Daily Headlines: July 18, 2016

* U.S.: A new poll indicates an overwhelming majority of residents in the U.S.-Mexico border region are opposed to building a wall between both countries and also support a path to U.S. citizenship for undocumented Mexican immigrants.

* Colombia: Jarlinson Pantano of Colombia won his first Tour de France stage on Sunday, while his compatriot and race contender Nairo Quintana’s expected attack this week may not be enough to dethrone Chris Froome from winning his second straight Tour.

* Cuba: The U.S. Congress is gradually easing its opposition to normalizing ties with Cuba despite staunch opposition from Cuban-American legislators.

* Venezuela: At least 100,000 people took advantage of a brief reopening of the Venezuelan border with Colombia mainly to buy basic goods and medicine.

YouTube Source – Wall Street Journal (From February 2016: “Building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico would be full of daunting challenges, from environmental regulations to private property laws. But that hasn't stopped politicians from pledging to do it”)
 
Online Sources – Dallas Morning News, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Hill, Macon Telegraph

Colombia’s Quintana Obtains Second Place in Tour de France

Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana finished his first-ever participation in the Tour de France with an extraordinary second place finish.

Yesterday Quintana became the first Latin American in a quarter century to reach the podium of the world’s top cycling completion. The 23-year-old’s dream debut also included winning the white jersey as the best young rider and the polka-dot jersey as the best mountain climber.

“He has plenty of talent and I think he could be one of the Tour’s greats,” said race winner Chris Froome of Britain about Quintana.  “I knew he would give it his all and he achieved something very important,” added Froome who finished over five minutes ahead of Quintana.

The Boyacá-born Quintana shined in the centenary edition though when the Tour began he wasn’t among the experts’ favorites to be among the top riders.  (For BBC Sport, Quintana’s teammate on the Movistar team, Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, was seen as a “potential rival” against Froome while Quintana was not mentioned.)  Yet Quintana proved his prowess in the always difficult mountain stages, which seemed natural for someone who as a child used to make a ten mile trip to a school located high in the Andes.

The pinnacle moment for Quintana in France occurred in the penultimate stage on Saturday; a date that coincidentally was the 202nd anniversary of Colombia’s independence.  Entering stage 20 in fifth place overall, Quintana took advantage of the pace set for most of the day by his Movistar teammates and he was able to pull away with eight kilometers left in a breakaway group that included Frrome and Spaniard Joaquim Rodríguez. The group stayed together until Quintana burst forth with some 900 meters to go until the finish and captured the stage victory while his elated family back home celebrated the win.   

Daily Headlines: July 27, 2009

* Spain: Congrats to Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador who won comfortably won the Tour de France over Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and teammate Lance Armstrong.

* Mexico: Four men were arrested by Mexican police as suspects in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent last week.

* Colombia: Military officials said that at least 16 FARC guerillas were killed during weekend attacks on rebel camps.

* Cuba: The Florida-based relatives of a man executed in Cuba in 1960 are suing several U.S. telecom firms who have ties to Cuba’s state-run phone company.

Image- New York Times
Online Sources- BBC Sport, ABC News, Xinhua, UPI

Daily Headlines: July 20, 2009

* Spain: Cyclist Alberto Contador may’ve clinched the Tour de France after a win in Stage 15 earned him the yellow jersey and a 1:37 lead over teammate Lance Armstrong.

* U.S.: A second suspect was arrested in connection with the assault and bias attack of a Latino man in the New York borough of Staten Island.

* Brazil: According to the local press, an autopsy exam found that former boxing champion Arturo Gatti may've committed suicide but didn’t rule out murder.

* Latin America: The International Court of Justice will hold hearings in two months regarding a tense border dispute between Argentina and Uruguay.

Image- Guardian UK
Online Sources- AP, AFP, BBC Sport, New York Daily News