In a scene eerily similar to that of a post-apocalyptic movie, the New York Yankees hosted the Chicago White Sox as the Yankee Stadium was engulfed in smoke from Canadian wildfires.

New York City topped the list of the world’s worst air pollution for parts of Tuesday as harmful smoke wafted south from more than a hundred wildfires burning in Quebec.

Smoke from Canada’s fires has periodically affected the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic for more than a week, raising concerns over the harms of persistent poor air quality.

New York City’s air quality index was above 200 at one point Tuesday night – a level that is “very unhealthy,” according to IQair. The city had the worst quality of air of any major metropolitan area Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, according to IQair.

Later Tuesday night, New York City had the second-worst levels of air pollution in the world after New Delhi, India, IQair reported. Other cities on the list were Doha, Qatar; Baghdad, Iraq; and Lahore, Pakistan.

But the show must go on and the Yankees looked to take the opening game in their home series against the White Sox.

However, playing without captain Aaron Judge, who is set to be placed on the injured list, the Yankees had no hits through six innings and, despite nearly mounting a comeback in the ninth, lost the game 3-2.

Seby Zavala crushed two home runs into the smoky crowd to give the team on the road the initiative. The catcher homered to right field in the third inning and then hit a deep home run to the opposite side on his next at-bat in the fifth.

Liam Hendriks then managed to get his first save since returning from a battle with cancer.

Hendriks made an emotional return after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the White Sox’s 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last week.

“Yeah, it almost helps me when the stadium gets that loud,” said Hendriks post-game after being hit for a home run by Josh Donaldson. “I tend to get a little bit better after that. That helped me lock in a little bit more than I had initially.”

The Yankees and the White Sox play again Wednesday with New York looking to level the series.

French striker Karim Benzema has signed with Saudi Arabian team Al-Ittihad on an initial three-year deal, the club announced on Tuesday.

Benzema played his final game for Real Madrid on Sunday having spent 14 years with the Spanish giant, winning the men’s Ballon d’Or in 2022 – the award recognizing the best player in world football over the course of a year.

Al-Ittihad won the Saudi Pro League (SPL) this season under the stewardship of one-time Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo and offered Benzema a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million.

The club’s official Twitter account posted a video of the French forward with the caption: “Benzema is here. A new tiger will roar. Welcome to Ittihad.”

The SPL shared a statement on the signing, reading: “Benzema’s arrival is the most impactful transfer in the club’s history to date.

“It also marks another huge step in the Saudi Pro League’s journey to become one of football’s leading destinations for the world’s very best after its biggest season to date.”

Benzema, seen holding up Al-Ittihad’s black and yellow striped shirt in Tuesday’s press release, is quoted in the league’s statement, saying: “I am excited to experience a new football league in a different country. Al-Ittihad Club has an amazing history, incredibly passionate fans and big ambitions in football to be a force in Asia after winning the league.

“I have been fortunate to achieve amazing things in my career and achieve everything I can in Spain and Europe. It now feels the time is right for a new challenge and project.”

Reuniting with Ronaldo

Benzema also expressed joy at joining a league which already contains his former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

“It’s a good league and there are many good players,” the 35-year-old said. “Cristiano Ronaldo is already there, a friend [who] shows Saudi Arabia is starting to further progress its level. I am here to win, like I did in Europe.”

Al-Ittihad’s president Anmar Bin Abdullah Alhailael said: “To sign the current Ballon d’Or holder from Real Madrid is another historic milestone for this special club. Karim is a global football icon, he’s box office and very much at the top of his powers.”

Benzema joined Real Madrid from Lyon in 2009, aged 21. He won 25 trophies with the club, making 648 appearances and scoring 354 goals – the second most in its history. His five Champions League titles tie for the most in history for an individual player.

It came out of nowhere. Tuesday’s announcement that golf’s bitter rivals would join forces took everyone by surprise – even, it seems, the players.

The US-based PGA Tour said its merger with the breakaway LIV Golf and the DP World Tour would “unify the game,” with all pending litigation mutually ended under the new agreement. A truce has been called.

Although it’s unclear at this stage what this means for the future of golf, it appears some of its most important stakeholders are attempting to bring unity to the sport after a period of division.

