Soccer great Lionel Messi signed for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami on Saturday, the club announced.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is under contract with the club until the end of the 2025 MLS season, said he was “very excited,” while co-owner David Beckham described the signing as a “dream come true.”

“This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to build this beautiful project,” Messi, who won the World Cup with Argentina last year, said in a statement. “The idea is to work together to achieve the objectives we set, and I’m very eager to start helping here in my new home.”

The 36-year-old’s expected Inter Miami debut is scheduled for July 21 against LIGA MX side, Cruz Azul, in the opening match of Leagues Cup.

“Ten years ago, when I started my journey to build a new team in Miami, I said that I dreamt of bringing the greatest players in the world to this amazing city. Players who shared the ambition I had when I joined LA Galaxy to help grow football in the USA and to build a legacy for the next generation in this sport that we love so much,” former Real Madrid and Manchester United star Beckham said in a statement.

“Today that dream came true. I couldn’t be prouder that a player of Leo’s caliber is joining our club, but I am also delighted to welcome a good friend, an amazing person and his beautiful family to join our Inter Miami community. The next phase of our adventure starts here, and I can’t wait to see Leo take to the pitch.”

Inter Miami’s part-owner Jorge Mas told Spanish publication El Pais earlier this month in an interview that Messi’s contract is worth between $50 to $60 million per year.

According to multiple reports, Messi’s new deal includes an option for part-ownership of the club and a cut of revenue from new subscribers to Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass streaming service.

Messi spent the last two years playing for French side Paris Saint-Germain. Before that, the Argentine played for Spanish giants Barcelona for over twenty years, winning 10 La Liga titles and the Champions League four times.

In December last year, Messi played a vital part in Argentina’s World Cup success in Qatar, becoming the first man to win the tournament’s Golden Ball, awarded to the best player at the World Cup, twice.

Over the ridge of the mountain, across the border was the promised land, the neutral territory Spain – an escape, a second chance, a future.

Behind them was Nazi-occupied France and certain incarceration or death.

During World War II, a perilous route through the Pyrenees mountains provided a means for hundreds of thousands of resistance fighters, civilians, Jews, allied soldiers and escaped prisoners of war to evade Nazi pursuers.

For many, the journey up through rocky boulder fields and frozen glaciers was the final stretch in a long and fraught journey across wartime Europe, hiding from German military, Gestapo secret police and SS paramilitary forces.

This month, the route which starts in France’s Ariege Pyrenees, once again echoed to footfalls as 87 people climbed their way from France to Spain, including descendants of those who made their escape, walking to honor their relatives.

The Freedom Trail, whose final ascent is attacked in a zig-zag path through an ice sheet, is an annual “walking memorial,” as Englishman Paul Williams, a mountain guide and guardian of local history, puts it.

Communing with the past

Formally recognized by French presidential decree in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings that began the liberation of France, the trek remembers those who fled to Spain during the war.

Among previous hikers is Luke Janiszewski, a 25-year-old from the Baltimore area.

Lt. Richard Christenson, a B-17 pilot, was shot down over northern France and spirited out over the Pyrenees while the war was still ongoing. But he made it back home to live out the rest of his days with Ruth, his wife.

His daughter Kathryn, 81, who has written a book about his escape, and  grandchildren Marie, 52, and Tim, 54, joined great-grandchildren Luke and Jake to walk the train in 2018, its 25th anniversary. 

“I felt in a little bit of communion with him, you know?” Luke, who never knew his great-grandfather, remembered.

That reunion with the past came alive over a dinner before the walk, where the Janiszewskis met descendants of the local family who saved Lt. Christenson.

Sitting down with them, Tim reflected on how this human drama played out against the backdrop of America’s role in bringing an end to World War II.

“We came in and saved France but your grandfather or your great-grandfather saved my grandfather as he was trying to help save you. It’s just this beautiful web and connection that makes you feel united in one with everybody.”

Local hero

On the second weekend of July each year, this walk creates its own memories. This year it was dedicated, in particular, to Paul Broué, a French resistance member and one of the founders of the Freedom Trail Association.

Born July 9, 1923, he made his escape over the Pyrenees in July of 1944. Had he not passed away in 2020, this year would have been his 100th birthday.

Broué was the embodiment of local wartime stories – not just the mountain guide “passeurs” but also the families who hid, guided and died to help men like Christenson.

Roughly 50% of British and American escapees came through this area of the mountains, according to Guy Seris, a retired French colonel who is now president of the FTA, which organizes the four-day, 40-mile hike.

Seris is also a local man, from Seix, a town in the lush wooded foothills that is the first stopping point on the trail, and where the local mayor hosts a “vin d’honneur” evening meal to mark the occasion.

This year in his speeches to the walkers, he stressed that those old enough, who fought in the war “or lived it or mostly heard it spoken about at home,” had a duty to tell younger generations about it.

