Caster Semenya, the South African Olympic champion runner, has won her appeal which she had submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to end “discriminatory” testosterone limits imposed on female athletes, the ECHR said on Tuesday.

Semenya is hyperandrogenous – meaning she has naturally high levels of testosterone – and has been fighting against rules introduced in 2019 by World Athletics – track and field’s governing body – which regulates levels of the hormone in female athletes.

In its ruling, the ECHR said there had been a “violation of the prohibition of discrimination taken together with the right to respect for private life as well as a violation of the right to an effective remedy.”

Semenya won the 800m gold medal at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics Games but the new rules meant she would need to take testosterone-reducing medication in order to compete internationally over distances between 400m and one mile – something she has declined to do. She was unable to defend her 800m crown in Tokyo in 2021 because of the rule changes.

A three-time 800m world champion, Semenya lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in April 2019. In September 2020, she then lost an appeal made to Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court but vowed to continue to “fight for the human rights of female athletes.”

Semenya submitted an appeal to the ECHR in February 2021, saying that, in its dismissal of the South African athlete’s appeal, Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court “failed” in its obligations to uphold her human rights.

“The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD),” said the ECHR in its ruling.

“It followed, particularly with regard to the high personal stakes involved for the applicant – namely, participating in athletics competitions at international level, and therefore practicing her profession – that Switzerland had overstepped the narrow margin of appreciation afforded to it in the present case, which concerned discrimination on grounds of sex and sexual characteristics requiring ‘very weighty reasons’ by way of justification.

“The high stakes of the case for the applicant and the narrow margin of appreciation afforded to the respondent State should have led to a thorough institutional and procedural review, but the applicant had not been able to obtain such a review. The Court also found that the domestic remedies available to the applicant could not be considered effective in the circumstances of the present case.”

“We remain of the view that the DSD [differences in sex development] regulations are a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting fair competition in the female category as the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Swiss Federal Tribunal both found, after a detailed and expert assessment of the evidence,” it said.

“The case was filed against the state of Switzerland, rather than World Athletics. We will liaise with the Swiss Government on the next steps and, given the strong dissenting views in the decision, we will be encouraging them to seek referral of the case to the ECHR Grand Chamber for a final and definitive decision.

“In the meantime, the current DSD regulations, approved by the World Athletics Council in March 2023, will remain in place.”

Variations in people’s reproductive anatomy, chromosome patterns or other traits that may not align with typical binary definitions of female or male is what is defined as DSD.

It is difficult to estimate how many people have DSD traits – many live their entire lives without ever knowing they have one. Scientists estimate as many as one out of every 50 people is born with DSD traits.

Deadly flooding inundated parts of the Northeast, trapping people in their homes and killing at least one woman who was swept away by the fast-moving water. Rivers in Vermont rose quickly in the torrential rain on Monday to levels not seen since Hurricane Irene in 2011.

The climate crisis is stacking the deck in favor of more intense weather events like the heavy rain and flooding in the Northeast, said Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist and distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

There’s another, more surprising way that the climate crisis could be driving these extreme rainfall events, Mann said, and it’s something on the forefront of climate research: The jet stream could be getting “stuck” in positions that prolong these kinds of extreme events.

The jet stream is the fast-moving river of air high in the atmosphere that ushers weather systems across the globe. Importantly, it’s fueled by the extreme difference in temperature between the equator and the poles.

But the planet is not warming equally in all locations, Mann explained. The Arctic is warming much faster than the Lower 48, for example, which “reduces the temperature difference from the equator to the pole.”

Scientists suspect that this decrease in temperature difference is changing how the jet stream behaves.

“The jet stream basically stalls and those weather patterns remain in place — those high and low pressure centers remain in place,” Mann said. “And we’re seeing more of these sort of stuck, wavy jet stream patterns that are associated with these very persistent weather extremes, whether it’s the heat, drought, wildfire or the flooding events.”

As the Northeast is inundated with flooding rain, dangerous heat is threatening other parts of the world. Temperatures are soaring in the Southwest this week, where Phoenix could break its record for consecutive number of days above 110 degrees.

Meanwhile, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that last month was the hottest June by a “substantial margin” above the previous record, which was set in 2019.

Given the exceptional heat, scientists are concerned that 2023 could be the hottest year on record.

Mann said that El Niño is “adding extra heat, extra fuel to the fire.” El Niño, which is a warm phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean, is combining with the climate crisis “and what you get is new record levels of heat at the planetary scale.”

