The Lionesses had seemingly lost their ability to hunt.

England had been on a poor run of form, at one stage losing seven out of 11 matches, and head coach Phil Neville was winding down the days until his exit.

It was announced that Neville’s successor was to be the highly successful Netherlands head coach Sarina Wiegman, who had led her home nation to back-to-back major tournament finals, including a European Championship win in 2017.

While success was always a possibility for this talented group of footballers, nobody could have imagined what was to come under Wiegman’s leadership.

Turning cubs into Lionesses

In the last major tournament before Wiegman took over, England crashed out in heartbreaking circumstances.

In a tight World Cup semifinal game against the US – the eventual champion – England captain Steph Houghton missed a crucial late penalty as the Lionesses fell to a 2-1 defeat.

It was the third major tournament in a row that England had fallen at this stage. With expectations and pressure growing, and with the European Championship on home soil on the horizon, England appointed a coach who had the crucial knowhow in getting a team over the line in tournament football.

“She’s a proven winner and we’re confident she can take England to the next level, giving us the best possible opportunity of achieving our ambition to win a major tournament,” said Mark Bullingham, the English Football Association’s CEO, when Wiegman was appointed two years ago.

While the England players’ abilities speak for themselves, Wiegman has helped to instill a formidable team mindset in the group through some “non-negotiable” philosophies.

“It’s doing what’s best for the team and what’s demanded of you, on and off the pitch.

“When you start doing things on your own in a team sport, that’s really hard. You’re not going to reach the highest potential.”

Heading into the Covid-19 delayed European Championship a year later, England was on a brilliant run of form of free-flowing soccer and goals aplenty.

That form continued throughout the tournament, with the Lionesses scoring goals for fun on the way to a historic final at Wembley against Germany.

In a tense game against an experienced Germany side, the Lionesses sealed a 2-1 win to end England’s 56-year-wait for a senior international soccer trophy.

Overcoming adversity

After the success of the Euros, England was among the favorites heading into the World Cup, although with injuries piling up pre-tournament Wiegman has had to find ways to rebuild her squad without crucial players.

England captain Leah Williamson suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April, joining another star player from the winning Euros squad – Beth Mead – in suffering the same injury.

“I’m a pretty positive person but, of course, I also have feelings,” Wiegman told The Independent ahead of Sunday’s final. “I feel very privileged to work with this team. It has been so great.

“You have some setbacks with some players that got injured, which was very sad for them, but then you have to switch and say: ‘OK, this is the group of players we think are the best and this is the team now. We are going to go to the World Cup with them.’”

With these key players out of the squad, Wiegman has reinvented the side throughout the World Cup and has implemented a system where the team can fluidly switch between different styles and formations.

Humbly, Wiegman also attributes a successful change to a 3-5-2 formation to one of her assistant coaches, Arjan Veurink.

“During the first two matches of the tournament we were struggling a little bit and also had moments where we were a little bit vulnerable,” Wiegman explained to reporters.

“So after the second match Arjan [Veurink, her assistant] came to me and said: ‘Sarina, isn’t this the time to go to 3-5-2?’ I said: ‘You’re completely right. This is the moment, with the players available, we can get more from their strengths in this shape.’ So then we changed it.”

In the 3-5-2 formation, Wiegman has removed one of the forward players for a defender, which has allowed the Lionesses to have greater control in games and be less susceptible to counter-attacks. It has also given more freedom to some of England’s attackers, especially the dangerous Lauren Hemp who has been freed of some of her defensive responsibilities and consequently thrived in attack against Australia in the semifinal.

But not only did Wiegman have to deal with injuries ahead of the tournament, key midfielder Keira Walsh picked up a knee injury during the group stages and breakthrough star Lauren James was shown a red card in England’s round-of-16 win against Nigeria, meaning England not only had to play the rest of that match with 10 players but without James available for the quarterfinal and semifinal.

“We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability and, first and foremost, we believe in what we’re getting told to do,” England winger Chloe Kelly told the BBC after the tense penalty shootout win against Nigeria.

Can England go back-to-back?

A belief in the manager has led to unwavering support in Wiegman’s decision making and ideologies.

“A top, world-class manager – she’s demonstrated that. To go back-to-back Euros, plus World Cup, shows her qualities,” said Hayes.

“I think [she’s] fulfilled the potential of a group that were hitting their peak and she’s come in and steered that ship to winning.”

Throughout her international managerial career, Wiegman has shown her ability to turn nearly-teams into winners. Hayes spoke of the winning machine that the 53-year-old has cultivated.

Before the World Cup, England had won 26 of the 32 games under Wiegman and had only lost once – a friendly against Australia in April. The Lionesses have since added six wins to that tally in Australia and New Zealand.

“They’ve become a bit of a machine. You know to think we’ve gone from a Euros to a World Cup final in the space of 12 months is just unbelievable,” Hayes said.

“We’re going to feel a little bit spoiled, but at the same time we’re going to be in the World Cup final on Sunday and it’s amazing for everyone.”

England’s success has led to Wiegman being recently linked to the vacant head coach role with the US Women’s team.

“I’m really enjoying my job and I have the impression that people still like me doing that job,” Wiegman clarified to reporters this week. “I have no plans to leave.”

No matter what happens in the World Cup final on Sunday, Wiegman has helped grow the women’s game in England immeasurably. But, for the team, winning on Sunday is all that matters.

In a frenetic Women’s World Cup final, Carli Lloyd pounced on a loose pass midway inside her own half. The US was 3-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes in its match against Japan, and the game was being played at a frantic pace.

