Hurricane Lee was starting to send dangerous surf and rip currents to parts of the southeast US coast late Sunday – and more of the East Coast is expected to see hazardous beach conditions in the coming days as the storm moves up the Atlantic, forecasters say.

Lee, a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, was centered Sunday night in the Atlantic, about 310 miles north of the Caribbean’s northern Leeward Islands and headed northwest, the National Hurricane Center said in an 11 p.m. ET advisory.

The powerful storm, which has fluctuated in intensity throughout its time over the Atlantic, could become a Category 4 by Monday morning before fluctuating again later in the week, forecasters said.

It remains too early to determine Lee’s long-term track for later this week and how significant the impacts could be for northeastern US states, Bermuda and Atlantic Canada.

But the storm already was generating swells that were affecting many of the far eastern Caribbean islands as well as the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda. Those swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents, the hurricane center said Sunday.

And “dangerous surf and rip currents have begun to reach portions of the southeast US East Coast and are forecast to worsen and spread northward along much of the US East Coast during the next couple of days,” the hurricane center said in the 11 p.m. ET Sunday advisory.

The storm grew larger – though not stronger – Sunday evening. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 75 miles from center by 11 p.m. ET, the hurricane center said – up from 45 miles six hours earlier.

By midweek, Lee is expected to make a turn to the north, likely moving between Bermuda and the US East Coast late this week.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed into Category 5 status as it moved west across the Atlantic, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.

Vertical wind shear and an eyewall replacement cycle – a process that occurs with the majority of long-lived major hurricanes – then led to the weakening of the storm, the hurricane center said.

There was almost a sense of inevitability when Novak Djokovic won the US Open final on Sunday.

The Serb had certainly been tested by opponent Daniil Medvedev but was once again just too strong, too sharp and too determined in comparison.

His reaction immediately after winning match point was somewhat muted, perhaps the result of an exhausting encounter inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium, though all his passion came through when he celebrated with friends and family in the stands.

They were celebrations fit for the occasion: Djokovic has not only won three out of the four grand slams this year, but also equalled Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles titles.

Djokovic’s coach, grand slam champion Goran Ivanišević, has been a member of the 36-year-old’s inner circle since 2019 and he heaped praise on Djokovic’s record-equalling achievement.

“He is a genius. He is one of a kind. There are not too many people in this world like him, sports wise,” Ivanišević told reporters after the final on Sunday.

“This is one of the biggest achievements in sports history, not just tennis.”

‘A winner’

If Djokovic winning in New York felt inevitable, so too does the possibility of him winning another grand slam before he retires.

One more crown would put him clear of Court’s long-standing record and would further cement his place among the greatest players in history.

Djokovic seemingly has no plans of hanging up his racket anytime soon and Ivanišević insists his player still has the desire to compete at the highest level.

“He is a winner. He’s the guy who is motivating himself,” he added.

“He had luck to have guys like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, they came before him, so they pushed each other.

“When you tell him he cannot do something, it’s even worse. Then he’s going to show you that he can do it. No excuses.

“He always tries to find a way how to win, how to fight, even when he’s not feeling well, injured, not injured.”

Despite winning in straight sets on Sunday, Djokovic didn’t always look entirely in control.

He admitted himself that Medvedev probably played better in the second set and arguably deserved to win it.

But, when it really mattered in the second set tie-break, Djokovic found those extra inches which make him such a dangerous man in those clutch moments.

Once the second set was tied up, Djokovic looked reenergised and battled through to yet another memorable win.

When asked by reporters about his ability to always find another level, Djokovic referred to his upbringing in war-torn Serbia as inspiration.

“The odds were pretty much against me and my family, but, you know, we did it,” he said after his US Open victory.

“I say ‘we’ because I owe a lot to my family, to my parents who sacrificed so much for me to be here. And that’s not a cliché. I really mean it.

“It was extremely, extremely difficult with lots of adversities that they had to face and atrocities that when you think about it, you know, the last thing you want to think about is supporting maybe your child in an expensive sport.

“So reflecting on the whole journey, it’s been an incredible, incredible ride that we all can be very proud of.”

More records to come

Retirement, he says, is far from his mind, and who can blame him?

Despite being a veteran on tour, he is still head and shoulders above most of the competition and continues to look after his mind and body.

