‘Messi mania’ swept across New York on Saturday as Lionel Messi made his Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season debut for Inter Miami away against the New York Red Bulls.

However, fans who attended the match had to wait until the 60th minute for the Argentine superstar to enter the game as a substitute with his team already 1-0 up.

The crowd at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey gave the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner a rousing ovation as he walked onto the pitch and, in the 89th minute, they got just what they would have wanted – a goal for Messi.

Surrounded by four defenders, Messi controlled the ball in the box, threaded it through to Benjamin Cremaschi who then simply slotted it back inside to Messi.

With the goalkeeper pulled out of position, Messi prodded the ball into the back of the net from close range, scoring his first official MLS goal and secure a 2-0 win for Inter Miami.

Even fans not in the stadium to witness ‘Messi magic’ in person were able to get a little taste of it. A packed crowd gathered in Times Square to watch the match on the gigantic screens, cheering on as Messi scored.

“Where dreams are made of,” Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said on Instagram afterwards, alongside pictures of Messi, the rest of the team and fans wearing Messi jerseys. “Thank you NYC. Great win on the road.”

With the win, Inter Miami moved from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to 14th place, leapfrogging Toronto FC.
Messi and Inter Miami are next scheduled to play on Wednesday against Nashville SC at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It was a familiar sight – Simone Biles twisting though the air, effortlessly and powerfully completing routines no other female gymnast has ever landed in competition.

Even after a long absence from competition, there is an assuredness to her performance and the four-time Olympic gold medalist is now just four routines away from a record eighth US national all-around title after she ended the opening day of the US Gymnastics Championships in first place with a score of 59.3 – 2.75 points ahead of the field.

An eighth title for Biles would break the record that she currently shares with Alfred Jochim, who won his seventh title 90 years ago in 1933. She would also become the oldest woman to win the championships.

It was a remarkable performance on Friday, capped by an almost perfect Yurchenko double pike on the vault, which has never been landed in competition by another female gymnast, according to Reuters.

“Beams started off a little bit rough, but that’s kind of to be expected. You get your nerves out of the way and then after that, it was pretty smooth sailing,” Biles told the Peacock broadcast when asked about her performance. “Pretty happy with the overall meet.”

When asked what drives her to win the historic eighth title, Biles said, “I think I just have personal goals that I want to meet and keep pushing for so that’s what I’m aiming for.”

The 26-year-old returned to action earlier this month, winning in triumphant fashion at the Core Hydration Classic.

She recorded the top score in three of the four apparatus – vault, floor and balance beam – to stamp her authority on the event and will be seeking to do the same on Sunday.

World all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones sits in second place going into the competition’s second day while Skye Blakely is in third.

Biles is the most decorated gymnast in US history, winning 32 medals across the Olympics and the world championships.

She continues her return to competitive gymnastics after a two-year hiatus following the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when she pulled out of several events suffering from what is known as the “twisties” – a mental block that causes gymnast to lose track of their positions in midair.

How to watch

Day two of the U.S. Gymnastics Championships begins at 3.30 p.m. PST (6.30 p.m. ET/11.30 p.m. UK time) on Sunday.

Biles will begin on vault, before taking on the uneven bars, balance beam and finishing on floor.

Coverage of the competition will be domestically broadcast on NBC and Peacock, while international viewers can watch the event on the USA Gymnastics YouTube channel.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is to halve the $200 daily fee it charges tourists in an effort to boost a sector still struggling to recover a year after the end of Covid-19 restrictions.

Bhutan raised its “Sustainable Development Fee” to $200 per visitor per night, from $65, when it ended two years of Covid restrictions in September last year saying the money would go to offset the carbon generated by visitors.

The new rate of $100 per night would come into effect from September and last for four years, the government said in a statement late on Friday.

“This is in view of the important role of the tourism sector in generating employment, earning foreign exchange … and in boosting overall economic growth,” it said.

Isolated for generations, Bhutan opened to tourists in 1974 when it received 300 visitors. The number soared to 315,600 in 2019, up 15.1% from a year earlier, official data showed.