But Mann said without the climate crisis, which is caused by burning fossil fuels, “we simply wouldn’t be seeing these extreme events.”

“Those are conspiring. They’re combining,” Mann said. “The steady warming combined with an El Niño; extreme weather events related to those changing jet stream conditions – it all comes together, if you will, in a perfect storm of consequences, which translates to truly devastating and deadly weather extremes that we’re dealing with here right now.”

Furuya Yamato is always in motion.

On weekends in Tokyo, you’ll find the bearded, pony-tailed 50-year-old behind the counter of his food truck, Tacos 3hermanos, where hundreds of faithful customers line up and wait for a rare delicacy in Japan: authentic Mexican street tacos.

Yamato’s connection to his roots runs deep. At the Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine, a serene forest sanctuary, he says his ancestors were revered as fortune tellers in the region, a practice he continues, considering it his duty to inspire people.

“But like, basically, I’m a black sheep,” he admits. “So I just do what I want to do.”

Right now, what he wants to do is make tacos.

“Ikigai” is a Japanese concept that represents a commitment to one’s purpose in life. In Yamato’s case, he believes the meaning of life lies not only in individual pursuits but in connecting with others.

For him, the surest way to forge those connections is straightforward: “With tacos, on the street, having a drink, and eating together.”

Visitors to the Tacos 3hermanos food truck might expect some sort of Japanese twist in his dishes – maybe a bit of fusion. But Yamato serves up some of the most authentic, melt-in-your-mouth Mexican street food you’ll find anywhere in the world.

‘Where is your life?’

In the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Yamato faced mounting pressure to resume his corporate advertising job. During a subsequent business trip to Italy, a friend pressed him with one question – “Yamato, where is your life?”

It became an inescapable mantra he constantly asked himself.

“Where is your life?… Where is your life?”

These words reverberated through his mind, propelling him toward a path that would challenge and satiate his soul.

Leaving his advertising career behind, Yamato embraced a minimalist lifestyle, divesting himself of many possessions, including his car.

Searching for the ultimate challenge to push himself out of his comfort zone, he decided to go to faraway Mexico.

At the time, Yamato had not yet even tried a taco, nor did he speak any Spanish.

But Mexico’s intoxicating fervor pulled him in. And thanks to his outgoing personality, Yamato quickly established himself in his adopted country.

“There’s so much love,” he says of Mexico. “It’s a system of passion.”

Living in Mexico City, Yamato met a woman and the two started dating, but it was her strict father who would unknowingly kickstart his culinary odyssey by sending him out to buy ingredients to cook dinner.

Yamato didn’t yet speak Spanish fluently, but was eager to please, so he taught himself the words on the grocery list one-by-one by traversing the aisles at the market.

One day, his girlfriend’s father asked him to prepare the salsa he had been making on his own for a family event, and he knew he was on to something.

“Kaizen,” Yamato recounts matter-of-factly. “It’s a Japanese word that means ‘continuous improvement.’”

But starting a new life in Mexico wasn’t without stress. One night while complaining to a friend about his frustrations, he says they gave him some stark advice: “Mexico didn’t ask you to come to Mexico, it was your own choice. So forget your problems, come and let’s go eat some tacos.”

Moments later Yamato took his first bite of a suadero (beef) street taco. He says the flavors were so profound he almost cried into his plate. It was all he needed to cure his sadness, a testament to the power of food and community in healing the soul.

Recreating the flavors of Mexico City

After several years in Mexico City, during which he learned to make a wide variety of foods, Yamato returned to Japan in early 2018 to care for his aging parents. Unable to find the flavors that had captivated his heart, he sought to recreate the authentic taste of Mexico himself, drawing inspiration from the suadero street tacos of Mexico City.

During the pandemic, Yamato hosted a pop-up taco event to share his creations with the public. So many people enjoyed his food, he decided to invest in a mobile truck.

Crediting his experience in Mexico with giving him “the love, kindness and strength to follow his heart,” he set out to spread his adopted country’s food and culture throughout Japan.

Tacos are not a common menu item in Japan, much less ones served from a food truck proudly trumpeting Reggaeton music.

But Yamato has made it his mission to introduce the authentic flavors of Mexico by igniting the locals’ curiosity.

To achieve maximum authenticity and honor the country that inspired him, Yamato sources the majority of his ingredients from Mexico, although importing can be costlier.

He makes the small tortillas by hand, topped with diced onion and cilantro in the traditional style.