It is those memories that walkers carry with them and into Spain. The two countries are bound by the shared life on the mountains – a life of pine forest flocks and herds of belled cows that a border cannot separate.

Before the outbreak of World War II, the region saw the mountain escape routes used in reverse, as Republican refugees crossed into France to flee General Franco’s rule at the end of the Spanish Civil War.

Although Franco was sympathetic to Germany, Spain remained neutral during World War II, largely because of its dependence on US imports. And so, a blind eye was turned to those crossing the Pyrenees.

Escaping Allied servicemen who did make it over would be held in the nearest Spanish town, transferred to a prison camp and freed not long after.

Goosebumps moment

US Air Force Second Lieutenant Frank McNichol was briefly held prisoner in the Spanish town of Isaba when he made the crossing in 1944 after being shot down during a bombing raid.

His son, Joseph McNichol, 64, a retired Floridian police officer, recounted making a pilgrimage in 2016 to see the cell where his father had been incarcerated.

“It was a holiday in that part of Spain but our hotel called the mayor, who they knew, and explained the situation,” McNichol said.

“He was more than happy to come that morning and open up city hall and show me the room, which was just a dusty old storage room.”

McNichol said he was only seven when his father later died of liver failure from hepatitis, likely caught from his time in France.

“I never had an adult conversation with my father about anything, not the least of which is this topic.”

Reflecting on seeing the cell in the small town in Spain, having crossed the border 72 years to the day his father was there, he said: “It gives me goosebumps just to talk about it.”

North Korea fired what it said was a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, just days after Pyongyang threatened to shoot down US military reconnaissance planes flying over nearby waters.

The launch follows several other recent tests of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which have raised alarm among adversaries as the isolated authoritarian nation ramps up its efforts to develop weapons capable of potentially striking major US cities.

A White House statement said the launch “risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking from the sidelines of the NATO summit meeting on Wednesday, called the launch “unacceptable’” and a threat to regional stability and the international community.

Wednesday’s test was of the Hwasong-18, a powerful solid-fueled ICBM of a type that Pyongyang last launched in April, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Leader Kim Jong Un said at the time the Hwasong-18 would provide the country with a “powerful strategic attack means” and boost its nuclear capabilities.

Pyongyang tested the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 in March.

The ICBM fired on Wednesday flew about 1,000 kilometers, staying airborne for 74 minutes, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry – a marginal advancement on the ballistic missiles it tested earlier this year.

Here’s what we know about the ICBMs in North Korea’s arsenal.

Liquid vs. solid-fueled missiles

The Hwasong-17 is a liquid-fueled ICBM unveiled in 2022, when North Korea held its first long-range missile test in more than four years. Liquid-fuel technology is comparatively easier to master.

The Hwasong-18, meanwhile, is a solid-fueled missile, according to Pyongyang – which makes it far more advanced, and would allow North Korea to launch long-range nuclear strikes more quickly.

Solid-fueled ICBMs are more stable, and can be moved more easily to avoid detection before a launch that can be initiated in a matter of minutes, experts say – compared to liquid-fueled missiles that may need hours before launch, giving time for adversaries to detect and neutralize the weapon.

North Korea’s advancement from the Hwasong-17 last year to the Hwasong-18 this year suggests its missile program is making progress, experts say, reflecting Kim’s goal of matching the military capabilities of other nations like the United States or European countries.

Successive launches allow North Korea to gather more data to refine its missile technology.

Can it carry a nuclear warhead?

ICBMs could, at least theoretically, put the entire US mainland in range of a North Korean nuclear warhead – but there’s a lot of unknowns about the missile’s capability to deliver a nuclear payload on target.

Past tests have shown the possible range of North Korea’s missiles – the tests in March and April all traveled about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). And the Hwasong-17 test last year flew 1,090 kilometers (681 miles), lasting 68 minutes before landing in the sea.

The 74-minute flight time of the latest missile is a few minutes longer than those tested in March and April.

It’s not clear what kind of payloads were involved in these tests. The weight of the payload affects how far a missile can fly, so without this information, observers cannot know for sure the missile’s actual range.

Another question is whether a North Korean nuclear warhead could survive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

ICBMs are fired into space, where they speed along outside Earth’s atmosphere before their payloads undergo a fiery reentry process, much like a space shuttle or space capsule, before plunging down on their targets.

If the process of reentering the atmosphere isn’t executed with pinpoint accuracy and with materials that can withstand the immense heat generated, the warhead will burn up before reaching its target. The angle at which the warhead reenters the atmosphere can make the process more difficult.

