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Brent Sass, aboard a sleek new sled, takes 2024 Yukon Quest Alaska

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Brent Sass learned a few hard lessons in getting run down by 16-year-old musher Emily Robinson at last month’s Knik 200.

Sass, a distance musher champion with Iditarod and Yukon Quest titles, acknowledged the sled he’d been running for the last decade was not ideal for mid-distance races.

So he took the 2024 Yukon Quest Alaska 300 as an opportunity to try out a sled a bit more appropriate for the race. And it appeared to be a perfect fit.

Sass won the Yukon Quest Alaska 300, crossing the finish line on Monday in Central. He finished in 46 hours, 48 minutes according to the Quest’s race tracker.

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Sass ordered a pair of sleds from Austrian company Danler and could feel the difference on the route, which started Saturday in Fairbanks.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It was like driving an F1 (car) instead of like a big dump truck. Basically, that’s what the difference felt like, so that was really fun. I had a really good time with that.”

Sass had, in essence, been running a distance sled for the last 10 years, regardless of the race. He said the new sled had a number of improvements for a mid-distance run, but the most noticeable difference was the fact that it was 25 pounds lighter.

“That was all kind of sparked by that 200-mile race when I got beat by Emily Robinson a couple of weeks back,” he said. “You know, she had a nice light Danler sled and I was like, ‘You know what, it’s time for this old sled to get retired.’ So that was the catalyst that started it.”

The win was the sixth for Sass in a Yukon Quest race. He was a champion last year, taking the Yukon Quest 550 race.

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The Quest, traditionally 1,000 miles through both Alaska and Canada, split in 2022 and is running two separate race programs this year after a disagreement in rules between organizers on both sides of the border. The Canadian Yukon Quest started Saturday in Whitehorse and was won Monday by Yukon musher Michelle Phillips. Initially planned for 450 miles, the race was modified to 300.

Sass has won the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest three times (2015, 2019 and 2020).

Aside from the weight, he said the maneuverability was greatly increased with the new sled, allowing his team to maintain momentum.

“It just drives so amazing,” he said. “(On tight turns) the dogs aren’t getting shoved into the snowbank because I’m able to actually maneuver the sled more fluidly around those turns. It’s just very flexible, so it steers like just on a dime. I think it put a lot less pressure on the dogs.”

Mushers were challenged by frigid temperatures throughout the race that dipped down to below minus 40 on the trail at times. Although Sass felt comfortable in the conditions, he said mushers have to put an emphasis on dog care when temps dip that low.

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Sass topped a field of 13 racers in the 300, the race’s main mid-distance event. A number of mushers had made the turn from Circle by Monday evening and were heading back to Central for the finish.

“It was really fun to see a lot of these young new mushers in the Quest, going out and getting after it, figuring out how to deal with this stuff,” he said. “A lot of these people had never mushed in conditions like that and it really takes a lot of gumption, a lot of drive and a lot of just pure guts to go out there and do that.”

Sass said the race continues to be very important for him to run. His first win was in 2006 in the Yukon Quest 300.

“I basically decided that I was going to devote my mushing career to the Quest and so coming back and running the 300 again for the first time since 2006, it was fun to get another W and be back out on the Quest trail,” he said.

Sass will now go into preparation mode for next month’s Iditarod, and try to break in another new Danler sled, this one meant for distance mushing.

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Alaska

Lavrov Challenges Rubio: Kremlin Says Trump-Putin Reached Deal as Moscow Questions Washington’s Neutrality

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Lavrov Challenges Rubio: Kremlin Says Trump-Putin Reached Deal as Moscow Questions Washington’s Neutrality


The Kremlin has pushed back against US claims that no agreement was reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the August 2025 Anchorage summit in Alaska.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington presented proposals to settle the war in Ukraine during the talks and that Moscow accepted them.

Lavrov was responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has publicly rejected Russian claims that Washington and Moscow reached an agreement on Ukraine during the Alaska summit, saying no deal was ever finalized.

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As reported by DRM News, Rubio said the summit produced only a proposal, not a binding agreement.

