Smoke from wildfires in Canada is moving into parts of the central US and could linger in the days ahead, health and weather officials warned Thursday.

Air quality alerts have been posted as of early Friday across several states, including Nebraska, Washington, Montana and Wisconsin, with a special weather statement about air quality in Wyoming.

The heaviest smoke concentrations should shift further east into the Midwest later in the day, affecting major metro areas including Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis.

In Nebraska, “Canadian wildfire smoke is going to move through the area today through tomorrow morning, resulting in potentially dangerous air quality and poor visibility across eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Limit outdoor activities if possible when the air quality is poor!” the National Weather Service in Omaha tweeted Thursday.

Wildfire smoke “is beginning to move into the Lincoln and Omaha metro areas,” the service’s Omaha office said Thursday afternoon. “Visibility should drop to 1-2 miles within the next couple of hours and air quality will go into the unhealthy range for sensitive groups.”

In eastern Nebraska’s Douglas County – which includes Omaha – the health department warned smoke could remain through Saturday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index indicated parts of the Rockies, the Great Plains and the Midwest, including the Nebraska Panhandle and northeast corner of the state, had “very unhealthy” air quality early Friday.

Iran has been condemned by international watchdogs after it executed three more men over recent protests that rocked the country.

Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were executed in Isfahan, judiciary news outlet Mizan News said on Friday. The three were accused of carrying out an attack that killed three security officers in Isfahan in November 2022 during anti-government protests.

The US State Department on Thursday urged Iran to refrain from carrying out the executions, calling the proceedings “sham trials.”

And Amnesty International said the men were “fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system” without due process being observed.

“These executions are meant to prolong the Islamic Republic’s rule and only a high political cost can stop more protester executions,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights, wrote on Twitter.

“Unless the Iranian authorities are met with serious consequences by the international community, hundreds of protester lives will be taken by their killing machine,” he said.

Iran executed at least 582 people last year, a 75% increase on the previous year, according to human rights groups who say the rise reflects an effort by Tehran to “instill fear” among anti-regime protesters.

It was the highest number of executions in the Islamic republic since 2015, according to a report released last month by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) groups.

More than half of the executions last year took place after the protests erupted in September.

The US State Department condemned the latest planned executions of Kazemi, Mirhashemi and Yaqoubi on Thursday.

“The execution of these men, after what have been widely regarded as sham trials, would be an affront to human rights and basic dignity in Iran and everywhere,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel at a press briefing.

“It is clear from this episode that the Iranian regime has learned nothing from the protests that began with another death, the death of Mahsa Amini in September of last year,” Patel added.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, another NGO that monitors human rights violations in Iran, said on Twitter that the three men “had the minimal defense rights of an accused.” The group decried what it called an “unfathomable wave of executions in Iran.”

Nationwide protests rocked Iran last fall, as decades of bitterness over the regime’s treatment of women and other issues boiled over after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s so-called morality police.

Authorities violently repressed the months-long movement, which had posed one of the biggest domestic threats to Iran’s ruling clerical regime in more than a decade.

Turkey has a “special” and growing relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite mounting pressure on Ankara to help bolster Western sanctions against Moscow, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an exclusive interview ahead of next week’s presidential election runoff.

“Russia and Turkey need each other in every field possible,” he added.

Erdogan is the apparent frontrunner in the Turkish presidential race which heads to a runoff vote on May 28. He and his principal rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, have diverged on a number of foreign policy issues, including diplomacy with the West and Russia.

Kilicdaroglu has vowed to repair years of strained diplomacy with the West.

He has also said he would not seek to emulate Erdogan’s personality-driven relationship with Putin, and instead recalibrate Ankara’s relationship to Moscow to be “state-driven.”

But in the days leading up to the first round of the presidential race on May 14, Kilicdaroglu sharpened his tone on the Kremlin, accusing it of meddling in Turkey’s election and threatening to rupture the relationship between the two countries.

“Dear Russian friends, you are behind the montages, conspiracies, deep fake content and tapes that were exposed in this country yesterday,” he said on Twitter.

“If you want the continuation of our friendship after May 15, get your hands off the Turkish state,” Kilicdaroglu said.

He has accused his rival of seeking to “detach” Turkey from Russia.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Turkish strongman has emerged as a key powerbroker, adopting a crucial balancing act between the two sides, widely known as “pro-Ukrainian neutrality.”

He helped broker a key agreement known as the Black Sea Grain Corridor Initiative that unlocked millions of tons of wheat caught up in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, averting a global hunger crisis. The agreement was extended for another two months on Wednesday, one day before it was set to expire.

Russian-Turkish trade comes to $62 billion annually. Earlier this year, Putin waived Turkish gas payments to Russia in a move that was believed to help bolster Erdogan’s chances in the election.