“The launch of Hwasong-18 shows that it has a range of about 15,000 kilometers based on the altitude, distance and the flight time of the missile,” said Yang Wook, a researcher at Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

“However, it cannot be evaluated that North Korea has succeeded in obtaining full technology of an ICBM as it hasn’t proved the functions for reentry and accuracy using multi-warheads that are required for the use of the missile,” Yang said.

What’s next in North Korea’s missile program?

Kim has laid out an ambitious plan to give North Korea a credible nuclear deterrent, meaning an arsenal powerful enough to prevent any adversary, most notably the US, from attacking.

Experts have said the leader has set a long list of weapons modernizations in recent years that he is now working through – with ICBMs only one of those items. Other goals may include launching a military satellite, or putting a nuclear-powered submarine to sea.

Previously, North Korea has announced plans to enhance the accuracy of its missiles and increase the range up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles).

These ambitions were made clear last year when Kim dramatically ramped up the frequency and intensity of weapons testing, which eased slightly this year, but remains at much higher levels than in past years.

The country fired more missiles in 2022 than any other year on record – at one point launching 23 missiles in a single day.

These tests also refocused attention on North Korea’s nuclear goals, with Kim vowing to develop his nuclear forces at the “highest possible” speed last year. The US and international observers began warning last year that an underground nuclear test could be imminent, after satellite imagery showed new activity at North Korea’s nuclear test site. Such a test would be the country’s first since 2017.

Joseph Dempsey, research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said more North Korean tests are likely in the works.

How has the US and its allies responded?

The test on Wednesday sparked strong condemnation from neighboring countries.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently at the NATO summit in Lithuania, said he would call for “strong international solidarity” among bloc members in response to the launch. On Wednesday morning, he presided over an emergency National Security Council meeting from Lithuania.

US and South Korean officials met shortly after the test to share information, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Both countries are analyzing the launch.

The Japanese chief cabinet secretary lodged a protest against North Korea through embassy channels in Beijing.

The United Nations Security Council has passed resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang’s ballistic missile testing, but last year China and Russia blocked new resolutions, which the US sees as a green light for North Korea to continue its programs.

As a series of welcoming cannon blasts rang out from a nearby colonial fort, the Russian navy’s training class ship Perekop sailed into Havana on Tuesday.

While in Cuba for a four-day visit, the Perekop’s sailors will “carry out a wide range of activities,” according to Cuba’s state-run Prensa Latina news service, and members of the Cuban public will be given the opportunity to tour the ship.

It is the first official visit by a Russian naval vessel to Cuba in years – and another sign of the reforging of the relationship between the two Cold War-era allies after the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly brought down the Cuban economy with it.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to its widespread ostracization, the Cuban government increasingly has defended Moscow.

“We are condemning, we are rejecting, the expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told Russian-controlled network, RT, in a rare interview in May.

He also blasted US economic sanctions on Russia, while heralding Russian “projects of cooperation and collaboration” under development in Cuba.

The two countries have also announced a flurry of agreements and exchanged high level delegations. The deals include allowing Russia to lease land in Cuba for up to 30 years, develop beachside tourist facilities near Havana, open a supermarket with Russian products and supply the island with badly needed fuel.

According to Jorge R. Piñon, a senior research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute, from the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russia has sent Cuba more oil than at any time since the fall of the USSR. So far in 2023, Piñon estimated, Russian has delivered approximately $167 million worth of oil.

The oil has been a crucial lifeline for cash-strapped Cuba this year, as shortages led to days-long waits to fill up cars across the island.

Rekindling ties

For much of the Cold War, Cuba and the former Soviet Union cultivated deep ties.

The USSR stationed thousands of diplomats, spies and military advisers on the island and built a towering embassy in Havana meant to symbolize a scimitar in the heart of US imperialism.

A generation of Cubans braved unfamiliar cold weather to study in Soviet countries. A popular TV game show called “9550” – for the number of kilometers separating Cuba from Russia – quizzed Cubans about Soviet life with the grand prize a paid trip to the USSR.

But following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba lost its main trading partner and entered a deep economic depression. Since then, Cubans either regard their once-upon-a-time closeness with Russians with deep nostalgia or with the disdain of a failed marriage.

Now, the rekindled relationship has led some Cuba watchers to lament a missed opportunity for the US.

While former US President Barack Obama restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and eased economic sanctions, his successor, President Donald Trump reversed much of that opening. The current incumbent, President Joe Biden, has for the most part kept Trump-era sanctions in place while demanding that Cuba release prisoners jailed for taking place in widespread protests two years ago.

“It seems that under Trump and followed by Biden, the US has all but ceded the field,” said Ric Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group, which promotes greater engagement between the US and Cuba.

“There has been very modest easing of sanctions, mostly citing humanitarian concerns, and opening up travel, remittances and restaffing the embassy and consulate but we have seen a White House that otherwise has been unconcerned with Cuba,” Herrero said.

