The Los Angeles wildfire disaster has cast a shadow over preparations for the 2028 Olympics, raising questions over whether the city can deliver a safe and successful Games.So far, none of the more than 80 venues due to stage Olympic competition in Los Angeles have been directly affected by the infernos that have left at least 24 people dead and reduced entire neighborhoods to smouldering ruins.But experts say the ongoing disaster has underscored the challenges of staging the world’s largest sporting event in a region increasingly under threat of wildfires.”The situation is clearly grave and given the prospect of significant climate change, you do have to wonder whether the current situation might be repeated, possibly even during the Games,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris told British daily The iPaper. “This raises very serious questions, not least about insurance, and whether Los Angeles’ big-ticket 2028 attraction might be about to become an uninsurable mega-event.”While the flames that razed Pacific Palisades came uncomfortably close to the Riviera Country Club — which will host 2028’s Olympic golf tournament — the overwhelming majority of venues are situated outside what would be regarded as high-risk fire zones.Historical data, meanwhile, indicates that the chances of a similar disaster erupting during the 2028 Olympics are highly unlikely. Prior to last week, no fire in Los Angeles County had appeared on a list of the 20 most destructive fires in California history, according to statistics provided by CalFire, the state’s fire agency. The 2028 Olympics will also be taking place in July, a time of year when there are no Santa Ana winds, the powerful seasonal gusts widely seen as the biggest factor behind the unprecedented scale and scope of last week’s carnage.And Los Angeles has already staged the Olympics successfully on two occasions — in 1984 and 1932.- ‘Wake-up call’ -Nevertheless, Dan Plumley, sports finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University, said the fires would have set alarm bells ringing among Olympic organizers.”Organising committees will have factored these events into their planning but you’re very much working on a contingency basis — how much do you reasonably budget for this and how cautious or not cautious are you going to be?” Plumley told the iPaper.”How much risk they want to build in, we’ll have to wait and see but these fires will have acted as an enormous wake-up call.”Pennsylvania State University professor Mark Dyerson meanwhile floated the idea of the Olympics being moved to 2024 hosts Paris if LA was unable to deliver the games.”They could go back to Paris,” the academic told the New York Post. “It would be unfortunate, but I’m sure they have some kind of committee — the IOC is a huge bureaucracy — that allegedly looks at contingencies.”California Governor Gavin Newsom however told NBC’s “Today” morning program that planning for the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 2026 — where eight matches take place in Los Angeles — was on track.Newsom said the flurry of major sporting events in Los Angeles over the next few years — the city will also host the Super Bowl in 2027 — should be seen as an opportunity.”My humble position, and it’s not just being naively optimistic, (is) that only reinforces the imperative (of) moving quickly, doing it in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation,” Newsom told NBC.Conservative pundits however have wasted no time in demanding that Los Angeles be stripped of the Olympics.”The Los Angeles Olympics should be cancelled,” right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk wrote on X last week.”If you can’t fill a fire hydrant, you aren’t qualified to host the Olympics. Move them to Dallas, or Miami, so the world’s athletes can compete in a place capable of actually safely building and running something.”Los Angeles 2028 organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Joe Biden said Monday that America was stronger on the global stage than it had been for decades, in a swansong foreign policy speech one week before Donald Trump’s White House comeback.The outgoing US president took aim at Russia, China and Iran, and urged the West to maintain support for Ukraine in an address at the State Department setting out his international legacy.But Biden’s unspoken target was Trump as he touted his rebuilding of international alliances over the last four years after his Republican rival’s chaotic first term.”The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago,” said Biden, after diplomats at the State Department gave him a standing ovation.”America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker.”The Democrat added that America’s ties with its allies were the strongest “in decades,” and said partners in the NATO military alliance were now “paying their fair share.”Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO countries, at one point saying he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell it wants” to allies that did not pay their way.The incoming president has also previously expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin — but Biden mocked Putin over the progress of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.”When Putin invaded, he thought he’d conquer Kyiv in a matter of days. The truth is, since that war began I’m the only one that stood in the center of Kyiv, not him,” said Biden.Biden became the first sitting US president to visit a warzone not controlled by American forces when he made a top secret visit to Ukraine’s capital in 2023.He said the United States and its allies “can’t walk away” from Ukraine, to which Washington has sent billions of dollars in military aid since the war started in 2022.- China won’t ‘surpass’ US -“There is more to do,” said Biden.Trump has vowed to get a Russia-Ukraine peace deal “in 24 hours” and there are fears in Kyiv he may force a ceasefire that sees Ukraine cede territory to Moscow.Biden meanwhile insisted that China would “never surpass us” and that the United States would remain the world’s dominant superpower.”According to the latest predictions, on China’s current course they will never surpass us — period,” Biden said.He added that Washington managed its complex ties with Beijing and that the relationship “never tipped over into conflict” in his four years as president.Biden’s speech was more restrained on Israel’s war in Gaza, with his administration facing criticism from within his own party for its unstinting support of Israel.But he said a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal was “on the brink” of “finally coming to fruition.”The Democrat also defended another major foreign policy fiasco — the fall of Afghanistan’s US-backed government to the Taliban and the bloody US withdrawal of 2021.”Ending the war was the right thing to do. And I believe history will reflect that,” Biden said.The 82-year-old president finally urged the Trump administration to continue Biden’s green energy policies, saying climate deniers under Trump were “dead wrong” and “come from a different century.”Biden’s foreign policy speech will be followed by a farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office in primetime on Wednesday.

The body that awards the Oscars said Monday it was cancelling its ritzy nominees’ luncheon, as Los Angeles grapples with enormous wildfires that have crippled the city.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also moved its nomination announcement online, as Hollywood tries to navigate the sombre mood at a time it would usually be in full red carpet throttle.”We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang.”The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”The names of Oscar finalists will now be announced in a virtual event on January 23, while the nominees’ luncheon — a Champagne-swilling celebration of all those up for statuettes — is off, the Academy said.Huge fires have razed whole communities around Los Angeles, killing at least 24 people and destroying thousands of structures.Seven days after the blazes erupted, 92,000 people remain displaced, with widespread evacuation orders still in place.Stars including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Billy Crystal lost their homes to the fires, and production was halted for TV and film.The industry is weighing how to navigate its just-started award season — an endless series of swanky premieres, galas and prize-giving ceremonies.Hollywood insiders are wary of appearing tone deaf to the suffering of a city that is home to many of the 680,000 people who work in TV and film.”Hacks” actress Jean Smart has advocated scrapping the entire season.”With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have garnered to the victims of the fires and the firefighters,” Smart wrote on Instagram.But the Academy said Monday that it would go ahead with its gala evening, the traditional finale to the season of gong-giving, hinting first responders would be present at the Dolby Theatre on March 2.”Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry,” a statement said.”We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.”