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The Australian is among a group of 34 women and children who had planned to fly from Damascus to Australia on Monday but wereturned back by Syrian authoritiesto the Roj detention camp due to procedural problems.

Syria has detained the wives of formerIslamic Statefighters and their children from multiple countries in camps since the militant group lost control of its territory in the country in 2019.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said one of the group had been assessed by Australian security agencies as meeting a risk threshold to be banned from entering the country, despite being a citizen. He did not identify that individual or say how long the ban would extend.

"I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a temporary exclusion order, which was made on advice from security agencies," Burke said in a statement.

"At this stage, security agencies have not provided advice that other members of the cohort meet the required legal thresholds for temporary exclusion orders," Burke added.

Burke has the power to use temporary exclusion orders to prevent high-risk citizens from returning to Australia for up to two years.

Australian governments have repatriated Australian women and children from Syrian detention camps on two occasions. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance.

Prime MinisterAnthony Albaneseon Wednesday reiterated his position announced a day earlier that his government would not help repatriate the latest group.

"These are people who chose to go overseas to align themselves with an ideology which is the caliphate, which is a brutal, reactionary ideology and that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life," Albanese told reporters.

"We are doing nothing to repatriate or to assist these people. I think it's unfortunate that children are caught up in this, that's not their decision, but it's the decision of their parents or their mother," Albanese added.

California Avalanche

Two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office said Tuesday night that there were 15 skiers on the trip — not 16 as initially believed.

Search and rescue crews were dispatched to Frog Lake in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Lake Tahoe, after a 911 call reporting an avalanche and people buried. Apowerful winter stormwas moving through California at the time.

Extreme conditions in the Northern California mountains slowed the rescue effort. It took crews several hours to reach the skiers and take them to safety, where they were evaluated by the Truckee Fire Department.

The sheriff's office said it would provide another update on rescue efforts at a news conference Wednesday morning.

A three-day ski trip

The skiers were on the last day of a three-day backcountry skiing trek, said Steve Reynaud, a Tahoe National Forest avalanche forecaster with the Sierra Avalanche Center, which had contact with people on the ground in the area. He said the skiers spent two nights at huts on a trip that required navigating "rugged mountainous terrain" for up to 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) while bringing along all food and supplies.

Nevada County Sheriff Capt. Russell Greene said authorities were notified about the avalanche by the ski tour company that led the expedition, Blackbird Mountain Guides, and by emergency beacons the skiers were carrying. Rescuers made their way cautiously toward the scene of the avalanche because of the danger of more avalanches.

Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement on its website that it was coordinating with authorities on the rescue operation.

Dangerous backcountry conditions

California is being walloped this week by a powerful winter storm bringing treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

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"It's particularly dangerous in the backcountry right now just because we're at the height of the storm," said Brandon Schwartz, Tahoe National Forest lead avalanche forecaster at the Sierra Avalanche Center, based in Truckee.

The center issued an avalanche warning for the area in the Central Sierra Nevada, including the Greater Lake Tahoe region, starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday with large slides expected into Wednesday.

The town of Soda Springs, near where the avalanche took place, recorded at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow during a 24-hour period, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.

The dangerous conditions were caused by rapidly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers coupled with gale-force winds.

The storm wreaked havoc on roads from the Sierra Nevada to Sonoma County. Traffic was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 over and around Donner Summit due to spinouts and crashes, the authorities reported.

Several Tahoe ski resorts were fully or partially closed due to the weather. Resorts along highways have avalanche mitigation programs and were not expected to be at as high of a risk as the backcountry, where travel in, near or below avalanche terrain was strongly discouraged, the center said.

Area has dark history

Castle Peak, a 9,110-foot (2,777-meter) mountain north of Donner Summit, is a popular backcountry skiing destination. The summit, which can be perilous in snow, is named for the infamous Donner Party, a group of pioneers who resorted to cannibalism after getting trapped there in the winter of 1846-1847.

In January an avalanche in the region buried asnowmobilerin snow and killed him, authorities said. Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the U.S., according to the National Avalanche Center.

Training in avalanche assessment and rescue and safety equipment is highly recommended for backcountry skiing, also known as off-piste skiing, involves venturing deep into the wilderness far outside the confines of a resort. Backcountry skis are wider and heavier and have other features to handle going up and down ungroomed terrain, unlike cross-country skis, which are narrower and designed for flat, more groomed trails.

Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet told Reuters on Tuesday that Thai forces are occupying Cambodian territory after fighting last year despite a peace accord brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, and called on Thailand to allow a joint boundary commission to begin working on their disputed border.

In his first interview with international media, ‌Hun Manet, who took over power from his father in 2023, hailed warmer ties with Washington and said his government was working to address cyber scam centers that have proliferated in the ‌country.

Hun Manet traveled to Washington to attend a meeting of Trump's Board of Peace this week, and said he hoped the new body could play a role in de-escalating the situation on the border, which he described as "fragile" despite a December ceasefire that ​ended renewed fighting.

The board was created to oversee a Gaza peace plan, but Trump has said it could take on a broader role.