The straightforward menu of Tacos 3hermanos represents Yamato’s time in Mexico. Chilaquiles for breakfast, and the street tacos he adores: suadero, carnitas, taco de bistec, con queso, taco de pollo and chorizo. He has resisted calls to expand the menu beyond the tastes that resonated so profoundly with him.

Even the dishes and cooking utensils are sourced from Mexico. That includes the comal bola, a special pan that allows the meat to sear in its juices, which Yamaote credits with “giving life to the recipe.”

The road to culinary success hasn’t been without bumps. In May 2022, Yamato was involved in an accident and flipped the taco truck on the highway.

He was uninjured, but when his fans learned of his situation they rushed to his aid. Thanks to their support, he was back to serving tacos the very next day, which he now feels affirmed his goal of connecting with others.

“Yeah, this is my life, and then I do it in practice. That’s why my brand, and our food, is made from love.”

Now, with his base taqueria on the serene shores of Lake Yamanaka, Yamato sees his vision taking full form, as he continues to make weekend runs with his taco truck to festivals and events on the vibrant streets of Tokyo and beyond.

When we catch up with Yamato and his taco truck a second time on a late Sunday morning at The Farmers Market at the United Nations University in central Tokyo, he’s already sold out of their menu standards. However, Yamato’s enterprising spirit has seized the moment and he’s busy preparing makeshift shiitake mushroom tacos with generous fillings and his trademark hot salsa.

“(When) I wake up I need to make tacos, I want to make tacos,” he says. “I want to share my tacos with people. This is my life now. This is my ikigai.”

In a corner of northeast France, the ground rumbles with industry.

After multiple false starts and much political back and forth, work is underway on the Seine-Nord Europe Canal (SNEC), a €5.1 billion ($5.5 billion) project designed to break up one of the continent’s major transport bottlenecks.

The ambitious 107-kilometer (66-mile) long canal will connect the Oise River and the Dunkirk-Escaut Canal, forging a network of waterways capable of transporting large freight between Paris, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where currently it travels overland, clogging roads.

But the canal must chart sensitive waters; starting in Compiègne in the south and ending in Aubencheul-au-Bac in the north, it cuts through land that once comprised World War One’s Western Front. The project must negotiate historic battlegrounds, as well as the delicate task of unearthing soldiers’ remains along its route.

Yet with towering locks and scores of bridges to be built, a river to redirect and a grand plan to raise the canal over a protected wetland, that’s only one item on a long list of challenges to overcome for it to become operational in 2030.

Half a century in the making

At present, the Canal du Nord is the most significant waterway connecting the Seine River basin with the Escaut River basin in northeast France. The 95-kilometer (59-mile) canal was already considered insufficient by the time it was completed in the 1960s, owing to its narrow gauge limiting the size of the vessels it could transport.

A replacement canal for larger ships was first conceived close to 50 years ago, but struggled to take off. The SNEC was backed by the European Union in 2013, and the French government in 2019 entered into a financing agreement between the EU, the state and local authorities along its route.

The 54-meter (177-foot) wide SNEC will be like “a move from small roads to motorway,” said Jérôme Dezobry, president of the executive board of the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe (SCSNE), which was created to oversee the SNEC.

The canal will be capable of transporting vessels weighing up to 4,400 tons (more than seven times the limit of its predecessor), carrying the equivalent of 220 trucks-worth of freight.

Design and engineering company Arcadis, which consulted on the project, claims moving freight along waterways produces three times fewer carbon emissions than by road, and that the canal could remove 760,000 trucks from roads every year once operational.

The megaproject strings together multiple hefty infrastructure solutions. One particular lock will have the same height as a 10-story building and will empty the equivalent of an Olympic-size swimming pool in 30 seconds, said Dezobry.

Environmental impact

Cutting through wetland and agricultural land, the SNEC has prompted questions about its impact on the surrounding landscape.

The sealed canal will not use groundwater, said Dezobry, and will only draw water from the Oise River, which will be stored in a 14 million cubic meter (494 million cubic foot) reservoir being built in Allaines. The same river is currently undergoing significant disruption as workers undertake a two-year project to divert its path for 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) between the communes of Thourotte and Montmacq to make way for the canal.

“It’s difficult … you cannot divert a river without any environmental impact,” Dezobry conceded.

Bourdon says that efforts have been made to limit the impact to “existing wet zones and the sensitive ecological area of the Tortille valley,” and that new wetlands and forests have been created to offset any damage to the environment.

