Whoo!

The reason I did that is ,better now then later,that was always the right way,2nd i did it just for fun during the game with other players. i have a small Q ? I would like to know about what are you thinking with this 😄

For your info i got much more hours on servers like this one, I know i dont have a lot of here,but it was enough time to see what the server needs,maybe stricter discipline with admins,dont give easily admin to everyone,much more time to fro ugprades and etc. Dont allow anyone to get comfortable so easily. I know,i respect your opinion,i jsut wanna say make someone who's active during night or atleast stay there on the server as AFK just to prove those who break the rules to dont do any damage to other players/server.

Greetings NewlifeZM members. After a long time a came back to play sometimes and enjoy this game, a lot changed from the last time i was here, mostly bad things then the good once. First of all i would like to complain about admin work which is misarable,no game,technical or any other kind of support. During the night there is literally no admins active even if one of the important questions by making a request is ( ¤ Can You Stay Spectator Or Playing Between These Hours (24:00 To 12:00 PM): ) Players take that as advantade and team up to make themselve easier during the rounds/mods and etc. There is such many example which will distract players, especially the new ones. As I see this server forum is lead by so many players which aint possible to see in the server, many of the admins also dont care,just use their authority to their own sake. Its so sad to see all of this from day to day. Everyone is just thinking about being human and making frags, collecting points and etc. I could count many more mistakes but i think you know what I want to say. That path aint good for this server at all. Nobody is making any complain so I decide to say it first. Accept this a positive criticsm. Greetings Whoo! a.k.a Mandza.

The US Open normally marks the end of the grand slam season. But the coronavirus pandemic changed that and having another major just around the corner could be exactly what Novak Djokovic needs to overcome the lowest point of his career. That is the thought of his friend and former coach Radek Stepanek, and former world No. 1 Jim Courier. He has made an eye-catching pronouncement on vaccines, discussed the effects of emotions on water, organized the Adria Tour exhibition series in the Balkans that went badly wrong and, most recently, left the US Open in shame. There wouldn't have been as many players in recent history as strong a favorite to land a major than Djokovic in New York this year, given his dominance -- unbeaten in 2020 -- and the absence of his two biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic, though, was defaulted Sunday when he hit a ball that inadvertently struck a line judge in the throat. Frustration got the better of the 17-time grand slam winner after missing three set points in the first against Pablo Carreno Busta, hurting his left shoulder in a fall and then getting broken to trail 5-6 in a frantic 10-minute spell. He later apologized on social media. 'He is very sad inside' Stepanek is a massive fan of Djokovic but he had no issue with the decision tournament officials made. The Czech, who coached Djokovic alongside Hall of Famer Andre Agassi for several months from 2017 to 2018, suspected the Serb was suffering. "I know he is very sad inside himself and he is in pain," Stepanek, a former world No. 8 and a Davis Cup hero for the Czech Republic, told CNN. "He is in pain because it was unintentional and, in that moment, the pain is bigger. "And it's hard for him because we know how hungry he is to become the player with the most grand slams. I believe he felt -- everyone felt -- this one should be for him, reachable. "All these circumstances make it very sad for him and in the first moment, empty, because I believe he himself knew that it was wrong that she got hit. "Obviously the pressure on him and the criticism he is getting over time, it's hard. He's trying to do the best he can. He might be by the end of his career the greatest of all time. We are all human beings. We have a right to make a mistake." When it was pointed out to Stepanek that Djokovic might have made a few mistakes, he didn't disagree. "We create our own world and mistakes," said Stepanek, who irked an opponent or two during his career but was one of the most entertaining players of his generation. "We have to accept the outcome of it." For the time being, Stepanek said Djokovic is likely seeking refuge with those nearest and dearest to him. They would include his wife, Jelena, and their two young children. "I think he's going to go back to his family and the closest ones to feel in the safe environment," said Stepanek. "Be with his loved ones. I think that one of his biggest strengths is his mental power. "No matter how sad and empty he is right now -- and from what I know, it is very deep because he is a deep feeling person and he is sensitive -- he is also hard on himself right now. I think the thing that gets him out of this will be getting back to work."

An Australian man died after he was attacked by a shark on Tuesday at a po[CENSORED]r surfing spot in Queensland, authorities say. The 46-year-old man was bitten on his leg just after 5 p.m. while surfing at Greenmount Beach in Coolangatta, a suburb of the city of Gold Coast, according to the Queensland Police Service. He was surfing near the local lifesaving club's headquarters. Video from the scene showed at least six people rushing to get the victim out of the surf and onto the beach. Witness Jade Parker told CNN affiliate 7 News that he saw the man floating next to the surfboard as people went to help. "I just presumed he might have got knocked out, because he wasn't moving in the water," he said. Parker told 7 News that he saw that the man was badly injured, but surf lifesavers began treating him as soon as rescuers got him to the beach. Parker said the wound extended from the man's groin to slightly past his knee. "He was pretty much already gone by then," Parker said. Beach protected by shark nets People on the beach panicked as news of the attack spread, witness Leo Cabral told CNN affiliate 9 News. "Everyone was running around, there were kids crying on the sand ... A few people were standing by and were watching and couldn't believe what they were seeing," he said. "It was so sad, it was really sad." Cabral told 9 News that he was filming his 13-year-old son in the water when he heard people yelling "shark, shark, shark." "The first thing that came to my mind was that I just wanted my son and his friends to be out of the water ... I couldn't feel my body at all, I was completely frozen, I was blank, he told 9 News. "I started screaming to my son to get out of the water." A police helicopter to launched to search for the shark while beaches north and south of Greenmount were closed after the attack and nearby beaches will be closed on Wednesday, 9 News reported. Greenmount Beach is protected by shark nets, which are designed to catch potentially dangerous sharks, so they can't harm people. "The equipment lowers risk, but does not provide an impenetrable barrier between sharks and humans," according to the Queensland Government Shark Control Program's website. There have been at least six fatal shark attacks this year, according to the Australian Shark Attack File at the Taronga Conservation Society Australia. There were no fatal shark attacks last year and only one in 2018, according to the society's database. Gavin Naylor, the program director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, told CNN that the number of fatal shark attacks can jump dramatically from year to year. The program runs the International Shark Attack File, a global database of shark attacks. "We see fluctuations every year and we don't make too much of them," he said. Last month in New South Wales, a male surfer punched a great white shark repeatedly on the nose when it bit the woman he was surfing with. She was airlifted to a hospital for surgery and survived. In July, a 36-year-old man died after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing off the coast of Fraser Island in the Australian state of Queensland, and a 15-year-old boy died in a suspected shark attack while surfing in New South Wales. In June, a 60-year-old surfer died while surfing at Salt Beach near Kingscliff in New South Wales -- about 10 miles away from Tuesday's attack. In April, a Queensland wildlife ranger was killed by a great white, and in January a 57-year-old diver died from a shark attack in Western Australia state.

