Two Israeli civilians were shot and killed on Saturday in the flashpoint West Bank town of Huwara, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

IDF soldiers have been pursuing the suspects and have set up blockades in the area, the military said in a statement.

The Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service said they received a report of a shooting at 3:04 p.m. local time. Medics and paramedics arrived and performed CPR on two men – ages 60 and 29 – alongside IDF medics.

MDA paramedic Tomer Gusman said the victims were unconscious with gunshot wounds.

Huwara, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, was the scene of the fatal shooting of two Israeli settler brothers in February, following that night by revenge attacks by settlers on the Palestinian town.

The IDF has deployed extra troops in the town in the wake of the violence.

Videos taken in Huwara showed an ambulance and army vehicles at the scene, with a road checkpoint closed off to vehicles and traffic at a standstill.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement that runs Gaza and is increasingly popular in the West Bank, praised the attack without directly claiming responsibility for it.

Spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanou said the shooting was “the product of the promise to defend our people and respond to the crimes of the occupation,” a reference to Israel.

In a statement released by his office on Saturday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said security forces were “working diligently to find the murderer.”

“I send my condolences to the family of the two murdered – a father and son – whose lives were cut short in such a cruel and criminal way during Shabbat,” Netanyahu said.

“The security forces are working diligently to find the murderer and come to terms with him, just as we have done with all the murderers so far.”

As oil-rich Gulf states seek to diversify their military partnerships, they are finding themselves ensnared in the intensifying rivalry for global dominance between the United States and China.

One of America’s closest allies in the region, the United Arab Emirates plans to hold its first-ever military drill with China this month, the Chinese defense ministry announced late last month.

The nation is a military partner of the US, having served alongside American forces six times, and has been the recipient of some of the most advanced weaponry Washington has sold in the Middle East.

Dubbed the China-UAE Falcon Shield-2023 joint air force exercise, the drill will take place in August in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, the ministry said, without giving a specific date.

The drill is the latest in a flurry of Chinese activity in the Middle East, traditionally seen as the US’ backyard. It takes place as Gulf states seek to distance themselves from what they see as an increasingly polarizing global order following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and waning US interest in their region as it redoubles efforts to contain China’s rise.

The UAE holds joint and multilateral training exercises “with various international partners across the world, including with countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia,” the official added.

But there is a “triangular dynamic” to the Gulf-China-US relationship, he said, adding that it is unlikely that Gulf states are oblivious to the “second-order ramifications” of their growing ties with China, referring to the possibility of upsetting Washington.

“We have no intention to fill a so-called ‘vacuum’. And we will not build exclusive circles,” the ministry said, adding that China “will continue to develop friendly relations in all fields with Middle Eastern countries” as well as “play a positive and constructive role in promoting peace and stability” in the region.

Obama’s pivot to Asia

Experts say that China first saw an opportunity in the Middle East during former US President Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” strategy that sought to refocus America’s military and diplomatic efforts to the East. Regional states saw that as happening at the expense of the US’ commitment to their own security.

For Saudi Arabia and the UAE, those fears materialized when they each faced the biggest attacks in years on their soil in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Both attacks, blamed on either Iran or its Houthi proxy in Yemen, received a lackluster response from Washington. The UAE called it its own “9/11.”

The perceived security vacuum left by the US “created an opening that was not there before,” said Mohammed Baharoon, director general of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center, known as B’huth. China’s growing presence in the Middle East, he added, is a “direct response to the growing significance of the region, and lack of viable solutions” to the Gulf’s security concerns. The US’ strategy to alienate Iran over 30 years, he said, didn’t pay any dividends.

“The perception among those countries, (is) that the United States has been either unable or unwilling… to fulfill its declared commitments to serve as the security guarantor,” Calabrese said.

Washington has denied that it is pulling back from the Middle East and has affirmed its commitment to helping protect its allies, especially from Iran and its proxies.

Saudi Arabia may be putting that commitment to the test now. It is now reportedly demanding that the Biden administration extend security guarantees in the form of a formal agreement in exchange for Riyadh recognizing Israel. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US wants Saudi Arabia to distance itself economically and militarily from Beijing in return.

Alhasan said that Saudi Arabia will likely factor in a possible change in the US administration next year before “striking any grand bargain” with Washington, over fears that it might be discarded upon the arrival of a new government.

