At least 60 people were injured and eight remain unaccounted for following an explosion at an industrial plant northeast of Moscow on Wednesday, Russian state news agency TASS reported quoting a local official

The blast took place at Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant, in the town of Sergiev Posad, TASS reported. The plant is a developer and manufacturer for optical and optoelectronic devices for the Russian military, law enforcement agencies, industry and healthcare.

In the hours following Wednesday morning’s explosion, Russian state media reported that the source of the detonation was a pyrotechnics warehouse rented by a third company on the site of the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant.

Rescue teams continued to work at the site on Wednesday afternoon amid concerns that more people could remain under the rubble. “Rescuers will need about 12 hours to clear the rubble. There may still be people left, three have already been removed – doctors assess their condition as serious,” Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said.

In an interview with Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti, the governor said: “One thing is clear, that the explosion was powerful, and it was in the pyrotechnics workshop.”

An eyewitness named Nikolai said in an interview with MASH, an independent Russian media blog present at the scene, that there used to be a munition factory at the site before “it was sold and turned into pyrotechnics factory.”

“The company went bankrupt; it is not clear who worked there and what they did there. What caused the explosion is also unclear,” Nikolai said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.

A representative from the Investigative Committee told TASS news agency there was no evidence that the plant had been hit by a drone, and that the cause of the blast was being investigated. Ukraine has launched a series of drones at Moscow in recent weeks.

“As for the explosion, it was very powerful,” they said. “And now the operational services are engaged, investigating. I cannot comment on what it was, because journalists traditionally ask the question: Was it a blow from above or an explosion inside – this is done by specialists.”

Windows in several houses nearby were shattered by the blast wave, TASS added.

Sergiev Posad is part of what’s called the Golden Ring – a cluster of ancient towns with Russian orthodox churches around Moscow. The city’s main cathedral and surrounding buildings are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

It’s been a banner year for nudity around the globe.

Berlin recently announced that women can now go topless at the German capital’s public swimming pools while Nantucket Island went topless last December after locals voted in favor of “gender equality on beaches.”

After a multi-year Covid hiatus, the Free the Nipple campaign was back with topless parades in New York City, Vancouver, Paris and elsewhere. And the barely veiled female figure was the fashion statement du jour at the Met Gala, Milan Fashion Week, the BRIT Awards in London and other top-shelf events.

Meanwhile, there are more places than ever to sun, swim or build sandcastles au naturel at clothing-optional beaches on every continent.

From rocky coastlines to talcum-powder fine sands, and big city bays to secluded shores, there are now hundreds of beaches where it’s perfectly legal (or at least de facto legal) to frolic beside the sea in nothing more than your birthday suit.

“Soft, smooth sand, warm ocean breeze, gentle ocean waves and lots of other naturists makes for a great clothing-optional beach,” says Nicky Hoffman of The Naturist Society, who’s also the managing editor of Nude & Natural magazine and co-author of “The World’s Best Nude Beaches & Resorts.”

While clothing-optional beach destinations may seem like a modern invention, it’s actually quite an old idea, a product of the otherwise prudish Victorian era.

During the 1880s, American poet Walt Whitman extolled the virtues of the “Adamic air bath” – his nude walkabouts and swims along Timber Creek in New Jersey, writing of “The free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature.”

Channeling that same vibe, the naturist movement took off in Europe and North America during the first half of the 20th century, with city parks, camp grounds and eventually beaches established for those who wanted to experience nature nude in their most natural state.

One of the spin-offs of the socially and sexually liberal 1960s was a “free beach” movement that saw a proliferation of nude beaches around the world.

And their popularity continues today, with more and more popping up each year. Here are 20 of the best nude beaches around the world:

Playa Naturista Chihuahua, Uruguay

Located about a 30-minute drive from Punta del Este, Uruguay’s best-known nude beach overlooks Portezuelo Bay on the Atlantic coast.

Photogenic dunes and water temperatures that reach 25 Celsius (77 F) and higher even in the southern hemisphere winter add to the strand’s allure.

After decades as an unofficial naked getaway, Chihuahua finally achieved legal status in 2000.

Since then, amenities have expanded to include the Hotel El Refugio Nudista Naturista clothing-optional resort.

