Global Pulse

标签： Europe

欧洲

  • Several injured after sword attack at Swedish school

    Several injured after sword attack at Swedish school

    A violent sword attack at a high school in central Sweden has left multiple people injured, local law enforcement and municipal officials confirmed Friday, marking the latest in a string of violent incidents targeting educational institutions across the Nordic nation in recent years.

    Emergency responders were dispatched to Brinell School in the town of Fagersta shortly after 14:00 local time Friday, following reports of an active attacker on campus. Law enforcement officials confirmed that one male suspect has been taken into custody after the assault. Swedish media reports have indicated that responding officers shot the suspect in the leg during the arrest operation, though police have not yet officially confirmed this detail.

    Municipal officials from Fagersta have not released an exact count of injured victims or updated details on their conditions as of Friday afternoon. Authorities confirmed that first responders and police have secured most of the campus, but officers continue to conduct a systematic search of the school building to ensure no additional threats remain. As a precautionary safety measure, eight other schools across the region have been placed under full lockdown, with all students and staff restricted to indoor spaces and no outside access permitted.

    In a public update Friday, police confirmed that there is no longer any active threat to the general public in connection with the attack. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson addressed the incident in a post on the social platform X, calling the assault a deeply troubling serious incident. “We do not yet know what motivated this act, but we can confirm that law enforcement is working around the clock to investigate every detail,” Kristersson wrote.

    The attack comes amid a pattern of deadly violence at Swedish schools and educational centers over the past decade. In 2025, the country suffered its deadliest mass shooting on record when a gunman opened fire at an adult education center in Orebro, leaving 11 people dead including the attacker. An investigation after the attack found that the suspect had legally purchased and owned four rifles, three of which were recovered at the scene. The incident prompted the Swedish government to introduce sweeping reforms to tighten the country’s national gun ownership laws.

    Prior to the 2025 Orebro attack, two separate high-profile violent attacks on Swedish schools left four people dead. In 2022, an 18-year-old student confessed to stabbing two teachers to death during an assault at a secondary school in Malmo. Seven years earlier, in 2015, a sword attack at a secondary school in Trollhattan left one teacher and one student dead.

  • From Zuckerberg to Irons – why do the wealthy buy Irish castles?

    From Zuckerberg to Irons – why do the wealthy buy Irish castles?

    In recent weeks, news that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acquired the historic Strancally Castle in Ireland’s County Waterford has reignited public curiosity about a long-running trend: the consistent flow of high-net-worth and celebrity buyers snapping up ancient castles across the Irish island.

    Zuckerberg is far from the first prominent name to join the ranks of Irish castle owners. Decades before his purchase, Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons bought Kilcoe Castle in County Cork, launching a multi-decade renovation project after he grew tired of constant acting work in the late 1990s. American media billionaire John Malone owns the expansive Castlemartin House and Estate in County Kildare, while author and filmmaker Christy Cashman holds the deed to County Kildare’s Kilkea Castle. Even Hollywood star Dominic West, famous for his role in *The Crown*, and his wife Catherine FitzGerald own Glin Castle in County Limerick, adding another A-lister to the list.

    For Zuckerberg, practical considerations play a clear role in the purchase. Meta has maintained its international headquarters in Ireland for years, and a spokesperson for the executive confirmed that he and his family are eager to become stewards of the historic property and spend regular time in the country.

    To understand why so many wealthy people are drawn to Irish castles, experts point to a mix of historical, cultural, and practical factors. First, the unique heritage of these structures traces back more than 800 years. Dr. Colin Breen, an archaeology and landscape management scholar at Ulster University, explains that Irish castles first emerged in the 12th century with the arrival of Anglo-Norman invaders, who built the fortifications to secure and control the colonial lands they seized. “They were built to intimidate, but they were also an expression of power and presence,” Breen notes, marking a permanent, radical shift in Irish architectural history. Today, that deep layered history is a core part of their appeal.

    Since the 20th century, Breen explains, wealthy international buyers — particularly Americans — have been drawn to castles as a way to connect to an idealized vision of Irish history and heritage. Josh Pim, associate director of the residential and country estates team at global property firm Savills, echoes this observation, noting that many American buyers have Irish ancestral roots that make owning a piece of the country’s historic landscape particularly meaningful. “There’s a rarity and architectural significance and history to these castles,” Pim says, adding that the appeal stretches far beyond the U.S., with strong demand from wealthy buyers across the globe.