A global arms player

China’s wish to become a global arms player is no secret. President Xi Jinping has said that building a strong military is a key component of the nation’s new era of “rejuvenation.”

The US is watching closely. An American official last year singled out China as “the one country that geopolitically has the power potential to be a significant challenge to the United States.”

But analysts say it will take time for Beijing to challenge both US technology and military outreach, especially in the Middle East where it has traditionally played a small military role.

The US and Europe remain the Middle East’s top arms suppliers. Four of the top 10 importers of US arms are Gulf Arab states: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

But Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also made purchases from China. Last year, China and Saudi Arabia agreed to co-manufacture drones locally in the kingdom. The UAE has bought advanced trainer jets from China.

Some of these purchases were driven by US restrictions on selling arms to Gulf states under the Biden administration, according to Alhasan.

“The point is that Gulf states are interested in diversifying and localizing their defense procurements,” Alhasan said, even if there is a “baseline preference for US equipment.”

The cost of ties with China

With the Gulf states’ increasing engagement with China, it remains to be seen how willing they are to provoke Washington and what price they’d accept to abandon the budding ties with Beijing.

The relationship has a twofold function for Gulf states, analysts say. It allows them to benefit economically, diplomatically and militarily, while building leverage with a US that is anxious about China’s growing influence in the region.

But not everyone agrees that ties with China are up for negotiation.

“This is not a honeymoon,” Baharoon said, adding that there will neither be a “marriage” nor a “divorce” between the Gulf states and China. “However, the partnership with China is growing and expanding… it continues to be economically dominant.”

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, he said, aren’t bound by the “ideological polarity” of the US-China relationship, adding that it would not be in their interest to join a pact against China, Russia or Iran.

Sun of the Stimson Center said that China and Gulf states “have shared goals and agendas beyond the US.”

“Even without the US, China will remain a key buyer of Gulf oil and a critical economic partner,” she said. “Gulf states’ desire to leverage China against the US is only one factor among many considerations.”

Researchers at the University of Dundee have recreated the face of Bonnie Prince Charlie as he appeared when leading the unsuccessful 18th century Jacobite rebellion as he sought to reclaim the British throne for his father.

In the image, Bonnie Prince Charlie appears with blonde curly hair, wide eyes and acne on his skin, revealing a different side to the more conventionally heroic figure he has traditionally been depicted as.

“I didn’t want him to appear as royalty even though he very much was. I did want to show a different angle with that.”

The image was created using death masks of the prince, which were photographed and mapped. It was common for notable figures at the time to have a cast taken of their face after they died, according to the university in a press release.

Using state-of-the-art software, 3D models were then produced, allowing researchers to “de-age” the prince, the university added.

The grandson of exiled Catholic King James II, Charles Edward Stuart, as he was officially named, led an unsuccessful Jacobite rebellion in 1745 when he was 24 and seeking to reclaim the British throne for his father.

After his initial attempted invasion supported by a French fleet was thwarted by storms in 1744, the prince set out a year later with a small force of about a dozen men. With his charm and charisma, he sparked an uprising in Scotland, marched as far south as Derby and earned his nickname “Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

But the rebellion ultimately failed and it took him months to escape back to the European continent, leaving behind only the now-romanticized memory of his uprising.

He spent the rest of his life on the continent, dying in 1788 at the age of 67 in Rome, Italy.

“I’ve been interested in the Jacobites for a while now and it just kind of evolved,” Veselá said. “I saw a reconstruction of him in 2019 by Hew Morrison and he also used the death mask and created a version of him just before he died so I wanted to create a slightly different version.”

For her depiction of a 24-year-old prince, Veselá had to de-age him by applying the knowledge she learned from studies about the aging patterns in humans to make him look younger and examining the contemporary accounts and paintings that portrayed the prince.

“The face transforms following death,” Houlton adds. “It’s a case of not only reversing his age but reversing the effects of being deceased.”

The recreation will be included in the University of Dundee’s annual Masters Show, with the exhibition running from Saturday to August 27.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was placed on indefinite administrative leave on Tuesday.

Major League Baseball (MLB) and the attorney general of the Dominican Republic are investigating Franco for an alleged relationship with a minor.

“The administrative leave, effective immediately, is not disciplinary under the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy,” MLB said.

The 22-year-old’s team concurred with the decision.