Bhutan has always been wary of the impact of mass tourism and it bans mountain climbing to preserve the sanctity of its peaks. The tourist fee has limited arrivals to bigger spenders who make up a fraction of the numbers that visit nearby Nepal.

Nevertheless, Bhutan hopes to raise the contribution of tourism to its $3 billion economy 20%, from about 5%.

Dorji Dhradhul, director general of the Department of Tourism, said the halving of the fee could boost arrivals in the September-December peak tourist period, which includes many religious and cultural events in the mainly Buddhist country.

In June, the government eased rules on length of stay and fees for tourists but numbers have not picked up as expected.

Dhradhul said more than 56,000 tourists had visited Bhutan since January but about 42,000 were Indian nationals, who only have to pay a fee of 1,200 Indian rupees ($14.5) a day.

About 50,000 Bhutanese are employed in tourism which earned about $84 million a year in the three years before the pandemic in foreign exchange.

North Korea has announced it will allow its citizens living abroad to return home in an easing of its coronavirus-era border controls. But it will still require them to do a one-week quarantine.

The country has decided to “adjust the anti-epidemic degree in reference to the eased worldwide pandemic situation,” according to the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters.

The announcement, reported by state media outlet KCNA on Sunday, comes months after most other Asian countries relaxed the last of their coronavirus-era restrictions.

China, which had long operated one of the region’s toughest Covid regimes, abandoned its zero-tolerance approach in December 2022.

Recent moves by North Korea, which closed its borders in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, have signaled that the country is reopening, but Pyongyang will still require even returning citizens to quarantine on arrival.

“Those who return will be put under proper medical observation at quarantine wards for a week,” it said in the announcement.

The news comes after a North Korean flight from Pyongyang arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, in what was the first known international commercial flight to leave North Korea since January 2020.

Flights between North Korea and Russia are also set to resume, with four flights between Pyongyang and Vladivostok this month.

Also this past week, about a hundred North Korean Taekwondo athletes arrived in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, to compete in the 22nd International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championship in what is believed to be the first overseas trip taken by a North Korean sports team since restrictions were imposed in the country in 2020.

It’s a nightmare scenario for anyone with a pet: taking them on a trip with you, and losing them.

Paula Rodriguez is currently living that nightmare, after her dog, Maia, was lost by airport staff who were bringing her to her Delta flight at Atlanta airport – the busiest in the world.

Rodriguez was flying from her home in the Dominican Republic for a two-week vacation in California with her six-year-old dog, Maia, on August 18.

Flying Delta Air Lines with Maia in the cabin with her, Rodriguez’s journey included a layover at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, before continuing to San Francisco.

But on arrival at Atlanta at 6.55 p.m. Friday, Rodriguez says that border force staff informed her that she “didn’t meet the requirements” of her tourist visa – so they canceled it, telling her that she’d have to return to home on the next flight.

When they realized that wasn’t until the next day, they said she’d have to spend the night in a detention center – but that her dog couldn’t come with her.

“I started asking questions about where she’d be spending the night, and told him she’d been in a lot of distress on the flight. When we’d got there [to Atlanta] she’d puked with distress and had diarrhea.

“He told me not to worry, that she’d be taken to a facility with staff trained for that. That they’d give her food and water and take care of her. It wasn’t my wish, but I understood. There was nothing I could do, and I trusted him.”

A reunion that never happened

Rodriguez’s flight back to the Dominican Republic was scheduled for 10.20 a.m. the following day, and border staff told her that they’d pick her up from the detention center one hour and 45 minutes before her departure, to take her to the gate, where her dog would be waiting.

“I asked everyone – I told them I needed time to locate her, that she was sick and I wanted to clean her kennel, and they said, ‘Let’s go to the gate, she should be there,’” said Rodriguez.

Passengers were already boarding as they arrived. But Maia wasn’t there.

“The gate staff started making calls. A manager came and said they were looking for her, that she should be in the facility but they didn’t have time to look and I should get on a plane,” said Rodriguez.

“I started panicking and said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t get on when you’re telling me you don’t know where my dog is.’”

They shifted her to a flight an hour later, leaving for Punta Cana, a two-and-a-half-hour drive away from Santo Domingo. Rodriguez was happy to switch destinations, and assumed that it was a simple mixup and Maia would make the next flight.