Playa Naturista Chihuahua, Avenida Las Amarras, 20003 Chihuahua, Uruguay

Nida Nude Beach, Lithuania

The chilly Baltic Sea may not seem like the most obvious place to skinny dip. But this gorgeous strand on the long, sandy Curonian Spit offers one of Europe’s most picturesque spots to take it all off.

With its wildflower-covered dunes (among the highest in Europe) and shoreline forest, the beach was the focus of a 19th-century artists’ colony that attracted many of the leading painters, poets and writers of the time.

Walk far enough south along the strand and you eventually come to a fence that marks the Lithuania-Russia border.

Nida Nude Beach, Nidos-Smiltynės pl., Nida, Lithuania

Little Palm Beach, Waiheke, New Zealand

Although it’s technically legal to go naked on any beach in personal-liberty-loving New Zealand, the nation’s naturists tend to congregate at well-known clothing-optional spots like Little Palm Beach on Waiheke Island.

Reaching the secluded strand entails a 40–60-minute ferry ride from Auckland, a taxi or rideshare to the island’s north shore, and then a short downhill hike.

You can top or tail your beach adventure at Waiheke’s many wineries, restaurants, and art galleries.

Little Palm Beach, Miro Road, Waiheke Island 1081, New Zealand

Nugal Beach, Croatia

Flanked by sheer cliffs and shades by pine trees, this remote beach on the mainland opposite Brač island is reached via a narrow path that seems ready made for goats rather than people seeking an apparel-free escape on the Adriatic.

Be sure to bring a thick towel or even a beach chair — like many Croatian beaches the surface is pebbles rather than sand.

Nugal is about a half-an-hour walk from the nearest town, although it can also be reached by boat or sea kayak from Makarska or Tučepi.

Nugal Beach, 21300 Makarska, Croatia

Moshup Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

Perched at the island’s western extreme, Moshup is a long curving strand that wraps around a headline crowned by the historic Gay Head Lighthouse (built in 1799).

Located right below the ancient light, the clothing optional portion lies beneath rust-colored sandstone cliffs that were declared a National Natural Monument in 1966.

Moshup is open free of charge to anyone who wants to take their clothes off, as opposed to Lucy Vincent, the island’s private nude beach.

Moshup Beach, 71 Moshup Trail, Aquinnah, MA 02535

Black’s Beach, La Jolla, California

Set beneath the 100-meter-high cliffs of Torrey Pines, Blacks has been the Golden State’s favorite place for all-over tans for more than 50 years and was once the only legal nude beach in the entire United States.

Long, wide and blessed with great surf, the beach is reached via the zig-zag Ho Chi Minh Trail from the cliff-top Torrey Pines Gliderport near the University of California, San Diego.

Black’s Beach, Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, San Diego, CA 92037

Lady Bay Beach, Sydney, Australia

Although it sometimes seems like just about any beach in Australia is clothing optional, there are a number of official nude beaches here such as Lady Bay. (also known as Lady Jane Beach.)

Perched just inside the South Head of Sydney Harbour, it’s small and narrow, but incredibly secluded for such a big city location.

The rocky ledges around South Head are also used for nude sunbathing.

Lady Bay Beach, Watson’s Bay, Sydney, Australia

Buhne 16, Sylt, Germany

“Grin and bare it” might well be the motto for nudists on this North Sea island, where the average water temperature in summer is a chilly 17 C (63 F).

Technically all of the beaches on Sylt are clothing optional, but Buhne 16 was the first and is still the foremost location for nude sunbathing along the German shore.

It’s a place where beachgoers can chill in the famous blue and white striped wicker beach chairs or let it all hang out at summer beach parties.

Buhne 16, Listlandstr 133b, 25980 Kampen (Sylt), Germany; +49 4651 4996

Wreck Beach, Vancouver, Canada

Billed as one of the world’s longest nude beaches at 7.8 kilometers (4.9 miles) long, Wreck Beach is actually a series of sandy strands, pebble flats and rocky outcrops wrapped around the end of Point Grey.

With the University of British Columbia just across the street, a steady stream of students and teachers have shed their clothes on this beach since the early 1970s, when it first became popular.

Evergreen trees along the shore and snowcapped peaks across the water complement the Canadian ambiance.

Wreck Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia; Canada + 604 224 5739

Red Beach, Crete, Greece

This secluded shore on the south side of Crete is a hotspot for nude sunbathing in Greece.

Named after its ocher-colored sand and cliffs, Red Beach (or Kokkini Ammos) is reached via a 20-minute hike from Matala or a very short boat ride from the village waterfront.

