Sweden will face Spain in the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup after beating Japan 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Friday.

Defender Amanda Ilestedt continued her remarkable goalscoring run to break the deadlock in the first half with her fourth goal of the tournament, before Filippa Angeldal’s second-half penalty doubled Sweden’s lead.

Riko Ueki missed a penalty late on for Japan, but Honoka Hayashi’s goal with three minutes of regulation time remaining ensured a heart-pounding finish.

Despite sustained pressure throughout 10 minutes of stoppage time, Japan was unable to find a second goal as Sweden held on to reach a fifth Women’s World Cup semifinal.

It was certainly an underwhelming end to the tournament for a Japan team that had thrilled at this World Cup and one that many had down as the favorite to win this tie.

The disappointment of defeat was etched onto the faces of the Japan squad, many of them reduced to tears at the full-time whistle. Winners in 2011, the team’s performances in Australia and New Zealand had given fans hope of claiming a second World Cup title.

However, an experienced Sweden team proved to be a step too far and Japan’s elimination means there is will be a first-time winner of the competition, another indicator of the recent growth of the women’s game.

Two games from glory

This Sweden team has regularly had to deal with the pressure of being labeled the country’s ‘Golden Generation.’

The squad came so close to living up to that moniker two years ago, but lost to Canada in the gold medal match at the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games.

Boasting experience and star names from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, Sweden was always going to be among the favorites to lift the trophy Down Under and the team has continued to improve with each game.

The penalty shootout win over the United States in the round of 16 would have given the Swedes a huge confidence boost – they certainly played that way against Japan, dominating their opponent from the opening minute.

Ilestedt gave Sweden the lead its early pressure merited just after the half hour mark, poking the ball home after pinball in the box following a corner kick.

Those attacking instincts have now helped the defender score four goals at this World Cup, putting her just one behind Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa in the race for the tournament’s Golden Boot award for the top goalscorer.

It had been all Sweden so far, with Japan – now trailing for the first time all tournament – unable to even register a shot after 30 minutes.

But rather than spark Japan into action, the team seemed to retreat further into its shell against a Sweden team that was now brimming with confidence.

Midfielder Kosovare Asllani was a whisker away from doubling Sweden’s lead just before half time, but her strike was tipped brilliantly onto the post by Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita, who strained every sinew to ensure the score remained 1-0.

For Japan, things went from bad to worse almost immediately after the break.

It was another corner kick that gave Japan trouble and again Ilestedt was involved, this time flicking a ball into the box that struck the outstretched arm of Fuka Nagano.

After initially missing the incident, referee Esther Staubli awarded the penalty after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review and Angeldal made no mistake from the spot.

Trailing by two goals, it took Japan until the 70th minute to finally come to life. Aoba Fujino found space in the box and fired a shot towards the bottom corner, but Zećira Mušović got down quickly to palm the ball away to safety.

But Japan’s pressure continued to build and the team was given a route back into the match when Madelen Janogy tripped Riko Ueki in the penalty area. Ueki took the penalty, but smashed her effort onto the crossbar.

Japan hit the woodwork again – the crossbar and post in one from Fujino’s free-kick – before finally breaking through Sweden’s defense as Honoka Hayashi pounced on a loose ball to fire past Mušović.

Hayashi’s goal ensured a grandstand finish, but Japan had left it far too late.

Spain edged past the Netherlands after extra time in a 2-1 win on Friday in Wellington, New Zealand to reach its first Women’s World Cup semifinals.

Mariona Caldentey’s penalty after a VAR-reviewed handball decision looked to have won the match for Spain with just nine minutes remaining, but Stefanie van der Gragt – whose handball had gifted La Roja its penalty – drilled home a brilliant effort in the first minute of added time.

In a tense period of extra time, teenage substitute Salma Paralluelo struck the winner after 111 minutes with a left-footed effort off the inside of the far post to make history for Spain.

Spain will play Sweden in the semifinals after the Swedes beat Japan 2-1 in the day’s other quarterfinal match.