The US Open was supposed to be a slam dunk for Novak Djokovic but instead of moving closer to Roger Federer in the Grand Slam record books, the world No. 1 was defaulted Sunday when he struck a line judge with a ball. The Serb had just been broken to trail 6-5 in the first set against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta when he hit a ball behind him on the court. Djokovic wouldn't have been aiming at anyone but it hit the line judge -- seemingly near the face -- and she fell to the ground. The chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte, and Djokovic, went to check on her before they were joined on court by tournament referee Soeren Friemel and supervisor Andreas Egli. Djokovic then had an extended conversation with Friemel before he was officially defaulted. He left the tournament site without speaking to the media. In truth, according to the rules, default was going to be the only outcome even if the intent wasn't there from Djokovic, although Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene wasn't defaulted last week at the Western & Southern Open when he hit a ball and it struck a cameraman. "Players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person within the precincts of the tournament site," according to the Grand Slam rule book. Djokovic had no recourse since the Grand Slam rule book states that, "in all cases of default, the decision of the referee in consultation with the Grand Slam chief of supervisors shall be final and unappealable." Moments earlier, he had smacked a ball in frustration when he was unable to convert three set points at 5-4. He did not receive a warning ball abuse. Then he took a tumble in the 11th game, appearing to injure his shoulder. The trainer came out to visit the 17-time Grand Slam winner in the middle of the game before Djokovic returned to the court. In the past, Djokovic has received ball abuse warnings and been asked about his on-court conduct in news conferences. Defaults in tennis, especially in Grand Slams, are extremely rare. Former Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman was defaulted when he struck a ball and it hit a ball girl at Wimbledon in 1995. John McEnroe was defaulted for several violations -- not one, like in Djokovic's case -- in a match at the Australian Open in 1990. In a 2012 ATP tournament in London, David Nalbandian was defaulted from the final when he kicked an advertising board that then hit a line judge. Denis Shapovalov, who faces David Goffin in Sunday's night session at the Open, was defaulted when he struck an umpire in the eye with a ball at the Davis Cup in 2017.

Before Donald Trump ever sought the Oval Office, he was preoccupied by its occupant President Barack Obama, publicly questioning his birthplace and privately describing him as "a Manchurian candidate" who obtained his Ivy League degrees only by way of affirmative action, according to a new book by Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen. Trump's disdain for Obama was so extreme that he took his fixation a step further, according to Cohen: Trump hired a "Faux-Bama" to participate in a video in which Trump "ritualistically belittled the first black president and then fired him." Cohen's book, "Disloyal: A Memoir," doesn't name the man who was allegedly hired to play Obama or provide a specific date for the incident, but it does include a photograph of Trump sitting behind a desk, facing a Black man wearing a suit with an American flag pin affixed to the lapel. On Trump's desk are two books, one displaying Obama's name in large letters. CNN obtained a copy of Cohen's book ahead of its Tuesday publication. As an insider who spent years as Trump's personal attorney and self-proclaimed "fixer," Cohen says he is uniquely equipped to unleash on Trump, whom Cohen describes as "a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man" and a person interested in using the presidency exclusively for his personal financial benefit. But according to federal prosecutors and Cohen's own guilty pleas, he, too, is a liar and a cheat. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of federal crimes, including tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign-finance violations he and prosecutors have said were done at Trump's direction to help him win the 2016 presidential election. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. In a statement to the Washington Post, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, "Michael Cohen is a disgraced felon and disbarred lawyer, who lied to Congress. He has lost all credibility, and it's unsurprising to see his latest attempt to profit off of lies." Cohen acknowledges and apologizes for his role in Trump's rise, saying he was "more than willing to lie, cheat, and bully" to help his long-time boss win the White House. And he recounts the pressure and guilt he experienced as he spoke out against Trump, writing that he considered suicide "as a way to escape the unrelenting insanity" in the weeks prior to testifying to Congress in 2019. But in the book, he disputes having committed certain crimes to which he has already admitted, portraying himself a victim of the "gangster tactics" of the federal prosecutors of the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Still, Cohen's account of Trump's personal nature and presidency is damning, and during Cohen's time in prison, he writes, "I became even more convinced that Trump will never leave office peacefully." Trump's model of a man in power, according to Cohen, is Vladimir Putin, and Trump is described as enamored of Putin's wealth and unilateral influence, and awestruck by what he sees as the Russian president's ability to control everything from the country's press to its financial institutions. "Locking up your political enemies, criminalizing dissent, terrifying or bankrupting the free press through libel lawsuits -- Trump's all-encompassing vision wasn't evident to me before he began to run for president," Cohen writes. "I honestly believe the most extreme ideas about power and its uses only really took shape as he began to seriously contemplate the implications of taking power and how he could leverage it to the absolute maximum level possible." He also argues that, with Trump himself expecting to lose the presidential race, Trump's goal in cozying up to Putin was to position himself to benefit financially from a planned real-estate development in Moscow after the election. "By ingratiating himself with Putin, and hinting at changes in American sanctions policy against the country under a Trump Presidency," Cohen writes, "the Boss was trying to nudge the Moscow Trump Tower project along." (One of the crimes to which Cohen pleaded guilty was lying to Congress about the duration of the negotiations regarding the Moscow development.) Cohen also portrays Trump as aspiring to have ties to the Russian president. After Trump sold a Palm Beach mansion he purchased for $41 million to a Russian oligarch named Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million in 2008, Cohen says, Trump told Cohen he believed the real buyer was Putin. Cohen, however, disputes the validity of a rumored videotape depicting Trump during a trip to Moscow, saying, "this claim never occurred, to the best of my knowledge and investigations." But Cohen discloses that during the summer of 2016, he received an anonymous call from a man who said he was in possession of a tape matching its description. Cohen told the caller that he would need to see a few seconds of the tape to determine if it was real, and the caller demanded $20 million before hanging up, never to be heard from again. Blacks & Latinos, 'They're not my people' If Putin is held in the highest regard in Trump's mind, Cohen writes, Trump's own voters rank among those in the lowest. Speaking to Cohen after Trump gathered religious leaders at Trump Tower in the lead up to the 2012 presidential race, an encounter during which they asked to "lay hands" on him, Trump asked Cohen, according to the book: "Can you believe that bullsh*t?...Can you believe people believe that bullsh*t?" In the wake of Trump's presidential kickoff announcement in 2015, in which he called Mexicans criminals and rapists, he dismissed concerns that he had alienated Latinos. "Plus, I will never get the Hispanic vote," Trump allegedly told Cohen. "Like the blacks, they're too stupid to vote for Trump. They're not my people." (Trump won 28% of the Latino vote in 2016.) Trump's contempt, in Cohen's telling, extends broadly. Cohen characterizes Trump bluntly as racist, and says that while he never heard Trump use the "N-word," Trump used other offensive language. Ranting about Obama after he won office in 2008, Trump said, "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a sh*thole...They are all complete f*cking toilets," according to Cohen. After Nelson Mandela died, Trump allegedly said of South Africa that "Mandela f*cked the whole country up. Now it's a sh*thole. F*ck Mandela. He was no leader." Cohen also divulges personal details about Trump, including his hair routine, described as a "three-step" combover designed to disguise "unsightly scars on his scalp from a failed hair-implant operation in the 1980s." Writing that he once witnessed Trump shortly after he showered, Cohen recalls that "when his hair wasn't done, his strands of dyed-golden hair reached below his shoulders along the right side of his head and on his back, like a balding Allman Brother or strung out old '60s hippie." Many instances of Trump's alleged deceit have previously been detailed by Cohen and others in recent years: Trump's alleged inflation of his net worth to publications like Forbes and Fortune and his minimizing of the value of his properties to avoid taxes, Cohen's pressuring of the New York Military Academy to not release Trump's high school records to avoid their public disclosure, Cohen paying to rig CNBC and Drudge Report polls in Trump's favor, Trump campaign officials hiring extras for $50 apiece to attend Trump's 2015 announcement that he was running for president and the alleged fraudulent Trump University scheme, over which Trump settled a class action lawsuit for $25 million.

Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his mental health struggles, admitting he has "a lot of difficult days" and suffers from loneliness on the tour. The six-time world champion posted an emotional message on his social media channels this week, explaining the two very different sides of him -- one being the "cut throat, hungry racer" people see on television and the other being a man "figuring life out, day by day." He also said he is struggling during the pandemic, with the bubble system adopted amid sport's restart hard to cope with. "You get lonely, you miss your friends and family, and with back-to-back race weeks it means there's not much time for anything but work," he wrote. "So I'm grateful for the ones closest to me helping me to keep a balance, even if it's just thru [sic] text, phone or FaceTime. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's never a bad thing to ask for help if you need it, or to tell somebody how you feel. Showing your vulnerable side doesn't make you weak, instead, I like to think of it as a chance to become stronger." Lewis Hamilton takes a knee on the grid in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Mercedes driver has won five of the seven races since the sport returned with a rescheduled calendar after lockdown and is currently in Monza for this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. When asked about his comments on loneliness and mental health, Hamilton said he was just trying to tell his fans the truth. "I think as competitors, it's not the first thing you think of doing, being open and expressing yourself," he told reporters during a video press conference. "But I think it's really important, more important than what's happening here." The 35-year-old, who has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent months, has previously spoken out about his struggles. In October last year, he posted a series of messages of social media saying he felt like "giving up on everything" with the world being in "such a mess." Hamilton is only two wins away from equaling his hero Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91 career wins.

In August 2020, the RAS Institute of Oil and Gas Problems, supported by the local Yamal authorities, conducted a major expedition to the new crater. Skoltech researchers were part of the final stages of that expedition. Credit: Evgeny Chuvilin A Russian TV crew flying over the Siberian tundra this summer spotted a massive crater 30 meters (100 feet) deep and 20 meters wide -- striking in its size, symmetry and the explosive force of nature that it must have taken to have created it. Scientists are not sure exactly how the huge hole, which is at least the ninth spotted in the region since 2013, formed. Initial theories floated when the first crater was discovered near an oil and gas field in the Yamal Peninsula in northwest Siberia included a meteorite impact, a UFO landing and the collapse of a secret underground military storage facility. While scientists now believe the giant hole is linked to an explosive buildup of methane gas -- which could be an unsettling result of warming temperatures in the region -- there is still a lot the researchers don't know. An aerial view of the newest crater that appeared this year. It's one of the largest that has appeared so far. In August 2020, the RAS Institute of Oil and Gas Problems, supported by the local Yamal authorities, conducted a major expedition to the new crater. Skoltech researchers were part of the final stages of that expedition. Credit: Evgeny Chuvilin "Right now, there is no single accepted theory on how these complex phenomena are formed," said Evgeny Chuvilin, lead research scientist at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology's Center for Hydrocarbon Recovery, who has visited the site of the newest crater to study its features. "It is possible they have been forming for years, but it is hard to estimate the numbers. Since craters usually appear in uninhabited and largely pristine areas of the Arctic, there is often no one to see and report them," Chuvilin said. "Even now, craters are mostly found by accident during routine, non-scientific helicopter flights or by reindeer herders and hunters." Permafrost, which amounts to two-thirds of the Russian territory, is a huge natural reservoir of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and recent hot summers, including in 2020, in the region may have played a role in creating these craters. Mining a mystery Chuvilin and his team are among the few scientists who have been down inside one of these craters to investigate how it formed and where the gas that causes them comes from. Accessing the craters has to be done with climbing gear and there is a limited window -- the craters turn into lakes within two years of being formed. The scientists took samples of permafrost soil, ground and ice from the rim of a hole -- known as the Erkuta crater -- during a field trip in 2017 after it was discovered by biologists who were in the area observing falcon nesting. The researchers conducted drone observations six months later. "The main issue with these craters is how incredibly fast, geologically, they form and how short-lived they are before they turn into lakes," Chuvilin said. "Finding one in the remote Arctic is always a stroke of luck for scientists." The study, which was published in June, showed that gases, mostly methane, can accumulate in the upper layers of permafrost from multiple sources -- both from the deep layers of the Earth and closer to the surface. The accumulation of these gases can create pressure that is strong enough to burst through the upper layers of frozen ground, scattering earth and rocks and creating the crater. "We want to stress that the studies of this crater problem are in a very early stage, and each new crater leads to new research and discoveries," he said. With the Erkuta crater, the scientists' model suggested that it formed in a dried-up lake that probably had something called an underlake talik -- a zone of unfrozen soils that started freezing gradually after the lake had dried out, building up the stress that was ultimately released in a powerful explosion -- a type of ice volcano. "Cryovolcanism, as some researchers call it, is a very poorly studied and described process in the cryosphere, an explosion involving rocks, ice, water and gases that leaves behind a crater. It is a potential threat to human activity in the Arctic, and we need to thoroughly study how gases, especially methane, are accumulated in the top layers of the permafrost and which conditions can cause the situation to go extreme," Chuvilin noted. Cryosphere refers to portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form -- ice. "These methane emissions also contribute to the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and climate change itself might be a factor in increasing cryovolcanism. But this is still something that needs to be researched," Chuvilin said. He said his team will publish more detailed information on the newest crater shortly in a scientific journal. He added it's one of the biggest found so far. Extreme summers Marina Leibman, a Russian permafrost expert at the Earth Cryosphere Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences, was part of a team of researchers who have analyzed five gas emission craters using remote sensing data and field surveys. The researchers found the craters shared some similar features, most notably a 2- to 6-meter-high mound that formed before the explosion. The craters were all also located on gentle slopes and had a lower portion that was cylindrical like a can before opening into a funnel, with the opening diameter around 20 to 25 meters wide. The explosions all ejected ground ice, which in some cases leaves holes where huge frozen blocks have fallen on the surface. Leibman believed that extremely hot summers in the region in 2012 and 2016, and again this year, may have played a role in the growth and blowout of these mounds. The mounds appear and explode within as a little as three to five years. "The release of methane from permafrost ... is likely caused by rising air and ground temperature over the past decades. The formation of all GECs (gas emission craters) was preceded by anomalously warm summers," the study, which published in July this year, said.