Erdogan also helped secure an exchange of prisoners of war between Ukraine and Russia, in addition to hosting some liberated Ukrainian POWS in Turkey, and providing Kyiv with arms. Still his close ties with Putin have made his Western allies nervous.

“As long as Sweden continues to allow the offshoots of terror groups in Turkey to roam free in Sweden, in the streets of Stockholm, we cannot look favorably on Sweden’s membership in NATO,” Erdogan said.

“We’re not ready for Sweden right now,” he added. “Because a NATO country should have a strong stance when it comes to fighting terrorism.”

Sweden has refused Turkey’s repeated requests to extradite individuals Ankara describes as terrorists, arguing that the issue can only be decided by Swedish courts.

Erdogan also criticized US President Joe Biden for calling him an “autocrat” in his 2020 campaign for the White House. “Would a dictator ever enter a runoff election?” Erdogan questioned.

A high-stakes election

Erdogan struck an optimistic note about the ongoing presidential race. “This is a new experience for Turkish democracy. I believe my people will turn up for a strong democracy in next Sunday’s elections,” he said.

He secured a nearly five-point lead over Kilicdaroglu in the election’s first round on May 14. His ruling Justice and Development (AK) party also won a comfortable parliamentary majority.

Neither candidate surpassed the 50% threshold needed to clinch the presidential win in the first round.

The result defied opinion polls, which predicted a slight lead for Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old bureaucrat and leader of the left-leaning CHP.

Six opposition groups had formed an unprecedented unified front to try to wrest power from Erdogan, who also faced headwinds from a flailing economy and the aftermath of the devastating earthquake on February 6 which killed more than 50,000 people.

The opposition has described the election as a last stand for Turkish democracy, accusing Erdogan of hollowing out the country’s democratic institutions during his 20-year rule, eroding the power of the judiciary and repressing dissent.

The president’s detractors also blamed his unorthodox economic policies – namely his refusal to raise interest rates – for unfettered inflation and a plummeting lira.

He also defended his decision to suppress interest rates and claimed it has already yielded positive results. “I have a thesis that interest rates and inflation are positively correlated. The lower the interest rates, the lower inflation will be,” said Erdogan. “We have seen results in terms of the steps we have taken.”

The government’s shambolic initial response to the massive earthquake – which officials have acknowledged and apologized for – was also expected to buoy the opposition. But on May 14, Erdogan won the majority of votes in Turkey’s devastated southeast.

Turkey’s nearly 4 million-strong Syrian refugee population is also a tinderbox issue in this election. Kilicdaroglu has promised to deport Syrian refugees. The race’s third-place candidate, Sinan Ogan, is an ultra-nationalist who has said he would endorse the candidate with the more stringent refugee policy.

“I’m not a person who likes to negotiate in such a manner,” he said, responding to speculation about Ogan emerging as a kingmaker in the runoff. “It will be the people who are the kingmakers.”

Erdogan has dismissed opposition calls for a comprehensive deportation of refugees and has said that he will instead “encourage” around a million refugees to return to Syria. He said Turkey was building infrastructure and homes in Turkish-controlled parts of the war-torn country to facilitate their repatriation.

Electoral campaigns around deporting Syrians in Turkey come as part of a regional drive to push displaced Syrians back to the crisis-ridden country. Jordan and Lebanon, which also host millions of Syrian refugees, have also called for mass repatriation.

It also comes as part of a wave of regional normalization with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite numerous allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity levelled against the dictator.

Erdogan, who backed armed Islamist opposition groups in Syria’s civil war, said he is also keen to turn the page, through Assad’s main backer, Putin.

“(Through) my friendship with President Putin, we thought we could open a door, specifically in our fight against terrorism in the northern part of Syria, which requires close cooperation and solidarity,” he said, referring to Kurdish militants in northeast Syria.

“If we can do that, I said I see no obstacle that would remain in the way of our reconciliation,” he said, while promising to maintain Turkey’s presence in northern Syria despite Assad preconditioning talks on Ankara’s withdrawal from the territory.

“We have more than 900 kilometres of border and there is a constant terror threat from those borders on our country,” he said. “The only reason we have a military presence on the border is to fight against terrorism. That’s the sole reason.”

After spending more than 300 days in Russian custody last year, Brittney Griner made an emotional return to her WNBA home court in the Phoenix Mercury’s 75-69 defeat by the Chicago Sky.

Before tip-off at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Sunday, the Mercury players were introduced to their home fans and Griner received an incredible response when her name was called last.

The crowd went crazy in applause as she ran onto the court while giving her teammates high fives.

