Former WWE superstar Steph De Lander, who wrestled for the company under the name of Persia Pirotta, claimed that she was once asked to perform at an impromptu show requested by Ron DeSantis. WWE's developmental class, the Performance Center, is based in Florida where DeSantis, who is currently campaigning to become the Republican presidential candidate for the 2024 election, just happens to be governor. During an interview with Vice Australia and New Zealand, De Lander said that she and a few other wrestlers were called in on a Saturday because DeSantis had asked for a wrestling show for his family. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter She said: "I’ve wrestled in front of him. I’ve wrestled for DeSantis. "I did meet him, yeah. He came to the PC once. We got called in on Saturday that Ron DeSantis wanted to have a wrestling show for his kids. "So him and his family came in, and they sat front row, and we all beat each other up on a Saturday morning because he wanted to take his kids to see the wrestling. "It is funny. If he becomes president, then I’ve technically wrestled in front of the president." 26-year-old DeLander competed for WWE under their NXT brand but was released in April 2022. The Australian has since gone on to wrestle for AEW, MLW, Impact, GCW and recently made her debut for DDT in Japan. In terms of Republicans, WWE is often more associated with DeSantis's opponent Donald Trump, who frequently appeared on WWE television prior to his political career and was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame in 2013. Meanwhile, DeSantis, despite the backing of Elon Musk, is struggling to gain momentum in the Republican race with Trump often gaining the upper hand thanks to his timely putdowns. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

John Howard's remark come ahead of a historic referendum on Indigenous recognition.

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A former Greek defence minister has urged the Greek government to seek help from Russia to fight the devastating wildfires. Panos Kamennos claims it is impossible to cope with the fires without the support of the Russian Be-200 amphibious aircraft. “Without Beriev, nothing happens. Let’s bow out heads and ask for help now. We will be given...” he said in a social media post. Read our live coverage of the Greece wildfires Russian aircraft manufacturer Beirev specialises in amphibious aircrafts that can take off and land on both solid ground and water. Its giant planes have proved to be a devisive weapon in extinguishing flames during the Greek fire season. In particular, the Beriev Be-200 Altair is said to be designed for such a task as well as search and rescue, cargo, maritime patrol and passenger transportation. The plane can also scoop up 12 tonnes of water in just 14 seconds and its tanks can also be filled on the ground. Its enormous potential will be missed from Greece’s arsenal of fire fighting services. Dangerous wildfires have been ravaging the country for almost two weeks, spread by high winds. Thousands of tourists, including 10,000 UK holidaymakers, have been evacuated from the country and its islands. Rhodes and Corfu are bracing for at least another 48 hours of inferno as forecasters predict temperatures in southern Europe will not peak until Wednesday. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned of tough days ahead, with conditions possibly improving after Thursday. “All of us are standing guard. In the face of what the entire planet is facing, especially the Mediterranean which is a climate change hot-spot, there is no magical defence mechanism,” he said. Other areas affected by wildfires include Evia and the Peloponnese region. Russia’s Beriev Be-200 can empty its water tanks over an area engulfed by flames in 0.8 to 1.0 seconds when flying above the minimum drop speed of 140mph. The aircraft was used in Greece to fight the forest fires of 2007 and again during the summer of 2021. This summer, the Greek Fire Brigade has been battling more than 500 fires countrywide without the use of the aircraft. Weather maps show the latest heatwave to hit Europe is set to peak on Wednesday when temperatures will surpass 44C in some parts of Greece. Last weekend, the island of Rhodes saw the biggest evacuation in Greek history, with more than 20,000 people forece to flee homes and hotels. In Corfu, 2,500 people have already been evacuated in the face of dozens of blazes on the island. France, Portugal, Turkey and Croatia are among other European countries that have been battling wildfires in recent days. Extreme weather conditions on the continent are being mirror worldwide, from the US to Asia. Read More Wildfires: Is it safe to travel to Greece right now? Evacuation from Rhodes was ‘hell’, say family from Northern Ireland Are Greece wildfires caused by climate change? The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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