They were among at least three Palestinian men killed in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, authorities said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas named the operatives and confirmed they were the killers of the British-Israeli settlers Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee.

Lucy Dee, 48, was killed alongside Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, when a car they were traveling in was shot at in the Jordan Valley in April. The sisters were killed in the shooting while their mother succumbed to her wounds in hospital several days later.

They had been on a “family outing” during the Passover holiday, according to a statement issued by the council of Efrat, the Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank where they lived.

The Al Qassam Brigade, the militant wing of Hamas, said the men killed Thursday were Hassan Qatanani, Muath al-Masri, and Ibrahim Jaber.

The brigade called them “heroes of the Jordan Valley operation that was carried out about a month ago, in which three settlers were killed, in response to the occupation’s crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the assault on Muslim women.”

The Dee family’s deaths came at a time of heightened tensions and increased violence in the region, following Israeli police raids on the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Dozens of rockets were launched from Lebanon, Gaza and Syria into Israeli territory, followed by Israeli retaliatory strikes.

The Israel Defense Forces Thursday morning released the same names for the men killed in Nablus.

They were located following “an extensive ISA (Israel Security Agency) and IDF intelligence and operational effort,” the security forces said.

“During an exchange of fire, both of the terrorists were killed. In addition, Ibrahim Jaber, a senior operative who aided the two terrorists, was killed,” the military statement said. It also said two M-16 rifles and an AK-47 were found in the apartment where the men were discovered.

At the time the Dees were killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the killings as a “heinous attack” by “terrorists” and instructed Israeli police “to mobilize all border police units in reserve and the IDF to mobilize additional forces,” according to his office.

Thousands of mourners attended their funerals.

A statement from the Dee family on Thursday said they were “delighted to hear that the terrorists were eliminated today.”

“Most of all, that it was done in a way that apparently did not endanger the lives of Israeli soldiers, because that was one of the most important things from our family’s perspective,” the statement said.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said, “Israel’s defense establishment will reach any terrorist that harms our citizens.”

“I commend our security forces for neutralizing the terrorists who conducted the terror attack in Hamra, which took the lives of Lucy Dee, and her daughters Rina and Maya,” he said.

Palestinian woman shot dead in Huwara

In a separate development on Thursday, a Palestinian woman was shot and killed after stabbing an Israeli soldier in the flashpoint town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank, officials said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health named her Iman Ziad Ahmad Odeh, 26.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said she was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers and transferred in a critical condition to Nablus Hospital, where she died.

The victim of the stabbing was 20, the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday. He was mildly injured and taken to hospital.

“The soldier was lightly injured, pushed away the assailant and neutralized her along with an additional soldier in the area,” the IDF said

Sudanese actress Asia Abdel-Majid was killed in crossfire during fighting in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday, amid clashes between two warring factions that have devastated Sudan and led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

It is unclear if it was the RSF or the army that fired the shot that killed Abdel-Majid.

Failed negotiations between Sudanese army head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan RSF and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo over a disputed power-sharing arrangement exploded into violence in mid-April, sparking a mass exodus of refugees from the country and resulting in the deaths of at least 528 people.

Previous ceasefires and promises of peace talks between both leaders have failed to curb the ongoing conflict with eyewitness accounts of fighting in Khartoum reported on Thursday, despite a seven-day truce announced just days earlier.

Abdel-Majid was buried in the grounds of a kindergarten where she worked, her nephew said, adding that it was unsafe to take her to a cemetery.

The kindergarten is next door to Abdel-Majid’s home, where she was alone when the shelling took place.

She was considered a pioneer of theater in Sudan and the country’s first professional stage actress, establishing a kindergarten in Bahri and becoming a teacher when she retired.

‘Torn apart’

Witnesses said the Sudanese army and the RSF are fighting using light and heavy weapons in the vicinity of the Presidential Palace – the most violent since the start of the clashes – as the conflict nears its fourth week.