Pioneered by Euro hippies during the 1960s, the beach offers chair and umbrella rentals and is home to a funky little bar called Yiannis that’s renowned for its mojitos.

Note: the mysterious rock carvings at the end of the beach are a modern creation and definitely not ancient Minoan relics.

Red Beach, Matala, Crete 702 00, Greece

Anse de Grande Saline, St. Barts

While the Caribbean may be full of wonderful, chilled out beaches, this wild, white sand strand on the rear side of St. Barts is one of the few places on the islands where public nudity is tolerated (although sunbathing naked is technically prohibited in St. Barts.)

Anse de Grande Saline (or Saline Beach) is another self-catering beach. Visitors will need to bring along everything they need for a day at the shore, especially sunscreen, as there is no shade to speak of.

L’Esprit, an excellent French restaurant, is within walking distance of Grand Saline and well worth a visit. Just make sure to put your clothes back on before heading over.

Anse de Grande Saline, St. Barthélemy

Platja des Cavallet, Ibiza, Spain

Set between the deep blue Mediterranean and multi-colored salt pans near Ibiza’s southernmost point, official nudist beach Es Cavallet is separated into various different sections, including a beach club party section, a gay scene and a more secluded, middle section where the clothing-free crowd hang out.

However nude sunbathers aren’t the only beings who frequent this area. Those bright pink things you’ll see pacing in the background aren’t sunburned tourists, but rather flamingos that like to gather in the shallow salines.

Platja des Cavallet, 07818, Balearic Islands, Spain

Little Beach, Maui, Hawaii

Flanked by ancient lava flows and backed by a volcanic cinder cone, Little Beach would be super-cool even if you couldn’t take your clothes off.

Part of Makena State Park on the island’s southeast coast, it overlooks a national marine sanctuary renowned for its sea turtles, dolphins, whales and tropical fish.

Gnarled trees behind the sand provide a modicum of shade and the cove is well protected for swimming.

Additionally, a drum circle and fire dancers entertain the crowd during Sunday sunsets.

Little Beach, Makena State Park, Makena Rd, Kihei, HI 96753, USA

Cap d’Agde beach, France

Sometimes called the “Naked City,” Cap d’Agde Naturist Village is the world’s largest clothing-optional beach resort, attracting as many as 40,000 guests on any given day during high season.

Visitors are free to be naked wherever they want – restaurants and stores, post offices or banks, sailing their boat or lounging on the long public beach (where nudity is obligatory, even for those not staying at the resort).

Non residents can stay overnight at the naturist hotel, camp ground or rental units.

Cap d’Agde Naturist Village, Rond-Point du Bagnas, 34300 Agde, France; +33 4 67 26 00 26

Mpenjati Beach, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

South Africa’s only official nude beach – and perhaps the only legal clothing-not-obligatory strand on the entire African continent – is located in the Mpenjati Nature Reserve south of Durban.

Its legal status was achieved in 2014, but this came with a list of prohibitions including no staring, no photography, no suggestive behavior, etc.

Local clergy and others continue to mount protests (legal and otherwise) against the naked designation.

Mpenjati Nature Reserve, Palm Beach, Port Edward, South Africa

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

Live your “Y Tu Mamá También” fantasies at the beach where so many of the scenes from the sensuous 2001 Mexican movie starring Gael García Bernal were shot on location.

Pioneered by Mexican and American hippies during the 1960s, the strand stretches about two kilometers with rocky bluffs at either end, and is famed as a clothing-optional beach (although it isn’t legal here.)

While the main beach here is backed by budget hotels and cafes, a tiny sliver of sand at the eastern end called Playa del Amor offers far more privacy.

Playa Zipolite, San Pedro Pochutla, Oaxaca, Mexico

Metsoke Dragot, Israel

Float nude in the warm, ultra-buoyant salty water and smear your entire naked body with soothing, mineral-infused black mud at this rocky beach on the western shore of the Dead Sea.

Perhaps the only place in the Middle East where any kind of public nudity is tolerated, Metsoke Dragot is located about an hour’s drive from Jerusalem and requires a short but rough drive along an unpaved road to reach the shoreline.

Primitive camping is aloud along the shore. The only nearby hotel and bar is the cliff top Metzoke Dragot Travelers Village.