But for Lloyd, surrounded by the chaos around her, it looked like time stood still as she took a touch past an onrushing defender. Then, in a matter of milliseconds, the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) star looked up and launched a half-field shot towards the Japanese goal.

“That’s what happens when you are in that flow state – just being in that moment. A lot of good things happen when you’re in that space.”

As the ball flew toward Japan’s goalkeeper, Ayumi Kaihori, she began to stumble and her flailing hands weren’t enough to prevent Lloyd from completing an incredible 13-minute hat trick.

2011

The US went on to win the final 5-2. Success that was built on years of hard work, as well as a desire to reverse the disappointment of four years prior.

“2011 was a really difficult loss to swallow,” Lloyd explained. The US had fought its way to the 2011 Women’s World Cup final and Japan had stood between the team and glory.

The US had already overcome the formidable Brazil on penalties, as well as beating France in the semifinals, and the team was confident heading into the biggest game of all.

“We felt like the way the World Cup was going, our storyline as a team, hadn’t won a World Cup since 1999, we just really felt like it was our time to win,” said Lloyd of the 2011 final.

Despite this inner feeling of confidence within the squad, the US came up short, falling to a devastating penalty shootout defeat.

Along with Shannon Boxx and Tobin Heath, Lloyd was among the players that had missed during the shootout and this helped provide even more inspiration to the New Jersey native going into the 2015 tournament.

“I just was devastated. I felt really responsible and just really kind of took some of that blame for letting down my teammates and the country,” the two-time Olympic gold medalist said.

Lloyd vividly remembered arriving back in the US after the tournament and being greeted by fans who were full of admiration for the team, even though she felt the team had failed. That acted as another source of inspiration when the chance of redemption would arrive four years down the line.

‘Thinking about winning’

The expectations were high for the US heading into the 2015 Women’s World Cup and with the tournament hosted by neighbors Canada, US fans flocked to see their heroines in action.

As they did four years ago, the US reached the final once more. The side came out of the ‘Group of Death,’ featuring Australia, Sweden and Nigeria, unbeaten before going past Colombia, China and Germany in the knockout stages without conceding a goal.

This imperious form set up a rematch against Japan and a chance to rewrite the wrongs of four years ago.

“I can remember that day vividly. I remember waking up the night before multiple times, finding my brain and my mind thinking about the World Cup final, thinking about winning,” said Lloyd.

Upon waking up, Lloyd thought it would be best to treat the occasion like every other gameday. The forward went for her traditional pre-match morning jog but even this could not take her mind away from the game.

“I can vividly remember just the fans walking around in red, white and blue and wishing me good luck and waving,” Lloyd said of the day of the final. “It was a really, really surreal moment.”

The team made its way to the BC Place stadium in Vancouver and, despite the confidence flowing through the team four years prior, Lloyd said there was a different feeling altogether this time.

“When we got to that match, there was just something different about our team, the way that we were feeling. We were light. We were ready. We were charged up. We were just excited for the moment.”

‘We need more’

“You always want to come out and start fast and furious, and we definitely did that,” Lloyd said, smiling.

In this case, fast and furious would also be an understatement. The US was leading Japan 4-0 after just 16 minutes and Lloyd said that the early goals set the tone for the rest of the encounter.

“We got off to one of the best starts in a tournament that you could ever ask for,” Lloyd said. “It sounds pretty crazy, but scoring the first goal, it was like, ‘okay, I want more, we need more.’ Then you score the second goal and then it’s like, ‘okay, we need to keep pressing on.’”

This desire to constantly be better is one of the many reasons for the US’ success over the years and the team’s ruthlessness was plain to see. Lloyd laughed as she remembered hearing stories of people tuning into the game late and missing the ferocious start.

To complete her historic hattrick, the first in a Women’s World Cup final, Lloyd scored with the strike from over 50 yards out – a goal that players only tend to dream of scoring.

“For whatever reason, in that particular moment, I decided to do something that was just out of this world,” Lloyd said.

“I just couldn’t believe it, honestly, to be able to pull that off in a World Cup final and to be able to complete a hat trick in that fashion – you don’t get many moments like that.”

The aftermath

As unlikely as it may seem, being the star player in a World Cup final has its downsides.

“I missed the majority of the locker room celebrations. I was being ushered all over the place. I remember having to walk to the press conference, doing interviews, doing all sorts of things,” said Lloyd, who was unsurprisingly named the player of the match.

Luckily for Lloyd, she was able to get in one team picture before the squad began to disperse and, besides, she was mainly thinking about getting into bed after a physically and mentally exhausting final.

However, after arriving back in the US having won the Women’s World Cup for a record third time, a far more exciting prospect was waiting the US squad.

Lloyd talked of the team being viewed as “heroes,” welcomed with an incredible ticker-tape parade in New York – the first women’s team to make their way through the ‘Canyon of Heroes’ – as the USWNT solidified its status as one of the nation’s favorite sports team.

“That’s what happens to a country when you have teams that win. They just gravitate and love you, and the support has just been amazing,” said Lloyd.

The World Cup final hat trick has become synonymous with Lloyd’s career – a brilliant player, capable of producing brilliant moments on the biggest stage of all.

“There’s a lot of other moments in there, too. I think that one just kind of blew everything out of the water,” Lloyd said of her star-studded career.

But, like the US’ victory in Canada, the final was just a part of a long journey that got Lloyd to where she is.

