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  • Transfer deadline day for Europe’s top soccer leagues with Balogun expected to be among the movers

    Transfer deadline day for Europe’s top soccer leagues with Balogun expected to be among the movers

    Tuesday marks the final day of the summer transfer window for Europe’s top five soccer leagues, and the 24 hours have shaped up to be one of the most frantic deadlines in recent memory, with a string of high-profile deals expected to cross the line before clocks run out. Among the most anticipated outgoing moves is American striker Folarin Balogun, who is on the cusp of a transfer from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco to Premier League club Everton, multiple industry reports confirm.

    Across the Premier League, defending champion Manchester City continues its aggressive spending spree, closing in on a £60 million ($81 million) deal to sign Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye. The agreement for Ndiaye is expected to put an end to City’s widely reported pursuit of Liverpool attacker Cody Gakpo. City has also been linked with a blockbuster move for Chelsea midfield star Enzo Fernandez throughout the entire window, but time is rapidly running out for the Etihad Stadium side to get a deal over the line before the window closes. In outgoing business from City, winger Jack Grealish is set to return to Everton on a season-long loan deal, sources confirm.

    So far, the summer 2025 transfer window for the Premier League is on track to break all previous spending records, with total outlay across league clubs already hitting £2.82 billion ($3.8 billion). The current all-time record for a single Premier League transfer window stands at £3.14 billion ($4.25 billion) set back in 2023, a mark that is expected to be surpassed before Tuesday’s closure. The Premier League window will officially close at 22:00 GMT, while rival top leagues across the continent have earlier cutoff times: Germany, France and Italy all close at 18:00 GMT, with Spain’s window shutting one minute before 22:00 GMT at 21:59 GMT.

    One of the first high-profile deals completed on deadline day sees Aston Villa add 19-year-old winger Ibrahim Mbaye from Paris Saint-Germain, a transfer that continues PSG’s massive summer sell-off that has now brought in a combined $460 million in transfer revenue for the French giants. Mbaye joins a reshaped Villa attacking line that has already added Nicolas Jackson and Alejandro Garnacho this window. Unai Emery’s side, which qualified for the Champions League last season, has endured a rocky start to the new domestic campaign, dropping all three points in its opening two league matches.

    In La Liga, one of the biggest deadline-day moves sees Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus complete a three-year transfer from Arsenal to FC Barcelona. Jesus struggled with repeated injury issues during his tenure at the Emirates Stadium, but still contributed to Arsenal’s 2024-25 Premier League title triumph. Jesus is the latest forward to exit Arsenal this window: Leandro Trossard already completed a move to Turkish side Besiktas, while first-team winger Gabriel Martinelli and young star Ethan Nwaneri are both expected to finalize exits before the Premier League window closes.

    Across Serie A, Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade is reported to be finalizing a season-long loan move to Juventus, just 12 months after he moved to the Premier League from the German domestic league.

    In the Bundesliga, the biggest deadline-day signing to date sees 20-year-old Spanish center forward Marc Guiu move from Chelsea to RB Leipzig on a permanent five-year contract, for a total fee that could rise to 17 million euros ($19.7 million). Guiu was part of Chelsea’s 2024 Conference League and Club World Cup-winning squad, but never managed to secure a regular first-team spot at the London club, failing to score a single Premier League goal during his tenure.

  • Hopes high, expectations low for Germany as it prepares to host Women’s Basketball World Cup

    Hopes high, expectations low for Germany as it prepares to host Women’s Basketball World Cup

    BERLIN – A series of pre-tournament setbacks, including multiple key player injuries and three consecutive warm-up losses, have failed to dampen the competitive spirit and medal ambitions of the host German national team ahead of the 20th FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, kicking off this week in the German capital.

    This year marks only the second time Germany has qualified for the quadrennial global tournament, 28 years after the country last hosted the event in 1998. On that historic first appearance, Germany advanced to the second group stage, and this year’s squad has set its sights on exceeding that achievement by claiming a podium finish. That goal, however, comes with significant hurdles: the team will be missing its biggest star, Satou Sabally of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, who continues to recover from a concussion – her second brain injury of 2026, sustained during a June match against the Las Vegas Aces.

