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OXON HILL, Maryland: One speller ran off the stage in the middle of her time at the microphone, saying she needed to pee. Another tried to walk back to her seat after spelling her first word correctly, only to be reminded she had a vocabulary word next. During one particularly brutal stretch, 10 consecutive spellers heard the bell that signals elimination. The Scripps National Spelling Bee used to begin with a handshake. Now it starts with a slap to the face. Leaner and meaner in its post-pandemic iteration, the bee returned to its usual venue on Tuesday for the first time in three years, and spellers were greeted with a new preliminary-round format that gave them no time to get comfortable. “The prelims is no joke. Every stage of the bee is so important,” said Dhroov Bharatia, a 13-year-old from Plano, Texas, who finished fourth last year.

In years past, the early onstage spelling rounds did little beyond weeding out the weakest or most nervous spellers. The real action was a written test that determined who would make the cut for the semifinals. But during last year’s mostly virtual bee, the bee’s new executive director eliminated the test, and that structure continued as 229 spellers took the stage for this year’s fully-in-person competition. Eighty-eight of those spellers advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, a success rate of 38 percent. Spellers had to get through three words in one turn at the microphone to continue in the bee. First, they were given a word from a provided list of 4,000 — more than twice as many as in years past. Then, they had to answer a multiple-choice vocabulary question about a word on the same list. Finally, they had to spell a word that could be found anywhere in Webster’s Unabridged dictionary. Annie-Lois Acheampong, one of three spellers from Ghana, didn’t get that far in her first try. She labored successfully through her first word, “coulrophobia” — fear of clowns — and then was asked to define “edamame.” She smiled initially, but when she crossed her legs and couldn’t stand still, it was clear something else was going on.

“I think I’m going to pee myself,” the 13-year-old eighth grader said. “Can I go pee? I’m very sorry.” She scurried off the stage before she got an answer from the stunned judges, who paused the competition and conferred about how to handle the situation. “That was a first,” head judge Mary Brooks, who’s been involved with the bee for 50 years, said later. The judges ultimately decided to let Annie-Lois return after the day’s last scheduled speller. She got her substitute vocabulary word right but faltered on the spelling of “apery” to conclude the day’s action. Although Annie-Lois could have been eliminated for exceeding the 30-second time limit for the earlier vocabulary question, Brooks said the speller’s clock was paused because she was experiencing a legitimate emergency. There is precedent for pausing the clock during what Brooks called “extenuating circumstances,” notably in 2004 when Akshay Buddiga fainted on stage but recovered to finish in second place. Braydon Syx of West Blocton, Alabama, might not get that far, but his time in front of the microphone on Tuesday encapsulated the newly riveting drama of the early rounds. The 13-year-old seventh grader took his first plane ride to compete in this year’s bee. Braydon’s first word was “ormolu” — a gold-colored alloy of copper, zinc and sometimes tin. He spelled out “O-R-M” and then took a long, excruciating pause before spitting out the final three letters. He stretched his arms out to his sides after identifying the definition of the word “tremulous” — not a bad description of his demeanor at the microphone. “It was really scary,” Braydon said, “but I also felt really happy at the same time. It was a weird feeling.”

Then came “bromegrass” — any grass of a large genus of grasses native to temperate regions. Something about the word was bothering him. “Can you say it again?” he asked. “Can you say it again another time?” He took a deep breath. “Can you say it one more time?” Afterward, Braydon explained his dilemma: “On ‘bromegrass,’ I didn’t know whether he was pronouncing it with an ‘m’ or an ‘n.’” Still, through some combination of hard work, luck and perseverance, Braydon will spell again on Wednesday. Akira Harris won’t be so fortunate. The eighth grader from a Department of Defense middle school in Stuttgart, Germany, began by spelling “rednigote” correctly, then turned around and headed for her seat.

