And so there were four.

After weeks of grueling Women’s World Cup action, only Spain, Sweden, Australia and England remain in the competition with an opportunity to get their hands on the coveted trophy they’ve all been fighting for.

Japan’s exit to Sweden in the quarterfinals means this year’s tournament will see a first-time world champion crowned and their names written into the annals of time.

With just two games standing between them and World Cup glory, let’s have a look at everything you need to know about the four semifinalists.

Spain

La Roja’s run to its first ever Women’s World Cup semifinal hasn’t been a straightforward one and the road has been filled with highs and lows.

The issues began even prior to the tournament’s start, when 15 players declared themselves unavailable for selection in September last year, citing their emotional and physical health and an unappreciation of them, primarily focused on the practices of head coach Jorge Vilda.

The Spanish federation (RFEF) chose to stand behind Vilda and six players – including two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas – eventually reversed their decisions, but it left in its wake a fractured group of players; albeit a talented one.

Despite the noise surrounding preparations for the World Cup, the Spanish players showed no signs of being bogged down in their opening two group games, blowing past both Costa Rica and Zambia, scoring eight and conceding none.

However, in its final game in the group stage, a warning was sent to La Roja as it was stunned 4-0 by Japan in one of the performances of the tournament, sending shockwaves throughout the competition.

When it appeared that its Women’s World Cup hopes might be teetering on the edge, Spain – with Putellas coming off the bench while coming back from a dreaded ACL injury – has found its feet again, comfortably beating Switzerland in the round-of-16 and advancing to its first ever semifinal thanks to a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, with teenager Salma Paralluelo scoring the decisive goal in extra time.

Sweden

Sweden has shown remarkable determination to reach its second straight Women’s World Cup semifinal – and its fifth overall.

The Blågult needed a last-minute goal to put away South Africa in its opening game and a penalty shootout to upset the US in the round-of-16.

And it produced arguably its best performance of the tournament so far against a formidable Japan side in the quarterfinals, managing to hold on for a 2-1 victory despite a late Japanese comeback attempt.

Nothing quite epitomizes the Swedish doggedness like two of their standout performers: goalkeeper Zećira Mušović and defender Amanda Ilestedt.

Mušović has become pivotal to the Blågult’s run to the semifinals, particularly against the US when she produced a heroic performance, making 11 saves. Since records began in 2011, that was the most saves in a single game at the Women’s World Cup for a goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet, according to Sky Sports.

The 27-year-old was born to Serbian parents who had escaped the war in their home country. She preferred table tennis to soccer in her youth, according to FIFA, but quickly felt at home in the latter when she switched from being an outfielder to a goalkeeper aged 12.

And her almost mythical presence in between the posts continued against Japan, only finally conceding late on in the match.

Ilestedt is enjoying quite the tournament personally too. The 30-year-old center-back scored Sweden’s opening goal against Japan, her fourth of the tournament, putting her just one behind the Nadeshiko’s Hinata Miyazawa in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot award for the top goalscorer.

In recent years, Sweden has fallen at the final hurdle when it comes to claiming a major international trophy – notably losing in the final at the 2003 Women’s World Cup and in the gold medal match at the two most recent Olympic Games – but has another opportunity to banish those demons once and for all.

Australia

It’s been a tournament to remember for the tournament co-host, both on and off the pitch.

Plenty was expected of the Matildas playing on home soil, led by one of the world’s best players in Sam Kerr and in front of a home crowd.

But things began in ominous fashion when Kerr was ruled out of Australia’s first two group games with a calf injury. And the team’s performances on the pitch didn’t leave fans with much hope either, struggling to a 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in its opener and being stunned by Nigeria in its second.

However, like any good tournament team and with the return of Kerr to the bench, Australia has gradually grown into the tournament.

A 5-0 thumping of Olympic champion Canada saw it reach the knockout phase before it ground out a hard-fought victory over Denmark in the last-16 to reach the team’s first ever Women’s World Cup quarterfinals.

Arguably its performance of the tournament came in the quarterfinals though, with Australia more than holding its own against France before eventually prevailing in a dramatic penalty shootout to continue the country’s historic run.

The team’s success has captured the imagination of many Australians too, with FIFA reporting that 7.2 million people tuned in to watch the team beat France on penalties – 10% more than its previous match – and that it had an average viewership of 3.69 million, the No. 1 Australian TV sports broadcast of the last decade.