“We support Major League Baseball’s decision to place Wander Franco on Administration Leave,” the Rays said on Tuesday.

“The Tampa Bay Rays are dedicated to upholding high standards of integrity both on and off the field. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our fans and supporters as this process unfolds.”

No charges have been filed against the 2023 All-Star.

In remarks in an Instagram live video earlier this month, Franco appeared to deflect the accusations and instead said he was focused on bettering himself.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the apologies offered by Luis Rubiales, President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), for giving Spain midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unwanted kiss on the lips are “not enough.”

Amid widespread criticism of the incident, including from the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), Sánchez answered questions from reporters on Tuesday and said that “what we saw was an unacceptable gesture.”

“Regarding Mr. Rubiales and all the controversy that has taken place, in the first place I believe that they, the players, they have done everything to win,” Sánchez said.

“But it is true that there has been some behavior, in this case of Mr. Rubiales, which shows that in our country there is still a long way to go in terms of equality and respect and in this equalization of rights between women and men.

“The apologies made by Mr. Rubiales are not enough. I even think that they are not appropriate and that, therefore, Mr. Rubiales needs to continue to take steps to clarify what we all saw,” added Sánchez.

Rubiales and Sánchez met earlier on Tuesday and shook hands when the Spain squad visited the Moncloa Palace – the Spanish prime minister’s residence – to receive the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit.

“The president of the federation is chosen, or fired, by the federation’s members,” Sánchez added in response to a question about whether he would look to remove Rubiales from his post.

“I’ve already said in my first response to your colleagues, that his explanation was insufficient, that Mr. Rubiales has to take more steps to clear up his behavior, which in any light, is unacceptable.

“It doesn’t connect with the majority sentiment of the citizenry, which clearly bets on equality between men and women and which, logically, well we’ve seen his statements of apology, which I don’t know if you’ve all seen it, but I think that they’re insufficient.”

On Monday, Rubiales admitted he “made a mistake” by giving Hermoso a kiss on the lips after the 33-year-old had collected her winners’ medal following the Women’s World Cup final victory over England.

Rubiales has faced widespread criticism for the incident, with his behavior labeled “unacceptable” and “simply disgusting.”

“Hey, I didn’t like it, eh,” Hermoso said as she apparently answered questions about the incident in an Instagram live video, a clip of which was shared by Spanish journalist Irati Vida on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Later in the Instagram live video – taken in Spain’s locker room – Hermoso fields a question from another woman: “But what were you doing, sis?” The 33-year-old replies: “But what am I supposed to do?”

On the radio program ‘El Tiempo de Juego’ on Cadena COPE, Hermoso spoke of the kiss on Sunday, saying “she didn’t expect it” but that “it was because of the emotion of the moment, there’s nothing more there. It’s just going to be an anecdote [of the time]. I’m absolutely sure it won’t be blown up more.”

Reaction

AFE, which seeks to defend the rights of Spanish soccer players, called Rubiales’ actions “lamentable.”

“The physical gestures directed towards any person, in this case a footballer, are never appropriate or acceptable in whichever context without the express consent of the affected person,” a statement from AFE read.

“It’s especially serious given what happened with Jennifer Hermoso who found herself in a state of clear vulnerability before a person in a position of power over her who initiated an approach or realizing a physical gesture.”

The independent body called for authorities to seek legal remedies through the Law of Sport, should Rubiales not resign “immediately.”

The issue has been widely condemned in Spain, including from politicians across the political spectrum.

“We maintain our asking of the resignation of the gentleman who belittled and assaulted a woman. His excuses serve absolutely nothing,” Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s acting second deputy prime minister and leader of the Sumar party, said in a press conference.

Cuca Gamarra, parliamentary spokesperson and secretary general of the Partido Popular, also said: “All institutional leaders should have exemplary behavior and that exemplary nature should be respect towards women and what we saw in that final in this sense was shameful. Only shame comes to my mind, at a minimum.”

The NBA announced Tuesday it has fined Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden $100,000 for what the league is calling “public trade demands.”

The fine was for Harden’s “public comments on August 14 and 17 indicating that he would not perform the services called for under his player contract unless traded to another team,” the league said in a news release.

“The league’s investigation, which included interviewing Harden, confirmed that these comments referenced Harden’s belief that the 76ers would not accommodate his request to be traded,” the release said.