“For me it’s the compilation of the journey. Without the journey from start to finish, everything in between doesn’t happen and it’s not as meaningful,” she said.

At least 55 people were killed and 146 others injured when clashes broke out between two powerful armed factions in the southern Libyan capital of Tripoli, emergency services spokesman Malik Marseet told local media outlets on Wednesday.

Fighting began Monday after the detention of the commander of the 444 Brigade, Mahmoud Hamza, as he attempted to travel through Tripoli’s main Mitiga airport. He was apprehended by a rival faction, the Special Deterrence Force, which controls the airport. The reason for his detention remains unknown.

The clashes ceased late on Tuesday following an agreement reached with the UN-recognized Government of National Unity to transfer Hamza to a neutral party, as reported by state news agency LANA.

Civilians were among the casualties, LANA reported.

The fighting is considered the most severe of this year with images showing smoke rising above the capital following the overnight battles.

The agreement, according to LANA, encompasses the cessation of all military operations in Tripoli, the return of military units to their barracks, assessment of damage to public and private property, and that the Government of National Unity to issue compensations.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) stated on Tuesday that it “is closely monitoring security incidents and developments in Tripoli since yesterday and their impact on the civilian population. The Mission reminds all parties involved of their responsibility under international law to protect civilians.”

The country has seen little peace since it was split between warring factions since 2014, following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Moammar Gadhafi. The Special Deterrence Force and the 444 Brigade are considered the strongest military forces in the Libyan capital, according to Reuters.

Editor’s Note: This report includes a graphic image and details of violence.

Hundreds of families gathered in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina on June 15, plotting their escape from what had become a hellscape of blown-out buildings scrawled with racist graffiti and streets strewn with corpses. The state governor had just been executed and mutilated by Arab militia groups, leaving civilians with no choice but to flee.

In the early hours of that morning, residents set off en masse from southern El Geneina, many trying to reach the nearby Sudanese military headquarters where they thought they might find safety. But they said they were quickly thwarted by RSF attacks. Some were summarily executed in the streets, survivors said. Others died in a mass drowning incident, shot at as they attempted to cross a river. Many of those who managed to make it out were ambushed near the border with Chad, forced to sit in the sand before being told to run to safety as they were sprayed with bullets.

“June 15, 16 and 17 were the bloodiest days in Geneina,” said the humanitarian worker, who was part of a city-wide network of aid workers collecting bodies from the streets, and based the death toll on information gathered by the group. “June 15 was the worst of them all,” he added.

Conflict erupted between the RSF and the Sudanese army in April. Since then, more than one million people have fled to neighboring countries, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration.

A video shared on Twitter on June 14, 2023, showing hundreds of refugees from El Geneina walking towards Chad.

“To say you were Masalit was a death sentence,” said Jamal Khamiss, a human rights lawyer, referring to his non-Arab tribe, one of the biggest in Darfur. Khamiss was among those who said that they fled from El Geneina to Chad, surviving a series of RSF and allied militia positions by concealing his ethnicity.

He said he only managed to escape execution because he convinced the fighters that he belonged to the Tagoy ethnic group, whose language he speaks proficiently.

Khamiss recalled an 8-year-old boy grabbing his hand, part of the group walking towards the Chadian border, rushing to put distance between themselves and the violence.

“When we arrived at Shukri, they captured us,” said Khamiss. “They told us to run away. They shot and killed the 8-year-old boy. He was trying to run away, and they shot him in the head.

“June 15 was one of the worst days in all of Darfur’s history.”

Reviving a genocidal playbook

Darfur has been ravaged by a decades-long ethnic cleansing campaign that peaked in the early 2000s, and was spearheaded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — widely known as Hemedti. Then a leader of the Janjaweed militia, Hemedti, now commander of the RSF, appears to have revived those tactics in a nationwide struggle to wrest control of Sudan from the country’s military.

Before Sudan’s current war erupted Hemedti was the second most powerful person in Sudan’s government. He allied with his now bitter enemy, Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to stifle a democratic movement that helped overthrow then dictator Omar al-Bashir, later leading a coup together against an internationally recognized transitional government.

When their rivalry flared into open warfare, Darfur emerged as a flashpoint in the conflict. Hemedti redoubled his efforts to consolidate control over the restive region, taking over key border crossings that helped him bolster his arms supplies from external players such as Russian mercenary group Wagner, and unleashing a brutal assault on local tribes that has exacted a huge death toll.

Weeks after conflict first erupted in Sudan, community activists in Darfur warned that the RSF and allied militia had turbocharged violence in the region, torching large swathes of land in villages and whole neighborhoods, arbitrarily killing civilians and raping women.

El Geneina is the largest Sudanese city to fall to the RSF and its precursor, the Janjaweed. For weeks, armed locals fought against the RSF and its allies as the city came under sustained attacks, and shelling.

The United Nations raised the alarm in June over ethnic targeting and killing of people from the Masalit community in El Geneina, after reports of summary executions and “persistent hate speech,” including calls to kill or expel them.

The vast majority of those who managed to make it out of El Geneina alive sought refuge in the Chadian border town of Adre, about 22 miles (35 kilometers) away from the city.

On June 15, the town received the highest number of migrants in a single day, along with the highest number of casualties — 261 — since the Sudan conflict broke out, according to Doctors Without Borders, widely known by its French name, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which runs the only hospital in Adre. The number of wounded people that arrived at the hospital was even higher the next day: 387.