It’s the challenge of constantly adapting his game which keeps the fire burning.

“That’s why LeBron James still keeps going at his age, or Tom Brady, you know, greats like that, that are inspiring,” he said.

“That’s basically it. You know, it’s a constant evolving process of me trying to implement certain things that will give me an edge over the young guns.

He added: “I don’t want to leave this sport if I’m still at the top, you know, if I’m still playing the way I’m playing.”

Passengers on an Air China flight were evacuated upon landing in Singapore after one of the aircraft’s engines caught fire, leading to a three-hour closure of Changi Airport on Sunday.

Videos on social media showed passengers evacuating the aircraft using the emergency exit slide while dark smoke billowed from the engine that was still on fire. Other images taken inside the plane showed a dark cabin and the aisle blanketed in smoke.

All 146 passengers and nine crew members safely evacuated after landing at about 4:15 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

A fire in the left engine was extinguished about 10 minutes later and nine passengers sustained minor injuries related to smoke inhalation and abrasions during evacuation, it said.

Smoke was also detected in the front cargo hold and a lavatory, Changi Airport said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Air China said in a statement on Weibo that flight CA403 was traveling from China’s Chengdu Tianfu Airport to Singapore Changi Airport when smoke appeared in the cabin of the A320neo before landing.

The carrier initially determined that the fire was caused by a mechanical failure of the engine, and further investigation is currently underway.

Last March, China faced its worst air disaster in more than a decade when a Boeing 737-800 China Eastern Airlines flight carrying 132 people left no survivors when it crashed while en route from Kunming to Guangzhou.

They are scenes few would associate with Japan’s highest peak: human traffic jams, foothills littered with garbage and inappropriately attired hikers – some attempting the ascent in sandals.

But these sights are all too familiar for Miho Sakurai, a veteran ranger who has patrolled the slopes of Mount Fuji for the past seven years.

When Mount Fuji was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2013, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), UNESCO’s advisory organ, urged mountain officials to manage the crowds.

However, the number of visitors to the mountain’s popular fifth hiking station has more than doubled from two million in 2012 to over five million visitors in 2019, according to the Yamanashi prefectural government.

And since the annual climbing season opened just a couple of months ago in July, around 65,000 hikers have reached the summit, an increase of 17% from 2019.

Officials say a post-Covid tourism boom has brought thousands more to the mountain, which straddles Japan’s Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. And as Mount Fuji marks the 10th anniversary of its UNESCO designation this year, they fear the environmental situation has reached a “critical point.”

“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” says Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official and expert on the famed peak.

‘Like Disneyland’

Of Mount Fuji’s 10 hiking stations, the fifth (called “Gogome”) is located roughly halfway up the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) mountain. It receives 90% of the mountain’s visitors, most whom take buses, taxis and EV cars from Tokyo along the Fuji Subaru Line mountain road, says Izumi.

“Built almost 60 years ago amid Japan’s era of motorization, the Fuji Subaru Line gave visitors and families direct access to a point halfway up the mountain. It allowed people across the country to experience Mount Fuji,” says Izumi.

Nowadays, when hikers head to the fifth station from Tokyo on that line, they’ll hear a folk song play briefly as their vehicle passes a set of sensors on the road.

Written by Sazanami Iwaya in 1911, “Fuji no Yama” or “The Mountain of Fuji” celebrates the popular tourist destination. The lyrics highlight Mount Fuji’s grandeur, calling it “Japan’s greatest mountain” as it “pokes its head above the clouds” while “clad in a kimono of snow.”

These lyrics are a stark contrast to the reality on the ground, with experts saying the mountaineering experience at Mount Fuji is in sharp decline because of the crowds.

Izumi, the Yamanashi official, says visitors can no longer take private cars up to the fifth station unless they are fully electric, but that has resulted in more buses ferrying large groups of visitors to the station.

The hordes of hikers are also putting the mountain’s limited toilet facilities and four medical stations under increasing pressure, he adds.

At the busy fifth station, as busloads of hikers swarm toward the Yoshida trail – the most popular of the mountain’s four routes – Tomoyo Takahashi, a Mount Fuji conservation fund employee, urges them to donate 1,000 yen ($7) to keep the mountain clean.

Unruly hiking

The mountaineering experience is particularly in decline for more seasoned hikers, according to Kiyotatsu Yamamoto, a national parks and Mount Fuji specialist at the University of Tokyo.