“I’ve been patient all summer,” the 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player added. “For me, it’s just focus on what I can control and getting ready for this season.”

Before his comments to KHOU, Harden had called 76ers President Daryl Morey a “liar” during an event in China and said he “will never be a part of an organization that (Morey) is a part of.”

The players’ union will file a grievance and the matter will be heard by an arbitrator, it said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We respectfully disagree with the league’s decision to discipline James Harden for recent comments he made, which we believe do not violate the rule against public trade demands,” officials with the National Basketball Players Association said in the post.

Playoff exit disappointment

Harden reportedly made it clear to the 76ers that he wants to be traded this offseason following another disappointing playoff exit last season.

According to multiple media reports, including from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 76ers have spent the majority of the offseason looking to facilitate the 33-year-old’s wishes.

Harden has previously pushed to be moved on from the Houston Rockets and the Brooklyn Nets.

In 2021, he was traded to the Nets after saying the Rockets were “just not good enough” following an underwhelming playoff exit.

Just over a year later, he was traded to the 76ers from the Nets after rumors of his desire to leave Brooklyn surfaced.

Video has emerged that shows Spain head coach Jorge Vilda appearing to inappropriately touch a female staff member during the Women’s World Cup final between Spain and England.

Moments after Spain’s Olga Carmona scored the only goal of the game, giving La Roja the lead against England, the footage shows Vilda in a celebration embracing with members of his staff, including a female staff member.

When Vilda touches her, he first has his left arm on her shoulder in a hug. Then, as Vilda turns his head away from the group embrace, his left hand drops down to her chest. He keeps it there for a moment, and then lets go.

Despite Spain’s World Cup success, Vilda’s tenure as head coach – he was appointed in 2015 – has been hugely controversial.

The video clip comes against the backdrop of unrest between Spain’s players, Vilda and his coaching staff and the RFEF, which led to 12 of Spain’s biggest stars missing the World Cup.

In September 2022, 15 members of Spain’s senior women’s squad sent personally signed letters to the RFEF via email to announce they would no longer play for the national team, unless there were wholesale changes made throughout the coaching staff, as reported by Spanish media outlet Cadena Ser.

However, the RFEF backed Vilda, and all but three of the 15 players who sent letters missed out on Spain’s triumphant World Cup campaign.

‘Unacceptable gesture’

Separately, on Monday, RFEF president Luis Rubiales admitted he “made a mistake” by giving Spain star Jennifer Hermoso an unwanted kiss on the lips after the 33-year-old received her gold medal following the team’s Women’s World Cup final win against England.

“Well, in a moment of elation without any intention of bad faith, well, what happened happened,” Rubiales said in a video with an RFEF watermark.

“I think in a very spontaneous way. I repeat, there was no bad faith between either of the two of us. From there, well, here we didn’t understand it because we saw something natural, normal and in no way, I repeat, with bad faith.

“But outside of the bubble, it looks like it has turned into a storm and so if there are people who have felt offended, I have to say I’m sorry. There’s no other way, right?”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said the apologies of Rubiales are “not enough.” Answering questions from reporters on Tuesday, Sánchez said that “what we saw was an unacceptable gesture.”

Here’s a look at the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March of 2011.

March 11, 2011 – At 2:46 p.m., a 9.1 magnitude earthquake takes place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo at a depth of 15.2 miles.

The earthquake causes a tsunami with 30-foot waves that damage several nuclear reactors in the area.

It is the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan.

Number of people killed and missing

(Source: Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency)

The combined total of confirmed deaths and missing is more than 22,000 (nearly 20,000 deaths and 2,500 missing). Deaths were caused by the initial earthquake and tsunami and by post-disaster health conditions.

Other Facts

At the time of the earthquake, Japan had 54 nuclear reactors, with two under construction, and 17 power plants, which produced about 30% of Japan’s electricity (IAEA 2011).

Material damage from the earthquake and tsunami is estimated at about 25 trillion yen ($300 billion).

There are six reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, located about 65 km (40 miles) south of Sendai.

A microsievert (mSv) is an internationally recognized unit measuring radiation dosage. People are typically exposed to a total of about 1,000 microsieverts in one year.

The Japanese government estimated that the tsunami swept about five million tons of debris offshore, but that 70% sank, leaving 1.5 million tons floating in the Pacific Ocean. The debris was not considered to be radioactive.