But the US’s top diplomat in Havana said the talk of a greater Russian presence in Cuba so far appears to be just lip-service.

The Russians are not the only ones flexing military might in Cuba. On Tuesday, the Cuban government blasted the US for its nuclear submarine’s three-day visit to the US Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, calling it “a provocative escalation.”

More than sixty years after the US and the USSR faced-off over Soviet nuclear missiles secretly placed in Cuba, the East and West still appear to be jockeying over who will exert greater influence over the island.

Despite the high cost of the war in Ukraine and economic sanctions, Russian officials say they are committed to Cuba.

“Cuba has been and remains Russia’s most important ally in the region,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said while meeting with his Cuban counterpart Alvaro Lopez Miera in late June in Moscow.

“We are ready to render assistance to the island of freedom and to lend a shoulder to our Cuban friends,” Shoigu said.

“I was involved in the Nairobi protests. We were dispersed with water cannons, tear gas canisters, and live bullets,” Wandayi said.

“We are still verifying but so far, we have confirmed nine deaths across the country. The numbers might increase because there were many people with fatal injuries.”

Some of the protesters allegedly pelted stones at public properties and also destroyed a section of a major highway in Machakos’ Mlolongo town, Citizen TV reported.

A steep cost for Kenyans

Kenyan opposition leader and former prime minister Raila Odinga has led calls for nationwide protests over the increases.

Odinga lost the election in August last year and believes the results were manipulated and has since led civil disobedience protests against his political rival.

A Kenyan court temporarily halted the implementation of the Finance Act 2023 touted by President William Ruto as a measure to shore up public finances and increase domestic revenue.

However, the Ruto administration defied the court order and increased tax on fuel prices, which has led to a rise in cost of transport and staple goods.

“Kenyans are basically now on their knees. These new tax proposals have added serious pain to an already difficult situation. Kenyans who are on payroll are taking home negative salaries, and those who are in the informal sector are unable to make ends meet,” he said.

“Many Kenyans are unable to put three meals on the table in a day, and they are very angry at the situation as it is currently.”

The head of a United Nations agency has called for an investigation into the killing of at least 87 people who were discovered in a mass grave in Sudan’s West Darfur region.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has demanded a “prompt, thorough and independent investigation” into the grim discovery outside the region’s capital El-Geneina.

Türk’s demand came shortly before the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it launched a fresh investigation into alleged war crimes in Sudan, following 90 days of escalating violence between the warring factions of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan made the announcement in a report to the UN Security Council Thursday, saying “we are in the midst of a human catastrophe.”

Inside the mass grave were bodies of ethnic Masalit who along with other non-Arab communities are often targeted by Arab militias, supported by the RSF, according to Human Rights Watch.

The deceased were allegedly killed last month by the paramilitary RSF and their allied militia, the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement Thursday.

“According to credible information gathered by the Office, those buried in the mass grave were killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June in El-Geneina’s Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts…,” the statement said.

The statement added that the bodies included victims of the violence that occurred following the assassination of Khamis Abbaker, the Governor of West Darfur, on June 14, and others who died due to untreated injuries.

Türk strongly condemned the killings and said he was “appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated.”

He urged the RSF and other parties involved in the conflict to abide by international law and facilitate prompt searches for the deceased, and their collection and evacuation, without discrimination based on ethnic background.

“The RSF’s leadership and their allied militia as well as all parties to an armed conflict are required to ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected,” Türk stressed.

West Darfur remains one of the most conflict-ridden areas in the Sudanese Darfur region, with a long history of severe violence.

International aid agency Save the Children said Thursday its staff fleeing the city of El Geneina, the West Darfur capital, saw hundreds of bodies, including those belonging to children, along the road.

“We spent 49 days indoors as outside the snipers did not stop. Our only wish was to get up in the early morning hours to get one jerry can of water before the fighting starts again,” said Ahmed, who works for Save the Children in West Darfur, according to a press release from the organization.

“When we finally managed to leave there were bodies everywhere on the ground in Geneina town. There were thousands of men, women and children, no one was spared. There are flies everywhere,” said Ahmed, who recently escaped the violence and is now taking refuge in Kassala state.

The recent killings reflect the atrocities committed during the early 2000s, where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in an ethnic cleansing campaign led by the Janjaweed, an Arab militia that preceded the RSF.

ICC opens new investigation

ICC Chief Prosecutor Khan called for urgent action into the alleged war crimes, saying that attacks on civilians, particularly targeting children and women, are prohibited by the Rome Statute.

“The current security situation in Sudan and the escalation of violence during the current hostilities are matters of great concern to the Office,” he said.

“As we speak there are women and children in fear of the lives.”

Khan also said the ICC was investigating reports of fresh crimes in Darfur after the UN’s revelations about the mass grave of at least 87 people in Darfur.