China has lifted pandemic-era restrictions on group tours for more countries, including key markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia, in a potential boon for their tourism industries.

The decision was announced by China’s culture and tourism ministry on Thursday, effective immediately.

Prior to the pandemic, mainland Chinese tourists spent more than any other country’s tourists when abroad, clocking up a combined $255 billion in 2019 with group tours estimated to account for roughly 60% of that.

Their absence since the pandemic has led to financial troubles for many tourism-dependent businesses around the globe.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo described the step as “a significant win” for the US tourism industry and said it was the result of “months of hard work” between the US Commerce Department and the Chinese culture and tourism ministry.

Germany and the UK were also among the countries for which restrictions were lifted but Canada, which has had especially politically fraught relations with China of late, was not reinstated.

It was China’s third list of countries to receive approvals. The first batch – approved in January – included 20 countries such as Thailand, Russia, Cuba and Argentina. The second batch in March included 40 countries, among them Nepal, France, Portugal and Brazil.

China has never explained its staggered approach to approvals but analysts have noted that the countries taking time to gain approval have had more political and/or trade tension with the world’s second-largest economy.

The move was also welcomed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as well as tourism ministers in South Korea and Australia, who said it would boost their economies.

“This is another positive step towards the stabilization of our relationship with China,” said Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell.

Just how much outbound Chinese tourism will bounce back for the latest group of countries remains to be seen. Expectations that demand would come roaring back after borders were re-opened have to date been largely unfulfilled.

International flights in and out of China have recovered to only 53% of 2019 levels as of July 2023.

That is in large part due to staffing issues for many global airlines that have limited the flying of more routes, slow visa issuance for Chinese travelers amid backlogs in many Western countries, and a sputtering domestic economy that is discouraging many holidaying Chinese from spending big.

In response to the news, some Chinese said online that they were less than enthusiastic about international trips.

“I don’t want to go; I feel domestic travel is pretty good, such as the beautiful scenery in Xinjiang and the Northeast and the food is cheap,” said one Weibo user with the handle @Chongshengshilangbushilang.

But others were more upbeat.

“Despite a cooling overall economy, 40% of (Chinese) people say they will spend more on travel,” said Steve Saxon, a partner at McKinsey & Co. “People want to spend the money they’ve saved during COVID on international travel.”

Trip.com, China’s largest travel agency, noted that the news had led to a spike in searches for destinations including Australia and Japan. Those countries, along with several other Asian nations and the United States, are among the most visited by Chinese travelers.

“The opening of group travel from China to the U.S. is a significant milestone,” said Adam Burke, head of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board. “It’s impossible to overstate the importance of Chinese tourism to Los Angeles.”

Two sources in South Korea’s travel industry told Reuters it was the first time group tours from China would be allowed on a large scale since a 2016 dispute over Seoul’s deployment of a U.S. missile defense system. China has never publicly acknowledged limiting group tours to South Korea.

Explosions hit critical road bridges linking occupied Crimea with parts of Kherson region under Russian control, Russian authorities say, as Ukraine escalates its targeting of Russian infrastructure and territory.

The blasts came on the same day the Moscow mayor said a drone had been shot down approaching the city and soon after Ukraine struck one of Russia’s biggest oil tankers with a sea drone as well as carrying out an attack on a major naval base.

The Russian-appointed acting head of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, says the missiles that hit two bridges in Crimea Sunday were all Storm Shadows, an air-launched long-range missile supplied to Ukraine by the UK.

Saldo said the two bridges were used by civilian and not military traffic. A rupture to a gas pipeline running alongside the bridge had cut off supplies to 20,000 residents of the city of Henichesk in Kherson.

Saldo said: “It’s this kind of sneaky missile attack that can’t be forgiven. It’s like a wounded animal snapping back.

“These strikes do not do anything for the special military operation that is currently underway … They have decided to take petty revenge on civilians and those who are now moving through the territory of the Kherson region.”

He added that no one was hurt and the bridge would reopen to traffic by the end of the day.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian guided aerial bomb struck a blood transfusion center in the Kharkiv region Saturday.

