Women’s World Cup 2023: Live scores, fixtures, results, tables and top scorers

This year’s Women’s World Cup saw one of its biggest upsets Thursday when Nigeria beat co-host Australia 3-2, and spectators will be hoping for as much drama Friday.

Denmark faces reigning European champion England, China takes on tournament debutant Haiti and South Africa plays Argentina.

With this being the second round of matches in the group stage, teams will be looking to secure their place in the knockout stage with one game still to play.

How to watch

In the United States, the match will air on local Fox channels. Viewers can also stream the match by signing in with their 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.

Argentina takes on South Africa at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, while England vs. Denmark starts at 4:30 a.m. ET Friday and China vs. Haiti kicks off at 7 a.m. ET Friday.

England vs. Denmark

Despite being one of the hot favorites to win this year’s title, England got off to a shaky start against Haiti in its opening Group D game.

The Lionesses managed to win 1-0 but many had expected them to beat their opponent, which was making its debut in the tournament, more easily.

In truth, Haiti was unlucky not to score against England, which will be looking for a more convincing performance against Denmark.

History is certainly in England’s favor, with the Danes having lost four out of the last five times the teams have played, failing to score in three of those encounters.

However, given the performance of underdogs in this year’s competition, there is certainly precedent here for an upset.

England and Denmark won their opening games so can qualify to the knockout stage should they win and results elsewhere go their way.

China vs. Haiti

The other fixture in Group D will see China take on Haiti.

Both teams lost their opening match, which means another defeat would see them knocked out of the World Cup should other results not go their way.

The two nations have never met on the pitch but China, which is appearing in its eighth World Cup, certainly has the experience over its opponent.

China was runner-up in the 1999 edition and has only failed to qualify for the tournament in 2011.

But while China may have the know-how, Haiti has its own not-so-secret weapon in Melchie Dumornay.

The attacking midfielder is one of the most exciting young talents in the world and was in inspired form against England, despite her team’s defeat.

She recently signed for European powerhouse Lyon and looks every inch the player that has been promised.

China will need to devise a plan to stop Dumornay from shining if it’s to keep its World Cup dream alive.

Argentina vs. South Africa

It’s a similar story for both Argentina and South Africa, who will both be playing for their World Cup survival in Group G.

South Africa is looking to bounce back from its agonizing, last-minute 2-1 defeat to Sweden, while Argentina was narrowly edged out by Italy 1-0 in its first match.

Defeat for either will make it difficult to progress to the knockout round.

It will be the first time the two nations have met and it’s the first time that either team has faced an opponent from the other’s respective continent at a World Cup.

Argentina will be looking to shake off the unwanted record of never winning a World Cup match in all of its 10 previous attempts – losing eight and drawing twice.

Similarly, South Africa has lost all its four World Cup matches to date and was the first side eliminated from the 2019 tournament.

Bronny James, the 18-year-old son of NBA legend LeBron James, has been released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after being treated for a sudden cardiac arrest, according to the hospital.

“Although his workup will be ongoing, we are hopeful for his continued progress and are encouraged by his response, resilience, and his family and community support,” Dr. Merije Chukumerije, a cardiologist at the hospital, said.

Chukumerije complimented the “swift and effective response” of the University of Southern California training staff when James suffered cardiac arrest during basketball practice Monday and was hospitalized.

“He arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center fully conscious, neurologically intact and stable,” Chukumerije said.

Earlier, LeBron James tweeted about his son, an incoming freshman for the USC men’s basketball team and a top collegiate prospect, for the first time since the practice incident, thanking well-wishers for sending his family “love and prayers.”

“We feel you and I’m so grateful. Everyone doing great,” the Lakers star wrote. “We have our family together, safe and healthy, and we feel your love. Will have more to say when we’re ready but I wanted to tell everyone how much your support has meant to all of us! #JamesGang”

Cardiac arrest occurs when electrical disturbances cause the heart to suddenly stop beating. It may be fatal if not immediately treated but can be reversed by CPR and a defibrillator, according to the American Heart Association.

Sudden cardiac arrest among young athletes is rare but not unheard of. A 2011 study that examined NCAA student-athlete sudden deaths between 2004 and 2008 found cardiovascular-related sudden death was the leading cause of death in 45 cases, or about 9 each year.

“Adolescent male basketball players and college male basketball players, for reasons that we don’t fully understand, are by far our single highest risk group of athletes for sudden cardiac arrest,” Drezner said. “In my opinion, they should all be screened with more robust and intensive cardiac screening than occurs typically.”