    Helen Cassidy, an auctioneer who specializes in castle sales, describes a widespread “thirst” for these properties among international buyers, many of whom become deeply attached to the unique story and character of individual castles once they learn their history. Beyond the romantic appeal of heritage, Pim points out that large Irish castle estates also offer something highly sought after by ultra-wealthy buyers: unmatched privacy and security, thanks to the vast tracts of land that typically come with the properties.

    Yet the trend also raises legitimate concerns among experts. Breen points out that the growing tendency for new owners to close off large estates to the public creates two key problems. First, it blocks public access to land that could be managed to support climate change adaptation and ecological conservation efforts. Second, he argues, castles hold a complicated, important place in Irish collective memory: for generations, they were visible symbols of colonial division and inequality, and locking them away entirely severs their connection to local communities. “They have a responsibility by buying into these places, these places cannot become billionaire ideals,” Breen stresses.

    That said, Breen also leaves room for positive outcomes: if new owners work openly with Irish heritage authorities and local communities, their investment and stewardship can help preserve these important historic sites for future generations. Beyond preservation, status also remains a quiet driver of demand today. Breen explains that as feudalism gave way to early capitalism, castles evolved from defensive fortifications into status symbols, where wealthy families displayed their social standing through ownership of these grand historic properties. In many ways, the modern trend follows the same pattern: owning a one-of-a-kind Irish castle remains a powerful marker of wealth and influence for today’s global elite.

    Local authorities have welcomed Zuckerberg’s purchase, however. A spokesperson for Waterford City and County Council noted that the news is both welcome and unsurprising, given the unrivaled natural beauty of the Blackwater Valley where Strancally Castle is located. “We hope that Mr Zuckerberg and his family fully enjoy all that Waterford has to offer,” the spokesperson said.

  • An 18-year-old with a sword attacks a school in Sweden, leaving 1 dead

    An 18-year-old with a sword attacks a school in Sweden, leaving 1 dead

    A violent attack at a central Swedish secondary school has left one person dead and two minors with severe injuries, triggering a large emergency response and an ongoing criminal investigation, law enforcement and local officials confirmed Friday.

    The incident unfolded shortly after noon at Brinell School, located in Fagersta — a small town around 100 miles northwest of Sweden’s capital Stockholm. At the time of the attack, regular classes were in session for the campus’ 400 to 500 enrolled students.

    Speaking at a official press briefing shortly after the incident, local police chief Tommy Alriksson confirmed that the 18-year-old male suspect was taken into custody minutes after first responders arrived. Authorities confirmed that shots were discharged by responding officers during the arrest, but the suspect was not harmed in the encounter. He is currently in police custody and has not required hospital treatment.

    As of Friday evening, investigators have not confirmed a possible motive for the attack, and have ruled out the presence of additional attackers. “We have no reason at this time to believe that there are multiple perpetrators,” Alriksson stated, adding that the full investigation is still in its early stages.

    Sweden’s national police force confirmed that investigators have already completed two targeted house searches connected to the suspect, and plan to interview dozens of witnesses over the coming days. Alriksson noted that investigators would not release additional details about the case at this stage to avoid compromising witness testimony.

    According to Sweden’s national news agency TT, the two seriously injured victims are male minors between the ages of 12 and 17, matching the age range of students at the secondary school. Officials have not released any identifying information about the deceased victim as of Friday evening.

    Following the attack, a wide perimeter around Brinell School was cordoned off by law enforcement, and all nearby campuses were placed under immediate lockdown as a precaution. Roadblocks were also set up on major access routes around Fagersta to support the response effort.

    Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson addressed the attack in a post on the X social media platform Friday afternoon, noting that the violence came just days after the end of the country’s summer school break. “We do not yet know what lies behind the act, but we know that the police are working very intensively,” Kristersson wrote. “Our thoughts are with all those affected.”

    Local authorities have activated emergency support systems for the community: the Fagersta municipal government opened a crisis support center at a nearby sports arena, where affected students, family members, and staff can access mental health support and practical assistance. The Vastmanland County government confirmed that emergency services including police, fire crews, and medical personnel remain on site to support response and care efforts.

    This report includes contributions from Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui based in London.