READ MORE: Fukushima: Five years after Japan’s worst nuclear disaster

Timeline

All times and dates are local Japanese time.

March 11, 2011 – At 2:46 p.m., an 8.9 magnitude earthquake takes place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. (8.9 = original recorded magnitude; later upgraded to 9.0, then 9.1.)
– The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issues a tsunami warning for the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the US. About an hour after the quake, waves up to 30 feet high hit the Japanese coast, sweeping away vehicles, causing buildings to collapse, and severing roads and highways.
– The Japanese government declares a state of emergency for the nuclear power plant near Sendai, 180 miles from Tokyo. Sixty to seventy thousand people living nearby are ordered to evacuate to shelters.

March 12, 2011 – Overnight, a 6.2 magnitude aftershock hits the Nagano and Niigata prefectures (USGS).
– At 5:00 a.m., a nuclear emergency is declared at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Officials report the earthquake and tsunami have cut off the plant’s electrical power, and that backup generators have been disabled by the tsunami.
– Another aftershock hits the west coast of Honshu – 6.3 magnitude. (5:56 a.m.)
– The Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announces that radiation near the plant’s main gate is more than eight times the normal level.
– Cooling systems at three of the four units at the Fukushima Daini plant fail prompting state of emergency declarations there.
– At least six million homes – 10% of Japan’s households – are without electricity, and a million are without water.
– The US Geological Survey says the quake appears to have moved Honshu, Japan’s main island, by eight feet and has shifted the earth on its axis.
– About 9,500 people – half the town’s population – are reported to be unaccounted for in Minamisanriku on Japan’s Pacific coast.

March 13, 2011 – People living within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of the Fukushima Daini and 20 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi power plants begin a government-ordered evacuation. The total evacuated so far is about 185,000.
– 50,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel, 190 aircraft and 25 ships are deployed to help with rescue efforts.
– A government official says a partial meltdown may be occurring at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, sparking fears of a widespread release of radioactive material. So far, three units there have experienced major problems in cooling radioactive material.

March 14, 2011 – The US Geological Survey upgrades its measure of the earthquake to magnitude 9.0 from 8.9.
– An explosion at the Daiichi plant No. 3 reactor causes a building’s wall to collapse, injuring six. The 600 residents remaining within 30 kilometers of the plant, despite an earlier evacuation order, have been ordered to stay indoors.
– The No. 2 reactor at the Daiichi plant loses its cooling capabilities. Officials quickly work to pump seawater into the reactor, as they have been doing with two other reactors at the same plant, and the situation is resolved. Workers scramble to cool down fuel rods at two other reactors at the plant – No. 1 and No. 3.
– Rolling blackouts begin in parts of Tokyo and eight prefectures. Downtown Tokyo is not included. Up to 45 million people will be affected in the rolling outages, which are scheduled to last until April.

March 15, 2011 – The third explosion at the Daiichi plant in four days damages the suppression pool of reactor No. 2. Water continues to be injected into “pressure vessels” in order to cool down radioactive material.

March 16, 2011 – The nuclear safety agency investigates the cause of a white cloud of smoke rising above the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Plans are canceled to use helicopters to pour water onto fuel rods that may have burned after a fire there, causing a spike in radiation levels. The plume is later found to have been vapor from a spent-fuel storage pool.
– In a rare address, Emperor Akihito tells the nation to not give up hope, that “we need to understand and help each other.” A televised address by a sitting emperor is an extraordinarily rare event in Japan, usually reserved for times of extreme crisis or war.
– After hydrogen explosions occur in three of the plant’s reactors (1, 2 and 3), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says radiation levels “do not pose a direct threat to the human body” between 12 to 18 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) from the plant.

March 17, 2011 – Gregory Jaczko, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, tells US Congress that spent fuel rods in the No. 4 reactor have been exposed because there “is no water in the spent fuel pool,” resulting in the emission of “extremely high” levels of radiation.
– Helicopters operated by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces begin dumping tons of seawater from the Pacific Ocean on to the No. 3 reactor to reduce overheating.
– Radiation levels hit 20 millisieverts per hour at an annex building where workers have been trying to re-establish electrical power, “the highest registered (at that building) so far.” (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

March 18, 2011 – Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raises the threat level from 4 to 5, putting it on a par with the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. The International Nuclear Events Scale says a Level 5 incident means there is a likelihood of a release of radioactive material, several deaths from radiation and severe damage to the reactor core.