Bronny James had a cardiac screening several months ago as part of a program for prospective NBA players, according to a source familiar with the matter. The screening included a transthoracic echocardiogram, which looks at blood flow through the heart and heart valves, and an EKG, which is a recording of the heart’s electrical activity, the source said. Both screenings came back with normal results.

The 6-foot-3 combo guard graduated this spring from Sierra Canyon High School in Los Angeles, where he averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals his senior year. He was rated a four-star recruit, and he stood out in the McDonald’s All-American Game in March, featuring some of the country’s top high school basketball players.

Experts say it’s hard to map out exactly what James’ recovery will look like until more is known about the cause of his cardiac arrest and his specific health condition. But the fact that he was treated immediately and is already out of the intensive care unit bodes well for his recovery, Drezner said.

Heat is intensifying for millions of people in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic Thursday, creating a “heat health emergency” as nearly half of the country bakes in dangerously high temperatures.

Around 150 million people from coast to coast are under heat alerts Thursday after extreme heat expanded into the highly populated I-95 corridor, bringing the highest temperatures of the year there.

The heat also won’t let up in the South and Southwest, where heat-related deaths are climbing, emergency rooms are filling with heat-related burn victims and even animals are falling victim to heat illness.

Live updates: The latest news on heat and extreme weather

Heat indexes – a measure of what the temperature feels like when accounting for relative humidity – are expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit across many areas in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Friday.

These kinds of temperatures can be deadly – heat kills more people in an average year than hurricanes and tornadoes combined – so both Boston and Philadelphia have declared heat emergencies, opening cooling centers and warning residents to check on the elderly and others most vulnerable to heat illness.

“Let’s be clear: heat can kill,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Twitter Thursday. “This is dangerous. Take precautions.”

New York has also opened cooling centers as nearly 9 million residents across the nation’s largest city are under an excessive heat warning through 9 p.m. Friday. Temperatures in the mid-90s combined with high dew points will drive up the heat index and make it feel as hot as 105 degrees. Those temperatures will feel even hotter for millions of New Yorkers in intense urban heat island hot spots.

The temperatures are also testing infrastructure. PJM Interconnection – the nation’s largest power grid system – has declared an emergency alert. The move activates all systems to be online, including those with planned outages.

PJM coordinates electricity for more than 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC, according to its website.

And high heat has already disrupted work on some major US oil refineries, one of several factors driving higher gas prices.

Here are some other notable places bracing for and dealing with the severe heat:

Possible severe storms threaten Northeast megalopolis

The Northeast, mid-Atlantic and upper Midwest face an additional weather threat Thursday: strong-to-severe storms that could disrupt travel and knock out power amid the sweltering heat.

Brief and isolated tornadoes can’t be ruled out, but the Level 2 out of 5 threat is primarily for damaging winds that could affect the entire I-95 corridor from Washington, DC, to Boston. The storms should fire up in the early afternoon into the evening and could affect the afternoon rush hour commute, so also look out for flooding on roadways.

Parts of northern Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota, including Duluth, Minnesota, are under a Level 3 out of 5 threat Thursday for damaging storms that could produce wind gusts as high as 75 mph along with large hail. The Twin Cities faces a Level 2 out of 5 threat, also for strong winds and hail. Wind gusts that strong could easily down power lines and make for a miserably hot powerless evening.

In Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, thousands of hectares of land could one day become the world’s largest green ammonia plant.

Ammonia, which is made up of nitrogen and hydrogen, is commonly used as a fertilizer. In the early 1910s scientists devised a way to synthesize it, but before then, the main agricultural fertilizer was guano, bat or bird excrement, which had to be obtained from tropical islands and was in short supply.

Production of ammonia at an industrial scale allowed agriculture to boom, and according to a study from the University of Manitoba, without it, we wouldn’t be able to produce roughly half of the world’s food today.

Ammonia is also used to manufacture explosives for the mining industry and is a key ingredient in many pharmaceutical and cleaning products. Currently, its production mainly involves fossil fuels and is responsible for 1.8% of global CO2 emissions. But by using renewable energy, “green” ammonia can be manufactured, slashing the carbon footprint of agricultural production and opening up the compound to further uses.

Prominent among them is the use of ammonia as fuel, which could help decarbonize the shipping sector. It is what the Mandela Bay plant will focus on. “It’ll start replacing heavy fuel oils on ships and it’ll replace diesel. That will become the fuel of the future, particularly in the maritime industry,” says Colin Loubser, managing director of Hive Energy Africa, which is building the plant.