The ICC has been investigating crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region since 2005 after a referral by the UN Security Council, and the Hague-based court has charged former leader Omar al-Bashir with offenses including genocide.

Khan said the risk of further war crimes was “deepened by the clear and long-standing disregard demonstrated by relevant actors, including the government of Sudan, for their obligations.”

Arsenal has completed the signing of West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice in the biggest deal of the European summer transfer window so far.

It has been widely reported in the British media that Rice moves to Arsenal for a £105 million ($137.45 million) fee, which would make it a record transfer between two British clubs.

Still just 24, Rice has established himself as one of Europe’s most promising holding midfielders and is already a key member of the England national team, playing in every game for Gareth Southgate’s team at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

Rice has shown some attacking flare, too, scoring a stunning solo effort against Gent in the Conference League by running half the length of the pitch before slotting the ball home.

It’s a significant coup for big-spending Arsenal, with Rice joining on a long-term deal and following Kai Havertz’s arrival from Chelsea.

Karim Benzema – Real Madrid to Al-Ittihad

In the first major coup of the summer for the Saudi Pro League, Karim Benzema has agreed to join Al-Ittihad once his contract expires with Real Madrid. The deal is estimated to be worth more than 100 million euros ($106.89 million), according to media reports.

Now 35, Benzema has been one of the world’s best strikers for more than a decade, racking up an eye-watering number of trophies in his 14 seasons with Real Madrid, including five Champions League crowns and three La Liga titles.

His performances during the 2021/22 season – when Real won the Champions League and La Liga double – saw the Frenchman collect the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the men’s game last year.

Jude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid

Perhaps the most sought-after player in world soccer this summer, Jude Bellingham is taking his considerable talents to Real Madrid next season after Los Blancos paid Borussia Dortmund a reported €103 million ($110.4 million) for his signature.

Still only 19, Bellingham has grown into one of soccer’s most complete midfielders since moving to Dortmund from boyhood club Birmingham City in 2020 and has also become a key figure for the English national team.

After a disappointing season, Real Madrid will be hopeful that Bellingham will be a star midfielder for years to come once the ageing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos depart.

N’Golo Kanté – Chelsea to Al-Ittihad

N’Golo Kanté, the all-action midfielder who has rightly drawn praise as one of the best midfielders of his generation, soon became another major name to move to Saudi Arabia, joining Benzema at Al-Ittihad on a free transfer following the expiration of his Chelsea contract at the end of June.

The 32-year-old midfielder has signed a contract worth around £86 million ($109.8 million) a year, according to UK media.

In his eight years in England, Kanté won two Premier League titles – the first as part of Leicester City’s improbable 5000-1 triumph – the Champions League, the FA Cup, the Europa League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Above all else, it’s his almost superhuman fitness that stands out, though he did struggle with injuries last season. So incredible has Kanté’s work rate been since he first arrived in England with Leicester in 2015, he has often been described as single-handedly covering the ground of two midfielders.

Christopher Nkunku – RB Leipzig to Chelsea

Three years after arriving at RB Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain, Chrisopher Nkunku has established himself as one of European football’s most exciting forwards.

During the 2021/2022 season, the Frenchman scored 35 goals – including seven in six Champions League games – and registered 16 assists in all competitions. Nkunku followed up with another 23 goals in the 2022/2023 campaign as Leipzig won the German Cup for the second straight season.

Chelsea has reportedly paid Leipzig £53 million ($67.7 million) for Nkunku’s services, marking another significant outlay for the club’s American owner Todd Boehly, who will be hoping the 25-year-old can provide the firepower the team so desperately needs in attack.

Kai Havertz – Chelsea to Arsenal

Arsenal has completed the signing of Chelsea forward Kai Kavertz for a reported £65 million ($83 million) as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his squad following the team’s capitulation in the Premier League title race.

Though the German international was unable to consistently find his best form at Chelsea, Havertz will immediately improve the Gunners’ starting XI. Many fans have expressed their surprise that a player of his quality is being sold to a direct rival, but Boehly has put together a bloated squad that desperately needs trimming.

Havertz scored the winning goal for Chelsea against Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final and Arsenal will be hoping for more of that magic as the team returns to European football’s premier competition for the first time since 2016-17.

After guiding West Ham to the Europa Conference League title, the team’s first major trophy since 1980, club captain Declan Rice is potentially on the move to Arsenal.

Still just 24, Rice has established himself as one of Europe’s most promising holding midfielders, with West Ham’s reported asking price sitting around £100 million ($127.7 millon). Rice has shown some attacking flare, too, scoring a stunning solo effort against Gent in the Conference League by running half the length of the pitch before slotting the ball home.

Rice, who was in the youth ranks at Chelsea and then West Ham, was voted Conference League player of the season. Arsenal will reportedly have to fend off interest from Manchester City and Manchester United for his signature.