    Injury struggles extend beyond the elder Sabally. Her younger sister Nyara Sabally, who plays for the Toronto Tempo, has yet to return to action from a calf injury, while another key WNBA-based German player, Leonie Fiebich of New York Liberty, only recently resumed training following a prolonged foot injury recovery. Team captain Marie Gülich also just made her return to the court from a serious knee injury, stepping back into play during Germany’s 65-60 warm-up loss to Spain.

    Germany’s preparations for the expanded 16-team tournament have been far from ideal, with the squad dropping three straight warm-up matches to Spain, Hungary, and most recently a narrow 63-62 defeat to Turkey in Cologne last Thursday. Despite the disappointing run of results, German guard Luisa Geiselsöder emphasized that warm-up results do not define the team’s tournament outlook. “Of course, we were hoping for a win but it was just a friendly,” she noted.

    A major factor in the team’s underwhelming warm-up form is the absence of three WNBA-based players – Satou Sabally, Fiebich, and Portland Fire’s Frieda Bühner – who missed the exhibition matches due to club commitments. Head coach Olaf Lange says their arrival will transform the squad’s dynamic. “We learned a lot today,” Lange said after the Turkey defeat. “But with the three (WNBA players yet to arrive) we’re a completely different team.”

    Lange also added that recent MRI results give him confidence Nyara Sabally will be fit enough to feature in the tournament. When the event gets underway, Germany will rely heavily on veteran combo guard Alexis Peterson to anchor the team’s offensive playmaking as key contributors work their way back to full match fitness.

    Germany opens its 2026 World Cup campaign on Friday with a rematch against familiar rival Spain at the 14,000-capacity Berlin Arena, the main tournament venue renamed temporarily for the competition to avoid confusion over the venue’s frequently changing commercial sponsor naming rights. A second group stage match will follow on Saturday against Japan at Berlin’s historic Max-Schmeling-Halle, a 9,000-seat multipurpose venue named after legendary 1932 German heavyweight boxing champion Max Schmeling, which will also host additional tournament matches. Germany closes out Group A play against Mali on September 7, a match most analysts project as a winnable contest for the host side.

    Ahead of the opening tip, Germany faces an uphill battle against Spain: the two sides have met seven times in competitive play, and Germany has never come away with a win. Their most recent matchup came during the EuroBasket group stage in Hamburg last year, where Spain claimed a comfortable 79-60 victory. For this tournament, only the bottom-placed team from each of the four groups will be eliminated from competition. Group winners earn an automatic spot in the quarterfinals, while second and third-placed teams advance to knockout playoffs to claim the remaining quarterfinal slots.

    Despite the on-court challenges facing the host team, organizers are celebrating unprecedented public interest in the tournament. Officials confirmed earlier this week that more than 200,000 tickets have already been sold – a new record for the Women’s Basketball World Cup, surpassing totals from every previous edition. The September 13 final is already completely sold out.

    German Basketball Federation president Ingo Weiss hailed the milestone as a sign of growing global popularity for women’s basketball. “We’re witnessing an extraordinary evolution of our sport, and this World Cup in Berlin will mark another major milestone,” Weiss said. “200,000 tickets is a fantastic sign, and we’re far from finished yet.”

  • Russian barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine’s capital region kills at least 11

    Russian barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine’s capital region kills at least 11