What the partnership means

The move unifies PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf’s commercial businesses and rights under a new, yet to be named for-profit company.

In a memo to PGA Tour players, commissioner Jay Monahan said the new partnership would require approval from the PGA Tour policy board, while Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), told CNBC he expected it to be finalized “in a matter of weeks.”

The announcement promised a “capital investment” from PIF – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which has splashed billions of dollars on investments at home and overseas – to “facilitate” the “growth and success” of the new entity.

Monahan said that golf’s calendar for 2023 would remain the same, while also confirming that the team element to LIV’s format would continue in some capacity.

The announcement also said that Al-Rumayyan, the majority owner of Premier League club Newcastle United, would be named to the board of the new entity as chairman, with Monahan named the chief executive.

Most importantly, the merger would end almost two years of legal disputes between the organizations and their participants.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” Monahan said in a statement.

What about the players?

Participating players in the LIV Golf series were banned from competing in PGA Tour events – although they could compete in all four majors – and were punished for leaving the established tours.

Ahead of the inaugural event last June, players resigned their PGA Tour status to compete at Centurion Golf Club near London for LIV Golf’s inaugural event.

Eleven LIV Golf players filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August last year, which was scheduled to be heard in May 2024.

In April, the DP Word Tour won in arbitration against members of the LIV Golf series after players had appealed following the European Tour’s decision to discipline them for wanting to play in the inaugural event.

Appeals brought by the players were dismissed, and the £100,000 ($125,000) fines originally imposed had to be paid within 30 days.

Shortly afterwards, three of European golf’s biggest names – Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood – quit the DP World Tour and therefore ruled themselves out of the Ryder Cup after the DP World Tour won its legal battle to be able to suspend and fine players who featured in conflicting LIV Golf events without permission.

However, much is now up in the air, chiefly who can and can’t compete in September’s Ryder Cup.

Why has the merger come about?

In short, no one really knows. According to the Financial Times, the framework agreement was brokered over two months of meetings between the PGA and PIF across the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Monahan told the Financial Times on Tuesday that he began to trust Al-Rumayyan “10 minutes after sitting down with him in Venice.”

Relations between the two sides of the argument seem to have thawed over recent weeks after 12 months of barbs, jabs and pointed comments.

During LIV’s inaugural season last year, it felt as if the quality on display was on a lower level than the PGA Tour and that showed in the majors, with many of the breakaway players struggling.

However, in recent months, the gap between the two organizations has narrowed, led primarily through Brooks Koepka. After some lean years, Koepka came out of nowhere to finish tied for second at the Masters before winning his fifth career major at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, last month.

That success has meant that LIV Golf has never been in a stronger position to negotiate a position at golf’s top table, putting paid to the theory that those competing in the breakaway tournament were in a less competitive environment.

Why was LIV Golf so controversial?

This rift began last year when it was announced that a breakaway golf tour, funded by Saudi Arabia’s PIF and fronted by former world No. 1 Greg Norman, would be established, offering players the ability to compete for more money by playing in fewer, shorter events.

The PIF is a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the man who a US intelligence report named as responsible for approving the operation that led to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Bin Salman has denied involvement in Khashoggi’s murder.

In its first year, the tour pledged to award $250 million in total prize money and such an eye-watering figure turned plenty of star players’ heads, including major winners Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

The PGA Tour responded earlier this year by announcing a revamped schedule for 2024, with “designated events” offering increased prize money, smaller fields and no cuts.

However, the formation of the controversial new venture was the subject of criticism and critique from many of golf’s fraternity.

The source of the money, PIF, has led to criticism of competing for money from the Middle Eastern country, given its human rights record.

Another avenue of controversy was the breakaway from golf’s established tours. The PGA Tour and the DP World Tour – formerly the European Tour – have long been where players have plied their trades across the golfing calendar, outside of the four majors.

Tiger Woods was also critical, arguing in July 2022 that players who joined LIV Golf had “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”

What has the reaction been?

Like many things associated with LIV Golf, the announcement has had mixed reactions.

Many of the PGA Tour fraternity took to social media to express their surprise at the news. “I love finding out morning news on Twitter,” wrote two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Canadian world No. 67 Mackenzie Hughes wrote: “Nothing like finding out through Twitter that we’re merging with a tour that we said we’d never do that with.” Mickelson – who was one of the first big names to join the tour and whose reputation had been tarnished the most – said it was an “awesome day today.”

