In a closely-fought battle and rematch of the 2019 World Cup final, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) and the Netherlands – two of the world’s top teams – came to a 1-1 draw on Thursday at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A!” reverberating around the Wellington Regional Stadium as the team faced the Netherlands in their second match of the tournament soon dissipated after the Dutch took an early lead.

Midfielder Jill Roord put the Netherlands on the board in the 17th minute, finding the back of the net past USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

It was the first time the USWNT trailed in a Women’s World Cup match since 2011 in the quarterfinal against Brazil. Prior to Thursday, the US had gone 17 straight matches without trailing – the longest streak by any team in the tournament’s history.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, was hungry for revenge after their 2-0 loss to the US in the 2019 World Cup.

Despite trailing at the half, the USWNT outshot the Netherlands 9-2 in the first half – and all their scoring chances finally came to fruition in the 62nd minute.

US captain Lindsey Horan scored the equalizer with a thumping header from a corner kick, prompting ecstatic celebrations in the stands.

Just a few minutes later, the USWNT thought they had gone ahead after forward Alex Morgan found the back of the net – but she was offside and the goal was disallowed.

Despite five minutes of added stoppage time, both teams weren’t able to best each other by the time the final whistle blew.

With the draw, the USWNT extends their unbeaten streak to 19 matches at the World Cup – the longest in tournament history for both men’s and women’s editions.

Speaking after the match, Horan called it “unbelievable” that the team was able to come back and score the equalizer to avoid a loss in the group stage.

“I felt the momentum the whole time,” Horan said. “I think the first half we could be a little disappointed in how we played but I think we fixed things right away. The pressure that we got on, the amount of chances and opportunities that came from it – so proud of the team and their response.”

Horan was also complimentary of the Dutch side, following the recent history between the two teams.

“It’s against a really good opponent. Very competitive team and one that we saw last World Cup do such good things. So for us, it’s going down a goal and coming up and getting able to tie … we keep moving forward,” Horan added.

Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar also praised her team’s performance after the match, saying they had “worked really hard” and been in frequent possession of the ball.

“I think we were very calm, especially the first half,” she said. “The second half, they dominated more of the game and they had more chances. But after all, we can be very proud of ourselves.”

Later on Thursday in a clash of fellow Group E contestants and two World Cup debutants, Portugal beat Vietnam 2-0 in the New Zealand city of Hamilton.

Telma Encarnação opened the scoring in the opening 10 minutes before Francisca Nazareth gave Portugal a well-deserved two-goal cushion.

Despite constant Portuguese pressure, the European side was unable to extend its lead further but picks up a vital three points as it seeks to reach the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever.

With two defeats in its first two games, Vietnam has been eliminated.

Back-to-back defending champions USA are next scheduled to face Portugal on August 1, while the Netherlands goes against Vietnam that same day.

The group matches conclude after August 3, with the tournament then moving into the knockout stage with the 16 remaining teams.

A brutal heat wave is set to persist Thursday as more than 140 million Americans from coast-to-coast are under heat alerts, with parts of the Northeast expected to sizzle under their highest temperatures this year.

Dangerously high temperatures are creeping east into parts of the Midwest and Northeast over the next two days after extreme heat consistently smashed record highs in southern states in recent weeks.

“Low temperatures will range mostly from 75 to 80, with lower 70s in the far outlying suburbs. Coupled with elevated humidity this will make for uncomfortable conditions at night,” especially in New York City and northeast New Jersey, forecasters at National Weather Service in New York City said.

The looming threats have triggered officials to take a series of preventive steps aimed at reducing the harmful impacts of extreme heat, which kills more people than any other irregular weather event in the US.

Heat indices – a measurement of what the temperature feels like when accounting for relative humidity – are expected to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit across many areas in the Northeast and the Midwest.

Here’s how some places are bracing for potentially record high temperatures:

As temperatures spike, 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.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce actions to combat extreme heat in a briefing Thursday morning as the dangerous heat wave expands across the US.

Extreme heat from coast-to-coast

The oppressive temperatures have put entire states under heat alerts.

Missouri, Iowa, Indiana in the Midwest are all under heat advisories while New Jersey is seeing a combination of heat advisories and excessive heat warnings, according to the NWS. Most of Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma are also under heat advisories.

Heat alerts are also in effect for parts of Southern California and Arizona.

In the south, heat indices continued to break records Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Miami hit a heat index of 102 degrees, marking the city’s 46th consecutive day with the heat index exceeding 100.

El Paso hit a high temperature of about 107 degrees on Wednesday, which continues their streak of consecutive days of high temperatures over 100 to 41 days. The city is expected to exceed 100 degrees – again – on Thursday.