“There might have been a little dust in my eye, a little dusty,” Griner told reporters after the game. “It was emotional in the back, seeing some of the clips and then coming out. … It was really good.

“Part of the process of healing is kind of just letting it out. So yeah, I got choked up a little bit but try to hide it but I see you caught it.”

Despite the loss, Griner put on a show for her home crowd and dominated in the defeat.

The 6-foot-9-inch center scored 27 points on 9-13 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds, as she notched an impressive double-double.

‘BG home’

There were 14,040 fans in attendance at the Footprint Center, according to the team, who all showed their support for Griner throughout the game.

The US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens was also at the match.

Carstens joined Griner at the podium after the game, alongside Representative Shelia Jackson Lee, and said it was “emotional” for them both seeing Griner on the court.

“When BG came out, I think it was an emotional moment for both of us,” Carstens said. “I can tell you from where I sit and where the team sits in Washington DC, we knew that this day was going to come. We knew it was going to be hard. It was going to take some time but what we saw today is exactly how I pictured it.

“BG home. Cherelle (Griner’s wife) cheering her on. BG’s family in the crowd and BG back on the court, doing what BG does best which is playing basketball. “

Carstens was also asked about what he learned from Griner’s case and how it could help bring others back to the United States.

“When you bring someone home, it’s never just the people in my office doing it,” Carstens said. “To me, Brittney’s case was kind of like a textbook example of that.

“This is not only an example of how everyone comes together to bring an American home, an Olympian home but it also showcases the fact that this is important to the nation, it’s important to the President, it’s important to the Secretary of State but it wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t important to this room.

“Whether it’s BG or whether it’s Paul Whelan, who still remains in Russia or now Evan Gershkovich, who’s also now in Russia. We are not going to take our foot off the gas. We are going to keep pushing and it’s going to be us that eventually brings everyone home.”

The Mercury’s next game is on Thursday as they take on the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA.

Vinícius Jr., Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward, was subjected to persistent racist abuse during his team’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in Spain’s La Liga.

The flashpoint of the game came in the second half, where after a stoppage in play, an animated Vinícius pointed out a fan in the stands for the abuse before engaging with the supporters in the section of the crowd in question.

LaLiga TV broadcasters said there was an announcement in the stadium calling on fans to not insult the players or throw objects onto the pitch.

The referee’s official report from the game described the incident.

“Racist insults: in the 73rd minute, a spectator from the southern ‘Mario Kempes’ tribune directed himself towards player No. 20 of Real Madrid CF Mr. Vinicius José De Oliveira Do Nascimiento, screaming at him: ‘Monkey, monkey’ which led to the activation of the racism protocol, notifying the pitch delegate so that a corresponding warning over the loudspeaker would be made. The match was halted until said announcement was aired over the loudspeaker of the stadium,” it reads.

Vinícius Jr. was sent off in the final minutes of the game for his involvement in an altercation with Valencia player Hugo Duro.

Video from the match broadcast by DAZN España also showed that, in addition to the aforementioned incident, the Real Madrid star was subjected to various other racial insults throughout the game.

‘The prize that racists won was my expulsion’

Los Blancos manager Ancelotti addressed the situation after the game to Movistar Plus, saying, “I don’t want to talk about football today … when a whole stadium is chanting ‘monkey’ at a player and the manager has to think about taking off a player because of it, there is something bad happening in this league.”

In a separate interview with reporters, Ancelotti suggested referees should call off matches in other instances of racism in the league. The Italian said, “I’m very sad because La Liga is a league with big teams with a good atmosphere. This we have to get rid of. We are in 2023, racism does not have to exist … the only way for me is to stop the game.”

On his personal Instagram account, Vinícius Jr. posted a story saying, “The prize that racists won was my expulsion! ‘This isn’t football, this is @LaLiga.’”

The Real Madrid player then posted a longer statement on his Twitter: “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it. I’m so sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi today belongs to racists.

“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world. I’m sorry for the Spaniards who don’t agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.

“And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defense. I agree. But I am strong and I will fight to the end against racists. Even if that is far from here.”

‘Hashtags don’t move me’

Later, in response to a tweet by LaLiga president Javier Tebas telling Vinícius to “inform” himself on LaLiga’s jurisdictions and role in racism cases and chiding him for twice not meeting with him to discuss the matter, the Brazilian said: “Once again, instead of criticizing racists, the president of LaLiga shows up on social media to attack me. … I am not your friend to talk with about racism. I want actions and punishments. Hashtags don’t move me.”

Real Madrid quoted Ancelotti, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and winger Lucas Vázquez on its official social media but offered no official statement immediately in the wake of the match.

