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FBI asked ‘Sammy the Bull’ if ex-Gambino mob prosecutor Comey knew meaning of ’86’: court filing

August 22, 2026 1:51pm EDT / Fox News

The former Gambino underboss spoke with an FBI agent about the term as Comey faces federal charges over his seashell post

By Robert McGreevy, Fox News

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., discusses the DOJ turning up the heat on the Brennan probe and James Comey’s concerning Instagram post on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’

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The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents.

Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al. in the 1990s, told an FBI case agent during a May 2026 phone call that Comey “had to know” what 86 meant, according to a sworn affidavit from his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald supporting Comey’s motions to dismiss the case.

Comey is facing a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump through his May 2025 “8647” seashell Instagram post.

“On May 8, 2026, the case agent had a telephone conversation with Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano, the former Gambino crime family underboss who was one of the cooperating witnesses at the United States v. John Gambino trial,” the affidavit, filed last month, reads.

“During the telephone conversation to discuss the logistics of his forthcoming interview, Mr. Gravano stated his belief that Mr. Comey had to know what the term ’86’ meant ‘as it related to killing someone,’” the court documents say.

JAMES COMEY ’86 47′ SEASHELL CASE PROSECUTOR SUDDENLY STEPS DOWN, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY STEPS IN

Hearing of Italo-American boxer Salvatore Gravano, nicknamed “Sammy the Bull”, at the Capitol on April 1, 1993.(Photo by Jeffrey Markowitz/Sygma via Getty Images)

The U.S. Department of Justice brought two federal charges against Comey – threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce – in April for a social media post Comey made displaying a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “8647.”

BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: ‘REST ASSURED’ CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST

Prosecutors alleged the photo was a reference to killing Trump, with “86” referring to a slang term for killing and “47” referring to Trump as the 47th U.S. president.

Comey’s defense lawyer cited the FBI’s interview with Gravano to challenge the claim that Comey’s Gambino prosecution meant he understood “86” as a reference to killing. Though Gravano told agents Comey “had to know” the term’s mob meaning, he said he did not recall ever discussing it with Comey. The filing also says FBI searches of the Gambino case materials found no references to “86.”

“During the recorded interview, which lasted 25 minutes, Gravano said that ’86’ generally means to ‘get rid of’ and to him, as a ‘gangster,’ it means ‘to kill,’” the affidavit said.

SAMMY GRAVANO REVEALS THE MOMENT HE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGAINST JOHN GOTTI

Former FBI director James Comey has been indicted by the Justice Department(Cheriss May/Getty Images)

Gravano added that he believed Comey’s post was a call for violence, but not an admission that Comey himself would be carrying out said violence.

“While Gravano claimed that the post was a call for violence against President Trump (‘let’s kill Trump’), Gravano did not claim Mr. Comey’s seashell post to be a statement threatening that Mr. Comey would personally kill President Trump,” the affidavit read.

Comey has claimed that he found — and did not arrange — the seashell display and did not realize some people interpreted “86 47” as a violent message.

FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS COMEY CHARGES HINGE ON INTENT EVIDENCE AND JURY INTERPRETATION

“I don’t see it the way some people are still saying it is, but again, I don’t want any part of any violence. I’ve never been associated with violence, and so that’s why I took it down,” Comey told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace in May 2025, alluding to the fact that he removed the post shortly after putting it up on Instagram.

Comey said he didn’t think it had any dark intentions.

Former F.B.I. Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.()

“I actually didn’t think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, ‘What a clever way to express a political view.’ The shells were the same color for each of the letters… It took a lot of work. Somebody with artistic flair did that, and I have a hard time believing it was anybody with a dark intention, and it certainly was no dark intention on my part or my spouse’s part,” he said.

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Fox News Digital contacted the FBI and a legal representative for James Comey for further comment.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, former U.S. senator from Kansas, dies at 94

August 22, 2026 / 1:40 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, a Kansas governor’s daughter who became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate without following a spouse into office, has died, her son Bill Kassebaum told CBS News on Saturday. She was 94.

Kassebaum Baker died Friday, he said.