Phoenix reached 118 degrees, extending its streak to 27 consecutive days with a high temperature exceeding 110. The city also saw 17 consecutive days of low temperatures above 90 degrees.

An Iranian chess player, who competed in an international tournament without wearing a hijab, has been granted Spanish nationality, Spain’s Minister of Justice announced on Tuesday.

Sara Khadem, also known as Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, competed in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in December 2022.

She was photographed not wearing a hijab, despite the fact that this is mandatory in Iran, leading to an arrest warrant being issued against her in her home country, according to Reuters, who interviewed Khadem in February.

She has been living in Spain ever since.

Khadem was one of a number of sportswomen to appear at a sporting event without a hijab since anti-government protests erupted in September last year, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman died in mid-September after being detained by the country’s morality police for not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code, sparking outrage around a range of grievances with the regime.

Spain’s Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, said that there were “exceptional circumstances” in Khadem’s situation, announcing that the country’s Council of Ministers granted her “Spanish nationality through a naturalization letter.”

The chess player met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in January, who said that he was “inspired” by Khadem.

“How much I have learned today from a woman who inspires me, the Women’s Chess Grandmaster Sara Khadem,” Sánchez tweeted. “All my support to women athletes. Your example contributes to a better world.”

On a recent vacation in Tokyo, Takumi Yamamoto opted for a special lunch of cricket curry and silkworm sashimi, washed down with a water bug cider.

The 26-year-old office worker, from the western prefecture of Hyogo, is one of scores of consumers across the world who have taken an interest in entomophagy, or eating insects, as bugs slowly become a more viable food source.

As a child, Yamamoto said he sometimes snacked on soy-sauce basted grasshoppers. In Tokyo, he indulged in insect cuisine at Take-Noko cafe, which embraces all things buggy.

“It’s fun to select from a wider variety of dishes,” Yamamoto said at the cozy second-floor cafe, surrounded by insect art and terrariums of skittering beetles, ants and cockroaches.

“Everything was tasty. In particular, the water bug cider was quite refreshing and delicious, like a green apple.”

Entomophagy started to be taken seriously globally after the United Nations deemed bugs a sustainable source of protein to feed a global population estimated to swell to 9.7 billion by 2050.

The impact of the livestock industry on climate change, coupled with global food security issues due to extreme weather and conflicts, have also increased the interest in the high-quality, economical nutrition that bugs provide.

While some consumers think eating insects is just gross, Japan has a rich culinary history of insects as food.

Grasshoppers, silkworms, and wasps were traditionally eaten in land-locked regions where meat and fish are scarce, a practice that picked up amid food shortages during and after World War II, said Take-Noko manager Michiko Miura.

“Recently, there have been advances in rearing things like crickets and mealworms for food, so the possibility of using insects as ingredients is really growing,” she added.

Several companies, including national bakery brand Pasco, have sold made cakes and snacks from cricket flour, and processed food maker Nichirei and telecom Nippon Telegraph and Telephone have invested in bug ventures in the past year.

The term “crickets” also started to trend in Japanese media recently after reports the powdered insects were being used in school lunches and snacks.

Consumer interest has also extended to Take-Noko, which manager Miura says is often fully booked on weekends.

Its curry is studded crickets in meatball form and dried garnish. The delicate “sashimi” is the left-over casing of silkworms, and the cider is infused with water bug extract and topped with a whole insect, said to taste like shrimp.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Takeo Saito who founded his namesake company Takeo Inc nine years ago and has grown it to include packaged food business offering more than 60 types of arthropod treats, from scorpions to tarantulas.

“Our aim is not for insects to be something separate, but to be enjoyed at the same table as vegetables, fish, and meat,” said Saito.

Ecuador’s government has declared a state of emergency in two provinces after its security crisis escalated over the weekend with the killing of a mayor and uprisings in several penitentiaries across the country.

More than 90 prison security agents are currently being held by inmates across five different prisons in Ecuador, according to the country’s penitentiary service SNAI.

Hundreds of inmates have been killed in recent years in Ecuador as members of competing criminal organizations square off with each other inside the prisons, which are often self-ruled by the criminal organizations. In recent days, prison clashes have left at least six dead.

This comes after the mayor of Ecuador’s sixth-largest city Manta, Agustin Intriago, was killed in a targeted attack on Sunday, according to a statement from Interior Minister Juan Zapata.

Another person, Ariana Chancay, also died in the attack, according to authorities. Four people were injured, including two alleged participants in the targeted murder, who are now in police custody.