Valencia issued a statement shortly after the conclusion of the match on its website: “Valencia CF wishes to publicly condemn any type of insult, attack or downgrading in football. The club, in its dedication to the values of respect and sportsmanship, reaffirms publicly its position against physical and verbal violence in stadiums and regrets the events which occurred during the game of Matchday 35 of La Liga against Real Madrid.

“Although it is an isolated incident, insults towards any footballer of the rival team have no place in football and do not fit with the values and identity of Valencia CF. The club is investigating the events and will take the most severe measures. In the same vein, Valencia CF condemns whichever offense and asks for the maximum respect towards our own fans.”

Despite other Real Madrid players also saying that monkey chants were made towards Vinícius Jr., including goalkeeper Courtois, Valencia rejected Ancelotti’s claim that the stadium was chanting “monkey.”

“Valencia CF can’t tolerate someone accusing our fans of being racist, we strongly reject Ancelotti’s comments,” club corporate director and spokesperson Javier Solís said.

La Liga issued a statement of their own, announcing an investigation into events at the Mestalla.

“In the face of the incidents which took place during Valencia CF vs Real Madrid CF in the Estadio de Mestalla, LaLiga wishes to inform that it has requested all the available images to investigate what happened,” it said. “LaLiga will also investigate the images in which racist insults were allegedly uttered towards Vinicius Jr. outside of the grounds of Mestalla.”

“LaLiga has been proactive against all racist incidents against the Real Madrid CF player Vinícius Jr,” the league’s statement continued, before listing nine separate incidents from the past two seasons it had reported to the Competition Committee of RFEF, the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, the hate crimes prosecutors and the courts.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino posted an Instagram story saying, “Full solidarity to Vinicius. There is no place for racism in football or in society and FIFA stands by all players who have found themselves in such a situation,” before highlighting the need for the racism protocol which FIFA uses in its competitions.

Polarizing figure in Spain

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that it’s “not possible that almost in the middle of the 21st century, we have the racial prejudice gaining strength in several football stadiums in Europe,” while the Brazilian Football Federation tweeted: “How long will humanity remain just a spectator and an accomplice in cruel acts of racism?”

While responses from around the world have come to the defense of Vinícius, criticism of the player abounds in Spain with many commentators and members of the public accusing the Madrid star of being a provocative figure.

The spokesperson for the Socialist Party of Valencia, Borja Sanjuan Roca, wrote on Twitter following the player’s expulsion in Sunday’s match: “This red card from Vinícius was celebrated by half of Spain.” When he was subsequently told by a political science professor that he should be calling out the racism Vinícius suffered, Sanjuan said: “I will never defend any racist insult that any player could suffer, but this isn’t what happens with Vinicius. This player is an embarrassment for football.”

Before Sunday’s win over Real, Valencia had been in danger of being drawn into the relegation battle and after the match, when Vinícius was signing autographs for fans near the team bus a Spanish journalist asked him, “Are you going to apologize for that gesture you did? To Second Division?” to which the Madrid winger replied, “Are you stupid?”

After the match, Valencia manager Rubén Baraja denounced the “person or group” involved with abusing Vinícius, but then appeared to suggest that the Madrid star “will apologize” to Valencia fans because his “A Segunda (To Second Division)” gestures while being sent off were “also very condemnable.”

Similar sentiments were commonplace in Spanish media’s coverage of Sunday’s match, which ranged from “Enough with the racist insults and also enough with the gestures of Vinícius” to “Vinícius, a ‘masterclass’ of everything you shouldn’t do on a football pitch.”

‘Hate crime’

In statement on Monday, Real Madrid C. F. said Sunday’s events “constitute a direct attack to the model of coexistence in our State of social and democratic rights.”

“Real Madrid considered that such attacks additionally constitute a hate crime, as such it will present a corresponding complaint to the General State Prosecutor, concretely to the Prosecutor against hate crimes and discrimination, so that the events are investigated and responsibilities are handed out.

“Article 124 of the Spanish Constitution establishes the functions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to promote the action of justice in the defense of legality and the rights of citizens and the public interest.

“For this reason, and given the seriousness of the events that occurred, Real Madrid has turned to the State Attorney General’s Office, without prejudice to its appearance as a private prosecution in the proceedings that are being initiated.”

Meanwhile, many prominent names in football offered their support to Vinícius. Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on his Instagram, “Bro you need protecting….who is protecting @vinijr in Spain?

“How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this sh*t?? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help … and the authorities don’t do sh*t to help him.

“People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game. No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it. There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN.”

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappé wrote on his Instagram story, “You’re not alone. We are with you and we support you,” while fellow PSG star Neymar wrote on his Instagram story, “I’m with you @Vinijr.”

Milan forward Rafael Leão tweeted, “When will it end?” in response to the incident.