    In a sustained escalation of air attacks targeting Ukrainian population centers, Russia launched another massive overnight aerial barrage that extended into Tuesday morning, leaving at least 11 civilians dead and more than 10 others injured, three of whom are children, according to local Ukrainian officials. The coordinated assault, which began at 6 p.m. Monday, marked the sixth straight day of targeted strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, part of an unbroken, multi-day campaign of air raids that first launched last week. Ukrainian Air Force officials reported that Russia deployed a wide arsenal of weaponry for the attack, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-radar missiles, 218 attack drones and decoy aerial devices. Roughly one-third of the drones deployed were powered by jet engines, a faster and more lethal platform that has become increasingly common in recent Russian strikes, officials added. Primary targets for the latest assault were concentrated in the Kyiv and Odesa regions, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed in an official statement posted to Telegram. The unrelenting pace of attacks has left Kyiv and its civilian population trapped in prolonged danger and daily disruption, with strikes occurring around the clock across both daytime and overnight hours, and air raid alerts remaining active at a near-constant rate across the capital. The latest barrage hit civilian infrastructure and residential properties across multiple districts of Kyiv. Eight fatalities were recorded within Kyiv city limits, while three additional deaths occurred in surrounding areas of the Kyiv region. Seven of the capital’s deaths were concentrated in the Darnytskyi district, where emergency services confirmed one person was critically wounded and admitted to a local hospital. At a second impact site in the same district, an explosion left two people injured, one of them a child. An eighth fatality was recorded in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, where a non-residential building was struck and ignited a large blaze, emergency services said. In the Solomianskyi district, a drone strike hit a multi-unit residential building, causing extensive structural damage. First responders managed to rescue one man and extract a woman who had been trapped under fallen rubble after the strike. Across the broader Kyiv region, outside the capital’s city boundaries, three people were killed and 12 others were injured. In the Kyiv suburb of Boryspil, which hosts one of Ukraine’s largest international airports, the strike left three vehicles engulfed in flames and damaged a local infrastructure facility, where a truck also caught fire. Emergency teams evacuated 48 local residents and pulled two people alive from collapsed rubble. Eight people in Boryspil suffered injuries, including two children. Two people were killed at the damaged infrastructure site, while one additional fatality was recorded at a damaged local service station in the city. Further south, the Odesa region also suffered a major Russian overnight attack that damaged multiple pieces of civilian infrastructure and left one person wounded, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper. Two residential buildings suffered damage, and a large fire broke out at a local sewing factory in the strikes. Russian forces also targeted the Orlivka international ferry crossing, which connects Ukraine to neighboring Romania on the Black Sea coast, Kiper confirmed. For their part, Ukrainian air defense forces announced that they successfully intercepted and neutralized 199 aerial targets launched in the assault, including five ballistic missiles and 187 drones. Ukrainian military officials noted that missile and drone impact sites were recorded across 28 Ukrainian locations, while debris from downed Russian weapons fell across 10 additional sites that were not directly targeted. This ongoing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict can be found in full at the Associated Press’ dedicated conflict hub.

  • Stocks slip on Wall Street under pressure from rising oil prices, bond sell-off

    Stocks slip on Wall Street under pressure from rising oil prices, bond sell-off

    Wall Street kicked off September on a downbeat note Tuesday, with major stock indices retreating as climbing crude oil prices reignited investor fears over persistent inflation and tighter future monetary policy. As of 10:51 a.m. Eastern Time, the benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 164 points (0.3%), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 0.7%.

    This weak opening comes after a generally positive but volatile August, when every major U.S. stock index secured monthly gains. Yet long-running economic anxieties continue to hang over global markets, with concerns over sticky inflation, ballooning government debt and the spillover effects of global geopolitical conflicts weighing heavily on investor sentiment.

    Technology stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, pulling the broader market down due to their outsized market capitalizations. Chipmaking giant Nvidia declined 1.2%, while rival Advanced Micro Devices fell 2.9% amid the downward pull.

    A key source of market pressure stems from the ongoing global sell-off in government bonds, which has pushed yields steadily higher. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which heavily influences domestic mortgage rates, climbed to 4.77% from 4.75% at Monday’s close, up sharply from a 2026 starting low of 4.20%. The 2-year Treasury yield, which closely tracks market expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate movements, also ticked up to 4.37% from 4.34%, a substantial rise from its 3.50% level at the start of 2026. Bond yields move inversely to bond prices, and rising yields reflect investor demand for higher returns as sovereign debt risk grows amid expanding national deficit levels. Just two weeks ago, the U.S. national debt crossed the $40 trillion threshold, a milestone that has drawn fresh attention to the country’s unsustainable spending trajectory, where defense costs and interest payments on the growing deficit already account for a massive share of federal outlays. Bond sell-offs are not isolated to the U.S., with sovereign debt facing similar pressure across other major global economies.

    Higher bond yields translate to elevated borrowing costs for a wide range of consumer and business loans, from home mortgages to corporate lines of credit. These higher costs dampen overall economic activity, weigh on corporate valuations and discourage business expansion, creating broad headwinds for equity markets.

    At the center of the current inflation and yield pressure is the recent surge in global oil prices. International benchmark Brent crude rose 2% to $92.28 per barrel on Tuesday, with costs remaining high and volatile following U.S. military strikes on Iranian sites in the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic waterway is responsible for roughly 20% of global oil shipments, and ongoing conflict has effectively disrupted regular passage through the route.