Hello @Hossam Taibi Im not gonna bother you with more questions,after reading most of them I'm satisfied with the answers,and also as colleague from the project i would like to say how good and responsible you are. #PRO from me.

Something unusual happened to Novak Djokovic at the US Open on Wednesday. He lost a tiebreak. But the world No. 1 recovered to beat Kyle Edmund 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the second round and -- despite dropping a set and the distractions stemming from spearheading a new players' association -- continues to be the heavy men's favorite. With a record of 25-0 this season and closest rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer missing, how could he not be? Still, it was some shock that the Serbian conceded the opener, even if his British opponent possesses one of the biggest forehands in the game. France's Kristina Mladenovic lost a tiebreak but also the match in one of grand slam tennis' biggest blown leads, having been up 6-1 5-1 and four match points on the 102nd-ranked Varvara Gracheva. And women's top seed Karolina Pliskova fell to Mladenovic's compatriot Caroline Garcia in another outing featuring a tiebreak, 6-2 7-6 (2). It was a mild upset, given Garcia is a former top-5 player and Pliskova has made one quarterfinal at a major since the start of 2019. "I'm not a robot, so I don't have to play every day amazing," Pliskova, handed the top seeding because of the absences of Ash Barty and Simona Halep, said. Djokovic has been playing amazing in the truncated 2020 campaign and in tiebreaks. He had won 18 of his previous 20 tiebreaks, the lone blemishes both coming in London against Dominic Thiem at the ATP Finals in November and Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon in July. However, London was also the site of his greatest tiebreak success in a single match. He memorably won all three in last year's Wimbledon final against Federer, not making a single unforced error. That included Wimbledon's first ever 12-12 tiebreak in a finale. On a steamy day in New York where ball people needed to clean sweat marks on court, Djokovic did make a few unforced errors in the tiebreak against Edmund -- notably a drop shot into the net when leading 4-3. But an early break in the second got the 17-time grand slam winner on the path to victory against Edmund, who topped Djokovic on the clay in Madrid in 2018 and made the Australian Open semifinals months earlier. We should have known there would be some drama in the tussle, since British players had produced their fair share of theater the opening two days. Cam Norrie rallied from two sets down and saved match points against Diego Schwartzman on Monday, prior to Andy Murray saving a match point and coming from two sets down to top Yoshi Nishioka. Murray watched his fellow Brit take on Djokovic as select players benefit from having their own luxury suites on Ashe in the absence of paying fans, who are being kept away amid the coronavirus. Djokovic tested positive for the virus in late June off the back of his controversial Adria Tour exhibition. Mladenovic's collapse Mladenovic said she had been placed in what the US Open has called an enhanced protocol plan -- or in her words a "bubble in the bubble" -- after coming into close contact with a player who had tested positive for the virus. For that, she likened it Monday to being in a "nightmare." There was another nightmare for Mladenovic to endure Wednesday, as she "collapsed" against Gracheva. She held the four match points returning serve at 5-2 in the second set before exiting 1-6 7-6 (2) 6-0. "Yeah, it's definitely the most painful match and loss I've had in my career because it's a grand slam and I was 6-1, 5-1 and 0-40," she told reporters in English in a Zoom call. "I was playing really good tennis there but couldn't close it out and convert my match points. I think that she saved it well. "She was brave and went for it but I didn't take my chances and I would like to answer that question but from 5-2 slowly I started feeling that I was crashing down and I got tight and I just collapsed. I had nothing left in the tank."

Let's journey back to a different time. One that feels far away. Early January 2020. Travelers were gearing up for another booming year of adventures -- from visits to Japan for the Olympics to cruises galore. But while we aimed for another year of far-flung trips, environmental activists continued their warnings about a growing climate catastrophe and the role travelers were playing. Some people had been heeding their calls and trying to plan more sustainable trips. Tips on going green from CNN Travel and other sites were po[CENSORED]r reading then. But for the most part, travel projections were for more of the same. We couldn't let problems such as emissions and overtourism keep us at home -- we had a world to see in 2020! Meanwhile, a new and different kind of threat -- one that couldn't be so easily swept aside -- was about to be unleashed. Reports were coming out about a new, mysterious virus in the interior of China. It wasn't SARS. It had infected dozens of people. But what was it? We had no idea that our world and the travel industry with it were about to be turned upside down. A disquieting quiet Almost in the blink of an eye, everything changed because of that new virus. It swept the globe. Countries closed their borders. The Summer Olympics were postponed. Cruise ships desperately searched for harbors to let passengers off. Airports were nearly empty. Beach resorts were deserted. Amusement parks became ghost towns. Covid-19 and coronavirus soon became household words. Then, we noticed something rather nice -- a silver lining of sorts -- during the spring shutdown. In normally polluted cities such as Los Angeles, skies were clearer. So was water -- people could see marine life in Venice's normally turgid, busy canals. To our delight, birdsong became easier to hear. There seemed to be a cause and effect at work. And it raised a lot of questions. Did the sudden drop in global travel really have an unexpected benefit for the environment? Are there ways to keep the perceived benefits going if or when the virus is under control? And perhaps most importantly, can we return to roaming the world one day but be better stewards of our planet while doing so? As with everything else involving the pandemic, the answers are hard and complicated. Emissions and carbon footprints One statistic -- a seemingly small number -- had big things to say about tourism and its effect on the environment before the pandemic: 8%. That's how much tourism contributed to global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a groundbreaking study from researchers at the University of Queensland Australia and University of Sydney in May 2018. (Greenhouse gas emissions trap heat in the atmosphere and cause the planet to warm quickly.) That was some four times higher than previously estimated. And the majority of this carbon footprint (the total amount of greenhouse gases we generate with our actions) came from high-income countries. The study also found the fast rise in tourism demand was "effectively outstripping" the technological improvements the industry was making toward reducing its carbon footprint. The study didn't have a sunny outlook going forward, either. "We project that, due to its high carbon intensity and continuing growth, tourism will constitute a growing part of the world's greenhouse gas emissions." Everything goes out the window No one knew in 2018 that we'd have a history-making coronavirus pandemic in 2020. That threw everything out the window about where we thought we'd be. The quarantines and shutdowns caused unprecedented slowdowns in the air transport and tourism industries, according to a July 2020 study from the University of Sydney. It found that overall global emissions dropped by 4.6%. That happens to be the largest drop in history. But while the environment got a break, the world's economy got slammed. Transport and tourism have been the worst-hit sectors, the study found. Arunima Malik of the University of Sydney's Business School and one of the authors of the study, put it this way in the study: "We are experiencing the worst economic shock since the Great Depression, while at the same time we have experienced the greatest drop in greenhouse gas emissions since the burning of fossil fuels began." Small countries hit hard Ya-Yen Sun, senior lecturer at the University of Queensland Australia's School of Business and another author on the studies, told CNN Travel that countries heavily reliant on tourism have been devastated. "We know tourism is one of the largest [economic] sectors in the world. It contributes about 10% of the global GDP and one in 10 jobs are related to tourism," Sun said.

