UK

‘Darwin’s Oak’ to be felled to make way for Shrewsbury Bypass

12 November 2023

North West Relief Road protesters meet at the ‘Darwin Oak’ in 2021.

 Image: Jeremy Bolwell/Wikicommons

Despite long-running protests, an ancient oak tree near Charles Darwin’s childhood home is to be felled to make way for Shrewsbury bypass

By Stuart Butler

When Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution and survival of the fittest in the mid-1800s he probably couldn’t have envisaged that, nearly two hundred years later, and in a twisted fate of ‘evolution’, that a huge oak tree close to his childhood home would be felled to make way for the Shrewsbury Bypass.

The oak in question, which is locally dubbed ‘Darwin’s Oak’ is a 550-year-old freestanding oak with a girth some seven metres. The tree is very close to The Mount, which was the childhood home of Charles Darwin and the countryside around the house is said to have helped inspire Darwin’s interest in the natural world. Some say that the great scientist might have even known this particular tree. Alongside this venerable tree, eight other ancient trees are also due to fall to the axe.

The Shrewsbury Bypass, which is more correctly called the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road (NWRR), is an £80 million bypass that will link the northern and western parts of the town of 75,000. Those for the new road claim it will ease traffic congestion, free up road space and reduce town centre traffic, which would lead to reduced journey times, improved air quality and provide an economic boost for the entire county.

But, a long campaign has been fought by activists and local people to save the trees, with those against the bypass saying that, as well as requiring the felling of such venerable trees, the new road will cut through a rare green space that extends almost into the heart of the town. In 2021, Rob McBride, one of the leading campaigners to save the trees, said, ‘Standing under this tree was a moment where you think: ‘What are we doing to our planet?’ Councils are really lagging behind current thinking. Darwin may have sat under this tree and considered the evolution of man. The people making the decision on this road are dinosaurs.’

Statue of Charles Darwin at the Natural History Museum, London.

Despite this opposition, at the end of October, Shropshire county council’s eleven member planning committee approved the felling of the trees by a narrow margin of six votes to five.

The Woodland Trust, which works to safeguard woodlands and ancient trees in the UK, claims that the approval of the bypass and felling of these trees ignores national planning rules that are in place to protect ancient trees except for in exceptional circumstances. Woodland Trust spokesperson Jack Taylor, said: ‘The narrow approval of the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road is a dark day for the environment and our natural heritage as it threatens the loss of this living legend, numerous other irreplaceable veteran trees, and will damage nearby ancient woodland. The UK needs better protection for these cathedrals of nature, before they are condemned to history.’

In these turbulent times, we’re committed to telling expansive stories from across the globe, highlighting the everyday lives of normal but extraordinary people. Stay informed and engaged with Geographical.

Although the council has approved the felling of the trees, local campaigners hope they can reverse the decision. A petition asking the council to reconsider their decision has been launched.

Related articles:

The living legend of Sherwood Forest
Review: An Intimate History of Evolution by Alison Bashford
The value of city trees

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for TREE 

Pentagon UFO chief resigns after warning recent sightings could be foreign powers — or aliens

By Ronny Reyes
Published Nov. 12, 2023

The Pentagon’s UFO chief will step down next month after saying that several reported sightings of objects flying through the sky over the US are either the work of foreign nations or aliens, warning that the latter would be the preferred scenario.

Sean Kirkpatrick, head of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), announced his plans to leave last week after heading the department for 18 months, a job he deferred his retirement for in hopes of finding evidence of extraterrestrials.

After investigating more than 800 cases during his brief stint as director, Kirkpatrick warned of the presence of UFOs, and although there has yet to be any hard evidence of aliens, he said the alternative was much more frightening.

“If we don’t prove it’s aliens, then what we’re finding is evidence of other people doing stuff in our backyard,” he told Politico. “And that’s not good.”

Sean Kirkpatrick headed the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office for nearly 18 months

.C-Span

Kirkpatrick added that he was satisfied with what he accomplished in his time with the AARO, including working to make the Pentagon’s UFO files more accessible to the public.

The office, which was established last year, has made headlines over its investigations into UFO sightings reported by military pilots and for helping detect the Chinese surveillance balloons flying over the US.

Kirkpatrick himself made headlines in June when he slammed whistleblower David Charles Grusch, a former intelligence officer who claimed the US had been secretly recovering alien spaceships for decades.

Under Kirkpatrick, the Pentagon has been more transparent over its investigations into UFOs, but officials said there’s still no hard evidence of aliens.NASA

Despite being open to the idea of aliens among us, Kirkpatrick testified before congress that there was “no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity” or “off-world technology.”

He criticized Grusch’s claims as “extremely unethical and immoral,” noting that the whistleblower refused multiple requests to speak with the AARO.

The Department of Defense touted Kirkpatrick’s leadership, crediting him with creating its first public-facing website to bring more transparency to the AARO’s work.

The AARO has reviewed several incidents of military pilots encountering UFOs.

DoD/AFP via Getty Images

“His commitment to transparency with the United States Congress and the American public on UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) leaves a legacy the department will carry forward as AARO continues its mission,” the Department of Defense said in a statement.

“Our department is stronger and better prepared for future scientific and national security challenges because of Sean’s distinguished service to our country.”

Tim Phillips, Kirkpatrick’s deputy, will lead the office until the Pentagon names a new chief.

