By all accounts Arsenal was very much in the running to sign Ukrainian superstar Mykhailo Mudryk during the January transfer window. As the current Premier League leader, the 22-year-old forward had the potential to be a pivotal addition in the title race.

Instead, Mudryk signed for Arsenal’s crosstown rival, Chelsea.

Now run by American businessman Todd Boehly, Chelsea swooped in to sign Mudryk for a transfer fee of $75 million with an additional $35 million expected as a bonus payment, according to Mudryk’s former club, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mudryk’s acquisition – as well as the deadline day, British-record $132 million deal for Enzo Fernández – demonstrated what a manic January transfer window it’s been Chelsea, one in which the club’s spending has topped $350 million, according to Transfermarkt, and which has seen eight players arrive, including a raft of attackers.

Back in May, the UK government approved the sale of Chelsea to an ownership group led by Boehly in a deal worth more than $5 billion.

Chelsea was previously owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who put the club up for sale in early March following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying at the time it was “in the best interest of the Club.”

In May, UK government added Abramovich to its list of sanctioned individuals as part of its efforts to “isolate” Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Boehly’s reign has already seen him get rid of coach Thomas Tuchel, who guided Chelsea to its second Champions League title in 2020/21, replacing the German with Graham Potter.

As well as Chelsea, Boehly has invested in a number of sporting franchises, including stakes in the MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

Since arriving at Chelsea, it’s estimated that Boehly has spent over $600 million on transfers. Barely a day has gone by in January without Chelsea being linked with a host of players.

“It also has been a little draining because it feels like every day we’re waking up to a new link or a new story.”

Wheeling and dealing

While players have arrived, Chelsea’s results have been inconsistent – for the time being – as evidenced by the club’s fans pining for days gone by and singing, “We’ve got Super Tommy Tuchel,” during their team’s 4-0 hammering by Manchester City in the FA Cup in early January.

But Boehly’s splurge on new talent has never wavered.

“We’re all in – 100% – every minute of every match. Our vision as owners is clear: we want to make the fans proud,” said Boehly in a statement, released when his purchase of Chelsea was completed.

“Along with our commitment to developing the youth squad and acquiring the best talent, our plan of action is to invest in the Club for the long-term and build on Chelsea’s remarkable history of success.”

Boehly has gone out of his way to attempt to make the transition to life under Potter as smooth as possible, bringing in many of the former Brighton manager’s coaching and backroom staff to assist him.

Meanwhile Christopher Vivell joined as Chelsea’s technical director from RB Leipzig in Germany in December.

“He [Boehly] will provide important support to Graham and the ownership group and play a vital part in advancing our overall vision for the club,” Boehly told the club’s website when Vivell was appointed.

According to Dormer, Chelsea has never adequately replaced technical director Michael Emenalo, who left the club in 2017.

“If you think about it, over different managers, it’s like they were each a different kid and they requested a different Lego set, and they’re trying to build one unified project. And that means at times, not all the pieces fit together,” said Dormer.

The January transfer window is often viewed as the worst time to buy players, given clubs don’t want to lose valuable assets and arguably hold the upper hand in negotiations. Not that that has deterred the Blues.

As well as Mudryk, Benoît Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto, Andrey Santos, David Datro Fofana and Fernández were all signed on permanent deals while Portuguese superstar João Félix arrived on loan from Atlético Madrid.

Prior to Fernández’s transfer, Chelsea has bought 15 players this season, spending over $600 million, according to the CIES Football Observatory. The deal for Fernández brings the club’s recent transfer outlay to over $600 million.

That’s quite an outlay, but there is also a long-term strategy at play, with Chelsea targeting young players – 11 of the players signed for transfer fees are aged 22 or under.

Dormer says with older players running out of contract and some looking past their prime, there was a definite need to “replenish” the squad. On the final day of January’s transfer window, veteran midfielder Jorginho was sold to table-topping Arsenal.

“It’s almost like you went for your eye exam and the optometrist is asking: ‘Better one or better two?’ and helping you hone in to what the 20/20 vision is for your glasses,” said Dormer. “This is something where it has been an evolutionary process of trying to figure out who are those best players.”

Dormer believes Chelsea’s squad now has the required strength in depth.

“If Reece James is injured, Chelsea’s right-hand side dramatically dips in terms of total performance,” he explained.

“And so having similar levels of player to raise the floor on the individual behind your selected starter and then also to have the ability to rotate to keep the entirety of the team healthy, particularly as teams play 40 games, 50 games, 60 games plus a season – plus internationals, plus the lack of time off.”

However, this influx of talent potentially brings problems for Chelsea.

