Many years ago, Cha* Tiger did not live in the mondi*, but among civil society. Back then, he was feared by everyone. When he walked past in a halfway, everyone around would make room immediately, that’s how ferocious he was.

One night a group of friends was hanging out and they were talking about Cha Tiger. “You know, that tiger sure is incredibly strong and I don’t trust him one bit. He probably eats a lot too. Oh, I’m so scared of him!” one person said.

“Oh, don’t be stupid! What can Cha Tiger do? He’s all bark and no bite, that’s it. I certainly am not afraid of him. I bet you guys that I could even sit on his back like I would any donkey.” It was Nanzi who said this. The people around him laughed at his remarks, thinking how silly it was for him to say such things.

“You, Nanzi? You are such a liar! He’ll stomp you into next Tuesday, stop saying such nonsense.”

“I’m not lying!” Nanzi defended himself. “He’ll take me all the way to Shon Arei*.”

The next morning, Shon Arei already knew of what Nanzi had been saying about Cha Tiger. He was really curious to see if Nanzi was brave enough to put his money where his mouth is. Cha Tiger walked past.

“Hey, Cha Tiger!” someone called to him. He growled at the person. “Hey, Cha Tiger! Listen!”

“Nanzi made fun of you, said he wasn’t afraid of you at all! Said he could sit on your back and that you weren’t as strong as we think you are.”

Cha Tiger stopped dead in his tracks, furious. “Well, I’ll set him straight!” Cha Tiger ran toward Nanzi’s house, prepared to teach Nanzi a painful lesson. The entire way there he was growling and yelling, making everyone around aware what was going to happen. They all ran inside and peaked through the blinds to see the fight that was going to unfold.

Nanzi also heard Cha Tiger’s screams, slowly getting closer and closer. He was terrified. His face turned pale, and his teeth started chattering like someone with a high fever. Sweat was dripping down his forehead.

When Cha Tiger arrived at Nanzi’s place, he stormed in and saw Nanzi’s frail body lying face down in the corner. “Hey, how are you, Cha Tiger?” Nanzi asked, his voice trembling. “I Heard you were making fun of me in front of your little friends, so I came to hear from your own mouth what you have to say to me,” Cha Tiger retorted, still fuming.

“Me? Talk bad about you?” Nanzi chuckled nervously. “People are such liars, I swear. Can’t you see how sick I am here?” Nanzi took a pause, like someone who couldn’t breathe properly. In his case of course, it was probably from extreme fear. “Shi Maria* wanted to take me to Shon Arei, where someone can heal me from my illness.” Still wrapped up in his act, Nanzi turned back face down. “Me, a father of nine little children…”

Cha Tiger was shocked. Nanzi looked absolutely terrible, God knows he was dying.

“Cha Tiger, you’re strong. Could you put me on your back and take me to Shon Arei, I can barely walk,” Nanzi pleaded. Cha Tiger took pity on the spider and agreed to do this favor. Nanzi climbed on the tiger’s back, letting his body fall down and grabbing on to Cha Tiger’s neck. “Would you mind putting a rope in your mouth so I can hold on? That way I can sit up straight,” Nanzi asked. Cha Tiger growled in reluctance but said OK. And so they made their way to Shon Arei.

Once they started traveling through the mondi, Nanzi turned to Cha Tiger and said: “These mosquitos are so annoying! Cha Tiger, do you mind if I cut a piece of branch so I can keep these mosquitos away?” Cha Tiger let him take his branch.

Eventually they made it out the mondi to where everyone else was. Nanzi immediately perked up and whacked Cha Tiger with his branch, making the tiger jump. He ran all the way to Shon Arei’s castle. Exhausted, he plumped down in front of His Majesty.

“See, Shon Arei? Cha Tiger ain’t nothing but a big donkey!” Nanzi said proudly. Everyone around cheered: “Hurray, Nanzi!” Poor Cha Tiger was so embarrassed that he was fooled by the conniving spider, and so he ran into the mondi to hide. To this day, it’s said that the tiger still hides away in the mondi.

Cha: Nickname placed in front of someone’s name and can mean anything, like friend. However, it often has negative connotations first.

Mondi: dry wooded areas found on the ABC islands.

Shon Arei: The King

Shi Maria: Nanzi’s wife.