“Congestion and traffic jams on the mountain trails are a major source of dissatisfaction among climbers, as hikers who want to see the sunrise all amass near the summit, and it takes them four hours to climb a section that used to be climbed in two hours,” he says.

Vito Fung Yiu Ting, a hiker from Hong Kong, says he booked a night in a mountain lodge at least three months before visiting Fuji.

But not everyone plans well in advance. The risk of altitude sickness and hypothermia, for instance, has increased because of a trend called “bullet climbing,” in which hikers begin their ascent at night, pushing on until dawn, without staying in a mountain lodge to acclimatize their bodies to the air pressure, says Sakurai, the Mount Fuji ranger.

Yamamoto adds that some inexperienced hikers even sleep in the washrooms to keep warm, throw away climbing gear on the trail or camp in prohibited zones.

From ‘quantity to quality’ tourism

Over the years, countermeasures have been taken to protect Mount Fuji.

For instance, volunteers from the Fujisan Club, a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving Mount Fuji, have carried out 992 clean-up activities at the foothills of the peak, with 74,215 participants collecting 850 tonnes of garbage between 2004 and 2018.

Last year, the group started carrying out garbage patrols with electric bikes equipped with cameras that capture GPS data and create maps that chart the types and quantities of rubbish in an area.

To improve the visitor experience, officials capped the number of climbers to 4,000 per day for the popular Yoshida trail, says Yamamoto, the national parks specialist.

However, in practice, sticking to this target is a challenging feat.

Unlike in the US, national parks and World Heritage sites in Japan do not have gates keeping visitors out. Blocking roads to hikers requires laws and local government bylaws, meaning progress on this front is slow, he says.

Yamamoto has proposed establishing a system whereby only visitors who had booked a parking space or climbers who had made bookings at one of the nine lodges gain permission to hike Mount Fuji.

Meanwhile, Izumi says the local government wants to radically change how people access the mountain.

Possible options include building a light rail transit system on top of the Fuji Subaru Line road, preventing cars and buses from traveling along its path to the fifth station.

Izumi feels crowd control will be easier when people have to buy train tickets and the local government sets departure and arrival times. He has also proposed organizing lectures on the trains, in which people learn about Mount Fuji and how to climb the mountain correctly.

“Fuji-san is screaming out in pain. We can’t just wait for improvement; we need to tackle overtourism now,” he says.

North Korea claims to have launched a new “Korean-style” tactical nuclear attack submarine that it says heralds “the beginning of a new chapter” for its navy. But analysts say those claims should be taken with a large pinch of salt, with South Korean authorities doubting the vessel even works properly.

The submarine, named “Hero Kim Kun Ok,” was launched to much fanfare at a ceremony attended by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The agency quoted Kim as saying the vessel was “equipped with a large number of nuclear delivery means” and capable of “preemptive and retaliatory strikes against hostile countries,” and said he had called on the country to convert all of its medium-sized subs into nuclear-capable versions.

But South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs (JCS) poured scorn on those claims in a statement on Friday, saying the new sub appears “not capable of normal operation,” and warned there were signs North Korea was trying to exaggerate its capabilities.

The reports about the sub come after North Korea last weekend claimed to have simulated a nuclear missile attack to warn the United States of “nuclear war danger.”

Meanwhile, US experts have also expressed doubts over the new submarine, both over the potency of its missiles and whether North Korea would be able to build more than one such vessel.

What’s ‘nuclear’ about it?

US analysts believe the submarine, which was first revealed to be under construction four years ago, is conventionally powered but possibly capable of launching ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.

Submarine expert H I Sutton, writing on the Naval News website, said the new vessel appears to be based on the old Soviet-designed Romeo-class submarines. According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, North Korea already has 20 Romeo-class subs in its fleet of an estimated 64 to 86 submarines.

The latest sub appears to have 10 missile launch tubes in a compartment attached to its sail, Sutton noted, adding that, “Given the Hermit Kingdom’s investment in ballistic missiles, it is likely that these are nuclear capable.”

North Korea has test-fired submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) nine times since 2015, most recently in 2022, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) North Korea Missile Test Database.

However, other analysts said it remained unclear whether the new sub was capable of launching SLBMs.

