Northwestern has fired head baseball coach Jim Foster, the school announced on Thursday.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the firing comes amid allegations that Foster “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior.”

Per the report, Foster was investigated by the school’s human resources department. The investigation found “sufficient evidence” that Foster harbored a toxic environment within the program, according to an internal HR document obtained by the Tribune.

According to the document, Foster “made an inappropriate comment regarding a female staff member, and spoke negatively about his staff to other staff members.”

The document, per the Tribune, says results from the investigation were shared with leaders within the school’s Department of Athletics and Recreation “to take appropriate remedial action.” It is unclear if any punishment was handed down to Foster as he coached the team this year.

“Nothing will ever be more important to Northwestern than providing its students a place that allows them to develop in the classroom, in the community, and in competition at the absolute highest level, and building a culture which allows our staff to thrive,” athletic director Derrick Gragg said in a statement Thursday.

“This has been an ongoing situation and many factors were considered before reaching this resolution. As the Director of Athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold.”

Foster led the Wildcats to a 10-40 record in his first season with the school this past year. Foster previously coached Army from 2017-2022, where he helped lead the Black Knights to four Patriot League titles.

Assistant coach Brian Anderson was subsequently named the head coach of the Wildcats, the school added.

Foster’s firing comes days after the school fired longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald after allegations of hazing within the Wildcats football program.

El Niño is a climate pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean along the equator and impacts weather all over the world.

Warm water normally is confined to the western Pacific by winds that blow from east to west, pushing it toward Indonesia and Australia. But during an El Niño, the winds slow down and can even reverse direction, allowing the warmer water to spread eastward all the way to South America.

Scientists are still searching for an answer as to why this happens, but the slowing of these winds can last for weeks or months.

El Niños – among many large-scale weather patterns that act in tandem to influence global weather – occur every two to seven years in varying intensity, and the waters of the eastern Pacific can be up to 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer than usual.

El Niño, which in Spanish means “little boy,” is the opposite of the La Niña, or “little girl,” climate pattern.

El Niño offers a global study in opposites

A strong El Niño heats up the atmosphere and changes circulation patterns around the globe.

It can especially affect the jet stream – a narrow band of strong wind in the upper atmosphere – over the Pacific, which gets stronger and dumps more frequent and intense storms over the western US, especially California, and along South America’s west coast.

The atmosphere, however, is something of a zero-sum game: More rain in North and South America falls at the expense of normally rainy southern Asia and Australia, which in turn can experience droughts.

El Niño has been known to cause intense flooding across eastern sections of Africa – leading to landslides, an increase in waterborne diseases and even food shortages – while northern and southern parts of the continent experience severe drought.

A strong El Niño also influences cyclone seasons around the planet. The warmer the Pacific is, the more hurricanes or typhoons it gets – while fewer hurricanes form in Atlantic Ocean because increased upper-level winds prevent them from developing. This happened during the 2015 hurricane season, with the Pacific breaking records while the Atlantic seeing a relatively quiet year.

It can affect US rainfall – and Pacific fish

Like snowflakes, no two El Niños are exactly alike. For instance, an area of warmer water in the northern Pacific that became known as “the blob” during the 2014-2016 El Niño event wasn’t there during the 1997 El Niño.

But during typical El Niño years, more rain falls in the southwestern and southeastern United States, while the North experiences much drier and warmer weather.

And weather isn’t the only thing El Niño affects. Warmer surface waters in the eastern Pacific drive away cold-water fish that are the backbone of the fishing industry in much of Latin America. In fact, fishermen there first noticed the phenomenon and named it “little boy” or “Christ child” in Spanish, since it often appeared around Christmas.

Its climate crisis impact is under review

The influence of the climate crisis on El Niño is still a matter of debate.

Climate change could make El Niños’ impact worse, some recent studies show. And while the overall number of El Niños is unlikely to increase as the planet warms, amplified, so-called “super” El Niños will be twice as likely, other research suggests.

Among the most likely byproducts of global warming are more extreme precipitation events because warmer temperatures can hold more water vapor in the atmosphere. That could make El Niño-induced floods even more devastating.