    Surging oil prices have pushed up costs across nearly every sector of the economy, from retail gasoline to freight shipping, sustaining inflation that has continued to squeeze household budgets and corporate profit margins. Current U.S. inflation remains well above 3%, far exceeding the Federal Reserve’s 2% long-term target. The persistently high price environment has fueled expectations that the Fed will implement another interest rate hike before the end of the year to cool price growth. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, investors are currently pricing in a 66% probability of a rate increase at the central bank’s upcoming September policy meeting.

    The Fed will receive new inflation data ahead of its scheduled meeting, and this week also brings key updates on the state of the U.S. labor market, a key factor influencing the central bank’s policy decisions. On Tuesday, government data showed U.S. job openings rose slightly in July, and the closely watched monthly nonfarm payrolls report for August is set for release on Friday.

    Global markets echoed the downward trend on Tuesday: major European stock indices traded lower, while Asian markets finished the session mixed. AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach, Michelle Chapman and Matt Ott contributed reporting to this article.

  • Russian strike hits rail workers in new deadly attacks on Kyiv

    Russian strike hits rail workers in new deadly attacks on Kyiv

    Fresh wave of Russian overnight airstrikes targeting Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and its surrounding areas has left at least 12 civilians and infrastructure workers dead, with another 17 people wounded—including two minors, local Ukrainian authorities confirmed Monday. The deadly attack is the second major escalation against the Kyiv region in less than a week, coming on the heels of a previous strike that claimed 38 lives last Friday.

    Among the fatalities recorded in Kyiv proper, six were employees of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state-owned railway operator, who were at a city rail depot when it sustained a direct hit. Four additional deaths were recorded in Boryspil, a major town located just outside Kyiv that is home to one of the country’s busiest international airports. Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, confirmed that the strikes damaged multiple civilian sites and residential buildings, igniting large blazes that spread across three of the capital’s administrative districts. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the fires, extract survivors from rubble, and provide urgent medical care to the injured.

    In an official statement following the attack, Russia’s ministry of defense claimed the operation was a “massive strike” deployed with advanced high-precision weapons, and that targets were limited to Ukraine’s military-industrial complexes and fuel-energy infrastructure. However, the attack’s impact has fallen heavily on non-military sites and workers, contradicting Russia’s stated targeting parameters.

    Friday’s prior strike in the Kyiv region hit a Ukrainian weapons depot, triggering a series of secondary detonations from stored shells, mines, and unmanned aerial vehicles that drove the death toll to 38. The repeated attacks on the Kyiv area are part of Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022 and has entered its fifth year of active conflict.

  • In a scorching Spain, the traditional folding hand fan is having a moment

    In a scorching Spain, the traditional folding hand fan is having a moment

    Across Spain’s packed metro carriages, sunbaked public squares, open-air festivals and crowded event venues, one iconic traditional accessory has made a striking resurgence this summer, driven by a string of record-breaking heat waves that have pushed temperatures across Western Europe to dangerous, sweltering highs. The abanico, Spain’s classic handheld folding fan, is compact enough to tuck into a purse or jacket pocket, and with a single flick of the wrist, it unfurls into a wide semicircle that generates a surprisingly cool, refreshing breeze without relying on batteries or electricity.

    This summer, as successive heat domes sent temperatures climbing above 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) across much of the Iberian Peninsula, the abanico has cemented its status as an essential summer staple, embraced by people of all ages and genders both locally and among visiting tourists. Where once it was largely seen as a women’s accessory, more men are now carrying the fans, pulling them out to cool down on crowded public transit, at outdoor music concerts, and beneath the beating sun at summer festivals. During Madrid’s vibrant annual Pride celebrations in July, rainbow-patterned abanicos were ubiquitous across the city’s parade routes and gathering spaces.

    On a sweltering August day in central Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, 20-year-old Ana Feliu spoke with the Associated Press while shielding herself from the sun with a lightweight paper abanico she received as a gift at a festival in Valencia. She carries one with her everywhere she goes during the summer months, noting that this particular fan is her favorite, but she maintains a large collection of different designs for different occasions. The Spanish capital had forecast highs of 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) for that Thursday and Friday, making constant cooling a daily necessity. Nearby, 53-year-old David González fanned himself with a vibrantly hued fan decorated in shades of pink, purple, and red. “At first, I felt a little self-conscious, because it’s something that’s mainly associated with women, but I have to admit it serves a purpose — and it brightens my day,” he explained.