According to UEFA regulations, a club can only register three new players to its playing squad for the Champions League’s knockout stages, meaning that four of Mudryk, Félix, Badiashile, Madueke, Fofana and Fernández will not be able to play in the tournament for Chelsea.

Money, money, money

Big spending on transfers has almost rebounded to pre-pandemic levels this year, with Chelsea leading the pack.

According to the 2022 Global Transfer Market report published by FIFA, a total of $6.5 billion was spent by clubs in 2022, up 33.5% from $4.86 billion in 2021, but still below the levels of $6.94 billion in 2018 and $7.35 billion in 2019.

With over $600 million spent on new players by Chelsea alone, there have been questions about football’s financial regulations.

Chelsea is navigating the financial fair play regulations of both the Premier League and European football’s governing body, UEFA, by the process of amortization – giving players longer contracts so the cost of a transfer is spread across a number of years.

In Mudryk’s case, the Ukrainian signed an eight-and-a-half-year deal with the Blues, meaning his almost $110 million transfer fee will cost the club roughly $13 million a year. Fernandez also signed on an eight-and-a-half year contract at Stamford Bridge, according to the BBC.

Financial football expert Kieran Maguire – who says that he’s found Chelsea’s sudden transfer spending “strange” given the usual cautiousness of Clearlake Capital, the investment fund involved in the takeover – explained that amortization can be positive in the immediate future but has long-term consequences.

“You are then committed to paying the players’ wages over that six, seven, eight-year period.

“Chelsea are normally in the top three, certainly in the top four, wage commitments of Premier League clubs.

“So finding another club who’s willing to take the player off of Chelsea’s hands and pay them a level of remuneration to which the player is happy is going to be quite challenging.”

In January, UEFA announced it was altering its Financial Fair Play rules, setting a five-year limit over which a transfer fee can be spread in order to clamp down on the practice of excessive amortization.

However, the change will come into force during the summer of 2023 and will not apply retrospectively, meaning it will not affect Chelsea’s current spending spree.

Chelsea’s productive youth academy is also helping its bottom line – in recent years, Billy Gilmour, Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guéhi and Tammy Abraham have all brought in hefty fees.

However, does such a huge influx of players at Chelsea have implications for the club’s emerging prospects.

“It makes no sense having an academy system where the kids aren’t getting a chance to play at that level,” former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis told Sky Sports.

The growing disparity between the wealth of top clubs while others struggle financially is also raising concerns.

Fair Game, an organization “committed to the same principles and determined to improve the governance of our national game for the wider interests of football,” reiterated its calls for a transfer levy to put in place for Premier League clubs, saying it could raise almost $200 million which “could help provide a vital life line to clubs below the top flight that continue to struggle with the fall out of the pandemic and the day-to-day challenges of the cost-of-living crisis.”

According to Maguire, there’s an “arms race in terms of wages as a result of aggressive trading,” though he says the Premier League is more competitive than other European leagues, as evidenced by Chelsea and Liverpool’s 10th vs. ninth-placed clash last month.

“Football is a talent industry and the talent follows the money and the big clubs have the money,” said Maguire.

“I think it’s just really a case of trying to get a degree of competitive balance so that you don’t end up as we see in La Liga and some of the other European leagues where it is effectively a procession and that’s not good. The Premier League is successful because it’s got things right.”

As she readies herself for perhaps the most arduous sailing race in the world, Clarisse Crémer does so not only as a competitor hoping to thrive during her three months alone at sea, but also as a guiding light for new mothers in the sport and beyond.

For Crémer, the fastest solo woman to complete the around-the-world Vendée Globe race, assuming such a role was never part of the plan. It was only after she was dropped by her former sponsor, Banque Populaire, that the French skipper chose to speak about her experience.

“I’m happy about that. But when I will be sailing, I will only be thinking about sailing – it’s a lot of work already.”

Prior to giving birth to her daughter Mathilda in November, Crémer says she had informed Banque Populaire of her decision to have a child.

However, changes to the qualification process for the 2024 Vendée Globe mean skippers must compete in at least two qualifying races in their boat – one in 2022 or 2023 and one in 2024 – and finish at least one of them in a certain time frame.

If next year’s event is oversubscribed, selection is determined by the number of nautical miles sailed by the skippers since the Transat Jacques Vabre race in 2021.

With Crémer on maternity leave for some of the qualification process, Banque Populaire said there was a “risk” the boat would not qualify for next year’s Vendée Globe.

The sponsor acknowledged the “unfortunate situation” and said it planned to move forward with a new skipper.

“I was a bit overwhelmed after what had happened … but it didn’t take me ages to realize that my dream of being back in the next Vendée Globe was still there,” says Crémer. “I had made that promise to myself during the previous Vendée Globe that I wanted to be back.”