Others were even more skeptical. Carl Schuster, a retired US Navy captain and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, said the newly launched sub was probably two years away from being fully operational. He said installing and testing the sub’s internal machinery and components would take around 18 months, then there would be up to six months of sea trials and training.

And even if and when the sub does become fully operational, there are some who doubt the effectiveness of Pyongyang’s submarine-launched missiles.

Vann Van Diepen, a former US government official working on weapons of mass destruction issues, wrote on the 38 North website in July that ballistic missile subs had taken a back seat to land-mobile ballistic missiles in Pyongyang’s forces and were unlikely to be “a consequential and credible leg” of its nuclear forces anytime soon.

“Pyongyang’s land-based missiles, which are much more survivable and cost-effective than a (ballistic missile submarine) force, are highly likely to remain the mainstay of its nuclear and missile forces,” he wrote.

Sending a message

While analysts believe the sub launched on Wednesday is conventionally powered, Kim has said previously that he wants his country to produce nuclear-powered vessels in the future.

He reiterated that call in his speech Wednesday, saying it was “necessary to give greater impetus to the construction of nuclear-powered submarines to strengthen and develop our navy into a military force of a world-class maritime power,” according to KCNA.

Irrespective of its power source, Schuster said Wednesday’s launch enabled Kim to “send a deterrent message” to adversaries like the US and Japan.

“He is signaling that his nuclear program is progressing and that he can soon conduct strikes from multiple directions,” Schuster said.

All US Navy submarines, both of the attack and ballistic missile varieties, are nuclear powered. Russia, China, Britain, France and India also operate nuclear-powered subs.

The launch of the sub and North Korea’s claim to have simulated a nuclear missile attack last weekend come as Pyongyang prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the country’s founding on September 9.

The events also come amid signs that Pyongyang has been rattled by increasing cooperation between the United States and South Korea.

At the end of August the two countries held joint military live-fire exercises simulating a counterattack against invading forces. And following a May summit meeting in Seoul the US and South Korean presidents pledged to step up military cooperation. That pledge followed more than a dozen missiles tests by North Korea this year – a big increase on the eight it carried out in 2021 and the four in 2020.

Record-breaking rainfall paralyzed much of Hong Kong on Friday, with flash flooding submerging metro stations and trapping drivers on roads, as authorities suspended schools and urged the public to seek safe shelter.

Photos and videos showed residents wading through murky brown floodwaters as heavy rain continued to inundate the densely populated city of 7.5 million. In some low-lying areas, streets were transformed into surging torrents, with authorities forced to rescue motorists stuck in their vehicles.

The deluge began late Thursday night, with the Hong Kong Observatory recording more than 158 millimeters (6.2 inches) in rain between 11 p.m. and midnight, the highest hourly rainfall since records began in 1884, the government said in a news release.

Some parts of city saw almost 500 mm (19.7 inches) of rainfall in 24 hours, according to online weather data site OGimet.

The extreme conditions caught many residents by surprise and came just days after Hong Kong was lashed by its strongest typhoon in five years.

Typhoon Saola, originally a super typhoon, weakened to the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane as it reached Hong Kong last weekend – but was still potent enough to shut down the city and cause hundreds of flight cancellations. Eighty-six people were injured from the typhoon, the government said.

Friday’s deluge again caused widespread transport and business disruptions across the financial hub, with the stock market canceling morning trading, and all schools closed for the day. On Friday, authorities appealed to businesses to allow non-essential employees to stay at home or seek safe shelter, citing unsafe travel conditions.

Stuart Hargreaves, a Hong Kong resident and professor, was forced to spend the night in his car after being stranded while driving home late Thursday. The flooded roads were “impassable,” he said; at one point, “water was coming over the hood of the car and I thought it was going to flood the engine.”

Several other cars had similarly flooded and were “floating” nearby, he said. He managed to park in a safe place, but there was no way out – leaving him stuck until daybreak. When he managed to drive home nine hours later, the road was “full of rocks from landslides, debris from trees, abandoned cars and so on,” he said.

As of Friday afternoon, 119 people have been reported injured from the downpour, four of whom are in serious condition, according to Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority. The government said Friday that such “extreme” conditions were expected to continue until at least midnight.

The city’s Mass Transit Railway announced it would suspend services on one of its lines after a station in the Wong Tai Sin district was flooded, with footage shared widely online showing floodwater gushing down the stairs. Another video shows workers at a different station up to their knees in water, struggling at the entrance to keep the flooding at bay.

