Hurricane Lee rapidly intensified at a historic pace into a Category 5 storm Thursday night, adding to a spate of extremely intense hurricanes this year and in recent decades which experts say is a symptom of the climate crisis.

This year alone, Category 5 storms have already appeared in all seven ocean basins where tropical cyclones form, including Hurricane Jova, which also rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 storm earlier this week.

Jim Kossin, a hurricane expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Brooklyn-based nonprofit First Street Foundation, agrees. He cautions the NOAA database had not fully counted storms prior to the satellite era, and while advances in technology have made it easier to measure hurricanes, it is still difficult to determine the real trend.

Still, he said at the breakneck pace at which the oceans are warming, high intensity tropical cyclones are likely occurring more often.

The primary way in which storms reach Category 4 or 5 strength is by undergoing a rapid intensification process — when a storm’s winds strengthen rapidly by at least 35 mph in 24 hours or less, said Reed.

It’s just one of the ways experts say the climate crisis is making hurricanes more dangerous, as warmer waters allow for storms to strengthen quicker and reach higher categories on the hurricane wind speed scale. More than 90% of warming around the globe over the past 50 years has taken place in the oceans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The short of it is, as the sea surface temperatures warm, because of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, the likelihood that any event will undergo rapid intensification will increase,” Reed said.

Rapid intensification has been happening more and more as storms are approaching landfall, making them harder to prepare for. Hurricane Idalia rapidly intensified by 55 mph in 24 hours before landfall along Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 4 hurricane late last month.

And in the North Atlantic, where ocean temperatures have been off the charts, storms like Lee have had quite a feast.

Lee’s winds increased 85 mph in 24 hours, the third-fastest a storm has rapidly intensified on record in the Atlantic Ocean, according to NOAA research meteorologist John Kaplan.

“There is little doubt that the exceptionally warm ocean waters we’re seeing have a human fingerprint on them,” Kossin said. “Add to this the warming effects of the El Niño happening this year and we have a recipe for breaking a lot of temperature records.”

Kossin noted this is especially true in the eastern North Pacific, where warming from a growing El Niño is most concentrated. “Jova is sitting in the middle of this, and the warm water certainly fueled the rapid intensification,” he added.

One thing is for certain: As the world’s oceans continue to warm, experts say the frequency at which these top-of-scale storms can occur and intensify will only increase.

Novak Djokovic cruised through to the US Open final after a dominant 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-4) win against American youngster Ben Shelton.

Shelton, playing in his first ever grand slam semifinal, came out all guns blazing but was unable to lay much of a glove on the ever-impressive Djokovic.

The world No. 2 was at his imperious best during the clash and controlled proceedings against Shelton from start to finish.

“These are the kinds of matches and occasions that I still thrive on and get me going and inspire me every day to try and work as hard as the young guys,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview after the win.

“The grand slams are the ones that motivate me the most to play my best tennis, perform my best tennis.”

The Serbian’s first break came in the sixth game of the match and after going up 4-2 in the first set, Djokovic never looked back – going on to win the first set 6-3.

This momentum carried into the next set where Djokovic raced on to claim the second set 6-2 to grab a stranglehold on the encounter inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Being two sets down against Djokovic is a place where no tennis player wants to be and, despite being behind, Shelton will be proud of his efforts in the final set.

The world No. 47 toiled away, making it difficult for Djokovic to advance to the final, and he was even able to break the serve of the 23-time grand slam winner twice during the final frame – forcing a tiebreak.

Djokovic eventually took the third set in the tiebreak and celebrated by imitating his opponent’s celebration – which involves miming holding a phone to his ear and then hanging it up – something that has become a trademark of Shelton’s victories during his US Open run.

The win also means that the Serbian now has a 30-1 record against players playing in their home slam after knocking out the home crowd favorite Shelton.

“I knew prior to the quarterfinals that I would play an American player and that is never easy. To control the nerves and be composed in the moments that matter,” Djokovic added.