But Maia didn’t show, and border agents told Rodriguez that she couldn’t be in the US for more than 24 hours without a visa. She had to leave on that flight to Punta Cana – without the dog.

Desperately seeking Maia

Rodriguez says she had a panic attack on the three-hour flight to Punta Cana. She and Maia have barely spent minutes apart from each other since Rodriguez, who used to rescue street dogs and rehome them, found her as a month-old puppy and couldn’t bear to part with her.

Upon landing at Punta Cana, she filed a report. Meanwhile, her mother went to Santo Domingo in case the dog had ended up there without anyone realizing.

“I called Delta, Atlanta airport, even San Francisco. I filed every claim possible. I called all the shelters and veterinary surgeries I could in Atlanta. I was in agony for two days with no answer,” said Rodriguez.

On the Monday, two days after the dog went missing, she says she was called by a Delta representative in Santo Domingo.

“Planes were taking off and coming in. He said they chased her but she ran faster and faster and she escaped. That’s all I know.”

The following day, she was called by another Delta representative, informing her that he’d be handling her case.

“I’ve called him several times a day but he has no updates,” she said.

With her US visa canceled, Rodriguez isn’t allowed to fly back into the United States to search for her dog. Instead, on August 24, six days after she last saw Maia, Rodriguez’s mother was flow out to Atlanta to represent her.

“They’re giving her a tour, and showing her the tapes, but she says there’s nothing – no leads,” said Rodriguez.

“The thing is, that airport has more than 4,000 acres. My mom told me it’s scary dimensions – it’s definitely a possibility that she’s hiding in the airport, but she could be in a lot of places.”

Hartsfield-Jackson was ranked the world’s busiest airport earlier in August by aviation analytics firm OAG.

‘Living a nightmare’

Maia is microchipped, and Rodriguez says that she and Delta have notified every animal shelter and veterinary surgeon in the county, and sent them photos of her – which is why she thinks Maia might still be in the airport.

“If anyone had found her, they’d have taken her to a shelter and she’d have been scanned. My information is right there. The highest possibility is that she’s still there, hiding,” she said.

In 2019, a dog escaped its cage while being transferred at Atlanta. Gale, an American Staffordshire Terrier, was found after a four day search. Pilots noticed her on the runway, and a trap was laid with food to lure her in.

For Rodriguez, the wait for news is painful.

“I’m in agony,” she said. “I’ve been living a nightmare since Friday, knowing my baby is out there somewhere scared, or might be injured. All kinds of thoughts come into my head and I can’t do anything. Every minute feels like a day.”

Iran is moving to head off a possible repeat of unrest ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, arresting women’s rights activists and family members of people killed during last year’s nationwide protests, local and international human rights groups said Wednesday.

Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, died last September after being detained by the regime’s infamous morality police and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code.

Protests sparked by Amini’s death, the largest Iran has witnessed in years, were met with a brutal crackdown by Iran’s security forces.

More than 300 people were killed in the protests, including more than 40 children, the UN said in November last year. US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) in January placed the number at more than 500, including 70 children.

Thousands were arrested during months of protests across the country, the UN said in a report in June, citing research released last year by their Human Rights Committee.

Iran executed seven protesters for their involvement in the unrest, according to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A group of volunteer lawyers who defend rights activists alleged in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that Iran arrested the father of one of the executed protesters and the family’s legal counsel on Tuesday.

In a separate case, Shermin Habibi, the wife of Fereydoon Mahmoodi, a protester killed by security forces during the demonstrations, was arrested and transported to an undisclosed location on Tuesday, according to a report from HRANA.

Across 10 provinces, families of 33 people killed during the protests have been subjected to “human rights violations” in recent months, and the families of two people executed in connection with the protests were harassed and intimidated, Amnesty International said in a report this week.

Meanwhile, Bidarzani, an independent women’s rights group, alleges in social media posts that 11 women’s rights activists and one man were arrested in Gilan province over the last week.

State-affiliated media said 12 people were arrested for “preparing unrest and insecurity” in the province, which is northwest of Tehran on the Caspian Sea. Prosecutors in Gilan refused to provide details on which security entity was behind the arrests, according to Bidarzani.