“Akira, we need you for your word meaning round,” a judge told her. She stood silently, looking miserable, after she was given three potential definitions for the word “bandicoot.” She made a guess — “A?” — before she was told she had to read the multiple-choice answer under that letter, which was wrong. Akira returned to the audience and buried her head in her mother’s shoulder. Once her group of spellers was finished, Akira made another beeline — this time for the exits.  

BAGHDAD: As a seven-year-old boy in Baghdad, Mohamed Ali dreamt of becoming a goalkeeper — until a car bomb in the central Tahrir Square ripped away his left arm. The child had become another casualty of the sectarian blood-letting that raged in Iraq in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. “I was deprived of playing football,” he said, recalling the traumatic event of 2007 that also ended his time with the junior football team of the Air Force Club in Baghdad. Today, at age 22, Ali is a member of an all-amputee football team, made up entirely of players who lost arms or legs in Iraq’s many years of war and turmoil. “The creation of this team brought me back to life,” he said. “It helped me regain my self-confidence.” The team has some 30 players and has qualified for the Amputee Football World Cup to be held in Turkey in late 2022. Its founder Mohamed Al-Najjar was studying in England when he discovered a Portsmouth amputee team and decided to replicate the experience. Back in Iraq, he posted an announcement on social networks. “Applications started pouring in and we formed the team in August 2021,” recalls the 38-year-old lawyer. Najjar’s right leg was amputated after he was wounded in 2016 “while taking part in the fight against the Daesh group.” At the time Najjar, like several of his teammates, was fighting with the pro-Iranian Hashed Al-Shaabi, a paramilitary force that has since been integrated into Iraq’s regular forces. Three times a week, he now meets up with the group to train on one of the fields of the brand new Al-Chaab complex in Baghdad. Using crutches, one-legged players warm up by sprinting in the green jersey of the national team, then practice penalty kicks. The goalkeeper, his left arm amputated, intercepts the ball by blocking it with his stomach. Before they found the camaraderie of the team, Najjar said, “most of the players were suffering from severe depression.” “Some even had thought of suicide because they had lost a limb and they had been professional players before. “But we overcame these psychological problems,” he said, adding that it pleased him to now see his players “posting their pictures with the team on social networks.” In the official competition, matches are played in teams of seven on fields measuring 60 by 40 meters (about 200 by 130 feet). The goals are two meters high and five meters wide — smaller than the 2.4 by 7.3 meter goals used in traditional football. The Iraqi state offers financial aid to victims of attacks and of battles against jihadists. The players receive monthly allowances of between $400 and $700. Most make ends meet by working as day laborers in the markets, said Najjar. But a major obstacle for the team is a lack of official recognition, and therefore funding, from Iraqi sports bodies. The Poland-based International Amputee Football Federation is not part of the International Paralympic Committee. The Iraqi team therefore receives no state subsidies, said Aqil Hamid, the head of the parliamentary committee on disability sports. For equipment and transport, the team depends on donations from associations, said Najjar. There is also occasional help from some Hashed bodies. “They helped us with a trip to Iran, they paid for the plane tickets,” said Najjar, adding that he hoped for “wider support.” Another team member, Ali Kazim, lost his left leg to a Baghdad car bomb in 2006, which abruptly ended his professional football career with the Air Force Club. “I couldn’t pursue my ambitions, I stayed at home,” said the 38-year-old. Today, his four children are his biggest supporters. “They are the ones who pack my sports bag,” he said. “They tell me: ‘Daddy, go train’. My morale has totally changed.”