“There were MSF vehicles dropping patients off … there were Chadian army vehicles bringing in patients. Chadian police bringing in patients … there were carts pulled by men bringing in patients,” he said.

Most of the wounds he treated indicated people were shot while fleeing, Maloba said — gunshot wounds to the back, legs and buttocks. Many of those injured were women and children.

“I remember the first death I recorded,” said Maloba, recounting the afternoon of June 15. “It was a 2-year-old who had been shot several times in the abdomen.”

Between June 15 and 18, 112 women were treated at the MSF hospital for gunshot wounds and injuries from beatings and other assaults. Half of them were pregnant.

El Geneina first became embroiled in the current Sudan conflict in late April. RSF forces and their allies repeatedly shelled the city, according to eyewitnesses and community-based organizations, leading to hundreds of deaths in the first months of the violence.

The fighting intensified in early June, culminating in the execution of West Darfur governor Khamis Abbakar on June 14. After his death, video footage emerged showing Abbakar being taken into custody by RSF fighters. The Sudanese military blamed the RSF for his killing, a charge which the RSF denies.

‘Shot as they drowned’

The group of fleeing families was almost immediately ambushed after they embarked on their escape in the early hours of June 15, eyewitnesses said. The first major incident occurred in front of the El Geneina Teaching Hospital, near the center of the city. “The fighters had DShK’s (Soviet-era heavy machine guns) and other heavy weaponry,” said Khamiss, the lawyer from El Geneina.

But the river was running higher than usual that day, according to eyewitnesses, and corroborated by satellite imagery, leading scores of people unable to swim to drown. Three eyewitnesses at Wadi Kaja said militia forces shot at people in the water, including children and elderly people, as they desperately attempted to swim across.

Sudanese Red Crescent collects the bodies

A propaganda video shared by the RSF on its official YouTube channel on July 2 further corroborated allegations of the massacres carried out in El Geneina.

The footage showed RSF West Darfur commander General Abdelrahman Juma — who also appeared in the West Darfur governor’s abduction video — overseeing a “clean-up” operation in the city.

Juma is seen in the video thanking members of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRC) for their help. The SRC is the International Committee of the Red Cross’ primary partner on the ground in Sudan, and the ICRC has said its personnel have been assisting with humanitarian aid distribution and collecting bodies since the conflict started.

In a press conference on Saturday, West Darfur official Mujeeb Rahman Muhammad Rezk said that 30 mass graves had been discovered in and around West Darfur, including in Wadi Kaja, where the RSF and its allies dumped bodies. He said the RSF forced the SRC “to prepare the bodies, wrap, and tie them up in tarpaulins for burial … When they proceeded to burying the bodies, they were threatened by militias and forced to leave, so that the militias could bury the bodies in unidentified locations.”

A propaganda video shared by the RSF showing its West Darfur commander General Abdelrahman Juma and SRC members in El Geneina.

The ICRC says that confidentiality is key to maintaining its neutrality in times of conflict and preserving access to hard-hit areas. However, it also states that it reserves the right to speak out in “exceptional cases” where violations are “major and repeated or likely to be repeated” and where “our staff must have witnessed the violations with their own eyes, or at least have the information from reliable and verifiable sources.”

The ICRC also said it may in some cases “share concerns with selected third parties,” such as other states or international bodies, with a view toward influencing those involved in armed conflicts.

The SRC in El Geneina declined to comment on whether it had informed the ICRC of the bodies collected in the city.

Summary executions near the border with Chad

The escape from El Geneina became even more perilous after the families made it out of the city, according to survivors, with the path to the Chadian border peppered with RSF and allied militia positions.

Two body collectors from El Geneina said that the crowd was ambushed at four or five different locations on a roughly 7-kilometer (4-mile) stretch of road between the city and Shukri, near the border with Chad.

One man, who asked not to be named, said he had lost eight members of his family in that area where Arab militias reportedly have a base. The MSF and the UN have also reported this location as a site of summary executions.

“They were executed. They were moving together just before Shukri and they were shot from behind,” he said. Among the dead were his father and uncle, who he said were shot at point-blank range in the head.

“My grandmother was with them. She saw two of her sons being killed before her eyes,” he said.

A day after the massacre, life in El Geneina came to a standstill, according to eyewitnesses and video from the ground. The city had fallen to the RSF and allied militias and the civil resistance by the non-Arab population had been vanquished.

“Bodies littered the street from Geneina Teaching Hospital all the way to the south of the city,” said resident Zahwi Idriss, who took video of that day.

“It was a ghost town,” he said. “There was nothing there except for corpses and horrific scenes.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify the attribution related to the ICRC’s reporting of evidence in El Geneina.

At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a fire caused an explosion at a gas station in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, local authorities said.

The blaze started at a car repair shop on Monday night then spread to the nearby fuel station on the outskirts of Dagestan’s capital of Makhachkal, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said.

Several children were among the dead, according to the head of the Dagestan republic, Sergey Melikov, and at least three bodies were recovered from the rubble, state media agency TASS reported.

TASS reported that 80 people were wounded, citing a department of the Russian ministry of health, in an apparent revision of the injury toll that Melikov earlier put at 102.

The emergency ministry said it sent a special aircraft to evacuate casualties from the blast to hospitals in Moscow.

Specialists from the Federal Center for Disaster Medicine of the Ministry of Health as well as Moscow medical organizations have also arrived in Dagestan to provide assistance, according to TASS.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing as of Tuesday morning, with emergency workers clearing the rubble and searching for potential survivors, TASS reported.

Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into the deadly blaze, state media agency RIA Novosti reported Monday.

A statement from the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin “expressed condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the explosion at a gas station in Makhachkala, and wished a speedy recovery to the victims.”

Dagestan’s head of government Abdulmuslim Abdulmuslimov visited the site of the disaster in in Makhachkala on Tuesday.

The Dagestan government declared Tuesday a day of mourning, TASS reported.

Poland is holding its largest military parade in decades on Tuesday, in a flex of defensive muscle that comes as tensions rise on the border between the NATO nation and key Russian ally Belarus.

Poland’s Defense Ministry said the celebration of Polish Army Day on Tuesday would be marked by a showcase that includes 200 units of Polish and foreign military equipment, 92 aircraft and 2,000 service members.

The parade includes some of the latest technology Poland has in its arsenal, including US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks, South Korean K2 tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers, HIMARS rocket launchers, Krab self-propelled howitzers, as well as US-made Patriot missile batteries systems, which are part of the Polish “WISŁA” air defense system.

Poland has emerged as one of Europe’s leading military powers in recent years after pouring billions into new equipment following Russia’s decision to annex the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. Warsaw’s diplomatic clout has also grown in the wake of the instrumental role it has played in supporting Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Last week, Poland announced the deployment of thousands of additional troops to its eastern border as concern mounts over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenary forces in Belarus.

Poland shares borders not just with Ukraine and Belarus, but also with Russia’s semi-exclave of Kaliningrad. By staging a massive showcase of power on Tuesday, Warsaw is sending a message Russia and Belarus are bound to understand, experts said.

At the same time, Poland is just two months away from major elections and Arnold said that aside from showing its capabilities to Russia and its allies, the Polish government is also seeking to reassure its own people that it is committed to security.

The governing right-wing Law and Justice party is hoping to secure a third consecutive term in power, which would be unprecedented in post-Communist Poland. But it has so far struggled to take a decisive lead over the opposition Civic Platform grouping.

“Nobody is going to say that military security is not an important issue and that we shouldn’t be strengthening the military. [The opposition] will say the government is putting on this parade as a kind of an election stunt, but they won’t say, you know, boosting the Polish military is unimportant.”

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Poland’s role within NATO has changed dramatically in the past decade, according to Jamie Shea, a former NATO official, a professor of strategy and security at the University of Exeter, in England, and a fellow at Chatham House.

Arnold said the power shift among NATO’s European members is noticeable. “The leadership used to be the UK, Germany, France, and then together with the US, the Quad, was the group that sort of decided things and that became NATO policy,” he said.

With the UK out of the European Union and Germany still hesitant to take on a leadership role on Ukraine, Poland has sensed its opportunity.

“[They’ve] got very good relationships with the Baltics, are very vocal on defense and security issues and Russia has always been a major threat … so if you’re thinking about this from a Washington point of view, then Warsaw looks like a good bet,” Arnold added.

The linchpin of the West’s support for Ukraine

Poland has dramatically increased the amount it spends on defense in recent years, from less than 2% of its GDP in 2014 to 4% this year, according to official NATO statistics. That makes it the biggest spender in terms of GDP share, above the US. Crucially, more than 50% of Poland’s investment is into new equipment and research and development.

“If they stay on track with all of these different procurement plans, they are going to be the EU’s and NATO’s European military superpower,” Shea said. “By one calculation, if they purchase all of the tanks from the US, the Abrams tanks, and the tanks they’ve ordered from South Korea, plus modernizing what they have at the moment, they’re going to have more tanks than France, Germany, Italy and the UK combined,” he said.

Poland has emerged as a key ally for Ukraine, which makes it vulnerable. Most Western military equipment and other supplies gets to Ukraine through Poland and the country is hosting 1.6 million Ukrainian refugees, according to the United Nations.

“The whole linchpin of the Western efforts to support Ukraine and keep it in the fight crucially depends on Poland,” Shea said. “Much of the training of Ukrainian soldiers is taking place in Poland and the Poles have also been setting up a number of repair shops, where the Leopard tanks can be fixed and sent back, and a lot of Ukrainian soldiers who are wounded are treated in Polish hospitals,” he explained.

At the same time, the government is ready to prioritize its voters. “Law and Justice has shown that it is willing to upset Ukrainians big time where it feels that the alternative would be to alienate Polish farmers,” Shea said, pointing to Warsaw’s decision to ban imports of grain and other food products from Ukraine following a surge in cheap goods. Warsaw is now trying to extend the ban.

And while Poland’s clashes with the European Union over issues including the rule of law and migration have not gone away, Warsaw is making it clear to its allies they need its military powers.

“The current government’s relationship with the EU is pretty fractious, particularly on justice and home affairs issues and other issues as well. But [Poland] wants to try and minimize those viewpoints and sort of emphasize to the EU that [they] make a really big contribution to security and they don’t want to jeopardize that in any way,” Arnold said.

Belarus tensions

Recent events in Belarus have shown that the risks Poland is facing are not purely hypothetical.

In November, two people were killed in eastern Poland, about four miles (6.4 kilometers) west of the Ukrainian border, by a Ukrainian missile defending against incoming Russian fire. Ukrainian and Polish officials described the incident as an accident and blamed Russian aggression for their deaths.

Russia used Belarus as a staging ground when it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More recently, thousands of Wagner mercenary fighters were reportedly sent there last month as part of a deal to end the group’s armed insurrection against the Kremlin.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked the group to help train his country’s military, and earlier this month the two forces held joint training exercises near the Polish border. It was during these drills that Warsaw accused two Belarusian helicopters of violating the Polish airspace.