“Iranian authorities are using their go-to playbook of putting maximum pressure on peaceful dissidents ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death,” a senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, Tara Sepehri Far said in a press release.

“The arbitrary arrests of a dozen activists are aimed at suppressing popular discontent with ongoing impunity and rights violations.”

It is unclear if more protests are planned to coincide with the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly.

Ten months after her death, Iran’s morality police resumed headscarf patrols and now Iranian authorities are considering a draconian new bill on hijab-wearing that experts say would enshrine unprecedentedly harsh punitive measures into law.

The 70-article draft law sets out a range of proposals, including much longer prison terms for women who refuse to wear the veil, stiff new penalties for celebrities and businesses who flout the rules, and the use of artificial intelligence to identify women in breach of the dress code.

Nigeria’s former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke has been charged with bribery offenses following an investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency, which alleges she accepted bribes in exchange for multimillion-pound oil and gas contracts while in government.

“She is alleged to have benefitted from at least £100,000 in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties,” the National Crime Agency said in a statement.

“Her charges also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewelry and Louis Vuitton goods.”

Alison-Madueke, who was a key figure in the cabinet of former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan from 2010 to 2015, has previously denied allegations of corruption.

The agency said that Alison-Madueke, who currently resides in London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on October 2.

“These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation,” said Andy Kelly, head of the NCA’s International Corruption Unit. “Bribery is a pervasive form of corruption, which enables serious criminality and can have devastating consequences for developing countries. We will continue to work with partners here and overseas to tackle the threat.”

The National Crime Agency added that assets related to the alleged offenses – worth millions of pounds – have been frozen as part of the investigation.

Alison-Madueke also served as the first female president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and biggest oil producer, is one of 13 countries in OPEC.

Tropical Depression Ten has formed near the Yucatan Peninsula in the western Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center, and it could become a hurricane by Tuesday afternoon that would make landfall in Florida as early as Wednesday.

A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Yucatan in Mexico from Tulum to Rio Lagartos, including Cozumel. A tropical storm watch has also been issued for the western tip of Cuba in the provinces of Pinar Del Rio and the Isle of Youth.

The system is developing as what was Tropical Storm Franklin has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic.

The depression is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm on Sunday as it meanders in the Yucatan Channel. By Monday, the system will begin moving north, entering the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is expected to further strengthen on Monday and Tuesday as the system crosses the Gulf, moving towards Florida. The official track calls for the storm to become a hurricane by Tuesday afternoon in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and make landfall along the western coast of the Florida Peninsula by Wednesday.

The forecast cone stretches from Tampa Bay to Panama City, and the NHC notes that “that there is significant uncertainty in 3-4 day intensity predictions and [the public] are urged to monitor changes to future forecasts.”

The next storm name on the Atlantic’s list is Idalia (pronounced ee-DAL-ya).

Who should pay attention? Anyone living in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Cuba and the northern Gulf and Florida coast should monitor the forecast in the coming days. The direction and strength of the upper-level steering winds around this system will dictate where it will move and how quickly.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Saturday declaring a state of emergency for 33 counties ahead of the potential inclement weather. “The Governor and the Florida Division of Emergency Management are taking timely precautions to ensure Florida’s communities, infrastructure and resources are prepared, including those communities that are still recovering following Hurricane Ian,” reads a news release announcing the executive order.

When could it affect the US? The depression is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm on Sunday as it moves through the Yucatan Channel. By Monday, the system will likely enter the Gulf of Mexico, and move towards Florida. It could become a hurricane by Tuesday afternoon and hit the western coast of the Florida Peninsula by Wednesday.

How strong could it get? It’s still too soon to tell how strong this system could get – or how fast it could strengthen. But it will be tracking through the warmest waters in the entire Atlantic basin – a vast source of energy for a developing storm. Exceptionally warm water can provide storms the fuel needed to strengthen and sometimes undergo rapid intensification.

Sea surface temperatures are record warm in the Gulf of Mexico and extremely high across the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Water temperatures need to be around 80 degrees Fahrenheit to sustain tropical development, and portions of the Caribbean and Gulf are well above that threshold.

