63 minute read
Multi-coloured sea slug found in UK
After ‘doomsday’ floods, Sudanese fear worse to come
In the Sudanese village of Makaylab, Mohamed Tigani picked through the rubble that was once his mud-brick home after torrential rains sparked heavy floods that swept it away.
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“It was like doomsday,” said Tigani, 53, from Makaylab in Sudan’s River Nile state, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Khartoum.
“We have not seen rains and floods like that in this area for years,” he said, scouring for anything to help build a shelter for his pregnant wife and child.
In Sudan, heavy rains usually fall between May and October, and the country faces severe flooding every year, wrecking property, infrastructure and crops. According to official figures, this year, floods have killed at least 79 people and left thousands homeless.
Sudan declared a state of emergency due to floods in six states, including River Nile.
The crisis comes as Sudan reels from deepening political unrest and a spiralling economic crisis exacerbated by last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Almost a quarter of Sudan’s population — 11.7 million people — need food aid.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing government figures, estimates over 146,000 people have been affected by flooding this year, with 31,500 homes damaged or destroyed. But the UN warns that with more than a month of rain still expected, flooding could affect up to 460,000 people this year — far higher than the average 388,600 people affected between 2017 and 2021.
“Compared to the same period of 2021, the number of affected people and localities this year has doubled,” OCHA said.
The flooding is not just along the Nile River, with the war-ravaged western region of Darfur the hardest hit, where over 90,000 people are affected.
– ‘Only just starting –
Since the start of the devastating rainy season, thousands of Sudanese families have been left homeless, sheltering under tattered sacking.
“Everything is destroyed,” said Haidar Abdelrahman, sitting in the ruins of his home at Makaylab. OCHA warns that “swollen rivers and pools of standing water increase the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, and malaria”.
Abdelrahman said he fears the floodwaters have forced scorpions and snakes to move. “People are scared,” he said.
“People are in serious need of basic aid against insects and mosquitoes,” said Seifeddine Soliman, 62, from Makaylab. But health ministry official Yasser Hashem said the situation is “so far under control” with “spraying campaigns to prevent mosquitoes”.
He said that around 3,000 residents in Makaylab had been receiving about six or seven cases daily, mainly diarrhoea. Upstream, on the White Nile, neighbouring South Sudan has seen record rainfalls and overflowing rivers in recent years, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, with the UN saying the “extraordinary flooding” was linked to the effects of climate change. The floods on the Nile in Sudan also come despite Ethiopia’s controversial construction upstream across the Blue Nile of a 145-metre (475-foot) tall hydroelectric dam.
Some experts, such as the USbased research and campaign group International Rivers, have warned that changing weather patterns due to climate change could result in periodic flooding and drought in the Nile drainage basin, the world’s longest river.
In Makaylab, many fear the devastating floods are only the beginning.
“The rainy season is just starting,” said Abdelrahman. “And there is no place for people to go.”
Multi-coloured sea slug found in UK water for first time
Arare multi-colored sea slug has been seen in UK waters for the first time.
A specimen of Babakina anadoni, which is only 2 centimetres long, was found by a diver off the coast of the Scilly Isles this month.
Allen Murray, a volunteer “sea searcher” for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, made the discovery while diving near Melledgan, an uninhabited rock island in the archipelago. He was taking part in the trust’s National Marine Week, and his photograph of the sea slug is the first confirmed record of the species in the UK, the Cornwall Wildlife Trust said.
It has been sighted only a handful of times elsewhere, mainly along the west coast of Spain and further south in the Atlantic, the trust said.
The slug is a member of the aeolid nudibranch family, characterised by bright colours and unusual shapes.
Matt Slater, marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust and co-ordinator of the Seasearch programme, said: “What an incredible find! We were extremely excited to hear about the sighting of this colourful nudibranch — a species that we believe has never been recorded in the UK before.
“It’s one of the prettiest sea slugs I’ve seen and, given it’s less than half the size of your little finger, it’s amazing Allen spotted it at all.
“There’s still so much out there that we don’t know about our marine environment.
“Records like this from our Seasearch divers are vital in helping us understand and better protect our seas.”
Lucy McRobert, communications manager at Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, said: “We never cease to be amazed at the wildlife turning up in Scillonian waters.
“From rare and beautiful nudibranchs to violet sea snails to great whales like humpbacks and fins, every time we dive beneath the surface we learn and see something new.”
Hotter summers mean Florida’s turtles are mostly born female
Florida’s sea turtles are grappling with a gender imbalance made worse by climate change. Recent heat waves have caused the sand on some beaches to get so hot that nearly every turtle born was female.
“The frightening thing is the last four summers in Florida have been the hottest summers on record,” said Bette Zirkelbach, manager of the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, a city in the Florida Keys, a string of tropical islands stretching from the southern end of the state.
“Scientists studying sea turtle hatchlings and eggs have found no boy sea turtles, so only female sea turtles for the past four years,” Zirkelbach said, whose turtle centre has operated since 1986. When a female turtle digs a nest on a beach, the temperature of the sand determines the gender of the hatchlings. Zirkelbach said an Australian study showed similar statistics – “99 per cent of new sea turtle babies are female”.
Instead of determining sex during fertilisation, the sex of sea turtles and alligators depends on the temperature of developing eggs, according to the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
If a turtle’s eggs incubate below 27.7 degrees Celsius, the turtle hatchlings will be male. In contrast, if they incubate above 31 degrees Celsius, they will be female, according to NOAA’S National Ocean Service website.
“Over the years, you’re going to see a sharp decline in their population because we just don’t have the genetic diversity,” said Melissa Rosales Rodriguez, a sea turtle keeper at the recently opened turtle hospital in Miami Zoo. “We don’t have the maleto-female ratio needed for successful breeding sessions.”
The two turtle hospitals are also battling tumours in turtles known as fibropapillomatosis, FP. These tumours are contagious to other turtles and can cause death if not treated.
With climate affecting the future of turtles and the widespread disease, Zirkelbach sees the need to save every turtle she can and open more rehab centres.
“The Turtle Hospital was the first. But, sadly and fortunately, there’s a need throughout Florida.”
Drug deaths in England and Wales hit record
The latest ONS figures show that 4,859 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2021 in England and Wales, equivalent to a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people.
One of its drug advisers has accused the government of not caring about the growing number of heroin addicts dying from an overdose. When asked if anyone cared about the rising number of heroin-related deaths, Dr Emily Finch, a senior member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists who sits on the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, told Sky News: “I think that’s one of the problems. I don’t think, generally speaking, the general population do. “I think many people, and perhaps that’s reflected in the government, don’t care much and that is why they have allowed a treatment system to largely atrophy.
“Some people care, there are good reasons to care: heroin users spend a lot of time in hospital, they cost us a lot of money, some of them commit crime. Those are all good reasons why supporting them properly, getting them into high-quality treatment, probably in the end would save society money.”
The latest ONS figures show that 4,859 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2021 in England and Wales, equivalent to a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people; this is 6.2% higher than the rate in 2020.
Approximately half of all drug poisoning deaths registered in 2021 involved an opiate, with the opiate rate likely impacted by the pandemic as a large number of rough sleepers were impacted.
Delays to death certificate registrations mean these deaths will span 2020-2021.