Lovers of luxury rail journeys have a couple of new routes to add to their travel wish lists now that one of the world’s most iconic trains has announced its return to the tracks of Southeast Asia.

In February 2024, The Eastern & Oriental Express, A Belmond Train will launch two seasonal return-trip journeys out of Singapore that take in the landscapes of its northern neighbor, Malaysia.

These routes mark the brand’s official return to Southeast Asia after being forced to cease operations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Eastern & Oriental Express round-trip journeys will depart from Singapore’s Woodlands station and chug up the tracks through Malaysia, stopping at popular destinations including Penang, Langkawi and the Taman Negara National Park.

According to Belmond, operator of the train, the 15 signature green- and cream-colored carriages, once a familiar site for train spotters in the region, have been restyled. There are eight sleeper cars, two restaurant cars, a piano bar and an open-air observation car at the back of the train.

Nods to the region’s culture include Malaysian embroidery and silks, while cherry wood paneling adds warmth throughout the carriages.

Guests can choose from three cabin categories – Pullman, State and Presidential. All come with private bathrooms.

“The Pullman cabins are inspired by the radiance of Kuala Lumpur, boasting red sofas juxtaposed with blue cushions, drapery and pelmets that reflect the city’s dramatic skies, while the State cabins reflect Penang’s marine locale, with a bright blue and green color palette,” says a Belmond news release announcing the new routes.

“The Presidential cabins celebrate regional opulence, with hues of gold and embroidered decor elements.”

In the restaurant, travelers will be served contemporary Peranakan dishes – a regional cuisine known for its mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian ingredients and cooking methods.

Two Malaysia experiences

The first of the two experiences on offer is called “Essence of Malaysia: A Gateway into Malay Culture.”
This three-night trip takes in the west of Malaysia, heading from Singapore through Kuala Lumpur and up to the island of Langkawi and then Penang.

To get to Langkawi, guests will board a private boat from Alor Setar on the mainland. Once there, they’ll have the option of snorkeling in the Pulau Payar Marine Park.

On the third day, guests will head over to another famed island, Penang. Here, they can head for the capital, George Town, to enjoy its historic architecture and famed street food scene.

The second trip on offer is called “Wild Malaysia: Exploring Sights Unseen” and heads up the eastern side of the Malaysian peninsula.

Among the highlights is a visit to the Taman Negara National Park. Train travelers will visit one of the world’s oldest tropical rainforests, which is home to hundreds of species including tigers and Sumatran rhinos. They can also learn more about the work of local tiger conservation groups, join a photography masterclass or go on a jungle foraging trip.

Then, on day three guests head west for a visit to Penang before returning to Singapore.

Both itineraries last for three nights and rates start from US$3,410 per person for a Pullman cabin. Meals, a selection of drinks, entertainment and activities are all included in the price.

What about Thailand?

Travelers familiar with the luxury train’s long-established presence in Southeast Asia might be asking: why isn’t it traveling up through Thailand to Bangkok?

The Eastern & Oriental Express – a sister train of the famed Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express – made its inaugural journey from Bangkok to Singapore in 1993, and before the pandemic offered a variety of routes between the two cities that included stops in popular destinations like the historic town of Kanchanaburi in Thailand’s west, as well as Malaysia.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Israel on Tuesday in the biggest weekday protest in months against the government’s renewed moves to overhaul the country’s judicial system.

They snarled traffic in Tel Aviv and caused chaos at Ben Gurion airport, marched at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem and lined up on Mediterranean beaches for what they called a day of “disruption and resistance.”

Photos and videos released by protest organizers and Israel Police showed demonstrators on the streets in cities around the country including Haifa, Petach Tikva, Beer Sheva, Hod Hasharon and other locations. At least 71 people had been arrested by 6:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET), with 45 of them already released, Israel Police said in a statement.

Lawmakers voted Monday to strip the Supreme Court of the power to declare government actions “unreasonable,” in the first of three votes required for the controversial bill to become law.

The bill is one part of a sweeping package of judicial overhaul measures that would weaken the judiciary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies call the measures “reforms” and say they are required to re-balance powers between the courts, lawmakers and the government. But opponents of the plan say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing the most significant check on government actions.