Former US President Donald Trump, whose courses have been used extensively by LIV Golf, celebrated the news, writing in all capital letters on his social media platform Truth Social: “Great news from Liv Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!”

But some were not as positive. “Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all golf in the world by going back on everything he said the past 2 years,” US golfer Dylan Wu said. “The hypocrisy. Wish golf worked like that. I guess money always wins.”

Fellow American Wesley Bryan said he felt “betrayed.”

“Love finding out info on twitter. This is amazing. Y’all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer,” Bryan wrote.

“I feel betrayed, and will not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time.”

Other golfers saw the humorous side in the news. “I’ve grown up being a fan of the 4 Aces. Maybe one day I get to play for them on the PGA Tour!” Joel Dahmen said on Twitter, making reference to one of the teams participating in the LIV Golf series.

As an orange haze of wildfire smoke from Canada hovers over parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, officials in New York state are warning residents to avoid being outdoors due to the potential health risk that could persist Wednesday.

New York City had the world’s worst air pollution of any major city during parts of Tuesday as heavy smoke from more than 100 wildfires burning north of the Canadian border drifted south.

The smoke has also triggered air quality alerts in parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service.

The alarming air quality, a degree of which could continue Wednesday, prompted New York Mayor Eric Adams to ask residents to limit their outdoor activity and state environmental officials to issue an air quality health advisory for the city through Wednesday.

“Active children, adults, and people with lung diseases such as asthma should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors,” officials advised.

New York City public schools canceled all outdoor activities Wednesday, but will remain open. At least 10 school districts in central New York state canceled outdoor activities and events Tuesday.

By 7 a.m. Wednesday, New York City’s air quality index was just below 180, a designation of “unhealthy,” according to IQair.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the air quality index for the city topped 200, pushing it into the “very unhealthy” range, according to IQair.

New York City tallied to the worst air quality of any major metropolitan area Tuesday at 10 p.m., IQair’s data showed.

Later Tuesday night it had the second-worst in the world, after New Delhi, India, IQair reported. Other cities on the list were Doha, Qatar; Baghdad, Iraq; and Lahore, Pakistan.

Air quality in the northeast US has deteriorated this week as more than 150 wildfires rage in Quebec, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.

So far this year, the province has experienced more than 400 wildfires, which is twice the average for this time of year.

More than 9 million acres have been charred by wildfires in all of Canada this year – about 15 times the normal burned area for this point in the year.

Human-induced climate change has exacerbated the hot and dry conditions that fuel wildfires. Scientists recently reported that millions of acres scorched by wildfires in the Western US and Canada – an area roughly the size of South Carolina – could be traced back to carbon pollution from the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement companies.

Air quality concerns span multiple states

On Wednesday, the heaviest smoke is forecast to impact the Northeast through the mid-Atlantic and down to the Carolinas. Smoke conditions in those regions could also persist through at least Thursday.

Cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, are expected to see their air quality improve throughout the day.

But the air over Boston, Pittsburgh and Raleigh, North Carolina, is forecast to worsen Wednesday.

Wildfire smoke is particularly dangerous because it contains tiny particulate matter, or PM2.5 – the tiniest of pollutants.

When inhaled, it can travel deep into lung tissue and enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and has been linked to a several health complications including asthma, heart disease and other respiratory illnesses.

And the impacts could be deadly: In 2016, about 4.2 million premature deaths were associated with fine particulate matter, according to the World Health Organization.

“If you can see or smell smoke, know that you’re being exposed,” said William Barrett, the national senior director of clean air advocacy with the American Lung Association. “And it’s important that you do everything you can to remain indoors during those high, high pollution episodes, and it’s really important to keep an eye on your health or any development of symptoms.”

Adventure cruise company Hurtigruten Norway today revealed plans for a zero-emissions electric cruise ship with retractable sails covered in solar panels, which is due to set sail in 2030.

The company currently has a fleet of eight ships, each with a capacity of 500 passengers, that travel along the Norwegian coast from Oslo to the Arctic Circle. Although a relatively small firm, CEO Hedda Felin hopes that this innovation “can inspire the entire maritime industry.”