  • 3 injured after donkey jumps into a van, kicking and biting, in northern Germany

    3 injured after donkey jumps into a van, kicking and biting, in northern Germany

    BERLIN – A chaotic roadside incident unfolded in northern Germany on Friday when a loose donkey named Freddy launched a sudden aggressive attack on two motorists, leaving three people injured before the animal’s owner stepped in to stop the outburst.

    Local law enforcement from Cuxhaven, a coastal German city where the encounter took place just south of the town limits, confirmed the unusual sequence of events in an official public statement. The trouble began when members of the public spotted Freddy the donkey and a companion horse wandering freely through a busy roundabout in Holssel, a small community located in the area.

    Concerned about the safety risks of having large unrestrained animals on a major traffic intersection, two motorists made the decision to step in and attempt to contain the stray donkey. But their intervention was met with an unprovoked hostile reaction: according to police accounts, Freddy immediately became extremely aggressive, and in an unexpected move, leaped directly into the motorists’ parked van. Once inside the vehicle, the animal lashed out, striking and biting the two drivers.

    A 33-year-old local woman who saw the attack unfolding rushed over to help subdue the out-of-control equine, but she too was caught in Freddy’s aggression. Following the incident, emergency responders transported the woman to a local hospital for mandatory medical care, while the two original motorists only walked away with minor cuts and bruises that did not require extended hospital treatment.

    To date, authorities have not been able to pinpoint what triggered the donkey’s sudden violent outburst. Investigators with Cuxhaven police note that the root cause of Freddy’s aggressive behavior remains undetermined, with no final conclusions released as of the latest update.

  • Rosenberg: Shortage of petrol but not patriotism as Russians feel growing impact of war

    Rosenberg: Shortage of petrol but not patriotism as Russians feel growing impact of war

    In the sweltering late summer days of August 2026, motorists across Moscow and large swathes of Russia are trapped in a growing fuel crisis, triggered by sustained Ukrainian drone attacks on key oil refining infrastructure that have plunged daily life into disruption.

    At a petrol station in southeast Moscow, 58-year-old driver Svyatoslav has sat idling in a two-hour queue, only to watch the facility’s digital sign flip to a stark notification: no fuel available. With barely any fuel left in his tank to reach another station, he holds out faint hope that a new delivery will arrive soon. “They say there will be petrol here, they just don’t know when. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow,” he says, his quiet optimism belying the scale of the shortage gripping the capital.

    This is not an isolated incident. This week, lines of dozens, even hundreds of vehicles have stretched for blocks from petrol stations across the city, with wait times stretching into hours for drivers desperate to fill their tanks. In one station alone, 80 vehicles were counted waiting in a single line. For many motorists, the scramble for fuel has become a daily grind. Elizaveta, another driver waiting in line, recalled waiting until midnight the previous night just to reach the pump, only for the station to close for two hours before she could refuel. Lyubov, who drove into Moscow from a provincial region, said every station she passed along her route was completely empty. To calm her nerves during the hours-long wait, she gently strokes her small pet dog Agatha in the passenger seat.

    Russian officials have attributed the shortage to unscheduled maintenance at domestic oil refineries – a framing that omits the direct cause of these repairs: repeated long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on refining facilities. These attacks first sparked widespread fuel shortages earlier this summer, and targeting of oil infrastructure has continued unabated. This second wave of shortages has produced even longer queues than the first, and Russian authorities are struggling to address gaps in refining capacity and supply chain logistics. Leading Russian broadsheet *Nezavisimaya Gazeta* declared this week that “the second wave of the fuel crisis is building.”

    The irony of the crisis is impossible to ignore: Russia, long billed as a global energy superpower and one of the world’s top crude oil exporters, has been forced to take extraordinary emergency measures to stem the shortage. The Kremlin has authorized imports of finished petrol to boost domestic supply, and temporarily lifted a 13-year ban on lower-grade Euro 2 petrol, a high-sulfur fuel phased out over environmental and engine health concerns. While faster to produce than modern Euro 5 fuel, state newspaper *Rossiyskaya Gazeta* warned that regular use of Euro 2 damages critical engine components including fuel injectors, spark plugs, catalytic converters and soot filters – while a single tank will not destroy an engine, it drastically cuts an engine’s operational lifespan and safety margin.