Andy Murray's return to grand slam tennis was predictably dramatic. It was also victorious. Murray might have needed hip resurfacing surgery to save his career but his reserves were there for all to see as he rallied Tuesday from two sets down and saved a match point to defeat Japanese shot maker Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6 4-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (4) 6-4 in four hours, 39 minutes in New York. It was indeed some escape for Murray, who also trailed the left-hander 3-1 in the third, took a medical time out for a toe issue to end the fourth and was behind by a break at 3-2 in the fifth. Ultimately, Murray played the big points better on Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, going 4-for-6 on break points compared to the 49th-ranked Nishioka's 5-for-16 in their first meeting. That included saving the match point at 5-6 in the fourth when Nishioka sent his return from a first serve long. Murray became the second British player in as many days to fend off a match point and rally from two sets down after Cameron Norrie did the same against Diego Schwartzman. The three-time grand slam champion last contested a singles grand slam match at the 2019 Australian Open in what many thought would be his final tournament. Hampered severely by hip issues, the Scot said prior to Melbourne he was calling it quits but hoped to bid adieu at his home grand slam tournament, Wimbledon. But after taking one of the game's toughest competitors, Roberto Bautista Agut, to five sets -- yes, five more sets -- the father of three opted for the hip resurfacing operation in an attempt to keep things going. Promising showing last week It hasn't been smooth sailing since -- his lone grand slam action since the surgery came in doubles at Wimbledon in 2019 -- but Murray upset Alexander Zverev at last week's warmup Western & Southern Open. The Western & Southern Open was also held on the grounds of the US Open as part of tennis' much discussed bubble, rather than in its usual home near Cincinnati, Ohio. No fans are on site due to the coronavirus pandemic but the likes of Naomi Osaka, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov took in the action from their luxury corporate suites on center court. All seeded players in singles were given the vacant suites. Murray shook his fist after Nishioka's overhead from a superb lob landed long on the final point. He hadn't tasted victory at a grand slam in singles since the 2018 US Open. Murray has loved playing at the tournament ever since he won the juniors in 2004. His slam breakthrough came at Flushing Meadows in 2012 and he has now come back from two-set deficits four times at the US Open, more than at any other slam. Three have come against left-handers. Dedicates win to Suarez Navarro Two-time grand slam winner Garbine Muguruza played her first match since February and downed another Japanese player, Nao Hibino, 6-4 6-4 earlier Tuesday. She dedicated the victory to Spanish compatriot Carla Suarez Navarro, who revealed on social media that she has been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and will be undergoing six months of chemotherapy. The former world No. 6 with the glorious one-handed backhand is one of the tour's most liked players. "When we spoke a few days ago, when she gave me the news, I was, I think, shocked, because I was expecting to see her in this tournament," Muguruza said to reporters. "She's such a nice woman, so sweet, so kind, so humble. "When these things happen to these good people, I feel so sad about it. So I know she was watching my match, and we talked a little bit. "I, for sure, will dedicate this win to her, because I want her to feel that we are behind her, that I am behind her, and I will go and see her at some point when it is fine." Serena Williams, who played mixed doubles with Murray at Wimbledon last year, opens her bid for a 24th major when she meets Kristie Ahn later Tuesday. Visit our sports page for more news and videos Williams' buildup has been marked by upset losses last week and also in Lexington, Kentucky, but the American has never lost, like Murray, in the first round of the US Open.

China's government has accused Indian troops of illegally trespassing onto Chinese territory, in comments that could set the stage for a second tense border standoff between the two nuclear powers in just three months. In a statement Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India said that Indian forces had "conducted flagrant provocations" over the weekend "which again stirred tension in the border areas." According to China, Indian troops deliberately crossed the 2,100 mile-long (3,379 kilometer) de facto border between the two countries, known as the Line of Actual Control, near Pangong Tso, a strategically located lake some 14,000 feet (4.2 kilometers) above sea level in the Himalayas. An Aerial photo taken on August 3, 2019 shows a road along the Pangong Tso lake in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. China and India have been sparring over the area that surrounds the lake since the two fought the first of several border wars in 1962. The Line of Actual Control, which passes through Pangong Tso, was established in the wake of the original conflict, but it's not an exact border. Though it shows up on maps, India and China do not agree on its precise location and both regularly accuse the other of overstepping it, or seeking to expand their territory. Tuesday's comments are the latest in a string of accusations and counter accusations. On Monday, India's Defense Ministry leveled a vague charge against the Chinese People's Liberation Army, accusing its troops of carrying out "provocative military movements to change the status quo." The Defense Ministry said that Indian troops preempted Chinese military activity and undertook measures to "thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on the ground." Though the ministry did not comment on the specifics of the operation, in a statement, it said troops had undertaken measures to strengthen their position on the southern bank of Pangong Tso. China's Foreign Ministry denied any incursion into Indian territory, and the country's military and diplomatic officials are now accusing Indian troops of crossing the line. "India's move has grossly violated China's territorial sovereignty," the embassy spokesperson said Tuesday. "China has made solemn representations to the Indian side, urged the Indian side to strictly control and restrain its frontline troops, earnestly honor its commitments, immediately stop all the provocative actions, immediately withdraw its troops illegally trespassing the Line of Actual Control, immediately stop any actions leading to the escalation and complication of the situation." Pangong Tso is a long V-shaped body of water located south of the Galwan Valley. Though most of it lies in the Chinese region of Tibet, the portion that India controls is strategically important as it allows Indian forces to move into striking distance of a key Chinese mountain highway linking the western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, said Bharat Karnad, an expert in national security affiliated with the Indian Center for Policy Research. But while Pangong Tso's tactical importance may not have changed in nearly six decades, "the stakes are higher" now than ever, Karnad said. For India, the lake also serves as an important buffer to help defend the nearby region of Ladakh. According to Manoj Joshi a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, the lake is a very obvious ingress route for military units looking to dominate or capture Leh, the largest town in Ladakh. "From a military stance, that's why it was defended strongly in 1962," said Joshi.