While most other subway operations remained open, all major bus, tram and ferry services were suspended, according to public broadcaster RTHK. And although some bus services resumed Friday afternoon, many routes remain closed or diverted.

Multiple roads were also closed off due to the threat of landslides in the mountainous territory, with authorities issuing the highest “black” rainstorm warning for the first time in two years.

Videos from Thursday evening show floodwater entering the first floors of some buildings and shopping malls, with chairs and debris scattered across the floor.

The government also warned “there may be a risk of flooding” in its northern New Territories district, which is adjacent to the Chinese mainland, after the neighboring city of Shenzhen said it would release water from a reservoir.

The downpours in Shenzhen also broke multiple rain records in the city, including the maximum rainfall records over two-hour, three-hour, six-hour and 12-hour periods, which have stood since 1952, according to Chinese state media.

Shenzhen saw 469 millimeters (about 18.5 inches) of rain from 5 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools shut on Friday, state media reported. Transport was disrupted there, too, with six subway lines suspended.

Sajida Abu Salah, clad in all black, is angry.

Standing at a protest march in Haifa against the rising crime wave affecting Arab communities in Israel last week, Abu Salah cries out “Enough! Enough!,” in Arabic-accented Hebrew.

“We want to live in peace and quiet. We want to find who is behind all of this – Why? Why kill these kids?” she demands.

Abu Salah’s son Ali was murdered just the week before on his way to work, a year after a stint in prison. He’s one of the latest victims of the alarming increase in murders targeting Arab Israelis, with more than 170 killed so far this year, numbers far eclipsing those of the same period in previous years (111 were killed in all of 2022).

Abu Salah says she was supposed to be preparing for her son’s wedding. Instead, she was attending the protest where thousands of Israelis – Jews and Arabs – gathered, calling for equal justice.

“I blame the police, the government, the law, the members of the (Israeli Parliament) Knesset. They should look for all the people who are doing these terrible acts,” she says. “Why should they let my child live only 30 years? Why won’t they give him his future?”

The family are Arab citizens of Israel, who make up about 20% of Israel’s population. Many speak fluent Hebrew and also identify as Palestinian. But they say they feel like second-class citizens, and claim Israeli authorities are not treating their cases as seriously as those of Jewish Israelis.

Filling a ‘vacuum’

The rise in violence is fueled by organized crime, Israeli officials say. Activists claim gangs prey on the high unemployment rate among young Arab-Israeli men, acting as loan sharks, and force shop keepers and others to pay protection fees. Illegal guns have also flooded Arab towns across Israel, they add, and people are afraid to cooperate in police investigations for fear of reprisal attacks.

Thabet Abu Rass, the co-executive director of Abraham Initiatives, an organization that promotes equality among Israeli Arabs and Jews, says a lack of adequate policing has created a “vacuum” in Israel’s Arab community.

“This vacuum (is) filled by criminal organizations. And they’re doing everything actually, the criminal organizations are protecting, they are collecting protection (money), they are shooting people, they are (loaning) money to people if they want, but also they are making peace, reconciliation and consulting between people. Nobody else is doing this job except the criminal organizations,” Abu Rass says.

Abu Rass says Israeli police are “weak” right now, distracted by political drama, the regular anti-judicial-overhaul protests, and the recent rise in Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past 18 months. According to data from the Abraham Initiatives, few of the recent murders have led to indictments.

“It’s like we are in the different territories than they (Jewish Israelis) are. Like we are not part of Israel. But we are Israeli citizens. We are demanding fair and equal policing,” Abu Rass says.

Many of the victims have been targeted, either as part of the warring gangs or for other reasons. But uninvolved civilians, including several young children and toddlers, have been killed as well, local authorities say.

At the march in Haifa late last week, protesters carried white coffins for each of those victims thus far. Along their sides were messages with what the victim was doing when they were killed. “I went to get a pizza,” says one. “It was my birthday,” says another. Hundreds of women wearing white robes carried signs in Hebrew, Arabic and English with messages like “Arab Blood Matters,” and “Startup nation? More like innovation in discrimination.”