The project, named “Sea Zero,” was initially announced in March 2022 and since then, Hurtigruten Norway, along with 12 maritime partners and Norway-based research institute SINTEF, has been exploring technological solutions that could help to achieve emission-free marine travel.

The resulting design will run predominantly off 60 megawatt batteries that can be charged in port with clean energy, as renewables account for 98% of Norway’s electricity system. Gerry Larsson-Fedde, SVP of marine operations for Hurtigruten Norway, who came up with the idea of a zero-emission ship, estimates that the batteries will have a range of 300 to 350 nautical miles, meaning that during an 11-day round trip, one liner would have to charge around seven or eight times.

To reduce reliance on the battery, when it’s windy, three retractable sails – or wings – will rise out of the deck, reaching a maximum height of 50 meters. They can adjust independently, shrinking to pass under bridges or changing their angle to catch the most wind, explains Larsson-Fedde. He adds that the sails will be covered in a total of 1,500 square meters of solar panels that will generate energy to top up the batteries while sailing – and the battery levels will be displayed on the ship’s side.

“In Norway, although it can be dark sometimes in winter, we still have sun in the south. And we have sun 24 hours a day in the summer. We will be super-powered by the midnight sun on top of everything else,” he says.

The ship will be fitted with 270 cabins to hold 500 guests and 99 crew, and its streamlined shape will result in less air resistance, helping to further reduce energy use. On board, guests will be invited to minimize their own climate impact through an interactive mobile app that monitors their personal water and energy consumption.

“We want to make them more aware of how much energy they use by spending 10 minutes more in the shower or having air conditioning going full,” says Larsson-Fedde.

Greener shipping

The shipping industry accounts for around 3% of global manmade greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN body that regulates global shipping. In 2018, the IMO introduced a target to cut the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050.

This has led to a new wave of designs for eco-friendly sailing vessels, from the transatlantic car carrier Oceanbird and various cargo ships with retractable sails, to Oceanco’s Black Pearl superyacht and Chantiers de Atlanique’s cruise ship with folding solid sails. But most of these will also rely on engines that run off fossil fuels. Larsson-Fedde notes that while Hurtigruten Norway’s design will have a backup engine for safety reasons, it will run off green fuels, such as ammonia, methanol or biofuel.

Hurtigruten Norway has long touted sustainable shipping. In 2019, it launched the world’s first hybrid, battery-supported cruise ship and is currently in the process of converting the rest of its expedition fleet to hybrid battery power.

“We are dependent on the ocean and the environment. That’s our product: clean oceans, clean harbors, local suppliers,” says Felin. “We want to push and be the leader in sustainability, as we believe that our industry is far too slow and not ambitious enough.”

Over the next two years, Hurtigruten Norway will test its proposed technologies before finalizing the design in 2026, and aims to begin shipyard production in 2027. The first vessel is due to enter Norwegian waters in 2030. After that, the company hopes to gradually transform its entire fleet to zero-emission vessels.

Forget Fraser Island. The world’s largest sand island is now officially known by its traditional name, K’gari, the government of the Australian state of Queensland announced Wednesday.

The name change formally recognizes the connection of the indigenous Butchulla people to the UNESCO World Heritage site on Australia’s east coast.

The Butchulla are the Aboriginal Australians who owned and cared for the area long before European settlement.

“In our creation stories, our stories handed down by generations, it has always been K’gari and always will be,” Gayle Minniecon, chairperson of Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, said in a press release.

“K’gari means to me, home. Home amongst my People, the descendants, the ancestors, the Midiru (Traditional Owners). It’s our place. It’s what we call home,” Joyce Bonner, Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation Language and Cultural coordinator, said in a statement ahead of the reinstatement.

A ceremony was held on the island on Wednesday to celebrate the name’s restoration.

The Queensland government began the process of changing the name in 2021, following a years-long campaign by indigenous people.

K’gari means “paradise” in the Butchulla language and is pronounced “GUR-rie” or “Gurri,” according to the Queensland government.

Long popular with both foreign and domestic tourists, K’gari has a 75-mile beach, no roads, colored sand cliffs and approximately 100 freshwater lakes, according to the state’s tourism body.

It is also the only known place in the world where a rainforest grows on sand.