At least 190 children have been killed and another 1,700 injured in the country since the violence broke out last month, according to reports received by UNICEF, the UN body’s Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on Thursday. Due to the intensity of the violence, UNICEF was unable to confirm the estimates, she added.

Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned on Wednesday that people trapped in battlefields are running out of water and food.

“Families across Sudan, including those of our colleagues, are being torn apart, and having to choose between remaining trapped in the battlefield, or risking their lives to flee or reach an overcrowded hospital,” Egeland said in a statement.

“They are running out of everything, including water, food, electricity, fuel, and cash. We need the international community to put as much effort into secure humanitarian access, regardless of ceasefire and in providing aid to millions of people as they have in evacuating their own citizens,” he added.

The violence has triggered a mass exodus of refugees from Sudan, with the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) on Thursday warning that $445 million is needed to help the 860,000 refugees and returnees who could escape the country by October.

According to a UNHCR statement, the plan was designed by “134 partners, including UN agencies, national and international NGOS and civil society groups” and includes a contingency strategy for new arrivals (refugees, returning refugees and others) to neighbouring countries.”

At the same time, hundreds of evacuees arrived from Sudan in Nigeria on Wednesday after being held up for days at the Egyptian border for days, as reports over the chaotic border response to the uptick in evacuees continue.

The first contingent of 376 Nigerians were flown home in a military aircraft and a local carrier and arrived in the capital Abuja shortly before midnight, according to the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM).

Last week, more than 7,000 Nigerian nationals, mostly students fleeing the Sudan conflict had been left stranded at the Egyptian border due to the unavailability of visas, NIDCOM said while appealing to Egyptian authorities “to kindly allow the already traumatized travellers to transit to their final destinations.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi believes there are enough votes among Arab League members for Syria to return to the organization, adding that it is “only the beginning” of bringing a political end to the Syrian crisis.

The Syrian president had been boycotted by several Arab states for his crackdown on protests in 2011, violence which led to more than a decade of civil war.

Safadi said that “everybody” in the Arab League is on board to end the Syrian crisis, but there are differences on what the best approach is.

“The return to the Arab League will be symbolic…but ultimately in order for us to really end it [the crisis], we will have to make sure that the whole international community is on board, because at the end of the day there are sanctions, European sanctions, American sanctions, and there’s going to be a tremendous need for a global effort for re-construction,” he added.

Some opposition

The rehabilitation of the Syria has faced opposition from Western countries. The United States said it “will not normalize relations with the Assad regime and we do not support others normalizing with Damascus either,” according to State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel.

“We’ve made this abundantly clear to our partners,” Patel said at a department briefing Wednesday. “The US believes that a political solution that is outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2254 is the only viable solution to this conflict in Syria.”

The foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan met in the Jordanian capital Amman on Monday to discuss how to normalize ties with Syria. According to a statement issued after the meeting, Syria has agreed to help end drug trafficking across its borders with Iraq and Jordan.

“We are not taking the threat of drug smuggling lightly. If we do not see effective measures to curb that threat, we will do what it takes to counter that threat, including taking military action inside Syria to eliminate this extremely dangerous threat not just in Jordan, but through Jordan to the Gulf countries, other Arab countries and the world.”

The Metropolitan Police has faced criticism for its handling of anti-monarchy protests during the Coronation of King Charles III in London after 64 people were arrested, of whom four were charged with offenses.

Many accused the force of taking a heavy-handed approach toward demonstrators. Several opposition lawmakers and human rights groups have condemned the police’s actions.

Graham Smith, the chief executive of Britain’s largest anti-monarchist group, Republic, was among those arrested. Speaking on BBC Radio 4 he said suggestions that the arrests were necessary was “disgraceful.”

“They stopped us because the law was introduced, rushed in last week, to give them the powers to stop us on any flimsy pretext,” he said Monday.

“That law means we no longer in this country have the right to protest, we only have the freedom to protest contingent on the permission of senior police officers and politicians and it’s my view that those senior police officers were under immense pressure from politicians,” he added.