FIFA also reported that 472,000 people streamed the game against France on 7Plus, the most viewed event ever in Australia.

Australia prime minister Anthony Albanese has shown his support for the team, publicly backing calls for a national holiday should the Matildas win the Women’s World Cup.

“I’ve said that the state and territory leaders should consider it and I know that it’s received a pretty warm reception in most quarters,” Albanese said in a radio interview with state broadcaster ABC when asked if calls for a public holiday were justified.

“This is something much more than just a sporting event. This is an inspiration to young girls in particular, but also young boys.”

Now, with Kerr’s fitness issues seemingly fading in the rearview mirror and the support of a nation behind it, Australia is on the brink of World Cup glory.

England

England entered the tournament as one of the favorites, so a run to the semifinals isn’t that surprising.

The European champion is jampacked with star-studded talent, and it is this quality – as well as its world-class manager, Sarina Wiegman – which has been the key driving force behind its recent success in Australia and New Zealand.

Narrow victories opened its campaign, with Lauren James a particular standout amongst some underwhelming early performances.

A 6-1 thumping of China reestablished England’s credentials as contenders, only for its last-16 and quarterfinals performances – a penalty shootout victory over Nigeria having been thoroughly outplayed and a comeback victory over Colombia – to perhaps display some of the cracks in the Lionesses’ armor.

It will miss James for its semifinal against Australia though, the Chelsea star serving the second of her two-game suspension after she was sent off for stepping on the back of Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie during the round-of-16 game at Brisbane Stadium.

But with a spine consisting of Mary Earps, Millie Bright, Kiera Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Alessia Russo – not to mention Chloe Kelly and Bethany England off the bench – this England team remains a threat no matter the opposition.

So who is the favorite to win the Women’s World Cup?

The lack of previous Women’s World Cup winning experience has made the semifinals and final even more exciting if that’s even possible.

All four teams have differing strengths and weaknesses, with no clear favorite standing out unlike in years past with the previously all-conquering US team.

With just four games left in the tournament – including the third-place match between the losers of the semifinals – Sweden has become the favorite to claim its first title, according to sports data company Gracenote.

Based on approximately one million simulations of the entire tournament, Sweden has a 32% chance of victory, while Australia and England both have 24% chance and Spain with 21%, says Gracenote.

Sweden is the highest-ranked team left in the tournament – third in the world – but if it was to face England in the final, the Blågult might have bad memories, as its last encounter at a major tournament was a 4-1 loss to the Lionesses in the semifinals of the 2022 Women’s Euros.

In any case, we’re set to have an incredible finale to what’s been a World Cup for the ages.

Tried meatless Mondays? How about black fly Fridays or scorpion Sundays?

New York City-based chef Joseph Yoon started cooking insects four years ago for an art project. He now wants to change our perceptions of creepy crawlies so that we can have “delicious,” “nutrient-dense,” and “sustainable” insect diets.

“I absolutely love insects,” says Yoon, who is the executive director of Brooklyn Bugs, an organization that promotes edible insects. “The fact that they are so diverse, the fact that there are so many species of insects, the fact that we rely so heavily on insects for our own ecosystem and biodiversity is absolutely fascinating.”

There are more than 2,100 types of edible insects in the world, and they come in varying flavors, such as nutty, citrusy, cheesy and coconutty, says Yoon. “What I’m trying to do is present people with this wonderful cornucopia of flavors, textures and ideas of how to cook with edible insects.”

A sustainable protein source

Insects are regularly consumed by an estimated 2 billion people, according to a 2013 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). However, the report says that feelings of disgust are associated with eating insects in most Western countries.

Feeding the world is an increasingly difficult challenge. Land is scarce and oceans are overfished, yet current food production will need to almost double to accommodate the 9 billion people that are expected to populate the Earth by 2050, according to the FAO report.

And food production is taking its toll on the environment. Recent studies show that the livestock industry generates between 14 and 17% of manmade greenhouse gas emissions.

Crickets need six times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and half the feed needed by pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein, according to the FAO. Protein-rich insect diets could provide a sustainable solution if Western attitudes towards them can change from “ew” to “yum.”

To help reduce the environmental impact of our culinary habits, Yoon wants “to normalize edible insects around the world, particularly right here where I live in America.”