Return to sailing

A lifeline was quick to arrive. Last month, 5 West Ltd, a company represented by experienced British sailor Alex Thomson, announced it had reached an agreement to purchase the IMOCA 60 boat from Banque Populaire.

On Thursday, Thomson announced that Crémer would skipper the team in its bid to qualify for next year’s Vendée Globe.

Explaining its withdrawal, Banque Populaire said it would no longer be able to “calmly approach” next year’s race and “understands the emotion it has set off from the public” after parting with Crémer.

Thomson, who has finished second and third in two previous editions of the Vendée Globe, was soon in touch with Crémer after sensing an opportunity to partner with one of the world’s most talented sailors.

“Ultimately, if we provide the right balance and Clarisse is happy and she feels comfortable, then she’s going to perform better.”

Getting a new team off the ground in such a short space of time is no easy feat. Thomson said his team had to raise €5 million (around $5.5 million) to finance the boat and has also secured the support of a sponsor – beauty and cosmetic brand L’Occitane.

The first goal is simply to get to the start line of the Vendée Globe in Les Sables-d’Olonne, a coastal town in the west of France, next year.

“I was quite surprised that even when I was sailing during the (last) Vendée Globe, I was thinking about the next Vendée Globe,” says Crémer, who completed the 2020/21 edition of the race in 87 days, two hours and 24 minutes.

“I think it was something very strong in me and it didn’t take long to get over what had happened.

“Of course, it’s been a lot of work lately and intense weeks and the situation was not always easy, but I was very happy to realize that my dream was not very far away in my mind.”

Creating ‘your own universe’

The next Vendée Globe, which takes place between November 2024 and March 2025, will be the 10th edition of the race. Known as the “Everest of the Seas,” it has gained a reputation as one of the hardest sporting events in the world, pushing sailors to their physical and emotional limits.

Participants must overcome extreme weather, violent seas and mechanical issues as they navigate the roughly 24,000-mile route, all while staving off the suffocating isolation of being alone in the ocean for months on end.

“You are probably one of the most isolated people on the planet at times,” says Thomson, “because sometimes the closest person to you might be on the space station.”

The 33-year-old Crémer has the benefit of having experienced all this before, even producing a historic performance during her debut Vendée Globe with Banque Populaire.

“It’s incredible how a human being can get used to almost everything,” she says.

“You just create your own universe on your boat and you start having this feeling of being one with your boat. It’s quite an incredible feeling.

“I think one of the reasons I am going back is because you discover so much about yourself – and I feel like I have a lot to learn.”

Unlike her last Vendée Globe, Crémer, of course, would be competing as a mother next time around – though she’s quick to point out that many other parents have spent long periods of time away from their children while taking part in the race.

But confronting the challenges posed by motherhood has only strengthened Crémer’s determination; she hopes the achievements of her sailing career will be an inspiration for her daughter in the years to come

“I think it’s important she knows that I’ve worked very hard to get back there,” says Crémer.

“I love her very much and want her to have the best life possible, but it’s important that she will know that a woman can have an ambitious career too, even if she’s a mother.

“I think I’m trying to give her this example.”

Bengals running back Joe Mixon pleaded not guilty Wednesday to an aggravated menacing charge, according to a spokesperson with the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts office and court records.

The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor. Mixon was issued a $10,000 recognizance bond, meaning he will owe the amount if he misses his next court appearance, court records show.

The charge comes from a January 21 incident in Hamilton County when Mixon allegedly pointed a gun at someone and said, “You should be popped in the face. I should shoot you, the police can’t get me,” according to an affidavit filed in February in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

His next court date is scheduled for May 3, according to a spokesperson with the Office of the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

Mixon has played six seasons for the Bengals, having gained 5,378 yards rushing and scored 50 touchdowns in 80 games. He has been selected for the Pro Bowl once.

The alleged incident happened one day before the Bengals defeated the Buffalo Bills 27-10 in Orchard Park, New York, on January 22.

The Bengals made it to the AFC Championship game the next week, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs 23-20.

Mixon has had legal trouble before. While at the University of Oklahoma, Mixon was suspended for one season after taking an Alford plea – when a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction – in a 2014 case in which he was accused of punching a woman.

According to KFOR-TV, Mixon received a one-year deferred sentence, meaning he didn’t serve any time. He also was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, ordered to undergo counseling and faced roughly $1,200 in fines.

Scottish ultramarathon runner Joasia Zakrzewski has been disqualified from a 50-mile race after traveling in a car for a section of the course.

Zakrzewski, who initially finished as the third woman in the race, was competing in the GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool event in England’s northwest on April 7 when organizers said she gained an “unsporting, competitive advantage” which would have compromised the integrity of the results.