A hurdle to development: Warm water isn’t the only factor at play. This tropical system would also need upper-level winds to cooperate. High wind shear – the wind’s change in direction or speed with altitude – can tear a developing storm apart.

How much wind shear this potential system faces is a critical factor in its formation and final strength. One forecast model shows more wind shear, limiting its development. Another shows less wind shear, allowing the system to develop.

Either way, wind shear may decrease for a time early next week across the far northern Caribbean and eastern Gulf of Mexico, allowing any system that forms to hold together.

Franklin strengthens into hurricane as it heads for Bermuda

Meanwhile, out in the central Atlantic, what was Tropical Storm Franklin strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, according to a Saturday morning update from the National Hurricane Center. This was confirmed via aircraft reconnaissance by the NOAA and Air Force Hurricane Hunters.

Hurricane Franklin is currently located 620 miles south of Bermuda and is moving relatively slowly at 7 miles per hour towards the north-northwest.

“Steady strengthening is forecast, and Franklin could become a major hurricane early next week,” said the center in its update. A major hurricane is defined as Category 3 or higher with winds above 111 mph.

“Swells generated by Franklin are expected to begin affecting Bermuda by Sunday night,” the hurricane center said, noting that, “these swells are also likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions late this weekend into early next week along portions of the East Coast of the United States.”

Small variations in Franklin’s track through the weekend will determine exactly how close it gets to Bermuda when it make its closest pass Monday and Monday night.

Franklin’s winds and rainfall will extend beyond its center. Tropical-storm-force wind gusts are possible across Bermuda early next week as Franklin makes its closest approach. A few showers and thunderstorms are also possible across Bermuda as Franklin passes.

Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales’ unwanted kiss on Women’s World Cup Winner Jenni Hermoso has triggered a crisis in Spanish soccer, with world governing body FIFA suspending the president and Spain’s women’s coaches resigning en masse.

FIFA said it was suspending Rubiales from “all football-related activities at national and international level” for 90 days while disciplinary proceedings are underway, deepening a scandal that tainted a historic victory for the women’s team.

Rubiales says the kiss was consensual and has refused to resign over the incident despite fierce criticism from Hermoso, her teammates and the Spanish government.

Hermoso said the kiss was unwanted and she and the entire World Cup-winning squad have refused to play while Rubiales remains president.

“I did not like this incident,” she wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist out of place act without any consent on my part.”

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has stood by the president, threatening legal action against Hermoso and others.

FIFA also banned Rubiales and the Spanish football federation from contacting Hermoso, to preserve her “fundamental rights.” Following the kiss – seen by millions of viewers around the world – Hermoso said she had been asked to “alleviate the pressure” on Rubiales.

After the news of the FIFA ruling, the RFEF named an interim president and said that Rubiales maintained his innocence.

“Rubiales has said he will defend himself before the pertinent agencies and fully confides in the work of FIFA, and reiterates that, in this way, he will have the opportunity to begin his defense so that the truth prevails and his full innocence is shown,” a statement from the federation said.

‘I felt vulnerable’

FIFA’s suspension comes after the scandal escalated further when Spain’s soccer federation threatened to take legal action against Hermoso, accusing the 33-year-old athlete of lying about being kissed by Rubiales.

“The evidence is conclusive. The President has not lied,” the federation said, alongside descriptions of photos attempting to support Rubiales’ claim.

The federation also said players had “an obligation” to participate in matches “if they are called for it,” after all 23 members of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, including Hermoso, and nearly 50 other professional women soccer players, said they would not play again for the country until Rubiales is removed from his position.

On Saturday, the federation doubled down on its accusations of lying against Hermoso. In a since deleted statement, the RFEF said, “We have to state that Ms. Jennifer Hermoso lies in every statement she makes against the president” and again threatened legal action. It is unclear why the RFEF chose to delete the statement from its website.

On Friday, Rubiales gave a defiant speech, saying several times he would not stand down, speaking of “unjust” campaigns and “fake feminism.” He also called the kiss, which took place after Hermoso collected her winners’ medal, “mutual” and described a conversation in which he asked the athlete for a “small peck” and she consented.