Bill Kassebaum told CBS News that his mother was “an independent voice that was willing to do what was right for Kansas and the country,” which he said sometimes meant going against her party.

“She was also willing to talk to her constituents, even when they didn’t agree, and openly discuss her votes and stances,” he said, adding that while people may not have agreed with her, they appreciated her willingness to talk.

Kassebaum Baker was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 and served three terms. Her modest demeanor endeared her to voters of all political stripes, though she shared the moderate, progressive Republican politics of her father, Gov. Alf Landon, the unsuccessful 1936 GOP nominee for president. Even after leaving the Senate early in 1997, she continued taking on public service roles.

She married former Sen. Howard Baker, a Tennessee Republican, in 1996. He died in 2014.

(L-R) Sens. Nancy Kassebaum, Paul Laxalt & camera-busy photography buff Howard Baker, at the 1984 Republican National Convention. Steve Northup / Getty Images

Kassebaum Baker remained an icon for Kansans generally. She could work with Senate colleagues of all political philosophies, and a 1996 health insurance law bore her name, along with that of liberal Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Her election to the Senate brought her immediate national attention. When she announced her retirement, she was among eight women senators and the only one to chair a Senate committee, the Labor and Human Resources panel.

She was also in a dwindling bloc of moderate-to-liberal Republicans, having supported, for example, a ban on assault weapons championed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

Yet she never polarized Kansas conservatives as other GOP moderates did. She connected with voters because she never seemed caught up in the trappings of power, and when she retired, she acknowledged, “I’d rather cuddle up and do needlepoint all day.”

She was born on July 29, 1932, as her father, an oilman from Independence, was running for the first of his two terms as governor. She earned a political science degree from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan in the mid-1950s.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker with her father Alf Landon at his home in Topeka, Kansas, August 16th 1978. UPI / Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

She was a radio-station executive, spent a year in the 1970s on the staff of Kansas Sen. James Pearson and served on the school board in the Wichita suburb of Maize. She had four children with her first husband, Phil Kassebaum, including Bill, who served a term in the Kansas House. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979.

When Kassebaum Baker decided to run for the U.S. Senate, she figured that “a woman with a background different from a man might be appealing” to people growing weary of politics. Pundits at the time estimated a Senate race would require the then-huge-for-Kansas sum of $1 million. In the first quarter of 1978, she spent less than $12,000 on her campaign, and saw herself “at the bottom of the totem pole.”

However, nine candidates crowded the primary field, including three state senators and a prominent Wichita businessman. Kassebaum Baker won the GOP nomination with less than 31% of the vote.

Running as Nancy Landon Kassebaum, she won almost 54% of the vote that November against former two-term Democratic congressman Bill Roy.

Her moderate politics quickly came to the fore when only months later, she refused to endorse an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget.

“We should be wary of the seemingly simple solution,” she said.

Her father, who would die at age 100 in 1987, still cast a long political shadow during her first years in office. Though he’d overwhelmingly lost the 1936 presidential race to Democratic incumbent Franklin Roosevelt, he later became an elder statesman for the party. A lecture series named for him at Kansas State University attracted presidents and foreign leaders.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker in 1998. Douglas Graham/Getty Images

Kassebaum Baker became even more popular in her time. She won re-election in 1984 with 76% of the vote and in 1990 with 74% of the vote.

But she frustrated conservative activists, despite her popularity. She said her vote in favor of the assault weapons ban inspired the angriest mail of her career.

She’d contemplated not seeking a third term, but Republican leaders had prevailed upon her to run one more time. In 1996, when she decided not to seek re-election, she said she would return to a ranch and 90-year-old farmhouse in Kansas’ scenic Flint Hills and babysit her grandchildren — she had seven, as well as two great-grandchildren.

When there was brief talk of naming a new highway in Topeka after her, she said, “Oh, goodness. Absolutely not — no.”

She and Baker kept their romance low-key, and speculation about a possible marriage didn’t emerge until mid-1996, in a Washington Post story. They married that December.

It was the first time a man and a woman who had both served in the Senate had wed. Baker was elected to three terms and served from 1967 to 1985 before becoming President Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff. His first wife, Joy, had died in 1993 after a long battle with cancer.