He added that there were dead and wounded without providing any specific numbers.

A new wave of Russian missiles also struck sites across Ukraine overnight, most of which were shot down.

Ukrainian strikes inside Russia and Russia-controlled territory are an increasingly common feature of the war.

A string of drone strikes have peppered Russian cities including Moscow throughout the summer, while Friday saw the attack on a Russian port hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-held territory, leaving a warship listing.

Ukraine on Saturday pledged that there would be more of such attacks on Russian shipping and the Crimea bridge to come.

Any explosions that happen to Russian ships or the Crimean bridge are “an absolutely logical and effective step. Moreover, such special operations are conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal,” said Head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Maliuk.

Maliuk said that if the Russians wanted such explosions to stop “they have the only option to do so – to leave the territorial waters of Ukraine and our land.”

On the tail of the discovery of a whale fossil that is the largest animal on record, researchers in Egypt announced the unearthing of one of the smallest early whales known to science. The find is also the oldest fully aquatic whale found in Africa, according to a new study.

At an estimated body weight of 412.3 pounds (187 kilograms) and length of 8.2 feet (2.5 meters), the newly documented species is comparable in size to a modern-day bottlenose dolphin.

Tutcetus rayanensis is a member of the extinct family of early whales known as basilosauridae — the first widespread group to become fully aquatic. What’s more, the diminutive specimen is also much older than other basilosaurids of the Eocene Epoch, the study published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology revealed.

The Eocene Epoch lasted from about 55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago, and the fossil dates back about 41 million years. The remains include an incomplete skull with jaws; the hyoid apparatus, or bones that sit at the base of the tongue; and the topmost vertebra of a small subadult embedded in limestone.

The discovery of the whale fossil led to the establishment of a new genus within the basilosauridae family. Tutcetus is named for Pharaoh Tutankhamen, who died when he was 18, and the Greek word for whale, cetus.

“The discovery of the new basilosaurid whale, Tutcetus rayanensis, has brought about a substantial shift in our understanding of cetacean life histories during the Eocene epoch,” said lead study author Mohammed S. Antar, a paleontologist at the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center in Egypt, via email.

Unlike earlier basilosaurid finds, there are indications that, despite its relatively small size, the subadult T. rayanensis and, quite possibly, other basilosaurids could have grown rapidly. They “might have undergone faster developmental processes than previously believed, suggesting a diverse range of growth strategies within this group,” Antar said.

The discovery “helps clarify parts of the evolutionary tree and pushes back some of the changes we thought were happening,” said paleobiologist Nicholas Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. He wasn’t involved with the study.

Additionally, T. rayanensis differs from other basilosaurids in that the newly discovered whale did not replace its first premolar tooth. “This novel insight adds another dimension to our understanding of basilosaurid whales and their evolutionary adaptations in response to various ecological pressures,” Antar said.

Whales in the desert

The whale fossil was uncovered in the Wadi El-Rayan area, which sits about 24.9 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of the Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site in Egypt’s Western Desert. The area is one of the world’s “most productive fossil whale sites,” according to the study.

As paleontologists continue working in the Wadi El-Rayan area, there’s a good chance they’ll find even earlier fully aquatic whales. “Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that the transition to a fully aquatic lifestyle likely occurred a few million years earlier than the age of Tutcetus, but we do not yet have any fossil evidence that conclusively documents these predicted earlier forms,” said study coauthor Erik R. Seiffert, professor and chair of the department of integrative anatomical sciences at University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, via email. Seiffert helped assess Tutcetus after the fossil’s discovery.

An Egyptian team of researchers

The study also advances Egypt in the field of paleontology and science overall. “(T)his discovery marks a significant achievement for Egyptian and African paleontology. Tutcetus rayanensis is the second whale species, following Phiomicetus anubis, to be discovered, described, and named by Egyptian paleontologists,” Antar said via email.

