Tropical Storm Bret again strengthened slightly during the day Wednesday and is forecast to reach the Lesser Antilles on Thursday as a strong tropical storm.

Now packing 65 mph winds, the storm is likely already near its peak intensity.

“Little change in strength is forecast during the next day or so while Bret approaches the Lesser Antilles,” the National Hurricane Center said in an evening advisory. “Weakening is anticipated to begin Thursday night or Friday after Bret passes the Lesser Antilles, and the system is likely to dissipate over the central Caribbean Sea by Saturday.”

Bret is expected to bring strong winds, torrential downpours that could lead to flash flooding and rough surf to parts of the Caribbean.

Track Tropical Storm Bret

A tropical storm warning is in effect Wednesday for St. Lucia and Martinique, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours. Tropical storm watches are in effect for Barbados and Dominica, meaning tropical storm conditions are possible there within 48 hours.

“Interests elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles should monitor the progress of Bret,” the NHC said. “Additional watches or warnings may be required.”

While the storm is still pretty ragged and a little disorganized, residents and tourists should prepare, according to the NHC.

“Through Saturday, storm total rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 10 inches possible across portions of the Lesser Antilles from Guadeloupe south to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including Barbados,” the NHC warned. “The heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding, especially across areas of higher terrain. Urban flooding is also possible.”

How to prepare for hurricane season

The storm’s center is expected to approach the Lesser Antilles Thursday, move across the islands throughout the day and night and then move west across the eastern and central Caribbean Sea Friday and Saturday before it dissipates, the NHC said.

2nd named storm of 2023 hurricane season

Bret is the second named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

A near-average number of storms is forecast this year: 12 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and up to four major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said.

If Bret had strengthened into a hurricane, it would have been a rarity. The season’s first hurricane usually doesn’t form until early to mid-August, according to the NHC.

The Federal Aviation Administration is stepping up air traffic control training after a series of close calls have left the flying public and regulatory bodies rattled.

The transportation agency will require the thousands of air traffic controllers it employs to attend new monthly training as part of an effort to reduce near-collisions of aircraft, according to an FAA statement released Wednesday.

The first topics will “cover several items to reduce events on the surface” of airports. The topics for safety briefings will also be driven by “data and seasonal challenges,” the FAA said.

In another incident in February, a FedEx cargo plane that was trying to land in Austin, Texas, had to change course to avoid colliding with a Southwest Airlines jet that was taking off.

In March, the FAA hosted a safety summit with industry and aerospace safety leaders. The agency has made other changes in air traffic control towers and facilities, including directing supervisors to have a more hands-on presence during busy times.

Ahead of the summit, Muntean explained that while it’s the job of air traffic controllers to keep airplanes from running into one another, some of the responsibility falls on the flight crew to remain vigilant and follow their instructions. There are also radar and other technologies to detect where airplanes are on the ground– not just in the air, Muntean said.

“To reach our goal of zero close calls, everyone must stay sharp,” Tim Arel, the FAA official overseeing air traffic control, said Wednesday. “This training will give us an opportunity to focus on safety with our entire workforce.”

It’s nicknamed the “city of dreams,” and it seems the Austrian capital may just be a dream place to live.

The ranking of the world’s most liveable cities for 2023 has just been released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and Vienna has come out on top yet again.

The EIU, a sister organization to The Economist, ranked 173 cities around the world on a number of significant factors, including health care, education, stability, infrastructure and environment.

Vienna held onto its first place spot on the EIU’s Global Liveability Index, winning praise for its reliable infrastructure, standout culture and entertainment and impeccable education and health services.

The city, which has occupied the top position several times over the years, was closely followed by Denmark’s Copenhagen, which retained its second place position.

Big comebacks

While Australia’s Melbourne and Sydney had dropped down the list in recent years, with Sydney dropping out of the top 10 recently and Melbourne tying for 10th place with Japan’s Osaka in 2022, both have shot back up, taking third and fourth place respectively.

Canada was well represented this year, with three of its cities – Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto — landing a spot in the top 10.

Meanwhile, Switzerland received two top 10 entries, with Zurich taking sixth place and Geneva tying for seventh place with Calgary.

Osaka, which saw a small boost in its culture and environment ratings due to the withdrawal of Covid-related restrictions, rounds out the top 10.

“The removal of covid-related restrictions has overall boded well for global liveability in 2023,” Upasana Dutt, Head of Liveability Index at EIU, said in a statement.

“Education has emerged stronger with children returning to schools alongside a significantly reduced burden on hospitals and healthcare systems, with some notable improvements in cities across developing economies of Asia and the Middle East.