Another solution to negotiating existing wetlands is to simply – or not so simply – go over them.

Perhaps the single grandest feat of engineering will be a 1.3-kilometer (0.8-mile) navigable bridge which will raise the canal 30 meters above a protected wetland in the Somme Valley. Dezobry says the project is out to tender and will cost around €400 million ($429 million). Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025.

But not everyone supports the canal’s construction. In a statement via email, Extinction Rebellion Compiègne, which is part of a collective opposed to the canal, said, “This project has not been developed for an ecological purpose but with an economic growth vision in mind.”

The environmental campaign group claimed that areas that are being developed to mitigate the canal’s environmental impact “are already natural” and “will not compensate (for) what is going to be destroyed.”

“We do not believe the canal will significantly reduce CO2 emissions,” Extinction Rebellion said, arguing it would instead allow for extra capacity on motorways for more trucks. It added, “today nothing demonstrates that the canal will be frequently used. Unfortunately, we may (be building) infrastructure that will not be used as expected. And for this, a big area is being destroyed and artificialized.”

Taking on the Western Front

But for all its engineering challenges, perhaps the most headline-grabbing element of the canal is its route through historic battlefields.

The CWGC is working in partnership with French authorities and the Société du Canal on exploratory operations. Excavations along sections of the route began this year and will run through 2024 ahead of the canal dig.

Remains will be transferred to Beaurains, where attempts to identify soldiers will be made. The likelihood of a positive identification is low, the CWGC says, even with the option of DNA sampling.

The Loos British Cemetery in Pas-de-Calais is undergoing an extension by the CWGC to provide space for up to 1,200 bodies, including those found during canal-related excavations.

Economic impact

The canal has also been touted as an economic stimulus and 500 people are currently working on it, says Dezobry, with that figure anticipated to rise to 6,000-8,000.

By linking northeastern France to a 20,000-kilometer (12,400-mile) network of large-gauge European waterways from Paris to Antwerp, host region Hauts-de-France is betting on the project having local benefits. Inland ports are planned along the SNEC route, aiding exports, as well as providing recreational opportunities, say its designers.

But an economic boom could itself have unintended consequences. Even if the canal is able to preserve and conserve its surrounding environment, there have been concerns raised that the potential for an increase in people living and working along its route could place additional stresses on water resources.

Despite the canal’s stop-start history, the Société du Canal Seine-Nord Europe is confident its construction timeline can be met and the canal will become operational in 2030.

The global private jet fleet has more than doubled in the last two decades and the market is on fire, with new industry records set for transaction and dollar volume in 2021 and 2022, according to a new report by the US Institute for Policy Studies.

Private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants than commercial planes per passenger, disproportionately contributing to the aviation sector’s climate impact, according to the report, which was published in May 2023.

What’s more, while approximately one out of every six flights handled by the Federal Aviation Administration is private, the sector only contributes 2% of the taxes that primarily fund the agency.

Amid these concerns, one private jet owner has decided to scale back. Stephen Prince, vice-chair of the Patriotic Millionaires – a group of wealthy Americans pushing for higher taxes which also contributed to the report – is giving up his Cessna 650 Citation III.

He decided to ditch the plane – a mid-size, long range corporate jet with room for up to nine passengers – after he learned how much more carbon-intensive flying private is compared to commercial.

The long road back to commercial

Prince has owned half a dozen private jets before the Citation III, which is the largest and most expensive to operate he’s ever had – the running costs alone work out at about $275,000 to $300,000 per year. He says flying private is so good, it becomes addictive.

“It’s just absolutely the best way to travel. But I’m going to give it up. I’m just going back to flying commercially, as much as I despise the process after having flown privately for the last six or seven years,” he says. “TSA, long lines, canceled flights, lost luggage – I despise all the things that go along with it. And when you fly first class, it’s not cheap, either. But I made my decision back in March this year. And I’m sticking with it, I’m selling it, I’m going to aggressively get rid of it.”

The Cessna is currently worth about $1 million and in the current market it should find a buyer pretty quickly.

There’s just one catch. Prince, an entrepreneur in the gift card and payments industry, may be ditching his jet – but he’s not going to give up private air travel entirely.

“I have a friend who’s going to let me lease his smaller aircraft,” he says, “It’s a twin turbo, which burns about a fourth of the amount of fuel of the Cessna – and I’m only going to use it two or three times a year to go out to a pheasant hunting preserve in the northwest corner of Nebraska.”

He adds that he has no intention of going out of his way to persuade other millionaires to give up their jets.