Mateo Kovačić – Chelsea to Manchester City

Fresh off the back of becoming just the second English team in history to complete the Treble, Manchester City’s recruitment to bolster the squad for the defence of all three titles is already well under way.

Chelsea’s Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovačić look has become Pep Guardiola’s first major addition of the window for a reported cut-price £30 million ($38.3 million) as Chelsea continues its summer clear-out.

With club captain İlkay Gündoğan joining Barcelona on a free transfer and Bernardo Silva also weighing up his options, City will need Kovačić to hit the ground running if the club is to continue its dominance in England and Europe.

Alexis Mac Allister – Brighton to Liverpool

Alexis Mac Allister enjoyed a sensational season for Brighton in the Premier League, but it was his performances for Argentina at the World Cup that really made everyone sit up and take notice.

After Lionel Messi, it could be easily argued that Mac Allister was Argentina’s best player in Qatar, his movement and link-up play in attack a crucial factor in La Albiceleste lifting the trophy for the first time since 1986.

Liverpool reportedly paid an initial fee of £35 million ($44.6 million), which could rise to £55 million ($70 million) in add ons, with Jurgen Klopp hoping Mac Allister will fill the departing Roberto Firmino’s sizeable shoes at Anfield.

Rúben Neves – Wolverhampton Wanderers to Al Hilal

Rúben Neves may not be the biggest star to take his talents to Saudi Arabia, but his reported £47 million move to Al Hilal is notable because the midfielder is still only 26 years old. Until his transfer, it had only been players in the twilight of their careers that had moved to the SPL.

Considering Barcelona was reportedly keen to sign Neves, the deal is a significant coup for Al Hilal and the league in general, but the size of the transfer fee has raised eyebrows given the Portugal international only has a year left on his deal. No club in Europe would have paid close to that fee for a player that could leave for free next season.

Neves has been a star for Wolves since joining when the club was in the Championship, England’s second tier, and has only improved since earning promotion to the Premier League, where he has established himself as the team’s best player and captain.

İlkay Gündoğan – Manchester City to Barcelona

Manchester City’s Treble-winning captain İlkay Gündoğan has opted to turn down a contract renewal and sign for FC Barcelona on a free transfer, a move that is no doubt a serious blow to Guardiola’s plans for next season.

Gündoğan was Guardiola’s first signing as City manager and despite suffering an ACL injury just six months into his time at the club, the German international went on to play a huge role in City’s success over the years, most notably for his brilliant late season performances.

His acquisition is a huge boost to Barcelona as the team continues to improve following the club’s financial turmoil and Gündoğan’s sublime passing and technical ability will fit perfectly with Xavi’s style.

Dominik Szoboszlai – RB Leipzig to Liverpool

Liverpool has completed the signing of Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig for a reported £60 million ($76M) as Klopp continues his summer rebuild.

The versatile Hungarian gives Klopp options both in midfield and on the wing and he joins fresh off the back of scoring in RB Leipzig’s 2-0 German Cup final win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

The 22-year-old, who is already captain of his country, scored six goals and contributed eight assists for Leipzig last in the Bundesliga last season.

Christian Pulisic – Chelsea to AC Milan

USA international Christian Pulisic is joining AC Milan from Chelsea for a reported €20 million ($22.4M) after four underwhelming seasons in west London.

After a promising start – Pulisic scored nine goals and registered four assists in his first Premier League season – ‘Captain America’s’ performances tailed off as a series of injuries derailed his progression.

In his final season, he managed just one goal and one assist in 24 Premier League matches as Chelsea makes a €40 million ($44.9M) loss on his transfer fee after signing him for €65 million ($72.9M) from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.

Markéta Vondroušová had overcome the odds throughout the last fortnight at Wimbledon and the Czech did so again in the women’s final on Saturday, beating favorite Ons Jabeur to become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the famous tournament.

The world No. 42, who was playing in her second grand slam final, beat the No. 6 seed 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court to make history, falling onto the grass as the enormity of her achievement hit her.

Not since Serena Williams in 2018, when the American was ranked 181 in the world, had a female player ranked so low in the world reached a Wimbledon final. The last unseeded woman to do so was Billie Jean King in 1963.

Last year Vondroušová was in London as a tourist, still recovering from surgery to her left wrist. And at the start of Wimbledon, seven months on from her most recent injury comeback, no one had expected her to be competing in the championship match, not even the player herself whose husband had remained in the Czech Republic until the final to look after their cat, Frankie.

But Jabeur became the fifth seeded player to fall to the 24-year-old in this tournament as her unpredictability proved difficult for her opponents to overcome, with the Tunisian particularly struggling despite having numerous opportunities to take control of the match.