This development is a major shift from paleontology practices of decades past. One paleontologist not affiliated with the study made sure to highlight this change. “I think the most important thing (is) really how special it is that we have Egyptian-led science coming out of Egypt on Egyptian fossils. That has historically not been the case,” said marine paleobiologist Carlos Mauricio Peredo, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Hesham Sallam, professor at the American University in Cairo and founder of the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center, is the study’s project leader. The center, which opened in 2010, was the first of its kind in Egypt.

Russia has successfully launched Luna 25, the country’s first lunar lander in 47 years.

The uncrewed spacecraft lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia. Hitching a ride aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket, Luna 25 took flight at 8:10 a.m. local time Friday, or 7:10 p.m. ET Thursday.

Residents of a Russian village were temporarily evacuated Friday morning since there is a “one in a million chance” that one of Luna 25’s rocket stages could fall there, according to Reuters.

The spacecraft is expected to first enter an orbit around Earth before transferring to a lunar orbit and ultimately descending to the surface of the moon. Russia’s last lunar lander, Luna 24, landed on the moon on August 18, 1976.

Luna 25 and India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, which launched in mid-July, are both expected to land at the lunar south pole on August 23, and it’s a race to see which country will land first, according to Reuters. But Roscomos said the two missions are not expected to cause a problem for each other because their specific landing zones differ, Reuters reported.

Luna 25’s journey

Luna 25, also called the Luna-Glob-Lander, will study the composition of the moon’s polar soil and the plasma and dust contained in the very thin lunar exosphere, or the moon’s scant atmosphere, for one year.

The four-legged lander includes landing rockets, propellant tanks, solar panels, computers and a robotic arm equipped with a scoop to collect lunar samples, as well as a suite of instruments to study the samples and exosphere, according to NASA.

Initially, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency planned to partner on Luna 25, as well as Luna 26, Luna 27 and the ExoMars rover.

But that partnership ceased in April 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ESA Council moved to “discontinue cooperative activities with Russia.”

The future of moon exploration

Meanwhile, Chandrayaan-3, which includes a lander, rover and propulsion module, lifted off on July 14 and entered lunar orbit last weekend.

The mission is India’s second attempt to land at the lunar south pole after Chandrayaan-2 crashed into the moon in September 2019. If successful, the latest mission would make India only the fourth country to achieve the complicated feat, behind the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. Once on the surface, Chandrayaan-3 will spend a couple of weeks conducting a series of scientific experiments to learn more about the moon’s composition.

NASA plans to land a woman and a person of color on the moon for the first time at the lunar south pole in late 2025 during the Artemis III mission.

The reason so many missions have been designed to explore this region of the moon is due to its potential resources. Deep, permanently shadowed craters at the lunar south pole may contain ice that could be used for drinking water, oxygen and fuel — a key consideration as agencies like NASA look to sustainably explore the moon for longer periods of time in the future.

“We’re going to see several spacecraft, some perhaps from other nations, that are going to be landing on the south pole in the near future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson during a news conference Tuesday. “There’s a renewed interest in the moon and of course it’s there because the potential of water. We’re going back to learn to live in a deep space environment for long periods of time, so that we can go to Mars and return safely.”

When asked about the upcoming Luna 25 launch, Nelson said “we wish them well,” noting that NASA has had a cooperative relationship with its Russian counterpart dating back to the Soviet era since 1975.

Ecuadorians have found themselves in the middle of a bloody turf war as rival criminal organizations mete out brutal and often public shows of violence, battling to control drug trafficking routes that cross the Andean nation.

Reports of dismemberments, prison riots, bombings and the killing of journalists, judges and mayors have dominated the headlines, and many Ecuadorians are opting to leave the country – the country’s civil registry even extended its hours this year as it reported rising demand for passports and identity cards.

In December 2022, US Customs and Border Patrol encountered more than 16,000 Ecuadorians at the US southern border – 24 times the number than the same month a year before.

But the high-profile assassination on Wednesday of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio could be a turning point for the country that has so far struggled to control the bloodshed.