In reaction to the incident, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told public radio that 10,000 soldiers will be sent to the border – 4,000 would directly support the border guard and the remaining 6,000 would be in reserve.

Belarus has weaponized the border in the past. In 2021, Lukashenko was accused of manufacturing a crisis there by flying migrants from the Middle East to Minsk and then sending them to the EU border in retaliation for Europe’s sanctions on his regime.

Spain has thrilled its fans and neutrals alike with some scintillating performances en route to a historic Women’s World Cup final against England on Sunday.

However, the players’ harmonious play and historic feats on the pitch during this tournament is in contrast to the turmoil between some of the country’s best players, the team’s coach and technical staff, and Spain’s governing body over the last year.

For months, a large number of the squad’s leading players have been at loggerheads with head coach Jorge Vilda and Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF), a dispute that led to some of La Roja’s star names missing this World Cup.

Following the team’s historic wins over the Netherlands and Sweden in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, videos went viral on social media of what appeared to be cold reactions from some of Spain’s substituted players towards Vilda and his technical staff, as well as during the post-match celebrations.

One clip shows Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas walking towards the bench after being substituted and pulling her hand away from one member of the training staff who tries to give her a low five, before appearing to ignore another’s attempt.

Another clip shows Vilda trying to celebrate with a handful of players following the win over the Netherlands, only to appear to be ignored.

Prior to this tournament, Spain had never won a knockout match at a Women’s World Cup. The chastening 4-0 defeat to Japan in La Roja’s final group stage match was a blow, but the players responded brilliantly and have improved as the tournament has progressed.

The final is certainly a contest between the competition’s two most impressive teams, but it is particularly remarkable that Spain has made it this far given the country’s off-field problems.

Why Spain’s best players are missing

In late September 2022, 15 members of Spain’s senior women’s squad sent personally signed letters to the RFEF via email to announce they would no longer play for the national team, unless there were wholesale changes made throughout the coaching staff.

The identical letters said “the situation” within the Spanish national team, of which the RFEF “are aware,” were affecting the players’ “emotional state” and health.

“As a result, I do not currently consider myself to be in a condition to be chosen for the national team and I ask not to be called up until the situation is resolved,” the letter read.

Three other players – captain Irene Paredes, striker Jennifer Hermoso and Putellas, who was recovering from a knee injury – showed support for their teammates but did not send a letter.

After the players’ letter was released, Vilda called the situation a “world embarrassment.”

“The solution I found is to make this list, only with players 100 percent committed to the project,” he added. “If you don’t value what it means to be with the national team, wear this shirt and represent your country, you don’t deserve to be with us.”

Of the 15 players who signed letters, only three are in Spain’s current World Cup squad: Mariona Caldentey, Aitana Bonmati and Ona Batlle.

Among the 12 absentees are some of the best players in the world in their respective positions, including goalkeeper Sandra Paños, defender Mapi Leon and midfielder Patricia Guijarro.

In an interview with El Periodico in April, Leon said the players’ continued insistence on not being selected “is not a tantrum.”

“If someone believes that, they understand absolutely nothing of the message that we are trying to send,” she said.

According to a report in The Athletic, among other publications, the players were unhappy with what they thought was poor tactical and physical preparation from the coaching staff, a poor standard of training sessions and some of Vilda’s rules being too controlling or overbearing.

Other reports say players felt Vilda unworthy of his position, only progressing through the national team’s coaching ranks because of his father, Angel Vilda.

While head coach of the under-17 women’s team, Vilda was also assistant to his father with the under-19s, before taking over his position as head coach when he retired. Vilda was then promoted to lead the senior women’s side in 2015.

Vilda has previously insisted he will not be stepping down and the RFEF has thrown its full support behind him.

The RFEF said in a statement in September that it “is not going to allow the footballers to keep questioning the role of our national manager and his backroom staff. We are not going to submit to any sort of pressure.”

“The RFEF will only call upon players who are committed, even if that means playing with youth players,” the governing body said.

‘Many things are unfair’

Both parties went back and forth with statements and press conferences until the Women’s World Cup came around and there was still no resolution; Vilda and his coaching staff were still in charge and 12 of the 15 players remained absent.

But Spain, nevertheless, went on to make history at this World Cup.

That the country has reached the final for the first time is thanks largely to the country’s incredible strength in depth.

Spain has talented youngsters throughout its national team ranks, while the continued development of the Spanish league, and in particular the success of Barcelona and Real Madrid, has improved standards. Barcelona’s Champions League-winning women’s team forms the team’s core.

In 2022, Spain won both the Under-17 and Under-20 Women’s World Cup. Teenager Salma Paralluelo, for instance, has progressed to the senior team and scored crucial goals in the knockouts.

Vilda has been asked numerous times during press conference at the World Cup about the ongoing dispute, replying to one reporter ahead of the semifinal against Sweden that they were “asking about the past.”

After the quarterfinal win over the Netherlands, the 42-year-old thanked the RFEF for its support and, following the semifinal victory over Sweden, Vilda said the situation had “made all of us stronger.”

Speaking to Marca in the build up to the final, Vilda said there had been “difficult moments” this year but went on to say: “After the year we’ve had, if everything that happened had to happen to be here in the World Cup final, we consider it as positive.”

When asked what it was like to face a dressing room that questioned the worth of the coach and staff, Vilda told the Spanish newspaper that there was no choice but to “focus” on work.