“Today things were going really smoothly for me and then he broke back and it was anyone’s game at the end of the third set. This is the kind of atmosphere we all like to play in, so I am really, really pleased with this win today.”

At 20 years old, there will likely be plenty of opportunities for the big serving youngster to go big in future tournaments and, based on this year’s US Open, he has more than enough skill to do so.

For Djokvoic, he has now made it to a record-equaling 10th US Open final and he will be looking to win his fourth title at Flushing Meadows in Sunday’s final.

He also has the chance to make history and level Margaret Court’s record of 24 grand slam singles titles.

The 36-year-old will play the final on Arthur Ashe Stadium against the winner of the semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev who play later on Friday.

Hurricane Lee maintained its Category 4 strength Friday evening as the powerful storm’s indirect – yet dangerous – impacts were expected to reach the waters of the East Coast as early as this weekend.

The hurricane, which briefly strengthened to a rare Category 5 storm in the Atlantic Ocean, is packing destructive maximum sustained winds of 150 mph and is about 500 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands.

“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely over the next few days, however Lee is expected to remain a powerful major hurricane through early next week,” the National Hurricane Center said.

It’s too soon to know whether this system will directly impact the US mainland, but the storm will create dangerous coastal conditions like rip currents and large waves along the East Coast as soon as Sunday regardless of its final track.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed in warm ocean waters, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.

The storm’s winds increased by 85 mph in a 24-hour period, which tied it with Hurricane Matthew for the third-fastest rapid intensification in the Atlantic, according to NOAA research meteorologist John Kaplan. The monstrous hurricane struck Haiti in 2016, killing hundreds in the Caribbean nation while also wreaking havoc on parts of the US Southeast.

Dangerous surf and rip currents will spread across the northern Caribbean on Friday

The center of Lee will pass to the north of the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend and into early next week. Tropical storm conditions, life-threatening surf and rip currents could occur on some of these islands over the weekend.

Lee now in rare company

Lee hit a rare strength that few storms have ever achieved. Only 2% of storms in the Atlantic reach Category 5 strength, according to NOAA’s hurricane database. Including Lee, only 40 Category 5 hurricanes have roamed the Atlantic since 1924.

Category 5 is the highest level on the hurricane wind speed scale and has no maximum point. Hurricanes hit this level when their sustained winds reach 157 mph or higher. A 165-mph storm like Lee is the same category as Hurricane Allen, the Atlantic’s strongest hurricane on record, which topped out at 190 mph in 1980.

Hurricanes need the perfect mixture of warm water, moist air and light upper-level winds to intensify enough to reach Category 5 strength. Lee had all of these, especially warm water amid the warmest summer on record.

Sea-surface temperatures across the portion of the Atlantic Ocean that Lee is tracking through are a staggering 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal after rising to “far above record levels” this summer, according to David Zierden, Florida’s state climatologist.

Reaching Category 5 strength has become more common over the last decade. Lee is the 8th Category 5 since 2016, meaning 20% of these exceptionally powerful hurricanes on record in NOAA’s hurricane database have come in the last seven years.

The Atlantic is not the only ocean to have spawned a monster storm in 2023. All seven ocean basins where tropical cyclones can form have had a storm reach Category 5 strength so far this year, including Hurricane Jova, which reached Category 5 status in the eastern Pacific earlier this week.

How close will Hurricane Lee get to the US?

Computer model trends for Lee have shown the hurricane taking a turn to the north early next week. But exactly when that turn occurs and how far west Lee will manage to track by then will play a huge role in how close it gets to the US.

Several steering factors at the surface and upper levels of the atmosphere will determine how close Lee will get to the East Coast.

An area of high pressure over the Atlantic, known as the Bermuda High, will have a major influence in how quickly Lee turns. The Bermuda High is expected to remain very strong into the weekend, which will keep Lee on its current west-northwestward track and slow it down a bit.