K’gari was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. It was cited for its distinctive biological conditions, including “majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on tall sand dunes, a phenomenon believed to be unique in the world.”

It is also home to a diverse group of rare or endangered animals, including the eastern ground parrot and the Fraser Island sand skink.

“The return to the island’s traditional name is a significant step in its history and reflects Queensland’s unique position as the only place on earth where our two ancient cultures continue to live side-by-side,” said Patricia O’Callaghan, CEO of Tourism and Events Queensland.

“Visitors to K’gari are spoiled for beautiful scenery but most importantly they can embrace the culture of the Butchulla People who have called the island home for tens of thousands of years,” she added.

Air New Zealand’s Skynest, the upcoming reimagined economy-class seating which promises bunk beds in the skies, has already attracted a lot of buzz and excitement among sleep-starved long-haul passengers.

Now the concept’s got the industry seal of approval via a prestigious Crystal Cabin Award, presented at the 2022 Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany.

Skynest isn’t just a futuristic, maybe-one-day concept – it’s an airline-produced product that’s set to hit the skies in 2024.

“Bunk-bed solution for economy class – this is something which you regularly see as a concept,” said Kaestner. “But we rarely see this level of innovation actually becoming a real product that’s flying.”

Winning designs

The Crystal Cabin Awards announced its longlist earlier this year, before whittling the categories down to a shortlist. Finalists presented their ideas at AIX earlier this week – with the team of expert judges then picking their favorites.

Other winners include Collins Aerospace’s InteliSence concept in the Passenger Comfort category. InteliSence uses artificial intelligence and data gathered from on-board cameras and sensors to track passengers’ travel experiences. Collins said in a statement that the goal is to help “airlines optimize power consumption, on-board provisions and crew workloads,” as well as give passengers a more personalized on-board experience.

In the university category, a student team from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands won for its Lightweight Aircraft Seating concept – a lightweight seat cushion designed to use minimal material while still ensuring passenger comfort.

Meanwhile in the Sustainable Cabin category, Lantal Textiles’ Deep Dyed Carpet was awarded for its ability to potentially reduce airplane CO2 emissions via a more eco-friendly, lightweight cabin carpet.

Kaestner said it’s heartening to see more sustainable innovations in aviation, and suggests the industry is starting to reckon with its environmental impact – although acknowledged there’s still a long way to go.

“We have not been that good yet, as an industry,” he said.

Continuing impact

The Crystal Cabin Awards are announced annually, and Kaestner and his team enjoy keeping tabs on former nominees and winners in the years following their win.

Winning entries often have a domino effect on the aviation industry, said Kaestner, who pointed to Delta’s 2017 win for its Delta One business class suite with an ultra-private sliding door.

“After that the majority of business-class cabins on long-haul started having these sliding doors,” he said.

While airlines operating shorter flights might have less need for the kind of seating solution offered by Air New Zealand’s Skynest, Kaestner suggested they’ll still be watching closely to see how Skynest performs.

“It will be really interesting also from a business perspective to see if it works out,” he said.

For student nominees, the Crystal Cabin Awards are “a fantastic way to get into the industry,” added Kaestner.

Some, such as Alejandro Núñez Vicente, nominated in 2021 for his double-decker airplane seat, have gone on to found their own start-ups.

Winners, Crystal Cabin Awards 2023:

Winner Cabin Concepts:  Air New Zealand “Skynest”

Winner Cabin Systems, Materials and Components: Thales Avionics “Onboard Data Center”

Winner Health & Safety: Teledyne Controls “ACES”

Winner Passenger Comfort: Collins Aerospace “InteliSence”

Winner IFEC and Digital Services: AirFi, coop. Iridium “LEO Connectivity Solution”

Winner Sustainable Cabin: Lantal Textiles “Deep Dyed Carpet”

Winner University: Technical University of Delft “Lightweight Aircraft Seating”

Dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured on Monday after clashes erupted with Serbian demonstrators trying to block the newly elected mayors from taking office in the northern municipality of Zvecan.

NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) said Tuesday that it will deploy additional forces to the region following the clashes, which saw some of its peacekeepers wounded by batons, firearms and Molotov cocktails. Demonstrators again gathered on Wednesday, assembling outside municipal buildings in Zvecan, according to Serbian state media.