A government spokesperson said: “Our landmark drug strategy will help rebuild drug treatment and recovery services to better support people through recovery and tackle the criminal supply chains which fuel illegal drug markets.
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe in pregnancy, a large study confirms
• Canadian study found 7.3% of pregnant women experienced health events requiring time off work or school or needing medical attention, such as headaches, fatigue and a general feeling of being unwell, within a week after dose two of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, compared to 11.3% of vaccinated non-pregnant women.
• The study also looked at unvaccinated pregnant women and found that 3.2% reported health events (as defined above) within a given week, suggesting some of the symptoms experienced by the vaccinated pregnant women may not be due to the vaccine.
• There was no significant difference in the rates of more serious health events leading to medical consultation in any of the groups.
Authors say these data provide reassuring evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe in pregnancy and call for pregnant people to be provided with accurate information about the possible adverse events after vaccination.
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy, and pregnant women experienced lower rates of health events post-vaccination than similarly aged, non-pregnant vaccinated people, suggests a large Canadian study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected pregnant women at higher risk of severe COVID19 disease compared with similarly aged non-pregnant individuals. COVID-19 vaccines were recommended for use in pregnancy in many countries early in vaccine deployment, based on established prior safety of inactivated vaccines in pregnancy and reassuring data from the small number of pregnancies occurring during pre-authorisation vaccine trials.
This study is one of the first to look at vaccine side effects in a group of vaccinated pregnant women simultaneously as both an unvaccinated pregnant group and a vaccinated non-pregnant group to enable comparisons between the three.
“In the early stages of the COVID19 vaccine rollout, pregnant people had low vaccine uptake
due to data availability and vaccine safety concerns. There still is lower than average uptake among non-pregnant women of reproductive age,” says Dr Manish Sadarangani from the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the first author of this study. [1] “Large, observational studies like ours are crucial for properly understanding the rates of adverse health events in pregnant women after different doses of COVID-19 vaccination. This information should be used to inform pregnant women about the side effects they may experience in the week following vaccination.”
This new study, from The Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) Network [2], looked at data from participants across seven Canadian provinces and territories between December 2020 and November 2021. All vaccinated participants were asked to self-report any health events during the seven days following each dose of the COVID19 vaccine. The unvaccinated pregnant control group was asked to record any health problems over the seven days before they filled out the survey. In total, 191,360 women aged 15-49 years with known pregnancy statuscompleted the first dose survey and 94,937 completed the second dose survey.
A ‘significant health event’ was defined as a new or worse health event which was enough to cause the participant to miss school/work, require medical consultation and/or prevent daily activities in the previous seven days. ‘Serious health event’ was defined as any event resulting in an emergency department visit and/or hospitalisation in the last seven days.
The researchers found that 4.0% (226/5,597) of mRNA-vaccinated pregnant females reported a significant health event within seven days after dose one of an mRNA vaccine, and 7.3% (227/3,108) after dose two. The most common considerable health events after dose two in pregnant females were a general feeling of being unwell, headache/migraine, and respiratory tract infection.
In comparison, 3.2% (11/339) of pregnant unvaccinated participants reported similar events seven days before survey
completion. In the vaccinated non-pregnant control group, 6.3% (10,950/174,765) reported a significant health event in the week after dose one and 11.3% (10,254/91,131) after dose two. Serious health events were rare in all groups (fewer than 1%). They occurred at similar rates in vaccinated pregnant individuals, non-pregnant people and unvaccinated controls after doses one and two. Miscarriage/stillbirth was the most frequently reported adverse pregnancy outcome with no significant difference between the rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated women; 2.1% (7/339) of unvaccinated pregnant women and 1.5% (83/5,597) of vaccinated pregnant women experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth within seven days after dose one of any mRNA vaccine.
“The lower rate of significant health events amongst vaccinated pregnant people, compared with vaccinated non-pregnant individuals, is unexpected and requires more research. Previous studies on other vaccines in pregnant women have mostly reported no significant differences in health events between pregnant and nonpregnant women or found higher pregnancy rates. Further studies of non-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are required to identify if the reduced side effects observed in pregnant people in this study are a feature of the mRNA vaccine platform or of these specific vaccines.” says Dr Julie Bettinger, senior author on this paper and also from the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
The authors caution that most participants who reported ethnicity in this study were white, and these data may not be fully generalisable to other populations. Additionally, this study focused on health events occurring within the first seven days following vaccination and cannot conclude anything about longer-term reactions. However, the longerterm follow-up of this cohort is ongoing. A further limitation of this study is that data are based on self-reports from study participants without verification by medical records.
Writing in a linked comment, Dr Sascha Ellington and Dr Christine Olson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA (who were not involved in the study) note, “These findings are consistent with and add to the growing body of evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe during pregnancy. […] COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant people continues to be lower than among non-pregnant females of reproductive age. Given the risks of significant illness and adverse pregnancy outcomes, it is imperative that we continue to collect and disseminate data on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy and to encourage healthcare providers to promote vaccination during all trimesters of pregnancy.”
UK to use lower dose of monkeypox vaccine to stretch supply
British health authorities will begin offering eligible people just a fraction of the normal monkeypox vaccine dose to stretch supplies by about five times, in line with similar decisions to extend available doses in Europe and the U.S.
In a statement , Britain’s Health Security Agency said patients at clinics in Manchester and London would soon get just one-fifth of the regular monkeypox vaccine dose as part of ongoing research, citing earlier work suggesting the smaller dose provided an effective immune response as a total dose.
Last week, the European Medicines Agency authorized the move for its 27 members across the continent, echoing the decision made by U.S. regulators earlier this month.
“Adopting this tried and tested technique will help to maximize the reach of our remaining stock,” said Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at Britain’s Health Security Agency. She said the lowered doses would enable health workers to vaccinate “many more thousands of people.”
Last week, British officials said there were early signs the monkeypox outbreak was slowing, and that case numbers were declining. Nearly 3,200 cases have been reported in the U.K. since May, with 99% of infections among men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men. About 70% of cases are in London. As of last week, U.K. authorities said more than 35,000 vaccines had been administered primarily to men who have sex with men, their close contacts, and health workers. Globally, the supply of monkeypox vaccines is extremely limited. There is only one supplier — Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic —and most doses have already been bought by the U.S., Canada, Europe and other wealthy countries.
Bavarian Nordic estimated its production capacity for this year was about 30 million. No monkeypox vaccines have so far been allotted to Africa, which has reported more than 70 suspected deaths, the highest number anywhere. To date, more than 41,000 cases of monkeypox have appeared worldwide in 94 countries. The World Health Organization and other health agencies do not recommend mass vaccination. Still, they have advised governments to improve monkeypox surveillance and testing and encouraged other measures to slow the disease’s spread. WHO has recommended that men at high risk of the disease temporarily consider reducing their number of sex partners or refrain from group or anonymous sex.
Polio in US, UK and Israel reveals rare risk of oral vaccine
For years, global health officials have used billions of drops of an oral vaccine in a remarkably effective campaign aimed at wiping out polio in its last remaining strongholds — typically, poor, politically unstable corners of the world.
Now, in a surprising twist in the decades-long effort to eradicate the virus, authorities in Jerusalem, New York and London have discovered evidence that polio is spreading there.