TEHRAN: Iranian police have arrested several teenage girls for not wearing headscarves at a skateboarding day in the southern city of Shiraz, along with some of the event’s organizers, state media reported Friday. A number of girls “removed their hijab at the end of the sports event without observing the religious considerations and legal norms,” state news agency IRNA quoted Shiraz police chief Faraj Shojaee as saying. “With the coordination of the judiciary, a number of perpetrators and people related to this gathering were identified and arrested on Thursday,” he said. A video purporting to show Tuesday’s “Go Skateboarding Day” event went viral in Iran on social media. “Holding any mixed sports or non-sports gathering without observing the religious and legal norms is prohibited... and the organizers will be dealt with according to the law,” Shojaee added. Shiraz governor Lotfollah Sheybani said the event was “held with the intention of breaking social, religious and national rules and norms,” IRNA reported. Under Islamic law in force in Iran since its 1979 revolution, women must wear a hijab that covers the head and neck while concealing the hair. But many have pushed the boundaries over the past two decades by allowing their head coverings to slide back and reveal more hair, especially in Tehran and other major cities. Iranian media on Sunday reported that police had arrested 120 people for alleged “criminal acts” including drinking alcohol, mixed-sex dancing and uncovering the hijab at a party in the forest in the country’s north. Under Iranian law, only non-Muslim citizens are permitted to consume alcohol for religious purposes, while dancing with the opposite sex is forbidden.

LONDON: Social media users have slammed an Egyptian TV presenter who claimed that murdered university student Nayera Ashraf had been at fault for not wearing a veil. In a video post, Mabrouk Attia, who is also a professor of Islamic Shariah at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, suggested women should “fully cover up” if they did not want to “meet the same fate” as the Mansoura university student. “Go ahead. Let your hair down and wear tight clothing. (Men) will hunt you down and kill you. Go on – personal freedom,” Attia, 63, said in the clip. “A woman should be veiled, in order to live. She should wear loose clothing so as not to provoke … you are amid monsters. If your life is precious to you, leave your house looking like a burlap sack,” the presenter added. A number of women’s rights supporters, the National Council for Women, and social media users condemned Attia’s statements and filed official complaints before the prosecutor general, accusing him of several legal offences, including “inciting hate speech and violence against women.” In a tweet, one user said: “This is how Mabrouk Attia responded to the senseless slaughter of Nayera Ashraf. This lunatic sociopath is a disgrace and has nothing to do with Islam. Blaming the victim is phony nonsense.”

“Wear hijab or get killed.” This is how Mabrouk Attia responded to the senseless slaughter of Naira Ashraf. This lunatic sociopath is a disgrace and has nothing to do with Islam. Blaming the victim is phoney nonsense.#حق_نيرة_أشرف #محاكمة_مبروك_عطيةpic.twitter.com/cGzG1K4LwH

Another shared the video on Twitter, and said: “This video contains hate speech, criminal incitement, justifying and promoting terrorism against every woman who dares to leave her house.”

"Either you wear Hijab, or you'll be slaughtered just like Naira." Mabrouk Attia, an Islamic preacher. This video contains hate speech, criminal incitement, justifying and promoting terrorism against every woman who dares to leave her house.#محاكمة_مبروك_عطية #حق_نيرة_أشرف https://t.co/mqxsxk4bnw

Another social media post said: “Mabrouk Attia is disgracefully victim blaming Nayera Achraf because she wasn’t wearing the hijab. We’re always told ‘cover yourself,’ ‘don’t provoke men,’ ‘be modest.’ It’s never about teaching men how to behave and respect women. We refuse to live in fear,” said another user.

Mabrouk Attia is disgracefully victim blaming Naira Achraf because she wasn’t wearing the hijab. We’re always told “cover yourself”, “don’t provoke men”, “be modest” It’s never about teaching men how to behave and respect women. We refuse to live in fear. خلاص

Al-Azhar University distanced itself from Attia’s comments. Later, in a video posted on his official Facebook page, Attia said that he would be suspending his social media accounts as a result of the backlash. Ashraf was on Monday stabbed to death in broad daylight by a man as she stepped off a bus outside the university in central Egypt. Her father claimed his daughter had been harassed more than once by the suspect, who he allegedly was upset after she refused to marry him.