Metsoke Dragot, Highway 90, Dead Sea, Israel

Praia Massarandupió, Bahia, Brazil

The string bikinis on Copacabana may expose an awful lot of Brazilian flesh, but not nearly as much as this naturist beach along the Bahia coast.

A two-hour drive north of Salvador, the nude beach is about a one-kilometer walk from the parking lot along the shoreline flanked by coconut palms, rolling dunes and very surfable waves.

Praia Massarandupió, Bahia, Brazil

Spiaggia di Guvano, Vernazza, Italy

Located on the gorgeous Cinque Terre, this primo Italian nude beach looks like something out of a movie (think “Swept Away ” – the 1974 version directed by Lina Wertmüller.)

Adding to the beach’s mystique is the fact that it can only be reached via an old, abandoned railway tunnel (bring a flashlight) on a path from Corniglia village.

Guvano is totally primitive, with no facilities of any kind, so bear this in mind when planning your visit.

The beach is also pebble rather than sand, but the water is clear, clean and gorgeous.

Spiaggia di Guvano, 19018 Vernazza, SP, Italy

Haulover Beach Park, Miami, Florida

The most popular public nude beach in the United States, Haulover attracts more than 1.3 million bare bottomed people to its white sands and warm water each year.

The clothing-optional portion, marked at either end by picket fences, offers rental beach chairs and umbrellas, as well as lifeguards.

Given the stellar weather in south Florida, there’s usually someone in the buff on any given day.

But the biggest crowds gather during National Nude Recreation Week in July and whenever Haulover is trying to set a new Guinness World Record for skinny dipping.

Haulover Beach Park, 10800 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33154; + (305) 944-3040

Editors’s note: This story was updated and republished in May 2023.

Rammed back into the bushes, out past destroyed Bradleys and ageing Humvees, the Soviet-era T72 lowers its turret to fire. Its targets are Russian positions, imperiled by Ukraine’s push south, just past the building over the horizon. Three rounds whistle into the distance, the tank is spotted, and is gone in a swirl of dust.

“They are wrong,” says Vitaly, a tank operator from the 15th National Guard, of Western criticism of their progress. “We have success. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends on how fortified they (the Russians) are.” The Russian troops had a year to get ready, he notes, adding: “The biggest problem is underestimation of the enemy.”

First access to the counteroffensive

Lotos, a tank unit commander, says the telegraphing of the attack’s focus in the press did not help. “It won’t be as easy as in Kharkiv. Here the enemy was ready, unfortunately. Everybody chatted for months that we would move here.” He adds: “We expected less resistance. They are holding. They have leadership. It is not often you say that about the enemy.”

Yet the major handicap Ukraine faces in this already difficult fight is palpable in the cratered streets of Orikhiv. Russian air superiority is taking Ukrainian lives daily, with half-ton bombs landing frequently – sometimes 20 in as many minutes.

Beyond the view of Ukraine’s armchair critics is a fast-trained, motivated army being asked to use Western donations to achieve a swift breakthrough against a Russian army that has had a year to lay minefields and fortifications – a difficult feat at the best of times. But Kyiv has one extra handicap. It is attempting this without something NATO militaries would insist on: air superiority. Ukraine’s air force is smaller, and NATO has yet to deliver F-16s, meaning that the threat of a Russian Su-35 overhead often forces troops here to head to the bunkers.

Life underground is nerve-shredding. A Russian rocket – or guided glide bomb – could hit at any time, and they have been showing some accuracy, says one Ukrainian soldier. Ukrainian troops constantly relocate and hide their vehicles at every opportunity to frustrate Russian targeting.

Still, vast destruction has plagued Orikhiv’s main buildings. The “invincibility point,” a converted school where the few remaining civilians received handout food and could wash, was hit in June, killing five. That building and several nearby are leveled, and smoke from another blast that morning still smolders. The smell of death haunted one apartment block that was torn through by a missile. Some streets of the town smell of explosives. Military casualties are not declared.

Among the most closely hunted of Ukraine’s forces are Orikhiv’s military medics, whose lives are spent mostly underground, their last two triage points bombed. Their bunker is where they wait, nocturnal even in the day, a cardboard Sharpie sign saying “Night club” on the wall. Only dark humor fits here and death is close enough to be shrugged off.

“When they hit further than 100 meters away from us we don’t pay attention,” says one medic, Eugene. “If it’s closer we just laugh hysterically.”