“I’m not going out trying to sell this as a broadcast message by any means,” he says. “When talking with my conservative, wealthy friends, I certainly don’t hesitate to say that they need to do the same thing, but it’s not a big mission of mine.”

Prince does believe, however, that wealthy people in the US should pay more taxes. “I think that all of us in American society are not paying as much as we need to,” he says.

“Nobody wants to pay taxes and they come up with all these explanations and reasons why, but the real reason is that they’re greedy. And I am too! We all are. But we all need to become a member of the ‘we’ society, not the ‘me’ society. If we’re not concerned about the greater good of all mankind, then we’re living with a bad set of principles.”

Paying the real cost

He’s not the only one who thinks so. In line with Prince’s thoughts, the Institute for Policy Studies report advocates for higher taxes on both private jet sales and fuel.

The authors recommend a 10% sales tax on used aircraft and 5% on new. They also call for the federal jet fuel tax to be doubled from $0.219 per gallon to $0.438 per gallon for the most frequent private jet users.

As an example, the report notes that Elon Musk – one of the most active private jet users in the US – would pay an additional $3.94 million in taxes under these proposed conditions.

The authors of the report calculate that he purchased a new jet, took 171 flights (roughly one every other day), consumed over 220,000 gallons of jet fuel and created 2,100 tons of carbon emissions in 2022 – 132 times the emissions of the average American.

“From an ecological perspective, we need to decarbonize the aviation sector. And this seems like an awfully good starting point. It’s one of the greatest carbon emitters, but it’s really a very small number of people. We should have very high taxes, [usage] taxes and fuel taxes that discourage private jet owners.”

Collins adds that the construction of private aviation infrastructure should stop altogether, as this form of transportation should be phased out.

“In my community outside Boston, there’s a private airport, Hanscom Field, and there’s a whole push to expand it because that is the suburban private jetport,” he says.

“But people are saying that in the same way we probably shouldn’t be building new fossil fuel infrastructure that will push us over the danger line in terms of emissions, we shouldn’t be building new infrastructure to serve the private jet class. That’s not really the kind of direction we should go in.”

The size of the global private jet fleet has increased 133% in the last two decades, from 9,895 aircraft in 2000 to 23,133 in mid-2022, according to the report.

Meanwhile, in Europe, a group of countries including France and Ireland has called on European policymakers to toughen regulations around private jets in order to curb their use. In April, Schiphol airport in Amsterdam announced it is considering banning private jets from its grounds altogether.

“I think that’s the right way to go,” says Collins. “It may be difficult to outright ban private air travel, but we should certainly make it pay its real ecological and social costs.”

Starting at $53,000 for a space not much larger than a shoebox, it is a pricey place to stay, even in a city famed for the world’s most expensive property market.

But then the ornate white marble interiors of the 12 story Shan Sum tower in Hong Kong are not aimed at your average sort of buyer. They are meant for a more discerning type of customer altogether, one seeking that little something extra: a resting spot for the afterlife.

This privately run high-rise columbarium, housed in a wavy, fan-shaped building designed by a German architect, is meant to store the cremated remains of 23,000 people. And it doesn’t come cheap.

In addition to its single urn entry units, niches that can store two urns can go for up to $76,000 (HK$598,000), while family units that can house the ashes of up to eight people reach as much as $430,000 (HK$3.38 million).

With standard niches measuring about one cubic square foot, it could be argued that a spot in this tower is relatively more costly than the city’s most expensive property for the living – a mansion in the ultra exclusive area of The Peak that in March attracted a bid of US$32,000 per square foot.

But Shan Sum, which is tucked away in an old industrial district of Kwai Chung is not even Hong Kong’s most expensive place for the dead.

According to Hong Kong’s Consumer Council, the most expensive niche of all is at a temple-like complex in the northern outskirts of Fanling. That auspicious resting spot goes for $660,000 (HK$5.2 million) – and that figure doesn’t even include the management fees of at least $25,000 (HK$200,000) to cover the upkeep and surcharges.

Such an investment might still not seem too bad, given the long-term horizon of the afterlife, but private columbariums like Shan Sum are not offering a resting place for eternity. Ashes can be stored there only for the duration of the facility’s private license, which is issued by Hong Kong government. These licenses have a limit of 10 years and can take years of inspections to obtain. Shan Sum’s runs through 2033.

An air-conditioned afterlife

Even so, at Shan Sum – whose name translates to “benevolent heart” – it’s more than just the urn space you pay for.