Vinícius’ Real Madrid teammates came out en masse to support the Brazilian with defender Antonio Rüdiger saying, “2023 And still… Disgrace. We’re with you @vinijr.”

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on March 15, 2023. It has been updated to reflect the persistent racist abuse that Vinicius Jr. was subjected to during Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat by Valencia on May 21, 2023.

Vinícius Jr scored the goal that secured Real Madrid’s 14th European Cup last May, and this season his brilliance has continued to light up the team’s Champions League campaign.

The supremely talented 22-year-old – widely considered one of the world’s best players – has six goals in seven matches in Europe and another eight in LaLiga, but he has also become a repeated victim of “hate crimes” in Spain, according to a players’ union.

Ahead of the derby against Atlético Madrid in January, an effigy of Vinícius was hanged from a bridge in Madrid, while racist slurs have been caught on camera during Real’s matches at Osasuna, Mallorca, Real Valladolid and Atlético.

As of yet, there have been no punishments handed down by Spain’s leading football authority – the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) – or any local prosecutors, but investigations into some cases are still ongoing.

Instead, LaLiga can only pass on any incidents of abuse to RFEF committees or regional prosecutors, who deal with them as legal cases before sporting punishments are handed out.

LaLiga says it gives out the ‘Fan’s Handbook,’ written in collaboration with the Club Supporters’ Federation, in stadiums before each season starts, highlighting which practices should “represent the values” of football.

It also sends a ‘Player’s Handbook’ to every player before the start of the season, encouraging them to be respectful and to report any racist or violent behavior they witness.

“So it is the State, the Justice and the Security Forces [police and Civil Guard] who must investigate and act immediately in the face of this type of event,” the AFE said. “Then, within the sports field, there is a disciplinary code that also contemplates possible sanctions for this type of conduct. We want to insist that what happened with Vinícius is a hate crime, which is criminally prosecuted.”

Piara Powar, the executive director of the Fare Network, an organization set up to combat discrimination across European football, says football leagues and authorities in Spain are “washing their hands” of these incidents.

Then, either through disinterest or a lack of understanding of football and the gravity of these incidents, local prosecutors are not adequately dealing with the investigations, Powar says.

“In Spain, this structure has been allowed to develop over the years and it hasn’t been challenged,” he says. “You often have an individual judge, who is linked to a local authority or a regional authority, who then sits as a quasi-judicial figure instead of a disciplinary committee or regulatory commission, which is what happens in other countries.

“Often, the individuals taking them are then completely disconnected from football and completely disconnected from the implications of their decisions, and often apply a mixed standard of evidence to them based partly on a criminal standard and partly on a civil standard – and the two standards are very different.

“So you have these cases that are being constantly dismissed and when they are passing the judgment on them, the sanction is usually a minor fine that has no impact at all.”

Powar says the way football and legal authorities in Spain deal with incidents of racist abuse at matches has led to the “system falling apart” in the country.

“It’s not effective, it has never been effective and some people treat it as a joke, but nobody relies on it as a reliable intervention that’s going to create a change,” he adds.

“I think you genuinely have an FA [RFEF], who either through disinterest or just through not understanding what they need to do, who are not doing anything themselves.

“We now need to move to a centralized template to assist the way UEFA is looking at how FAs are conducting the disciplinary regulations, how they’re enforcing them and making sure that the processes are fit for purpose.”

‘Racist campaign against Vinícius’

Incidents of players being racially abused by fans have tarred numerous LaLiga matches this season.

Instances of racist abuse directed at Vinícius make up eight of these cases and four – including three involving the Real star and one involving Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams – have been archived without a punishment being handed out.

On May 21, Vinícius was again subjected to racist abuse from the stands, this time during Real’s match against Valencia at the Mestalla stadium.

The referee’s official report from the game described the incident, noting a fan had shouted “monkey, monkey” at Vinícius during the second half. Video footage of the match from DAZN España also shows that the Real Madrid star was subjected to various other racist insults throughout the game.

LaLiga says it is investigating the incident.

In addition to the local Madrid prosecutor choosing not to issue any punishments because they only “lasted for a few seconds,” other reasons from regional prosecutors for not trying cases include “could not identify the perpetrators,” “does not seem to be” covered by the penal code and “do not cross the line for a penal breach,” LaLiga said.

When asked to explain how it failed to identify the fans who racially abused Vinícius at FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium on October 24, 2021, the Barcelona prosecutor said they are not able to reveal details as the investigation is private.

“In other cases, the investigation has been successful, such as the racist insults to Iñaki Williams [in January 2020] where the prosecution, after the investigation was carried out, filed a complaint and described it as a hate crime. It is currently awaiting a trial date.”