His colleague Vlad adds: “I tell everybody, we will all die. But a bit later. Maybe in 50 years.”

Thirst for revenge

Disrupting casualty evacuations appears to them to be a Russian priority. “The Russians let the ambulance get to the casualty,” Eugene says. “But as soon as we load them, they unleash everything on us. Anti-tank rockets, grenade launchers, mortars. We lost five wheels on our APC during two days of the assault.”

Eugene adds that they rarely treat casualties at the collection point. “We do everything inside (the ambulance) at high speed. And the road isn’t the best one. What was our speed record? 180 km an hour.”

After months of headlines about Russian incompetence and disarray, they are learning that Moscow’s better troops – the paratroopers on the southern frontlines – have not forgotten their training. “You shouldn’t honor the enemy,” says Vlad. “But don’t underestimate him.”

There is little danger of that in this team, who lost a colleague on Friday to artillery fire during an operation. Andrei, aged 33, was hit when traveling in his car. They buried him Monday.

The men linger in a silent gaze when they talk about racing to one of their own. “We went there immediately,” says Eugene. “Another team picked up his driver who got lucky. And I got the hardest thing I ever did – pick up the body and deliver it to the morgue.”

Vlad adds: “His family, his mother… They are in temporarily occupied territories. They couldn’t even come to the funeral.”

At another casualty evacuation point near Orikhiv, shells fly back and forth over the head of another medic, Julia, as she describes their morale. “We are still optimistic but not as we used to be. Assaulting is emotionally easier. It was very hard standing in defense for 18 months.”

She says many of the wounded they treat seek to return to the frontline. “They know it’s not going be the same – they won’t be in the assault squad. But they want to come back. Because thirst for revenge is very strong. Hatred is very strong.”

Poland is planning to move around 10,000 troops to its eastern border with Belarus amid mounting concerns over Wagner forces in the region.

Wagner troops have been stationed within Belarus – a close ally of Russia – in the wake of a short-lived rebellion carried out by the group.

The Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, told public radio that while 10,000 soldiers will be on the border, 4,000 will directly support the border guard and the remaining 6,000 will be in reserve.

Explaining the move, Blaszczak cited alleged violations of Polish air space by two military aircraft, accusations Belarus called “far-fetched.”

“The violation of Polish space by Belarusian helicopters cannot be underestimated because of the Belarusian approach,” Blaszczak said, calling it another provocation.

“Everything that is happening in Belarus is coordinated with the actions of Russian,” he said.

On Wednesday, Blaszczak agreed to send more troops to the border but did not detail an exact number, according to Polish state news agency PAP.

Meanwhile Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also discussed plans for Russia to build up its forces on its western borders, according to a readout from a board meeting published by the Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

Among the reasons for the move, Shoigu blamed increasing militarization in Poland.

Poland has been sounding the alarm about Wagner forces in Belarus in recent weeks.

The beginning of August saw increased activity near a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, known as the Suwalki gap or corridor, which troops from the Russian mercenary group Wagner are moving toward in an apparent attempt to increase pressure on NATO and EU members.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently warned that Wagner fighters could pose as migrants to try crossing the border.

Another of Belarus’s neighbors, Lithuania, has also shored up its border, citing the threat from Wagner fighters.

In just one month with Inter Miami, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi already has his team reaching new heights.

With a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia Union Tuesday, Miami advanced to the CONCACAF Leagues Cup final to put the club in position to win its first trophy in four seasons of competition.

Messi’s goal against Philadelphia was his ninth in just six games since joining Inter, scoring in each of his six matches so far to sit atop the Leagues Cup scoring chart.

After just a few weeks at Inter Miami, Messi is already third on the club’s all-time scoring list and is just 20 goals behind compatriot Gonzalo Higuain at the top.

After Josef Martinez opened the scoring for Miami, Messi scored in the 20th minute with a low rocket from more than 30 yards out. His shot skipped past the outreached fingers of Union keeper Andre Blake and bounced off the right post into the net.

Spanish veteran Jordi Alba added a third Miami goal in first half stoppage time, his first goal in four appearances since recently joining Inter, before Alejandro Bedoya pulled one back for Philadelphia with 17 minutes to go.

David Ruiz put an end to any thoughts of a late Union comeback with a fourth goal for Miami after 84 minutes.

In the other Leagues Cup semifinal Tuesday, Nashville SC defeated Monterrey 2-0 to set up a final against Miami.