Large protests against the agenda have taken place in the country since the start of the year. Netanyahu paused the legislative process in March following an unprecedented general strike that shut down much of Israel’s economy. Monday’s vote marks the end of that pause.

What is happening on Tuesday?

A large protest is taking place in cities across Israel, the latest in a series of demonstrations against the judicial overhaul that has lasted months and disrupted life in the country.

Organizers said they had blocked the Ayalon Highway on Tuesday, Tel Aviv’s major thoroughfare, and asserted that police would be unable to clear it due to the number of protesters.

A photographer for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was shoved to the ground at a demonstration in Haifa, northern Israel, on Tuesday morning, before being escorted away by police, video from the scene showed.

The video shows him telling police he works for Haaretz, one of Israel’s best-known newspapers. Haaretz tweeted the video with a caption saying the photographer was beaten by police, detained and released a few minutes later.

Protesters around him could be heard chanting “Shame” – a common chant at anti-overhaul protests – as he was led away. Israel Police said the photographer had blocked a road, was “behaving disruptively,” and had pushed police officers before he was detained.

He was “shouting and causing a disturbance. As a result, he was pushed towards the sidewalk. In response, the journalist pushed back against the law enforcement officers, necessitating the use of force to remove him from the scene. We note that he was released immediately thereafter,” the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.

What is the government trying to do?

In March, Netanyahu was forced to back down on his controversial plans to overhaul the country’s judiciary, amid widespread strikes and protests as well as mounting international pressure.

That delay followed an unprecedented general strike that shut down transportation, universities, restaurants and retailers. Netanyahu also faced rare expressions of concern about his plans from key allies, including the United States.

But Netanyahu did not scrap the agenda – he merely delayed it until a future Knesset session. He is now returning to the controversial effort, reigniting anger in the country.

The Knesset voted Monday night to advance the bill stripping the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable – the first of three votes required for the bill to become law. The second and third are scheduled for July 24.

If it passes those votes, it will become the first part of the overhaul to become law.

Why is the judicial overhaul so controversial?

The judicial overhaul is a package of bills that, at their core, would give the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and therefore the parties in power, more control over Israel’s judiciary.

From how judges are selected, to what laws the Supreme Court can rule on, the changes would represent a historic shakeup of Israel’s judiciary.

Last month Netanyahu said the most controversial aspect of his proposed changes – a provision allowing the national legislature, the Knesset, to overturn Supreme Court rulings – has been dropped and will not be returning.

But even if that element does not return, the package still includes a number of controversial changes, including changing the composition of the committee that selects judges so that the government of the day has effective control; removing independent legal advisers – whose decisions are binding – from government ministries; and stripping the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions “unreasonable.”

What does each side say about the reforms?

Israel has no written constitution, only a set of quasi-constitutional basic laws, and also has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.

Netanyahu and his supporters argued that the Supreme Court has become an insular, elitist group that does not represent the Israeli people. They argued the Supreme Court has overstepped its role, getting into issues it should not rule on.

Critics said Netanyahu was pushing the overhaul forward because of his own ongoing corruption trial, where he faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing.

His opponents also said the initially proposed overhaul would have gone too far, and would have completely destroyed the only avenue available to provide checks and balances to the Israeli legislative branch.

A lawyer for the young person at the center of a controversy involving an unnamed BBC presenter has disputed the claims reported in The Sun newspaper, saying they were “rubbish.”

The British public broadcaster suspended “a male member of staff” at the weekend after The Sun reported Friday that a woman had accused an unnamed presenter of paying her teenage child for sexually explicit photographs.

The Sun had reported that the alleged recipient’s mother said they had used the money received in exchange for photos to fund an addiction to crack cocaine.

“I blame this BBC man for destroying my child’s life,” the recipient’s mother was quoted as saying.

The tabloid reported that the presenter had paid the person in question more than £35,000 ($45,000) since they were 17 years old in return for explicit images. It is a criminal offense in the UK to take or obtain sexually explicit photographs of anyone under the age of 18. The Sun has reported the person involved is now 20.

In a letter to the BBC, the lawyer representing the young person said “nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are ‘rubbish’.”