The original source of the virus? The oral vaccine itself.
Scientists have long known about this extremely rare phenomenon. That is why some countries have switched to other polio vaccines. But these incidental infections from the oral formula are becoming more glaring as the world inches closer to eradication of the disease and the number of polio cases caused by the wild, or naturally circulating, virus plummets.
Since 2017, there have been 396 cases of polio caused by the wild virus, versus more than 2,600 linked to the oral vaccine, according to figures from the World Health Organization and its partners.
We are basically replacing the wild virus with the virus in the vaccine, which is now leading to new outbreaks,” said Scott Barrett, a Columbia University professor who has studied polio eradication. “I would assume that countries like the U.K. and the U.S. will be able to stop transmission quite quickly, but we also thought that about monkeypox.” The latest incidents represent the first time in several years that vaccine-connected polio virus has turned up in rich countries.
Earlier this year, officials in Israel detected polio in an unvaccinated 3-year-old, who suffered paralysis. Several other children, nearly all of them unvaccinated, were found to have the virus but no symptoms.
In June, British authorities reported finding evidence in sewage that the virus was spreading, though no infections in people were identified. Last week, the government said all children in London ages 1 to 9 would be offered a booster shot.
In the U.S., an unvaccinated young adult suffered paralysis in his legs after being infected with polio, New York officials revealed
last month. The virus has also shown up in New York sewers, suggesting it is spreading. But officials said they are not planning a booster campaign because they believe the state’s high vaccination rate should offer enough protection.
Genetic analyses showed that the viruses in the three countries were all “vaccine-derived,” meaning that they were mutated versions of a virus that originated in the oral vaccine.
The oral vaccine at issue has been used since 1988 because it is cheap, easy to administer two drops are put directly into children’s mouths — and better at protecting entire populations where polio is spreading. It contains a weakened form of the live virus.
But it can also cause polio in about two to four children per 2 million doses. (Four doses are required to be fully immunized.) In extremely rare cases, the weakened virus can sometimes mutate into a more dangerous form and spark outbreaks, especially in places with poor sanitation and low vaccination levels.
These outbreaks typically begin when vaccinated people shed live viruses from the vaccine in their faeces. From there, the virus can spread within the community and, over time, turn into a form that paralyses people and starts new epidemics.
Many countries that eliminated polio switched to injectable vaccines containing a killed virus decades ago to avoid such risks; the Nordic countries and the Netherlands never used the oral vaccine. The ultimate goal is to move the entire world to the shot once wild polio is eradicated, but some scientists argue that the switch should happen sooner.
“We probably could never have gotten on top of polio in the developing world without the (oral polio vaccine), but this is the price we’re now paying,” said Dr Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only way we are going to eliminate polio is to eliminate the use of the oral vaccine.”
Aidan O’Leary, director of WHO’s polio department, described the discovery of polio spreading in London and New York as “a major surprise,” saying that officials have been focused on eradicating the disease in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where health workers have been killed for immunizing children and where conflict has made access to some areas impossible.
Still, O’Leary said he is confident Israel, Britain and the U.S. will quickly shut down their newly identified outbreaks.
The oral vaccine is credited with dramatically reducing the number of children paralyzed by polio. When the global eradication effort began in 1988, there were about 350,000 cases of wild polio a year. So far this year, there have been 19 cases of wild polio, all in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mozambique. In 2020, the number of polio cases linked to the vaccine hit a peak of more than 1,100 spread across dozens of countries. It has since declined to around 200 this year so far.
Last year, WHO and partners also began using a newer oral polio vaccine, which contains a live but weakened virus that scientists believe is less likely to mutate into a dangerous form. But supplies are limited.
To stop polio in Britain, the U.S. and Israel, more vaccination is needed, experts say. That is something Columbia University’s Barrett worries could be challenging in the COVID-19 era.
“What’s different now is a reduction in trust of authorities and the political polarization in countries like the U.S. and the U.K.,” Barrett said. “The presumption that we can get vaccination numbers up quickly may be more challenging now.”
Oyewale Tomori, a virologist who helped direct Nigeria’s effort to eliminate polio, said that in the past, he and colleagues baulked at describing outbreaks as “vaccine-derived,” wary it would make people fearful of the vaccine.
“All we can do is explain how the vaccine works and hope that people understand that immunization is the best protection, but it’s complicated,” Tomori said. “In hindsight, maybe it would have been better not to use this vaccine, but at that time, nobody knew it would turn out like this.”
Africa CDC in ‘advanced’ talks to obtain monkeypox vaccine
Africa’s public health agency says the continent of 1.3 billion people still does not have a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine. However, “very advanced discussions” are underway with at least two partners.
The acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell, told journalists that he could not give details. Still, he said the partners are “largely multilateral institutions and non-African governments.” He said there are no discussions with the private sector because countries have already bought all available doses.
But a clinical trial is underway in Congo for a vaccine, Jynneos, that’s under emergency use authorization, Ogwell said. The two-dose vaccine is considered the main medical weapon against the disease, but its availability is limited. The Africa CDC did not immediately respond to a question about the trial’s details. More monkeypox deaths have been reported on the African continent this year than anywhere in the world. Since May, nearly 90 countries have written more than 31,000 cases.
At least 2,947 monkeypox cases have been reported in 11 African countries this year, including 104 deaths. Still, most of the cases reported are suspect ones because the African continent also lacks enough diagnostic resources for thorough testing, the Africa CDC director said. The lack of vaccine doses and shortage of diagnostics echo the challenges that Africa’s 54 countries faced for months during the COVID-19 pandemic as richer countries elsewhere raced to secure supplies. The Africa director spoke as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on the final leg of a three-country Africa visit. He articulated Washington’s new strategy for engaging with sub-Saharan African nations as “equal partners.” Earlier this week, Blinken was in Congo, with many of the 136 new monkeypox cases reported across Africa in the past week.The World Health Organization classified the escalating outbreak of the oncerare monkeypox disease as an international emergency in July; the U.S. declared it a national emergency last week.
Outside of Africa, 98% of cases are in men who have sex with men. With a limited global supply of monkeypox vaccine, authorities are racing to stop monkeypox before it becomes entrenched.Monkeypox spread typically requires skin-to-skin or skin-to-mouth contact with an infected patient’s lesions. People can also be infected through contact with the clothing or bedsheets of someone with monkeypox lesions.
Most people infected with monkeypox recover without treatment, but it can cause more severe symptoms like brain inflammation and, in rare cases, death. The version of monkeypox spreading in Europe and North America has a lower fatality rate than the one circulating in Africa, where people have mostly been sickened after contacts with infected wild animals like rodents and squirrels.
Princess Diana Fans gathered to mark her 25th Death Anniversary
Fans of the late Princess Diana placed tributes outside the gates of her Kensington
Palace home, marking the 25th anniversary of her death in a Paris car accident.
An arrangement of white chrysanthemums spelling out “Princess Diana” sat among dozens of photos and messages left by admirers. Some of them said they make annual pilgrimages to the spot to remember the tragedy.