The trophy will be decided when the two teams face each other August 19 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX, was expanded this year to include all teams in each league.

Tori Penso watched the 2019 Women’s World Cup at home with her eight-month-old daughter in her arms. A mother to three young girls, Penso was dreaming that she would be on the field the next time the tournament came around in 2023.

She wouldn’t be the leading goalscorer, or assistant manager, or team captain. She would be in the middle of it all – as the lead referee.

Four years and countless professional matches later, Penso will proudly walk onto the pitch with Australia and England to referee the semifinal match of the Women’s World Cup at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on Wednesday.

Penso had been refereeing since she was 14 years old but never considered it her full-

time career. She asked herself: “What if I gave it a shot? What if I tried making that stage in four years? Is it even possible?”

She took a risk and left a steady job in advertising, a job that she loved, and two years later became the first and only full-time female referee in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional men’s soccer league in the US.

Two years after that, Penso was selected by soccer’s world governing boy FIFA as one of six American referees to go to Australia and New Zealand for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

“If you told me six years ago that I would be here talking to you about to head to New Zealand and Australia for the Women’s World Cup I would have said no way,” she said.

“To be here today is just an amazing experience and one I certainly don’t take for granted.”

Referees put in work, just like players

“No success happens overnight,” reflected Penso, and like every journey hers had its ups and downs.

“I’m a female referee in a men’s top division. There’s a lot of challenges that come with that,” she said. “We don’t just show up on a Saturday night at the fields with the lights shining. It takes a lot to get there. A lot of experience coming up through the ranks.” The job is physically demanding.

As the players get faster, Penso has had to get faster too.

“Our training is very much like a player,” Penso said, “I do everything from sprint training to high intensity strength training two to three times a week … you’re looking at an hour and a half to two hours of training, six days a week.”

Along with the physical aspect of officiating soccer games, professional refereeing takes a toll mentally due to the amount of travel involved, according to Penso.

“Just like players, we’re doing sometimes three games in a 10-day span, and there’s travel that goes with that,” the Florida native said. “That could mean a six-hour flight for me from Florida to Portland for a game and back, and then maybe to New York for a midweek game.”

Penso compared referees and players again, saying “behind every referee there’s a person that has worked incredible hard to get there … just like the players they’re competing for that next opportunity.”

All soccer all the time

Time away from her husband and daughters isn’t easy, Penso said, especially on holidays and weekends.

“They’re my why. I know that even they don’t want to pick up a whistle and be a referee, there will be something … to see females in different capacities I think inspires girls to think of themselves in that role,” the mother of three said.

“They love watching me. They really enjoy the games, they scream ‘mommy’ and point.”

Her husband is also a referee, so Penso described their lives as “all soccer all the time,” though that mantra began when she was 10 years old and first started playing.

“I grew up in a soccer family. All of my bridesmaids I met in college on the soccer field. I live and breathe soccer, and I love the game.”

This game is unforgiving

In 2020, Penso became the first full-time female referee in MLS. Women had refereed MLS games before, but none of them had done so on a full-time basis.

Refereeing for both MLS and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Penso noted major differences between the way the male and female players interact with the referees.

“I can tell you many times I had what felt like a stadium of 60,000 booing me for what was the correct decision on the field,” she said.

“We have a saying in refereeing: you’re only as good as your last game,” she said with a cautious smile, “this game is not forgiving.”

Penso said she’s relishing the challenge. Her selection for the Women’s World Cup, once her main goal, is now a stepping stone along her journey to the top of the women’s and men’s game.

Ideally, Penso says there will come a day when women refereeing men’s games wouldn’t draw any attention. She wants to pave the way for that normalization to take place.

“It’s the stereotypes that stop us from getting opportunities,” she said, “across the globe when we get opportunities we’re more than ready for them, and we deliver.”

Benefits of motherhood

Penso says she drew inspiration from watching the coverage of the women referees at the 2019 tournament.

“That was the first time I really got to see behind the scenes … many of them were mothers like me,” she said, “and to see them at that stage in that capacity as professionals and mothers was really inspiring for me.”

Women bring a unique set of skills to refereeing that their male counterparts cannot, according to Penso, in the form of motherhood.  “I think being a mother has made me frankly a better referee,” she said, adding that “empathy and understanding is something that is just nature and nurture for females.”