Powar says for a football regulatory case to take three years, “particularly a very simple one,” proves how “the system is failing in Spain.”

“These hearings should be heard by a committee of the FA, independently appointed, and they should be heard within days, if not weeks,” he adds.

“That is how this system should operate and then the sanction that results is implemented during the season, very quickly and the principles of natural justice are respected, but as it is, the victims are being failed.”

The painstakingly slow process in Spain appears all the more convoluted when compared to a recent case in England, in which a local court handed down a three-year ban to a fan just three months after he had shouted a racist slur at Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling.

Esteban Ibarra, the president of the Movement Against Intolerance, a Spanish organization that aims to educate on discrimination and track incidents of racist abuse in football, called the archiving of the Vinícius case at the Camp Nou by local authorities “inconceivable.”

“We flatly deny that Spain is a racist country, but we affirm that there are numerous racist behaviors in our country,” Ibarra added in a statement on the organization’s website.

“We maintain that there are plenty of racist incidents, which have not been stopped when there is relevant legislation and sufficient law, policing and institutional capacity to put an end to this ignominious behavior.

“The racist campaign against Vinícius began a long time ago.”

The Spanish Penal Code says racist acts – relating to ethnicity, race or national origin – that “harm the dignity of people” through “contempt” or “humiliation” can carry a punishment of six months to two years in prison.

Spain reports its hate crimes to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), whose records show there were 1,802 hate crimes recorded by police in 2021 – the most recent data available – with 192 cases leading to prosecutions and 91 to sentences.

Compare that to England and Wales, where there were 155,841 hate crimes recorded by the police in the year ending March 2022, a 26% increase on the previous year.

Another case that has been “provisionally archived” is that of Vinícius at Mallorca on March 14, 2022, in which the Mallorca prosecutor says it was unable to identify the perpetrator.

The prosecutor explains that while cases of racist abuse are “absolutely rejectable” and “typical of profane and despicable attitudes,” under Spanish law incidents “do not always inevitably entail a criminal response.”

However, the prosecutor pointed to two cases in 2023 – another involving Vinícius and one involving Villarreal’s Samu Chukwueze – in which they have successfully identified the offender and are currently in the “judicial investigation phase.”

“When this phase is completed, the existing incriminating elements will be evaluated and the existence or not of a possible crime of discrimination will be specified,” they said.

Last month, the National Sports Council of Spain proposed a €4,000 fine and a 12-month ban from entering football stadiums for the Mallorca fan identified for abusing Vinicius at the match on February 5 this year, but the punishment is yet to be handed out.

Mallorca has also suspended the fan’s club membership for three years.

“We understand that these types of events must be prosecuted and condemned,” the AFE said.

“We are in favor of penalizing this behavior. Society in general reproaches this type of behavior. The culprits must be found, brought to trial and sentenced.”

Individual clubs can take action against any supporters they believe to be guilty of directing abuse towards players, but these instances are rare.

This season, only Valladolid has taken such action, suspending the season tickets of a dozen members it identified with the help of the police.

In a statement, Valladolid said the events that occurred were “typified as racist and intolerant,” but the club still insisted that it “does not consider its fans to be racist.”

Vinícius has used his platform numerous times this season to call for more action to be taken by authorities, but his pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.

“‘As long as skin color is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war.’ I have this sentence tattooed on my body,” Vinicius Jr posted on Instagram earlier this season in response to what he described as racist criticism from a TV pundit.

“You can’t even imagine. I was a victim of xenophobia and racism in a single statement. But none of this started yesterday.

“The script always ends with an apology and an ‘I’ve been misunderstood,’” he said. “But I’ll repeat it for you, racist[s]: I will not stop dancing. Whether it’s in the Sambadrome, in the Bernabéu or wherever.”

Media storm

Powar says he has noticed a theme in the Spanish media that intends to apportion part of the blame for the racist abuse to Vinícius himself, which often insinuates that the Brazilian “brings it upon himself” with the way he plays or celebrates goals.

Last September, Pedro Bravo – a leading agent and president of the Association of Spanish Agents – compared Vinícius to a monkey on a football program.

And earlier this month, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was left dumbfounded when a reporter asked him if he thought Vinícius’ “provocative behavior” on the pitch had led to the racist abuse.

Still only 22, Vinícius has quickly developed into one of the world’s most talented players.

Known for his dazzling skill and flair, Vinícius’ dancing goal celebrations have also become famous in Spain and in his native Brazil.

It was after another one of these celebrations that Bravo said Vinícius should “stop playing the monkey.” In response, the Madrid superstar insisted he was “not going to stop” celebrating his goals with dancing.