After the marriage, public service still beckoned, including as a member of a bipartisan commission on campaign finance reform under Clinton and on a British commission in Africa in 2004-05.

Nancy Kassebaum Baker at the Kansas State Fair in 2015. Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images

President George W. Bush named her husband ambassador to Japan in 2001, and she went with him for the four-year posting. Baker said she became an important figure in the Asian nation.

Before she left for Tokyo, she told a reporter she saw her stint in Japan as an adventure but added, “All I can say is, I will miss the Kansas prairie.”

Later in life, Kassebaum Baker broke with the Republican Party as it became more conservative, endorsing Democratic candidates for Kansas governor and U.S. senator, including Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly both times — even though Kelly’s 2022 GOP opponent, then state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, had worked on her Senate staff.

She also declared in 2021 that President Trump should be impeached after Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, hoping to stop congressional certification of Mr. Trump’s defeat in 2020 by Democrat Joe Biden.

“This just has gone too far,” she told Kansas City’s KMBC.

Deleted tweets show Natalie Harp’s zealous support of Trump on January 6

2026-08-22T16:00:29.143Z / CNN

Years before Natalie Harp became a key White House aide to President Donald Trump, she flooded her Twitter feed with posts demonstrating extraordinary devotion to him on January 6, 2021.

A CNN review of Harp’s now-removed account on X, previously Twitter, found that Harp posted more than 150 tweets that day, urging Republicans to “FIGHT FOR TRUMP” as he began his speech near the White House. She echoed the president’s talking points that the election was stolen, and amplified rhetoric of his allies, who also sought to undermine the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election win. Harp’s X account appears suspended. It’s unclear when her account was taken down, and whether she or the platform removed her posts.

Harp’s devotion is hardly unusual in Trump’s inner circle: The president stocked his White House with loyalists. But her January 6 posts offered a public display of fealty, as she praised those fighting to keep Trump in office and repeatedly cast him and his allies in heroic terms.

“She has proven to be a totally loyal sycophantic adviser and staffer for him,” said David B. Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron who studies the American presidency. “Trump likes that, he doesn’t like to be questioned. He likes to be revered, and she clearly does that.

Neither Harp nor the White House responded to CNN’s requests for comment.

As a crowd descended on Washington, DC, on the morning of January 6, Harp, a One America News Network host whose Twitter bio described her as a Trump “advisory board” member, shared comments from Trump’s family members declaring, “This movement will never, ever die!” and “This fight has only just begun.”

Harp, then 29, praised pro-Trump demonstrators gathering for Trump’s speech as “patriots” and challenged lawmakers to show “a fraction of the courage & passion” of the crowd, declaring: “today we STOP THE STEAL!”

She also promoted Rudy Giuliani’s call, “let’s have trial by combat!” during his speech, although lawyers for Giuliani later asserted his call was “hyperbolic,” and not a call for violence. When the president began to speak, Harp tweeted, “FIGHT FOR TRUMP!” a dozen times within a single post, adding, “Today D.C. is TRUMP COUNTRY!” She live tweeted the president’s speech: “We will never give up. We will never concede!”

And after a pro-Trump mob forced its way into the US Capitol, Harp shared tweets insisting the rioters were “not Trump supporters,” and circulated false reports that Antifa had infiltrated the mob. Later, Harp shared Trump’s calls for the rioters to go home.

Hours after the Capitol attack forced Congress to halt the electoral count, Harp again amplified Giuliani, quoting his statements that the disruption had created “a few more options particularly with this delay” and that Trump’s legal team was working on “how we can take advantage of those options,” adding an American flag emoji.

After the House voted to reject the objection raised by Republican lawmakers to counting Arizona’s electoral votes, Harp tweeted: “America may not be America anymore. But God’s still God. Don’t stop believing!!”

Harp singled out lawmakers who continued to challenge the results, thanking Rep. Jody Hice for being “a man of his word and the Constitution,” praising Marjorie Taylor Greene for her “courage,” and calling Josh Hawley “a true patriot” who “refuses to be intimidated out of his duty to the Constitution.” She also hailed the six senators who voted to sustain objections — Ted Cruz, Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall and Tommy Tuberville — as “patriots” who “did not waver in the fight for our beloved country & @POTUS.”