The 47-year-old Zakrzewski told the BBC she made a “massive error” in accepting the third-place trophy and “should have handed it back,” adding that she was “tired and jet lagged and felt sick” during the race having arrived from Australia the night before.

She said she became lost around the halfway mark and her leg became sore, after which she accepted a ride in a friend’s car to the next checkpoint, according to the BBC.

“When I got to the checkpoint, I told them [race marshals] I was pulling out and that I had been in the car and they said, ‘You will hate yourself if you stop,’” Zakrzewski told the BBC, explaining how she agreed to carry on in a “non-competitive way.”

In a statement, GB Ultras race director Wayne Drinkwater said: “The issue has been investigated and, having reviewed the data from our race tracking system, gpx data, statements provided from our event team, other competitors and from the participant herself, we can confirm that a runner has now been disqualified from the event having taken vehicle transport during part of the route.”

Drinkwater added that a report of the disqualification has been submitted to the Trail Running Association (TRA) and that the matter has now been passed to the TRA and UK Athletics as regulatory bodies.

‘It wasn’t malicious’

Mel Sykes has since been awarded third place in the women’s category of the race, which she said was “great news for me” but “bad news for sportsmanship.”

Writing on Twitter, Sykes said: “No race director wants this to happen at one of their events and the team at GB Ultras have been fantastic at carrying out their investigation. The 3rd place trophy is being returned to them, then will be posted out to me.

“The sad thing in all this is that it completely takes the piss out of the race organisers, fellow competitors and fair sport.”

Zakrzewski said she’s “devastated” by what happened at the race and apologized to Sykes.

“It wasn’t malicious, it was miscommunication,” she told the BBC, adding that she regretted not telling officials at the end of the event that she hadn’t been running competitively.

“I would never purposefully cheat and this was not a target race, but I don’t want to make excuses.

“Mel didn’t get the glory at the finish and I’m really sorry she didn’t get that.”

In 10 days, Twitter may begin limiting the number of automated tweets sent from Twitter accounts – a move meteorologists say will slow their ability to get out alerts on severe weather.

The official said late Tuesday that Twitter has informed the NWS there are no plans for exceptions to the new rules that will limit the number of tweets that can be sent from automated accounts that don’t pay extra — a change that would have a huge impact on the NWS, which uses automated tweets to send crucial weather alerts.

Many of the weather service offices took to Twitter after the company announced in February it would limit the number of tweets that can be sent from automated accounts unless they pay extra, in a move it said was intended to “increase quality, reduce spam, and enable a thriving ecosystem.”

The weather service’s tsunami alert account was one of many offices that tweeted about the decision, explaining the situation and urging people to make sure they have other ways to receive weather warnings.

@Twitter is now limiting automated tweets and as a result, this account can no longer post all #Tsunami Warnings, Advisories, Watches, and Information Statements as they are issued. We will make every effort to continue manual posts (1/5) pic.twitter.com/3ZWN33gn0a

— NWS Tsunami Alerts (@NWS_NTWC) April 15, 2023

Twitter said at the time there would be no exceptions to its ruling to limit the number of automated tweets. But confusion set in over the weekend when an account on Twitter stated the company had reversed course and would allow weather alerts to be tweeted without limits. T(w)itter Daily News, which posted the tweet, is dedicated to Twitter news but not officially affiliated with the company.

The limit Twitter has set is 50 automated tweets in a 24-hour period, according to NOAA, which could easily be surpassed, especially during active weather.

“The reason the automation exists is so that the people at the office don’t have to worry about redundantly issuing a tornado warning, then going on to Twitter, and then retyping the same thing,” Daryl Herzmann explained. Herzmann is a systems analyst for Iowa Environmental Mesonet and helped create automation software used by the NWS on Twitter.

The real-time nature of Twitter is appealing to users when getting lifesaving warnings out on social media, versus other platforms which could pop up a post from days earlier, causing confusion during a weather event.

It is important to make sure you have multiple ways to receive important weather information, including alerts that will wake you up if you are sleeping.

The two best ways to receive weather information:

• On your smartphone: Wireless emergency alerts are one of the best ways to receive tornado warnings anytime, anyplace. In an iOS device go to settings, then notifications, and scroll to the bottom. Make sure emergency alerts – listed under government alerts – are clicked on. If you use a third-party app, be sure the alerts are issued in a timely fashion. Most importantly, have those notifications ON.

• NOAA Weather Radio: While it may sound old-fashioned, a weather radio will provide you with up-to-date information straight from your nearest National Weather Service forecasting office.

• You can also download the FEMA app on your smartphone which allows you to receive real-time weather alerts, send notifications to loved ones, locate emergency shelters in your area, and more.

This article has been updated based on new information from the National Weather Service.

Here is a look at the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

Follow the storm tracker for the path and forecasts of the latest storm.