Crickets, mac and cheese

But even for those who are willing to try, it’s not always obvious how best to incorporate insects into their diet.

“When people ask me how they should integrate crickets or insects into their food, one of the favorite ways I like to do it is simply in my favorite foods,” Yoon says. “You don’t have to think about making a new dish with a new ingredient but if you like to make fried rice like I do, I love making fried rice with crickets. I love adding crickets to my mac and cheese. You can add the cricket powder to the cheese sauce.”

He follows in the footsteps of other insect innovators trying to change Western attitudes.

Among the early adopters, in 2012 American entrepreneur Patrick Crowley introduced an insect-protein product to the United States, the Chapul Cricket energy bar, which was fortified with cricket flour. An edible insect farm, Next Millennium Farms, opened in Canada in 2014.

In 2019, about 9 million people in Europe consumed insects and their derived products, according to the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed. It forecasts that figure will be 390 million consumers by 2030.

“When you think about insects – quite possibly one of the smallest organisms that we can think of … can one bug make a difference? Can one human make a difference?” Yoon says. “One of the really big driving factors of my work is that, yes, each one of us has a responsibility. Incorporating edible insects into your diet once a week can make a big difference.”

Major wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed dozens of people and caused heavy damage, particularly in the historic town of Lahaina.

The state has asked all visitors to leave Maui and those planning to travel to affected areas in the coming weeks to reschedule their trips – a harsh blow to a destination whose economy relies heavily on tourism.

The following Q&A with University of South Carolina research professor Rich Harrill, an expert on hospitality and tourism, looks at what’s happened in Hawaii and how other tourism destinations have bounced back from natural disasters.

How tourism-dependent is Hawaii compared to other popular destinations?

Compared with other destinations, Hawaii is very reliant on tourism – it comprises about 25% of the state’s economy. According to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, visitor spending was projected to be $20.8 billion in 2023 and $23.4 billion in 2026.

Tourism plays an even greater role on Maui. Maui County has the state’s highest reliance on tourism, with 51% of its jobs falling into sectors directly associated with tourism. That means household incomes and purchasing power there are strongly influenced by the tourism economy.

What are the main steps that tourist-related businesses on Maui will have to take in the coming days and weeks?

The first step any business owner should take is to ensure that their business opens in line with all state protocols and laws related to the safety, health and welfare of residents and visitors.

In the short term, the top priorities are helping visitors get flights home, handling cancellations and assessing damage to facilities and property.

Then, in the weeks that follow, businesses will clean up and make repairs. They will have various aid sources, including the county, state and federal governments, nonprofits and private insurers.

As we saw during the Covid-19 shutdowns, downtime can give business owners an opportunity to reflect on their product or service and how they market it. Some business owners decided to close up shop and retire. Others redoubled their efforts to accommodate the post-pandemic rebound in visitor demand.

Maui is asking visitors to leave and to delay planned trips – will a lot of tourism-related jobs be lost?

Individual businesses and corporations may offer some types of worker protection. But historically, many jobs in the tourist sector get cut in the short term when a crisis shuts down business. Then, as conditions improve, companies gradually hire employees back.

How do local governments decide when to start inviting visitors back?

This is a process that’s led by groups known in the travel industry as destination marketing and management organizations. They often have names like tourist boards or convention and visitors bureaus, and they help promote and market local attractions.

Working with their local destination marketing organization, local governments should make decisions carefully about inviting visitors back.

First and foremost, they need to consider the health, safety and welfare of everyone who’s involved – residents, visitors and hospitality providers.

All of those groups should be involved in the decision, and it needs to be communicated through carefully crafted marketing messages to reach globally diverse audiences.

Once the needs of the community and its residents have been met, a new marketing campaign takes place that typically presents a revitalized destination that is open and ready for visitors.

This message may emphasize new and improved aspects of the destination, or simply show that its beloved and iconic qualities are still there to enjoy. That includes making sure that transportation is available to reach the destination and that there’s quality lodging and dining readily available for all price points.

In your experience, does interest in top destinations like Hawaii usually bounce back to pre-disaster levels?

Globally, tourism revenues are projected to grow by almost 5% yearly through 2027. Unlike other forms of economic development, travel and tourism have shown resilience through many different types of crises.