‘A completely green process’

The process to make green ammonia is quite simple, Loubser says, requiring just water, air and energy. Electrolysis is used to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, and an air separation unit extracts nitrogen from the air. The hydrogen and nitrogen are then combined to produce ammonia.

“The process of making it green is that you’re using renewable energy for this. You’re not using fossil fuels, coal or gas to make it. It’s a completely green process,” says Loubser.

Projected to start operations in 2026, the plant will cost $4.6 billion. It will be powered by a nearby solar farm and will get its water — of which vast amounts are needed to make ammonia — from a local table salt factory that desalinates seawater.

At least 20,000 jobs will be created in the region over the lifespan of the project, according to Loubser.

It will be a welcome development for the area. “We were hit very hard by Covid,” says Asanda Xawuka of the Coega Development Corporation, the entity in charge of bringing employment to the region. “A number of jobs were lost in South Africa. For us in the Eastern Cape, the unemployment rate is sitting at over 50%. (This) means an investment of this nature with a number of jobs that are going to be created, it’s going to be very big.”

The shipping industry made up nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions in 2018. According to the International Energy Agency, ammonia will need to account for 45% of the global energy demand for shipping in 2050, for net zero scenarios to realize, which means it’s an essential component of a greener future. But green ammonia could also be burned in existing coal-fired power plants to quickly reduce their CO2 emissions, the study notes, or in plants customized to run entirely on ammonia.

One limiting factor is that ammonia is a pungent and toxic gas, so it needs to be handled by trained professionals. Using it as a fuel produces nitrogen oxides, which can act as greenhouse gases and cause air pollution, requiring additional technology to control emissions.

And many of the systems that will make use of green ammonia – including ship engines – are still under development, which is why production levels are low at the moment. However, production is expected to boom: according to a report by Precedence Research, the green ammonia market accounted for just $36 million in 2021, but will grow to $5.4 billion by 2030.

Here’s a look at the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, which killed 224 people. Terrorist group al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Facts

The bombings took place eight years to the day after US troops were ordered to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden considered the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a grave offense.

More than 20 people have been indicted in the United States for the bombings.

Timeline

August 7, 1998 – Almost simultaneously, bombs explode at US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people and injuring about 5,000. Twelve of those killed are US citizens.

August 20, 1998 – The United States launches cruise missiles at suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, in retaliation for the embassy bombings.

August 27, 1998 – US officials charge Yemeni citizen Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-‘Owhali with 12 counts of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in connection with the embassy bombing in Kenya.

August 28, 1998 – US officials charge Mohammed Saddiq Odeh with 12 counts of murder one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Odeh claims that the bombings were orchestrated by al Qaeda, led by bin Laden.

September 1998 – Suspect Wadih el Hage is arrested in Arlington, Texas. El Hage has previously worked for bin Laden in Sudan as a personal secretary. El Hage is initially charged with perjury and later with conspiracy to kill US citizens.

September 16, 1998 – Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, reportedly a founding member of al Qaeda, is arrested in Munich, Germany. He is later extradited to the United States and charged in the embassy bombings.

November 4, 1998 – US officials indict bin Laden and al Qaeda military chief Muhammad Atef on 224 counts of murder for the embassy bombings. The State Department offers a $5 million reward for information leading to bin Laden’s arrest or conviction.

July 11, 1999 – Suspects Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous and Adel Abdul Bary are arrested in London.

October 1999 – Suspect Khalfan Khamis Mohamed is arrested in South Africa and extradited to the United States.

October 20, 2000 – Former US Army Sergeant Ali Mohamed pleads guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges in connection to the embassy bombings. He had admitted in court to visiting the Nairobi embassy in the 1990s to assess its potential as a target for a terrorist attack.

November 1, 2000 – Salim stabs a prison guard in the eye with a sharpened comb, causing serious brain damage.

May 29, 2001 – A jury in New York finds Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-‘Owhali and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed guilty of murder in the embassy bombings. Two other defendants, Mohamed Saddiq Odeh and Wadih el Hage are convicted of conspiracy.

September 11, 2001 – The deadliest terrorist attack in US history takes place when 19 men hijack four US commercial airliners. The plot is orchestrated by al Qaeda leader bin Laden. A total of 2,977 people are killed at the World Trade Center in New York; at the Pentagon in Washington, DC; and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

October 18, 2001 – US District Judge Leonard Sand formally sentences al-‘Owhali, Mohamed, Odeh and el Hage to life in prison without parole.

March 3, 2003 – The United States opens a new, fortified embassy on the outskirts of Nairobi.