“We just come here, do the memorial and, you know, we just chat about things that she used to do, you know, to … let people know that we will never forget the princess, we will never forget what she’s done,” said Julie Cain, 59. The latter travelled 300 miles (480 kilometres) from Newcastle in northern England. “We just want her legacy kept going as long as possible.”
Diana died on Aug. 31, 1997, at the age of 36, stunning people around the world who felt they knew the princess after seeing her successes and struggles play out on TV screens and newspaper front pages for 17 years. The tributes left outside Kensington Palace on Wednesday were a small reminder of the mountains of flowers piled there in the days after Diana’s death.
Diana was the focus of constant media attention from when she was engaged to marry Prince Charles until the night she died. Her fairytale wedding, ugly divorce and efforts to build a new life all made headlines.The public watched as she blossomed from a shy teenager into an internationalstyle icon who befriended AIDS patients, charmed Nelson Mandela and walked through a minefield to promote the drive to eradicate landmines. Along the way, she showed the royal family, particularly her sons William and Harry, how to connect with people and be relevant in the 21st century.
Cain and her friend Maria Scott, 51, paid their respects to Diana as dawn broke over the palace, just as they do every year.
“There was just something about that girl that stood out. And of course, I watched the fairy-tale princess wedding,” Scott said. “And, you know, she was like a part of your life because you saw that every day on the television. She was in newspapers and magazines. She was all over. And you felt like she was part of your life.”
Far-right Italian leader Meloni rides popular wave in polls
With a message that blends Christianity, motherhood and patriotism, Giorgia Meloni is riding a wave of popularity that next month could see her become Italy’s first female prime minister and its first far-right leader since World War II.
Even though her Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, Meloni has sought to dispel concerns about its legacy, saying voters have grown tired of such discussions.
Still, there are nagging signs that such a legacy can’t be shaken off so easily: Her party’s symbol includes an image of a tricoloured flame borrowed from a neo-fascist party formed shortly after the war’s end. Suppose the Brothers of Italy prevails at the polls on Sept. 25 and the 45-yearold Meloni becomes premier. In that case, it will come almost 100 years to the month after Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator, came to power in October 1922.
In 2019, Meloni proudly introduced Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini, a great-grandson of the dictator, as one of her candidates for the European Parliament, although he eventually lost.
For most Italian voters, questions about anti-fascism and neofascism aren’t “a key driver of whom to vote for,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, head of the YouTrend polling company. ”They don’t see that as part of the present. They see that as part of the past.”
Still, Meloni is sensitive to international scrutiny about her possible premiership and prefers the term conservative instead of far-right to describe her party.
She recently recorded video messages in English, French and Spanish that said the Italian right “has handed fascism over to history for decades, unambiguously condemning the suppression of democracy and the ignominious anti-Jewish laws.”
That was a reference to the 1938 laws banning Italy’s small Jewish community from participating in business, education and other facets of everyday life. The laws paved the way for the deportation of many Italian Jews to Nazi death camps during the German occupation of Rome in the waning years of World War II. Yet by keeping the tricoloured flame in her party’s logo, “she is symbolically playing
on that heritage,” said David Art, a Tufts University political science professor who studies Europe’s far right. “But then she wants to say, ‘We’re not racist.’”
Unlike Germany, which worked to come to terms with its devastating Nazi legacy, the fascist period is little scrutinized in Italian schools and universities, says Gastone Malaguti. Now 96, he fought as a teenager against Mussolini’s forces. In his decades of visiting classrooms to talk about Italy’s anti-fascist Resistance, he found many students “ignorant” of that history.
Only five years ago, Brothers of Italy — its name inspired by the national anthem’s opening words was viewed as a fringe force, winning 4.4% of the vote. Now, opinion polls indicate it could come in first place in September and capture as much as 24% support, just ahead of the centreleft Democrat Party led by former Premier Enrico Letta.
Under Italy’s complex, partially proportional electoral system, campaign coalitions are what propels party leaders into the premiership, not just votes. Right-wing politicians have done a far better job this year than Democrats forging wide-ranging electoral partnerships.Meloni has allied with the right-wing League party led by Matteo Salvini, who, like her, favours crackdowns on illegal migration. Her other electoral ally is the centre-right Forza Italia party of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi.Last year, her party was the only major one to refuse to join Italy’s national pandemic unity coalition led by Premier Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief. Draghi’s government collapsed last month, abruptly abandoned by Salvini, Berlusconi and 5-Star leader Giuseppe Conte, who have all been preoccupied with their parties’ slipping fortunes in opinion polls and local elections.
Meloni is “credited with a consistent and coherent approach to politics in opinion surveys. She didn’t compromise,” Pregliasco said, adding that she also is perceived as “a leader who has clear ideas — not everyone agrees with those ideas, of course.”
As Boris Johnson departs, UK takes stock of his messy legacy
The moving vans have already started arriving at Downing Street as Britain’s Conservative Party prepares to evict Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The debate over what mark he left on his party, his country and the world will linger long after he departs in September — if he is gone for good.
Johnson led Britain out of the European Union and won a landslide election victory before his government collapsed in a heap of ethics scandals. During his final appearance in Parliament as prime minister in July, he summed up his three years in office as: “Mission largely accomplished.”
Many political historians take a harsher view. “Winston Churchill said that ‘History will be kind to me for I intend to write it,’” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “I’m pretty sure Johnson does too, but I doubt he’ll find it’s as kind to him as it was to his hero.”
Johnson cultivated a buffoonish public image, but he has severely impacted his country. He bears much of the credit, or blame, for Britain’s departure from the EU, a momentous decision whose consequences will play out for years.
“The one thing you can say is that his legacy is Brexit,” said Steven Fielding, professor of political history at the University of Nottingham. “You can’t take that away from him — it’s just a question of whether it’s a good or bad thing.” Johnson’s backing for the “leave” campaign in Britain’s 2016 referendum on EU membership was vital to its victory. He had a popular appeal that no other campaigner could match. When wrangling in Parliament over the departure terms brought down Prime Minister Theresa May three years later, Johnson succeeded her with a vow to “get Brexit done.”
He led the Conservatives to a massive election victory in 2019 and took Britain out of the EU the following year. But the long divorce feels far from “done.” Relations with the EU have soured amid unresolved disputes over trade rules for Northern Ireland.
New customs and regulatory barriers are also hindering trade between Britain and the 27 EU nations. The benefits of Brexit
touted by Johnson and other supporters — a chance to rip up onerous EU rules and create a more dynamic economy — have not yet materialized. Johnson’s promises to redistribute investment and opportunity to neglected regions of Britain remain unfulfilled. His successor — either Foreign Secretary Liz Truss or former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, competing in a Conservative Party leadership contest whose outcome will be announced Sept. 5 — inherits a deflating economy and a cost-ofliving cost crisis sparked by such factors as Brexit and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Margaret MacMillan, emeritus professor of international history at Oxford University, said Johnson had left the United Kingdom economically and constitutionally weakened.
“The Union is weaker, the status and future of Northern Ireland in question, and relations with the EU, which is still Britain’s major trading partner, (are) no better, if not worse, than when he became prime minister,” she said.The other defining event of his premiership was COVID-19, which landed Johnson in intensive care in April 2020 and has left more than 180,000 people in Britain dead.