“Part of the discourse – and I’ve seen that in editorials in Spanish newspapers in the last months – is that people say what’s happening is wrong, but he also has to carry some of the blame,” Powar says.

“That has fed itself and Vinícius is now getting racially abused very explicitly at every match.”

The AFE says racism should be viewed as a societal issue in Spain, rather than one that just concerns football and last month held a meeting with the Movement Against Intolerance to begin forming a plan on how to tackle racist abuse at matches moving forward.

In a mission statement, the two organizations said they will begin working together on campaigns and training to educate and raise awareness about the “scourge” of racism in football.

Additionally, they will also appear jointly in criminal cases against incidents of racist abuse and report incidents that they believe should be investigated to the Hate Crimes Prosecutor.

Given the convoluted nature of the process in Spain and a system “riddled with a sense of issues being kicked into touch,” Powar says, it seems – for now at least – players will be left waiting for some time to receive justice. If it ever arrives.

Keep your hands steady: a scoop of this exquisite delight is probably going to cost more than all the ice cream you will have throughout multiple summers.

The frozen dessert, called byakuya – “white night” in Japanese – is currently fetching 880,000 yen ($6,380) for a serving, officially making it the most expensive ice cream in the world, according to Guinness World Records.

Japanese ice cream brand Cellato calls white night a gelato on its website, and the name is a hint to its Italian origins.

Sourced exclusively from Alba – home to what many consider the best white truffles in Italy – that ingredient alone could rake in as much as two million yen ($14,500) per kilogram, said an article published on the Guinness World Records website last week.

The ice cream is topped off by an edible gold leaf, two types of cheese and “Sakekasu,” a paste-like ingredient derived from the process of sake-making.

“It took us over 1.5 years to develop, with a lot of trials and errors to get the taste right,” a representative from the company told Guinness World Records earlier.

The company said its mission isn’t just about making mouthwateringly expensive desserts but to create a culinary adventure that merges European ingredients and traditional Japanese foods.

For that, it brought in Tadayoshi Yamada, the head chef at RiVi, an Osaka-based restaurant known for its French-Japanese fusion cuisine, to steer the project, according to Guinness World Records.

The desert is available for sale in Japan and is shipped directly to consumers, according to Cellato’s website.

Sampling the treat comes with almost equal precision, as Cellato sets out meticulous steps to govern the way it should be consumed once it arrives.

Patrons are instructed to pour in the white truffle at the right texture just as the ice cream softens up, before mixing it with a handcrafted metal spoon given to them.

They are advised to let the ice cream defrost at room temperature or microwave it at 500 watts for 10 to 20 seconds, if the texture is too hard.

While the Guinness World Records team has not had a chance to sample the dessert, Cellato earlier offered a tasting session for its staff, who described the treat to the record-keeping body as “rich in taste and texture.”

In addition, they recommended pairing the tasting with sake or a French white wine.

Cellato, which also has a black truffle-based offering on its menu, said it plans to diversify its eye-wateringly expensive product line to include Champagne and caviar in the future.

Climate change activists turned the blue water of the Trevi Fountain in central Rome black with diluted charcoal on Sunday.

Around 10 activists from the climate group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) entered the 18th century late-Baroque fountain holding a banner that said, “Let’s not pay for fossil campaigns considering what is happening in Emilia Romagna,” referring to the deadly flooding in northern Italy, which some experts have linked to the climate crisis.

“Our country is dying,” other banners stated.

All activists were arrested and face vandalism charges, Rome police said.

Luisa Regimenti, councilor for personnel, urban security, local police and local authorities in the Lazio region, which includes Rome, condemned the act. In a written statement she said that it was the “umpteenth demonstrative act of eco-vandals” that hit “a symbol of Rome universally known in the world.”

Calling it an “irresponsible blitz,” she said dying the fountain was “a serious gesture, a worrying escalation that must be stopped with a safety plan for the monuments and the works of art most at risk in Rome and Lazio.”

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri tweeted: “Enough of these absurd attacks on our artistic heritage. Today the #FontanadiTrevi was smeared. Expensive and complex to restore, hoping there is no permanent damage. I invite activists to compete on a confrontational terrain without putting the monuments at risk.”

He told local media on the scene that the 300,000 liter (66,000 gallon) fountain would have to be emptied and that the dyed water would have to be thrown away. “This will involve a significant intervention. It will cost time, effort and water.”

This is the third time activists have put charcoal into famous fountains in the eternal city. In May, they dumped charcoal in the Fountain of Four Rivers in Piazza Navona and in April they targeted the Barcaccia fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. The group has claimed responsibility in each incident.

“Charcoal in the water of the Trevi Fountain,” they tweeted Sunday. “1 out of 4 houses in Italy is vulnerable to floods. How much longer do we have to wait for those in government to take concrete action?”