Responding to the speech, Hermoso said in her statement on X that “at no time did the conversation to which Mr. Luis Rubiales refers to in his address take place, and above all, was his kiss ever consensual.” She added that she “felt vulnerable” and “was not respected.”

She also described refusing requests to issue a statement to “alleviate the pressure” on Rubiales, saying she had been “under continuous pressure to make a statement that could justify Mr. Luis Rubiales’ actions.”

The fallout over Rubiales’ behavior has built throughout the week, casting a spotlight on gender rights and sexism in a country that has seen huge marches against sexual abuse and violence.

Mass exodus among Spain’s women’s coaching ranks

Eleven members of the Spanish national women’s soccer program jointly announced their resignation Saturday. The announcement was shared by Spain’s women’s U20 coach Sonia Bermúdez.

The resignations included most of the women’s national team coaching staff, including assistant coaches Montserrat Tomé Vázquez, Eugenio Gonzalo and Javier Lerga. Women’s national team head coach Jorge Vilda did not resign.

In their statement, the group cited several reasons that led to their decision to quit and expressed their “strongest and deepest condemnation” of Rubiales’s behavior.

The statement referenced Rubiales’ “unacceptable attitudes and statements,” and pointed out that the explanation he offered on Friday “does not reflect in any way what was felt by (Hermoso), who expressly said that she felt to be ‘the victim of an aggression.’”

The coaches also said they were instructed to attend the RFEF assembly where Rubiales announced his intention to stay in his post, and that “various of the women members of the coaching staff were required to sit in the front row” in an effort to give the impression that they supported the embattled president.

The group of coaches added that they stand in support of the recent statements made by Hermoso and the statement published by the group of more than 80 Spanish female footballers via FutPro refusing to play for Spain until Rubiales is removed as RFEF president.

Meanwhile, Spain’s men’s national team head coach Luis de la Fuente also issued a statement Saturday condemning the actions and behavior of Rubiales.

De la Fuente criticized the “wrong and out-of-place behavior by the RFEF President” and said that Rubiales’ actions were “not appropriate for someone who was representing the entirety of Spanish football.”

“I hope that this unfortunate episode is concluded quickly for the good of Spanish football and that the competent bodies resolve and take the pertinent decisions as soon as possible,” de la Fuente wrote in his statement.

The first-year national team coach concluded, “Finally, I state my disappointment because the events we are experiencing cloud the image of Spanish football, at home and abroad.”

In the immediate aftermath of the kiss Sunday, Rubiales, admitted he “made a mistake”.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the apology for what he described as an “unacceptable gesture” was “not enough.” The government has begun a process that would allow them to remove him from his post.

Piling pressure on Rubiales and the federation, some of the team sponsors expressed support for the players. The Spanish women are next due to play in September.

Hermoso and the team have also seen widespread support from across the soccer world, including from England’s women’s team, who Spain defeated in the final.

Zimbabweans head to the polls Wednesday in a presidential contest that poses a test for the country’s fledgling democracy at a time of significant economic challenges.

The outcome will either entrench the dominance of the bullish ruling Zanu-PF party, which has governed the country since its independence in 1980, or mark a turning point for a beleaguered opposition, who have already complained this election season of crackdowns, intimidation and arrests.

It is only the second vote in the southern African country since authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe was deposed by the military in 2017.

Zimbabwe suffers from a raft of economic problems, including a staggering 175.8% inflation rate. It is also in the grip of an escalating cost-of-living crisis. The local currency lost more than half its value to the US dollar in June, and the country owes billions of dollars in debt arrears.

Winding queues were forming at most polling stations in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, on Wednesday morning, as citizens complained of delays to the start of voting.

“I have been here since 5 a.m. and now it’s almost 9 a.m., we are yet to start voting,” said Stella Maraire at a polling station in Mbare, a Harare suburb.

In a statement, Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission said some of the delays were caused by printing in ballot papers “arising from numerous court challenges,” adding that this was the case in Harare and Bulawayo provinces.

The commission said polling stations that opened late would remain open to accommodate voting delays. Voting was originally expected to end at 7 p.m. local time.