In response to the letter, as reported by the BBC, a spokesperson for The Sun said the tabloid “reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behavior of a presenter and the welfare of their child. Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC.

The lawyer also said their client sent a denial to The Sun on Friday evening via WhatsApp, saying the statement their mother gave to the tabloid was “totally wrong and there was no truth to it,” according to the BBC.

The tabloid published “their inappropriate article” despite the young person’s denial, the lawyer said according to the BBC.

Earlier on Monday, London’s Metropolitan Police said it was assessing whether there was evidence that the accused BBC presenter has committed a criminal offense. The Met said in a statement that detectives from its Specialist Crime Command met virtually with representatives from the BBC on Monday morning.

“They are assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed,” the statement said.

The British government department that oversees media regulation, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said it wanted to be “kept informed” of the progress of the investigation in light of the BBC’s status as a public service broadcaster.

Fevered speculation about the presenter’s identity has led to several BBC presenters releasing public statements on Twitter denying that they were the subject of the story.

The Metropolitan Police said Monday it was investigating a social media post related to the sexual misconduct claim. “On Saturday, 8 July police received a report of malicious communication in relation to a post on social media. An investigation is under way and enquiries are ongoing. There have been no arrests,” the Met said in a statement.

Amid the raging war and constant threat of Russian missiles, a successful heart transplant has been performed on a 6-year-old girl in Kyiv, authorities with the Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday.

The three-hour operation, which took place on Sunday evening, gave the girl the heart of a 4-year-old boy, whom doctors had declared brain dead after suffering an aneurysm.

It was the first time a heart transplant had been performed in Ukraine on children so young, the institute said.

“The operation was also unique in that both the donor and the recipient were very young children, and the transplant required more effort from the doctors,” it added.

The transplant was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr. Boris Todurov, the chief scientist of the department of surgical and minimally invasive treatment.

“The operation went smoothly, the girl was extubated two hours after the operation,” Todurov said in a post on his official Facebook page.

The Heart Institute released images from the operation showing the mother of the boy whose heart was donated standing by the girl’s bedside.

“The operation went well, and the new heart is beating in the girl’s chest,” Oksana Dmytrieva, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s subcommittee on modern medical technologies and transplantation development, said in an emotional post on Facebook.

“It is extremely touching that the mother of the deceased boy came to listen to her child’s heart beating in the other chest … I have tears in my eyes from this photo,” she added.

Three more of the boy’s organs – two kidneys and a liver – were transplanted to two other children at another hospital in Kyiv, the National Children’s Hospital “Ohmatdyt.”

The two kidneys were transplanted to a 12-year-old boy from the occupied part of Kherson region. “He had been waiting for a transplant for more than 3 years and lived at the Ohmatdyt,” the hospital said in a Facebook post. A liver was also transplanted to a 15-year-old boy from Kirovohrad region.

“Many thanks to the parents of the little angel, who made an extremely noble act in this extremely difficult time for the family! You are people with a big and kind heart!” Dmytrieva said. “May the little angel rest in peace. And a speedy recovery to the patients who got a chance for a full life!”

Transplants would not be possible without the relatives of donors making the decision “to save the lives of people they do not know after losing a loved one,” Dmytrieva said. “This is the noblest manifestation of humanity. Especially when it comes to the loss of a child.”

Heart surgery during wartime

So far this year, 23 heart transplants have been performed in Ukraine amid the war, the Heart Institute said.

If the operation hasn’t started, the team of doctors and the patient wait for the air raid sirens to stop before beginning the operation.

Earlier this year, when Kyiv was less protected by air defenses, all patients were brought down to a specially equipped bomb shelter.

Those who could move around went on their own, while those who could not were helped by staff, the Heart Institute said.

The only exception was patients in the intensive care unit, who could not be moved, so the doctor on duty and other medical staff would stay with them.

The Heart Institute has purchased special generators so operations can continue during blackouts, and it has an autonomous water supply.

During the war, the institute said it had seen more patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases and worsening chronic diseases due to stress.

It looked like a normal tweet by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, posted days before NATO’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. But instead of referring to the military alliance’s acronym, she congratulated the “fellas” on their “first-ever NAFO summit.”