Manta is a key port in the Ecuadorian Pacific coast and one of the largest tuna ports in the world. In recent years, the port has become a notorious hotspot for drug trafficking as Ecuador has struggled to contain the presence of international criminal organizations including Mexican cartels.

Manta is located in Manabi province, now under a 60-day state of emergency and curfew. The province of Los Rios is under the same orders, as is the municipality of Duran.

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso condemned the Manta attack on Twitter, saying he had “ordered the general commander to activate the necessary resources so that the people responsible for this crime are found and brought to justice. Our thoughts are with the family of the mayor and that of the other victim.”

Intriago was elected for a second term as Manta’s mayor in February.

The attack targeting such a high-profile public officer has shocked the country, which is holding elections next month amid a growing escalation of violence at the hands of criminal organization.

Ecuador, a relatively peaceful nation until a decade ago, has become a key transit point of cocaine trafficking routes from South America towards the United States, Canada, and Asia, in part as a consequence of the peace process in neighboring Colombia since 2016.

In May, as he faced an impeachment vote, Lasso dissolved the opposition-led congress and paved the way for a snap general election on August 20.

The three main candidates running for president, left wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez, right wing candidate Otto Sonnenholzner, and indigenous candidate Yaku Perez, all condemned the attack against Intriago and vowed to tackle the security crisis in the country.

Speaking at the Big Ten football media days, Northwestern University interim head football coach David Braun declined Wednesday to address reporters questions about the hazing allegations in the university’s athletic program, saying he trusts the school will choose the right path forward.

Several former players are suing the school, claiming the university’s football program “has had longstanding issues involving hazing and bullying that takes on a sexual and/or racist tone.” At least one ex-player is also suing former head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

And last week, attorneys representing at least 15 former student athletes announced plans to sue the university over allegations its athletics department fostered a “toxic culture” that facilitated harassment and sexual abuse. At least one former volleyball player has also filed a lawsuit alleging hazing in that program, according to a copy of the civil action.

The issues with the school’s football program entered the national spotlight earlier this month after the student newspaper The Daily Northwestern cited several former players who spoke about hazing and racism.

A third-party review conducted this winter by a former Illinois inspector general found ongoing hazing, including “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature,” university president Michael Schill said in a letter earlier this month that announced Fitzgerald’s termination.

Though the investigation found no “credible evidence” Fitzgerald was aware of the alleged hazing, the head coach is ultimately responsible for the team’s culture, Schill wrote. Fitzgerald has denied any knowledge of hazing in the program.

When asked Wednesday whether he would look into any involvement of staff members who have been named in lawsuits, Braun said he trusts the university “will make decisions based on the facts.”

“What I can speak to is how proud I am of the way that our team has come together with all this stuff swirling around our football team and there is absolute resolve and confidence from our leadership within our team of how we’re going to move forward,” he said at the two-day gathering in Indianapolis for the league’s head coaches and top players to speak to the media about the upcoming season.

Northwestern linebacker Bryce Gallagher, defensive back Rod Heard II and wide receiver Bryce Kirtz were scheduled to take part in the gathering, but opted out because they “did not want our participation to be dominated by the hazing issue and steal the focus away from football and the upcoming season,” according to a statement from the team.

Braun supported their decisions, saying it has been a very difficult time for current and former players and staff members. He said the coaches will focus in the future on each player having “the ultimate student-athlete experience.”

Braun, who was named interim head coach on July 14, said when he spoke in the team’s first meeting, he wanted to challenge his team.

“We have an opportunity to either run from that or an opportunity to truly stare that adversity in the face, stare it down and go attack this opportunity to make this fall an incredible story that truly embodies what this team is all about,” he said Wednesday.

In his first interview since Fitzgerald’s firing, athletics director Derrick Gragg told ESPN the university will have mandatory anti-hazing seminars and said he is committed in ensuring “nothing like this ever happens again.”

Northwestern opens its 2023 season at Rutgers University in New Jersey on September 3.

Bronny James, who on Monday suffered a cardiac arrest and was hospitalized, 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 normal results of those tests are a good sign and likely mean the episode wasn’t caused by an anatomical preexisting problem.

But the 18-year-old will still likely have his heart rhythm monitored for a longer period in the hospital – since an EKG only captures a snapshot in time – so medical professionals can determine whether there are any unusual spikes of electrical activity.

If those readings are normal as well, doctors may also look at other possibilities of what could have caused this, including significant dehydration or intense practicing.

Bronny is NBA superstar LeBron James’ older son.