“Tennis is crazy,” said Vondroušová, a former junior No. 1 and runner-up at the 2019 French Open, in her on-court interview. “Yeah, I really don’t know what is happening now, it’s an amazing feeling.”

History would have been made no matter which of the finalists had lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, but the enormity of the occasion weighed heavier on Jabeur, who has now lost a second successive Wimbledon final with this, she said after the defeat, being the most painful of her career. This was also her third loss in a major final.

But that is what pressure does to a player, especially one carrying the hopes of not only a nation but a continent while also trying to grapple with her own expectations, dreams and past failures. Jabeur again came close to becoming the first Arab and African woman to win a grand slam, but her 31 unforced errors proved costly and the wait goes on. That she won just four of 10 break points will likely play heavy on her mind for some time, too.

“I’m not going to give up, I’m going to come back stronger,” she told Centre Court while also wiping away the tears.

Unpredictable and fearless

Jabeur had plenty of opportunities in the first set in particular, but secured only two of seven break points and made 17 unforced errors. Statistics she would come to regret as Vondroušová took control.

The finalists traded breaks in the second and third games of the match, drawing level at 2-2 after a series of absorbing, lengthy baseline battles. More breaks followed – four in the opening seven games – as nerves infiltrated their play, adding to the tension.

Vondroušová, the unpredictable left-handed underdog varied her tactics brilliantly. She kept changing the pace and spin on the ball and eventually took the first set, securing the crucial break in the ninth game to serve out the set.

The 28-year-old Jabeur was left shaking her head as she was broken in the opening game of the second set, her opponent rattling off six games in a row to put herself in the ascendancy.

The momentum shift was a surprise, but Vondroušová has unnerved opponents throughout these last two weeks. When it’s impossible to predict what shot will come next, seeds of doubts start to play with the mind.

But things can change quickly in tennis and just when Jabeur seemed to be dangling off the precipice, from 40-0 down on Vondroušová serve she broke back to level the match. Hope was restored, and a nation breathed a little easier. But only for a short while.

Jabeur was still unable to inflict the killer blow on a player who refused to yield and, crucially, Vondroušová broke back to make the most of her opponent’s nervousness, continuing the unpredictable nature of the match.

The crowd was rooting for Jabeur, the supremely talented Tunisian who had said it was her dream to win at the All England Club, but their vociferous support was not enough and, at 4-4, Vondroušová broke again and served for the match, a backhand volley securing a famous and deserved win.

Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz. Perennial grand slam winner against the leader of the next generation and the Wimbledon men’s final many wanted.

Djokovic and Alcaraz will meet on Sunday in a mouthwatering final between two of the sport’s most in-form players in a match where there is much on the line – the winner will leave London with not only the Wimbledon crown but also world No. 1 status.

Djokovic even acknowledged the excitement of a clash with Alcaraz in the aftermath of his semifinal victory over Jannik Sinner.

“I think, judging by the performances that we have seen from all the players, I think this is probably the best finals that we could have,” he told reporters. “We are both in good form. We’re both playing well.

“I guess I want to take this title without a doubt. I look forward to it. It’s going to be a great challenge, greatest challenge that I could have at the moment from any angle really: physical, mental, emotional.”

Although Djokovic believed that Alcaraz is “hungry” for success, he said he felt similar feelings.

“I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast.”

Learning from past mistakes

Alcaraz’s remarkable ascent to the top of tennis has been quick, so much so that at this year’s French Open he was seen by many as the favorite to win what would have been his second grand slam title.

As he blitzed through opponents on the clay – a surface which he, like his compatriot Rafael Nadal, has become dominant on – those beliefs were enhanced.

And against Djokovic in the semifinal, he held his own against the 36-year-old for much of the match, even playing the better tennis at times.

However, at the start of the third set disaster struck when he began suffering from serious cramps which hampered his all-action style of play. He went on to lose the match, ending hopes of a first French Open title.

After the match, Alcaraz later said that nerves and tension had caused his whole body to cramp.

This time, the 20-year-old is keen to avoid anything similar happening again, saying he’ll look to his psychologist – who he says he’s been working with since 2020 – to help him through the process.

“I will talk with her how to prepare that match, that important moment for me, that is not going to be easy,” the current world No. 1 told reporters after his victory over Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals.

He added: “I (will) try to get into the court with not as much nerves as I probably had in French Open, in the semifinal. I (will) try to pull out all nerves, try to enjoy that moment because probably in the semifinal at the French Open I didn’t enjoy at all in the first set probably.

“I’ll do something different from the match. I prepare the match a little bit different from French Open. It’s going to be different for me. I hope not to get cramp during the final.”

History making

For Djokovic, he has another opportunity to make history on Sunday.

Having already achieved the men’s singles grand slam titles record with his 23rd at the French Open last month, Djokovic can tie Margaret Court for the most singles titles of all time with victory at Wimbledon.