    The fuel shortage is not the only way the Ukraine war has been brought home to ordinary Russians. Recent Ukrainian strikes on logistics centers for Wildberries, Russia’s largest domestic e-commerce platform equivalent to Amazon, have disrupted online shopping and caused significant financial losses for small sellers across the country.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that these attacks on industrial and energy infrastructure do cause damage, but has downplayed the severity of the crisis. “There are no critical consequences from such attacks. There have not been and cannot be,” Putin said this week, urging the public not to panic. But independent observers and recent polling suggest a growing gap between the Kremlin’s official narrative and public sentiment.

    Andrei Kolesnikov, a columnist for independent Russian outlet *Novaya Gazeta*, argues there is a fundamental disconnect between Putin’s framing of the situation and the reality ordinary Russians experience. “It is a disconnect between people’s feelings and the description of reality by Vladimir Putin, the description of his personal reality in his head,” Kolesnikov said. “Maybe he’s trying to hypnotise himself that everything is okay.”

    Recent polling from Russia’s Public Opinion Foundation confirms that public anxiety is rising, and the Kremlin’s call for “keep calm and carry on” is failing to resonate with the public. “This permanent feeling of anxiety is with everyone right now. You feel that something is wrong. Anxiety is the main sentiment,” Kolesnikov explained. He added that the Russian government has failed to outline any clear vision for the future, leaving the public with a very short planning horizon and a reluctance to think long-term.

    Just minutes from the petrol stations choked with queues, a stark contrast played out across Moscow this week for Russian Flag Day: state-organized patriotic events featuring street concerts, free candyfloss for families, and public displays of military hardware, including Kalashnikov rifles and hand-held rocket launchers that children were invited to handle and pose with. The event highlights the growing militarization of everyday Russian society, and the Kremlin’s efforts to maintain public morale amid growing hardship.

    For some Russians, the difficulties have reinforced patriotic unity. “Difficulties unite us. The harder things are, the stronger we get,” said pensioner Tatyana, who attended the Flag Day event. But for many others, the fuel shortages and drone attacks have created a persistent undercurrent of fear and uncertainty. “When you go to sleep you don’t know if you’ll wake up in the morning,” said Muscovite Angelina. Another resident added: “The problems we have are high prices, petrol shortages and last night, for the first time, my windows shook…I heard ‘boom boom!’”

    Many ordinary Russians report feeling powerless to change the situation, saying the only option available to them is to adapt and maintain their psychological strength. “Right now, it’s important to take care of your psychological state, so that it’s strong and unbreakable. So that, whatever happens, you can say: ‘Oh well, never mind,’” one resident said. Even as state events keep patriotism on full display, for millions of Russians across Moscow, the daily struggle to find petrol has made the cost of the war impossible to ignore.

  • Prince Harry and 6 others to learn initial cost of failed Daily Mail case

    Prince Harry and 6 others to learn initial cost of failed Daily Mail case

    LONDON – A high-stakes legal battle between a group of high-profile public figures, led by Britain’s Prince Harry and music icon Elton John, and the publisher of the Daily Mail is entering its final financial chapter this Friday, as the courts prepare to unveil how much the losing claimants will owe in up-front legal costs.

    The case wrapped up last month at London’s High Court, when Justice Matthew Nicklin dismissed the group’s claims that Associated Newspapers Ltd., the parent company of the Daily Mail, had engaged in unlawful privacy violations including phone hacking and private investigator surveillance to gather sensitive information on the claimants. In his ruling, Nicklin found that the claimants had failed to produce sufficient evidence to back their allegations, and noted that much of the disputed reporting could be traced to legitimate journalistic sources. Associated Newspapers has repeatedly and vigorously denied all accusations of unlawful activity throughout the 11-week trial, which concluded on July 7.

    Joining Harry and John as co-claimants are a roster of well-known public figures: Doreen Lawrence, the prominent anti-racism activist whose son Stephen was murdered in a 1993 racist attack; David Furnish, Elton John’s husband and a leading film producer; actors Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley; and former politician Simon Hughes.

    Friday’s ruling will clarify the total financial liability the losing side faces, as well as the schedule for paying the outstanding balance after the initial interim payment. Court documents show the defendant, Associated Newspapers, has requested an interim payment of more than 9.9 million pounds, while the claimants’ legal team has argued the up-front amount should be capped at just over 7.9 million pounds. Total accrued legal costs for the publisher amount to roughly 34 million pounds (equivalent to $46 million), and industry estimates indicate the claimants’ insurance policies cover approximately half of that total. That leaves the up-front payment, which could reach as high as 10 million pounds, as the first major financial order the court will issue.