As the high pressure weakens next week it will allow Lee to start moving northward.

Once that turn to the north occurs, the position of the jet stream – strong upper-level winds that can change the direction of a hurricane’s path – will influence how closely Lee is steered to the US.

Scenario: Out to Sea

Lee could make a quick turn to the north early next week if high pressure weakens significantly.

If the jet stream sets up along the East Coast, it will act as a barrier that prevents Lee from approaching the coast. This scenario would keep Lee farther away from the US coast but could bring the storm closer to Bermuda.

Scenario: Close to East Coast

Lee could make a slower turn to the north because the high pressure remains robust, and the jet stream sets up farther inland over the Eastern US. This scenario would leave portions of the East Coast, mainly north of the Carolinas, vulnerable to a much closer approach from Lee.

All these factors have yet to come into focus, and the hurricane is still at least seven days from being a threat to the East Coast. Any potential US impact will become more clear as the Lee moves west in the coming days.

As Europe continues to be squeezed by overtourism and short-term rentals mushroom to accommodate visitors, cities across the continent are noting more and more that residents are being squeezed out.

Now, one of Europe’s biggest tourist destinations is taking action. The city of Florence has announced plans to ban new short-term rentals such as Airbnbs.

The new legislation, which will be voted on next Wednesday and is expected to be active by November, will ban any further properties in the historic center of the city being registered as short-term rentals.

“We are witnessing a progressive growth in the influx of tourists which has become even more pronounced since the pandemic,” he added.

Figures from the city council show that 75% of Florence’s short-term rentals are concentrated in just 5% of the municipal territory – the city’s centro storico, the birthplace of the Renaissance and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The legislation aims to tackle that 5%.

If approved, the legislation will ban the registration of any new short-term rentals in the city center. Additionally, in a bid to incentivize residential contracts, any owners who convert Airbnbs into a long-term residential let will have their property taxes on the building zeroed out for three years.

The law will not be retroactive – so anyone with an existing short-term rental contract will be able to retain it. Around 4,000 new registrations have been made since the move was announced, according to local media. Some were already operating illegally; others are putting in requests for plans to Airbnb their properties in the future.

Nardella said that the authorities were taking action to protect Florence’s global heritage.

“We are putting a simple ban in the UNESCO area to meet our responsibilities of protecting the cultural and material identity of the centro storico, and to dampen the effect of rent increases across the entire city – which are directly linked to the boom of short-term tourist rentals.”

Calling for urgent national legislation from the government, Nardella said that the Florence authorities had “rolled up our sleeves because for too long we’ve been asking for regulation that never happens.”

He added: “We cannot watch our centro storico changing and we cannot cope with all the problems of citizens unable to find an apartment to rent.

“Faced with inertia from the government and parliament, it’s our duty to act to put the brakes on this social emergency.”

Not everyone is delighted. Lorenzo Masi, a councilor with the populist Five Star political movement, has queried “what will happen to those who aren’t renting [property] in an entrepreneurial way, but are for example renting a room in the home they live in – in many cases to offset costs.”

“We would need plans that include these kind of situations, in which the most disadvantaged groups are not compared with those who are working purely on a business level,” he said in a statement.

Follow the money

For some, the proposals don’t go far enough. “What the mayor has done is great, but without inspections, it’s not enough,” said Veronica Grechi, owner of Velona’s Jungle B&B on the edge of Florence’s city center. Grechi describes the way that much of the short-term rental sector is managed as “non-professional and wild west,” with many property owners operating rentals without declaring them to the authorities.

Grechi – who says that when recently looking for cleaning staff, companies offered to work with her on the condition that she paid them 80% cash in hand, declaring only 20% to the tax man – says that if authorities conducted checks on properties and followed the money, the number of Airbnbs would naturally drop.

“Everyone does it [rent short-term] at the moment because it’s easy – it costs nothing. If you make people do it professionally, the numbers [of Airbnbs] would go down immediately, because it wouldn’t be worth them doing it.”

