TEL AVIV — In the days after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Olympic runner Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed struggled as conflict engulfed the country where he sought refuge from war.
As a teenager, Abdelmaji risked his life to flee ethnic violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Now, as a 30-year-old, he will compete in the 10,000-meter race, representing the International Olympic Committee’s refugee team for the second time in his career.
“I was really depressed, because it reminded me of every moment of Darfur and every second of Darfur I’ve been through,” he said of the attack on Israel. “I wasn’t going out. I wasn’t really training.”
Abdelmaji traveled through the Sinai Desert in 2010 to reach Israel and made a home here, living with a host family, studying and training to become a world-class runner…
DUBROVSKOYE, Russia — Oleg Sirota proudly holds up a wheel of Russian-made cheese with “Putin” etched into its rind.
“This is our prime block of cheese. This is the cheese for Vladimir Putin — exclusively for him,” Sirota said from his workshop in this village just outside Moscow.
The bearded cheesemaker wasn’t always a supporter of the Russian president but plans to vote for him in the election scheduled for March 18.
He credits Putin for helping to make his dreams come true…