Facts

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The areas covered include the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

The National Weather Service defines a hurricane as a “tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher.”

Hurricanes are rated according to intensity of sustained winds on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The 1-5 scale estimates potential property damage.

A Category 3 or higher is considered a major hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center advises preparedness:

Predictions

April 13, 2023 – The Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project team predicts a “slightly below-normal” Atlantic hurricane season. The team forecasts 13 named storms, including six hurricanes, two of which will be major hurricanes.

2023 Atlantic Storm Names

Pronunciation Guide

With all the rancor in the air these days, “settling disputes in a gentlemanly manner” sounds like a perfectly wonderful idea, does it not?

That is unless you’re planning on employing a shillelagh — a wooden Irish walking stick that can double as a handy club or cudgel — inside the cabin of an aircraft to make your point.

Despite their colorful history and craftsmanship, it turns out that the Transportation Security Administration frowns upon such objects in carry-ons.

Security at Boise Airport in Idaho found it last month, saying in a tweet that “it may look like a miniature golf club, but it’s not. It’s a shillelagh, a Gaelic club. … Bad idea to bring it to the checkpoint; perfect for checked baggage.”

So we had to Google what, exactly, a shillelagh is, but we know that anything that’s made with the intent to bludgeon someone else is not allowed as a carry-on item. Great job our team at @iflyBoise for finding this item last month. #ProhibitedItemsWeek https://t.co/OlCIdqzPa4

— TSA (@TSA) April 19, 2023

So there you have it from the TSA: “We know that anything that’s made with the intent to bludgeon someone else is not allowed as a carry-on item.”

It’s just one of the prohibited objects TSA is publicizing on its Twitter feed during #ProhibitedItemsWeek.

What else TSA has found in carry-ons

On Day 2 of #ProhibitedItemsWeek, TSA spotlighted something less fanciful but perhaps even more menacing: a double-edged tactical knife discovered in a carry-on at Boston Logan International Airport.

Welcome to day 2 of #ProhibitedItemsWeek! Do you know what isn’t a good move? Trying to bring a knife in your carry-on. Great job by our team at @BostonLogan for finding this knife during screening last month. https://t.co/B8HomtvxZo

— TSA (@TSA) April 18, 2023

After questioning by Massachusetts State Police, the man was allowed to continue his journey —sans his knife.

The first day of the campaign spotlighted an even more incredible item uncovered at El Paso International Airport in Texas: A firearm with 20 rounds of ammunition.

Traveling with a firearm? Do NOT try and bring it in your carry-on. Incredible job by our team at @flyelp who discovered this firearm and ammo at our security checkpoint last month. #ProhibitedItemsWeek https://t.co/GrfwqXhCEE

— TSA (@TSA) April 17, 2023

Air travelers, take note: Be sure to keep your guns and your knives and shillelaghs – and your cats for that matter – out of your carry-ons.

Click here to find out more about what’s allowed in carry-on and checked bags.

A mountaineer from Northern Ireland died while descending from the summit of the world’s tenth highest peak and an Indian climber is missing on the same mountain, climbing officials said on Tuesday.

Noel Hanna, who had climbed Mount Everest 10 times, scaled the 8,091 meters (26,545 feet) Annapurna peak in west Nepal on Monday and died overnight in Camp IV after descending from the peak.

Yubaraj Khatiwada, an official of the Department of Tourism, said the circumstances of Hanna’s death were unclear.

He said an Indian climber, who fell into a crevasse on the lower reaches of Annapurna, has been missing since Monday.

Two other Indian mountaineers, who were caught up in bad weather while climbing Annapurna, were being rescued, hiking company officials said.

Annapurna peak in west Nepal, first climbed by Maurice Herzog of France in the early 1950s, is considered dangerous because of the risk of frequent avalanches.

At least 365 people have climbed Annapurna and more than 72 have died on the mountain, according to hiking officials.

Last week, three Nepali sherpa climbers died after being hit by an ice serac on the lower parts of Mount Everest.

Nepal has eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains. Climbing Himalayan peaks and hiking on their foot hills are popular adventure sports as well as a source of employment and income for the country which is tucked between China and India.

It is still morning when Kinzaburo Shiga, 77, returns to Onahama port after catching a trawler full of fish off Japan’s eastern coast.

But the third-generation fisherman won’t head straight to market. First, he’ll test his catch for radiation.

It’s a ritual he’s repeated for more than a decade since a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in 2011, spewing deadly radioactive particles into the surrounding area.

Radiation from the damaged nuclear plant leaked into the sea, prompting authorities to suspend fishing operations off the coast of three prefectures that had previously provided Japan with half of its catch.