“As the world’s political and economic axis continues to shift eastwards, we expect the cities in these regions to move slowly up our liveability rankings.”

Movers and shakers

Although Europe had a strong showing at the top of the list, European destinations also dominated the list of cities that suffered the biggest drops down the rankings this year.

The UK capital London and Sweden’s capital Stockholm both found themselves falling down the rankings, with the former dropping 12 places to 46th and the latter dropping 22 spots to 43rd position.

And after entering the liveability survey for the first time in 2022 at No. 35, Scotland’s capital Edinburgh fell to 58th place this year.

“None of these cities has seen a particularly sharp decline in their index scores, but they have failed to make the gains that many other cities – particularly those in Asia – have made in the past year,” reads the report.

The average index score across 172 cities (eliminating Kyiv in Ukraine) has now reached 76.2 out of 100, the highest score in 15 years.

According to the report, health care scores have improved the most, while those for education, culture and entertainment, and infrastructure are also higher.

Stability decline

However, stability has suffered a “marginal” decline due to “instances of civil unrest in many cities amid a cost-of-living crisis, as well as an uptick in crime in some cities.”

“Of the five categories covered by our index, only stability has seen a decline,” says Barsali Bhattacharyya, Industry Research Manager, EIU.

“Strains on public order and economic headwinds have also increased instances of crime in some cities, and this will continue to be a risk for the future.

“All of this suggests that stability scores in our Liveability Index are unlikely to recover quickly.”

Honolulu, Hawaii’s biggest city was the highest US entry, coming in 25th place.

The popular destination, home to the famous Waikiki beach, moved up six spots this year thanks to improvements in health care scores, “partly owing to the removal of covid-related stress on its healthcare system.”

However, fellow US cities San Diego, which ranked at 61 on the list, and Los Angeles, 57, both dropped 17 places.

There was little change at the bottom of the list this year, with those cities plagued by ongoing civil unrest and military conflicts, amongst other issues, scoring the lowest.

Algeria’s Algiers, Libya’s Tripoli and Syria’s Damascus were ranked the three least liveable cities in the world.

Damascus, consistently one of the lowest-ranked cities in the survey, has seen no improvement in its liveability scores this year.

However, Ukrainian city Kyiv, which was missing from the 2022 list due to Russia’s invasion in February 2022, fell down the list this year as a direct result of the impact of the war, and is now ranked among the 10 least liveable cities in the world.

“The war in Ukraine and the resulting economic and political disruption are affecting liveability in many European cities,” reads the report.

“Unsurprisingly, this is most noticeable in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, which re-joins the survey this year.”

2023’s Global Liveability Index: The top 10

1. Vienna, Austria

2. Copenhagen, Denmark

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Sydney, Australia

5. Vancouver, Canada

6. Zurich, Switzerland

7. Calgary, Canada

7. Geneva, Switzerland

9. Toronto, Canada

10. Osaka, Japan

At least 12 people have died, five are missing and nearly 3,000 have been left homeless after an “extratropical cyclone” hit Brazil’s Rio Grande Do Sul, local authorities say.

Traveling to the region’s hardest hit regions, government authorities have reinforced the role of the state’s relief structure and called upon “the solidarity of the population.”

Rio Grande Do Sul’s governor Eduardo Leite said that the Military Firefighters Corps conducted around 2,400 rescues over the past two days, with operations still underway.

“Our priority at the moment is to find the missing and save people who may still be stranded by the floods.” Leite wrote in a statement. “We have all our teams in the field, and the Secretariat for Logistics and Transport is already analyzing compromised bridges and roads so that we can act in an urgent manner and provide free passage in these locations.”

One video showed a man and dog being rescued by helicopter from the flooding.

The federal government has committed to offering humanitarian aid and supporting reconstruction efforts.

Extreme weather around the world is becoming more intense and more frequent against the backdrop of a fast-warming climate.

The world is already 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than it was in pre-industrial times, and the next five years are predicted to be the hottest on record.

The proportion of high-intensity hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, has increased due to the warmer global temperatures, according to the UN.

Scientists have also found that the storms are more likely to stall and lead to devastating rainfall and they last longer after making landfall.

Here’s a look at the life of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. Wife of the late Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for 20 years until he was ousted in 1986.

Personal

Birth date: July 2, 1929

Birth place: Manila, Philippines (some sources say Leyte Province)

Birth name: Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez

Father: Vicente Orestes Romualdez

Mother: Remedios Trinidad

Marriage: Ferdinand Marcos (May 1, 1954-September 28, 1989, his death)

Children: Irene, Ferdinand Jr. “Bongbong” and Imee

Other Facts

Her nickname in the Philippines was the “Iron Butterfly.”