It has also been designed with aesthetics in mind, with its wavy, high-rise profile intended to mimic traditional Chinese graveyards and their preferred location on mountainsides to attract good Feng Shui.

There are hints of modernity, too, such as dehumidifiers and air-conditioning systems and even an app through which families pre-book a time slot to bring offerings to deceased ancestors.

The tower is the brainchild of Margaret Zee, a septuagenarian businesswoman who made her fortune in the jewelry and real estate businesses and now runs a charitable foundation in her name.

“Our loved ones’ last journey is not just so they can cross over to the afterlife, but it’s also for us who are left here on Earth to bid them farewell,” Zee said. “It’s not only to lay them to rest, but to give peace to those they’ve departed from.”

Zee realized there was a shortage of homes to honor the dead when she struggled to find a place to hold a memorial for and bury her late husband in 2007 and she felt compelled to act.

Not enough space to live or die

In Hong Kong, the same mismatch of supply and demand that has driven up real estate prices to nosebleed levels also affects columbariums.

Essentially, in a city home to more than 7 million people and some of the world’s most densely populated neighborhoods, competition for space is heating up – for both the living and the dead.

While Hong Kong is not a small place – its area of 1,110 square kilometers is about 1.4 times the size of New York City – its mountainous terrain makes much of its land unsuitable for development.

With space at a premium, property developers have traditionally favored high-rise towers that – not unlike the Shan Sum building – can pack in as many plots as possible. As a consequence, the average home size is just 430 square feet, according to the 2021 census, among the tiniest in the world, even though average home prices are north of a million dollars.

This squeeze on space continues in the afterlife, exacerbated by Hong Kong’s rapidly aging population. More than one in five Hong Kongers is over 65, according to census data, and that number is projected to jump to more than one in three by 2069.

The Hong Kong way of death

Even though more than 90% of Hong Kongers opt for cremation, space to store their remains is running out. This is partly because, rather than scattering the ashes, traditionally minded Chinese prefer a physical place where they can pay respects and give offerings to the dead.

With the city’s death rate running at about 46,000 per year (roughly double the capacity of Shun Sum) in the past decade urn capacity has at times struggled to keep up.

There are currently just under 135,000 public niches available in government-run facilities, where a 20-year lease goes for about $300, but competition for these is fierce and in recent years some families have reported waiting years to get a spot.

The response by the government has been two-fold, boosting the number of public facilities while also approving the licenses of 14 privately-run columbarium operators, including Shan Sum, since 2017.

“There is a marked improvement in the supply of public niches over the past few years. As of now, the supply of public niches is adequate,” the spokesperson said.

Going above and beyond

Still, as with many things in this commercially-minded city, where the median monthly wage is just US$2,400 but there are plenty of billionaires (more than 100, according to Wealth X, a company that tracks high-net-worth individuals), there are options for those eager to splash out on something a little more distinguished.

And that’s where places like Shan Sum really come in to their own.

At the tower in Kwai Chung different floors are dedicated to different religions to suit a range of death customs, said Pan Tong, Zee’s son and the operational director of the building.

For instance, he says, there are light and bright airy nooks designed to appeal to Buddhists and a section for followers of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, whose image adorns the doors of the small compartments.

There is even a separate secular floor, where each compartment has a Chinese-style “roof” and double doors decorated with gold coins to symbolize a prosperous afterlife.

“I really had to imagine myself as someone ‘living’ inside one of these niches, and think about what kind of home I wanted to stay at when I’m gone,” Tong said.

Nigeria’s health authorities have confirmed an outbreak of the deadly diptheria disease in the capital Abuja, following the death of a four-year-old patient, the country’s infectious diseases agency said Thursday.

Infections from the highly contagious bacterial disease which affects the throat and nose, and can cause breathing difficulties, have risen sharply across the West African country since the past year, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 800 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the country as of June 30, the NCDC said in a statement.

Most of the patients are children aged between 2 and 14 years, it added.

“So far, a total of 80 deaths have been recorded among all confirmed cases,” the agency’s head, Ifedayo Adetifa, said in the statement.

Diptheria, although potentially fatal, is preventable through routine childhood vaccines. But low vaccination coverage has fueled the spread of the disease in Nigeria “despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine in the country,” Adetifa said.

He added that more than 80% of those infected with the disease in Nigeria were yet to be vaccinated.

Diphtheria can be spread from person to person through direct contact or air droplets, according to the World Health Organization.