May 3, 2004 – Salim is sentenced to 32 years in prison for the 2000 attack on prison guard Louis Pepe.

July 2008 – Suspect Eidarous dies under house arrest in Great Britain, while fighting extradition to the United States.

November 24, 2008 – The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the convictions of al-‘Owhali, el Hage and Odeh. The court also rules that el Hage is eligible for resentencing.

August 31, 2010 – Salim is resentenced to life in prison.

January 25, 2011 – Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantánamo Bay detainee to be tried in US civilian court, is sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the embassy bombings.

May 2, 2011 – Al Qaeda leader bin Laden is killed by US Special Forces in a raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

October 5, 2012 – Suspects Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary are extradited to the United States from Great Britain.

April 23, 2013 – El Hage is resentenced to life in prison.

October 5, 2013 – Suspect Abu Anas al Libi, also known as Nazih al-Ruqaii, is captured in Tripoli, Libya.

September 19, 2014 – Bary pleads guilty to conspiracy to kill US citizens and charges relating to making threats.

January 2, 2015 – Al Libi dies in custody, before his trial begins.

January 22, 2015 – The trial of al-Fawwaz begins in New York. He is accused of setting up an al Qaeda media office in London in the 1990s and facilitating conversations among members which led to the 1998 bombings.

February 6, 2015 – Bary is sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts, including conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad.

May 15, 2015 – Al-Fawwaz is sentenced to life in prison, after being convicted on conspiracy charges in February.

May 18, 2020 – The US Supreme Court rules that victims of the bombings and their family members are entitled to the $4.3 billion in punitive damages, of a total $10.2 billion in damages, previously awarded against Sudan, which was found to have assisted the al Qaeda operatives.

March 31, 2021 – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says in a statement that the United States has received the $335 million settlement from Sudan that will be paid out to victims and families of individuals impacted by the 1998 bombings at the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole and the murder of a USAID employee in Khartoum. The Sudan Claims Resolution Act, among the provisions of the omnibus bill signed by former US President Donald Trump in late December, resolved a major point of contention over an earlier settlement – unequal compensation for the victims. Under the $335M settlement, those who were US citizens at the time of the bombings would receive more than those who became citizens after the fact and foreign national embassy employees. The legislation signed into law as part of the omnibus includes $150M in additional funds to allow for equitable compensation between birthright and naturalized citizens.

Spaniards are voting in Sunday’s snap general election that could see a far-right party enter government for the first time in decades.

Most polls predict the center-right opposition Popular Party will win but fall short of an absolute majority in Parliament, meaning they would likely have to form a coalition with the far-right Vox party.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in power since 2018, gambled on holding a snap vote after his party suffered major setbacks in regional and local elections in May while the PP made huge gains.

His Socialist party (PSOE) currently runs the country in a minority government with a junior coalition partner, the leftist Podemos party, and gets parliamentary support from other leftist forces.

Podemos also suffered in the May elections and has signed a deal to run under the new leftist Sumar alliance. The convergence aims to prevent another split in the leftist vote, like in May.

On the other side, the PP, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has promised tax cuts, strong support for the European Union and a strategy of boosting economic growth by attracting foreign investment.

Both leaders have voted, with TV footage showing Sanchez being heckled and applauded as he cast his ballot. He said he had “good feelings” about the vote, while Feijóo said whatever happens he would continue working for the country.

During his time in government Sanchez has pushed a progressive agenda, including policies on women’s rights and a euthanasia law. These reforms won votes in urban areas, but the pace of change has also led to a backlash in other parts of the country.

The economy seems relatively healthy, with employment up and inflation down, but even some Socialists admit the benefits haven’t been felt across the board among Spaniards.

Separatist questions

Territorial questions have also been high on the agenda since 2017, when Catalonian authorities triggered a standoff with the government after attempting to secede from Spain.

Experts say that the idea of the country breaking up sparked a resurgence in Spanish nationalism, and has been key to the growth of support for Vox.

While Sanchez criticizes the conservatives for their governing deals with Vox in regional governments following the May elections, Feijóo has blasted Sanchez for getting support from Catalan pro-independence parties and from a Basque pro-independence party linked to the now disbanded ETA terrorist group.

Sanchez counters that he got votes from them to pass progressive laws, but they weren’t members of his government.

So voters seem to have a clear choice – a new government coalition of the right or repeat one on the left.