    The history of the folding fan in Spain stretches back hundreds of years, with deep global roots. Historians trace the accessory’s arrival in Europe to 15th and 16th-century Portuguese maritime trade routes connecting the continent to Asia, where handheld folding fans had been used for millennia. As folding fans grew fashionable among royal courts across Western Europe, Spain developed its own robust fan-making industry: Madrid emerged as an early production hub, and by the 18th century, Valencia had become the country’s undisputed fan-making capital. By the 1800s, the abanico was so deeply woven into Spanish aristocratic culture that women developed a subtle nonverbal “language of the fan,” using different movements and positions to discreetly communicate flirtation, romantic interest, or disapproval to others in social settings.

    From Spain, the abanico traveled across the Atlantic to Latin America, and by the 19th century, it had become a core expressive prop for flamenco dance, shaped in part by Cuban musical and dance traditions like the guajira that influenced flamenco’s evolution. Over time, the fan’s close connection to flamenco turned it into one of the most recognizable quintessential symbols of Spanish culture. “The fan is a perfect element because, on the one hand, it evokes the heat and humidity of Cuba — that heavy, oppressive feeling,” explained Carmen Torres, a 44-year-old flamenco dancer based in southern Spain. “And at the same time, it gives us a way to bring out the seductive, coquettish quality that defines so much of the performance.”

    For long-standing fan businesses across Spain, this summer’s heat waves have been a major boon, boosting sales to levels not seen in decades. At Casa de Diego, a wood-paneled fan shop in central Madrid that has been operated by the Llerandi family for more than 150 years, business has been booming this season. “We live from the heat,” said Javier Llerandi, the shop’s current owner. The store sells exclusively Spanish-made abanicos, ranging from simple two-tone wooden models priced around 30 euros ($35) to elaborate, hand-painted luxury pieces crafted from mother-of-pearl with intricate floral designs that can cost as much as 6,000 euros (nearly $7,000). Llerandi explains that prices shift dramatically based on the materials used, and even more so on the level of hand workmanship required for each piece. As Madrid has grown into a top global tourist destination, foreign visitors have become some of the shop’s most enthusiastic customers, drawn to the fan’s reliability compared to modern battery-powered portable coolers. “Battery-run items eventually run out of power, and always at the worst possible moment,” Llerandi said with a smile. “Without a doubt, heat waves are good for this business.”

    For budget-focused shoppers and casual users, low-cost printed plastic or paper abanicos are available for just a few euros at street souvenir kiosks and market stalls across the country, and vendors across Madrid reported similarly strong sales this summer. Outside Madrid’s iconic Las Ventas bullring, for example, vendor Juani Duran sells wooden abanicos decorated with traditional floral patterns for five euros apiece ahead of bullfights, which take place in open-air stadiums where spectators often wear formal, layered attire. “You’ll usually find a hand fan in any woman’s pocket — and in some men’s, too,” Duran said ahead of a late-August bullfight. Acknowledging the more affordable quality of her stock, she added, “They’re not the best quality, but they’ll get you through the summer.”

  • Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, White House says

    Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, White House says

    The White House announced Monday that United States Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will step down from his post, marking the latest high-profile departure from top military leadership during President Donald Trump’s second administration. No official explanation has been provided for Driscoll’s exit, though widespread reporting has pointed to long-simmering tensions between Driscoll and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The resignation deepens a pattern of dramatic turnover across senior military ranks, with the U.S. Army experiencing the most extreme upheaval in recent months.

    In an official statement, White House press spokeswoman Anna Kelly praised Driscoll’s tenure, framing his work as critical to advancing Trump’s “Make America Strong Again” policy agenda. “Secretary Driscoll has been highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda… by providing outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more,” Kelly said. She added that the U.S. Army “is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War.”

    An anonymous senior U.S. Army official, granted anonymity because they were not cleared to speak publicly on the personnel matter, confirmed that Driscoll discussed the current state of Army operations with Trump before formally submitting his resignation. The official declined to share further details about the conversation or the resignation. The Pentagon directed all media inquiries about the departure to the U.S. Army. News of Driscoll’s resignation was first reported earlier Monday by *The Wall Street Journal*.