April 12, 2011 – Japan’s nuclear agency raises the Fukushima Daiichi crisis from Level 5 to a Level 7 event, the highest level, signifying a “major accident.” It is now on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union, which amounts to a “major release of radioactive material with widespread health and environmental effects requiring implementation of planned and extended countermeasures.”

June 6, 2011 – Japan’s Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters reports reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced a full meltdown.

June 30, 2011 – The Japanese government recommends more evacuations of households 50 to 60 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The government said higher radiation is monitored sporadically in this area.

July 16, 2011 – Kansai Electric announces a reactor at the Ohi nuclear plant will be shut down due to problems with an emergency cooling system. This leaves only 18 of Japan’s 54 nuclear plants producing electricity.

October 31, 2011 – In response to questions about the safety of decontaminated water, Japanese government official Yasuhiro Sonoda drinks a glass of decontaminated water taken from a puddle at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

November 2, 2011 – Kyushu Electric Power Co. announces it restarted the No. 4 reactor, the first to come back online since the March 11 disaster, at the Genkai nuclear power plant in western Japan.

November 17, 2011 – Japanese authorities announce that they have halted the shipment of rice from some farms northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after finding higher-than-allowed levels of radioactive cesium.

December 5, 2011 – Tokyo Electric Power Company announces at least 45 metric tons of radioactive water have leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility and may have reached the Pacific Ocean.

December 16, 2011 – Japan’s Prime Minister says a “cold shutdown” has been achieved at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a symbolic milestone which means the plant’s crippled reactors have stayed at temperatures below the boiling point for some time.

December 26, 2011 – Investigators report poorly trained operators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant misread a key backup system and waited too long to start pumping water into the units, according to an interim report from the government committee probing the nuclear accident.

February 27, 2012 – Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, an independent fact-finding committee, releases a report claiming the Japanese government feared the nuclear disaster could lead to an evacuation of Tokyo while at the same time hiding its most alarming assessments of the nuclear disaster from the public as well as the United States.

May 24, 2012 – TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) estimates about 900,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials were released between March 12 and March 31 in 2011, more radiation than previously estimated.

June 11, 2012 – At least 1,324 Fukushima residents lodge a criminal complaint with the Fukushima prosecutor’s office, naming Tsunehisa Katsumata, the chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and 32 others responsible for causing the nuclear disaster which followed the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and exposing the people of Fukushima to radiation.

June 16, 2012 – Despite public objections, the Japanese government approves restarting two nuclear reactors at the Kansai Electric Power Company in Ohi in Fukui prefecture, the first reactors scheduled to resume since all nuclear reactors were shut down in May 2012.

July 1, 2012 – Kansai Electric Power Co. Ltd. (KEPCO) restarts the Ohi nuclear plant’s No. 3 reactor, resuming nuclear power production in Japan for the first time in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown following the tsunami.

July 5, 2012 – The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission’s report finds that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis was a “man-made disaster” which unfolded as a result of collusion between the facility’s operator, regulators and the government. The report also attributes the failings at the plant before and after March 11 specifically to Japanese culture.

July 23, 2012 – A Japanese government report is released criticizing TEPCO. The report says the measures taken by TEPCO to prepare for disasters were “insufficient,” and the response to the crisis “inadequate.”

October 12, 2012 – TEPCO acknowledges in a report it played down safety risks at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant out of fear that additional measures would lead to a plant shutdown and further fuel public anxiety and anti-nuclear movements.

July 2013 – TEPCO admits radioactive groundwater is leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi site, bypassing an underground barrier built to seal in the water.

August 28, 2013 – Japan’s nuclear watchdog Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) says a toxic water leak at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant has been classified as a Level 3 “serious incident” on an eight-point International Nuclear Event Scale (lINES) scale.

September 15, 2013 – Japan’s only operating nuclear reactor is shut down for maintenance. All 50 of the country’s reactors are now offline. The government hasn’t said when or if any of them will come back on.

November 18, 2013 – Tokyo Electric Power Co. says operators of the Fukushima nuclear plant have started removing 1,500 fuel rods from damaged reactor No. 4. It is considered a milestone in the estimated $50 billion cleanup operation.