No sense of ‘belonging’

Badee’a Khnifes’ daughter Johara was an anti-violence and women’s rights activist who had participated in US State Department-sponsored programs. She was just 28 years old when she was killed last year after a bomb exploded under her car.

Wearing a white shirt bearing her daughter’s photo, Khnifes, who identifies as an Arab-Druze Israeli citizen, says the police have made little progress on solving her murder other than to suggest it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

“I feel like a neglected stranger in a completely neglected, dictatorial country,” she says. “I don’t have a sense of belonging.”

In the early 2000s, Israeli authorities launched a massive program to tackle a murder wave spurred by organized Jewish criminal activity. Some of the cases even involved extradition from the United States for trial in Israel.

Arab Israelis such as Khnifes want the same effort put towards this wave.

“What is happening in our Arab society now, 20 years ago it was in the center (of Israel) and the police did a wonderful job,” Khnifes says, referring to Jewish criminal activity. “We are one people, we are one country, but it means nothing. We are citizens of this country’s government. I want them to treat me and my community the same way they treat the Jewish community, who are our brothers.”

Many in this community, including Arab-Israeli member of parliament Ahmad Tibi, blame the current government – the most right-wing in Israeli history. Israel’s police force falls under the jurisdiction of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, himself once convicted of anti-Arab racism.

“He’s the most inappropriate man to be the minister for National Security. It’s ridiculous how Netanyahu chose this man in this post,” Tibi said. “This man, who is a convict and a terrorist, according to the Israeli court, is leading the police, fighting (with) the police, the police fighting (with) him, and both (are) a failure. And the cost of this failure is a lot of bloodshed in our streets in our community.”

Ben Gvir has blamed the crime wave on previous “years of neglect and ignoring warning signs” and has called on the Shin Bet – Israel’s domestic security agency, tasked with combating terrorism – to get involved in solving these crimes. He has claimed that his proposal for a new “national guard” would help as well.

“In the Arab sector, criminal organizations are active that have armed militias with thousands of soldiers and many weapons,” Ben Gvir said last month. “They are terrorist organizations. When they undertake violence on the street, they will turn the fire against the state of Israel.”

‘Internal terrorism’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, created a ministerial committee to fight crime in Arab communities .

He called the crime wave “one of the most significant challenges facing the State of Israel today,” as the committee met on Thursday.

On Thursday the committee announced proposals including giving police additional technology and administrative tools, and increasing financial penalties against criminal organizations. The committee also proposed allowing additional cooperation between the police and Shin Bet, a suggestion Netanyahu has made before.

“We will use all means, including the Shin Bet and the police – all means – in order to defeat this crime,” Netanyahu said last month after the director general of the predominantly Arab city of Tira was murdered. “We have eliminated organized crime in the Jewish sector in Israel and we will eliminate organized crime in the Arab sector in Israel. Every citizen of Israel must feel secure and not under the shadow of the threat of internal terrorism.”

That has led to some pushback, including from Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, since the agency is primarily tasked with investigating terrorism, although he is reported to have met recently with the heads of Arab municipalities.

“A country that leans toward involving the Shin Bet in every complex issue will transform into a very different country,” Bar told a parliamentary committee last month, according to Israeli media.

Whatever the method used to combat this crime wave, Arab citizens of Israel say it is only a matter of time before this crisis will spill into their Jewish neighbors’ backyards.

“Today this pain is in the Arab society, just like it was 20 years ago in the Jewish society, and it will return to the Jewish society,” Khnifes says. “And I do not wish that.”

The uncle of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman whose death in the custody of Iran’s morality police sparked nation-wide protests last year, was arrested last week, according to a family member and a human rights group.

The reasons behind his arrest are unknown, but his detention comes just days before the one-year anniversary of Amini’s death.

Amini died last September after being detained by the regime’s notorious morality police and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code. Her death triggered a social movement, with demonstrators protesting the regime’s treatment of women as well as other issues.

The protests dwindled, but the regime has ramped up its arrests of activists and their relatives ahead of the anniversary of Amini’s death September 16.

The regime has also brought back its morality police after witnesses said the force had briefly disappeared from the streets during the protests. Iran also doubled down on hijab laws, with parliament now considering draft legislation dictating harsher measures against those violating the country’s dress code.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions started their NFL campaigns with a blockbuster opening game – but there are still 30 other teams waiting to get their seasons underway in what promises to be a thrilling first weekend of the season.