The following day, after Trump publicly acknowledged that a new administration would take office, Harp shared his message that “our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

Fourteen minutes later, she added her own declaration of loyalty: “We love you, President @realDonaldTrump!”

Harp’s apparent devotion to Trump’s election lie narrative didn’t begin on January 6, 2021, according to CNN’s review. In the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot, she posted to her followers, “We will never give up – for TRUTH is on our side. January 6th is coming!!.”

“WE LOVE YOU! WE LOVE YOU! WE LOVE YOU! x 71 million,” Harp posted days after the election results. Harp decried Biden’s win on December 14, posting, “THIS IS A COUP.”

Harp has served as a close aide to the president during his second term. Though she has worked mostly under the radar, she was thrust into the public eye this week when Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff mentioned her by name in a speech attacking Trump. On Thursday, the Daily Beast published two letters reportedly written to the president, expressing her utmost loyalty to him.

The tweets reviewed by CNN illustrate Harp’s devotion to Trump that dates back to at least 2016, when Harp appears to have first begun posting to Twitter about the president.

Harp also tweeted Bible verses in reference to the president, defending him the day he was impeached in 2019.

“Vindicate [@realDonaldTrump], my God, and plead [his] cause against an unfaithful nation,” and “.@realDonaldTrump, ‘I thank my God upon every remembrance of you!!!’”

旅行社反映NATAS旅游展成绩亮眼 涨幅料多达30％

2026年8月22日 23:21 / 新明日报

星期六的全国旅行社协会（NATAS）旅游展现场，旅行社柜台的客人一波接一波。受访旅行社透露，中国配套是销售之冠，热门地点包括东北地区、张家界、云南和贵州。 （唐家鸿摄）

油价上涨推高机票价格，旅游配套售价也因此水涨船高。不过，受访旅行社透露，本周末的全国旅行社协会旅游展销售业绩比去年好，涨幅预计可达30％。

南和旅行社高级营销经理郑家诚星期六（8月22日）接受《联合早报》访问时说，单是第一天接到的预定已是去年8月旅游展首日的一倍多，公司有信心此次旅游展的整体业绩会比去年高20%至30％。

他指出，今年上半年，基于中东紧张局势，不少消费者将旅游计划暂时搁置。这个压抑需求，加上公司推出的系列新产品，都是带动业绩的原因。

中国配套最受欢迎 欧洲预订不如去年

郑家诚透露，中国配套是销售之冠，占了超过一半的预订。一些热门地点包括东北地区、张家界、云南和贵州。

为期三天的全国旅行社协会（NATAS）旅游展星期五（21日）开跑，有近100家参展商参与，比去年增加约22%，展览空间扩大25%。

康泰旅行社市场部高级经理曹惠美告诉记者，油价和机票价格纷纷上涨，导致旅游配套整体价格涨了一两成。不过，本地出境旅游需求依旧强劲。

“我们第一天接到的预订就比去年同期多了25%，预计这个周末的成绩会比去年高至少25%……伊朗战争已经有半年之久，消费者可能觉得现在的情况逐步趋稳，油价也没之前大涨，因此可以恢复旅游计划。”

她指出，中国配套卖得最好，新西兰的预订也取得20％至25%的显著增长。至于欧洲，预订情况虽比今年3月的NATAS旅游展理想，但对比去年8月，还是少了约30％。

过去本地旅客飞往欧洲时，不少会乘搭卡塔尔航空或阿联酋航空，在中东转机。问及旅行社会否基于中东局势，避免使用中东航空公司，曹惠美说不会。

“顾客之前会比较关注这点，但现在大多可以接受飞中东的航空公司。我们会密切留意当地局势，若真的发生航班取消，或外交部发出指示等，公司会协助顾客更换行程或免费取消行程，甚至全额退款。”

中欧航旅董事总经理兼总裁许炳辉则指出，针对欧洲行程，公司会尽可能安排顾客飞新航、土耳其航空或其他亚洲航空公司，减少在中东转机。“整体而言，欧洲的预订情况不如去年，少了约五成。”