However, a senior UK government minister defended the actions of the Metropolitan Police during the anti-monarchy protests in London on Saturday, saying officers had to make “tough calls.”

UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer said that, while the right to protest remains “really important” in a democracy, tactics by demonstrators have shifted in recent years to interrupt people going about their daily lives.

Frazer told the BBC the police were tasked with balancing people’s right to protest with overseeing an international event on the world stage.

Thousands gathered in central London on Saturday to celebrate the once-in-a-generation occasion. But it also drew demonstrators, with protesters wearing yellow T-shirts booing and shouting “Not My King” throughout the morning.

Labour lawmaker Chris Bryant posted on Twitter Saturday: “Freedom of speech is the silver thread that runs through a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.”

Jess Phillips, also a Labour lawmaker, said on Twitter: “Our nation and our King is not so fragile as to not be able to take harmless protest of a different view.”

UK director of Human Rights Watch, Yasmine Ahmed, described the police’s actions as alarming and “something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London.”

The MET police statement said the arrests were “for various offences including breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance”, including “religiously aggravated offence”, “possession of class A drugs”, “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance,” “breach of the peace” and “racially aggravated public order offence.”

Defending the force’s actions, Commander Karen Findlay said that, while they “absolutely understand public concern,” police also “have a duty to intervene when protest becomes criminal and may cause serious disruption.”

Members of environmental activist group Just Stop Oil were also arrested on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace, the UK’s PA Media news agency reported, adding that a large group of the protesters were seen in handcuffs.

According to PA, Animal Rising said some of its supporters were apprehended on Saturday while at a training session “miles away from the coronation.” A spokesman for the campaign group, Nathan McGovern, described the arrests as “nothing short of a totalitarian crackdown on free speech and all forms of dissent.”

“We have 401 deaths in Bushushu and Nyamukubi villages in Kalehe territory,” Kasi said.

Videos from the area show buildings swept away in the water and mud, with debris strewn across the villages.

“The Congolese government and its partners should find a safe place where the victims will be relocated and ask the population not to use the flowing waters and the lake during this period,” Chebujongo said, adding that there are “no machines to clear the mud and clear the landslides in the road to allow the population to circulate Bushushu-Nyamukubi villages. People are crossing the lake, another danger.”

Kasi said rescue operations were ongoing in spite of difficulties. “We are in a disaster. We work despite difficult conditions,” he said.

The provincial government said Saturday it was relocating residents affected by the floods to safer sites. It also said the government was funding medical care for the injured, including funeral costs for the deceased.

President Felix Tshisekedi declared Monday a national mourning for victims of the floods, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said, adding that a national government delegation had arrived in Kalehe to assist local response efforts.

The DRC is located within the River Congo Basin where flood disasters are frequently reported. According to a World Bank report, climate-related disasters, including flooding “are likely to increase in frequency and magnitude” in the Central African country due to climate change.

The DRC continues to grapple with devastating effects of flooding across the country. In December, more than 120 people were killed after heavy rains caused severe flooding in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, authorities said.

In 2020, more than 15,000 homes were destroyed and at least 25 people killed by floodwaters in South Kivu, a province already ravaged by armed conflict, the UN Refugee Agency reported at the time.

Months earlier, around 39 people died when torrential rains triggered landslides in Kinshasa.

Max Verstappen produced a scintillating performance on the track to win his second consecutive Miami Grand Prix on Sunday as the 25-year-old shrugged off boos from some people in the crowd.

The Red Bull driver fought his way back from ninth on the grid to win his third race of the season, extending his lead at the top of the drivers championship to 14 points.

Despite his statement victory, which only served to underline his current superiority, Verstappen was jeered both before and after the race by a small group of supporters at the track.

“I think if I will be driving in the back nobody will be even doing anything in terms of reaction,” Verstappen told reporters after the race.

“I think it’s normal when you’re winning and they don’t like who is winning.”

It’s not the first time Verstappen has received a negative reaction from the crowd.

He was also booed at the British GP in 2022, the season after he controversially beat Lewis Hamilton to the world title.