“When we perform at the highest level, I think that helps people accept that we can have a role in this capacity on these fields and be a force to be reckoned with.”

Paying it forward

Penso’s goal is to motivate and inspire people to take risks that challenge the status quo. She wants to be a role model so young girls can see females on the field and know that anything is possible for them.

She said her success has come largely thanks to the support of many, including mentors, to get where she is today and on to the next level.

“While sometimes I may feel like I’m alone charging the path, I’m certainly not,” said Penso.

“I’m ar-in-arm not just with the women that are taking the pitch in soccer and across the globe, but also with the women who came before me and helped pave the way so that my path was maybe a little easier,” she said.

“And that’s what I hope to do for the next generation.”

The office said it is in the middle of the investigation but did not reveal any further details.

In remarks in an Instagram live video Sunday, Franco appeared to deflect the accusations and instead said he was focused on bettering himself.

On Monday, the 22-year-old Dominican stepped away from the Rays’ current west coast road trip due to the situation surrounding social media posts involving Franco, the Rays said.

It is not clear if the social media posts MLB is looking at are related to the probe in the Dominican Republic.

Tampa Bay and Franco mutually agreed Monday that he’ll be placed on the Restricted List, administrative leave that allows Franco to not count against the 26-man roster.

“We support any steps taken by the league to better understand the situation,” the Rays said in a statement. “Out of respect for all parties involved, we have no further comments at this time.”

England has reached the Women’s World Cup final for the first time thanks to a stunning 3-1 win over co-host Australia on Wednesday.

More to follow…

Four Australian surfers who were saved after 38 hours at sea have spoken publicly for the first time after their miraculous rescue, thanking those involved in the operation, as the search continues for one more person still missing.

Australians Steph Weisse, Will Teagle, Jordan Short and Elliot Foote, and two unnamed Indonesian nationals were found floating on their surfboards on Tuesday morning. They had gone missing Sunday off the Sumatran coast in western Indonesia, after their boat was struck by a storm.

According to their families, the four Australians were on a surf trip in Indonesia to celebrate Foote’s 30th birthday. One Indonesian among the group remains missing.

Teagle chimed in, saying he was “so stoked to be alive.”

The group thanked the Indonesian and Australian governments for coordinating rescue efforts, and for the group’s friends for participating in the search.

“There were some moments out there where we were quite nervous and didn’t quite know what the outcome was going to be, but we just banded together,” Foote said.

He praised the other surfers for being “so strong,” describing their time lost in the open ocean as efficient with no arguments between the members. “Every single moment they just knew what to do, we just took charge and followed each other,” he said.

Short agreed, saying the “crazy experience” had bonded the four of them closer together.

Weisse, Foote’s girlfriend, said she was “beyond words.”

“What we went through and experienced was so intense but we’re so proud of ourselves how we just didn’t give up until the last moment out there for so long,” she said, adding that the group felt “so blessed and so loved” after the massive rescue operation.

The group offered their thoughts to the Indonesian crew member still missing, and to his friends and family. The names of the Indonesian crew who were on board the boat have not been shared yet by authorities.

“It’s hard to think about, we just hope the best for him, his family and friends and his village,” said Foote, adding that the group now wanted the time and privacy to recover and rest.

The group’s boat was last seen Sunday evening local time after they encountered bad weather and heavy rain on a journey to the remote Pinang island from Nias, a popular surfing destination some 150 kilometers from Indonesia’s Sumatra Island.

A second boat with the rest of the party successfully reached Pinang island Sunday evening, the families said, helping to raise the alarm.

Footage of the dramatic rescue on Tuesday showed both the stranded castaways on their surfboards and their rescuers cheering and shouting as they realized they’d successfully found each other. The rescuers who found them were on a surf charter boat involved in the frantic search operation.

She flew into Costa Rica with her partner and baby for an extended break in February 2020.

But after getting stuck in the coastal town of Nosara during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stefanie Tannenbaum, from the US, felt so at home that she decided to stay for good.

Now, nearly four years later, Tannenbaum is the proud co-founder of sustainable boutique hotel Sendero, which she describes as a “neighborhood hotel” that aims to provide its guests with “a sense of belonging.”

“People often say that as soon as they’re at the hotel, they feel part of Nosara.”

Community hotel

Tannenbaum had visited the town a few times before choosing to travel there for a month with her partner and their son River, who was around eight-months old at the time, and was struck by the sense of community, along with the “phenomenal” surfing and the nature.