Story and pictures are from “Kon Nanzi a Nek Shon Arei (i otro kuentanan antiano di e araña sabi)” by Nilda Pinto.

By SUSAN HAIGH

Associated Press

Famed competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut reclaimed his title Friday at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest after skipping last year’s gastronomic battle in New York for the coveted Mustard Belt.

Chestnut, 41, consumed 70 1/2 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, falling short of his 2021 record of 76 wieners and buns. It marked the 17th win in 20 appearances for the Westfield, Indiana, eater at the internationally televised competition, which he missed last year over a contract dispute.

“I wish I ate a couple more. Sorry guys,” a smiling Chestnut told the crowd, many chanting his name. “I’ll be back next year.”

Defending champion in the women’s division, Miki Sudo of Tampa, Florida, won her 11th title, downing 33 dogs, besting a dozen competitors. Last year, she ate a record 51 links. She also was apologetic for her performance.

“I feel like I let the fans down a little bit. I heard people in the crowd saying, ‘Go for 52,'” Sudo told ESPN. “Obviously, I’m always setting my goals high, but the hot dogs weren’t cooperating. For some reason, the buns felt larger today.”

A large crowd, peppered with foam hot dog hats, turned out to witness the annual eat-a-thon, held outside the original Nathan’s Famous restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, since 1972. Many fans showed up to see Chestnut’s much-awaited return to an event he has called “a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life.”

Chestnut bested 14 fellow competitors from across the U.S. and the world, including Australia, the Czech Republic, Ontario, England and Brazil. Last year’s winner, Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago, came in second place after gobbling up 46 1/2 hot dogs and buns, falling short of the 58 he ate to earn the 2024 men’s title.

“I love being here,” Chestnut told ESPN after his win. “As soon as I found out I was coming, my body — it was easy to train. I love doing it. And love pushing myself and beating the heck out of people.”

Last year, Major League Eating event organizer George Shea said Chestnut would not be participating in the contest due to a contract dispute. Chestnut had struck a deal with a competing brand, the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods.

Chestnut told The Associated Press last month that he had never appeared in any commercials for the company’s vegan hot dogs and that Nathan’s is the only hot dog company he has worked with. But Chestnut acknowledged he “should have made that more clear with Nathan’s.”

Last year, Chestnut ate 57 dogs — in only five minutes — in an exhibition with soldiers, at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. He said that event was “amazing” and that he was pleased to still have a chance to eat hot dogs — a lot of them — on July Fourth.

“I’m happy I did that, but I’m really happy to be back at Coney Island,” he said.

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI

Associated Press

A federal judge on Friday briefly halted deportations of eight immigrants to war-torn South Sudan, sending the case to another judge, in Boston, the day after the Supreme Court greenlighted their removal.

District Judge Randolph Moss sent the case north from Washington after an extraordinary Fourth of July hearing on Friday afternoon. He concluded that the judge best equipped to deal with the issues was Brian Murphy, the one whose rulings led to the initial halt of the Trump administration’s effort to begin deportations to the eastern African country.

He extended his order halting the deportation until 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, but it was unclear whether Murphy would act on the federal holiday to further limit the removal. Moss said new claims by the immigrants’ lawyers deserved a hearing.

The administration has been trying to deport the immigrants for weeks. None are from South Sudan, which is enmeshed in civil war and where the U.S government advises no one should travel before making their own funeral arrangements. The government flew them to the U.S. Naval Base at Djibouti but couldn’t move them further because Murphy had ruled no immigrant could be sent to a new country without a chance to have a court hearing.

The Supreme Court vacated that decision last month, then Thursday night issued a new order clarifying that that meant the immigrants could be moved to South Sudan. Lawyers for the immigrants, who hail from Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and other countries, filed an emergency request to halt their removal later that night.

The case was assigned to Moss, who briefly barred the administration from moving the immigrants from Djibouti to South Sudan until his afternoon hearing concluded. He slightly extended that bar after he sent the case to Murphy. The administration has said it expected to fly the immigrants to South Sudan sometime Friday.

The temporary stay was first reported by legal journalist Chris Geidner.

Oranjestad—Two days ago, a small fire was quickly contained on the roof of the Divi Lobby. We’re grateful to report that no one was injured, and all rooms, restaurants and pools across the property remain fully operational with no disruption to guest experiences.