    Driscoll’s exit is part of a string of sudden leadership changes at the Army that stretch back months. In April, Hegseth unexpectedly removed Gen. Randy George, the service’s top uniformed leader, from his post. Just two months later, Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe and Africa, stepped down unexpectedly. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, whose rapid ascent through the leadership ranks has been closely tied to Hegseth, was appointed to replace George as acting Army chief of staff.

    Under LaNeve’s leadership, the Army has already canceled a key drone modernization initiative that Driscoll had championed. As first reported by Army officials in August, LaNeve ordered an Army unit based in Europe that had been developing custom in-house drones to abandon the project and revert to its original role as a traditional infantry battalion. Driscoll was a public ally of George, and openly lamented his ouster alongside lawmakers from both major U.S. political parties. During an April congressional hearing, Driscoll told legislators that he and his family traveled to George’s home immediately after his resignation, saying “we all gave him a hug.” Even so, Driscoll acknowledged the authority of civilian leadership over the military, noting: “That being said, the civilian leadership, the design of our system, is that they get to pick the leaders that they want.”

    A decorated Iraq War veteran, tech investor, and long-time associate of Vice President JD Vance — whom he met while attending Yale Law School — Driscoll was tapped by Trump for the Army Secretary role in 2024. At the time of his nomination, Trump described Driscoll as “a disruptor and change agent” who would bring much-needed change to the service. Beyond his core administrative duties, Driscoll was given the unusual high-profile assignment of serving as a key negotiator in diplomatic efforts to end the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. He was also a leading advocate for cutting bureaucratic red tape to allow defense contractors to accelerate development of new drone and counter-drone technologies, a priority as global warfare evolves rapidly. The U.S. Senate confirmed Driscoll to the post in February 2025 by a vote of 66-28, after a largely non-confrontational Armed Services Committee hearing focused on Army modernization, recruiting reform, and strengthening the domestic defense industrial base.

    Driscoll comes from a multi-generational Army family, noting during his confirmation process that both his father and grandfather served in the service, and he vowed to center his tenure on addressing the needs of frontline soldiers. His official Army biography notes he served as an armor officer from August 2007 to March 2011, with a combat deployment to Iraq from October 2009 to July 2010. Outside of military and national security work, Driscoll mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for a North Carolina congressional seat in 2020, earning roughly 8% of the vote in a crowded primary field.

    Driscoll’s departure is not an isolated event: it follows a broader purge of senior uniformed and civilian leadership carried out by Hegseth across the U.S. armed forces, which has already seen the ouster of multiple generals, admirals, and service secretaries. In April, the Pentagon made the sudden announcement that Navy Secretary John Phelan would step down, making Phelan the first head of a U.S. military service to leave office during Trump’s second term.

  • Arsenal wins again and Malen the main man in Italy as Roma score four once more

    Arsenal wins again and Malen the main man in Italy as Roma score four once more

    The second matchweek of Europe’s top domestic soccer leagues delivered another round of dramatic results on Monday, with three of the continent’s biggest clubs retaining their perfect start to the new season and early title contenders sending a clear statement of their title credentials.

    In England’s Premier League, defending champions Arsenal claimed a hard-fought 1-0 away victory over Aston Villa, clinging to their 100% record to open the campaign. The decisive goal came in the 59th minute from Bukayo Saka, who converted the only clear-cut chance of the night to secure all three points for the Gunners.

    The result marks a tough opening stretch for Aston Villa, which has struggled to find form following a series of high-profile player exits over the transfer window. Unai Emery’s side failed to register a single shot on target for the second consecutive match, leaving them rooted at the bottom of the table with zero points from their first two outings. For Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, the win carried extra personal significance: it marked his 250th Premier League match in charge of the club, and left Arsenal one of only four Premier League clubs to claim maximum points from their opening two fixtures.

    Over in Spain’s La Liga, Barcelona turned in a dominant attacking display to beat Rayo Vallecano 5-2 at home, extending their unbelievable run to 21 consecutive home victories and climbing to the top of the league table. The match got off to a surprising start when Rayo, which entered the game still searching for its first win of the season, took an early lead in the 12th minute: Sergio Camello finished powerfully from an Álvaro García cutback from the left flank to put the visitors ahead.