Spain emerged from the decades-long right-wing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco upon his death in 1975, and while analysts warn against making easy links between Franco and Vox, the party manifesto includes policies that would constitute a significant rollback in women’s rights, access to abortion and LGBTQ protections. The party also is anti-immigrant and has many skeptics of climate change.

The Socialists and the new Sumar grouping are hoping that such a prospect will mobilize liberal-minded voters and give them a fresh chance at the helm.

Feijóo under fire

Sanchez was widely seen to have lost the only televised debate with Feijóo early in the election campaign. But last week, it was Feijóo who was criticized, when he incorrectly claimed, in an interview on state television, that his party had always raised pensions to keep up with inflation. He walked that back later that day.

Later in the week, Feijóo told a rally that the employment data, which is part of Sumar leader Diaz’s portfolio as minister of labor, has been “touched up” as if with makeup, to make it appear better. “As for makeup, she knows a lot about that. No doubt about it,” Feijóo said of the only woman among the principal candidates in the election.

“It’s pure machoism,” former Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, shot back in a radio interview.

Spain’s political fragmentation away from the two dominant parties, the Socialists and the Popular Party conservatives, has been ongoing for a decade.

The winner on Sunday needs 176 seats in the 350-seat Legislature for an absolute majority, but polls say that’s unlikely.

If the largest party cannot agree a coalition deal that reaches 176 seats, the result would be a hung Parliament and a repeat election. This is what happened in 2019, which saw the PSOE win two elections in six months but only manage to form a government in November.

On Sunday, 37 million Spaniards will decide at the polls. That includes 1.6 million first-time voters who turned 18 since 2019. And a record 2.6 million ballots have been requested, 94% of which have been submitted.

It’s the first time a national election has been held at the peak of the summer vacation season, with extreme heat expected in eastern, central and southern Spain.

Voting begins at 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) and finishes at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET).

When NASA’s next-generation space observatory launches in a few years, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand the search for exoplanets as well as rogue planets, or worlds that travel through space without orbiting stars.

The telescope, expected to lift off between October 2026 and May 2027, may have the potential to spot 400 such rogue planets that are similar in mass to Earth, according to new research. It’s unknown whether these planets will share any other similarities with Earth beside their mass.

Understanding these rogue planets could shed more light on the formation, evolution and disruption of planetary systems. The telescope is named in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy and “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope.”

Two new studies, both set to publish in a future edition of The Astronomical Journal, point to the discovery of only the second known Earth-mass rogue planet and present evidence suggesting that rogue planets are six times more abundant than star-orbiting planets in our galaxy. The findings were made during a nine-year survey called Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics, carried out at New Zealand’s Mount John University Observatory.

“We estimate that our galaxy is home to 20 times more rogue planets than stars — trillions of worlds wandering alone,” said David Bennett, coauthor of both studies and a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. “This is the first measurement of the number of rogue planets in the galaxy that is sensitive to planets less massive than Earth.”

Seeking rogue planets

Microlensing is a technique astronomers use to study distant stars and search for exoplanets. As stars in our galaxy move, they can align with more distant stars. The foreground star acts as a lens, magnifying and brightening the background star for a matter of hours. But anything with mass can cause this light-warping lensing effect, revealing other celestial objects.

For instance, if a rogue planet is in alignment with a distant star, the light from that star will essentially bend around the planet, resulting in a magnifying effect. Researchers can use the changes in light around the planet to measure the planet’s mass.

“Microlensing is the only way we can find objects like low-mass free-floating planets and even primordial black holes,” said Takahiro Sumi, lead author of one of the studies and a professor at Osaka University, in a statement. “It’s very exciting to use gravity to discover objects we could never hope to see directly.”

But opportunities to spot rogue planets using microlensing are incredibly rare, so a telescope like Roman will come in handy.

“Roman will be sensitive to even lower-mass rogue planets since it will observe from space,” said Naoki Koshimoto, lead author of the other study and an assistant professor at Osaka University, in a statement. “The combination of Roman’s wide view and sharp vision will allow us to study the objects it finds in more detail than we can do using only ground-based telescopes, which is a thrilling prospect.”

Astronomers have used a variety of techniques, telescopes and missions to detect more than 5,400 exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system. Many of these worlds are closer in size to the largest planets in our solar system, like Jupiter or Neptune, and orbit very close to their host stars.

But rogue planets are likely much smaller. As planets form around stars, they exert a gravitational influence on one another as they settle into their orbits. Smaller, lighter planets don’t have as strong of a gravitational interaction with their host star, so the shifting of larger planets can send these planets spiraling out of the system.