许炳辉说，欧洲的预订情况需要时间恢复，但本周末的整体业绩还是不错，料比去年同期增加25％至30％，主要由中国配套带动。

大通旅游市场部主管卓琼华说，中国的豪华列车旅游近来颇受欢迎。例如，今年9月前往南北疆的豪华列车旅游虽然每人要价近1万9000元，但已有20多人报名，即将启程。

嫁来新加坡的缅甸人天茵茵（57岁，会计执行员）和丈夫星期六一次过在旅游展签订了三个配套——10月去黄山、明年3月去江西，5月去西班牙和葡萄牙。

她说：“这些都是没有去过的地方，而且价格合理，尤其是明年的行程还有提早预定优惠，就直接签了三个配套。”

拉蒂发（42岁，账单专员）和丈夫则会在来临12月带四个小孩乘坐迪士尼游轮。她说，孩子介于5岁至14岁，有不同兴趣爱好，若要安排出国行程一点也不容易。

“孩子们都喜欢雷霆特攻队，而且游轮上有不同的食物和活动，绝对可以满足他们的不同需求，让我们做家长的不用为他们的吃喝玩乐烦恼，可以轻松些。”

亚细安锦标赛决赛首回合 卫冕冠军越南两球客胜泰国

2026年8月22日 23:27 / 联合早报

在控球率不占优的情况下，越南队（图）凭借更高的反击效率在下半场连进两球，带着十足底气进入次回合的主场战。 （法新社档案照片）

在星期六（8月22日）晚的“现代杯”亚细安足球锦标赛决赛首回合中，卫冕冠军越南在拉加曼加拉国家体育场以2比0客胜泰国，带着两球优势进入次回合。

包括决赛在内，亚细安锦标赛在2018年起全面采用两回合制。本届半决赛，泰国总比分以4比3淘汰“雄狮”新加坡，而越南则以4比0完胜马来西亚，连续三届与泰国会师决赛。近两届决赛，泰国和越南各夺冠一次，越南最近一次则以5比3的总比分拿下冠军。

来到此役，志在复仇的泰国踢得十分积极。上半场，泰国的控球率高达65%，但未能转化为进球。两队一度展开激烈对攻，各有五脚射门。越南的边路突破十分犀利，但在临门一脚上有所欠缺，上半场共射正两次。

泰国在中场休息前获得绝佳机会，在中路推进的前锋波伊菲迈（Poeiphimai）巧妙地传出斜线直塞球，正好送到前插的边锋布拉帕（Burapha）脚下，但后者面对出击的门将，左脚射门远远高出横梁。双方只能以0比0进入中场休息。

不少越南球迷身穿红衣来到泰国支持球队，图中这名球迷就高举越南国父胡志明的肖像，到场助威。（取自亚细安足球Instagram）

越南反击强势 下半场七分钟连进两球

下半场进行至第60分钟左右，两队依旧未能打破僵局。场上的火药味渐浓，双方都增强了身体对抗。越南中卫阮成忠还对泰国中场坎约克（Khamyok）使出橄榄球式的抱摔动作，吃到黄卡。

到了第62分钟，越南后场长传发动进攻，队内明星前锋阮庭北卸球后，用写意的脚后跟传球助攻替补出场的阮海龙破门，帮助客队先拔头筹。

仅七分钟后，越南趁胜追击。巴西裔归化前锋亨德里奥（Hendrio）侧面传中后，有着“越南梅西”之称的阮光海不停球凌空抽射破门，为球队扩大领先。

在落后局面下，泰国试图展开猛攻，但难以突破越南的五后卫防线，最终在六分钟完场补时后告负。值得一提的是，上届比赛泰国也是首回合不敌越南，并在次回合再输一场，最后屈居亚军。

亚细安锦标赛是两年一届的赛事。结束首回合对阵后，次回合将在下星期三（26日）移师越南美亭国家体育场（My Dinh National Stadium），届时将决出冠军。