At the end of her short video greeting, a cartoon-like dog, wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine’s flag, pops up behind the Estonian leader.

Kallas was not joking. “NAFO” stands for the North Atlantic Fellas Organization and is a decentralized online volunteer organization that is waging its own social media war against Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, the group held its own summit in Lithuania’s capital, which was opened by the country’s foreign minister.

NAFO’s volunteer “troops” use tongue-in-cheek memes to mock, troll and discredit Russia’s war. Their battlegrounds are primarily Twitter and Telegram, where they have garnered a sizable fan-base among Ukraine supporters and captured the attention of global leaders.

These volunteers, also known as “fellas,” can be identified by their online avatars or profile pictures, typically a cartoon Shiba Inu (a Japanese hunting dog that became a popular internet meme in 2013) dressed in Ukrainian military gear.

Members often personalize the memes with different uniforms, glasses, and weapons. Some fellas are Ukrainian soldiers, who are fighting on the front lines and provide pictures from the battlefield, mocking the incompetence of the Russian military or praising Ukrainian bravery.

NAFO was founded in May 2022 by Kamil Dyszewski as part of a fundraising initiative – making dog avatars for people who had donated to the Georgian Legion, a volunteer military unit in Ukraine.

The group relies heavily on memes. After identifying Russian propaganda or pro-Russian sympathizers, fellas pile on their posts with memes, humor, wry logic, and dismissive comments. They even invoke their version of “Article 5” – a reference to NATO’s mutual self-defense clause – signaling to other fellas to come to their aid.

If all of this sounds somewhat ridiculous – it is. But disinformation and propaganda experts say humor is a serious weapon in the information war again disinformation.

Keir Giles, Russia watcher at the British think tank Chatham House, explains in a forthcoming publication that humor reverses the usual roles of propagandists and their target audiences: “Instead of trolls and propagandists sucking their opponents into futile arguments that achieve nothing, if the conversation in itself is ridiculous, it is instead against their interest to engage in it.”

As NAFO co-founder Matt Moores told a panel at the Center for Strategic and International Studies: “the moment somebody’s replying to a cartoon dog online, you’ve lost.”

And yet, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova did just that shortly after the Estonian Prime Minister’s tweet was posted. “NAFO personifies what the E.U. (European Union) has seemed to be fighting: hate speech, intolerance, all forms of xenophobia. This is the essence of the West’s hypocrisy – ‘we ourselves will become sons of bitches, if only to spite Russia,’” she said on Twitter.

The ranks of #NAFOfellas has expanded to include not only online supporters of Ukraine’s cause, but also journalists, academics, analysts and military personnel. In late August 2022, Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov tweeted a “personal salute to #NAFOfellas” and temporarily changed his Twitter profile picture to a Shiba Inu cartoon.

My personal salute to #NAFOfellas. I’d like to thank each person behind Shiba Inu cartoon. Your donations to support our defenders, your fight VS misinformation is valuable.
I’m changing my profile picture for a few days. Cheers @marlowc2324
NAFO expansion is non-negotiatiable! pic.twitter.com/SapxtsVsS5

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) August 30, 2022

Other prominent government officials also have cited the significance of the fellas, including the United Kingdom’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

#NAFO has its critics, even among opponents of Russia’s war against Ukraine, who accuse the fellas of sometimes going too far in trolling Russia, pointing to recent posts mocking a young Russian tourist who was killed by a shark in Egypt.

But #NAFO has no editors or censors. It’s young and brash, self-aware, and epitomizes the way young people communicate today. The Russian government and its propagandists often have a tin ear when it comes to humor, which the “NAFOFellas” are only too happy to exploit.

England soccer international Dele Alli says he recently spent six weeks in rehab to help with his mental health and treatment for “addiction and trauma,” revealing he had been molested when he was a child and dealt drugs at the age of eight.

“So, at six, I was molested by my mom’s friend, who was at the house a lot,” Alli told former Manchester United defender and England international Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast, which was made available on Thursday.

“My mom was an alcoholic, [so] that happened at six. I was sent to Africa to learn discipline, and then I was sent back. At seven, I started smoking; eight, I started dealing drugs,” added Alli.

“An older person told me that they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I’d have the drugs, that was eight. Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.”