“This is something for me which is absolutely fine as long as I stand on the top, that’s for me the most important,” Verstappen added.

“I take the trophy home and they go back to their houses and they can have a nice evening.”

Having started back in the field, Verstappen ruthlessly picked off each and every driver in front of him before eventually overtaking teammate Sergio Pérez to take the lead.

Once in front, there was simply no catching him.

“Max was particularly strong today. So a well-deserved win for him,” Perez, who had started in pole position but finished second, told reporters.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, 41, finished in a distant third to achieve his fourth podium finish of the season but Red Bull was once again too good.

“It was a good race,” added Verstappen, who started ninth on the grid after Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s crash on Saturday denied the Dutchman a fast qualifying lap.

“I stayed out of trouble at the beginning and then just had a clean race, you know, picked the cars off one by one.”

Verstappen and Red Bull will look to continue their fine form at the next race in Imola, Italy, on May 21.

Walking up the final fairway at Quail Hollow on Sunday, victory all but assured, Wyndham Clark made a conscious effort to soak up all the sights and sounds around him. Moments later, the American tapped home to clinch the Wells Fargo Championship and his first ever PGA Tour title.

“You only can win your first tournament once,” Clark reflected, but this was a victory played out in his imagination countless times.

“It’s surreal, I’ve dreamt about this since I was probably six years old,” Clark told reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Since I’ve been on the PGA Tour, you fantasize about it all the time, and I’ve done it multiple times this year where I catch myself daydreaming about winning.

“To do it at this golf course against this competition is better than I could ever have imagined.”

Long time coming

The manner of victory was the stuff of dreams too, as Clark carded 19-under to seal a four-shot victory over compatriot Xander Schauffele, ranked 75 places above him at world No. 5. It marked the second-lowest score in relation to par in the event’s history, second only to Rory McIlroy’s 21-under in 2015, according to the PGA Tour.

McIlroy, making his first start since missing the cut at The Masters, finished 31st in a star-studded field featuring six of the world’s top 10.

A final round three-under 68 sealed the 29-year-old Clark’s fourth consecutive round in the 60’s, a composed closer after a scintillating 63 on Saturday had given him a two-shot lead over Schauffele heading into the closing round.

Having turned pro in 2017, Clark was five years and 133 PGA Tour starts without a win. After finishing sixth at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic in March, the American began to think that he might never taste victory.

“I know that sounds crazy because I’ve only been out here five years, but I had a lot of chances to where I was within two or three shots either going into the back nine or starting on a Sunday and I always seem to fall short, and not only that, but seem like I fell back in positions,” Clark admitted.

“There was multiple texts and calls and times when I was so frustrated with people in my camp where I didn’t think I would ever win and I was like, ‘Let’s just stop talking about it,’ because I didn’t want to think about it. I said maybe that’s just not in the cards for me.

“So being in the position this time, I was like, ‘Well, we know what not to do.’”

Those lessons were tested immediately Sunday, as Clark opened with a bogey and remained at one-over approaching the eighth tee. However, a subsequent birdie, followed by four more across the first six holes of the back nine, saw him cruise home.

When he rolled home his closing bogey, Clark looked overcome with emotion. After embracing his caddie and Schauffele, he looked to be holding back tears as he saluted the crowd gathered at the 18th.

‘I didn’t know where I was going’

Victory secured Clark the $3.6 million winner’s prize – dwarfing his previous-best payday of $485,000 – and stamped his ticket to the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July. It also saw his world ranking soar 49 places to No. 31.

It fulfilled a dream that almost never got off the ground. When a 19-year-old Clark was establishing himself as a talented player at Oklahoma State University, his mother died of breast cancer.

Clark lost his “rock” and seriously considered walking away from the sport entirely.

“I was playing terribly,” Clark recalled. “There’s many times when I stormed off the golf course in qualifying or in tournaments and just drove as fast as I could, I didn’t know where I was going.