    The upcoming ruling comes just two days after the public announcement that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are preparing to move back to the U.K. after more than six years of self-imposed exile in California. The couple, who stepped down as working members of the British royal family in 2020, will take up residence in a private non-royal home outside London.

    This failed case against Associated Newspapers closes out the third of three high-profile legal actions Prince Harry has brought against British tabloid publishers over allegations of unlawful information-gathering tactics. The prince notched two prior legal wins: in 2023, a judge ruled against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, finding evidence of “widespread and habitual” phone targeting of Harry. Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun issued an unprecedented public apology for years of invasions of Harry’s privacy and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle the claim out of court.

    For Harry, this series of legal actions represents far more than personal grievance: he has long framed his fight against the British tabloid press as a campaign to reform an industry he blames for deep personal harm. The prince has openly stated that his decision to take the press to court – a break from longstanding royal tradition of avoiding public litigation – was a core reason for his public rift with his father, King Charles III, and elder brother Prince William. His resentment of the press dates back to the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris while being chased by paparazzi photographers. Harry has also argued that relentless negative press coverage of Meghan pushed the couple to leave their royal roles and relocate to North America, saying the years of intrusion left him “paranoid beyond belief.”

  • Bodies of two hikers missing for decades found after Swiss glacier melts

    Bodies of two hikers missing for decades found after Swiss glacier melts

    Decades after two Belgian climbers vanished while exploring the Swiss Alps, the accelerating melt of one of the region’s most well-known glaciers has finally solved a 34-year-old missing persons case. Local law enforcement confirmed this week that DNA testing has positively identified two bodies found by a passing hiker on the Trift Glacier, located south of Lucerne, as the 39-year-old and 41-year-old mountaineers who disappeared near Weissmies Mountain back in 1992.

    The hiker first stumbled on the remains on July 26, after rising temperatures drove enough glacial ice melt to expose the bodies that had been entombed for more than three decades. Valais regional police launched an immediate recovery mission shortly after the discovery, moving the remains to a cantonal hospital in Sion for formal forensic identification.

    Weissmies Mountain, a 4,000-meter-plus peak in the popular Saas Valley mountaineering region, has long drawn climbing enthusiasts from across the globe. Regional authorities maintain a centralized missing persons database stretching back to 1925, and officials note that the majority of open cases involve people who disappeared while traversing the Alps’ icy terrain, or in nearby rivers and alpine waterways.

    This latest discovery is far from an isolated incident. Police confirmed that glacial melt driven by rising temperatures has repeatedly uncovered the remains of long-missing people in recent years. In 2023, for example, remains found on a glacier near the iconic Matterhorn were confirmed to belong to a German climber who had been missing since 1986.

    The unearthing of the 1992 climbers shines a stark new light on the dramatic pace of glacial retreat across the European Alps, a trend scientists overwhelmingly tie to human-caused climate change. Data from Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (Glamos) shows that Swiss glaciers have lost 25% of their total ice volume over the 10-year period ending in 2025, after already seeing record-breaking ice loss in 2022 and 2023. Glamos recorded an additional 3% reduction in glacial coverage across Switzerland in 2025 alone.

    Global monitoring data backs up this alarming trend. Copernicus, the European Commission’s climate monitoring service, reports that glacial shrinkage has accelerated worldwide since the 1990s, with an even steeper rate of loss starting in 2000. Switzerland has experienced some of the most dramatic melt on the continent.

    Beyond revealing long-buried remains, the steady loss of glacial ice and reduced winter snowpack linked to rising global average temperatures has created widespread disruption for Switzerland. Unseasonably warm conditions at high altitudes have threatened the future of many alpine ski resorts and forced the cancellation of multiple high-profile winter competitions in recent years.

  • Rare disease drug Tavneos recalled in Republic of Ireland

    Rare disease drug Tavneos recalled in Republic of Ireland

    A critical recall of the rare autoimmune disease treatment Tavneos (generic name Avacopan) is now underway across the Republic of Ireland, following a sweeping decision by European regulators to pull the drug from the regional market.