‘Betrayed’

At the age of 12, Alli says he was adopted.

“If God created people, it was them,” Alli told Neville of his adopted family. “They were amazing, and they’ve helped me a lot, and that was another thing, you know –- when I started living with them, it was hard for me to really open up to them, because I felt within myself, it was easy to get rid of me again.”

Asked by Neville about his relationship with his birth mother, Alli answered that he doesn’t speak to her after his parents went to the media with a story about his adopted family.

“After that, I just felt so betrayed and let down and hurt that I just couldn’t keep the relationship with my mom,” said Alli.

The 27-year-old Alli most recently played for Turkish Süper Lig side Beşiktaş before returning to parent club Everton in the English Premier League after his spell in Turkey was hampered by injuries.

After returning to the UK, Alli decided to enter rehab.

“I was in a bad place mentally. I decided to go to a modern day rehab facility for addiction, mental health and trauma” said Alli.

“I felt like it was time for me. With things like that, you can’t be told to go there. You have to make the decision yourself.

“I was caught in a bad cycle, I was relying on things that were doing me harm. I was waking up every day and [I] was winning the fight, going into training, smiling, showing I was happy, but inside, I was definitely losing the battle and it was definitely time [for me] to change it.”

Alli told the Overlap podcast that Everton had been very supportive of his decision to enter rehab and how “open, honest, and understanding” the Premier League club was while he was “probably making the biggest decision of [his] life.”

“I couldn’t have expected it to go the way it did. Before you hear about it, it has [this whole] stigma. It’s something people don’t want to do, going into rehab, it definitely sounds scary.

“But I could never have imagined how much I would get from it and how much it [would help] me mentally because I was in a bad place.”

In a statement, Everton said it had been supporting “Dele in both his return to fitness and overcoming the personal challenges highlighted in his interview with The Overlap.”

“Everyone at Everton respects and applauds Dele’s bravery to speak about the difficulties he has faced, as well as seek the help required,” Everton added.

Alli’s former club, Tottenham Hotspur, tweeted a picture of Alli alongside an emoji of a white heart.

The former Spurs star added that he had only checked out of rehab three weeks prior to appearing on Neville’s podcast.

“It’s been going on for a long time (my addiction) … the things I was doing to numb the feelings I had. I didn’t realize it was for that purpose, whether it be drinking or whatever.

“I got addicted to sleeping tablets and it’s probably a problem that not only I have. I think it’s something that it’s going around more than people realize in football.”

Alli told Neville that he had chosen to speak out about his problems in the hope that he can help people who may be dealing with similar issues.

“If I’m being honest, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it this soon, I think maybe give it a little bit more time … I maybe could have done with a little bit more time in terms of when I was talking about it, but unfortunately, the way the world is now, you know the tabloids they found out and they was calling my team a lot and they were telling that they knew where I was and stuff.”

“Support services are also available for players who are affected by addiction through the PFA [Professional Footballers’ Association] and the Sporting Chance mental health charity, which are both supported by The FA,” added English soccer’s governing body.

Editor’s Note: If you live in the US and are or know someone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or visit the hotline’s website.
If you are outside of the US, please check CALM’s list of international services offering mental health support.

Rory McIlroy said on Thursday that he would rather retire than compete on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour even if it “was the last place on Earth to play golf.”

Four-time major winner McIlroy has been a vocal opponent of the breakaway golf tour ever since it came into existence a few years ago, threatening the very foundations of the sport.

June’s shocking announcement of the merger between LIV and the PGA Tour appeared to end hostilities between golf’s two factions, but McIlroy still isn’t afraid of hiding his feelings towards the new tour.

“If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire. That’s how I feel about it,” said McIlroy, who was reportedly speaking to the written press after his first round at the Scottish Open on Thursday. “I’d play the majors, but I’d be pretty comfortable.”

The revelation was made in a 276-page report released by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday. The subcommittee – part of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee – is looking into the deal, and the involvement of the Saudi government, between the two entities.

Earlier this week, witnesses – including PGA Tour Chief Operating Officer Ron Price and Jimmy Dunne, a company board member who helped broker the deal – faced scrutiny from committee members over the deal.