The 6-foot-3 combo guard, who is an incoming freshman for the University of Southern California’s basketball team, was rated a four-star recruit and shined in the McDonald’s All-American Game in March featuring some of the country’s top high school basketball players.

He suffered the cardiac arrest during basketball practice at USC, a family spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday.

“Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU,” the family statement said.

“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”

Football star Kylian Mbappé has reportedly spurned a meeting and contract with Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal, according to multiple reports.

Mbappé became the talk of the sporting world earlier this week after reports that Al Hilal was 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 for the 24-year-old Mbappe – a sum that drew immediate reaction from top athletes in other sports.

French outlet L’Equipe and renowned Italian soccer journalist Fabrizio Romano now report that representatives from Saudi Arabia’s most successful club, winners of four Asian Champions League tournaments, were in Paris to meet with Mbappé’s representatives but were rejected.

Mbappé has been left out of PSG’s squad for its preseason tour of Japan, with the club having issued him an ultimatum to sign a new contract or be sold.

He has been heavily linked with a move to La Liga giants Real Madrid.

Two-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown signed the richest deal in NBA history on Wednesday: a five-year, $304 million supermax contract extension with the Boston Celtics. 

Brown said he wants to bring Black Wall Street to Boston, tackle the “unsettling” wealth disparity in the city and stimulate the overall economy.

“I want to launch a project to bring Black Wall Street here in Boston. I want to attack the wealth disparity here. I think there’s analytics that supports that stimulating the wealth gap could actually be something that could be better meant for the entire economy,” Brown said at a news conference at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“With the biggest financial deal in NBA history, it makes sense to talk about one year investment in community, but … the wealth disparity here that nobody wants to talk about is top five in the US (and) is something that we can all improve on it. It’s unsettling.  

“I think through my platform, through influential partners, through selected leaders, government officials, a lot who are in this room, that we can come together and create new jobs, new resources, new businesses, new ideas that could highlight minorities but also stimulate the economy and the wealth gap at the same time.”

Brown added, “Boston could be a fully integrated self-sufficient hub. I think Boston could be the pilot, not just for wealth disparity here in the US, but also for around the world.”

When asked why the news conference took place at his “7uice Foundation’s Bridge” program and not the team’s facility, Brown said, “This is the day it fell on and I knew I was going to be here spending most of my time, so I thought it was fitting. … For it to be here, I think was just divine timing and now as we are putting the pen to paper, we got a lot of work to do. I think we’re all in that same journey to make this place, this community that we all live in, better and we all have that responsibility.”

Last season, Brown, a guard/forward, averaged a career-best 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He was named to the 2022-23 All-NBA second team. Brown, the 2016 No. 3 overall pick, was eligible for the new contract as a result of making the All-NBA team.

Brown’s deal eclipsed the $276 million contract of Denver’s Nicola Jokić, signed in 2022, according to salary tracking website Spotrac.

In seven seasons in Beantown, the 26-year-old has helped the Celtics advance to five Eastern Conference Finals and an NBA Finals appearance in 2022. 

ESPN reported the contract extension begins in the 2024-2025 season and runs through the 2028-2029 season when Brown will be 32.

His previous contract was a four-year, $106 million deal, according to Spotrac.

Dangerously high temperatures that have already proven deadly in multiple states are expanding as far east as the Northeast, as they also threaten ocean ecosystems and fuel destructive wildfires that emit harmful particulates.

More than 100 million people from California to Massachusetts were under some kind of heat alert Wednesday as extreme temperatures spread across the country. Over the next seven days, 85% of the population will experience temperatures 90 degrees or higher.

The southern tier of the US has been baking for weeks, with places like Phoenix, Miami and El Paso, Texas, continuing to smash record-long extreme-heat streaks Tuesday.

Now it’s the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast’s turn.

Temperatures are forecast to top 100 degrees in places like Kansas City and St. Louis through Friday. As the heat builds into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by Thursday and Friday, highs in the upper 90’s could break daily records in places like Washington, DC, Philadelphia and New York. High humidity will drive up the heat index there to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The stifling forecast has pushed Connecticut’s governor to activate the state’s extreme hot weather protocol on Wednesday to provide cooling centers for vulnerable residents.

“We’ve experienced a pretty warm summer so far, but it’s expected to get particularly hot this week, including during the evening hours,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said.

And the heat has been affecting everyone: Last month was the hottest June on record dating back to 1850, according to a climate report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Globally, June 2023 set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly of any month in NOAA’s 174-year record,” the agency said. “June heat was not limited to the ocean surface; the Southern Hemisphere had its warmest June on record and the Northern Hemisphere tied 2019 for its warmest June.”