“We found that Earth-size rogues are more common than more massive ones,” Sumi said. “The difference in star-bound and free-floating planets’ average masses holds a key to understanding planetary formation mechanisms.”

Roman’s potential for discovery

Engineers and scientists refer to the Roman telescope as the wide-eyed cousin of the Hubble Space Telescope because its massive field of view will create images that are much larger than what Hubble is capable of, all while providing the same level of intricate detail.

Roman will be able to observe more of the sky in less time than Hubble, measuring the light from a billion galaxies to help solve cosmic mysteries. The telescope is equipped with a powerful 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) mirror.

The never-before-seen images Roman will capture of the universe could help astronomers unlock why the universe seems to be expanding at an accelerated rate, mapping the distribution of matter across the cosmos and measuring how it has expanded over time.

With its improved capabilities, Roman is expected to discover around 2,600 exoplanets across the Milky Way galaxy. The observatory will carry a wide-field instrument, with a field of view that is 100 times greater than Hubble’s infrared instrument, and a coronagraph that can survey exoplanets. The coronagraph will directly image exoplanets by blocking the light of the bright stars they orbit, capturing details of planets that are 10 billion times fainter than their stars.

The search for new worlds

Roman’s microlensing survey will study 100 million stars for hundreds of days to search for planets around them.

“It’s the next major step on NASA’s path to finding life outside our solar system,” said Dr. Vanessa Bailey, staff scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and instrument technologist for Roman’s coronagraph.

Telescopes like Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope have enabled astronomers to observe large, glowing gas giant exoplanets called hot Jupiters. Eventually, the goal is to be able to observe Earth-like planets and study the light reflecting off their surfaces and clouds to look for atmospheric signatures, Bailey said. Until those capabilities are possible, Roman’s coronagraph serves as an intermediate stepping stone.

“It’s going to take the technologies that we pioneered in Hubble, in Webb and on the ground-based telescopes, and it’s going to add some new technology to help us improve that performance,” Bailey said.

“And hopefully that means we’ll be able to see Jupiter-like planets around sun-like stars in a few years to see light reflecting off their cloud tops.”

Roman’s targets include true Jupiter-like planets that are cold and more distant from their stars. Instead of the famous “pale blue dot” image of Earth, Roman will allow astronomers to see “pale brown dot images” of Jupiter-like planets, Bailey said.

Proving what Roman is capable of could lead to the technology necessary to search for Earth-like planets.

“What I’m really most excited about is that by the end of this, I think I’ll be feeling pretty confident about our ability to take that next step,” Bailey said.

A summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and African leaders began in St. Petersburg on Thursday, with a far lower turnout than previous years.

Putin has been seeking to strengthen ties with African countries and offered to send free grain to the continent, something the UN warned would not make up for Russia pulling out of a crucial grain deal. Russia has also been targeting Ukrainian ports.

Just 17 heads of African states are attending this year, the Kremlin has confirmed, less than half of the 43 heads of state that attended the 2019 conference.

In the run-up to the event, the Kremlin fumed over the poor turnout, and accused the United States and its Western allies of putting “unprecedented pressure” on African countries in an attempt to derail the summit.

Among those absent is Kenyan President William Ruto, whose government has been critical of Russia’s recent decision to withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, describing the move as a “stab in the back of global food security prices.”

Moscow made the decision to withdraw from the deal – which ensured the safe export of Ukrainian grain to the rest of the world – on July 17, again sparking fears over global food supplies, particularly in parts of Africa that are reliant on exports from Russia and Ukraine.

Many African countries rely heavily on on Russia and Ukraine for their grain imports. Between 90-100% of the wheat Somalia and Eritrea needs comes from the two countries, UN data shows.

The shortage of grains has worsened food insecurity on the continent and shot up food prices, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Some African politicians – further than simply not attending the summit – have expressed grave concerns about Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.

“I don’t think that this moment in time is a good time for summits in Russia. Because Russia is involved in a war, a conflict,” said Raila Odinga, the Kenyan opposition leader.

“Africa needs to take a very firm stance on this issue. It’s a question of right and wrong. Therefore, my view is that we cannot be neutral in the place of an aggression. You must take a stand one way or another,” Odinga said.

Despite the food crisis, Russia’s has allies in Africa. During a vote by the UN last year condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Eritrea was one of only four nations globally that openly endorsed the invasion. Others were Belarus, North Korea, and Syria.

But attitudes vary. While 17 others on the continent, including South Africa voted to abstain. Eight other African nations did not put in a vote at all. A further 28 African states voted to condemn Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine.