Detroit stunned the reigning champions on Thursday night, and on Sunday there could be more surprises.

How to watch

The action begins at 1 p.m. ET as eight games kick off, with seven more following over the rest of the day and on Monday.

In the United States, coverage of games all season will be shown on the NFL’s ‘NFL+’ platform, with games also being shown on ESPN, FOX, NBC and CBS across the year.

Sunday’s prime time game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants will be shown nationally on NBC, while Monday’s clash of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets is broadcasted by ESPN.

Fans outside of the US can also follow the action via the NFL’s Game Pass on DAZN.

Bengals @ Browns

An Ohio derby on the opening weekend of the new season is a treat for all NFL fans, especially with expectations for both teams so high.

For the Cincinnati Bengals, with their star quarterback Joe Burrow tied down to a new long-term deal and surrounded by an explosive offensive core, another deep playoff run is the benchmark for success.

Burrow’s arrival in the city has brought about a period of unmatched success for the traditionally down-on-its-luck franchise, losing in the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship last year.

The window for teams to win a title is typically not a long one, so the Bengals will be looking to capitalize on theirs with Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and head coach Zac Taylor at the peak of their powers.

The Cleveland Browns also have high hopes for this coming season.

The trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson was meant to be the final piece of the puzzle, but he was suspended for the first 11 games of last season after he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women.

Watson has previously settled all but one of the sexual misconduct civil lawsuits against him. He has denied wrongdoing in those cases, and two grand juries have separately declined to indict him on criminal charges.

His form is expected to improve this season with a full preseason of training. And with some canny offseason acquisitions, there is a lot of pressure on head coach Kevin Stefanski.

The AFC North division, in which both teams reside, looks a competitive one and a win in week 1 would act as a perfect springboard for the rest of the season.

Cowboys @ Giants

NFL traditionalists have been rewarded on the opening weekend with this historic match-up picked to be broadcast nationally.

The Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants have had many battles for the ages over the years and is one of the most heated rivalries across the league.

They have a lot in common – both ended last season disappointingly, both have undergone big changes and both have high expectations.

The Cowboys will be taking to the field for the first time without former running back, Ezekiel Elliott, on the roster and have also lost offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to the Los Angeles Chargers. Both these moves increases the pressure on head coach Mike McCarthy.

The addition of wide receiver Brandin Cooks adds another weapon to quarterback Dak Prescott’s arsenal. The spotlight is certainly on Prescott after a difficult time in Texas.

For the Giants, it is a case of building on last season’s growth.

The team showed remarkable improvements in Brian Daboll’s first season as head coach, with quarterback Daniel Jones elevating his game significantly – earning himself a big-money contract extension as a result – and running back Saquon Barkley looking like his old, dynamic self.

There are still improvements needed, in particular on defense, but with the trade for tight end Darren Waller the Giants look well-placed to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007 and 2008.

Bills @ Jets

Arguably the game of the first week is its final one, with the Buffalo Bills traveling to face the New York Jets.

It is the clash of establish superpower against the upstart team looking to make an impression.

The Bills, full of star power in the form of quarterback Josh Allen, wide receiver Stefon Diggs and linebacker Von Miller, are aiming to improve on a disappointing season last time out.

The team will also be bolstered by the return of safety Damar Hamlin after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field in January.

The Jets are the team with perhaps the most intrigue surrounding them.

It looked just a quarterback away from being a serious contender last season and the arrival of Aaron Rodgers from Green Bay caps off a top-heavy roster.

With a combination of young talent – Sauce Gardner, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson – and veterans Rodgers, C.J. Mosley and D.J. Reed, the Jets look well-placed to make a deep playoff run.

Schedule

Sunday

Carolina Panthers @ Atlanta Falcons

Houston Texans @ Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals @ Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Minnesota Vikings

Tennessee Titans @ New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Arizona Cardinals @ Washington Commanders

Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears

Las Vegas Raiders @ Denver Broncos

Miami Dolphins @ Los Angeles Chargers

Philadelphia Eagles @ New England Patriots

Los Angeles Rams @ Seattle Seahawks

Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants

Monday

Buffalo Bills @ New York Jets

Luis Rubiales on Sunday resigned from his position as president of the Spanish soccer federation following weeks of fierce criticism over his unwanted kiss with Women’s World Cup winner Jennifer Hermoso.