Less than half of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people are registered to vote in this election, and many are clamoring loudly for change.

For them, the polls couldn’t have come at a more critical juncture.

“Everything in Zimbabwe has collapsed … if we vote in our millions for change it’s going to be very hard for Zanu pf to rig the elections. Vote in your millions and together we defeat Zanu pf,” one social media user, Lima Mthethwa, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, ahead of the polls.

Although rich in gold, diamonds and lithium, nearly half of Zimbabwe’s population lives in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 per day.

Who are the main candidates?

Ten candidates are seeking to unseat 80-year-old incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the Zanu-PF party, who succeeded Mugabe after helping to orchestrate the coup that ousted him.

The contest is widely believed to be a two-horse race between Mnangagwa and the main opposition candidate, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC).

Chamisa faces an uphill battle, however, as opposition party members have complained of facing a crackdown and intimidation tactics that are all too familiar in Zimbabwe’s election season.

The last time the two met at the polls, in 2018, Mnangagwa won 51% of the total ballots, while Chamisa took 44%.

The results were disputed by Chamisa, who described the election as “fraudulent and illegal” and mounted a legal challenge. However, Mnangagwa was sworn in after Zimbabwe’s constitutional court upheld his victory.

Mnangagwa, nicknamed “The Crocodile,” will be relying on his rural strongholds to secure another victory.
Chamisa, 45, an ordained Christian minister and lawyer, enjoys popularity among Zimbabwe’s urban population, especially the youth.

But analysts say he must make inroads into the country’s rural settlements to stage an upset.

Opposition rallies ‘banned’

“We had over 102 of our rallies banned,” Mahere said, adding that party members were also arrested.

Last week, Zimbabwe’s national police force confirmed the arrest of dozens of CCC activists during what it described as an “unsanctioned car rally.”

Earlier that week, the force said it dispersed a crowd with tear gas at a CCC rally, citing “safety and security concerns.”

Mnangagwa’s administration also came under criticism for implementing last-minute electoral policies that critics said did not favor the opposition.

In June, Zimbabwe’s parliament approved a 20-fold increase in nomination fees for presidential aspirants, raising the fees from $1,000 to $20,000, only days before the registration deadline for candidates.

Some political parties said they were unable to field a presidential candidate due to the increased fees.

‘A flawed process’

Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party also blocked the deployment of another presidential hopeful through the courts.

Savior Kasukuwere, a former cabinet minister and one-time Mugabe ally, is not on the ballot for the election after a court ruled him ineligible to run following a petition filed against him by the Zanu-PF.

The ruling party told the court that Kasukuwere had been away from Zimbabwe for more than 18 months, therefore was not eligible to run for president.

“Whoever wins this election is winning from a flawed process,” Kasukuwere said.

“I saw it myself last week when a marketplace was closed down completely (and) everyone was compelled and forced to go to the rally in Harare,” he said, adding that “there’s nothing to indicate that the elections will be free, fair and credible.”

“It’s a lot of hogwash,” Zanu-PF spokesman Christopher Mutsvangwa said of the allegations.

A winner in the presidential race will be announced within five days after voting ends.

To be president, a candidate must secure more than 50% of the total ballots.

If no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the first round of voting, a run-off election will be held after six weeks.

This year’s presidential poll is being held alongside a vote for members of parliament.

Disputed achievements

A survey released last month by the Public Policy and Research Institute of Zimbabwe (PPRIZ) found that more than 70% of registered voters in the country desired a change of government.

The CCC, which has promised economic stability, believes that Zimbabwe’s economic conditions will be a deciding factor for many voters.

Mnangagwa shared some of his administration’s achievements ahead of the election.

“Together we have achieved food security. My government provided wheat, soya, and maize inputs. We are one of only two African countries self-sufficient in wheat. Under my leadership no Zimbabwean will ever go hungry,” the president wrote last month on social media platform X.

Nearly four million Zimbabweans faced acute food insecurity between last year and this year, according to the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

In a bulky manifesto five years ago, Mnangagwa promised a series of economic reforms.

Analysts say he has failed to achieve those targets.