#PRO Sometimes you are kind of boring but you are a person who always wants to get better,improve own skills,knowledge,keep it going so!

It's set to be a Tour de France like no other. Watched on television by millions across the world, the annual race is deeply embedded in French culture as it weaves its way across stunning countryside and vertiginous mountains, as well as through picturesque towns and cities before concluding on Paris' Champs-Elysées. The Tour is normally held during July, but the global pandemic put paid to that idea, hence the August 29 start. The pandemic and a recent spike in new infections in France has also left organizers with a real logistical challenge in how best to stage the 23-day race. Adding to organizers' worries, the Alpes-Maritimes region -- the site of the opening stages of the race -- has been declared a red zone because of a recent rise in Covid-19 cases. In red zones, the authorities are able to make masks compulsory outdoors and close bar. But with the French government ready for worse case scenarios with plans for local or national lockdown in place, questions are being asked as to whether the Tour will even reach Paris. "The Tour de France will not stop if there's a positive case, even if nobody knows whether it will be completed or not," International Cycling Union (UCI) president David Lappartient told Reuters. To ensure the race is completed, teams will be expelled from the 2020 event if at least two riders or members of staff show strong symptoms or test positive for Covid-19. Documents obtained by cycling website VeloNews -- which were confirmed to CNN as accurate by race organizer Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) -- state that team members will have to pass two coronavirus tests before being able enter the Tour's mandatory "bubble" three days before Saturday's start in Nice. "If two persons or more from the same team present strongly suspect symptoms or have tested positive for Covid-19, the team in question will be expelled from the Tour de France," the document reads. "Its riders will not be authorized to start the Tour de France (or the next stage) and the team's personnel will have their accreditation withdrawn." All team members will again be tested on both of the Tour's rest days -- September 7 and 14 -- but team doctors and race medical staff will also decide whether or not a rider showing milder symptoms can participate in a stage. There will also be a mobile Covid-19 facility at every stage to perform any additional testing if needed. The moving 'bubble' Due to the hectic nature of the cycling calendar, riders and team members have been regularly tested prior to competing in races leading up to the Tour, including the Criterium du Dauphine, which finished two weeks ago and was used as a test event. While teams aren't restricted to a certain radius -- as they are in the NBA's Disney bubble -- and there is an element of self-policing involved, the ASO has still taken strict measures to ensure the Tour bubble remains secure. "There aren't other guests at our team hotel, there's just one or two other teams here," a spokesperson for the South African NTT Pro Cycling team told CNN Sport. "All mask wearing is compulsory, obviously sanitizers are widely available and I think from a team perspective, our head doctors are constantly in communication with everybody in the team, as well as the organizers and the relevant health authorities. "Food preparation and that all happens on site, so we try to minimize exposure points, but our sport requires us to be out on the open road and not in a stadium that you can shut off. So, I suppose for everybody, there's always there's always a risk. "All of that's obviously not normal in terms of how we normally experience racing, but I think everything considered we're feeling pretty happy and comfortable." The Tour might have the advantage of being staged in the open air, but negotiating 3,470 kilometers still remains a tricky proposition. "Organizers have been very specific around what departure villages will look like, what the paddock will look like, who has access to those, the different requirements for those people that do have access to have been tested, and how that that environment kind of moves through the countryside," the NTT Pro Cycling spokesperson said. "So that's from start point, throughout the race to the finish and then on to the hotel. For all intents and purposes, that bubble will be maintained and those directives are issued by the organizers. We're pretty happy with what they put in place." Tour director Christian Prudhomme says he's happy with the way the sport has adjust to the new preventative regulations. "So far cycling has not tripped on any obstacle," he told Reuters. "There will be police officers on the climbs, who will filter the crowd and make sure fans are wearing masks since I'm confident all the local authorities will make it mandatory."

China launched a series of ballistic missiles into the South China Sea this week, according to United States defense officials, part of a flurry of military exercises extending thousands of miles along the country's coastline, as tensions with Washington over the disputed waterway continue to escalate. Beijing claims almost all of the vast South China Sea as its sovereign territory and has stepped-up efforts to assert its dominance over the resource-rich waters in recent years, transforming a string of obscure reefs and atolls into heavily fortified man-made islands and increasing its naval activity in the region. China's territorial ambitions are contested by at least five other countries, and have been rejected outright by Washington which has declared Beijing's claims to be illegal under international law. A US defense official told CNN that the Chinese military launched four medium-range missiles from mainland China on Wednesday. The missiles impacted in the northern reaches of the South China Sea between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in China, the official said. In a statement Thursday, the Pentagon described the drills as the latest in a long string of Chinese actions intended to "assert unlawful maritime claims" that disadvantage neighboring countries. The comments follow the announcement Wednesday that the US government will impose sanctions on dozens of Chinese companies for assisting Beijing in the development and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea. 'Neither confirm nor deny' Senior Col. Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said on Thursday that China had carried out drills in waters and airspace between Qingdao in northeastern China and the disputed Spratly islands -- known as Nansha in China -- in the South China Sea, but did not mention the missiles outright. According to Wu, the drills "did not target any country." Though China's Defense Ministry has not confirmed the missile tests, China's government controlled media made several detailed references to the launches, citing reports in overseas media. Those reports said the missiles involved were DF-21D and DF-26 missiles, both of which have been touted in Chinese propaganda as highly accurate and able to hit ships moving at sea. "China's DF-26 and DF-21D are the world's first ballistic missiles capable of targeting large and medium-sized vessels, earning them the title of 'aircraft carrier killers,'" the state-run Global Times said on Thursday, citing military observers. A separate editorial in the same outlet acknowledged speculation around the launch of the DF-21D and DF-26 missiles, saying only that the "Chinese side has neither confirmed nor denied it." The editorial added that China "must increase its actions in the waters accordingly to suppress US arrogance and reinforce the US understanding that China does not fear a war." Home to vital international shipping lanes, the South China Sea is widely deemed as a potential flashpoint for a military conflict between the US and China. Wednesday's tests come a month after two US aircraft carrier strike groups, led by the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, completed combined exercises in the South China Sea for the first time in six years. The US has increased its naval activity in the region in recent months, carrying out routine patrols, referred to as freedom of navigation operations. On Thursday a US guided-missile destroyer sailed near the Chinese-claimed Paracel Islands. In a news conference call on Thursday, US Vice Adm. Scott Conn, commander of the US Navy's Third Fleet, talked up the US naval presence in the region and its ability to respond to Chinese threats. "In terms of launching of the ballistic missiles, the US Navy has 38 ships underway today in the Indo-Pacific region, including the South China Sea, and we continue to fly and sail and operate anywhere international law allows to demonstrate our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and reassure our allies and partners," he said.

