.

Legend states that anyone who throws a coin into its waters will ensure their return to Rome.

Each year around 1-1.5 million euros ($1.1-$1.6 million) in coins are collected for the Catholic charity Caritas. Around 3,000 euros ($3,200) a day are thrown into the fountain during busy tourist months, according to Rome’s tourism board.

Currently, the fountain sits slightly below the square. Visitors must climb down steps to reach it – but they normally take up residence on the steps, or perch on the fountain’s edge – leading to calls for police to install checkpoints and continuous foot patrols along the surrounding roads.

As the number of international visitors jetting off to Rome skyrockets since the end of Covid-19, tourists have been criticized for disrespecting the city’s famous monuments.

In June last year, two American tourists caused $25,000 worth of damage to the Spanish Steps in Rome, while a month earlier, a Saudi visitor drove his rented Maserati down the travertine staircase, fracturing two of the steps.

Last month, a tourist was filmed apparently carving his name into a wall of Rome’s 2,000-year-old Colosseum, causing Italy’s culture minister to call for a manhunt to identify the culprit and his companion.

Elsewhere in Italy, tourists routinely swim in Venice’s canals, which double as the city’s sewer system. In August last year, two Australians surfed down the Grand Canal, while in May, Americans stripped off for a skinny dip beside the 14th-century Arsenale landmark.

Also last August, an Australian decided to ride his moped around the ancient Roman site of Pompeii, while in October, an American smashed two priceless sculptures in the Vatican Museum, apparently after being told that he could not see the pope.

Earlier this month, a group of young German tourists posing for pictures to post on social media were accused of toppling a valuable statue at a villa in northern Italy, the villa’s manager said.