Growing opposition to Airbnb

Florence is the latest destination to attempt to stem the rising tide of Airbnbs.

New York City has introduced what Airbnb has deemed a “de facto ban” on short-term rentals. Properties can only be registered for rentals of under 30 days if the host is living in the property at the same time as the guests, of which there can be no more than two.

Portugal has also laid out new housing laws this summer which cast uncertainty over short-term rentals.

In Amsterdam, owners can rent out properties for a maximum 30 days per calendar year, for a maximum of four guests at a time.

In Berlin, entire properties can be rented short-term for a maximum 90 days per year.

Russia’s failures on the battlefield in Ukraine could turn into a win for North Korea.

That’s the view of analysts who say a possible meeting between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin could lead to Pyongyang getting its hands on the sort of weapons two decades’ worth of United Nations’ sanctions have barred it from accessing.

On Monday, the US National Security Council claimed arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were “actively advancing,” after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow.

The US also believes there could be a Putin-Kim meeting in the near future.

Should it materialize, such a meeting would come after more than a year and a half of war in Ukraine has left the Russian military battered, depleted and in need of supplies.

It would also come after 17 years of UN sanctions aimed at hampering North Korea’s ability to build a fully functioning nuclear weapons and ballistic missile force.

“This [meeting] is a very significant development if it goes forward,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Russia has the military technology that Kim wants for his illegal satellite launch and nuclear weapons delivery programs.”

Despite the UN sanctions, Kim has been developing his ballistic missile program at breakneck pace for the past two years. In that period he has tested dozens of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic ones (ICBMs) that in theory could deliver a nuclear warhead over the US mainland.

But doubts remain over the extent of the country’s capabilities.

“American analysts and experts from other countries still debate the nuclear payload that North Korea’s ICBMs could carry, and it is still unclear whether the ICBMs have the capability to survive reentry,” said a June 2022 report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Were Kim to get his hands on technology from Russia, a world leader in nuclear missile forces for decades, it would be a great boost for his programs and a great concern for leaders in the West, analysts said.

Doo Jin-ho, research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said Russia could provide various things on North Korea’s wish list: reentry technology, improved launch capabilities for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, satellite reconnaissance capabilities, and even help with launching satellites.

North Korea has attempted two satellite launches this year; both ended in failure.

Any Pyongyang-Moscow deal could possibly include commodities that Russia has in abundance but North Korea lacks due to the long years of sanctions, said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.

“North Korea needs cash, it needs food, it needs energy,” Schuster said.

Writing this week in The Conversation, Daniel Salisbury, visiting research fellow at King’s College London, said that if Russia began buying North Korean arms – thereby flouting UN sanctions Moscow itself helped pass – other countries that had once imported military hardware from Pyongyang, like Iran, might follow suit.

Russia’s “purchases will undermine the North Korea sanctions regime and help to generate revenue for the Kim regime. It could also spur a broader renaissance for North Korea’s arms export enterprise,” Salisbury wrote.

Old friends

Any pact with Moscow would help Kim in another way, said Schuster, a former US Navy captain.

“This alliance makes him look less isolated, provides a psychological boost for him and his inner circle,” Schuster said of the North Korean leader.

Though military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang has a history going back to Stalin’s support of Kim’s grandfather at the start of the Korean War in 1950, it has waned in more recent years, especially when Russia, with veto power in the UN Security Council, supported the implementation of sanctions on North Korea.

Still, that long history means there are many similarities in their weapons stocks that could be useful to Russia.

“North Korea makes good what I call heavy industrial weapons,” Schuster said. “Its artillery and ammunition is very good. It’s very similar to Russian designs.”

Doo agreed, saying “North Korea’s 152mm artillery ammunition and 122mm multiple rocket launcher ammunition can be used on Russian weapons immediately.”

But North Korean ammo would not be a game-changer for Russia, said Joseph Dempsey, research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“These [arms] could help replenish depleted stocks and prolong the conflict but are not going to change its direction,” he said.