Last month, an African delegation led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa led a “peace mission” to Russia and Ukraine to broker peace talks between the warring nations. The peace mission did not achieve its desired goal, with the delegation unable to persuade Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war – now in its second year.

Putin makes free grain pledge

The African states being represented at the St. Petersburg summit will be keen to sway Russia into rejoining the grain deal, and Putin has courted African leaders for years in a deliberate effort to broaden Moscow’s global influence. At the last summit in 2019, Russia announced arms deals worth billions of dollars for the continent, along with a plan to double its trade volume with the region.

Putin is working against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, which has driven the country into diplomatic isolation and prompted heavy sanctions from the West. He enjoys more support from some African nations, however, some of whom are yet to condemn the invasion.

On Thursday, the Russian president told the delegation of African leaders that the continent will become one of Moscow’s key partners “in a new multipolar world.”

“Russia is still a reliable supplier of food to Africa,” Putin said, adding he would send grain free of charge to six African nations in the next few months.

He repeated his complaints about the grain deal, saying promises to Russia had not been met, and called the West “hypocritical”, arguing it was blaming Russia for food insecurity but at the same time hampering exports through sanctions.

Next month South Africa will host a BRICS economic bloc summit in Johannesburg. Putin, however, will not be present at that event and will be represented instead by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Ramaphosa’s office said Putin’s absence from the BRICS summit was decided “by mutual agreement.” In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

South Africa is bound by the Rome statute, the treaty that governs the ICC, and is obligated to arrest individuals indicted by The Hague court.

Aaron Rodgers has agreed to a reworked deal with the New York Jets, the 39-year-old confirmed while talking to reporters during training camp on Wednesday.

Rodgers gave no specifics of the reworked deal, but according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the two sides agreed to a two-year, $75 million guaranteed contract through the 2024 season.

Per the report, that would be a roughly $35 million pay cut, since Rodgers’ previous deal had nearly $110 million guaranteed remaining on it.

The four-time league MVP, who contemplated retirement following last season, indicated he plans to play more than one season in New York.

“Definitely some of it is how much fun I’m having,” Rodgers said. “It’s all about the body, how the body feels.

“The team gave up significant pieces for it just to be a one-year deal. I’m aware of that, and I think there was, you know, an awareness of that. Now, again, anything can happen with my body or with the success we have this year, but I’m having a blast, so I don’t really see this as a one-year-and-done thing.”

In April, Rodgers was traded to the Jets, after spending his entire 18-season NFL career with the Green Bay Packers.
Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

One year ago, the South Africa women’s national soccer team was crowned queen of the continent as it defeated Morocco in front of 50,000 fans in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) final.

The team is now making its second appearance at the Women’s World Cup, but 30 years ago, the “Banyana Banyana” was playing its first ever match as a nation emerging from apartheid.

The system of racial classification and segregation beginning in the 1940s – led by the descendants of European settlers known as Afrikaners – formally oppressed the non-White population, forcing them to live and exist separately from White South Africans. The system would only come to an end in the 1990s, ushering a new era for the “Rainbow Nation.”

In 1993, far from the glitz and glamour of the World Cup, South Africa’s inaugural game was played against neighbor Swaziland (now Eswatini) at a community soccer pitch in a Johannesburg suburb in front of a sparse crowd – even the most basic facilities were seen as a luxury to the team.

On that day, South Africa romped to a 14-0 victory over Swaziland, marking the beginning of a journey filled with challenges and trials, but one which would end with continental glory and the ultimate prize of playing at the World Cup.

First steps for the rainbow nation

Women’s soccer in South Africa first emerged in the 1960s, played by amateurs and only up to a provincial level. Over the next few decades, the game would see some growth and eventually a national team was selected from the provinces.

One of those who played for the Springboks was Fran Hilton-Smith, a trailblazer of the women’s game who would go on to organize that first match against Swaziland.

Because of the racial segregation in South Africa under apartheid rule, the nation’s soccer teams had been banned from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 1960 and from FIFA since 1961. As a result, the national team in the 80s – as a squad deemed White-only – was unable to play any official matches.

While the government’s draconian, discriminatory policies stopped White and Black men from playing against each other within the country, because of the low profile of women’s soccer, players from all backgrounds were able to play with and against each other.

By the late 80s, the interprovincial soccer team featured players like current Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis – who is from a bi-racial background, as well as the Soweto Ladies Football Club, a team based out of one of South Africa’s largest townships.

With the release of future president Nelson Mandela spelling the end of apartheid rule, South Africa was readmitted to the soccer world, and the women were ready for their time in the spotlight.