Even destinations that have been massively damaged can regain their markets, although rebuilding may be a multi-year process. New Orleans was a major destination within a decade after it was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. The same was true for the Hawaiian island of Kauai after Hurricane Iniki ravaged it in 1992.

Tourism is an experience that is unique to the human condition. It sustains our hopes and dreams, and offers relaxation and tranquility, or excitement and adventure, through good times and bad.

University of South Carolina research professor Rich Harrill, an expert on hospitality and tourism, explains how such events affect places such as Maui in the short and long term.

Suppose you’ve suddenly learned that you have guests coming over for dinner in 15 minutes. What would you make? If you’re celebrity chef Bobby Flay, there’s no need to panic or turn to take-out menus. What he loves to do more than anything else in the world is cook.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Bobby Flay: I’m always ready. I stock my pantry very, very well, because you just never know when somebody’s going to pop in. And when you come to my house, I’m feeding you no matter what.

I would make a pasta dish for sure. Let’s say that you have absolutely nothing except a couple of ingredients in your pantry. If you cook some pasta, you save the pasta water. You add the pasta water with a little bit of butter, some Parmesan cheese, a little fresh garlic and some black pepper. Cacio e pepe. Perfect.

Flay: My go-to dish with basic pantry ingredients is probably risotto. You take some onions and garlic, you sweat it (cook them in a little oil or butter to soften them, without taking on any color). You add the rice, you add some broth. And if you don’t have broth, you can just use water and then you can flavor it with whatever else you have in the pantry. It could be canned tomatoes. You can make like a delicious tomato risotto or saffron risotto, or it could be (made) with dried mushrooms.

Flay: One of the most difficult things as a parent is being able to cook for kids and adults at the same time. I’m pretty strict about this. I don’t like to make more than one meal for my family. So, if there are kids around, they’re eating what the adults are eating. I think that’s a good thing to do so that kids get used to the idea that there’s one meal in the house. They’re not going to like everything, and that’s OK. It’s trial and error. Kids’ palates change constantly.

Flay: I’ve been using a lot of avocados lately. They’re creamy. They have a really nice sort of soothing texture. I make all kinds of different, you know, avocado relishes and guacamole. I use avocado to spread on toast. I use it for sandwiches. I use it for salads. You can find avocado in my cooking all the time. I just made a dish this morning where I used avocado and corn, made a relish out of it, put it on a crispy flour tortilla, and then put a sea scallop on top.

Flay: You need a couple different kinds of oils — extra-virgin olive oil to … finish dishes. You need an oil to cook with. I like to use avocado oil. It’s a nice light oil, and it has a high smoking point. Definitely have a bunch of different vinegars — red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar. I like to have different kinds of mustards in my pantry as well. Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, maybe a honey mustard to make a sandwich.

Of course, I like to have chiles, whether they’re red chiles from Mexico or Calabrian chiles from Italy. I’m using split peppers these days that are like a French chile pepper because I’m opening a French brasserie soon in Las Vegas. I’ve been experimenting with those a lot.

Flay: Greek yogurt. If you have some berries or other fruits that are kind of on their way out, heat them in a pan with a little pinch of sugar. Let them cook down, let them cool off. And then you have this beautiful, cooked fresh fruit jam. I like to stir that into some fresh Greek yogurt.

Flay: I love nachos. I want that like rich and thick nacho cheese sauce, crispy tortillas, lots of avocados, beautiful grilled chicken, some black beans and lots of fresh cilantro. You get that crispiness from the tortillas. I love a nacho with a margarita on the side.

Flay: Probably because I give them the stage to do it. And I’ve been competing for a really long time. When people come up to me on the street, they always say to me, like, “You know, I can beat you.” And the first thing I say to them is, “OK. What’s the dish?” And they never have the answer. So, if you’re going to challenge me, just be ready.

A cloud of volcanic ash spewing from Europe’s most active volcano has prompted the closure of one of Sicily’s largest airports, leading to flights being delayed, canceled and diverted.

Sicily’s Catania international airport, known as Catania–Fontanarossa Airport, is to remain closed until 8 p.m. local time on Monday following the eruption of nearby Mount Etna, the airport press office said in a statement.

“All arrivals and departures are therefore prohibited,” the statement said, adding that “passengers are kindly requested to present themselves at the airport only after consulting their airline.”

The volcanic activity, which began late Sunday, evolved into a “lava fountain,” producing a volcanic cloud dispersed in a southerly direction, according to the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology’s Etna observatory.