Thailand has said it is maintaining troop positions as part of de-escalation measures and has denied it is occupying territory.

"We are adhering to the joint statement, which agreed to maintain existing troop deployments. There has been no reinforcement," Thailand's Defense Ministry spokesperson, Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, told Reuters.

'VIOLATION OF OUR SOVEREIGNTY'

The comments from Cambodia's leader on the border conflict underscore the risk that the conflict could reignite once again despite Trump continuing to promote the success of the peace deal.

The worst fighting in more than a decade, which broke out in July, ‌has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and disrupted trade across the ⁠508-mile (817-km) border.

An October peace accord signed with Trump and Malaysia's prime minister broke down within a matter of weeks before a new ceasefire was reached on December 27.

"We still have Thai forces occupy(ing) deep into Cambodian territory in many areas. This is further beyond even Thailand's own unilateral claim… border line," Hun Manet told Reuters.

He said ⁠Thai troops had laid shipping containers and barbed wire inside what Thailand had long recognized as Cambodian territory and residents were unable to return home.

"This is not an accusation but it's a statement of the facts on the ground," he said.

Cambodia could not accept what he called a "violation of our sovereignty or territorial integrity," he said.

"The only way to verify that is using the technical mechanism that we have, based on treaties, based on all the agreements we have. So ​we ​hope that Thailand will agree and start to allow the JBC (joint boundary commission) to work as early as possible," Hun ​Manet said.

He added that Thailand had cited its February 8 election as a reason not ‌to begin demarcation work. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul rode a wave of nationalism in the election in the wake of the border conflict.

"Now the election is done, we hope that Thailand can start, at least on a technical level, to start measuring, start demarcating in the hot zone, so that we can go back to life," Hun Manet said.

A JBC can convene when a new government is formed, Thai defense ministry spokesperson Surasant said.

WEST POINT GRADUATE

Cambodia's long-ruling leader Hun Sen announced that he would hand over power to his son, Hun Manet, after elections held in 2023 in which his ruling Cambodian People's Party ran virtually unopposed.

Hun Manet, 48, is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His ascension, followed by Trump's involvement in the border dispute, has ushered in warmer ties between Washington and Phnom Penh, which had for years been ‌moving closer to China.

Manet said relationships with China and the U.S. were "not mutually exclusive" and said Cambodia had "nothing to hide" ​on the Ream naval base that was upgraded by China.

"As for Cambodia, to choose (a) relationship … China or U.S. or U.S. over China, ​is not our choice," he said. "We are a sovereign country. We pursue the policy of friends ​with our countries."

Past U.S. administrations have pushed Cambodia to address issues of human rights and democracy before ties could improve.

Hun Manet said human rights in Cambodia had gotten ‌a lot of attention but his country had maintained strong ties in other ​areas like security cooperation with Washington.

"Democracy is not just ​defined by political party expression, but health, education, freedom of press and others," Manet said.

Reporters Without Borders last year ranked Cambodia 161 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, citing detentions of journalists.

The U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on scores of people involved in running compounds in Cambodia from which massive amounts of fraud, including online romance scams, were perpetrated on ​people around the world.

Hun Manet said his government was cracking down on ‌cyber scams and was drafting a law to tackle the issue, and argued online scams were not only a problem stemming from Cambodia.

"Yes, they exist. They have been existing. Does ​that mean that we allow them, we endorse them or we not do anything? No," he said, citing efforts to deport people working at the scam centers and close the ​compounds.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by Ethan Smith and Lincoln Feast)

Malinin — nicknamed "The Quad God" — entered the2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympicsas the favorite in the men's figure skating competition — he was a two-time reigning world champion and four-time U.S. national champion. But, there's a different level of pressure to perform on the Olympic stage.Malinin's long program turned into a nightmare, and the skater finished outside of the medals in eighth place.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles — a seven-time Olympic gold medalist — entered those Games with expectations to win five gold medals, onlyto struggle with the "twisties" andwithdraw from some events. She went home withsilver (team event)andbronze (balance beam)medals.

Biles was in attendanceat Milano Ice Skating Arena for Malinin's disappointing long program on Feb. 13, after whichMalinin admitted that he "was not ready to handle"the Olympic pressure.

In the aftermath of Malinin's upsetting performance, Biles was among a number ofnotable athletes who reached out to him, and the two spoke on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

"Just for someone to validate his feelings and to know we've gone through the same things, but you can still come out on top,"Biles told Olympics.com. "While I was telling him some of what I thought he might be going through or how to move forward from this, he was like, 'Exactly this. Exactly.' He was like, 'You finally just said it.'"

Ilia Malinin was the gold medal favorite entering the 2026 Winter Olympics but the self-proclaimed "Quad God" had a disastrous free skate performance, falling twice and suffering an epic meltdown on the sport's biggest stage.
See the critical moments in his troubled routine.

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Ilia Malinin falls apart, fails to medal in men's figure skating

Ilia Malininwas the gold medal favorite entering the2026 Winter Olympicsbut the self-proclaimed "Quad God" had a disastrous free skate performance, falling twice and suffering an epic meltdown on the sport's biggest stage.See the critical moments in his troubled routine.