Johnson hesitated before imposing a nationwide lockdown in March 2020; experts later said acting a week earlier would have saved thousands of lives. Britain went on to have three extended lockdowns, a deep economic slump and one of the highest death tolls in Europe. But the U.K.’s vaccine program, led by a task force of scientists and businesspeople, is widely regarded as a significant success.Victoria Honeyman, associate professor of British politics at the University of Leeds, said the verdict on Johnson’s pandemic record is in the eye of the beholder.
“His supporters would argue that his actions were beneficial and justified,” she said, “while his critics would argue that the actions were the bare minimum.”
Apart from Brexit, Johnson’s leading international cause has been Ukraine. He has been one of the most prominent allies of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Britain has backed up the rhetoric with billions in military and humanitarian aid to help the country resist Russia’s invasion. The support has made Johnson a popular figure in Ukraine, though critics say any other British leader would have followed the same policy. Johnson’s domestic policy achievements were few. His administration was chaotic, wracked by factionalism and constantly in crisis mode, as a lifelong record of bending and breaking the rules finally caught up with him.
During the pandemic, he brazened out public anger at lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street, for which police fined him. But his appointment to a key job as a politician accused of sexual misconduct proved a scandal too far for Conservative lawmakers, who forced him out. Critics said it was a long-overdue comeuppance for a politician who debased British politics with his populist disregard for ethics and the truth.
“The tragedy is that whoever replaces Johnson will inevitably be someone who tolerated his mendacity, corruption and incompetence for years,” Cambridge University history professor Richard Evans wrote in the New Statesman. “The mess Boris Johnson has left behind will take a long time to clear up.”
But another Cambridge historian, Robert Tombs, said Johnson might one day be seen as “a muchunderrated politician” — especially if he publishes his account of his time in office.
“The overriding theme will be that, though afflicted with human frailties, he was right when it mattered,” Tombs wrote on the Spiked website.
Johnson, 58, has tried to sound philosophical about his exit. “Them’s the breaks,” he said with a shrug as he announced his resignation on July 7. But he has made clear that he does not want to leave, blaming a “herd” mentality among Conservative colleagues for the “eccentric” decision to oust him. He remains a member of Parliament, and some Conservatives believe he could try to return as a leader if his successor falters. Fielding said such a comeback would be almost unprecedented in British history.
“You’d think in a sane and rational political culture that would be impossible,” he said. “But that’s not what Britain is at the moment.”
Dozens of people were stranded for hours inside the Channel Tunnel after a train from Calais to Folkestone appeared to have broken down.
Images emerged showing Eurotunnel Le Shuttle passengers being evacuated through an emergency service tunnel after having to abandon their vehicles.
They were eventually transferred to a replacement train and taken to the Folkestone terminus in Kent. A Eurotunnel spokesman said services had already returned to normal.
Le Shuttle said the incident night started when the train’s alarms were activated and that it needed to be investigated. A spokesman said such incidents were unusual but not exceptional, much more common on truck-carrying trains than private cars.
“The Shuttle was brought to a controlled stop and inspected. As a precautionary measure, for their safety and comfort, we transferred the passengers on board to another shuttle via the service tunnel (which is there for exactly that purpose),” the spokesman said.
“We brought them to the passenger terminal building, where food and drinks were available, and then slowly brought out the original shuttle and reunited them with their vehicles.”
Sarah Fellows, 37, from Birmingham, told the PA news agency she found the service tunnel “terrifying”. She added: “It was like a disaster movie. You were just walking into the abyss, not knowing what was happening. We all had to stay under the sea in this big queue.
“There was a woman crying in the tunnel, another woman having a panic attack travelling alone.”
Another passenger, who did not want to be named, said: “Several people were freaking out about being down in the service tunnel; it’s a bit of a weird place… We were stuck down there for at least five hours.”
All those on board the train were transferred at 20:22 BST (19:22 GMT) “in line with safety procedures and as a comfort measure”, Le Shuttle said.
A passenger contacted the BBC before 17:45, saying they were on the train, which had stopped. The passenger complained of poor communication, with the public address system not working correctly. The service transports passengers and their vehicles between Folkestone and Calais.
At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), it has the longest underwater section of any tunnel in the world. There were about 100 vehicles on the halted shuttle. Le Shuttle said all passengers would be contacted individually to arrange compensation.
Bin strikes to go ahead in Scotland despite new salary offer
Container strikes at Scottish local authorities will continue this week despite a new payment offer being made.
Unions questioned an earlier offer of a 5% raise, saying they needed more details on how it would affect lower-paid members.
Cosla, the body that represents the local government, said it had a productive meeting with the unions .
But three unions said no deal had been reached and called for more funding from the Scottish government.
Johanna Baxter, head of local government for Unison Scotland, said the union was “a long way off” from the deal. She said: “Cosla negotiated within the cost envelope that leaders mandated them but that simply isn’t enough and goes nowhere near matching the pay offer provided to council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
She added: “The only thing that both parties could agree on is that we need the urgent intervention from the deputy first minister to put additional funding in place and both will be writing to the deputy first minister to that effect today.”
The current offer means that the lowest paid council workers be taken to a new Scottish Local Government Living Wage of £10.50. GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said:
“The fact that Cosla couldn’t even commit to the basic principle of a flat rate offer which would help the lowest paid is bitterly disappointing and frankly shameful.
“Our members are angry about the lack of value being shown to them by political leaders and scared about the prospect of pay that doesn’t confront a cost of living crisis that’s getting worse by the week.” Local authorities had initially proposed a 3.5% increase before upping their offer to 5%, with the minimum hourly rate also to be raised to £10.50.
Members from the Unite and GMB unions are also involved in the pay dispute. Cosla said it hoped they would consult with their members on the fresh offer. Hundreds of GMB and Unite union members in Edinburgh’s waste and recycling service have already begun a strike which was planned to last until 30 August.
People crossing the Channel to the UK from North France hit a new high
The number of people crossing the Channel to the UK from northern France in small boats has hit a new high, the government in London said.
Some 1,295 people were detected, beating the previous single-day record of 1,185 on November 11, 2021, the Ministry of Defence said. So far this year, there have been some 22,670 crossings. At the same point in 2021, nearly 12,500 were intercepted making the journey.
Last year, the UK authorities brought 28,526 people ashore as they tried to cross the busy shipping lane.
The issue has caused a major political headache for the UK government, which promised tighter border controls after leaving the European Union. Tensions have risen between London and Paris, with the UK government accusing France of not doing enough to stop the crossings. To address the issue, immigration laws have been tightened to target peoplesmuggling gangs behind the crossings.
Rights groups have said the legislation also risks criminalising migrants seeking asylum from violence and persecution in their homelands. The UK signed a partnership deal with Rwanda earlier this year to send some migrants to the African country for resettlement.
But deportation flights have been stymied by legal challenges in the UK courts and at the European Court of Human Rights. The first flight in June was due to see some 130 asylum seekers sent to the Rwandan capital Kigali, but the numbers were whittled down to zero because of court action. Groups representing asylum seekers will challenge the policy’s legality in court next month. The UK government has defended the policy as necessary because the costs involved in processing asylum claims and housing migrants are too high. It is also looking at changing human rights legislation to make it easier to deport asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, vying to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister after his resignation, have backed the Rwanda scheme.