This is “producing a fallout of ash in the southern sector of the volcano and beyond,” it said.

Several flights scheduled to arrive in Catania, including those from destinations such as Malta, France, Austria, and other Italian regions, have been canceled, delayed, or diverted, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

The closure comes just days after the airport resumed operations, having been disrupted by a major fire in its terminal building in mid-July.

As well as being the most active, Mount Etna is Europe’s highest volcano, at about 3,350 meters (almost 11,000 feet) tall.

Kennie MacCarthy rummages through a knee-deep pile of clothes, pointing out their flaws: sweat stains, overstretched collars, holes and rips. They belong to a vendor in one of the world’s largest secondhand clothing markets, who plans on selling these clothes for a small profit. But MacCarthy estimates that only 20% can be sold.

“(The vendor) says it feels really bad,” MacCarthy said. “It doesn’t feel good to be holding very stained clothes or really dirty clothes, but they have to do that … to see what they can sell and what they cannot sell.”

Kantamanto Market in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, has long been a destination for used clothes, but the volume being imported today far exceeds the space. Approximately 15 million garments arrive in the country weekly – most of it at Kantamanto – and about 40% will eventually end up as waste.

MacCarthy is a product development coordinator for the Or Foundation, a non-profit registered in the US and operating primarily in Ghana, that’s tackling this problem on multiple fronts. Using research, advocacy and innovation, the foundation draws attention to textile waste and finds ways to reuse it.

“Every single one of us is a part of the problem in some small way,” MacCarthy explained. “And so every single one of us can be the solution to the problem as well.”

From donation bins to trash bins

The bulk of Kantamanto’s clothes come from the global secondhand clothing trade, a market that was valued at $5 billion in 2021.

Many of these garments begin as donations in places such as Europe and North America. Charities collect clothes, which will either be given away to those in need or sold to raise money for their cause. But these organizations only sell about 10% of items they receive.

The rest go through a journey of sales, where each party buys what they can reuse or resell – until the last buyer is essentially left with the bottom of the barrel.

Merchants at the end of this chain often work in markets like Kantamanto. They purchase used clothing by the bale, without knowing what’s inside, in hopes of selling it for profit. MacCarthy says these bales are usually mislabeled and filled with items in terrible condition.

“I’ve heard somebody who used to sell in Kantamanto say that Kantamanto is for the brave … because not many people would go and buy something that they don’t know the contents of,” she explained. “It is a gamble for many people.”

Because the quality is so poor, the majority of clothes that can’t be sold litter the market’s floor or end up on nearby beaches and in makeshift landfills, according to MacCarthy.

Upcycling waste

To prevent this waste from winding up in landfills, the Or Foundation is remanufacturing it.

MacCarthy works with a team of young women who used to be “kayayei” – female head porters – at Kantamanto, who now make mops from unsold t-shirts.

They start by sorting through retailers’ unsellable clothes and purchasing shirts that are 100% cotton. Back at the organization’s workshop the team gets to work cutting, sewing and assembling. MacCarthy said she deliberately simplified the manufacturing process in hopes that others will replicate it to create mop-making businesses of their own.

MacCarthy’s mission is twofold: diverting waste from landfills while creating employment opportunities for her team. Kayayei carry up to 55 kilos of clothing and earn less than a dollar per trip. Today, about 15 former kayayei have paid apprenticeships at the Or Foundation as part of a program that aims to help them find alternative types of work.

“The goal … is to see whether this is a viable business. And if it is, then we would hand it over to the apprentices … to empower them,” MacCarthy explained. “It’s a business that they can – if they choose to – move forward and make a living out of.”

The team has made several hundred mops and is now working on ways to scale up production.

As they continue refining the manufacturing process, a separate team at the Or Foundation will train the apprentices on the basics of running a business.

A multi-faceted approach

MacCarthy’s team is dedicated to dealing with waste already in Ghana, but other workers at the Or Foundation focus on preventing clothes from arriving in the first place.

The European Commission recently proposed new rules to hold retailers accountable for the life cycle of their textile products.  Ahead of this announcement, the foundation met with policymakers in Europe. The regulations will make the collection of textile waste mandatory in 2025, but the organization says these changes won’t be enough.