    Barcelona responded rapidly, however, and had turned the game around to lead 2-1 before the 25-minute mark. Raphinha netted the equalizer with a clinical finish in the 18th minute, and 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal put Barca ahead just 90 seconds later with a trademark solo goal: cutting inside from the right wing before unleashing a blistering left-footed strike into the top corner of the net.

    Hansi Flick’s side extended their lead shortly after halftime, when Florian Lejeune turned an Anthony Gordon cutback into his own net for an own goal. Though Camello pulled one back for Rayo with a strong headed finish, Raphinha restored Barcelona’s two-goal advantage shortly after, and Yamal wrapped up the scoring with a low driven shot from just outside the penalty area in the 89th minute. The brace from both Yamal and Raphinha, paired with two assists from English winger Gordon, gave Barca the convincing win that pushed them above Real Madrid to claim first place on goal difference, while Rayo Vallecano sits third from bottom after the result. In another La Liga fixture on Monday, Osasuna claimed a 1-0 win over Getafe to retain their own unbeaten start to the season.

    In Italy’s Serie A, Roma made an early statement of their title ambitions with a rampant 4-0 away win over Lecce, retaining their 100% start to the campaign. Donyell Malen continued his scorching early form, taking his goal tally to five goals in just two matches after notching a brace to put Roma 2-0 up by the midway point of the first half. Matias Soulé added a third before halftime, and substitute Rodrigo Mora put the finishing touches on the result with a fourth goal 20 minutes into the second half. The back-to-back 4-0 wins lifted Roma straight to the top of the Serie A table after two matchweeks.

    The final fixture of Monday’s Serie A action delivered a late dramatic winner, as Atalanta snatched a 1-0 victory over Bologna with a stoppage-time goal from Lazar Samardžić. The match was a largely unremarkable affair with neither side dominating, but Samardžić’s long-range effort slipped past the Bologna goalkeeper in added time to secure all three points for Atalanta. The result was a harsh one for Bologna, which has now dropped two opening matches and remains pointless on the season, while Atalanta climbs into the top five and joins the group of five other clubs still holding a perfect record.

  • New York Liberty lead the WNBA with 7 players headed to the FIBA World Cup

    New York Liberty lead the WNBA with 7 players headed to the FIBA World Cup

    As the WNBA pauses its regular season to allow players to compete in the 2024 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, one franchise stands out for its unprecedented international presence: the New York Liberty. No other WNBA club will send more players to the tournament, kicking off September 4 in Berlin, than the Liberty, whose roster has become a microcosm of global basketball talent mirroring the cultural diversity of its home city.

    Currently, the Liberty’s active roster features athletes hailing from eight different nations across four continents: France, Nigeria, China, Germany, Australia, Spain, the Bahamas, and the United States. Of these, seven players have earned spots on their respective national teams for the World Cup. The only exception is Germany’s Satou Sabally, who remains sidelined from the tournament as she continues recovering from a concussion sustained earlier this season.

    Describing the team’s uniquely international makeup, star forward Breanna Stewart compared the Liberty’s locker room to a global diplomatic body. “It truly is like the United Nations here,” Stewart said of the diverse backgrounds of her teammates.

    The team’s current multicultural composition marks a stark shift from even a decade ago, according to Australian forward Rebecca Allen, the Liberty’s longest-tenured player who first joined the franchise back in 2015. When Allen first arrived in New York, she was the only international player on the entire roster. While she recalled being embraced by her teammates and staff immediately, the current depth of global representation is a transformative change for the organization.

    “I was the only foreigner on the team back then. Everyone made me feel welcome, but now it’s different with so many countries represented here,” Allen explained.

    For first-year WNBA forward Pauline Astier, who will suit up for France alongside Liberty teammate Marine Johannes at the World Cup, this built-in global community has made the transition to playing professional basketball in a new country far smoother than expected. Astier noted that the inclusive, diverse environment within the Liberty has helped her adapt to cultural changes and new on-court dynamics without the isolation that many international rookies experience when joining North American leagues.

    The Liberty’s standout World Cup delegation is more than just a fun team fact—it underscores a broader, ongoing shift across the entire WNBA: the league’s rapid growth into a truly global competition that attracts top talent from every corner of the world. To celebrate this unique identity, Allen has already floated a lighthearted idea for when the team reunites after the World Cup concludes: a team potluck where every player brings a traditional dish from their home country to share.