With predictions some 60,000 people could cross this year, Truss said she would extend the plan. Sunak said he would do “whatever it takes” to make it work. But British MPs have questioned the deterrent effect of the deportation plan, saying there was “no clear evidence” it would stop Channel crossings. Since Home Secretary Priti Patel signed the deal with Rwanda four months ago, more than 17,400 people have crossed the Channel in small boats.
Lawmakers instead called for closer cooperation with the UK’s European neighbours, including intelligence sharing, to tackle criminal gangs.
Parliament’s Home Affairs committee said a total of 48,450 applications for asylum were made in 2021 — similar to every year since 2014. The MPs blamed the backlog of more than 125,000 cases on “antiquated IT systems, high staff turnover and too few staff”.
‘DC League of Super-Pets’ takes No.1 with $23 million at the domestic box office
The superhero spinoff about Superman’s dog earned $23 million from 4,314 locations, according to studio estimates. Though slightly less than expected, it was still enough to capture the first-place spot and knock Jordan Peele’s “Nope” into second place in its second weekend. Analysts had pegged “DC League of Super-Pets” for a $25 million launch, which was on the lower end for animated openings this summer. In June, the $50.6 million for “Lightyear” was considered underwhelming for the $200 million Disney/ Pixar movie. Then in early July, Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” captured $107 million in its first three days.
But “Super-Pets” is more comparable to Universal’s “The Bad Guys,” which netted around $97 million domestic after a $23 million opening, and it’s much, much stronger than Paramount’s “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank’s” $6.3 million debut several weeks ago. “This opening is a huge win for DC fans, the box office, WB and our filmmakers,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio’s president of domestic distribution.
“DC League of Super-Pets” was not intended to be a midsummer release. Originally, “Super-Pets” had been slated for May, while this weekend was reserved for “Black Adam,” Warner Bros.’ other Dwayne Johnson superhero pic. But postproduction delays due to a backup at VFX houses forced “Black Adam” to move back to October. Instead of giving up the prime date, the studio filled the open spot with a familyfriendly title with an all-star voice cast, including Kevin Hart, John Krasinski, Keanu Reeves and Kate McKinnon as an evil guinea pig.
“Super-Pets” has several summer vacation weeks left with little significant competition, and the hope is that it will continue to grow steadily thanks to positive feedback from audiences this weekend. And with $18.4 million from international showings, it has already grossed $41.4 million globally.
“The interest is red hot,” Goldstein said. “Young family movies play for a long time. Given our CinemaScore of A- and word of mouth, we’re going to be around for a while.”
Second place went to Universal’s “Nope,” which fell 57% from its debut last weekend and earned an additional $18.6 million. The North American grosses for “Nope” are now sitting at $80.6 million before it begins its international expansion in August.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” took third place with $13.1 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $301.5 million. Its global total is now sitting at $662 million, without a release in China.
Mike Tyson accused new Hulu series for ‘stealing’ his life story
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has accused an unauthorized television drama of stealing his life story, comparing the streaming platform behind the upcoming series to a “slave master.
“Mike,” which premiere on US streamer Hulu on August 25, is a scripted drama that re-enacts moments from the controversial fighter’s life, from his early childhood to his 1992 rape conviction. “Hulu is the streaming version of the slave master. They stole my story and didn’t pay me,” wrote Tyson on Instagram. He added: “I don’t support their story about my life. It’s not 1822. It’s 2022. They stole my life story and didn’t pay me.”
“To Hulu executives, I’m just a n****r they can sell on the auction block,” he wrote, using asterisks in place of letters. Hulu, which is only available in the United States, is majority-owned by Disney. The show depicts Tyson being bullied as a young child with a lisp, his teenage years in and out of prison after joining a Brooklyn street gang, and his early start in boxing.
While the eight-part limited series shows Tyson in the ring during various famous bouts, it concentrates on his turbulent private life. One episode focuses on Desiree Washington, the 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant who accused Tyson of rape in 1991. He was convicted the following year and jailed for three years. The episode tells the events of the rape in an Indianapolis hotel room and the ensuing trial from Washington’s perspective and her narration. Creator and screenwriter Steven Rogers said the filmmakers actually “couldn’t talk to” Tyson because “his life rights were already taken” by another project. But he also pointed to the benefits of an unauthorized take on Tyson’s life, saying, “I don’t like to be reliant on just one source.” “I like to do the research and get all these different opinions, and then put a story around all of that,” he told a recent Television Critics Association panel. “I don’t like to be beholden to just one person.” Trevante Rhodes, who plays Tyson in the eight-part limited series, said, “it feels best at least to detach yourself as much as you can.”
Asked if he was worried about angering Tyson — considered one of the best heavyweights of all time, who infamously bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in a 1997 bout — Rhodes simply replied: “Nah.” While confronting allegations of domestic violence, the show also contextualizes the violence Tyson suffered as a child, the early loss of his mother to cancer, his drug addiction issues, and efforts by establishment figures to take advantage of Tyson’s lucrative success in the ring. “When I was researching it, I found that a lot of the issues that we’re struggling with today — like Black Lives Matter, and MeToo, and prison reform and addiction and mental health issues all the stuff that we’re struggling with — have their roots in this one man’s story,” said showrunner Karin Gist.
“So it felt like a really good time to tell it, through the lens of the baddest man on the planet.” Rogers added: “I would hope that if he watches it, he would change his opinion.”
“Stray” cat video game brings some benefits to real cats
The virtual cat hero from the new video game sensation “Stray” doesn’t just wind along rusted pipes, leap over unidentified sludge and decode clues in a seemingly abandoned city. The daring orange tabby is helping real world cats as well.
Thanks to online fundraising platforms, gamers are playing “Stray” while streaming live for audiences to raise money for animal shelters and other catrelated charities. Annapurna Interactive, the game’s publisher, also promoted “Stray” by offering two cat rescue and adoption agencies copies of the game to raffle off and renting out a New York cat cafe.
Livestreaming game play for charity isn’t new, but the resonance “Stray” quickly found from cat lovers is unusual. It was the fourth most watched and broadcast game on the day it launched on Twitch, the streaming platform said.
Viewers watch as players navigate the adventurous feline through an aging industrial landscape doing normal cat stuff — balancing on railings, walking on keyboards and knocking things off shelves — to solve puzzles and evade enemies.
About 80% of the game’s development team are “cat owners and cat lovers” and a real-life orange stray as well as their own cats helped inspire the game, one creator said.
I certainly hope that maybe some people will be inspired to help actual strays in real life — knowing that having an animal and a companion is a responsibility,” said producer Swann Martin-Raget, of the BlueTwelve gaming studio in Montpellier, in southern France.
When Annapurna Interactive reached out to the Nebraska Humane Society to partner before the game’s launch on July 19, they jumped at the chance, marketing specialist Brendan Gepson said.
“The whole game and the whole culture around the game, it’s all about a love of cats,” Gepson said. “It meshed really well with the shelter and our mission.”
The shelter got four copies of the game to give away and solicited donations for $5 to be entered into a raffle to win one. In a week, they raised $7,000, Gepson said, with the vast majority of the 550 donors being new to them,
including people donating from Germany and Malta. The company also donated $1,035 to the shelter.