That ban lasted over a year and even after it was lifted, Fukushima-based fishermen like Shiga were for years mostly limited to collecting samples for radioactivity tests on behalf of the state-owned electricity firm Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, rather than taking their catches to market.

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. Japan lifted its last remaining restrictions on fish from the area in 2021, and most countries have eased import restrictions.

Shiga and others in the industry thought they’d put the nightmare of the past years behind them.

So when Japan followed through on plans to gradually release more than 1 million metric tons of filtered wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from the summer of 2023 – an action the government says is necessary to decommission the plant safely – the industry reeled.

The Japanese government and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations body promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, say the controlled release, which is expected to take decades, will meet international safety regulations and not harm the environment, as the water will be treated to remove radioactive elements – with the exception of tritium – and diluted more than 100 times.

But with the deadline for the planned water release looming this summer, Fukushima’s fishermen fear that – whether the release is safe or not – the move will undermine consumer confidence in their catches and once again threaten the way of life they have fought so hard to recover.

A year before the 2011 disaster, government data shows Fukushima’s coastal fishing industry landed catches worth around $69 million. By 2018, that figure had dwindled to little more than $17 million. By 2022, while it had recovered somewhat to around $26 million, it was still just a fraction of what it once was.

“I know that the government has decided to go ahead with the policy of releasing treated wastewater into the sea, but for us fishers, it really feels like they made this decision without our full consent,” said Shiga, adding that it made his “blood boil.”

The wastewater dilemma

In 2011, the earthquake and tsunami cut off the power supply to the Fukushima plant, disabling its cooling systems. This caused the reactor cores to overheat and contaminate water within the plant with highly radioactive material.

Since then, new water has been pumped in to cool fuel debris in the reactors. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated.

TEPCO has built over 1,000 massive tanks on the site to store what is now 1.32 million metric tons of wastewater – enough to fill more than 500 Olympic pools.

But space is running out and the company says building more tanks isn’t an option. As decommissioning work approaches a critical stage, it says it needs to free up space to store the fuel debris from the stricken plant.

While radioactive wastewater contains dangerous elements including Cesium and Strontium, TEPCO says the majority of those particles can be separated from the water and removed. TEPCO claims its filtering system, called advanced liquid processing (ALPS), can bring down the amount of those elements far below regulatory standards.

But one hydrogen isotope cannot be taken away, as there is currently no technology available to do so. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries.

How safe is tritium?

TEPCO and the Japanese government say that tritium occurs naturally in the environment. They say that the concentration of tritiated water it plans to discharge would be on par or lower than the amount other countries allow. Since 2021, they’ve been on a mission to promote public awareness about the wastewater and their plans for it, releasing videos and creating a multilingual portal.

The IAEA also says that releasing small amounts of tritium can be safe because it is already present in small quantities in everything from rain and sea water to tap water; small amounts even exist naturally in the human body.

However, experts are divided over the concept of “safe” radiation, with some arguing it is to a large extent a political rather than a scientific concept.

“For decades, nuclear power plants worldwide – including in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, China and South Korea – have been releasing waste contaminated with tritium, each under its own national quota,” said Tim Mousseau, an environmental scientist at the University of South Carolina.

But Mousseau argues tritium is overlooked because many countries are invested in nuclear energy, and “there’s no way to produce it without also generating vast amounts of tritium.”

“If people started picking on TEPCO in Fukushima, then the practice of releasing tritium to the environment in all of these other nuclear power plants would need to be examined as well. So, it opens up a can of worms,” he said, adding the biological consequences of exposure to tritium have not been studied sufficiently.

In 2012, a French literature review study said tritium can be toxic to the DNA and reproductive processes of aquatic animals, particularly invertebrates, and the sensitivity of different species to various levels of tritium needs to be further investigated.

TEPCO’s website states that it started assessing the effect of tritium on fish from Fukushima last year. A technical document published by the company in 2022 stated that “fish tritium measurement is very difficult.” It says “there are only a few analysis agencies capable of performing this measurement,” and they do not all produce the same findings.

Currently, countries set different standards for the concentration of tritium allowed in drinking water. For example. Australia, which has no nuclear power plants, allows more than 76,000 becquerel per liter, a measure used to gauge radioactivity, while the WHO’s limit is 10,000. Meanwhile, the US and the European Union have much more conservative limits – 740 and 100 becquerel per liter respectively.

Lack of trust for the ‘nuclear village’

In Japan, the Fukushima wastewater issue has become highly contentious due to a lack of trust among influential advocates of nuclear energy, or what’s locally known as the “nuclear village.”

The informal group includes members of Japan’s ruling party (the Liberal Democratic Party), the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry and the nuclear industry.

“(The nuclear village) used to tell us that nuclear energy is 100% safe – but it wasn’t, as the Fukushima Daiichi plant accident revealed,” said Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University, in Tokyo.