Others questioned how quickly any North Korean ammo could get into the hands of Russian troops on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Shipments from North Korea to Russian fighting forces would need to cross the Trans-Siberian Railway, more than 5,700 miles from Vladivostok in the east to Moscow in the west.

Much of the equipment on the rail line is from the late Cold War era, and seriously stressed, said Trent Telenko, a former quality control auditor for the US’ Defense Contract Management Agency who has studied Russian logistics.

“Overstressing Cold War era transportation is a seriously stupid idea on a lot of levels. And that is exactly what the Russians are doing,” Telenko said.

Spanish climate activists sprayed red paint across a superyacht owned by billionaire Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie in Barcelona on Friday, the second time the yacht has been the target of protests in the past two months.

Two activists from the climate groups Scientist Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion accessed Marina Port Vell, a dock for superyachts, at 7 a.m. local time on Friday, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

They sprayed biodegradable red paint onto the superyacht before unfurling a banner reading: “Billionaires should not exist.”

“At the end of another exceptional summer in terms of record temperatures and extreme weather events, the richest 1% of people on the planet continue to pollute more than the poorest 50%. Mega-yachts are one of the most obvious examples of a lifestyle that is unsustainable for the planet,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Marina Port Vell said that the boat had not been damaged in Friday’s action.

Laurie’s yacht was also targeted in Ibiza in July. Activists from the environmental group Futuro Vegetal sprayed the yacht with red and black paint and held up a banner reading: “You Consume Others Suffer.”

The luxuries enjoyed by the world’s wealthiest people – from superyachts to private jets – are increasingly the focus of climate protests because of their heavy climate impact.

Extinction Rebellion has pledged to target the super wealthy, saying they want to make it clear that “the rich and their leisure activities that waste essential resources are a luxury that we cannot afford.”

America’s wealthiest people are some of the world’s biggest polluters, according to a recent report, which found that America’s richest 10% are responsible for almost half of the country’s planet-heating pollution.

The Barcelona protest comes the same week as scientists revealed this summer was the planet’s hottest on record by a significant margin.

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service which produced the data, said the world should expect these records to be broken again and again.

“The scientific evidence is overwhelming – we will continue to see more climate records and more intense and frequent extreme weather events impacting society and ecosystems, until we stop emitting greenhouse gases,” she said in a statement.

Moscow’s forces have started covering some of their attack aircraft with car tires, in what experts say could be a makeshift attempt to protect them from Ukrainian drone strikes that have had increased recent success in targeting Russian military airports.

Satellite imagery from Maxar of Engels Airbase, deep inside Russia, shows two Tu-95 strategic bombers with car tires on top of the airframes.

The move may have limited effect, according to Francisco Serra-Martins of drone manufacturer One Way Aerospace whose drones have been used by Ukrainian forces.

“While it seems pretty goofy, they seem to be trying to do the best they can to up-armor the planes that are otherwise sitting ducks. Whether it works depends on what the warhead is on the missile/drone,” said Steffan Watkins, an open-source research consultant who tracks aircraft and ships.

Watkins added that the tires could be used to stop fragmentation of an explosion above the plane from piercing the aircraft.

Ukraine has become increasingly bold in targeting strategic assets inside Russia through aerial attacks in recent weeks, even as it suffers assaults on its own cities, setting up a new phase of the conflict defined by Kyiv’s apparent efforts to wear down domestic Russian support for the war.

Last week six Russian regions including Moscow came under attack, in the biggest drone assault on its territory since it launched its invasion of Ukraine. In the city of Pskov, near the Estonian border, several transport planes were reportedly damaged when drones targeted an airport.

Earlier in August, Ukraine said it had carried out drone strikes on bases that house supersonic bombers deep in Russian territory – in what appeared to be an effort to make a dent in Russia’s air power, which has been a major obstacle for Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Russian forces have previously resorted to unusual DIY solutions to protect equipment from Ukrainian attacks, including covering the often vulnerable turrets of their tanks with metal cages in a bid to reduce the impact of modern anti-tank weapons that attack with armor penetrating rounds from above.