It was really mutually beneficial,” Gepson said. ”They got some really good PR out of it and we got a whole new donor base out of it.”
Annapurna also bought out Meow Parlour, the New York cat cafe and adoption agency, for a weekend, as well as donating $1,000. Visitors who made reservations could buy “Stray” themed merchandise and play the game for 20 minutes while surrounded by cats. (The game also captivates cats, videos on social media show.)
Jeff Legaspi, Annapurna Interactive’s marketing director, said it made sense for the game’s launch to do something “positively impactful and hopefully bring more awareness to adopting and not shopping for a new pet.”
Annapurna declined to disclose sales or download figures for the game, which is available on PlayStation and the Steam platform. However, according to Steam monitor SteamDB, “Stray” has been the No. 1 purchased game for the past two weeks. North Shore Animal League America, which rescues tens of thousands of animals each year, said it hadn’t seen any increase in traffic from the game but they did receive more than $800 thanks to a gamer.
In a happy coincidence, the shelter had just set up a profile on the platform Tiltify, which allows nonprofits to receive donations from video streams, the week the game launched. The player channeled donations to the shelter, smashing her initial goal of $200.
“We are seeing Tiltify and livestreaming as this whole new way for us to engage a whole different audience,” said Carol Marchesano, the rescue’s senior digital marketing director. Usually, though, organizations need to reach out to online personalities to coordinate livestreams, which can take a lot of work, she said. About nine campaigns on Tiltify mention the game “Stray,” the company’s CEO Michael Wasserman said. JustGiving, which also facilitates charity livestreams, said it identified two campaigns with the game.
For his part, Gepson from Nebraska reached out to an Omaha resident who goes by the name TreyDay1014 online to run a charity livestream. Trey, who asked that his last name not be used, has two cats, one of which he adopted from the shelter. Last week, he narrated to viewers watching live on the platform Twitch as his cat character batted another cat’s tail and danced along railings.
“If I found out my cat was outside doing this, I’d be upset,” Trey said, as his character jumped across a perilous distance. Moments later, a rusty pipe broke, sending the tabby down a gut-wrenching plunge into the darkness.
“That is a poor baby,” Trey said somberly, “but we are okay.”
A $25 donation followed the fall, pushing the amount raised by Trey for the Nebraska shelter to over $100 in about 30 minutes. By the end of four and a half hours of play, donations totaled $1,500. His goal had been to raise $200.
“This has opened my eyes to being able to use this platform for a lot more good than just playing video games,” Trey said.
British Airways has suspended selling short-haul flights from Heathrow
The unusual move follows the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights this summer as the industry struggles to meet demand for air travel due to staffing shortages.
The airline confirmed that the decision to halt new bookings on domestic and European services until and including Monday is to comply with Heathrow’s passenger number cap.
British Airways said: “As a result of Heathrow’s request to limit new bookings, we’ve decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry.” The unprecedented move will result in thousands of seats being removed from sale, potentially increasing demand and inflating prices with rival firms. Tens of thousands of flights have already been cancelled this summer as the industry struggles to cope with the demand for air travel amid staffing shortages.
Heathrow announced last month that no more than 100,000 daily departing passengers are permitted until 11 September.
BA had responded to Heathrow’s cap on passenger numbers by announcing it would cancel 10,300 flights until October, with one million passengers affected. The suspension of BA’s short-haul flights from Heathrow comes after many passengers flying to and from the UK’s busiest airport have suffered severe disruption in recent months, with long security queues and baggage system breakdowns. Middle Eastern airline Emirates rejected Heathrow’s order to cancel flights to comply with its cap. The airline accused the airport of showing “blatant disregard for consumers” by forcing it to “deny seats to tens of thousands of travellers” through the cap.
A Heathrow spokeswoman said it would be “disappointing” if “any airline would want to put profit ahead of a safe and reliable passenger journey”.
Virgin Atlantic also criticised the airport’s actions and claimed it was responsible for failures contributing to the chaos. Meanwhile, on 21 July, airlines were accused of “harmful practices” in treating passengers affected by the disruption.
The Competition and Markets Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority issued a joint letter to carriers, expressing concern that “consumers could experience significant harm unless airlines meet their obligations”. The letter stated: “We are concerned that some airlines may not be doing everything they could to avoid engaging in one or more harmful practices.”
These include selling more tickets for flights “than they can reasonably expect to supply”, not always “fully satisfying obligations” to offer flights on alternative airlines to passengers affected by cancellations, and failing to give consumers “sufficiently clear and upfront information about their rights”.
California Will ban the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, marking a historic step in the state’s attempts to address climate change. The new rules aim to force automakers to speed up the introduction of cleaner vehicles to the market.
It comes after Governor Gavin Newsom set a 2020 goal to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels.
The move is essential as California is the most populous state in the US and one of the largest economies in the world.
Under the rules issued by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), 35% of new vehicles sold in the state must be electric, hybrid or hydrogen-powered by 2026. The regulations would apply to 68% of vehicle sales by 2030 and 100% by 2035. CARB Chair Laine Randolph said the move was “a historic moment for California, our partner states and the world as we set a path toward a zero-emissions future.” The announcement is the latest move by California as it continues to move faster than the US federal government to tighten emission rules.
With more than 39m residents, California is the biggest US state by population. If it were a standalone country, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world by gross domestic product, putting it ahead of the United Kingdom. Joseph Mendelson, senior counsel at electric carmaker Tesla, said CARB’s plan was “both achievable and paves the way for California to lead in electrifying the light-duty sector”. However, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation – representing carmakers including General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota – said more needed to be done to boost demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
“We’ve said to CARB and others that getting more EVs on the road must go hand-in-hand with other policies that together will ultimately determine the success of this transition,” the alliance’s president and chief executive John Bozzella said. The new rules still have been approved by the US government before they can take effect. However, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers trade association called on President Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency to “reject California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver to proceed with this unlawful ban.”
England won the historic European battle, Euro 2022
England has awoken as European champions after the Lionesses delivered the country’s first major trophy since 1966.
There were euphoric scenes across the country last night after the squad beat Germany 2-1 in extra time, with 87,000 supporters cheering them on at a packed-out Wembley Stadium, not to mention millions more at home.
Thousands of fans are attended the event in Trafalgar Square, where the team participated in a live Q&A and lift the Euro 2022 trophy. Sarina Wiegman described the victory as “incredible,” Her players couldn’t stop themselves from storming into the press conference, singing “football’s coming home” at the top of their lungs and dancing on the table.
The England manager, who has received praise for her calmness throughout the tournament, revealed she drank beer for the first time during the celebrations – and plans to take a break before beginning preparations for next year’s World Cup.
She expressed gratitude to the nation for its support and admitted, “I will need a couple of days to realise what we have done.”
The European Lionesses have had an unblemished season, scoring the most goals in this tournament while conceding only two. There is a strong belief that England’s fairy-tale ending will transform women’s football in the coming years, rekindling interest in the game among fans and players.
“I think these tournaments have done so much for the game, but also for society and women in England, Europe, and around the world,” Wiegman added. In a statement, the Queen emphasised the significance of the Lionesses’ achievement, telling the team, “Your success goes far beyond the trophy you have so deservedly earned.” You have set an example to inspire girls and women today and in future generations.