When Dior, Hermès and France's other luxury giants unveiled their Spring-Summer 2021 collections at the online-only Paris Men's Fashion Week last month, Louis Vuitton was conspicuous by its absence. Rather than making do with a virtual showcase, the label posted a cryptic short video, "Zoooom With Friends," in which a squad of cartoon mascots loaded up crates on a ship setting sail along the River Seine. That shipment has now arrived -- literally and metaphorically -- in Shanghai. On Thursday, Louis Vuitton revealed its new menswear collection for Spring-Summer 2021, dubbed "Message in a Bottle," in spectacular fashion, on the banks of the Huangpu River. Although travel restrictions prevented artistic director for menswear, Virgil Abloh, from attending in person, his eclectic DNA was stamped throughout the collection, which came in streams of formal garments followed by animal-themed streetwear and bright block colors. The pandemic hit the fashion industry hard, but Paris Fashion Week is going ahead in September Lauryn Hill was beamed onto a branded shipping container for a virtual performance, which was live-streamed on Louis Vuitton's Instagram and website. But, otherwise, this was a distinctly physical show -- one on a scale rarely seen anywhere in the world since the coronavirus pandemic started disrupting the global fashion calendar back in February. There were few face masks in sight. Audience members could be seen sitting in close proximity to one another, fanning themselves with Louis Vuitton paddles in the early evening heat. And while safety measures were taken, including temperature checks and paper-free tickets, the show marked a return to normalcy, said creative consultant and former Elle China editor, Ye Zi (also known as Leaf Greener), who was in attendance. "It's like we're back to our new normal lifestyle," she said in a phone interview. Spending again The decision to eschew Paris for Shanghai may, of course, have been a practical one. Physical fashion shows are not entirely out of the question in Europe (Jacquemus, for instance, unveiled its new collection in a wheat field outside Paris), but social distancing requirements have made conventional showcases all but impossible. In China, however, many restrictions have eased, and some live events are being held. On the day of Louis Vuitton's show, Shanghai reported just seven new cases of Covid-19, none of which had been transmitted locally, according to Chinese state media.

NBA players have decided to resume the playoffs, according to multiple reports. Still, the league said three playoff games were postponed on Thursday -- as athletes across the US sports landscape joined in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by refusing to play scheduled games or practice for a second consecutive day. "We are hopeful to resume games either Friday or Saturday," the National Basketball Association said. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the NBA players' decision to return to the postseason. The postponements come after a historic day for professional sports, with athletes banding together to stand against racial injustice following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. A video conference call "to discuss next steps" was to be held Thursday between "a group of NBA players and team governors representing the 13 teams in Orlando, along with representatives from the National Basketball Players Association and the league office and NBA Labor Relations Committee Chairman Michael Jordan," according to the statement. CNN has sought comment from the players union. Trumps says player protests not good for sports or country President Trump likened the NBA to a "political organization" and slammed its "very bad" ratings when asked about the players' historic protests. "I don't know much about the NBA protests," Trump told reporters during a hurricane briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "I know their ratings have been very bad because I think people are a little tired of the NBA, frankly." Trump added, "They've become like a political organization and that's not a good thing. I don't think that's a good thing for sports or for the country." Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told CNN that Trump has failed to "acknowledge a lot of these men and women have had brothers, sisters, husbands, wives who have been victimized just because of their color." "The vast majority of the American people are ready to deal with systemic racism," Biden added. "And all this administration does is keep pouring gasoline on the fire." The Women's National Basketball Association postponed three games on Thursday. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James called for action against racial injustice. "Change doesn't happen with just talk!!" he wrote on Twitter. "It happens with action and needs to happen NOW! For my @IPROMISESchool kids, kids and communities across the country, it's on US to make a difference. Together. That's why your vote is @morethanavote #BlackLivesMatter." Three NBA playoff games were postponed Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to take the floor against the Orlando Magic as players took a stand with their Bucks counterparts. Three WNBA, five Major League Soccer and three Major League Baseball games were also postponed. And following the postponement of its opening series against the Portland Trail Blazers, players from the Los Angeles Lakers -- as well as its city counterparts the Los Angeles Clippers -- voted to boycott the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season, according to Shams Charania, who is with both The Athletic and Stadium. A WNBA statement said three Thursday games -- Chicago Sky against Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings versus New York Liberty, and Las Vegas Aces against Seattle Storm -- were postponed as "players continue discussions and reflection on recent events." There was no immediate rescheduling information. "This is not a strike. This is not a boycott. This is affirmatively a day of reflection. A day of informed action and mobilization," WNBA Players Association president and LA Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN. Elizabeth Williams, an Atlanta Dream all-star and WNBA Players Association secretary, told CNN Thursday that players were focused on social justice since the beginning of the season. "We were in a unique position having so many televised games that we would be able to show our activism," she said. NHL postpones four playoff games The National Hockey League, which came under fire for playing a day earlier, on Thursday announced that it was postponing four playoff games. Thursday's Philadelphia Flyers game against the New York Islanders and the Vegas Golden Knights against the Vancouver Canucks were called off. So were Friday night's game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. In the National Football League, several teams canceled practice Thursday to focus on conversations about race. The Denver Broncos joined the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Football Team and New York Jets in forgoing practice to allow players to weigh in on what they can do to effect change. "Friday we can return to football..." Washington head coach Ron Rivera said in a statement. "In place of our practice at FedEx Field, the players, coaches and football staff will meet as a football family and we will continue our open dialogue on the issues of racism and social injustice in our country... We are all in this together. And as a team we will work to figure out ways that we can make a positive impact in our communities." The Chicago Bears said in a statement that the team was pausing football activities "to voice to each other, our coaches and our staff where we stand on the real issues around race and police brutality in our country." The NFL and the NFL Players Association said in a joint statement that both were "united more than ever to support one another in these challenging times." "We share anger and frustration, most recently as a result of the shooting of Jacob Blake." Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back by police on Sunday as he tried to enter his vehicle in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His shooting became the latest incident to prompt outrage nationwide over racial injustice and police brutality. Major League Baseball teams also joined the protest. The Philadelphia Philies and Washington Nationals said that players decided not to play on Thursday. "We support their decision to use their platform to call attention to the racial and social injustice that continues to exist in our country," the teams said in a joint statement. "We will continue to stand behind our players and those on the front lines working to generate accountability and real change in our society." And the Minnesota Twins players decided to not play against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night. A team statement expressed support for the decision and said the police killing of George Floyd and shooting of Blake made the Twins "committed to using our platforms to push for racial justice and equality." The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland A's and Texas Ranger also sat out Thursday.