He added that the US remains ready to play a constructive role in bringing the parties together and helping end the war, but stressed that while proposals were discussed in Alaska, “there was no agreement.”

Lavrov struck back by calling the response “not very elegant.”

“When my colleague says that in Alaska there were only proposals and no agreement, I wonder what we mean by agreement,” Lavrov said.

“If one side, in this case the US, put proposals on the table, and the other side expressed agreement, then saying there was no agreement is somehow not very elegant,” he added.

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According to Lavrov, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow days before the summit and delivered the same US settlement plan.

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“Already in Anchorage, when the two presidents sat down for talks, Putin began listing the American proposals point by point. After each point, in the presence of Trump and Rubio, he asked Witkoff whether he had correctly described the ideas brought to Moscow. Witkoff answered affirmatively to each question,” Lavrov said.

He called for clarification from Washington, adding that recent US statements about playing a constructive role in ending the war sounded like an attempt to position itself as a mediator.

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Previous claims

In early June, Lavrov claimed Russia had accepted what he described as US proposals presented at the Alaska summit.

Lavrov alleged that Washington initially acted as a mediator but later stepped back from the process after failing to pressure Ukraine to accept the proposed terms.

This week, he also suggested that the Alaska summit may have been used to “buy time” for Ukraine to rearm itself, further arguing that Russia no longer views the West as a credible broker amid sanctions pressure.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov also said Moscow remained committed to implementing the understandings reached in Alaska, while accusing Washington of “apparently [failing] to complete its part of the process.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that Washington cannot be considered fully neutral in the war because of its military support for Ukraine.

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“If we’re talking about absolute neutrality, then, of course, the term is probably inapplicable, because the United States supplies the majority of weapons to Ukraine and provides other forms of assistance,” Peskov said.

At the same time, he said Moscow highly values Washington’s willingness to help resolve the war, as well as its influence over European allies and Kyiv.

Peskov also dismissed remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently said at the G7 Summit that Washington had abandoned neutrality and was now openly backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, continued aid, and sanctions against Russia.

“Regarding President Macron’s statements, it is difficult to judge. I don’t think President Macron can in any way claim to be Washington’s lawyer or press secretary,” Peskov added.



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Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines expand free Wi-Fi on flights

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Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines expand free Wi-Fi on flights


HONOLULU (KHON2) — Free Wi-Fi is available on more Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines planes.

The company said that 150 aircraft are now equipped with Starlink.

“For years, T-Mobile has played a key role in keeping our guests connected, and we’re proud to now offer Starlink, the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky, to Atmos members for free, made possible through our work with T-Mobile,” said Shane Jones, Senior Vice President of Fleet, Products and Guest Experience. “We’ve seen an overwhelmingly positive response from our guests, and we couldn’t have done it without T-Mobile as we continue to raise the bar for the experience across Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.”

Passengers must now be Atmos Rewards members to take advantage of the free service. The company said a new onboarding portal started in June, with the experience to become standard by mid-July.

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Existing Atmos Rewards members will connect automatically, and new guests can sign up in just a few steps.

“Our relationship with Alaska Airlines has helped redefine what travelers can expect from inflight connectivity, and today’s milestone is another important step forward, said Mike Belcher, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at T-Mobile. “Bringing complimentary inflight Wi-Fi to more travelers across both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines makes it easier to stay connected throughout their journey. The new, streamlined experience for accessing Wi-Fi reflects our shared commitment to delivering a better, more seamless travel experience.”

The airline expects to finish installing Starlink across its remaining mainline fleet by 2027.



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Pilot’s quick thinking averts disaster in Alaska emergency landing

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Pilot’s quick thinking averts disaster in Alaska emergency landing


A small plane made an emergency landing in Alaska after a loud noise was heard about 20 minutes into the flight, according to one of the nine passengers on board. The pilot reported engine trouble and began searching for a place to land. Helicopters later rescued everyone. Passengers praised the pilot’s experience and quick thinking, crediting him with saving their lives. The FAA and NTSB are investigating.



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