“For years and the Ecuadorian authorities have failed to respond (to the security crisis) and this should be the wake up call to finally take action to protect the population – given this rise of organized crime groups that are terrorizing large parts of Ecuador,” he added.

Drug fueled violence

Ecuador, home to the Galapagos islands and a tourist-friendly dollar economy, was once known as an “island of peace,” nestled between two of the world’s largest narcotics producers, Peru and Colombia.

But Ecuador’s deep ports have made it a key transit point for drugs making its way to consumers in the US and Europe. And its dollarized economy also makes it a strategic location for traffickers seeking to launder money.

The sharp uptick of violence that has transformed Ecuador into one of the most dangerous countries in the region coincides with a cocaine boom.

Global production levels are expected to hit historic levels this year, said Laura Lizarazo, a senior analyst for the Andean region at political risk consultancy Control Risks. “The market is flooded with cocaine and criminal organizations are adapting to explore this over-production,” she said.

Economic insecurity has helped drive some Ecuadorians to crime, and others to flee the country. Over half Ecuador’s workforce is in the informal economy, meaning that millions of people do not have a contract and benefit packages to rely on in hard times – a situation that was further exacerbated by the pandemic.

Floundering authorities

Security and state forces have been badly unprepared for the rise of criminal groups in the country. “Some state forces lack proper training equipment and strategy to effectively address threat, they also have limited state capacity to effectively charge and prosecute criminal organizations,” Lizarazo said.

Ecuador’s increasingly embattled President Guillermo Lasso has implemented several states of emergencies that have done little to tamp the bloodletting. At one-point, he authorized civilians to use guns, to the consternation of security companies, say critics.

Widespread discontent with the rocketing crime rates tanked Lasso’s popularity this year, paving the way for him to call for snap general elections on August 20, in which he is not a candidate.

Corruption allegations have also swirled around Ecuador’s justice and security system. Last year, the US withdrew visas from high-ranking officers of Ecuadorian state security forces, alleged to be linked to drug trafficking, as well as several judges and lawyers.

Lizarazo said graft has penetrated the police, military, the judiciary and even the executive, meaning the next administration has deep rooted challenges to address once in power.

Looming election

The murder of Villavicencio – a former journalist with a long record of exposing corruption – could impact the presidential vote on August 20, say analysts, as many political hopefuls in the region seek to emulate the mano dura policies of El Salvador’s leader Nayib Bukele.

The race’s frontrunner, former lawmaker Luisa González who is affiliated with the country’s former leftwing President Rafael Correa, has been more measured in her approach to crime, and has called for the judiciary to be reinforced to help with prosecutions.

Other contenders, like businessman and political outsider Jan Topic, are vowing a crackdown; an approach that could prove particularly appealing now.

But all candidates face a disillusioned public. Ecuadorian voters have high levels of apathy, dissatisfaction, and mistrust of the political system, with up to 60% of the population not knowing the names of the candidates, according to experts.

“Now that this awful development (the assassination) has put the presidential campaign,” and security crisis back in the spotlight, Lizarazo said, voters may feel empowered to vote for the most eye-catching approach to end the violence.

China’s civilian spy agency has exposed a Chinese national for allegedly providing sensitive military information to the CIA, the latest in a string of highly public espionage accusations between Washington and Beijing.

In a statement Friday, China’s Ministry of State Security said the suspect, identified by his surname Zeng, worked for an unidentified Chinese military industrial group in a role which gave him access to important classified information.

The ministry said Zeng, 52, was sent by his employer to advance his studies in Italy. While there he was allegedly approached by a US embassy official, and they gradually developed a “close relationship” through activities such as dinner parties, outings and watching operas, according to the statement.

The ministry claimed that as their engagement deepened, the US official revealed himself to be a CIA officer. Zeng was allegedly offered “a huge amount” of money and immigration to the US for his family, in exchange for sensitive information about the Chinese military, the statement said.

It said Zeng signed an espionage agreement with the US and received assessment as well as training.