February 20, 2014 – TEPCO says an estimated 100 metric tons of radioactive water has leaked from a holding tank at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

August 11, 2015 – Kyushu Electric Power Company restarts No. 1 reactor at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima prefecture. It is the first nuclear reactor reactivated since the Fukushima disaster.

October 19, 2015 – Japan’s health ministry says a Fukushima worker has been diagnosed with leukemia. It is the first cancer diagnosis linked to the cleanup.

February 29, 2016 – Three former TEPCO executives are indicted on charges of professional negligence related to the disaster at the Fukushiima Daiichi plant.

November 22, 2016 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake hits the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures and is considered an aftershock of the 2011 earthquake. Aftershocks can sometimes occur years after the original quake.

February 2, 2017 – TEPCO reports atmospheric readings from inside nuclear reactor plant No. 2. as high as 530 sieverts per hour. This is the highest since the 2011 meltdown.

February 13, 2021 – A 7.1 magnitude earthquake off the east coast of Japan is an aftershock of the 2011 quake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

April 13, 2021 – The Japanese government announces it will start releasing more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean in two years – a plan that faces opposition at home and has raised “grave concern” in neighboring countries. The whole process is expected to take decades to complete.

September 9, 2021 – The IAEA and Japan agree on a timeline for the multi-year review of Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

February 18, 2022 – An IAEA task force makes its first visit to Japan for the safety review of its plan to discharge treated radioactive water into the sea.

Harold has weakened to a tropical depression as it continues to plow through Texas, triggering flash flooding and tornado warnings as the gusty storm pushes toward Mexico.

Harold made landfall as a tropical storm just before 10 a.m. CT (11 a.m. ET) on Padre Island, Texas, with sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts as high as 67 mph, becoming the first storm to come ashore in the United States in the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm now has 30 mph sustained winds, according to a 5 p.m. ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, and all tropical storm warnings along the Texas coast have been discontinued.

The center of the storm is about 15 miles east of Laredo, Texas, and will continue moving into northern Mexico over the next few hours.

Heavy rain and strong winds will continue to slam portions of southern Texas and Mexico as Harold tracks westward. Those winds had knocked out power to around 20,000 customers in Texas as of Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

Harold will be able to dump 3 to 5 inches of rain across South Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday with locally higher amounts closer to 7 inches. Across Mexico, 4 to 6 inches of rain are expected.

The heaviest rain tonight will occur across northern Mexico, where up to 10 inches is possible.

Life-threatening surf and rip currents conditions will last across the southern Texas coast through Tuesday, and it’s possible the state may also see a few tornadoes develop. The National Weather Service issued several tornado warnings in South Texas early Tuesday afternoon.

The storm is moving across southern Texas as the state continues to battle one of its hottest, driest summers on record.

Corpus Christi, Texas, already recorded more rain in just a few hours than it has received for the entire summer, according to National Weather Service data. Widespread amounts of 1 to 2.5 inches of rain fell over the area and points south from Tuesday morning into the early afternoon.

While this tropical system’s rains could help quench parts of the drought-stricken state, some of the worst drought conditions – areas of extreme and exceptional drought in Central Texas – might miss out on much of the rain.

Texans geared up ahead of Harold’s arrival. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard, swift water rescue boat squads, among other emergency resources. Naval Air Station Kingsville ordered those in the RV Park on the installation to evacuate, while voluntary evacuations were called in Riviera, Baffin Bay and Loyola Beach, authorities said.

Franklin packing potentially life-threatening flooding

Tropical Storm Franklin is set to slam Hispaniola by Wednesday with life-threatening flooding and mudslides. The storm will also bring heavy rainfall to Puerto Rico.

Franklin had sustained winds of 50 mph as of Tuesday afternoon and was located over the Caribbean Sea about 230 miles south-southwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The storm made a northward turn early Tuesday afternoon and will continue in that direction until it makes landfall in Hispaniola Wednesday.

Franklin will unload very heavy rain across Hispaniola Tuesday through Wednesday and raise the threat of flash flooding and mudslides. Isolated rainfall amounts up to 15 inches are possible. Up to 6 inches of heavy rain could fall in Puerto Rico through Thursday, but the island will escape the worst of Franklin.