Malinin had a seemingly comfortable five-point lead after the short program, butfell twice and did not fully complete other elementsof his difficult long program.

"I was really worried about how his mental health was going to be," Biles told Olympics.com. "When you're expected to skate a performance of your lifetime and you don't deliver, I worry how that affects his mental (health) and how the world is going to view that.

"I've been through that firsthand and so I really went into protection mode."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Simone Biles encourages Ilia Malinin after Olympics skating disaster

Unbeaten South Africa has already qualified for the next stage with three consecutive wins, including adouble-tiebreaker win over Afghanistanthat required two Super Overs.

The UAE bounced back from a big opening loss to New Zealand to edge Canada and then lose a close game to 2024 semifinalist Afghanistan.

The South Africans rested David Miller, frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi, who was voted player of the match in the thriller against Afghanistan.

For UAE, Druv Parashar and Muammad Farooq replaced Harshit Kaushik and Simranjeet Singh.

In matches later Wednesday, Pakistan will take on Namibia in Colombo with a spot in the Super 8s at stake, and co-hostIndia will finish off the Group Aprogram against Netherlands at Ahmedabad.

Lineups: South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka

UAE: Aryansh Sharma, Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Harshit Kaushik, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah.

AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Cuban's posts on X on Tuesday came three days after CommissionerAdam Silver said the NBA was considering changesto the draft lottery and the possibility of revoking picks.

When announcing a$500,000 fine last week for Utahafter the Jazz sat star players Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter of a loss to Orlando, Silver said the league "would respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games."

The sharpest comments from Cuban amounted to a response to Silver's strong words.

"The worst that the NBA dishes out is that if you don't lie to your fans about what you are doing, even though it's obvious to them, you get fined," Cuban wrote. "And (they) threaten you with losing picks."

Indiana president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, whose Pacers were fined $100,000 at the same time as the Jazz over roster management decisions,asked his fans in a postif they agreed with Cuban. Most did.

The Pacers reached the NBA Finals last season, losing to Oklahoma City. Their best player, Tyrese Haliburton, tore an Achilles tendon in Game 7, and the expectation was he would miss the entire 2025-26 season. Indiana lost 12 of its first 13 games and had a 13-game losing streak to drop to 6-31, but has a .500 record since then.

The Mavericks are in a similar situation a year after trading generational superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package centered around oft-injured big man Anthony Davis, just nine months after Dallas reached the NBA Finals.

Davis missed more games than he played for the Mavs before getting sent to Washington in a trade deadline deal this year. It was the final step in moving on from an ill-fated trade. The first was the November firing of general manager Nico Harrison, who orchestrated the Doncic deal.

Dallas converted just a 1.8% chance in the lottery for the rights to draft former Duke star Cooper Flagg first overall this past summer.

Flagg is now the future of the franchise, and the Mavs have to decide, presumably soon, whether Kyrie Irving will play at all this season. The nine-time All-Star tore an ACL last March, and the Mavs entered the All-Star break on a nine-game losing streak, their longest in 28 years.

While Cuban is no longer in a decision-making role after selling majority ownership of the Mavs,he was fined $600,000by the league when he was still in charge late in the 2022-23 season for admitting Dallas was tanking to try to protect a first-round pick. The Mavs ended up getting center Dereck Lively II, a promising talent who has been plagued by injuries.

With tanking a hot topic again, Cuban started his post with "Why the NBA should embrace tanking," and went on to say fans don't mind tanking because they want to have hope that the team can improve.

"Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to," Cuban wrote. "They can't remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That's what makes the experience special."

With that in mind, Cuban said, the league should focus more on affordability than the integrity issue that is at the heart of tanking.

"The NBA should worry more about fan experience than tanking," he wrote. "It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking."

Though the Mavericks weren't accused of tanking in 2017-18, Cuban essentially wrote in his post that they did. Dallas finished with its worst record in 30 years at 24-58, but didn't get lucky in the lottery like this past year. The Mavs ended up with the fifth pick and had to trade up two spots to get Doncic.

"We didn't tank often," wrote Cuban, who also noted that current salary cap rules have made productive rookies even more valuable for winning rosters. "Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka and improve our team."

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/NBA

Thefirst fueling testwas halted two weeks ago by the same kind of liquid hydrogen leaks that disrupted the Artemis program'sfirst flightwithout anyone aboard three years ago.

Launch teams replaced a pair of seals and a clogged filter at the Kennedy Space Center pad wherethe giant moon rocket standsbefore starting the countdown clocks back up. The two-day test will culminate Thursday with the attempted fill-up of the rocket's fuel tanks. The four Artemis II astronauts will monitor the crucial dress rehearsal from afar.

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A successful, leak-free test is needed before NASA will set a launch date. The earliest the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket could blast off is March 6. Officials had considered moving it up by three days, but said the extra time was needed to analyze the fueling test results.

The last time astronauts blasted off for the moon was in 1972 during NASA's Apollo program.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.