“Today, I notified the interim president at 930 pm, Mr. Pedro Rocha, that I have resigned as President of RFEF,” Rubiales said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I have also let him know that I have also resigned my position in UEFA so that my Vice-presidency position can be filled.”

“To insist on waiting around,” he continued, “and holding onto that won’t contribute anything positive, neither to the Federation nor to Spanish football. Among other things, because the powers that be will prevent my return.”

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed that Rubiales had presented his resignation as chief of the Spanish football association as well as vice president of UEFA.

“The Royal Spanish Football Federation confirms that Luis M. Rubiales Béjar has presented his resignation tonight,” RFEF said in a statement. “This has been made known to the federative entity through a letter to Pedro Rocha Junco. In addition, he also resigns from his position as vice president of UEFA.”

The federation’s board of directors will now call an election to find a a successor.

Rubiales vowed to clear his name against what he called “excessive persecution.”

“I have faith in the truth and I will do everything when it’s in my hands so that it prevails,” he wrote. “My daughters, my family and the people that love me have suffered the effects of an excessive persecution, as well as many falsehoods, but it’s also true that in the street, every day more, the truth is being imposed.”

Rubiales’ unwanted kiss on Hermoso after the Spanish team’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final on August 20 sparked condemnation in Spain and across the world. The 46-year-old previously apologized and described the kiss as “mutual” – a claim Hermoso denied, saying she did not consent and was not respected.

The Spaniard was provisionally suspended by global governing body FIFA for 90 days while a disciplinary investigation takes place. Pedro Rocha stepped into the role in the interim.

A reckoning for Spanish soccer

The scandal involving Rubiales triggered a crisis in Spanish soccer, with the government pushing for Rubiales to resign and RFEF last week removing World Cup-winning manager Jorge Vilda from his role. Vilda had been filmed seeming to inappropriately touch a female staff member during the Women’s World Cup Final. He was replaced by Montse Tomé, the first woman in Spanish national team history to hold the position.

Public outcry to the unwanted kiss and Rubiales’ staunch defense of it has come from every sphere of Spanish society, including from politicians and sports stars. The incident also sparked a conversation about the prevalence of “macho culture” in Spain, a county that has witnessed massive protests against sexual violence and sexism in the past years.

The coaches of Spain’s women’s team resigned en masse and more than 80 Spanish soccer players put their name on a statement supporting Hermoso, saying they would not return to the national team “if the current leaders continue” in their posts.

Rubiales also sparked ire for his insistence that the kiss was consensual, despite Hermoso’s denials. “I did not like this incident,” Hermoso wrote in a statement about the kiss on X. “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist out of place act without any consent on my part.”

The federation then released two statements defending him, one of which has since been deleted, threatening legal action against Hermoso and accusing her of spreading “lies.”

Rubiales initially refused to stand down over the incident, repeating that he “will not resign” several times in an almost 30-minute speech at the federation’s general assembly, during which he also spoke of “unjust” campaigns and “fake feminism.”

However, his position became increasingly untenable, despite support from the federation, as players resigned and he was engulfed in a wave of criticism from the sporting world and Spanish politicians.

All 23 members of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, including Hermoso, and nearly 50 other professional female soccer players said they would not play for the national team again until Rubiales was removed. The national team’s next fixture is on September 22.

As the row dragged on, several soccer teams, both male and female, displayed their support for Hermoso at their matches – some held shirts, some wore wristbands, and some unfurled banners.

Pressure then mounted on Monday as all 19 regional presidents of Spain’s soccer federation called for Rubiales to resign following an emergency meeting, hours after Spanish prosecutors announced that an investigation that could end in sexual aggression charges against Rubiales had been opened.

On Friday, the Spanish national prosecutor filed a complaint against Rubiales “for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion against Jennifer Hermoso,” according to a prosecutor’s statement, after Hermoso filed an official complaint with prosecutors.

The complaint from the prosecutor’s office – part of the Spanish legal process – paves the way for Spain’s national court to launch a formal investigation into Rubiales and begin gathering evidence, which could lead to possible charges.

In protest against what she called an “inhumane, bloodthirsty hunt” against her son, Rubiales’ mother, Ángeles Béjar, locked herself in a church on Monday and went on a hunger strike in the town of Motril near Grenada, according to media reports.