When a yoga teacher turned out the lights toward the end of one of her classes in Britain this week, her hope was to encourage peaceful relaxation.

What followed could not have been further from her intention.

Soon after the class was over, a “mass of police sirens” shattered the peace as officers raced toward the venue where the class was being held.

They were responding to a call from a member of the public, worried there had been a mass killing at the studio in the small English coastal resort of Chapel St. Leonards.

Millie Laws, who runs Unity Yoga, was teaching the class at the North Sea Observatory in the village, which also doubles as a community space, art gallery and exercise studio.

Seascape Cafe at the Observatory described the incident on Wednesday evening in a Facebook post, writing: “If any one heard the mass of police sirens in Chapel St Leonard’s at 9:30pm last night then please be reassured.

“They were on their way to the Observatory after someone had reported a mass killing in our building. Having seen several people laying on the floor… Which actually turned out to be the Yoga Class in meditation.”

“Dear General Public, please be mindful that the Observatory has lots of Yoga classes happening in the evenings. We are not part of any mad cult or crazy clubs,” the post continued.

In a separate Facebook post on the Unity Yoga page, Laws said that the call to police was triggered after “some local dog walkers mistook the scene for a ritual mass murder.”

“I was very shocked,” she said. “It was so surreal and I didn’t quite believe it was true.

“I have spoken to most of the people who took part and they have just said how mad it is.

“They were all participating in a beautiful deep relaxation and it could have never run through any of our minds that it could be taken in this way.”

Argentina got its 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start thanks to yet another sublime Lionel Messi free kick.

With the score still goalless after 78 minutes, Messi stepped up and curled a pinpoint effort over the defenders’ wall, rooting Ecuador goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez to the spot and making him just another spectator.

It proved to be the winner in Argentina’s 1-0 victory and the Inter Miami forward then received a huge standing ovation when he was substituted in the 89th minute.

“We know that they are difficult matches in the qualifiers,” Messi told reporters after the match. “Ecuador has very good players, they know what they are doing and they are very good physically. It was a very tough match, very physical. I was a little tired – that’s why I was subbed – but I felt good.

“Not long ago, we were world champions, but it seems like a lot happened since then. We have to keep going, competing and qualifying for the next World Cup, take it game after game.

“We showed in the friendlies we played and today in today’s match for points that this group is not going to relax. Everyone wants to beat Argentina and now that we are champions, even more so.”

Messi’s goal was his 29th in World Cup qualifying campaigns, equaling his old Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez’s record. In total, Messi now has 104 goals in 176 games for the national team.

While the Albiceleste dominated possession, an organized Ecuador team – which will be expecting to qualify for the 2026 World Cup – stifled the home team’s attack for much of the match.

However, there was no stopping Messi’s moment of magic late in the second half.

The newly-expanded World Cup means the top six of the 10 South American teams are now guaranteed a place for the 2026 edition, with the country finishing in seventh entering a mini intercontinental playoff tournament to try and earn a spot.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Colombia also got its campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 win at home to Venezuela, while Paraguay was held to a goalless draw at home to 10-man Peru.

The first round of fixtures continues on Friday, with Brazil hosting Bolivia and Uruguay welcoming Chile.

The 10th edition of the Rugby World Cup gets underway on Friday as host France faces New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris.

As curtain-raising games go, this is about as big as it gets, pitting two of the best teams in the world against each other in front of a likely sell-out crowd of 80,000.

It will mark the first of 48 games taking place at nine venues across France, with the tournament concluding at the same stadium on October 28.

With kick-off looming, here’s everything you need to know ahead of rugby union’s showpiece event.

Where is it?

France, which previously staged the Rugby World Cup in 2007, was voted as the host of this year’s event in 2017 ahead of bids from South Africa and Ireland.