法国承诺加快交付装备与导弹 助乌克兰保卫领空

2026年8月22日 23:38 / 联合早报

7月14日，法国总统马克龙（左）与乌克兰总统泽连斯基在巴黎协和广场举行的巴士底日阅兵式结束后交谈。 （路透社）

法国承诺向乌克兰提供新型拦截导弹，协助它抵御俄罗斯军队激增的空袭。

路透社报道，乌克兰总统泽连斯基星期六（8月22日）说，他已与法国总统马克龙讨论了乌克兰防空系统短缺的问题，马克龙承诺加快交付法国新装备。

泽连斯基在社交应用程式Telegram上说，法国同意加快交付最新的法国装备和导弹。但他没有提供细节，只是说：“感谢您确认愿意发放导弹生产许可证。”

乌克兰正在等待意大利和法国联合研制的新型SAMP/T-NG导弹防御系统交付，专家称该系统应该能够拦截弹道导弹。此前，欧洲外交官曾说，系统预计要到明年春季才能运抵乌克兰。

法新社报道，法国总统马克龙在社交媒体X网站上宣布供应新型导弹拦截器时写道：“至关重要的是，要为乌克兰提供一切必要手段，以保卫其领空并挫败这种侵略。”

近几个月来，俄罗斯对乌克兰，特别是首都基辅，发动了猛烈的弹道导弹袭击。这些难以拦截的超高速武器能在几分钟内击中目标，使得基辅居民几乎不可能及时躲进地下掩体。

俄罗斯空袭次数激增，导致这场持续四年半的战争中平民死亡人数达到莫斯科入侵初期以来的最高水平。星期六凌晨的空袭造成至少13人死亡，其中七人在乌克兰，四人在俄罗斯，两人在俄罗斯吞并的克里米亚（Crimea）。

就在最新致命袭击发生之际，乌克兰东部城市克里维里格（Kryvyi Rig）的救援人员正在一处部分损毁的购物中心废墟中搜寻。一天前，购物中心遭到俄罗斯无人机袭击，造成16人死亡。

由法国和英国领导的“自愿联盟”的乌克兰盟友将于星期一举行会议，商讨如何加大对莫斯科的压力，以阻止其入侵。

【图集】运动会大显身手 人形机器人打破人类百米跑纪录

2026年8月22日 23:28 / 联合早报

北京的天工Ultra人形机器人（右）在100米预赛中跑出9.39秒，代表天卓队获得小组第一，不仅刷新上届赛会纪录，也超越由牙买加飞人博尔特保持的9.58秒的人类百米世界纪录。 （新华社）

百米跑出9.39秒、跳高成绩2.88米，中国人形机器人打破两项人类世界纪录。

第二届世界人形机器人运动会星期六（8月22日）晚在北京国家速滑馆开幕。这场持续五天的运动会共设置51个项目、1301场比赛。来自16个国家的666支队伍、2056台机器人同台竞技，队伍总量同比增长138%，机器人数量也翻两番。

开幕式上，机器人选手列阵入场。（中新社）

人类乐手与身穿红色表演服机器人，在开幕式上合奏中西乐器。（中新社）

在100米大型组预赛中，中国的天工Ultra人形机器人跑出9.39秒的成绩，拿到预赛首组第一，超越牙买加飞人博尔特的9.58秒人类百米世界纪录。此外，这款机器人的跳高成绩2.88米，也打破2.45米的人类男子跳高世界纪录。

在运动会开幕式上的原地跳高展示项目里，来自北京的天工Ultra机器人跳出2.8843米的成绩。（新华社）

项目方面，在首届田径、足球等基础上，本届运动会新增举重、拔河、乒乓球等项目，加大对机器人本体结构以及核心零部件的极限考验。

一台银河通用（Galbot）人形机器人在网球表演赛中，飞身扑球。（路透社）

机器人在运动会开幕式前进行七人足球表演赛。（中新社）

逆行风潮引车祸 英国和爱尔兰一周内12人死亡

2026年8月22日 23:55 / 联合早报

逆行驾驶成为社交媒体潮流，导致英格兰和爱尔兰在一周内发生多起严重车祸，造成12人死亡。 （示意图/Pixabay）

在社交媒体上“逆行”驾驶风潮兴起之际，不到一周的时间里，英格兰和爱尔兰发生了多起因车辆在主要道路上逆行而引发的交通事故，造成12人死亡。

法新社引述警方称，星期六（8月22日）凌晨，在英格兰东北部米德尔斯堡（Middlesbrough）附近的A66主干道上发生的一起车祸中，包括两名在职警官在内的七人丧生。