“The pressure of golf and then not having my mom there and someone that I could call was really tough for me. Then professionally, I’ve had multiple moments like that where you just, you miss multiple cuts in a row or you feel like your game is good and you’re not getting much out of it and you just contemplate doing it [walking away].

“Max Homa has a great quote: ‘Every golfer’s one shot away from thinking they can win the Masters or one shot away from quitting golf.’ It really is a great quote because that’s the truth. I’m glad I stuck it out and am here now.”

Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a trained counselor or visit the Lifeline site.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year it seems to coincide with a flurry of violent headlines. For many, this constant bad news adds to the stress of everyday life, which may already feel overwhelming.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, each year in the US, one in five adults experience mental illness and one in six children aged 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder. That’s millions of people. In 2021, less than half of adults received treatment.

America’s mental health crisis is having a widespread impact that touches everyone.

Michele Neff Hernandez: Mental health is as important as physical health

For Neff Hernandez, whose organization helps widowed people connect with each other in a community of support, it’s important for everyone to know they aren’t alone in their struggle. Mental illness is common, yet the stigma surrounding it is often a hurdle for people seeking the treatment they need.

Michele Neff Hernandez: When our body isn’t working well, going to a doctor to seek the cause or to help alleviate symptoms is considered normal and even responsible. Yet, when we are struggling with our mental health for any reason – including grieving a death, experiencing a traumatic event, even coping with the global and national crises that are a part of our daily narrative – we so often hesitate to seek mental health support. The pervasive stigmatizing narrative that implies that seeking mental health support shows weakness or that a mental illness or the breakdown of our mental health for any reason is something to be ashamed of has a significantly negative impact on our society, especially our young people.

We have to model good mental health care by learning about mental health with the same vigor we use to learn about physical health. Imagine if meditation were as popular as weight loss. Or if picking up your mood stabilizing medication was viewed in the same way as picking up your blood pressure medication. Normalizing caring for and seeking help with mental health is a gift we can give ourselves and the next generation. We all need mental health support at many times in our lives; what a gift it would be if accessing that help were viewed as just part of normal life.

We see this in grief all the time: No one wants to allow people to be sad. We seek to fix instead of listen. We pressure grieving people to “get over it” to make others more comfortable. We set the definition of success after a traumatic event as “returning to normal,” even when returning to a past normal is impossible. The truth is we are always changed by the challenges we overcome, and integrating what we’ve learned about ourselves in the aftermath is one of the key elements of building resilience. When we stigmatize mental health care, we create an environment that ensures that the people who most need help will suffer alone.

Annette March-Grier: ‘Make self-care a priority’

March-Grier stresses the importance of putting yourself first to enhance mental well-being.

Annette March-Grier: Everyone is looking for some kind of balance, yet few are finding it. Your state of mind is where it all begins. Make self-care a priority for your mental wellness. “Self-care is not selfish.” It is a truth that if you don’t take care of yourself, you will have nothing to give others. This includes healthy relationships that can be jeopardized because of stress, burnout, and lack of self-care. Your physical health is also connected to your mental health. Negative thoughts and suppression of these can cause dis-ease, and over time this leads to disease.

Self-care means taking time out for self, creating a gratitude list, journaling, dancing, laughing, breathing fully, smelling the fresh air, being aware of surroundings, being in the moment, enjoying the stillness when you can, taking time out for self, playing with your pet, exercising, reflecting on the past, dreaming about the future, eating healthy, helping someone in need. All of these self-care activities increase the body’s endorphins and bring on relaxation and balance.

Scott Strode: Combine community and fitness

Strode’s work focuses on the intersection of exercise and personal connection to benefit mental health.

Scott Strode: Social connection is a powerful tool for creating positive mental health. At The Phoenix, every day we see the profound impact that belonging and social connection has on our members’ confidence and overall well-being. Just spending a few minutes daily in the presence of others can be inherently powerful, and thankfully it is now easier than ever to make these vital connections.

Whether it’s getting together for an activity or just talking about challenges being faced, social connectivity can help us all overcome mental health challenges.