In the meantime, through MacCarthy’s mop program and similar waste innovation efforts, the foundation says 28 metric tons of clothing have been diverted from Accra’s landfills in the past year.

Successes like these inspire MacCarthy – and she hopes they inspire others as well.

“Whether it’s by signing a petition, whether it is by adding your voice, whether it’s by deciding to upcycle something, whether it is by talking to people about the problem – do something,” MacCarthy said. “Everybody can have a hand in helping to correct this thing in their own little way.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fired his top general amid a shakeup of the country’s military leadership and wants his army to “gird for a war,” state media reported Thursday.

Gen. Pak Su Il was dismissed as chief of the General Staff and Vice Marshal Ri Yong Gil was appointed in his place, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Other “leading commanding officers” were dismissed, transferred or appointed during a meeting of the Central Military Commission on Wednesday, KCNA reported, without going into details.

North Korea regularly revamps its military leadership. Some military leaders later reemerge in different positions, while others disappear from public view.

And the career of the new top general Ri – who assumed the No. 2 job in the North Korean military hierarchy as recently as December 31 – reflected that, analysts said.

“Ri Yong Gil is a longstanding member of North Korea’s military elite, who before making it to the top, experienced ups and downs during his career. Seven years ago, he was even rumored to have been executed after a personnel reshuffle,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute private think tank near Seoul, said there may be a range of reasons behind Kim’s military reshuffle and it was not necessarily punitive.

“Since Kim Jong Un has frequently promoted, demoted, and dismissed executives according to their ability to perform duties, dismissal of executives may be holding them accountable, but it is inappropriate to consider them as punishment,” Cheong said.

Easley said the North Korean leader may simply be trying to ensure that no one below him becomes too powerful.

“Kim Jong Un frequently rotates leadership posts below him to prevent the emergence in North Korea of anyone like [Wagner Group founder] Yevgeny Prigozhin, who challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority after amassing personal control of financial assets and loyalty among armed forces,” Easley said.

‘Grave military situation’

The shake-up of the military leadership was mentioned only near the end of the KCNA report, which focused more on what it said was the “important issue of making the army more thoroughly gird for a war given the grave political and military situation prevailing in the Korean Peninsula.”

South Korea and its chief ally, the United States, were not mentioned by name in the report. However, it appeared to refer to them obliquely, saying the meeting “analyzed the military moves of the chief culprits of deteriorated situation” on the peninsula.

“Making full war preparations” was the top agenda item for the meeting, the KCNA report said.

“The present situation, in which the hostile forces are getting ever more undisguised in their reckless military confrontation with the DPRK, [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] requires the latter’s army to have more positive, proactive and overwhelming will and thoroughgoing and perfect military readiness for a war,” it said.

North Korea has ramped up its military rhetoric this summer, threatening to shoot down US reconnaissance planes and retaliate for the port call of a US nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine to South Korea for the first time in four decades.

Pyongyang has also showcased its advances in ballistic missile technology, last month testing what it said was a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a flight time that suggests it has the ability to strike the US mainland.

That weapon was among a slew of others shown off at what North Korea called its “Victory Day” parade last month, a commemoration of the armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War 70 years ago. Technically, the two Koreas remain at war as no formal peace treaty was ever signed.

At Wednesday’s meeting in Pyongyang, Kim signed orders for war drills involving the country’s newest weapons.

Kim late last week toured arms and munitions factories and gave “important directions” regarding “capacity-building for the serial production of new ammunition,” a KCNA report said.

Amid the tension on the peninsula, South Korea announced this month it would hold a nationwide civil defense drill on August 23.

Most of the country’s 51 million residents are expected to practice evacuating to shelters or underground safe spaces during the 20-minute exercise, which Seoul says is in response to “provocations” from Pyongyang.

Kylian Mbappé has been reinstated into the Paris Saint-Germain first-team after being frozen out of the squad during its preseason tour of Japan, amid his ongoing transfer saga.

The Frenchman watched from the stands as his team drew 0-0 against Lorient in its first league game of the season Saturday.

The 24-year-old has been training separately from the first team while his standoff with the club rumbles on.

“Following very constructive, positive talks between PSG and Kylian Mbappé before the game vs Lorient, the player has been reinstated into the first team training squad this morning,” PSG said in a statement on Sunday.