All age groups are prone to the disease, the health body notes, but children who are not vaccinated are at a higher risk of getting infected, it added.

Nigeria has had previous outbreaks of diphtheria but infections were minimal compared to the recent outbreak.

In 2011, 98 cases of the disease were reported in northeastern Borno State.

Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka said “it wasn’t fair” that the Wimbledon crowd booed at the end of her fourth-round match against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

As she has done after facing other Russian and Belarusian players, Svitolina – who won the tight contest 2-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9) – declined to shake Azarenka’s hand given the ongoing war in her home country.

Instead, Azarenka showed her appreciation towards her opponent with a hand gesture at the net before the crowd booed as she walked off the court.

“What can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say,” the No. 19 seed told reporters after the match. “She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision.

“What should I have done? Stayed and waited? I mean, there’s no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision.

“But this conversation about shaking hands is not a life-changing conversation. So if you guys want to keep talking about it, bring it up, make it a big deal, headlines, whatever it is, keep going.

“I thought it was a great tennis match. If people are going to be focusing only on handshakes or the crowd – quite a drunk crowd – booing in the end, that’s a shame. That’s probably what it is in the end of the day.”

As she left Court One and spectators started booing, Azarenka stopped, shook her head in disbelief, and then made a gesture with her hands above her head. She later said that she had “no idea” what the gesture meant.

“I can’t control the crowd,” Azaenka added. “I’m not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening. It’s probably been a lot of Pimm’s throughout the day.”

Sunday’s thrilling, rollercoaster match was eventually settled in a final-set tiebreak with Svitolina closing out the contest with an ace.

The world No. 76 has enjoyed a superb return to tennis this year following the birth of her daughter last October.

She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open last month and will now face top seed Iga Świątek in the final eight at Wimbledon having received a wild card for the tournament.

“I think, after giving birth to our daughter, this is the second happiest moment in my life,” Svitolina said with a laugh during her on-court interview.

“It was an extremely tough match and when I was 0-2 down in the second set, I heard you guys cheering for me and I almost wanted to cry.”

After falling behind early in the second set, Svitolina responded with two breaks of serve to level the match. She then took a 3-0 lead in the final set, but this time it was Azarenka who fought back and took the game to a deciding tiebreak.

This was Svitolina’s first ever victory against Azarenka after five previous defeats and marks just the second time in her career that she has reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

When asked about the crowd’s reaction at the end of the match, she said: “I got the same in Paris [at the French Open]. I played three matches in Paris in this way. Today as well.

“For me, personally, I think the tennis organizations, they have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian players. I don’t know if it’s maybe not clear for people. Some people don’t really know what is happening. So I think this is the right way to do it.”

Be it the issues of LGBTQ+ rights or equal pay, US Women’s National Team (USWNT) star Megan Rapinoe has never been afraid of standing up for what she believes in.

And now on the eve of her final Women’s World Cup, Rapinoe has taken aim at recent policies that aim to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

“We as a country are trying to legislate away people’s full humanity,” she told Time magazine in an interview.

“It’s particularly frustrating when women’s sports is weaponized. Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women’s sports? That’s total bulls**t. And show me all the trans people who are nefariously taking advantage of being trans in sports. It’s just not happening,” said Rapinoe, who over the weekend announced she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season.

In recent months, transgender women’s participation in a number of sports has been prohibited with the introduction of new regulations.

In March, World Athletics (WA) announced new rules banning some from competing in female track and field events.

The latest regulations prohibit athletes who have gone through what WA calls “male puberty” from participating in female world rankings competitions. WA said the exclusion would apply to “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty.”

Meanwhile, multiple US states have passed legislation restricting trans youths’ access to the hormone therapies known as “puberty blockers” – meaning some trans girls will be forced to undergo the very “male puberty” that would now prevent them from competing in WA events.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a Republican-led bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports at federally funded schools and educational institutions.

While the bill is not expected to be taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has issued a veto threat, it shows that Republicans are working to spotlight the issue – and it comes amid a GOP-led push in states across the country to pass similar bills restricting transgender athletes’ participation in sports. The final vote was 219-203 down strict party lines.

The House bill would prohibit transgender women and girls from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. It seeks to amend federal law to require that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” for the purpose of determining compliance with Title IX in athletics, according to the legislative text.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities that receive funding from the federal government, and applies to schools and other educational institutions.