As a temporary adjustment, the Divi Concierge has been relocated to Tamarijn. While the Divi lobby shops are currently closed, guests are welcome to visit the shops at Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive. We appreciate our guests’ understanding and flexibility as we continue to ensure their comfort and safety.

Our team remains fully committed to delivering the exceptional vacation experience our guests expect and deserve. Management would also like to express our thanks to the Aruba Fire Department and Aruba Police Force responders for their immediate and professional actions.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and HANNAH FINGERHUT

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to deliver a “spectacular” yearlong birthday party to mark 250 years of American independence. On Thursday, he will be in the U.S. heartland to kick off the patriotic festivities — and to celebrate the final passage of his sweeping tax cuts and spending package.

Trump is expected to tout the major piece of his agenda when he takes the stage Thursday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, according to the White House. This comes just hours after the House pushed it through in a tight roll call of 218-214.

Organizers see the coming year of festivities as a way to help unite a polarized nation and bridge partisanship. But it’s a monumental task given the country’s divides and the staunch Democratic opposition to the 800-plus page package full of the GOP’s main policy priorities. More U.S. adults also disapprove than approve of how the Republican president is doing his job.

Iowa was a “logical choice” for the kickoff, Crowley said, because of its central location and Trump’s affinity for the state, which supported him in each of the last three general elections. She also said Iowa’s middle-of-the-country geography is symbolic of the desire to use the coming celebrations to help bring people together.

“We’ve had so much division and so much polarization over the last many decades, but certainly over the last few years, that to be able to bring the country together to celebrate America’s 250th birthday through patriotism, shared values and a renewed sense of civic pride, to be able to do that in the center of the country, is incredibly important,” she said.

A recent Gallup poll showed the widest partisan split in patriotism in over two decades, with only about a third of Democrats saying they are proud to be American, compared with about 9 in 10 Republicans.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president, according to a June AP-NORC poll, while about 6 in 10 disapprove. That poll also showed a majority of Americans said the June military parade that Trump green-lit in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army — an event that fell on his 79th birthday — was “not a good use” of government money.

Crowley spoke to the political and ideological schisms that left the country “torn apart” ahead of its last big birthday celebration, noting that 1976 closely followed the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal that led Richard Nixon to resign from the presidency.

“That moment was critical to uniting the country and moving forward, and I am very optimistic and hopeful that the yearlong celebration that we’re about to launch will do the same thing in this present moment,” she said in an interview.

America’s 250th birthday “is something that I think that all Americans can come together to celebrate and honor our history as well as our present and our future,” Crowley said.

The Trump administration’s own cost-cutting moves this year threaten to complicate the celebrations. Reduced funding led the National Endowment for the Humanities to send letters to state humanities councils across the country saying their federal grants had been terminated. Many of those councils had been working on programming to commemorate the 250th anniversary and had already dedicated some of their federal grants for events at libraries, schools and museums.

Gabrielle Lyon, executive director of Illinois Humanities and chair of the Illinois America 250 Commission, said the cuts already have curtailed some of the planned programs, including community readings of the Declaration of Independence.

More effects will be felt later this summer, she said, such as libraries not having enough money to hire performers and storytellers to highlight aspects of a region’s history and heritage.

“It is very hard to understand how we can protect and preserve people’s ability locally to make this mean something for them, and to celebrate what they want to celebrate, if you’re not funding the humanities councils,” Lyon said.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, officially marking the 13 colonies’ split from Great Britain.

“We’re gonna have a big, big celebration, as you know, 250 years,” Trump said about the birthday during his Memorial Day address to a solemn audience at Arlington National Cemetery. “In some ways, I’m glad I missed that second term where it was because I wouldn’t be your president for that.”

Video of then-candidate Trump proposing a “Great American State Fair” in Iowa in May 2023 began to recirculate after his reelection last November. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, told the White House earlier this year that Iowa stood “ready” to host the event and that Trump had the state’s full support, according to a draft of Reynolds’ letter obtained by The Associated Press.

The culminating fair instead will be held next year on the National Mall in Washington, according to a White House official who was not authorized to share details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But Trump honored his initial proposal with a kickoff in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

The lineup Thursday night will include Lee Greenwood, according to social media posts advertising the event, whose song, “God Bless the USA,” is a regular feature at Trump rallies and official events. Also attending will be Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.