Some climate groups have criticized the Italian government for not being prepared for climate change in the wake of the flooding in northern Italy that killed at least 14 people and displaced more than 36,000.

The climate crisis “is affecting territories with increasingly intense extreme events, with risks to people’s lives, and impacts on the environment and the economy. And Italy once again proves unprepared,” said Italian environmentalist association Legambiente in a press release last Thursday

Legend states that anyone who throws a fountain into the coin will ensure their return to Rome. Each year around 1-1.5 million euros ($1.1-$1.6 million) in coins are collected for the Catholic charity Caritas. Around 3,000 euros ($3,200) a day are thrown into the fountain during busy tourist months, according to Rome’s tourism board.

Flights from Catania airport in Sicily were grounded on Sunday after volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount Etna covered the runways.

Pictures and video footage show black volcanic ash covering planes at the airport, and blanketing roads in the area.

The observatory said in a statement that the eruptive phase ended around 9 p.m. Sunday, but it couldn’t predict when a new phase might begin.

Volcanic ash clouds are a serious hazard to aviation, reducing visibility, damaging flight controls and ultimately causing jet engines to fail.

In 2010, a volcanic eruption in Iceland sent a huge plume of ash moving across the Atlantic, causing massive disruption to air traffic across Western Europe.

In the aftermath of the crisis, international aviation regulators introduced new risk management guidance on flight safety and volcanic ash.

Mount Etna is Europe’s most active volcano, and also the highest, at about 3,350 meters (almost 11,000 feet) tall.

It is located on the east coast of Sicily, just north of the city of Catania.

Etna’s eruptions are relatively frequent, resulting in a landscape that constantly changes as lava hardens, craters collapse and, in some cases, are created.

It is one of Sicily’s most popular tourist attractions, with visitors able to hike up the volcano or take a cable car that connects with a 4×4 bus to take visitors to the 2,800-meter mark.

In March 2017, a group of tourists and a BBC camera crew made a dramatic escape during an eruption.

Surrounded by steam and with boiling hot rocks pelting down on them, the group sprinted to a nearby rescue vehicle that took them to safety. Ten people were injured, but none seriously, Italian news agency Ansa reported at the time.

The old rules of politics are being smashed all over the world.

In the United States, Donald Trump is mounting a political comeback, with an even greater disregard for democracy, accountability and propriety than he showed in his first term. The former president taps into supporters’ disdain for “elites” in business, politics and the media, whom they believe maintain a system expressly designed to suppress them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected international law and the concept of national sovereignty by marching into Ukraine. And China is successfully challenging the global system written by the West that has prevailed since the end of World War II, testing its capacity to defend international property rights and ruthless business practices while offering developing nations in the “Global South” an alternative political and economic model of authoritarian capitalism.

Lesser revolts have happened everywhere over the last decade. Britain’s exit from the European Union was partly powered by voters who thought they were “taking back control” from distant institutions in Brussels. Strong showings by far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the last presidential elections may be a harbinger of a future reckoning for France’s political consensus.

As the US-engineered ancien régime comes apart, President Joe Biden has rooted his presidency in an effort to repair structures that underpin US power: He’s trying to save democracy at home from Trump’s onslaught and to strengthen alliances fractured by the previous administration – including reinvigorating NATO to help Ukraine survive.

Biden was born in 1942, at a time when the US and its allies were beginning to think about the shape of a post-World War II order that has largely prevailed ever since. Now, his presidency may represent his generation’s last chance to put a stamp on that fraying system and the world they leave behind.

This week’s G7 summit of industrialized nations in Japan will focus on the war in Ukraine, the threat from China, climate change and international trade. But the underlying theme of the talks will be an effort to shore up international rules and practices. Japan is trying to emphasize one endangered international consensus — the need to stop the further spread of nuclear weapons — by hosting the talks in Hiroshima, the city turned to dust by an American atomic weapon in 1945.

The G7 comprises the world’s most advanced industrialized democracies: the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Italy. Tokyo has also invited Australia, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, all rising economic powerhouses and key Asian regional players. The idea is clearly to expand and enforce the G7’s rules-based international system, and to combat China’s efforts to use its own massive weight to change the way the world does business and politics. There’s even been talk recently that South Korea and maybe India might one day get full membership.

A new Great Game is underway that could write the world’s rules for decades to come. And the struggles of many Western nations to contain populist, anti-democratic movements at home will only complicate their efforts to hold onto power abroad.

Big summits like the G7 might come across as dull, but they could be just as crucial as the wartime get-togethers of US, British and Soviet leaders that wrote the international rules that would run the world for the next 80 years.