Scientists agree that human-induced climate change is the main culprit causing record high temperatures, which have led to hospitalizations and deaths in the US. Additionally, wildfires burning in Canada and US have been exacerbated by the unrelenting heat, tanking the air quality for many in both countries.

The exceptional heat isn’t confined to land, either. Ocean temperatures around Florida are so high that experts reported severe coral bleaching and a die off at some reefs, which could worsen if the extreme warmth persists.

And before temperatures begin to lessen in some places next week, here are some of the impacts it had on communities in recent weeks.

A fatal heatwave

Dozens of people across Arizona and Nevada have died this year from the physical impacts of extreme heat.

In Arizona’s Maricopa County – home to Phoenix – 25 deaths have been reported to be heat-related so far this year as of Tuesday, the county said in a weekly report. Another 249 deaths are under investigation for whether heat was a cause.

Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, killing more people than hurricanes or tornadoes.

And it also leads to illnesses. Last week, at least 570 hospital visits in Arizona were related to heat-related complications, the state department of health services said.

“Fire departments and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers have reported treating an increasing number of patients for heat-related illness too. These incidents are only the tip of the iceberg. We urge Arizonans to take this extreme heat extremely seriously,” the department said in a statement Tuesday.

“I chose to hike alone, without water, and I did not check the weather. When I returned, I was clammy, shaking, ash gray, had a splitting headache and felt nauseous. It took over a day to recover. Always have plenty of water.” https://t.co/0BOZ4yzAL0 #NMwx pic.twitter.com/PPNhqp2osr

— NWS Albuquerque (@NWSAlbuquerque) July 24, 2023

Wildfires destroy homes, choke air quality

A wildfire in southern Oregon fueled by the heat and strong winds destroyed dozens of homes and outbuildings and also knocked out internet and 911 services in one county.

The so-called Golden Fire burned through 43 homes and 43 outbuildings as it grew to more than 2,000 acres around 11 miles north of Bonanza, Oregon, since July 22. The fire also knocked down more than 100 power poles, blacking out internet and 911 services in Lake County, Oregon, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Nearby Klamath County, Oregon, was handling 911 calls in the meantime.

The fire was one of several also degrading air quality across the country. As of Tuesday, there were nine wildfires in each of Arizona and New Mexico, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Also, smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada continued to waft south, tanking air quality and polluting air in Chicago and Detroit. Both cities were among the 10 top cities with the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir, with Chicago ranking fifth and Detroit ninth as of early Wednesday morning.

“Today, air quality in the City of Detroit will be Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (AQI Orange) range,” the Detroit health department said Tuesday. “The air quality is being impacted by the presence of fine particulate matter (PM-2.5).”

In addition to the poor air quality, Detroit is also facing extreme heat this week, when some areas are expected to feel as hot as 99 degrees Thursday and Friday, according to the city’s National Weather Service.

“Very hot and muggy conditions are likely later this week with heat index values approaching 100 degrees,” the weather service said on Twitter.

Extreme heat impacts oceanic ecosystem

The consequences of dangerously high temperatures have stretched beyond land.

The record-breaking heatwave led to surging water temperatures off Florida’s coast, where multiple reefs around the Keys area are currently completely bleached or dead.

The mass bleaching event unfolded in two weeks, according to coral experts, who said they expect the “complete mortality” of the bleached reefs in just a week.

Because it is extremely sensitive to temperature changes, experiencing too much heat for too long causes coral to bleach and turn white as they expel their algal food source and slowly starve to death.

The water is typically in mid-80s in the region, but experts have recorded 90-degree temperatures, according to Cynthia Lewis, who heads the Keys Marine Laboratory at the Florida Institute of Oceanography.

“It is very alarming,” she said in a news release.

Teams from the University of South Florida and the Florida Institute of Oceanography Keys Marine Laboratory conducted a rescue mission for more than 1,500 corals by harvesting them from at risk sites and bringing them into a temperature controlled laboratory.

Sweltering temperatures are also posing a risk to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current, a vital system of ocean currents which includes the Gulf Stream.

A study published Tuesday in the journal Nature found the current may collapse around the middle of the century or as early as 2025.

The AMOC is a complex tangle of currents that works like a giant global conveyor belt. It transports warm water from the tropics toward the North Atlantic, where the water cools, becomes saltier and sinks deep into the ocean, before spreading southwards.

It plays a crucial role in the climate system, helping regulate global weather patterns. Its collapse would have significant implications, including much more extreme winters and sea level rises affecting parts of Europe and the US as well as a shifting of the monsoon in the tropics.