In another interview this week, with Spanish newspaper AS, he said having his “honor” questioned had been difficult and that his loved ones had “suffered a lot.”

“A lot of things were said from people that weren’t true,” he said. “When public opinion gossips about unreal, unjust and false things. That hurts.

“In the end, I think that time puts everyone in their place. In that moment, when I went out in the press conference and I said that if anyone had something to say, that they say it, no one came out. Everything went silent. That silence shows that there was no guilt in anything at all.”

There will likely be mixed emotions for the players – both those at home and those playing in the tournament – ahead of Sunday’s final.

Midfielder Virginia Torrecilla, who wasn’t one of the 15 but played for Spain at the 2015 and 2019 World Cup, said after Spain’s semifinal win over Sweden that she “understands” the decisions of both sets of players.

“I also think that there are players who would have to experience it first-hand and that many things are unfair, but it is impossible not to feel that way,” she wrote on X, formely known as Twitter.

Torrecilla added she felt “proud of everything” she had experienced with the national team and “proud to see that the sport that I love is advancing.”

Teams continuing to be embroiled in disputes with their federations has been one of the overarching themes of this Women’s World Cup. Much progress has been made in women’s soccer, but much still needs to be done.

Win or lose on Sunday, Spain’s campaign has highlighted the country’s on-the-pitch brilliance. But unrest and uncertainty will continue to cast a shadow over the team’s achievements.

It has been a history-making, game-changing Women’s World Cup for Australia, but the Matildas’ participation in the tournament ended in a 2-0 defeat to Sweden in the third-place playoff on Saturday.

Still, this match marked new frontiers for women’s soccer in Australia following a World Cup which has seen soccer mania grip the nation as the Matildas achieved its best ever result in the tournament.

Nobody wants to appear in the third-place playoff and it normally produces a muted atmosphere but such has been the support for the Matildas this World Cup that even after Sweden had taken an ultimately unassailable 2-0 lead, the capacity crowd in Brisbane still cheered every pass, every tackle, every probing run.

But even facing this partisan atmosphere, Sweden displayed its class as a penalty from Fridolina Rolfö in the first half and a sparkling goal from captain Kosovare Asllani secured victory, and third place.

For Sweden, finishing third is a familiar way to end the World Cup, having done so in 1991, 1995 and 2019, and it marks a brighter end to the tournament after a heartbreaking loss to Spain in their semifinal’s dying moments.

The Matildas, meanwhile, finish fourth having never progressed beyond the quarterfinals in previous tournaments.

Sweden dominates

Sweden had the better of the early exchanges, forcing the Matildas off the ball and dominating possession. The Blågult had shown intent from the very first minute, as Stina Blackstenius outpaced the Australian defense, latched onto Asllani’s pass and fired a shot on goal but a diving save from Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold deflected the danger away.

And though Australia was initially limited to counteroffensives, it seemed as if the tide had started to turn as the Matildas’ light blue away shirts streamed upfield and sustained a period of pressure for the Swedish defense.

Then, just as the Matildas were finding a foothold in the game, Sweden landed a hammer blow in the 30th minute when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) awarded a penalty against Australia for contact in the box.

Rolfö stepped up and coolly prodded the ball into the side netting, inches beyond Arnold’s outstretched fingertips, and gave Sweden a 1-0 lead.

And the Blågult almost took a 2-0 lead into the break as Filippa Angeldal fired the ball towards the goal just before half time, but Arnold dove, scooped the ball off the ground, and kept Australia within reach.

Sweden never appeared likely to relinquish its lead and though the Maltildas kept pressing after half time, they lacked a clinical edge, often falling off possession and their attempts on goal left Swedish stopper Zećira Mušović relatively untroubled.

Asllani’s moment of magic came in the 62nd minute as she broke clear in midfield and found Blackstenius. The forward was heavily marked and passed the ball back to Asllani on the edge of the box who fired the ball into the corner of the net, past a diving Arnold.

Eight minutes later, Australia had an opportunity to halve Sweden’s lead but Claire Polkinghorne’s shot landed comfortably in Mušović’s arms, and, with a hobbling Sam Kerr – who had briefly left the field injured late in the game – the Matildas’ attack was ultimately unable to find the back of the net.

Residents in the Southwest are bracing for heavy rains and potentially catastrophic flooding as Hurricane Hilary is expected to pummel the region as a rare tropical storm beginning Sunday and lasting into next week.

Hilary remains a Category 4 hurricane as it marches toward the coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula with sustained winds of 130 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its core is expected to pass close to the peninsula Saturday night and then weaken into a tropical storm as it crosses into the US and Southern California.

The threat has triggered California’s first ever tropical storm warning extending from the state’s southern border to just north of Los Angeles.

The Southwest is forecast to see heavy rainfall through early next week – with the most intense conditions on Sunday and Monday – as Hilary advances. The deluges could bring more than a year’s worth of rain to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Parts of Southern California and Nevada could see 3 to 6 inches of rain and as many as 10 inches in some places, the center said. Elsewhere, amounts of 1 to 3 inches are forecast.

While Hilary’s core will pack a powerful punch, the NHC warned that strong winds and rain will begin far in advance of its arrival.

“Preparations for the impacts of flooding from rainfall should be completed as soon as possible, as heavy rain will increase ahead of the center on Saturday,” the hurricane center said.

In anticipation of the storm, officials across the region have begun to prepare for perilous road conditions, downed power infrastructure and dangerous flood conditions.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced Friday that 100 state National Guard troops will be deployed to southern Nevada, which may see significant flooding.