The Marcos family was accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Philippine people during Ferdinand’s presidency.

Famous for her lavish spending while first lady. At the time of her husband’s ouster from office, she left over 1,000 pairs of shoes and more than 800 purses behind when fleeing to Hawaii.

Timeline

1954 – Imelda marries Ferdinand Marcos 11 days after meeting him.

December 30, 1965 – Becomes first lady of the Philippines at her husband’s presidential inauguration.

September 21, 1972 – President Marcos signs a martial law decree, which he publicly declares two days later.

December 7, 1972 – Is stabbed in her arms and hands during an assassination attempt by Carlito Dimahilig.

1975-1986 – Appointed governor of Metropolitan Manila.

1978-1986 – Appointed Minister of Human Settlements.

January 17, 1981 – President Marcos lifts martial law.

February 1986 – The Marcos family flees to Hawaii after the Filipino people oust Marcos from office. Three years later, he dies in exile.

1990 – Marcos goes on trial in New York for racketeering. The charges allege she stole from the Philippines National Bank and invested the money in the United States. She is later acquitted of the charges.

November 4, 1991 – Marcos returns from exile to the Philippines and is arrested the next day for tax fraud and corruption. She is released on bail.

1992 – After returning to the Philippines, Marcos runs unsuccessfully for president.

1993 – Goes on trial in the Philippines for corruption and is found guilty.

1995-1998 – Serves in the Philippines House of Representatives.

February 7, 1998 – Declares her intent to run for president.

April 29, 1998 – Withdraws from the presidential race.

October 6, 1998 – The Philippine Supreme Court overturns her 1993 corruption conviction.

November 2006 – Marcos launches a fashion line, “The Imelda Collection.”

July 2007 – The Philippine government loses its case claiming rights to $4.7 million in Marcos’ account after 10 years of prosecution against the Security Bank and Trust Co.

March 10, 2008 – A Philippine court acquits Marcos in a 17-year-old case of 32 counts of illegal transfer of wealth totaling $863 million in Swiss bank accounts.

May 11, 2010 – Marcos wins a seat representing Ilocos Norte province in the Philippine House of Representatives.

September 9, 2010 – A Philippine court orders Marcos to repay the government almost $280,000 for funds taken from the National Food Authority by Ferdinand Marcos in 1983.

February 2016 – The Philippine government approves the auction of Marcos’ jewelry collection – worth approximately $21 million in total.

November 9, 2018 – An arrest warrant is filed for Marcos after she fails to appear in court. It is announced in court that she has been found guilty of seven counts of graft. Marcos posts bail on November 16.

March 30, 2019 – President Rodrigo Duterte approves the auction of jewelry seized from the Marcos family.

May 25, 2022 – A joint session of the Philippine Congress declares Marcos’ son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the winner of the May presidential election and confirms he will become the country’s next president.

June 2023 – Previews for “Here Lies Love,” a musical written by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim about the life of Marcos, begin on Broadway. The show is set to open in July.

A woman in Ecuador who was previously discovered to be alive in a coffin at her own wake has now actually passed away.

Bella Montoya, 76, died Friday afternoon after spending a week hospitalized in critical care in the coastal city of Babahoyo, according to Gilbert Barberán, the woman’s son.

Montoya was quickly transported to the Martin Icaza General Hospital when she was found alive after banging on her own coffin at the wake in Babahoyo.

“During her hospital stay, she received comprehensive medical care and periodic evaluation by hospital specialists. Likewise, the respective medical audit was carried out for this case,” Ecuador’s Ministry of Public Health said in a statement.

Montoya initially entered the hospital for a stroke and was reported dead once before.

Montoya’s daughter, Zeneida Leal, said her mother’s condition had been worsening.

The Ministry of Public Health has said an investigation is underway into the events leading up to her presumed death.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is reportedly expected to make his Inter Miami debut on July 21, club managing owner Jorge Mas told a small group of reporters Monday, according to the Miami Herald.

Inter Miami faces Mexico’s Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup opening match that day at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

According to the Miami Herald, Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas said the club and seven-time world player of the year Messi have agreed to a deal but are still finalizing the agreement.

Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory last year and is widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest ever players, said he was going to play for the Major League Soccer club.

“I made the decision that I am going to Miami,” he told Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo earlier this month. “I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I’m missing some things but we decided to continue my journey there.”

“Seminal moment”

Mas told reporters that the Messi signing is “the one seminal moment” in the history of soccer in the US, according to the Miami Herald.