Despite publicly declaring he wanted to stay in Paris for the upcoming 2023/24 season, Mbappé was said to be unhappy in the French capital and, according to multiple reports in June, he informed PSG that he would not be extending his contract earlier this year.

In July, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said that the club would not let the superstar leave for free and, as a result, PSG issued Mbappé with an ultimatum; sign a new contract or be sold.

Mbappé then spurned a meeting and contract with Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, after it was reportedly ready to smash the world record transfer fee and pay $332 million (€300 million) for the French striker.

The proposed deal would reportedly have included a staggering $775 million salary packet.

Mbappé has also continued to be heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid. He was on the verge of signing for the Spanish giant last year before rejecting a move in favor of a contract extension at PSG.

American star Jessica Pegula shocked world No.1 Iga Świątek 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4 in the semifinals of the Canadian Open in Montreal on Saturday, but perhaps the biggest shock of the day came when a classic song began blaring through the on-court speakers midway through a point.

With Pegula 4-3 up in the second set tiebreak and having just wrongfooted Świątek with a lob, “Cotton Eye Joe” began playing on court, forcing the umpire to call a let while the song continued, and the crowd murmured in disbelief.

“I just thought it was funny,” Pegula said afterwards, according to Reuters.

“I’ve never had that happen, let alone with ‘Cotton-Eye Joe.’ I was like: ‘Is this really happening right now?’ Of all the songs. It was just like: ‘What is going on?’

“Yeah, it was a bummer because I hit a really good lob and she barely got it, and I had a really good play on the ball, and she was kind of out of position from the lob that I hit.”

The point was replayed and that seemed to derail Pegula’s second set tiebreak, as Świątek won the next 12 points in a row, a run that included leveling the match at a set apiece.

Świątek continued to ride this momentum, taking a 4-2 lead in the deciding third set but Pegula won the last four games, and 16 of the last 19 points of the match, to seal victory.

“She really pushed me, so I needed to change something up,” Świątek said afterwards, according to the WTA’s website.

“It was working, but in the third, I don’t really know what happened when I was leading. I’ve got to watch the match and analyze it, because for sure she was fighting for every point and I did as well. It was a tricky match.”

It was Pegula’s second victory over Świątek this year, and she will now advance to her third WTA 1000 final where she will face either Elena Rybakina or Liudmila Samsonova, as she seeks to become the first American to win this tournament since Serena Williams in 2013.

American star Lilia Vu sealed an impressive victory at the Women’s Open on Sunday, as she remained unyielding under the pressure of the final round while her rivals dropped shots along the way.

The 25-year-old began the day on nine-under par, sharing the lead with England’s Charley Hull, and carded six birdies along with a bogey to finish the day 14-under par, and win her second major of the year at the Walton Health Golf Club in Tadworth, England.

“It sounds almost unreal,” Vu said afterwards. “I had a pretty tough run the past couple of months. I didn’t feel like myself these past couple of months, I came into this tournament and sat down with my team and just wanted to be in contention, that’s all we wanted and somehow this happened.”

Hull, meanwhile, conjured up some magical shots including a hole out from a bunker for eagle on the 11th, but ultimately proved too inconsistent as four bogeys hampered her title challenge and she finished six strokes back.

South Korea’s Jiyai Shin finished third a further stroke back while her compatriots Amy Yang and Hyo Joo Kim tied for fourth on six-under par.

Victory marked a comeback of sorts for Vu who has endured a rollercoaster few months. In April, she won the Chevron Championship after a playoff win against Angel Yin to seal the first major of her career, but she then failed to make the cut in four LPGA events, including the Women’s PGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.

“After the Chevron, how I felt afterwards and honestly thinking that those wins were a fluke, and just to be here today I can’t thank my family and my team enough for really believing in me,” an emotional Vu added.

“It was really hard those past couple of months and somehow they believed in me and helped me get this win here.”

Vu became the first American winner of the Women’s Open since 2014.

It was a remarkably consistent tournament for Vu who hit five birdies in her second round of 68, sunk seven more on Saturday to take a share of the lead going into the final round, and another six on Sunday.

Her only real wobble of the day come on the 15th hole when her drive landed in the rough, and her third shot found the bunker but she rescued a bogey and Hull was unable to take advantage.

Vu’s compatriot Ally Ewing, who had been the runaway leader ahead of the final two rounds, eventually finished in a tie for sixth, four-under par.