Hilton-Smith, who at this point had ended her playing career, set about organizing the new women’s national team, reaching out to the association in Swaziland to organize a friendly.

She asked former Southampton and England legend Terry Paine, who was at the time coaching at Wits University in Johannesburg, to take charge of the squad as coach.

Paine and Hilton-Smith then invited players from around the country to come and try out for the newly formed team – one of those invited was a 30-year-old Ellis.

For someone who grew up unaware that girls’ soccer existed, scoring for her nation in its first game was extra special.

From apartheid to African champion

Despite the brilliant start on the pitch, things were anything but easy off it. With the federation showing minimal interest in women’s soccer and players being entirely amateur, life was tough as a soccer player, something Ellis would find out on her way home from that win against Swaziland.

“I lost my job because we had to drive up with a minibus to Johannesburg from Cape Town, and on the way back, we got a puncture and I came back to work a day late,” says a laughing Ellis.

Her employers at the meat market where she ran the spice counter would not take the excuse that she was representing her country in sport and subsequently fired her.

She can smile looking back on it now, but Ellis wasn’t just ignored despite her achievements for her country, she was actively punished for representing South Africa.

It would be another three years before Ellis would find work and despite nearly a decade of captaining the team, Ellis would never be paid a salary to play the game she loves.

Even playing itself would be a challenge as the basic needs of players weren’t accommodated.

“It was always a huge struggle because the football federation were not really interested in women’s football,” says Hilton-Smith, who headed up women’s soccer in the country for over two decades.

Even sourcing team jerseys was difficult, with the federation only providing the women’s team with the men’s leftovers, to the point that at some games, players donned shirts with the name of male players on their shirt.

“I washed the kit for years – actually for five years I’d bring the national team kit home, wash it, iron it and have it ready,” says Carroll, who fulfilled every job the team needed including coach, administrator, team doctor and security.

“It’s only lately, in the last eight years, that we’ve had women’s kits.”

Carroll eventually had to stop working with the team when she no longer could get enough time off her job to travel with the squad as all the work she did with the team was voluntary. And it wouldn’t be until the mid-2010s when the structure of the team began professionalizing.

But thanks to the sacrifice of people like Carroll, Ellis, Hilton-Smith and countless others, the national side has climbed previously unimaginable heights.

Progress still needed

In 2018, with former captain Ellis now coaching, Banyana Banyana reached the final of WAFCON, only losing to serial winner Nigeria on penalties. That appearance in the final also qualified the team for its first ever World Cup appearance in 2019 in France.

Three years later, the team would return to the continental stage and earn revenge on Nigeria on the way to a first ever WAFCON title in Morocco. Ellis was finally able to achieve as a coach what eluded her as a player.

However, Ellis holds no grudges towards the players who now enjoy professional contracts and a structure that she could have only dreamed of as a player.

Despite once again reaching the sport’s greatest competition, things are still not perfect in South Africa for the women’s team and those opportunities are still being fought for.

The team boycotted its pre-World Cup friendly against Botswana over complaints about the venue used and payment of bonuses to the team.

“I made the call for SAFA and SAFPU to come together to urgently address the concerns raised by Banyana Banyana who inspire the country so much,” said South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa.

“I am happy that they came together. The Motsepe Foundation was also approached and I am thrilled by the contribution that they made. Banyana Banyana can now focus fully on the FIFA Women’s World Cup, knowing that their immediate concerns have been addressed.”

Some of the team’s members are not yet fully professional and, despite a national league launching in 2019 off the back of South Africa’s first appearance at the World Cup, only two clubs in the league are fully professional with the rest ranging from semi-professional to amateur.

That struggle highlights of how far soccer has yet to go in the nation and is a reminder that proper treatment of the women’s game rarely comes without the players fighting for it themselves.

But even having the power to boycott a game and force the federation to give into the players’ demands is itself a sign of how much progress has been made.

With the chance to shine on the biggest stage of all, the players could push the envelope even more in their fight to develop the game to its full potential.

The team’s opening game at this year’s World Cup demonstrated all the passion and excitement the team has promised in recent years.

The players arrived at the Wellington Regional Stadium, New Zealand, in style – dancing and singing their way from the team bus to the dressing rooms – before facing world No. 3 Sweden.

After a gritty performance, South Africa was denied a draw after Sweden scored a winner in the last minute of regular time to make it 2-1.

Despite the defeat, South Africa demonstrated its potential to qualify through the group stages into the knockout rounds of the competition.