Costa Rica is famous for its wonderful nature, and with a 90-acre biological reserve where howler monkeys and turtles, can be found, along with 270 of bird species including herons and toucans, Nosara is no exception.

When it became clear that she and her family would be unable to leave the Central American country for a while due to the travel restrictions implemented as a result of the pandemic, Tannenbaum began looking into the prospect of starting a business in Nosara.

“Everything was really stressful, but there was a peace I was finding being in Nosara,” she says.

While collaborating with a team of locals to set up a remote working space named Outpost, she saw an opportunity to create a hotel at a nearby property and “decided to take that leap.”

“I had been feeling alone and isolated back in the US,” explains Tannenbaum, who was previously based in Massachusetts. “And all of a sudden I was part of a community and the people I was building these projects with became my best friends.

Big leap

“It felt like we were all pursuing our dreams together. We like to say that we’re a friend-owned hotel.”

Tannenbaum, who had previously worked for a hotel management and development company and often dreamed of owning her own hotel, met her business partner Sarah Kosterlitz while in Costa Rica.

The excited pair used their life savings to purchase the hotel property and get the project off the ground.

“It was a scary decision,” she admits.

According to Tannenbaum, it took around 14 months to create Sendero, which officially opened in February.

One of the main objectives was to ensure that the project was as sustainable as possible, which led to some interesting design decisions.

For instance, in order to avoid cutting down any trees during the construction process, they opted to “build around” a huge tree, which now sits in the middle of the hotel restaurant.

Sustainability promise

“At first I was like, “well we could fit one more table. We need to maximize the profit of the restaurant,’” she says.

“But this tree was here long before us, and it will be here long after. And then just looking at the beauty of it. It’s a beautiful attraction to the space.”

In addition, all of the materials used to construct the hotel came from Costa Rica, including reclaimed bricks and roof tiles from “old homes in San Jose,” while the hotel uses solar panels, and its water is recycled four times.

“Sustainability is non-negotiable in all of our projects,” adds Tannenbaum. “We actually want to have a bigger handprint than we do footprint.”

The restaurant, described as the “hub of the hotel” serves a mixture of “local and simple” cuisine, such as ceviche, made with fresh ingredients.

“We have a lot of tuna on the menu, because it’s locally caught less than a mile from our hotel,” says Tannenbaum.

The surf school, which was already part of the previous property, is owned by a local resident and the onsite art gallery features Costa Rican artists.

“We didn’t want to take the US and replace what was happening there,” she adds. “We just wanted to elevate and help the rest of the community really shine through at our hotel.”

Tannenbaum explains that the hotel’s three different types of accommodation are geared towards attracting “different demographics of guests.”

Its 25 rooms are made up of suites, private bedrooms with a custom-built bed and separate living area, jungle rooms, which include outdoor showers facing the neighboring nature preserve, and a king room, which has its own private balcony. Rates range from $200 to $700.

The signature jungle rooms, which Tannenbaum notes were a “risky” choice due to the outdoor showers, have proved to be a huge hit with guests.

“It does feel like all the big risks that we took ended up being the highest kind of returns,” she says.

The hotel is around two and a half hours from Liberia Airport and five hours from San Jose Airport by car.

Different path

The name Sendero comes from the Spanish word for “path” and Tannenbaum explains that the hotel has a path that extends across the 200 meters of protected land at Nosara’s coastal front.

“It’s also metaphorically how Sendero can play a role in the path or journey of one’s life also,” she adds.

When travel restrictions were eased in late 2020, Tannenbaum, briefly returned to her home in the US with her partner and son to connect with family and collect their dog, who they’d left behind many months before.

“He was not very happy with us,” she says. “But now he’s happy in Costa Rica.”

Tannenbaum has been able to build a completely new life for her and her family in Nosara over the years and is currently going through the process of officially becoming a Costa Rican resident.

“It was fast, but it just felt right,” she says. “Costa Rica is a very open country, they’re very into community and supporting one another. They’re always putting community first.”

She’s thrilled to have been able to give back to the community that embraced her and her family so fully, and is looking forward to what the future may bring.

“I’m very grateful that my partner was willing to take that leap with me,” she admits. “Because I was trying to find something. I was trying to find who I was as a mother and a family. And I found it there [in Nosara].