LOGAN, West Virginia: A Vietnam-era helicopter showcased in action movies crashed on a rural West Virginia road, killing all six people on board, during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Bell UH-1B “Huey” helicopter crashed along Route 17 in Logan County about 5 p.m. Wednesday. All six people on board were killed, said Ray Bryant, chief of operations for the Logan County emergency ambulance service authority. The helicopter crashed in clear weather on a road near the local airport, he said. “The entire cab of it was on fire,” Bryant said in a phone interview Thursday. “It was recognized by the first responders as being a helicopter from this area because we see it a lot,” he said. The crash occurred during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts at MARPAT Aviation in Logan. It was scheduled to begin Tuesday and end Sunday, according to MARPAT’s website. During the event, visitors could sign up to ride or fly the historic helicopter, described by organizers as one of the last of its kind still flying. The helicopter was flown by the 114th Assault Helicopter Company, “The Knights of the Sky,” in Vinh Long, Vietnam, throughout much of the 1960s, according to MARPAT. After the Huey returned to the US in 1971, the website says, it was featured in movies like “Die Hard, “The Rock” and “Under Siege: Dark Territory.” Neither reunion organizers nor MARPAT officials returned requests for comment Thursday. Patty Belcher, who lives nearby, was driving to the store when she came upon the crash. “There was smoke so thick that you couldn’t hardly see nothing but smoke and flames,” she said by phone Thursday. “It was coming down the ditch line on the righthand side, and I said, ‘My God, I better turn around. It might catch this truck on fire.’ So I turned around and came back.” The crash was near the Battle of Blair Mountain historic sites, where a deadly clash erupted a century ago as thousands of coal miners marched to unionize in West Virginia. Bobbi Childs saw smoke and flames and got close enough to see a man who was trapped. “I saw that there was a guy trapped, I guess the captain. I tried to get down to the door where he was at. You could see him plain as day. I tried to get to him, but the fire was too hot. I couldn’t get to him,” Childs told WOWK-TV. The road was expected to remain closed for at least 24 hours. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. Willingham reported from Charleston, W.Virginia Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky

GENEVA: The Eurovision Song Contest’s organizers confirmed Thursday that the 2023 edition cannot be held in Ukraine due to the Russian war, despite angry protests from Kyiv. Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra last month won the world’s biggest live music event, and by convention, the country should host the kitsch annual pop extravaganza next year. But on June 17, the European Broadcasting Union said the war-torn country would not be able to host the 2023 show — triggering upset among fans across the continent and demands from the Ukrainian government to reverse the decision. “The EBU fully understands the disappointment that greeted the announcement that the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest cannot be staged in Ukraine, this year’s winning country,” it said in a statement. “The decision was guided by the EBU’s responsibility to ensure the conditions are met to guarantee the safety and security of everyone working and participating in the event, the planning of which needs to begin immediately,” it explained. The EBU said more than 10,000 people are usually accredited to work on Eurovision, including crew, staff and journalists. “A further 30,000 fans are expected to travel to the event from across the world. Their welfare is our prime concern,” it said. Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision final on May 15 in Turin, thanks to the votes from national panels of judges and the general public, with European audiences demonstrating their solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. The EBU said Eurovision’s rules clearly state that an event can be moved in situations such as an ongoing war. The union said the severe risk of air attacks and the high risk of a mass casualty event factored into the decision, while the conflict would make delegations and participants reluctant to go to Ukraine. As for hosting the contest in a border location within Ukraine, the specifications of suggested venues and the lack of surrounding infrastructure, do not meet Eurovision’s needs. “All this contributes to the EBU’s overall assessment that in terms of security and operational guarantees, the necessary requirements for hosting... are not met.” The EBU said it would keep searching for a suitable location for the next Eurovision, but said earlier this month that it was considering the possibility of the contest being held in Britain, which finished second. Founded in 1950, the Geneva-based EBU is the world’s biggest public service media alliance. It has 112 member organizations in 56 countries, plus 31 associates in Asia, Africa and the Americas.