“I think there will always be a before and after Messi when we talk about the sport in the United States. I have a very, very strong held belief that we can create in North America and the United States if not the greatest league, one of the top two leagues in the world,” Mas said. “I cannot over emphasize the magnitude of this announcement.

“Having the world’s greatest player here is something that is significant for our league, and for the football ecosystem in the United States … Lionel Messi is coming to this country to win cups and make a difference. I think it’s incumbent upon myself and my partners in the league, the other owners, to seize the moment.”

Mas said security will be enhanced for the Argentine superstar and the team, according to the Herald.

“Players will be bussed in, going through a tunnel. All of those security protocols are already prepared both for here and away. And it’s not only for our games,” Mas said, according to the Herald.

“It’s going to be an everyday occurrence and something we witnessed and I thought handled very well when (Messi) was here with Argentina before the World Cup.”

Though Messi hasn’t yet stepped foot on the pitch for Miami, the club has already benefited from a huge boost in social media followers ahead of the highly anticipated move.

Meanwhile, ticket prices all around the league are soaring as fans eagerly await Messi’s first visit to play against their teams with his new club: in the minutes after it was reported that the Argentine would be moving to the US, ticket prices for Inter Miami matches soared by more than 1,000%.

According to resale website TickPick, the cheapest ticket for Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on July 21 was just $29, but in the 24 hours after news of Messi’s pending move emerged, the cheapest ticket was $329, TickPick reported on June 7 – a surge of 1,034%.

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo scored a last-gasp winner against Iceland on the night he became the first men’s player in history to reach 200 international appearances.

Ronaldo’s goal, a record-extending 123rd in international football, maintained Portugal’s perfect start to Euro 2024 qualifying with four wins from four matches.

The 38-year-old, who made his debut for Portugal in 2003, received a Guinness World Record certificate to mark the occasion prior to kick off.

“So happy,” Ronaldo told uefa.com after the match. “It’s the kind of moment you never expect, to reach 200 caps. For me it’s an unbelievable achievement.

“To be in the Guinness World Records is amazing and to score the winning goal is even more special. So I have to say thank you to the stadium, to Iceland, the people, the fans, the stadium for having this kind of party for me.

“Also to the Portugal national team, the federation. I’m so happy. It’s a special day, I have to say thank you to all of them. They made my day. They made my night.”

Iceland’s Willum Willumsson was sent off after being shown is second yellow card with 10 minutes remaining, opening the door for a Portugal winner.

Ronaldo was made to wait to celebrate his goal after teammate Gonçalo Inácio, who provided the assist, was initially ruled to be offside, only for VAR to overturn the decision.

The Portugal captain has now scored five goals in Euro qualifying and is still playing a key role for the national team, despite a disappointing end to the World Cup in which Ronaldo was dropped to the bench in the knockout stages.

Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr after the World Cup following his acrimonious departure from Manchester United, missing out on the league title in his first season at the club.

Elsewhere, Germany suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Colombia, while Senegal recorded an eye-catching 4-2 win over Brazil.

Luis Diaz’s header and Juan Cuadrado’s penalty earned Colombia its first ever win over Germany, which continues to struggle to find form ahead of hosting Euro 2024 next summer.

After being dumped out of the World Cup in the group stages, Germany has won just one of its last five games, including a defeat to Poland last week.

Germany head coach Hansi Flick how now won just half of his 24 games in charge of the national team and was met with ‘Flick Out’ signs in the stadium.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mané scored twice in Senegal’s stunning victory over Brazil in Lisbon, Portugal.

Habib Diallo’s strike and an own goal from Marquinhos completed the scoring for Senegal. Lucas Paquetá and Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos, this time in the right net, got on the scoresheet for Brazil.

It was the first time Brazil had conceded four or more goals in a match since that fateful 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup.

Two soccer federations are at loggerheads after a match between New Zealand and Qatar was abandoned at halftime on Monday, with both disputing what was behind the game’s abrupt end.

The New Zealand team refused to take to the pitch in protest at an alleged racial slur made towards one of its players.

The New Zealand team said it refused to continue because defender Michael Boxall was racially abused by a Qatar player and no action was taken.

“Michael Boxall was racially abused during the first half of the game by a Qatari player,” New Zealand Football said in a statement on social media shortly after the abandonment. “No official action was taken so the team have agreed not to come out for the second half of the match.”

The Qatar Football Association (QFA) issued a statement on Tuesday explaining how Qatari player Yusuf Abdurisag had “an exchange of words” with an opponent but that “no racial or discriminatory language was used.”

The statement continued: “In the contrary, Yusuf stressed that, in fact, he himself was racially abused during the match.