当局正在调查事故的具体情况，但说事故起因是警方正在追截一辆可疑车辆，该车辆最终逆行并与一辆行驶在道路正确一侧的警车相撞。

此前，爱尔兰星期天也发生了一起致命车祸，造成五名青少年死亡。他们的车在都柏林（Dublin）以西的M9高速公路上逆行，与另一辆车迎面相撞，导致第二辆车上的四人（包括一个孩童）重伤。

这些事故发生之际，当局已着重指出社交媒体助长的“逆行”（wrong-side）驾驶趋势。

爱尔兰警察部队首长贾斯汀·凯利说，此前都柏林M50高速公路也发生过类似的碰撞事故，并警告说：“这种鲁莽行为更令人震惊的是，在某些情况下，肇事者是为了在社交媒体上炫耀。”

一周前发生的M50高速公路车祸涉及一辆载有青少年的被盗车辆，该车辆逆行，造成多人重伤。

在8月初发生的另一起事件中，一段在被警方追捕的被盗车辆内部拍摄的视频也在社交媒体上流传开来。

塞雷娜重返美网赛场 携手阿尔卡拉斯持外卡出战混双

2026年8月22日 23:43 / 联合早报

美国传奇球星塞雷娜（图）将与世界排名第二的男单阿尔卡拉斯强强联手，出战美网混双比赛。 （法新社）

（纽约法新电）美国网球协会星期六（8月22日）宣布，23座大满贯单打冠军得主塞雷娜·威廉姆斯（Serena Williams）将与世界排名第二、七度大满贯得主阿尔卡拉斯（Alcaraz）强强联手，出战美国网球公开赛混双比赛。

这是现年44岁的塞雷娜自2022年以来首次重返美网赛场。作为六届美网女单冠军，塞雷娜早在1998年就曾与马克·米尔尼（Max Mirnyi）搭档夺得美网混双冠军。

塞雷娜与阿尔卡拉斯获得混双正赛最后三张外卡之一，另外两张则颁给了捷克组合卡罗莉娜·穆霍娃（Karolina Muchova）／雅各布·门希克（Jakub Mensik），以及美国组合艾玛·纳瓦罗（Emma Navarro）／汤米·保罗（Tommy Paul）。

本月早些时候，塞雷娜曾与姐姐维纳斯·威廉姆斯（Venus Williams）搭档出战辛辛那提公开赛女双，那是姐妹俩自2022年以来的首次合作，但最终在首轮失利。

本届美网混双比赛将于下星期二（25日）打响，并于下星期三（26日）结束。美网正赛则将于8月30日正式开打。

European wildfires expose, detonate buried bombs and mines from past wars

August 22, 2026 8:35 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The wildfires burning across Europe this summer have exposed a potentially deadly threat lurking beneath the blackened landscape: rusty bombs and mines from World War I and II that threaten crews responding to the flames.

Some of the weapons have exploded in the intense heat. Blasts have been reported in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, where a bomb-disposal team was dispatched to check a forest threatened by flames near a site of fierce fighting in the Limburg province in 1944.

Steady temperatures and predictable rainfall once ensured that most buried weapons stayed dormant. But this wildfire season was supercharged by heavy rains in January that spurred vegetation growth, which became kindling when the summer heat arrived. Those temperatures, combined with drought conditions, low humidity and stiff winds, offered an ideal environment for fire, according to a study issued last month by the World Weather Attribution group. The blazes have led to mass evacuations.

The current situation shows that Europe’s “climatic luck” is running out, said Sarah Njeri, a peace and conflict scholar at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.

“Climate change is now doing the work of unburying and reactivating what was previously stable,” Njeri said.