A series of missteps after the disaster further eroded public trust, according to a 2016 report written by Kohta Juraku, a researcher at Tokyo Denki University.

For instance, in 2012, the government and TEPCO presented a proposed action plan to local fishing representatives that involved pumping up groundwater before it flooded into the nuclear reactor buildings and releasing it into the sea. Fishing bodies were on board but the plan was it postponed until 2014 after 300 tons of radioactive water leaked from the plant into the sea, infuriating fishers.

“While TEPCO has been promoting nuclear safety in the first place, the nuclear accident happened in 2011. So, we understand that there are many people who can’t trust us,” said the TEPCO official.

“We are hoping that if the IAEA and other organizations can show them that there is no problem, people will understand us,” Takahara added.

The problem of changing mindsets

And in an effort to convince both fishermen and consumers that the water to be released is safe, in March 2022 TEPCO started conducting tests on the tritium concentrations in fish, shellfish and seaweed reared in regular seawater as compared to those raised in ALPS-treated water.

But Satsuki Takahashi, an anthropologist specializing in sustainability studies at Hosei University, warned that changing mindsets is no easy feat.

“From the consumer’s perspective, whether it’s processed or not, this is wastewater. It’s hard for (people) to grasp what safety means or what risks mean,” she said.

“One of the biggest issues in terms of this wastewater, for those who used to purchase the fish from Fukushima before the disaster, is whether they are going to come back and buy the fish once the label states its provenance.”

For fishers like Shiga, the work to restore their way of life is far from over.

“We’re taking the initiative and appealing to consumers so they understand (our products are safe), but we have a hard time reaching them,” said Shiga, who fears that countries may reimpose bans on imports of Fukushima fish following the wastewater release.

“If the government releases the water into the sea off Fukushima now, everything we’ve done so far and our current efforts will be wasted,” he said.

A highly addictive drug that became Syria’s economic lifeline over a decade of isolation may now be serving as a bargaining chip as it tries to normalize ties with neighboring states, analysts say.

Captagon, a drug that is relatively unknown outside the Middle East, helped Syria turn into a narco-state after much of the international community cut off its economy due to its brutal crackdown on an uprising in 2011.

It is a synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant, fenethylline, which goes by the trade name captagon, and has become the center of an increasing number of drug busts across the Middle East. Experts say the vast majority of global captagon production occurs in Syria, with the Gulf region being its primary destination.

The growth of the industry has raised alarms in the international community. Last year, the US introduced the 2022 US Captagon Act, which linked the trade to the Syrian regime and called it a “transnational security threat.”

After more than a decade of boycotting him, Syria’s Arab neighbors are now in talks to bring President Bashar al-Assad in from the cold. The Syrian leader has been received in some Arab capitals, but he is yet to be awarded the ultimate normalization with Saudi Arabia, one of Syria’s staunchest foes – and the biggest market for its drugs.

Following the deadly February 6 earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, Saudi relief planes landed for the first time in a decade at regime-controlled airports. And last month, Saudi state media reported Riyadh was in talks with Damascus to resume providing consular services between the two countries.

Analysts say captagon is likely to be high on the agenda in attempts at normalization.

Saudi media has been sounding the alarm lately over the rise in drug use. In September, Saudi authorities announced the largest seizure of illicit drugs in the country’s history after nearly 47 million amphetamine pills were hidden in a flour shipment and seized at a warehouse in the capital Riyadh. Millions more pills have been intercepted since. The UN says amphetamine seizures in the region refer predominantly to captagon.

“Captagon has been touted as a ‘card’ in rapprochement talks between the Syrian regime and counterparts pursuing normalization,” said Caroline Rose, director of the New Lines Institute’s Project on the Captagon Trade in Washington, DC.

Exported by several actors, including Syrian smugglers, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and pro-Iranian Iraqi militias, “the captagon smuggling is worth more than Syria’s legal export,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and an expert on the topic. Hezbollah has denied ties to any drug trades.

The United Kingdom, which last month imposed new sanctions on Syrians connected to the trade, said the Assad regime has benefited from the captagon trade to the tune of $57 billion. It described it as a “financial lifeline” for Assad that is “worth approximately three times the combined trade of the Mexican (drug) cartels.”

Syrian state media regularly reports on captagon drug busts, saying that the interior ministry is cracking down on its trade as well as that of other narcotics.

Smugglers ‘get military training’

Salah Malkawi, a Jordanian analyst who follows the trade closely, says that despite Syria’s denial, it is impossible for the drug to cross borders without the involvement of several actors closely tied to Assad and his regime.