Upon completing his studies, Zeng returned to China and allegedly met with CIA personnel multiple times to provide “a large amount of core intelligence,” according to the statement.

The ministry said it had taken “compulsory measures” against Zeng after obtaining evidence of his espionage activities in an investigation. The case has been handed to the prosecutors for review and indictment, it added.

China’s announcement about the alleged CIA spy came a week after two US Navy sailors in California were arrested for allegedly providing sensitive US military information to Chinese intelligence officers.

China’s Ministry of State Security is a civilian agency that oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and overseas. Its remit has encouraged analogies to a combined CIA and FBI, but is far more secretive about its work – without even a public website describing its activities.

But recently, the ministry has taken a higher profile. On August 1, it launched a public account on Wechat, China’s super app, calling on “all members of society” to join its fight against espionage and offering rewards and protection for those who provide information.

Friday’s statement about Zeng’s case was also released on the ministry’s Wechat account.

China’s military also has its own intelligence agency.

The United States and China have long spied on each other but the recent deterioration in ties between the world’s two largest economies has supercharged this rivalry.

China’s Communist Party rulers have long pushed the narrative that “foreign forces” are trying to undermine the country’s rise while Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive and authoritarian leader in a generation, has made state security his top priority.

Last month, China introduced a revised version of its already sweeping counter-espionage law, which further expanded the definition of espionage.

CIA operations in China suffered a staggering setback starting in 2010, according to The New York Times, when the Chinese government killed or imprisoned more than a dozen sources over two years.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup quarterfinals get underway with two mouthwatering matches on Friday.

First up, it’s a clash between European heavyweights Spain and the Netherlands, before Japan takes on Sweden for a place in the semifinals.

How to watch

In the US, matches will air on your local Fox channel. You can also stream matches by signing in with your TV provider at foxsports.com or on the Fox Sports app. Telemundo and Peacock are providing Spanish-language coverage.

Seven Network and Optus Sport are broadcasting matches in Australia and the BBC and ITV have the rights in the United Kingdom.

A full breakdown of media rights holders in each country is available on the FIFA website.

Netherlands vs. Spain

A beaten finalist in 2019, the Netherlands will likely be feeling very confident of going one better this year after an impressive World Cup campaign so far.

The Oranje is unbeaten in Australia and New Zealand and has conceded just one goal during the tournament, coming in the 1-1 group stage draw against the United States – also the only game it has failed to win.

The talents of Jill Roord, Lieke Martens and Daniëlle van de Donk are enough to strike fear into the heart of any national team, while forward Lineth Beerensteyn will be buoyed after scoring her first goal of the tournament against South Africa.

Spain has both dazzled and disappointed its fans this tournament, racking up high-scoring wins over Zambia, Costa Rica and then Switzerland in the last-16.

However, the team’s low point came in a 4-0 demolition against Japan in the final group stage match, a game that laid bare La Roja’s weaknesses.

Spain will likely chalk it up to a off day, while others will point to the sobering defeat as proof the team isn’t yet up to level of the true title contenders Down Under.

Japan vs. Sweden

Japan has arguably been the standout performer of this World Cup so far. Alongside Sweden’s dramatic, penalty shootout elimination of the US, Japan’s huge victory over Spain was perhaps the most eye-catching win of the tournament.

The team followed up that win with another hugely impressive victory in the last-16, beating one-time champion Norway 3-1 with a dominant performance.

Clinical forward Hinata Miyazawa, currently playing in Japan’s domestic league, has been the revelation of the tournament and currently leads the Golden Boot race with five goals in four matches.

In the last-16, Sweden did what no team had been able to do since Japan in the 2011 World Cup final: beat the United States.

If you can beat the two-time reigning champion, you can beat anyone, and Sweden will now rightly be feeling confident it can go all the way and win a first Women’s World Cup title.

This talented group has regularly felt the pressure of being labeled the country’s ‘Golden Generation’ and came so close to living up to that moniker two years ago, losing to Canada in the gold medal match at the rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games.

Can the three-time World Cup runner-up now get over the final hurdle?