“I hope you are as proud of your impact on your sport as you are of the outcome today.”
Real beat Eintracht 2-0 for recordequalling fifth UEFA Super Cup win
Champions League winners Real Madrid outclassed Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to clinch the UEFA Super Cup for a record-equalling fifth time and kick off their season with a trophy.
A first half goal from David Alaba and another from Karim Benzema in the 65th that lifted him to second in Real's alltime scoring list with 324 goals, wrapped up the title for the Spaniards.
Europa League winners Eintracht had offered some resistance in the first half and had chances to score but were eventually overrun by the Spaniards. The win also means Real's Carlo Ancelotti becomes the first coach to lift the trophy four times.
"Eintracht were very closed and we found it difficult to find our rhythm, but we did it well then," the Real coach said.
"It's difficult at the beginning of the season to be in top form but we now have won to start the season well."
The Italian, who had named the same starting 11 that began their winning Champions League final in Paris in May, had special praise for captain Benzema, last season's top scorer in the Champions League.
"He's a very important player, a team leader," he said. "If we're here it's largely due to his merits, he scored a lot of goals, he finished the season well, he scored a goal today and now he's going for the Ballon d'Or award," said Ancelotti. Eintracht were without playmaker Filip Kostic who is close to a move to Juventus, but looked more disciplined than in their 6-1 loss to Bayern Munich last week in their Bundesliga season opener.
They also carved out the first chance of the game when Daichi Kamada broke clear but could not beat Real keeper Thibaut Courtois with his low drive in the 14th minute.
Real responded three minutes later but Vinicius Jr's effort was cleared on the line by Tuta. Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp did well to palm another Vinicius Jr effort wide. The keeper, however, misjudged a cross in the 37th and was well out of position when Casemiro headed on for Alaba and the Austrian tapped in from close range for the lead. Real stayed in control after the break, forcing another good save from
Trapp in the 55th, knocking away a deflected Vinicius Jr shot before Casemiro rattled the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the box two minutes later. The pressure eventually paid off when Vinicius Jr combined with Benzema -- the pair scored a combined 111 club goals last season -- and the French forward slotted in to kill off any lingering Eintracht hopes of a first ever Super Cup title. The win brought Real level with AC Milan and Barcelona who have also five Super Cup wins.
Fifth anniversary of 10th Spanish Super Cup triumph
Real Madrid claimed the 2017 crown after overcoming Barcelona.
On 16 August 2017, Real Madrid lifted their 10th Spanish Super Cup, beating Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate in the two-legged final. The first game took place at the Camp Nou, where Madrid sealed a convincing 3-1 victory. Three days later, they clinched the trophy with another win (2-0) in front of the Santiago Bernabéu crowd. Marco Asensio played a key role, netting in each leg with equally sublime leftfooted piledrivers from outside the box which left Ter Stegen with no chance. Cristiano Ronaldo also found the net in the first game, while Karim Benzema struck in the second.
Benzema's name on the Ballon d'Or?
Benzema is coming off the most prolific season in his career, scoring 44 times in 46 games for Real Madrid to help his side win a Champions League and La Liga double - and he looks set to continue that form.
The 34-year-old, who captained Real in the Super Cup final, said this week former team-mate Ronaldo "helped me on and off the pitch", but admitted he was able to adapt his game and score more goals once the Portugal star left.
After his goal Benzema is second only to Ronaldo as Real's all-time leading scorer and staring at individual accolades as well as team prizes, becoming the frontrunner to win the Ballon d'Or in October.
"Benzema is very important, our leader," Ancelotti told Movistar."We are here mostly because of him - he scored many important goals.
"There are no doubts about who should win the Ballon d'Or, it should be Karim." The Italian added: "For us he's the most important and most effective player in the world." "He is an amazing centre-forward," former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves told BT Sport. "The great players rise to these occasions. When they have needed Benzema, he has produced.
"If he doesn't win the Ballon d'Or this season, he never will. I can't see how he doesn't win it. He is irreplaceable. He will age well because he has always been a smart player.
"He doesn't look like he is slowing down - there isn't another one out there like him." Former Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman added: "Incredible, exalted company. Huge iconic names in the history of Real Madrid - only got Cristiano above him and that says a lot.
Karim Benzema has scored 324 goals in 610 games for Real Madrid
PSG bag French Super Cup with big win against Nantes
Lionel Messi opened the scoring and Neymar scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Nantes 4–0 to win the
French Super Cup. Seven-time
Ballon d'Or winner, Messi nets in the middle of the first half. Taking a deflected pass from Neymar, he overtook goalkeeper Alban Lafont and scored with a fine finish. Neymar guided a free kick into the top left corner in injury time in the first half, giving coach
Christophe Gaultier's team a 2–0 lead at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, which has hosted the game for the second year in a row. Experienced defender Sergio Ramos made it 3-0 from close range in the 57th minute and
Neymar converted the penalty in the 82nd after being fouled by
Jean-Charles Castellato, who was sent off.
PSG's players celebrate after winning the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG won 4-0. PSG's Sergio Ramos kisses the trophy after winning the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel.
PSG's Neymar celebrates the trophy with his teammate Marquinhos after winning the French Super Cup final football match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Marquinhos won the trophy after winning the French Super Cup final football match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Lionel Messi waves during the French Super Cup final football match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Lionel Messi, right, controls the ball as PSG's Neymar runs during the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Neymar controls the ball during the French Super Cup final football match between Nantes and Paris SaintGermain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Sergio Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. PSG's Neymar celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel.
PSG's Lionel Messi celebrates with his teammate Pablo Sarabia after his side's opening goal during the French Super Cup final soccer match between Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Medvedev ends losing streak in finals with Los Cabos title
World number one Daniil Medvedev ended his losing run in finals with a 7-5 6-0 win over Britain’s Cameron Norrie to lift the title in Los Cabos, Mexico, and ramp up preparations for his U.S. Open title defence.
A ban on Russian players at Wimbledon due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Medvedev to miss the grasscourt major and he arrived in Mexico for the ATP 250 event for his first tournament since June.
Most of Medvedev’s success over the years have come on hardcourts and he did not lose a set this week en route to his first title of the season.
“Every match was very good, but the final is always special,” Medvedev said.In the final you play the best player of this week, so it’s always a high-level match and I’m really happy that I managed to show some good level, some good shots in such an important match.
The Russian came into the contest against last year’s champion Norrie, ranked 12th in the world, having lost five straight finals dating back to last year’s Paris Masters in November.
After that the 26-year-old was also defeated in the championship match of last year’s ATP Finals. He then went down in the final of the Australian Open at the beginning of 2022 before losing championship matches on grass in the Netherlands and Germany. Medvedev we needed treatment in the 11th game as he scraped his hand on the court and drew blood while hitting a ball, shortly after left-handed Norrie had saved two set points to level the match at 5-5 in the opening set. The Russian, who won his maiden Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows last year, went up a gear from there on, winning the next eight games to seal the contest.
“It was not easy. Cam is an amazing player, so it was really intense,” Medvedev said. “When you play against Cam, you know that you have to fight for every point.
“Actually bleeding helped me I think a little bit so I could hold my nerve a little bit more. Since then I just managed to play good and it was enough today.”