In April, the Biden administration released a policy statement about the bill that read, in part, “At a time when transgender youth already face a nationwide mental health crisis, with half of transgender youth in a recent survey saying they have seriously considered suicide, a national law that further stigmatizes these children is completely unnecessary, hurts families and students, and would only put students at greater risk.”

However, the issue of transgender athletes has become a divisive issue across the world and Rapinoe says the discourse around the topic can have real life implications.

“I don’t want to mince words about it,” Rapinoe explained in her interview with Time. “[Comedian] Dave Chappelle making jokes about trans people directly leads to violence, whether it’s verbal or otherwise, against trans people.”

At the time, Chappelle responded to criticism he received for his remarks, saying he would meet with members of the trans community, but would not be “bending to anybody’s demands.”

Rapinoe advocates a more inclusive approach to sports, saying that she would “absolutely” welcome a transgender woman onto the USWNT.

“‘You’re taking a “real” woman’s place,’ that’s the part of the argument that’s still extremely transphobic,” Rapinoe told Time. “I see trans women as real women. What you’re saying automatically in the argument – you’re sort of telling on yourself already – is you don’t believe these people are women. Therefore, they’re taking the other spot. I don’t feel that way.”

Rapinoe added: “The most amazing thing about sports is that you play and you’re playing with other people, and you’re having fun and you’re being physically active.

“We’re putting this all through the lens of competition and winning. But we’re talking about people’s lives. That’s where we have to start.”

Teenage tennis sensation Mirra Andreeva’s dream Wimbledon run ended in controversial fashion on Monday after the Russian was docked a point for throwing her racket.

Serving at 2-5 down in the third and deciding set, Andreeva slipped as she attempted to retrieve a shot from opponent Madison Keys. The 16-year-old Andreeva lost her footing and, as her arm came down, she threw her racket down on the grass.

Umpire Louise Azemar Engzell deemed the incident severe enough to dock Andreeva a point for “unsportsmanlike conduct” – she had already been warned for throwing her racket in the second set – giving Keys match point, which the American converted to reach the quarterfinals.

“No, it’s the wrong decision,” Andreeva pleaded with Engzell. “Do you understand what you are doing? I didn’t throw the racket, I slid.

“It’s the wrong decision. I didn’t throw the racket, I fell. I slid and then I fell.”

When Andreeva insisted she lost control after sliding, Engzell responded by moving her arm over her head to indicate the Russian had thrown the racket.

“For me, it’s a controversial point because … I don’t know which decision was right,” Andreeva told reporters after the match. “She’s the umpire. She’s the one who makes the decision.

“But, honestly, I didn’t have any intention to throw the racket. I slid. Honestly, I thought that I will fall forward.

“Maybe it did look like I threw the racket. I don’t know. I didn’t see any videos yet but that was her decision to make, so she made this decision. Now, that’s it. She made the decision, so the match is over now.”

After the match had finished, Andreeva left the court without shaking Engzell’s hand.

Given the minimal force Andreeva used to throw her racket, it certainly seemed a controversial decision, especially considering how finely balanced the score was as the Russian served to stay in the tournament.

“Mirra Andreeva was given a warning and point penalty to go down match point. It looks like she slipped and then intentionally let her racket go in some frustration. Regardless, an umpire’s job is to understand the match and use discretion. Dumb call,” tweeted Chris Hasek-Watt, host of the “Love Means Nothing” tennis podcast.

During her third-round match against Coco Gauff at last month’s French Open, Andreeva received a code violation for hitting the ball into the crowd in frustration. Andreeva called it a “really stupid move,” though she likely only avoided disqualification as the ball didn’t hit a spectator.

Keys now advances to the quarterfinals, matching her career-best performance at Wimbledon, where she will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Andreeva was competing in just her second grand slam and for only the seventh time on a grass court. Monday’s defeat came just a day after the teenager had progressed to the second week in London after a brilliant straight-sets win over the 22nd seed, Anastasia Potapova.

Ranked No. 102 in the world, Andreeva had to qualify for Wimbledon, but she is now the youngest player to reach the last 16 since Coco Gauff in 2019.

Andreeva was already the third-youngest player to reach the third round of Wimbledon in the Open Era after Kim Clijsters in 1999 and then Gauff four years ago.

Competing without a flag or national representation amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Andreeva has enjoyed a successful year so far, finishing runner-up at the junior Australian Open and reaching the fourth round of the Madrid Open in April, where she eventually lost to world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Her sudden rise this year has caught the attention of Netflix cameras filming the next instalment of the “Break Point” docuseries, which have been following her during Wimbledon.