It comes at a time when the country is in the sporting spotlight with Paris hosting next year’s Olympic Games.

Organizers anticipate that 600,000 fans will travel to France for the tournament and announced last year that a record 2.6 million tickets had been made available for the tournament.

Matches will be staged at nine venues across nine different cities: Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Paris, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

The Stade de France will host the opening games between France and the All Blacks, two quarterfinals, the two semifinals and the final, while the Stade de Marseille is the only other venue hosting knockout games.

How to watch

In the United States, which has failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 1995, matches are being broadcast on NBC.

The tournament will be aired on Stan Sport in Australia, Sky in New Zealand and ITV and S4C in the UK.

A full list of international broadcasters is available here on the Rugby World Cup website.

Who is taking part?

A total of 20 teams have qualified for this year’s Rugby World Cup and they will compete in four pools of five teams each.

Many of the nations competing are tournament regulars. Ireland, defending champion South Africa, France and New Zealand are, in that order, the top-ranked teams in the world, and behind them Australia, England, Argentina, Wales and Scotland are all established forces in the game.

<div data-uri=”cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/cllz7bnvw000e3b6gnx1dtzzn@published” data-component-name=”video-resource” data-editable=”settings” class=”video-resource_tve” data-fixed-ratio=”16×9″ data-video-id=”sports/2023/08/08/exp-rugby-tnt-intv-080808aseg4-cnni-sports.cnn” data-live=”” data-analytics-aggregate-events=”true” data-custom-experience=”” data-asset-type=”hlsTs” data-medium-env=”prod” data-autostart=”unmuted” data-show-ads=”true” data-source=”CNN” data-featured-video=”true” data-headline=”One month to go Rugby World Cup 2023″ data-description=”There’s just one month to go now until the start of the Rugby World Cup in France. With the countdown to kick-off firmly on, who better to cast their eye over the runners and riders than TNT Sports Rugby Pundits, Ugo Monye and Stuart Hogg.” data-duration=”02:58″ data-source-html='<span class=”video-resource_tve__source”> – Source: <a href=”https://www.cnn.com/” class=”video-resource_tve__source-url”>CNN</a> </span>’ data-fave-thumbnails='{“big”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230808150652-exp-rugby-tnt-intv-080808aseg4-cnni-sports-00010528.png?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” }, “small”: { “uri”: “https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230808150652-exp-rugby-tnt-intv-080808aseg4-cnni-sports-00010528.png?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill” } }’ data-vr-video=”false” data-show-html=”” data-check-event-based-preview=”” data-network-id=”” data-details=””>

Fiji has enjoyed a strong build-up to the tournament, defeating England for the first time ever last month, while Italy, Georgia, Japan, Tonga and Samoa have been competing against – and sometimes beating – the world’s strongest rugby-playing nations for decades.

The likes of Uruguay, Namibia, Romania and Portugal are less experienced contenders at the top of the sport and seem unlikely to progress beyond the pool stage. Chile is the only team making its debut at the World Cup after defeating the USA by a single point across two qualifying matches last year.

What’s the format?

Each country plays the other teams in its pool once. The top two teams from each pool then qualify for the quarterfinals and compete in a knockout format.

The top team from Pool A then faces the runner-up in Pool B (quarterfinal four) and the winner of Pool B faces the runner-up of Pool A (quarterfinal two). The same happens with Pools C and D (quarterfinals one and three) on the other side of the draw.

In the semifinals, the winner of quarterfinal one faces the winner of quarterfinal two and the winner of quarterfinal three faces the winner of quarterfinal four. There will also be a third-place playoff on October 27 between the two losing semifinalists.

Who is in which pool?

Pool A

New Zealand
France
Italy
Uruguay
Namibia

Pool B

South Africa
Ireland
Scotland
Tonga
Romania

Pool C

Wales
Australia
Fiji
Georgia
Portugal

Pool D

England
Japan
Argentina
Samoa
Chile

Who are the favorites?