“Today’s hearing is about much more than the game of golf. It’s about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence, and indeed even take over a cherished American institution to cleanse its public image,” said Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.

But both Price and Dunne said that the framework of the planned merger was the best chance to allow the PGA Tour to keep some measure of control over the sport.

“I really understand Sen. Blumenthal’s concern about having them take over,” Dunne said in comments before the committee.

“They have an unlimited horizon and an unlimited amount of money. It isn’t like the product is better. It’s just that there’s a lot more money that will make people [players] move [from the PGA to LIV]. I’m concerned with what the senator is worried about. But I’m concerned if we do nothing we’re going to end up there, they’re going to end up owning golf. They can do it.”

A day before, former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson had resigned from his post on the policy board of the PGA Tour in protest to the proposed merger, saying that he had “serious concerns.”

A US intelligence report named Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, as responsible for approving the operation that led to the 2018 murder of journalist Khashoggi – something bin Salman denies.

McIlroy said that he only caught glimpses of the Senate hearing. “As long as I get to play golf, I’m happy. Quite a bit of apathy towards everything at the minute,’’ McIlroy said.

“There wasn’t a lot of new information in there for me. There was going to be some new information for other people. As I said, I’ve almost been too close the last year and a bit. So nice to be able to try to distance myself a bit.’’

At the RBC Canadian Open last month and shortly after the news of the merger broke, McIlroy said it didn’t change his opinions of LIV.

“I still hate LIV. Like, I hate LIV. Like, I hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does. And I think that’s where the distinction here is.”

The 34-year-old added: “It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.

“Again, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf. There’s no denying that. But for me as an individual, there’s just going to have to be conversations that are had.”

Markéta Vondroušová reached her first Wimbledon final after a scintillating performance against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, winning 6-3 6-3 in just an hour and 14 minutes.

The 24-year-old Czech star is the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon final and her exquisitely varied game was too much for Svitolina to handle.

Vondroušová will face world No. 6 Ons Jabeur in the final after the Tunisian outlasted No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3.

It was an inspired performance from Vondroušová, who rose to the occasion on Centre Court and got the better of her opponent with a potent mix of speed, spin and power to reach the second grand slam final of her career.

There was to be no fairytale ending to Svitolina’s dream run in SW19, but the Ukrainian will undoubtedly leave with her head held high after inspiring her compatriots all over the world.

“I cannot believe it, I’m just very happy that I made the final against Elina, she’s such a fighter and also such a great person and it was a tough match,” Vondroušová said in her on-court interview. “I’m very happy.

“I was crazy nervous, I was nervous the whole match. I was leading 4-0 [in the second set] and she came back and broke me twice, so I had to stay focused and try to fight for every game and I’m thankful for you guys and your amazing support.

“I didn’t play for six months last year. You never know if you can be at that level again, so I’m grateful to be here and healthy. I was watching quallies with a cast on last year, so it’s a change but I’m very grateful.”

After reaching the French Open final in 2019 as a 20-year-old, Vondroušová looked set to become a force at the top of the women’s game. However, injuries stalled her progress and surgery in 2022 forced her to miss three of the year’s four grand slams as her ranking slipped out of the world’s top 120.

One of Vondroušová’s many tattoos – she told the Czech media she’s lost count of how many she has – says “No rain, no flowers” and the world No. 42 has endured her fair share of dark skies.

Remarkably, Vondroušová doesn’t even have an official clothing sponsor – that is likely to change before the end of the week.

After trailing 4-0 in the second set, Svitolina showed all the resiliency and grit that has been on display during her incredible run in SW19 to break Vondroušová back twice and make it 4-3.

Svitolina, who began her fortnight with a straight sets win over Venus Williams in the first round, only returned to the tour three months ago after giving birth to her daughter, Skaï Monfils, in October.

Currently ranked world No. 76, she was was given a wildcard to compete at this year’s Wimbledon and her incredible run included wins over four grand slam champions – Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Świątek.

Svitolina’s run at The All England Lawn Tennis Club equals her career best performance in a grand slam, matching her semifinal appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019, but she was unable to go one better and reach her first major final as Vondroušová found her nerve once again to break her opponent and then serve for the match.