Exercise can also be a powerful tool to improve mental health. We encourage you to get out for a 15- to 30-minute walk or run and consider inviting a friend to join you. Sharing these physical activities with supportive peers can create the vulnerability to begin to share about what else you might be experiencing.

Mary Cortani: ‘Do not judge what you cannot see’

Cortani emphasizes that not all wounds are visible, and silence is not a treatment for mental illness.

Mary Cortani: If the world has taught me anything, it has taught me to remember to be kind, do not judge what you cannot see. Pain is invisible. With all the craziness going on every day, breathe. It is okay to feel down, to feel overloaded, overwhelmed, sad, frustrated. Try not to hold onto it. Seek help, talk to your family, friends, pastor, priest – talk to someone. And for those listening, really hear, pay attention, because sometimes the silence says more than the words. There is no shame to ask for help. It takes courage, and we all have it within us.

It takes all of us to realize mental health needs to be talked about, not buried under the rug. We need open, honest conversations; we have a mental health crisis in this country that is only getting worse as we become more divided. Fear only adds to it. Mental health doesn’t just affect veterans and first responders; it can affect everyone. Trauma is trauma, and enough repeated exposure changes the brain. There is hope, and there can be healing, but we all need to work together to help those who need our help.

We need to stop the silence surrounding mental health and model healthy behaviors so that we can assist with support and help guide towards resources. We are not in this alone, nor are those suffering from mental health issues.

On April 29, 1990, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Sinead O’Connor topped the charts in the US, the Detroit Pistons had just begun their road to a second successive NBA title and cranes began pulling down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.

In Naples, Marco Baroni was leaping into the Italian spring air to head a ball past a diving goalkeeper to put Napoli one goal ahead against Lazio.

One seemingly small event sent a fandom and a city crazy with joy.

The defender’s powerful header was the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory and those three points assured Napoli’s position atop Serie A, two points ahead of AC Milan who also won that day.

In doing so, Baroni clinched the club’s second ever Italian league title, cementing its golden era into Napoli folklore – an era spearheaded by the great Diego Maradona.

The joy of those two Scudetto title successes didn’t last that long though: Napoli suffered relegations, financial difficulties, near misses and the coming and going of superstars – all without reclaiming that elusive third title.

That was until this year. Led by the towering Nigerian Victor Osimhen, the enigmatic Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and coach Luciano Spalletti, Napoli has romped to the Serie A title, ending 33 years in the wilderness. A fandom and a city, again, rejoice.

In recent years, Bellini has gone viral for his videos announcing Napoli’s goalscorers during games. His ‘call and response’ style with the fans leaves viewers with goosebumps, such is the enthusiasm displayed from both parties.

One YouTube video of Bellini calling out the name of former Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuaín has been viewed over six million times. In the video, Bellini calls out the Argentine’s first name nine times, with the Napoli faithful roaring back the player’s surname in response.

“Every time, I tell them the club is like a girlfriend, is like a mother, is something special for us. And this is the reason for all this passionate, all this incredible love for the team and maybe this is the reason when I go to the stadium and I do my job, the people wait for me for pictures and signatures and videos.”

But, after years of heartache, the title victory is important for so much more than just on field success; it is a victory for southern Italy against its northern rivals, not least because there has long been economic tension between those two parts of the country.

“It is a big deal for the city as a whole to have that pride and to be able to say: ‘Look, we can do it too. You don’t need to be the rich northerners. We assembled a smart squad.’

“It’s not a club where teams can just come in and pick off their players and there’s an incredible pride in Napoli developing, Napoli finding the good players, not so much for the youth squad, but being able to be that smart team that can build a competitive squad without … spending big money on players who are over the hill.

“So there’s that pride in being able to say: ‘Yeah, but yeah the south did this and the south did this in a different way.’”

More than a team

Football is in Naples’ DNA.

Whether it is the fanatical supporters crammed into the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on matchdays or the hordes of fans who race through the streets after a Napoli victory, not much gets done on the day of a home game.