    Manufactured by U.S.-based biotechnology giant Amgen and distributed globally through a network of regional partner pharmaceutical firms, Tavneos is specifically designed to treat adults living with severe, rare autoimmune conditions that trigger dangerous inflammation of blood vessels. Until recently, it had been authorized for use across the European Union, including Ireland.

    The chain of regulatory action began earlier this year, when Japanese pharmaceutical firm Kissei – which holds marketing rights to Tavneos in Japan – published safety data in May covering more than 8,500 Japanese patients treated with the drug since its 2022 launch in the country. The data showed 20 patient deaths among this treated group. To date, regulators have not confirmed whether Tavneos was the direct cause of these fatalities, and Amgen has previously pushed back on causal links, noting that “these figures include cases for which a causal relationship with the product could not be determined.”

    Despite the unresolved connection, European drug regulators moved forward with restrictive action. In July, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU’s top drug safety body, issued a formal recommendation to revoke Tavneos’ existing marketing authorization across the bloc. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, finalized and approved that recommendation earlier this August.

    In line with the EU decision, Irish health regulators have moved quickly to implement the recall. Distribution of Tavneos from Irish pharmaceutical wholesalers halted on 11 August, and on Thursday, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), Ireland’s national drug safety watchdog, issued an official order to recall all remaining wholesale stock of the drug.

    According to reports from Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, around 60 patients in Ireland received Tavneos treatment before the EMA’s recommendation was issued. The HPRA clarified that the drug was only ever prescribed by specialist consultants with specific expertise in managing these rare vascular autoimmune conditions, and many of these clinicians had already begun transitioning patients to alternative treatments ahead of the formal recall.

    For patients currently undergoing treatment with Tavneos, the HPRA issued a clear public advisory: do not discontinue use of the drug without first consulting your treating specialist physician, to avoid dangerous health complications from unmanaged disease.

    The recall is not limited to Ireland. France’s national drug safety agency, ANSM, has announced that a full recall of all existing Tavneos batches across the country will launch on 19 August. Across the English Channel, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed back in June that it was conducting its own independent review of Tavneos’ benefits and risks, and has not yet issued a final decision. Outlets have contacted the MHRA for additional comment on the agency’s current stance following the EU’s withdrawal of authorization.

  • Russell qualifies on pole for sprint race as F1 returns at the Dutch GP

    Russell qualifies on pole for sprint race as F1 returns at the Dutch GP

    As Formula 1 roared back to action following its annual midseason summer break, Friday at Circuit Zandvoort delivered high-stakes qualifying drama for the Dutch Grand Prix’s sprint race, with Mercedes driver George Russell edging out the field to secure a critical pole position.

    Russell clocked a lap just 0.041 seconds faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris, the defending winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix, to claim top spot on the sprint grid. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc followed close behind in third, finishing a mere 0.014 seconds behind Norris in one of the tightest qualifying sessions of the 2025 season. Championship standings leader Kimi Antonelli, Russell’s teenage Mercedes teammate, ended the session in fifth, revealing post-qualifying that damage from an early off-track excursion into a gravel trap had hampered his performance. “There were a couple of holes in the floor of the car from the run through gravel,” Antonelli explained. His closest title contender, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, fared even worse, securing only seventh place on the grid.

    For Russell, the pole position marks a much-needed momentum boost after a challenging run of results. The British driver has not stood atop the podium since the Austrian Grand Prix in June, and a series of software glitches impacting his Mercedes powertrain’s energy management have left him struggling to match the pace of his teenage teammate. A near-stall at last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix compounded his bad luck, leaving him 59 points adrift of Antonelli in the drivers’ championship. “It was a tough end to the first half of the season,” Russell acknowledged after qualifying. “But today the lap felt really good — it all came together nicely.”

    Earlier in the day, the only practice session played out on a rapidly evolving drying track following an early rain shower, keeping teams on their toes as they adjusted to changing grip levels. Antonelli topped the practice timing sheets, putting down the fastest lap despite the tricky conditions. While rainy conditions briefly raised the prospect of the sport’s new 2026 regulation cars testing their heavy electrical power in wet race conditions for the first time, the circuit dried out quickly ahead of qualifying, leaving the entire sprint session to run on a fully dry surface.

    This weekend’s event carries extra significance: it marks the sixth and final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort after the race returned to the F1 calendar in 2021. Organizers kicked off event weekend Thursday with a stadium playing of 1980s rock anthem *The Final Countdown* to mark the occasion. Unlike many F1 events that rely on public government support, the Zandvoort race is privately funded, and organizers announced back in 2024 that they would opt to “go out on a high” rather than take on growing financial and operational risks, confirming this edition would be the last for the foreseeable future.