“In any case, the QFA takes the allegations incredibly seriously and stands against racism in all its forms. The experience of racism should never be trivialised and remains a serious problem within the game.”

“To my complete shock, that same player accused me of using offensive language and the game was abandoned,” he said. “During my travels around the world as a footballer I have experienced racist abuse, but never have I been both a victim and the accused in the same incident.

“It’s true that players often say things to each other in the heat of the moment, but there is a clear line that I have never crossed.”

Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain, president of the Qatar FA, said the QFA stands with Yusuf and “strongly condemns the unwarranted attention he said received.”

“The footage of the game clearly shows several of our players responding in unison to something offensive being said and the racial slur was heard widely by a number of players on the field,” New Zealand Football said.

“Rather than New Zealand Football or the Qatari Football Association commenting further, we have referred this matter to FIFA to investigate due to the seriousness of its nature.”

New Zealand was leading 1-0 when the match, which was being played at Generali-Arena in Wien, Austria, was abandoned.

In a statement on its website, New Zealand football said the alleged racial slur against Boxall, who is of Samoan heritage, was heard by several players.

“In the 40th minute of the New Zealand vs Qatar game today in Austria, a Qatari player used a racial slur towards All Whites defender Michael Boxall after a confrontation between the two players,” the statement said.

“The players reported the incident, but no official action was taken.”

New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell also said in the statement: “We fully support the action of our players, who agreed collectively this course of action.

“We never want to see a match abandoned but some issues are bigger than football and it is important to make a stand.

“There is no room for racism in football.”

Qatar manager Carlos Queiroz said that the incident occurred after “two players exchanged words” shortly before halftime.

“Who was first, who was second, it’s only between them,” Queiroz told Alkass Sports Channel.

“The New Zealand players, they decided to support their teammate. As is obvious, all our team decided to support our player. But the staff of New Zealand also, they supported the statement of the New Zealand player; we support our player.

“They decided to abandon the game with no witnesses … It’s just an argument between two players.”

In response to Monday’s match being abandoned, the organization Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) said: “Matches being abandoned in this way confirms a new wave, perhaps a new crisis, of discrimination in football. Awareness is high and young players are no longer prepared to tolerate racism or homophobia on the pitch.”

Last week, a match between Mexico and the US was paused in the 90th minute because of homophobic chanting, before the referee opted to end the game around four minutes early amid continued discriminatory chants from the crowd.

The NFL has stiffened its gambling policy for players by introducing six ‘key rules’ after a recent spate of violations.

The NFL told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that the six rules are:

1.            Don’t bet on the NFL;

2.            Don’t gamble at your team facility, while traveling for a road game or staying at a team hotel;

3.            Don’t have someone bet for you;

4.            Don’t share team “inside information;”

5.            Don’t enter a sportsbook during the NFL playing season; and

6.            Don’t play daily fantasy football.

“It comes back to, in large part, a couple of rules that have existed as long as anybody can remember,” Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy said. “Don’t bet on the NFL. That’s not new because sports gambling is more available. That’s always been the case. And don’t bet when you’re at work, wherever work happens to be in that moment. That’s existed for a long time.”

Miller said all rookies are required to attend a mandatory educational session on gambling and league officials are visiting teams in-person to talk about the rules on sports betting.

Earlier this month, Indianapolis Colts player Isaiah Rodgers Sr. took “full responsibility” after reports said he is being investigated by the NFL for possibly breaching the league’s gambling policy. Rodgers added he made an “error in judgment.”

In April, the NFL suspended five players for violating the league’s gambling policy. Quintez Cephus and C.J. Moore of the Detroit Lions and Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders were suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games during the 2022 season. Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams of the Lions each received a six-game suspension for placing bets on non-NFL games from NFL facilities.

In March, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley was reinstated by the league after a year-long suspension for gambling on NFL games while he was a member with the Atlanta Falcons.

“The world has changed over the last few years,” Miller said. “The availability of our phones and a couple of touches, and all of a sudden, you can place a bet on many different things,

“So, sports gambling has a great deal more presence in people’s lives than it did just a few short years ago, which means for us as sports league where integrity of the game is the highest single principle that we have to be thoughtful and careful and scrutinize how we share information and educate people around the rules that govern it.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the gambling issues at the Spring League Meeting in Minnesota last month.

“We have concerns about legalized sports betting,” Goodell said at the May news conference. “We’ve always said the integrity of the game is number one, two and three for us and so we focus on that every single day.

“I think the fact we have people who have violated that – obviously we know that education isn’t foolproof … We all have to be vigilant on that, we’ll continue to do that – if we see someone who has violated, you’re gonna know about it. I think that’s the most important thing is to enforce it consistently.”