Bellini says the vice-like grip that the club has on the city is down to Naples only playing host to one major team, Napoli – a phenomenon unlike most other Serie A cities.

“Milan has two, Turin have two, Rome have two and Genoa also have two,” he explains. “Naples is the only big, big, big city in Italy where we have just one club. And this is very important for us and all the people here support Naples.”

As a result, every home game is like a festival of football, with fans reveling in the displays of brilliance their favorite Napoli players – dressed in the sky-blue shirts and white shorts – produce.

Over the years, they’ve had their fair share of awe-inspiring players who have dazzled and astonished – most notably, the diminutive genius, Maradona.

The Argentine arrived in the south of Italy in 1984, joining from Barcelona for a then world-record fee of $10.5 million.

With Maradona’s arrival came a level of success Napoli had previously never seen, culminating in a 1987 title victory; the club’s first ever Scudetto.

Bellini remembers how he celebrated the victory as a six-year-old whose fandom for Napoli was burgeoning.

“I stayed on the balcony in my house with my flag, and you can find the picture on Instagram. With my flag on the balcony without possibility to do something or do fiesta or with the supporters, because I was very, very little. But very happy. Very proud. When I was born, I was born with Maradona and that Napoli and, always in my life, I support Naples.”

Three years later, Napoli reclaimed the title, once again with Maradona at the forefront.

For a city and football club that had often been looked down upon by its northern rivals, that run of success was an opportunity for the region to proudly express its time on top.

When Napoli won its first Serie A title in 1987, the Gentleman Ultra website notes: “In the city, mock funerals were held for Juventus. Naples finally had a riposte to their overweening Northern foes: ‘May 1987, the other Italy has been defeated, a new empire is born.’”

But that four-year stretch proved to be an abnormality rather than a trend.

The dark years

A year after the 1990 title success, the Napoli team began to unwind with players departing, leading to a drop in performances.

The headline departure came when Maradona failed a drug test and he left Italy in disgrace after being handed a 15-month ban.

Following years of steady decline, the club was relegated from Serie A after claiming a miserly 14 points from 34 games. Only eight years after being crowned Italian champion, Napoli found itself in the second tier.

The disappointment didn’t end there though for Napoli. Despite a small respite back in the top-flight in the 2000/01 season, the club was immediately relegated after their first season back in Serie A before the club was declared bankrupt for the second year in a row, which saw it relegated to the third tier of Italian football.

Although the club had fallen to its lowest league position in its history dating back to the 1920s, Bellini says the fanatical support around the club never suffered.

“You can find on the Internet or in a YouTube the video when we are in Serie C with 60,000 people at the stadium and the opposing team are a very tiny team and they are not able to play in San Paolo stadium [what is now the Diego Maradona stadium] in front of 60,000 people. And this is the big passion, big passion of Neapolitan people and big love for this club.”

On top again

But like a phoenix, Naples rose from the ashes; spearheaded by the most unlikely of saviors.

When the club was at its most vulnerable financially, in swooped Italian film giant Aurelio De Laurentiis to rescue the club with the aim of establishing stability and a return to former glories.

And De Laurentiis made good on his promises, bringing Napoli back into the Italian top-flight in three years and into European competitions in the second year back in Serie A.

De Laurentiis’ no-nonsense approach to running the club has brought success but has also brought tension. Fans and De Laurentiis have been at loggerheads about new proposed ticket prices although a picture posted on the owner’s Twitter account suggests that that tension has been resolved for now.

Schlewitz says that despite any friction against the owner, “a whole lot is going to be forgiven” with the title victory.

Behind savvy transfer dealings and shrewd coaching appointments, the club established itself as one of Italy’s elite.

In the 16 years since the club’s return to Serie A, Napoli fans have seen some of Europe’s best players grace the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium pitch – from Edinson Cavani and Higuaín to Dries Mertens and Marek Hamšík – as well as rotating cast of elite managers – Walter Mazzarri, Rafael Benítez, Maurizio Sarri and Carlo Ancelotti have all had stints in the Naples dugout.