However, Kurti’s government was criticized by the United States and others for “escalating” the conflict.

“The Government of Kosovo’s decision to force access to municipal buildings sharply and unnecessarily escalated tensions,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday.

“Prime Minister Kurti and his government should ensure that elected mayors carry out their transitional duties from alternate locations outside municipal buildings, and withdraw police forces from the vicinity,” Blinken said.

Following Blinken’s statement, the US announced a raft of measures against Kosovo for the “unnecessary” crisis, including canceling its participation in US-led joint NATO exercises.

French President Emmanuel Macron also said Wednesday that authorities in Kosovo are responsible for the rising tensions in the northern region.

“We made it clear to the Kosovo authorities that it was a mistake to proceed with these elections in this context of virtual non-participation,” Macron said at a joint press conference in Slovakia on Wednesday, referring to the Serbian boycott of the vote.

“All international bodies did recognize the elections that we had. Once you recognize the process of elections, and its results, then mayors have to go to the municipalities. Who else should be in these municipality buildings if not the mayors?” he added.

Disputed elections

Monday’s violence erupted after tensions bubbled for months in northern Kosovo over controversial local elections.

They resigned partly in protest against the issue of car license plates. Kosovo has for years wanted Serbs living in the north to switch their Serbian license plates to those issued by Pristina, Kosovo’s capital.

In July, Kosovo’s government announced a two-month window in which plates had to be changed, but pushed the date back after protests. When the new date came around in November, four ethnic Serb mayors resigned, along with local judges and some 600 police officers, according to Reuters.

After this, Kurti said that the elections had to be postponed again – this time to April.

However, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called on Serbs in the region to boycott the elections, saying that they should no longer tolerate a foreign “occupation.” Serbian List supported the boycott, leaving ethnically Albanian candidates to run unchallenged.

After polls closed, election officials said only around 1,567 people had voted across the four Serb majority municipalities – a turnout of just 3.5% according to local media. In Zvecan, the site of Monday’s violence, the Albanian mayor won the election by barely more than 100 votes, prompting cries that his authority is illegitimate.

“Now we have four mayors whose legitimacy is low. But, nonetheless, there is no one who is more legitimate than them. We have to have the rule of law. We are a democratic republic,” he added.

“Now that the newly democratically elected mayors (ethnic Albanians) want to commence work in their municipal offices, the world has witnessed violent Serb gangs forcibly preventing democracy from happening,” Haradinaj said.

Kosovo is a ‘NATO success story’

But many ethnic Serbs in the region feel underrepresented. The majority of Kosovo’s Serbs live in the northern regions and have increasingly demanded greater autonomy from the ethnic Albanian majority.

Kurti’s government has been accused of preventing the implementation of self-governing municipalities for Serbs, provided for under the terms of the 2013 Brussels Agreement brokered by the European Union and aimed at normalizing relations between the Balkan neighbors.

Under the agreement, Serbia could create “autonomous municipalities” in northern Kosovo, but these would have to operate under the Kosovar legal system, with Kosovar police remaining the only law enforcement authority.

More than a decade on, these municipalities have not been created, leaving disputes over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo’s Serbs to fester.

“But we cannot have a privileged minority because Belgrade is lamenting for the loss of Kosovo in 1999 when NATO intervened to stop the genocide of the regime of (Slobodan) Milosevic,” he added.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following the 1998-99 war in which Kosovar Albanians attempted to split from what was then Yugoslavia, made up of today’s Serbia and Montenegro. NATO intervened to protect Kosovo’s Albanian majority from a campaign of ethnic cleansing orchestrated by Milosevic, including by conducting an aerial bombing campaign across Yugoslavia.

Growing Russian influence

Kurti drew stark contrasts between Kosovo and neighboring Serbia, claiming: “We are a democratic, pro-European republic. Our northern neighbor, Serbia, is a pro-Russian autocracy. So there is not much democracy there, even though they have elections – since they have one party, one state, one leader.”

He also claimed that many of the “ultra-nationalist right-wingers” who protested in Kosovo on Monday “are being paid and ordered from Belgrade and who admire despotic President Putin.”

Some fear that Vucic, who remains embroiled in political turmoil at home, is also attempting to use Serbian nationalism as a rallying cry for his supporters.