President Joe Biden said in a Friday news conference that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has preemptively positioned personnel and supplies to respond in Southern California or other parts of the region, if needed.

Southern California scrambles to prepare

If Hilary makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first such storm to do so in the state in nearly 84 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Parts of Southern California face a high risk for excessive rainfall – also the first Level 4 of 4 threat to be issued for the area. This level of risk is exceptionally rare. From 2010 to 2020, high risks were issued on fewer than 4% of days per year on average, but were responsible for 83% of all flood-related damage and 39% of all flood-related deaths, research from the Weather Prediction Center shows.

Due to the significant threat, the state has prepared water rescue teams, California National Guard personnel and flood fighting equipment ahead of Hilary’s arrival, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Friday.

Highway maintenance crews will also be staffed around-the-clock in order to aid in roadway safety, the governor’s office said.

Electricity utility Southern California Edison – which serves more than 15 million people in the region – said Thursday that Hilary is on track to impact much of its service area. The company said it is preparing to respond to outages but urged residents to gather supplies including flashlights, external battery chargers and ice chests.

As the homeless community is particularly at risk for flooding dangers, officials in both Los Angeles and San Diego say they are performing outreach and offering temporary shelter. The LA County Sheriff’s Department said it is also mapping out at-risk encampments and making aerial announcements about the storm.

“We hope that the storm does not cause any damage, and more importantly there is no loss of life,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a Friday news conference. “But we will prepare for a worst-case scenario, not only to assist people here in our county, but if we are not impacted or affected, we will become a resource to other neighboring counties as needed.”

San Diego has also spent the last several days cleaning storm drains, clearing streets and readying equipment, Mayor Todd Gloria said Friday.

The storm threat also prompted Major League Baseball to overhaul its weekend schedule in the region, moving Sunday games hosted by the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres to instead be split doubleheaders on Saturday. Major League Soccer matches for clubs LA Galaxy and LAFC on Sunday have been rescheduled to later dates.

In travel news this week, misbehaving tourists in Europe, the German couple who moved to Italy to open a restaurant and city vacation ideas from Seoul to Bratislava.

Law and order

Europe’s top landmarks were besieged by troublemaking tourists this week. In Paris, drunken Americans were trapped overnight up the Eiffel Tower. In a separate incident, a man was arrested after jumping off Gustave Eiffel’s crowning achievement with a parachute.

And when in Rome, don’t do as this woman did, which is to clamber into the 18th-century Trevi fountain to top up her water bottle, before being stopped by a guard.

According to a recent lawsuit, drinking was also a problem on a Delta Air Lines flight last summer, when a male passenger is alleged to have groped a mother and daughter after he was allegedly served around 10 vodka drinks.

Finally, a British farm is asking visitors to stop stripping off their bloomers to pose nude among their blooms. Stoke Fruit Farm, on Hayling Island off England’s south coast, has been troubled by exhibitionists among the sunflowers, taking photos where the sun don’t shine, and the owners have had enough.

Food and drink

It takes a certain kind of bravery to move from your home country of Germany to go make pizza in Italy. Italians are notoriously discerning when it comes to their native cuisine, but a Munich couple has won hearts and minds in a Ligurian village through novel pizza creations featuring sauerkraut and kebabs.

The best baguette in Paris, meanwhile, isn’t made by a Frenchman. Sri Lankan Tharshan Selvarajah won the prestigious baking Grand Prix for the breads produced at his bakery in a quiet corner of eastern Paris’ 20th arrondissement. Here’s what makes them so good.

Finally, the US love affair with Thai food began back in the 1960s, and it’s now one of the nation’s most popular cuisines despite Thai people making up just 0.1% of the overall population. The cuisine has evolved over the decades, though, and today’s chefs are going beyond pad thai to create a more authentic experience.

Destination inspiration

K-pop and K-drama have risen to the forefront of modern culture, and the city to see where it all began is Seoul, the South Korean capital. Thanks to its fascinating mix of cutting-edge technology and a deep respect for traditions, Seoul is one of the 21st century’s most captivating urban centers.

Some 400 miles (645 kilometers) southeast of Seoul, the Japanese city of Hiroshima has a name that echoes through history because of the atomic bomb that detonated over it 78 years ago this month. But while the hollowed-out remains of the Genbaku Dome still stand as a reminder of the devastating cost of war, the modern city is a thriving metropolis of one million people and a proud embodiment of resilience against the odds.

Finally, Bratislava in Slovakia is one of Europe’s lesser-known capitals, but its spectacular array of Soviet-inspired sci-fi architecture make it as compelling a destination as its neighboring capitals of Vienna and Prague – and it’s a lot less crowded, too.

Road trip

Yellowstone National Park in the western United States had almost a million visitors in July, proving that epic road trips are as popular as ever.

If you want to see the world on four wheels, we’ve rounded up six places you can hire electric camper vans, from Norway to California. But if you really want a traveling palace, the Elemment Palazzo Superior is billed as “the most luxurious mobile home in the world.” This double-decker RV even has its own pop-up rooftop lounge.

Belgian couple Nicolas Chazee and Mathilde Vougny love road trips so much their first date was a tour around their home country. Now they’re on their biggest adventure yet, driving around the world in a Land Rover. Here’s how they’ve been getting on.

Australian castaways rescued

A group of Australian surfers was rescued in waters off a remote Indonesian island, 38 hours after their boat was hit by a storm. Read their story here.

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