    Beyond the New York roster, the AP’s latest weekly WNBA power poll and player awards brought new updates to the 2024 regular season narrative. The Golden State Valkyries climbed to the top spot in the power rankings after a perfect 4-0 road week, which included a statement win over the previously top-ranked Minnesota Lynx. Minnesota dropped to third place, with the Las Vegas Aces moving into second. The top five was rounded out by Atlanta and Indiana, followed by New York at sixth, Dallas at seventh, and Washington at eighth. Portland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Connecticut, Seattle, and Toronto closed out the 13-team rankings.

    The week also saw Atlanta Dream rookie Angel Reese continue her historic inaugural season, breaking a new WNBA single-season record. After notching 26 rebounds to set a single-game franchise record just days earlier, Reese earned her 29th double-double of the 2024 season against Minnesota, surpassing the previous single-season record of 28 set by Alyssa Thomas back in 2023. Finally, Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton was named the Associated Press Player of the Week for her dominant performance in the team’s four undefeated road wins. Burton averaged 11.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 2 steals per game over the stretch, earning the award over other notable nominees including Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, Atlanta’s Angel Reese, Los Angeles’ Nneka Ogwumike, and Washington’s Kiki Iriafen.

  • France to supply Sweden with 4 frigates to bolster the NATO country’s defense

    France to supply Sweden with 4 frigates to bolster the NATO country’s defense

    During an official state visit to Stockholm on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron formalized a landmark 4.3-billion-euro ($5-billion) defense agreement to deliver four advanced Amiral Ronarc’h-class frigates to Sweden, boosting the defensive capabilities of NATO’s 32nd and newest member in the strategically critical Baltic Sea region, where Russia maintains key maritime and air transit routes. The signing ceremony took place aboard the French Navy’s newly commissioned lead frigate of the class, launched in 2022 and delivered to French service in October 2025, shortly after Macron held bilateral defense talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ahead of a scheduled working dinner.

    The deal marks a major step forward for Macron’s ongoing push to deepen European military autonomy, a policy goal designed to reduce the continent’s long-standing defense reliance on the United States. This push comes as the U.S. has increasingly shifted its strategic focus to Indo-Pacific security challenges, and just last week, the Biden administration publicly urged NATO European allies to ramp up their own defense investment and capabilities as Washington reorients its global security priorities.

    Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson emphasized that the new frigates will deliver transformative long-range maritime operational capabilities and critical ballistic missile defense protection — a capability that has grown urgent in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of being able to defend against this type of missile,” Kristersson noted during the ceremony. Under the terms of the contract, French state-linked shipbuilder Naval Group will provide not just the four warships, but also a full suite of integrated weapons systems including ballistic missile-capable air defense interceptors, torpedoes, and long-range cruise missiles, alongside specialized training for Swedish naval personnel. The first frigate is scheduled for delivery to the Swedish Navy in 2030, according to anonymous French presidential officials who spoke on background in line with the Elysee Palace’s standard media protocols.

    Macron framed the agreement as a cornerstone of deepened strategic partnership between the two nations, highlighting that it will also strengthen Europe’s domestic defense industrial and technological base. Talks between the two leaders also covered Sweden’s potential participation in France’s unprecedented European nuclear deterrence coordination initiative, a program that has already drawn interest from eight other European nations: Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Poland, Denmark and Norway. The initiative allows France to temporarily deploy nuclear-capable aircraft to allied territories, invites partner nations to join French deterrence exercises, and enables non-nuclear allied forces to support French nuclear deterrence operations.

    The defense partnership runs both ways: in December last year, France placed an order for two GlobalEye airborne surveillance aircraft built by Swedish defense giant Saab, deepening cross-border industrial cooperation between the two countries. Sweden’s accession to NATO in 2024 ended nearly 80 years of post-World War II military neutrality and centuries of broader non-alignment with European great power blocs, a shift driven by sharply heightened security concerns across Northern Europe following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Regional security experts have widely noted that adding Sweden to NATO has dramatically strengthened the alliance’s posture in the Baltic Sea, a region that remains a flashpoint for tensions between the Western alliance and Russia.