Smoke rises from a field scorched by a wildfire near Waimes, Belgium, Aug. 17, 2026. Marius Burgelman/AP

“You are not sure where the explosives are”

In the eastern Belgian province of Liege, Gov. Hervé Jamar said “a few sporadic detonations” were recently heard and that emergency services were adapting to account for munitions buried in a fire area. He said no fire crews were in danger, but local media published photos of a firefighter handling a rusted bomb.

During World War II, booby traps, bombs and mines were scattered throughout the province’s dense peat-bog forest known as the High Fens, which stretches across Belgium’s border with Germany and was the site of key conflicts, including the bloody Battle of the Bulge. Now, a huge blaze is smoldering in the area.

Bernard Collard, a local historian who is authorized to scan the former battlefields with a metal detector, said that in an environment like this, “you are not sure where the explosives are.” He said he has found mortar shells, machine guns, helmets, cigarette cases, and once, a human skeleton. His father once detonated a found bomb in a quarry.

“You never know what you might come across, and you shouldn’t take it lightly,” Collard said while standing in a field that was once a blood-soaked site. Nearby, blueberry bushes cover old foxholes, trenches and deep craters from artillery fire.

He frequently works with the Belgian demining squad. “It’s part of our history. We live with it,” Collard said.

Bernard Collard runs a metal detector over a field in the Elsenborn area of Krinkelt, Belgium, Aug. 21, 2026. Valentin Bianchi/AP

“The sound of war”

In a forest in tinder-dry France, a massive wildfire outside the southwestern city of Bordeaux uncovered a cache of what is believed to be World War II-era ammunition. Around 400 shells and pieces of ammunition were recovered in the village of Le Porge earlier in August. The munitions, both German and French, consist mainly of mortar shells, along with some high-explosive anti-tank shells.

Fire commander Thomas Mimiague said blasts heard during the blaze may have been shells exploding. Mayor Martial Zaninetti told French news outlet France Info the blasts were similar to “the sound of war.”

“There were ammunition depots buried in land within our municipality, but we didn’t know it, and they exploded,” Zaninetti told France Info, adding that one of the munitions “went through a house.”

Over 180 homes were destroyed by the fire, local authorities said. Residents returned to the village earlier in August, after the flames were extinguished.

“Reliving the legacies of war”

Finding unexploded ordnance in Europe isn’t unusual. A 1,000-pound aerial bomb used by Allied forces during World War II was removed from a construction site in Belgrade, Serbia, in December. In September 2025, researchers found unexploded Nazi bombs sitting at the bottom of a German bay had become a home for marine life.

Sometimes the discoveries, like the fires, spark mass evacuations. Thousands had to leave their homes in Dresden, Germany, after an unexploded bomb was found in the southern city in August 2025. Traffic at France’s bustling Gare du Nord train station had to be halted in March 2025 after an unexploded bomb was found near tracks.

Every year across the nation, Belgium’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction Service responds to more than 3,000 calls and disposes of 200 to 250 tons of munitions left over from both world wars. In Ypres, a town infamous for harrowing trench warfare in World War I, some farmers call the annual tilling of the soil “the iron harvest” because it turns up so many war remnants.

World War I shells, including suspect gas shells, piled in a warehouse at the explosive disposal facility in Poelkapelle, Belgium. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

Typically, the bombs are carefully handled and either defused or intentionally, precisely detonated. But wildfire heat can trigger the explosives, removing control from the equation.

Wildfire also isn’t the only weather phenomenon revealing old weaponry. Drought has shrunk Europe’s rivers and lakes to reveal munitions that were once invisible.

In Slovakia, the Danube River fell and exposed two naval mines that police pulled out of the water and buried in a trench for a controlled demolition. Authorities in Hungary closed Budapest’s Margaret Bridge after a bomb dating from World War II emerged at its base in receding water. As the Rhine dried up, German authorities also found a WWII-era bomb.

Christina Greene, a researcher at the University of Arizona who, with Njeri, wrote an article on Europe’s wildfires and unexploded ordnance risk, said “the legacy of war keeps creeping up” because of climate change.

“It’s reliving the legacies of war and conflict in a way that we haven’t had to deal with in a while in certain places,” Greene said.