However, beyond cup success, Napoli was never able to reclaim that elusive Scudetto behind the dominance of Italy’s northern clubs.

“It’s very, very hard to win in Italy because the north of Italy has a high representative of teams as Juventus, as Milan, as Inter and, in the south, it’s very difficult to (win),” Bellini said.

“For example, Roma or Lazio in the center of Italy have only two or three times won the title because it is very, very difficult to win against the north; against the money, power of those clubs. And when we had Maradona in our club, we did this. We win against the against Juventus, against Milan, against Inter.”

The 2022/23 season has been different though.

Behind a previously unheralded squad – Kvaratskhelia was signed from Georgia for little fanfare, the midfielder trio of Stanislav Lobotka, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Piotr Zieliński have all flattered to deceive before and Kim Min-jae arrived from Turkey in the summer to transform the defense into one of the league’s most formidable – Napoli has blown away the domestic competition.

The team’s unheralded star though, according to Schlewitz, is left back Mário Rui. Rui signed for the club in 2017 under Sarri but has undergone a transformation this season.

“I have to say that I intensely disliked Mario Rui. And he just used to make all kinds of mistakes,” Schlewitz said. “He came in 2017 and he would either go into tackles too hard or he would turn the ball over too quickly or just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“And now he is 31, and it’s like he’s finally grown into the player that he was always supposed to be. And I’m just glad that the squad had faith to keep him around because he’s kind of the anchor point. And he’s not our captain in name, but he’s kind of our captain in spirit.”

Even the team’s manager, Spalletti, came to Naples with a reputation of producing beautiful footballing teams but ones that falter at the crucial moments.

Whereas in previous seasons where fans would avoid talking about title challenges out of a fear of jinxing the team, Bellini says the huge lead the team established after last year’s World Cup break allowed fans to dream before Thursday’s draw sealed the title victory.

Over 30 years after Maradona led Napoli to its last Serie A title, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and company have done the same to end the heartache of some of Italy’s most passionate fans.

And for someone who has been working inside the Napoli stadium and around the team for approximately 14 years – and as a fervent fan himself – Bellini said this moment had been a long time coming and that he has an idea of how he’ll announce the team’s title success to the stadium when they play at home for the first time as champions.

“I have something in my mind, but I don’t know very well what my heart suggests to me because I don’t want to prepare something special or special words for that moment because I think my heart can suggest the best word in that moment,” he said.

Bellini added: “I’ve dreamed of this moment since when I was young, and especially since when I start to do this job with Naples, I dreamed this whole night.

“This is special.”

Jackson Mahomes, the younger brother of NFL superstar Patrick, was arrested and charged with sexual battery on Wednesday, according to court records.

Mahomes was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual battery and one of battery by the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office.

The 22-year-old was arrested at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday and was booked into a detention center. He posted $100,000 bond and was released, court records show.

Jackson Mahomes has risen to fame in recent years with his social media content, including his TikTok account which has over a million followers.

Upon leaving court, he did not respond to reporters’ questions about the incident. A man escorting him said, “We can’t say anything right now, excuse us.”

In March, prior to charges being filed, Davies sent a statement to KCTV.

“We have provided law enforcement with the tools and evidence they need to evaluate the claims against Jackson,” the statement read, per KCTV. “Every interaction between people needs to be placed in the proper context. Releasing a short clip of any video does not provide proper context. We have faith in the process and look forward to a swift resolution of the matter.”

Mahomes has a court date scheduled for May 11.

Prosecutors allege in the criminal complaint that Mahomes “unlawfully and feloniously touch[ed] the person of another … who did not consent to the touching, with the intent to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the offender or another” and “unlawfully and knowingly cause[d] physical contact with another person … done in a rude, insulting, or angry manner.”

Court records also show that the judge instructed Mahomes that he cannot publicly comment on the case or the facts and can have no contact with the victim or any witnesses.

Mahomes’ brother, Patrick, is the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. He won his second Super Bowl title earlier this year.