The previous nine Rugby World Cups have produced just four different winners – New Zealand, South Africa (both three times), Australia (twice) and England (once) – while France is the only other nation to appear in a final.

For perhaps the first time, four teams enter the tournament with a good chance of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy, two of whom have never won a title before.

“If you were to list the favorites to win the World Cup, it’s hard to ignore South Africa, they’re the champions. New Zealand are currently flying. Ireland are the number one side in the world, the [Six Nations] grand slam champions, and you’ve got France who are an incredible team.”

However, an oddity of the draw, which was made three years ago, means that two of those four teams will be knocked out of the tournament before the semifinals.

South Africa’s confidence will be high after convincing wins against Wales and New Zealand last month, while France has the home advantage and defeated Australia, Fiji and Scotland in its warm-up games. The host, however, has been blighted by recent injuries to fly-half Romain Ntamack, second row Paul Willemse, prop Cyril Baille and center Jonathan Danty, though some of those may be able to return later in the tournament.

Ireland, as was the case before the last World Cup, is at the top of the world rankings and will be looking to overturn the country’s disappointing history in rugby’s showpiece having never progressed beyond the quarterfinals.

The competition is less strong on the other side of the draw, potentially offering Australia, England, Argentina or Wales a route to the semifinals without meeting one of the world’s top-four teams.

“Whilst England underperformed over the last couple years … [its] route to success is going to be slightly more simple – if there is a simple route to success in the World Cup,” said Monye.

‘Pool of death’

On paper, Pool B is the most difficult group, handing Scotland – which has only twice before failed to reach the quarterfinals – early games against Ireland and South Africa.

Tonga, meanwhile, has benefitted from a change in eligibility rules since 2022, allowing players to switch allegiance if they qualify for another nation and haven’t been selected for three years. That has freed up several former New Zealand and Australia internationals to bolster Tonga’s squad ahead of the tournament.

“They’re against the current world champions and the world number one. But I’ve always said: ‘To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.’”

Who are the star players?

French scrum-half Antoine Dupont, voted player of the year in the men’s game two years ago, is guaranteed to light up games with his clever passes and darting runs, though he will be without regular half-back partner Ntamack, who sustained a knee injury ahead of the tournament.

Head coach Fabien Galthié still has plenty of star quality in his squad, namely powerful winger Damian Penaud and ball-carrying number eight Grégory Alldritt.

New Zealand, reeling from a 35-7 loss against South Africa last month, has named an experienced squad. Four players – Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett and Brodie Retallick – enter the tournament with more than 100 international appearances, while captain Sam Kane and hooker Dane Coles were also part of the All Blacks’ victorious team in 2015.

South Africa is missing three star players from its title-winning team four years ago – center Lukhanyo Am, fly-half Handré Pollard and second-row Lood de Jager – but does have plenty of firepower thanks to enforcer forward Eben Etzebeth and live-wire wingers Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi.

For Ireland, fly-half Johnny Sexton is set to make his final appearances in professional rugby before retiring aged 38. Forwards James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier, last year’s men’s player of the year, have been crucial to the country’s recent success.

Two other Northern Hemisphere fly-halves will also be vital for their teams: England captain Owen Farrell will return from a two-game ban midway through the groups stage following a red card against Wales last month, while Scotland will be hoping that Finn Russell can be at his dazzling best in a bid to qualify from the “pool of death.”

“I love watching Finn Russell,” said his former teammate Hogg. “Even when I was playing with him, I could stand behind him and watch him all day long. On his day, there’s nobody better.”

Russell isn’t the only supreme entertainer at the World Cup. Fiji is renowned for its fast, exciting style of rugby, which this tournament will likely be spearheaded by flanker Levani Botia and centers Josua Tuisova and Semi Radrada. The Pacific Islanders, fresh off their historic victory against England, could go far at this year’s World Cup.