President Donald Trump will take the White House stage Thursday evening after three nights of propaganda and pageantry at the Republican National Convention for a speech that's expected to paper over his flawed handling of the coronavirus pandemic and deliver a searing indictment of his rival Joe Biden. Trump will accept his party's renomination for president at a time when the nation has passed the grim milestone of more than 180,000 deaths as a result of Covid-19 and some 5.8 million US cases -- more than anywhere else in the world. The President is expected to cast his response in glowing terms, highlighting the administration's efforts to produce a vaccine by the end of the year and its purchase of 150 million rapid tests to be distributed across the country in partnership with Abbott Laboratories. Multiple speakers, such as Vice President Mike Pence and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, have referred to the pandemic in the past tense during the convention. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 3,600 Americans had died during the three days of the convention-- more than the number who died during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Throughout the week, the campaign has also trashed normal protocol and decorum designed to protect the institution of the presidency from over-politicization. With the most high-profile speech of the week set to come from the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday night, Trump's usage of official government venues and powers for his reelection campaign will get its starkest display yet. Among the other blatant uses of official government property and pageantry for political purposes have been a naturalization ceremony in the White House, a pardon for a political supporter, the use of federal property for political speeches, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressing the convention while on an international trip and the participation of numerous administration officials attending political events on public property. In another meeting aired at the convention, Trump greeted former US hostages freed during his term, accepting their lavish praise. The administration has been more successful than its predecessors in this area but received criticism for making such a big deal out of the releases -- some experts worry it shows would-be kidnappers how much such releases mean to the President and could make Americans less safe abroad. Trump will be introduced on Thursday by his daughter Ivanka Trump and a crowd of more than 1,500 will attend the speech and the fireworks that follow. The White House thus far has offered conflicting information about how the guests will be screened for Covid-19. A senior administration official said the White House Coronavirus Task Force was not consulted about convention plans for Trump's speech. The official said it made more sense for the campaign and the task force to "stay out of each other's way." Health experts on the task force have been advising Americans to avoid large crowds during the pandemic. The President is also expected, in some form, to address the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. Blake was shot seven times in the back Sunday by an officer as he tried to enter an SUV where three of his children were waiting. Early Wednesday morning, a 17-year-old Illinois youth -- whose social media accounts show an affinity for Trump, guns and the police -- allegedly shot and killed two people, and injured another, who were at one of the nighttime protests in Kenosha. So far Trump has refused to answer questions about the two incidents in Wisconsin or to say whether he watched the video of Blake being shot by police, and it's unclear if he will make any statement of sympathy to Blake's family or Black Americans once again angered by police brutality. So far, the convention has largely stayed away from mentioning events in Wisconsin, aside from Pence who on Wednesday night tossed a mention of the city into a line about how "the violence must stop." Throughout the summer, Trump has described anti-police protesters as "THUGS," and his administration cleared peaceful protesters with tear gas from a location in front of the White House before the President participated in a photo op in front of a nearby church with a Bible in hand. The administration says the clearing was done so fencing could be put up, not because of Trump's photo. Speakers at the convention have repeatedly falsely argued that Biden hasn't addressed the violence that some protests have devolved into, and Trump is expected to echo those statements on Thursday. Pence gave a preview of the night's theme when he said Wednesday that Americans wouldn't be safe in Joe Biden's America. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday afternoon, Biden said that Trump is "absolutely" rooting for violence in the country's streets so he can claim a "law and order" mantle heading into the November election. But Biden also pointed out that the violence playing out around the country is happening under Trump's watch, despite his attempts to blame his rival. "If you think about it, Donald Trump saying you're not going to be safe in Joe Biden's America -- all the video being played is being played in Donald Trump's America," Biden told Cooper with a laugh on CNN's "Newsroom." "The country will be substantially safer when he is no longer in office," Biden added. In the lead-up to Trump's speech, which is expected to stretch for at least an hour, the Republican convention has been an exercise in reinventing the image of a wild and erratic presidency in which Trump has mismanaged the pandemic and openly traded in insensitive racial and sexist rhetoric, largely through his tweets. Over the last three nights, the President has been portrayed as a benevolent force, a champion of women and a man of humanity and empathy, in an apparent effort to counter the picture of Biden's political career as painted by Democrats last week. As the Trump campaign tries to repair the President's poor standing among female voters, and to humanize his tone-deaf appeals to "the Suburban Housewives of America," some of his closest female subordinates -- including outgoing White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and daughter-in-law, Lara Trump -- offered testimony to the President's support of professional women. Speakers have accused Biden and his family of being mired in corruption while Trump has refused to divest from his businesses and his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have earned millions from their commercial interests while working for the US government -- a few of a flurry of the conflicts of interest surrounding the administration. The contradiction between the reality of Trump's presidency and the image portrayed on television this week was underscored on Thursday when the President blasted the National Basketball Association as a "political organization" after players boycotted playoff games to demand action following the shooting of Blake in Wisconsin in the latest example of police brutality. Players from the NBA and several other sports leagues, including the WNBA, refused to play games on Wednesday and Thursday in protest of police violence. All week, convention organizers have used Black and other minority speakers to counter the impression that the President is racist. But Trump, and the convention as a whole, has failed to address police violence against Black people. Instead, the issue is raised only in demands for an end to protests that erupted after Blake's shooting and portraying them as an affront to law and order.