The Serbian can also tie Roger Federer on eight for the most Wimbledon titles in men’s singles and a win on Sunday would be his third grand slam of the year, giving him the opportunity at the US Open later this year to complete a ‘grand slam’ of all four majors in one calendar year.

That hasn’t been done since Steffi Graf won all four grand slams – as well as the Olympic gold medal in women’s singles – in 1988. Rod Laver is the last man to accomplish the feat, in 1969.

With six out of the last eight grand slams under his belt, Djokovic says remaining focused on the biggest matches has allowed him to reach this point.

“Well, it’s no secret that grand slams are the highest priority for me, the highest goals on my priority list,” he said. “Every time I start the season, I want to peak at these four tournaments. I try to organize my schedule, training schedule, and my preparation weeks, and all the tournaments, according to these priorities.

“I feel that the job is not finished until I lift the trophy – hopefully – and play in the finals of a grand slam. I put myself, again, in that position. Of course, I’m very thrilled.”

More than 85 million people remained under heat alerts Saturday as the weekslong heat wave continues and intensifies in the Southwest.

Dangerously high temperatures will continue to plague the Western United States throughout the weekend, with temperatures growing hotter in the South early next week.

“Daytime highs will routinely range between 10-20F above normal, equating to daytime temperatures approaching the century mark in the interior Northwest, between 100-110F in central and southern California, and 115-120F+ in the high desert of southern California, southern Nevada, and Arizona,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.

More than 100 temperature records are possible through Monday across the West and South.

Death Valley, California, could top 130 degrees on Sunday. That’s happened just five times in more than 110 years of record

Phoenix temperatures have reached 110 degrees on consecutive days, and the streak should continue through at least Wednesday.

In Southern California, the Riverside County Fire Department is battling three wildfires that started Friday, including the Rabbit Fire. It grew from 20 acres to 4,500 acres and was 5% contained Saturday, Cal Fire said.

Meanwhile, sultry conditions will persist in the south-central US and in South Florida. Daytime highs in the 90s to low 100s with oppressive humidity levels will allow heat indices to range frequently between 105-110F each afternoon.

A heat advisory is in place from Texas to Alabama but does not include Georgia or most of Florida. The high in Houston is forecast for 100 degrees on Saturday. It could reach 96 in New Orleans and Jackson, Mississippi. Atlanta is expected to reach only a relatively mild 92.

And wildfire smoke from Canada will move into the Northern Plains and Midwest over the weekend and into early next week.

Concern about power outages from increased demand arose in the Southwest. And some venues planned to close early or cancel events, including the Sacramanto (California) Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

Arizona and Texas endure weekslong heat streaks

Alerts for dangerous heat levels have been posted in areas of Arizona and Texas for more than 30 days in a row as a long-lasting heat wave has settled over parts of the West and South since mid-June.

Temperatures have failed to drop below 90 in the Phoenix area since Monday, a trend that could be deadly for those without air conditioning if they are unable to cool and recover their bodies overnight.

In Texas, El Paso broke its own high temperature streak record on Thursday after experiencing 28 consecutive days above 100 degrees, the weather service tweeted.

That streak will likely extend well beyond 30 days as El Paso is expected to see temperatures of at least 103 degrees through the middle of next week.

Elsewhere, much of Texas’ eastern half saw heat indices – what the combined humidity and temperature feels like – between 110 and 115 degrees on Thursday.

Widespread temperatures of 100 to 108 were seen across much of the state Thursday, including temperatures of 107 in Austin and Del Rio. The North Texas city of Wichita Falls broke a daily record of 110 degrees with a heat index as high as 118 degrees.

The dangers of brutally high heat

As the climate crisis ratchets temperatures higher and higher, scientists have warned there’s a growing likelihood that 2023 could be the Earth’s hottest year on record.

Heat kills more Americans than any other form of severe weather, including flooding, hurricanes or extreme cold, according to National Weather Service data.

Communities across the globe are already feeling the devastation of these extreme temperatures, including one Texas county that reported at least 11 heat-related deaths during last month’s heat wave. In Mexico, at least 112 people have died from extreme heat exposure since March.

While our bodies try to regulate their own temperature, extreme heat can make it hard for the body to cool down, and added humidity can make that struggle even worse.

When the body becomes unable to cool itself, illnesses such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke – which can be fatal – can set in.

The risks of heat exposure are particularly high for people experiencing homelessness, outdoor workers, low-income families, communities of color and the elderly.

To stay safe in sweltering temperatures, experts recommend hydrating regularly, finding a cool or air-conditioned place and avoiding outside activities, particularly during the hottest times of the day.

People should watch for signs of heat exhaustion or other illnesses, which include light-headedness, nausea, headache or confusion.