In comments on Tuesday, Vucic claimed that the violence in Kosovo may pose a threat to ethnic Serbs in the region, saying Serbia has “concern for the survival and security of Serbs in Kosovo.”

“He’s building his patriotic stature on Kosovo. He’s a big defender of the Serbian cause. He’s the savior of the Serbian people… All that rhetoric that we’ve heard a number of times before is being used again. And there are a lot of people who are buying it.”

Demonstrators gathered again in Zvecan on Wednesday, with employees of the local government, who used to work for the former ethnically Serbian mayor, assembling outside municipal buildings, according to Serbian state media RTS.

Protesters also carried a 250-meter-long (820-foot) Serbian flag through the streets of Zvecan, and draped more flags over barriers and anti-riot fences put up by KFOR troops.

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina said that she was unsure why Belarusian opponent Aryna Sabalenka waited at the net for a handshake after their French Open match.

With the war in her home country ongoing, Svitolina has declined to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players since returning to tennis following the birth of her first child last year.

But Sabalenka, who progressed to the semifinals at Roland Garros with a 6-4 6-4 victory on Tuesday, waited at the net to acknowledge Svitolina.

“I don’t know, to be fair, what she was waiting [for], because my statements were clear enough about the handshake,” the former world No. 3 told reporters.

She added: “My initial reaction, I don’t know, was like, what are you doing? Because, yeah, all my press conference I say my clear position. So I don’t know.”

Sabalenka faced a similar scenario against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the French Open first round, when her opponent also left the court without a handshake.

After her third and fourth-round matches, Sabalenka stopped participating in customary post-match press conferences, saying that she didn’t feel safe safe when she attended one last Wednesday.

However, she attended a regular press conference after the quarterfinal and said that she waited at the net out of “instinct.”

The world No. 2 also reiterated her stance against the war in Ukraine and said that she has always respected the press conference format.

“I’m always open in my answers,” Sabalenka told reporters. “I really felt bad not coming here. I couldn’t sleep. Like all those bad feelings was in my head, I couldn’t fall asleep.

“I felt really bad not coming here. I really respect all of you guys. Thank you so much for coming here, for being interested in me.”

Asked whether Sabalenka had inflamed the handshake situation by waiting at the net, Svitolina said: “Yeah, I think so, unfortunately.”

Despite her time away from tennis, the 28-year-old Svitolina enjoyed a strong run at the French Open after winning her 17th WTA title in Strasbourg ahead of the tournament.

She managed to go toe-to-toe with Sabalenka on Court Philippe-Chatrier for much of the first set and broke at the start of the second set as she looked to mount a comeback.

But Sabalenka’s power game from the baseline ultimately overwhelmed Svitolina as she secured two breaks of serve to win in straight sets.

The Australian Open champion finished the match with 30 winners to Svitolina’s seven and will next face Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova on Thursday for a place in the French Open final.

Former US President Donald Trump called the shock partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf a “big, beautiful, and glamorous deal” for golf.

The surprise announcement of the partnership between the three main golfing organizations – the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf – came on Tuesday, ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.

Former President Trump, whose courses have hosted several LIV Golf events, welcomed the news.

“Great news from LIV golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!” he wrote in all capital letters on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump’s golf courses will host three LIV Golf events over the 2023 season, with the most recent being held at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC, last month.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan called it a “transformational partnership,” that would “benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans.”

Phil Mickelson, one of the earliest to join LIV Golf, became one of the new tour’s most vocal defenders after facing heavy criticism for joining. Responding to the announcement, Mickelson said on Twitter: “Awesome day today.”

Initial social media reaction from players suggested that some were caught unaware.

Collin Morikawa tweeted, “I love finding out morning news on Twitter,” while fellow pro Michael S. Kim said: “Very curious how many people knew this deal was happening. About 5-7 people? Player run organization right?”

Some players did not react positively, however. “Tell me why Jay Monahan basically got a promotion to CEO of all golf in the world by going back on everything he said the past 2 years,” US golfer Dylan WU said. “The hypocrisy. Wish golf worked like that. I guess money always wins.”

Fellow American Wesley Bryan said: “Love finding out info on twitter. This is amazing. Y’all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer.

“I feel betrayed, and will not (?) not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time.”