“Commanders of militias, security agencies, military forces are involved in the drug smuggling operation,” Malkawi said. “The drugs cannot reach these areas without passing through dozens of barriers and checkpoints that fall under the Fourth Division, which is under the leadership of Maher al-Assad, the brother of the Syrian president.”

“I’ve spoken to several (smugglers),” he said. “They have received military training … using war tactics … to carry out sophisticated raids.”

Jordan, which supported anti-regime groups at the start of the Syrian civil war, has in recent months also been on the road to rapprochement with Assad.

Its foreign minister this year made his first visit to Damascus since the start of the Syrian civil war and has been sending humanitarian aid following the February 6 earthquake.

Jordan has been directly impacted by Syria’s captagon trade due to the prevalence of its use in border regions in the northeast of the country, said Saud Al-Sharafat, a former brigadier general in the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate, as well as founder of the Shorufat ِCenter for the Study of Globalization and Terrorism in Amman, Jordan.

He welcomed the US Captagon Act as “the first serious international effort” to prevent the regime from expanding its use of the drug “to destabilize security in the region and the world.” Syria could potentially flood Europe and Western countries with the drug through Turkey and use it as a bargaining chip against them, he said.

But even if agreements are reached between Syria and its neighbors over stopping exports of the drug, experts say it is unlikely that Assad will fully abandon the trade.

“That’s asking the key trafficker to stop his business,” Felbab-Brown said. “It is very unlikely that the Assad regime would give up on its crucial revenue source.”

At best, he may offer cosmetic solutions to the problem, experts say, promising tighter restrictions and tougher law enforcement at home on producers and traders, whom the regime denies it is involved with.

Rose of the New Lines Institute said that the regime may maintain its captagon businesses as a form of long-term leverage against its neighbors, while maintaining “some level of plausible deniability with the trade, blaming opposition forces and non-state actors, while undertaking a wave of cosmetic seizures at home to shift the blame away from the government.”

Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.

The digest

Israeli’s spy agency encouraged protests against government, leaked US report says

A leaked US intelligence report about Israel has sparked outrage in Jerusalem. The report, produced by the CIA and sourced to signals intelligence, says that Israel’s main intelligence agency, the Mossad, had been encouraging protests against the country’s new government – “including several explicit calls to action.” The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office responded on the Mossad’s behalf Sunday morning, calling the report “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.” It added: “The Mossad and its senior officials did not – and do not – encourage agency personnel to join the demonstrations against the government, political demonstrations or any political activity.”

Saudi and Omani delegations arrive in Yemen for talks with Houthi leaders

Delegations of Saudi and Omani negotiators arrived in Yemen’s capital Sana’a on Saturday for talks with Houthi leaders, according to the Houthi-run news agency Saba. The Saudi and Omani delegations will meet with the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, to discuss “lifting the siege with all its repercussions, stopping the aggression, and restoring all the rightful rights of the Yemeni people, including the payment of salaries of all state employees from oil and gas revenues,” Saba reported, citing sources. Houthi officials also said 13 prisoners released by Saudi authorities as part of a prisoner swap had arrived at Sanaa International Airport on Saturday.

Controversial Israeli minister joins thousands of settlers marching to illegal outpost in occupied West Bank

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir joined thousands of Israeli settlers marching to an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank on Monday afternoon. The rally was organized by activist groups who want to legalize the outpost at Evyatar. A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas described the march as an “invasion of settler militias, led by ministers from the Israeli occupation government,” that “does not change the fact that it is Palestinian land,” according to the Palestinian News Agency WAFA.

$400 million

Abu Dhabi technology company e& has agreed to take a 50.3% stake in a super app managed by Careem, Uber’s Middle East subsidiary, in a transaction valued at $400 million, Reuters cited the company as saying on Monday. The ride-hailing business will be separated from the Careem super app business and will be fully owned by Uber. The super app offers services outside its core ride-hailing business such as food delivery, bike rentals, digital payments and courier services.

Around the region

A video of an imam leading prayer in a mosque as a surprise furry guest abruptly joins his congregation went viral on social media, with many praising the Muslim prayer leader for keeping his cool as the cat climbs up his chest and rests on his shoulder.

The clip of imam Walid Mehsas, which was captured at a mosque in Algeria, garnered millions of views and was picked up by international media channels.

The video even triggered a cartoon drawing of the moment by artist Karim Saidi, which was also shared widely on social media, and started a debate about Islam’s position on cats. Unlike dogs, Islam considers cats to be clean enough to be allowed into mosques, and the felines can often be seen roaming around worshippers.

Speaking in a video published on his official Facebook page, Mehsas on Saturday said the incident was spontaneous. He also urged worshipers to remember that Islam dictates mercy towards all animals, and denied rumors that the Algerian government rewarded him for his kindness to the animal.

Photo of the day