    The Dutch GP also stands out for its unique fan experience: the tight, seaside resort location means most attendees are banned from driving to the circuit per local traffic rules. Instead, thousands of fans travel to Zandvoort by train from Amsterdam, while tens of thousands more embrace a distinctly Dutch tradition — cycling to the race.

    Friday also held last-minute drama for the Red Bull team: reserve driver Liam Lawson was called up to the main squad just this week after regular driver Isack Hadjar suffered a wrist injury that ruled him out of the event. Lawson has only tested the 2026-spec Red Bull in a hastily arranged simulator session on Wednesday, and still managed to qualify 11th. The last-minute promotion pushed Yuki Tsunoda back to the Racing Bulls squad, where he also made a quick adjustment: he had not raced the 2026 regulation car at all prior to this weekend, and secured 12th position in qualifying. The event also made headlines earlier in the week when three-time defending champion Max Verstappen announced he had signed a new contract extension with Red Bull keeping him with the team through 2030, ending widespread speculation about a potential exit from the sport.

  • Man City agrees to club-record sale of Savinho to Tottenham in $115M deal, AP source says

    Man City agrees to club-record sale of Savinho to Tottenham in $115M deal, AP source says

    English Premier League powerhouse Manchester City has struck a preliminary agreement to send Brazilian winger Savinho to Tottenham Hotspur in a deal valued at £85 million ($115 million), multiple sources familiar with the confidential transaction confirmed to the Associated Press on Friday. This transfer will become the highest outgoing sale in Manchester City’s club history, marking another major step in the club’s dramatic summer roster restructuring.

    The insider requested anonymity because neither club has authorized the public release of transfer details, and representatives from both Manchester City and Tottenham have so far declined to issue any official statement on the deal.

    Savinho’s impending exit comes just days after Manchester City sold Spanish international captain Rodri to FC Barcelona for 76.5 million euros ($88.5 million). This offseason has already seen a historic exodus of first-team talent from City: midfielders Tijjani Reijnders and defender Nathan Ake have also departed, while veteran starters John Stones and Bernardo Silva have left the club upon the expiration of their contracts. Up to this point, City’s only senior outfield addition has been English midfielder Elliot Anderson, who joined for a reported incoming club-record fee of £116 million ($155 million).

    The roster overhaul comes as City enters a new era under newly appointed manager Enzo Maresca, who took over the role following Pep Guardiola’s long-awaited departure after multiple trophy-laden seasons. With City’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the recent Community Shield still fresh, the club is widely expected to make additional moves in the final week of the summer transfer window as Maresca fine-tunes his squad for the upcoming campaign.

    When Savinho arrived at Manchester City from sister club Girona in summer 2024 for 40 million euros ($43.6 million), he was introduced to fans as one of the most promising young wingers in European soccer. However, the 25-year-old failed to meet the high expectations attached to his transfer: he managed just two goals across 53 Premier League appearances, and inconsistent final balls and questionable on-pitch decision-making left teammates and supporters underwhelmed. He was also left out of Brazil’s final squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, capping off a disappointing tenure at the Etihad Stadium.

    For Tottenham, the potential signing of Savinho would cap off a record-breaking summer of spending that marks a stark shift from the club’s previous transfer strategy. Manager Roberto De Zerbi is currently overhauling the squad after Tottenham narrowly avoided Premier League relegation on the final matchday of the 2025-26 season, a result that extended the club’s run of consecutive 17th-place league finishes to two seasons. The poor on-pitch performance prompted major changes at the leadership level, with chairman Peter Charrington admitting in a post-season open letter that “football success had not been driving our decisions” in previous transfer cycles.

    De Zerbi has already landed a series of high-profile signings this window: last month, Tottenham secured Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United for a previous club-record £100 million ($133 million), just days after completing an £85 million ($113 million) move for midfielder Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United. Center backs Jan Paul van Hecke and Marco Senesi have also joined the club, as has former Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson. If the Savinho deal goes through, Tottenham will tie Chelsea as the biggest spenders in European men’s soccer this offseason, a dramatic reversal for a club that has long spent far less than its top Premier League rivals in the transfer market.