The Atlantic hurricane season is ramping up. Three tropical systems formed in 24 hours Saturday into Sunday. Harold now marks the fourth in four days.

Perhaps you have spent the past few days on a cloud over your forthcoming, well-deserved vacation, and will go back to daydreaming about them as soon as you finish this article. And the truth is that the benefits of a good vacation can be felt even before the trip begins.

Scientific studies show that merely looking forward to a future reward can be even more rewarding than the reward itself. This is so thanks to a small molecule called dopamine, which we will talk about later.

But, before we continue, let’s think about a few questions. Are vacations really necessary? Why do we need them? And, above all, what are the benefits of a few idle days?

Rest increases cognitive flexibility

Although this may seem unbelievable, there is very little scientific literature that explores the direct benefits of vacations on our brain. What does seem indisputable is that they are essential. This was concluded by a 2016 study in which 46 workers from a Dutch company participated.

The workers were asked to undergo a test in which they were given objects (for example, a hammer) and asked for the greatest number of uses for their objects in the shortest possible time (construction tool, weapon, paperweight, etc.). What the researchers observed is that, after two or three weeks of vacation, workers had greater cognitive flexibility. Or, to put it another way, they were able to think of a greater number of uses for the objects compared to the results obtained a couple of weeks before their vacations.

Most studies concur that, from a biological point of view, one of the main reasons for this increase in cognitive flexibility – and for the benefits of vacations in general – is stress reduction.

We will all agree that work generates stress. But we have to make a small distinction here: stress in and of itself does not have to be bad. When it is sporadic, it is usually even beneficial because it activates mechanisms that help us carry out the daily actions of our work, such as meeting a deadline (the authors of this article are working on that right now).

The “other stress” – the one that has negative connotations for everyone – is chronic stress. It occurs when it is prolonged over time, either because we are under constant pressure or due to situations that we cannot handle. It generates fatigue, higher levels of anxiety, irritability and anger. And yes, it’s definitely bad.

Recipe for a vacation that recharges your batteries

The main thing that a good vacation can do for our mental health is precisely to reduce chronic stress levels. When we are idle, our brain is able to reverse – at least temporarily – the negative effects of being under stress. And here comes the key: for vacations to be truly effective, we have to ensure that they really free us from the stress of our work. That is, we must avoid continuing with pending tasks, answering emails, and so on.

On the other hand, it is essential to prevent our vacations from creating new stressful situations for us.

Another key is to enjoy the wait. Why is it that the mere act of waiting for our vacations makes us happy? We mentioned dopamine a few paragraphs ago, which is produced in the neurons of two brain regions known as the substantia nigra (because of its dark color under the microscope) and the ventral tegmental area (located in the center of our brain, more or less behind the ears).

Both regions, which are home to between 400,000 and 600,000 neurons in humans, send axons to numerous areas of the brain. Through the release of dopamine, they play a key role in the pleasant feelings brought on by new experiences and rewards. Therefore, knowing that our vacation is coming increases the dopamine levels in our brain and gives us that feeling of pleasure.

Similarly, the best vacations are those in which we enjoy new experiences (such as exploring different places) and rewards (like that seafood platter we have been waiting for all year). Of course, what one finds rewarding is entirely subjective, and what is pleasant for one person can cause stress for others.

To enjoy or not to enjoy

This system that generates pleasure is also affected during chronic stress. Science shows that high or chronic levels of stress, such as those we are subjected to throughout the year during our workday, are capable of causing a reduction in the amount of dopamine released and/or changes in how it is metabolized.

The worst thing is that the changes do not only occur in the substantia nigra or in the ventral tegmental area. It has been found that chronic stress is even capable of changing the number of dopamine receptors in the areas that receive these projections. When this occurs, depressive behaviours often develop. Therefore, a vacation that frees us from stress will help to rebalance the dopaminergic system.

What is still not entirely clear is whether taking vacations for long periods provides better effects than taking them in a staggered way and in shorter periods.

Be that as it may, good vacations are good for us. So, we encourage our readers to find activities that make them feel good, recharge their energy, and reduce their stress so as to reboot their dopaminergic system. Happy travels!

Editor’s Note: Juan Pérez Fernández is a researcher at CINBIO at the University of Vigo in Spain. Roberto de la Torre Martínez is at researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska Institute in Sweden.