MORE ON:UFOS

Pentagon unveils UFO reporting portal for service members, government workers

Pentagon has received nearly 300 UFO sightings over the past year

This state has emerged as a UFO hotspot with nearly 2K sightings revealed

Ring offers $1M prize for video proof of aliens, UFOs

THEY DEFEND ASSANGE BUT PROSECUTE THEIR OWN

Trial to begin for war crimes whistleblower against backdrop
of protest

The trial of a man who revealed allegations of Australian soldiers committing war crimes in Afghanistan is set to begin, despite late calls from whistleblower advocates for the government to halt the prosecution.

Dominic Giannini
Nov 12, 2023,

Whistleblower and former military lawyer David McBride is accused of leaking classified documents. Photo: AAP

The Commonwealth is prosecuting former military lawyer David McBride in the ACT Supreme Court for allegedly leaking classified documents.

He is facing charges of theft of commonwealth property, breaching the Defence Act and unauthorised disclosure of information.

A subsequent inquiry following his revelations found that Australian special forces committed at least 39 unlawful killings during the Afghanistan war and treated two prisoners with cruelty.

Rex Patrick said the government needed to use the powers it had to stop the trial. 

Photo: AAP

Whistleblower activists are planning to protest the prosecution outside the court before the hearing.

Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Kieran Pender said there was no public interest case for prosecuting whistleblowers.

“Today is a dark day for Australian democracy – the truth is on trial,” he said.

Former senator and founder of the Whistleblower Justice Fund Rex Patrick said the government needed to use the powers it had to stop the trial.

“We may now see one brave whistleblower behind bars and thousands of prospective whistleblowers lost from the community,” he said.

“There was no public interest in this prosecution and that things have come to this is a blight on this government’s pre-election commitment to foster and protect whistleblowers.”

A spokesman for the attorney-general said the power to discontinue proceedings was “reserved for very unusual and exceptional circumstances”.

“As Mr McBride’s proceedings remain ongoing, it is inappropriate to comment further on the particulars of their matters,” the spokesman said.

The trial is due to begin on Monday and expected to run for three weeks.

—AAP

TRADING WITH THE ENEMY

Iraq, KRG 'soon to agree' on restart of oil production in Kurdistan Region


Dana Taib Menmy
Iraq
12 November, 2023

'We have an initial understanding [with the KRG], God willing we will reach a solution within the coming three days,' Iraq's oil minister said on Sunday.

Abdel-Ghani said Iraq had reached an understanding with Turkey on the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan region through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan oil pipeline

 [Image courtesy of Iraq Oil Ministry]

Iraq could reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and international oil companies in the next three days to resume oil production in the Kurdish region, the Iraqi oil minister said on Sunday.

Oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani, who is also the deputy prime minister for energy affairs, was in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday with a delegation from Iraq’s federal government for meetings with senior KRG officials.

He said that Iraq had reached an understanding with Turkey on the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdish region through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

"We have an initial understanding [with the KRG], God willing we will reach a solution within the coming three days," Abdel-Ghani told reporters in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil.

"The first step is to agree with the region and companies on adjusting their existing contracts to be consistent with Iraq's constitution," he said.

The announcement came after Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Thursday made an unannounced visit to Erbil, where he met with top Kurdish officials.

Abdel-Ghani and the delegation's visit aimed at "the continuation of discussions previously held in Baghdad about resuming oil production and export operations from the region's fields," according to a statement by Iraq’s oil ministry, a copy of which was sent to The New Arab.

"This effort is crucial for bolstering the federal budget with financial revenues," the statement read.

Talks to restart Iraq oil exports via Turkish pipeline ongoing

Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani was quoted as saying by the KRG official website after his meeting with Abdel-Ghani that the region is ready to resume oil exports "under the framework of the constitution and respecting the constitutional authorities and obligations for all parties."

"The Minister of Natural Resources has been assigned to fully coordinate and work jointly with the Federal Oil Ministry team, which will remain in Erbil for several days for this purpose," read part of the statement.

Iraqi Kurdistan began exporting its oil independently to Turkey without the federal government's consent in Baghdad in 2014.

Ankara had stopped handling 450,000 bpd of exports from Iraq's north on 25 March, after an international tribunal ruled in a nine-year-old dispute that Baghdad was correct to insist on overseeing all Iraqi oil exports.

The tribunal, run by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad damages of US$1.5 billion for allowing the KRG to export oil between 2014 and 2018 without the Iraqi government's consent.

Iraq's parliament in June approved a three-year budget bill of nearly 198.9 trillion dinars (US$153 billion), the largest in the country's history.

KRG teachers strike over unpaid salaries, urges Iraq to pay

According to the law, the KRG must first deliver 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the federal authorities, along with half of the non-oil revenues, before receiving a share of 12.6 percent of the federal budget.

While KRG officials stress they have fulfilled their obligations under the budget law, Iraq has not sent its share from the federal budget, thus preventing the payment of KRG employees. Iraqi officials say Erbil has not fully abided by the law.

The KRG has said it needs 940 billion Iraqi dinars (US$602 million) to pay monthly salaries to over 1.2 million civil servants, but cannot do so if Baghdad does not regularly send its share from the budget.

The Iraqi government has decided to send 700 billion Iraqi dinars (US$ 536 million) as loans to the KRG to pay the salaries of its civil servants.

State workers, including teachers and healthcare staff, have yet to receive September salaries, prompting strikes and protests in some parts of the Kurdistan Region.

South Africa: 'Tens of thousands' attend Cape Town protest for Palestine

The New Arab Staff
12 November, 2023

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Cape Town on Saturday to call for a ceasefire for Gaza, in the latest show of solidarity between Palestinians and South Africans.


South Africa has seen numerous marches in support of the Palestinian people since 7 October [Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty-archive]

A huge protest took place in the South African city of Cape Town on Saturday, in a show of solidarity with Palestine as the death toll for Israel's war on Gaza climbed above 11,000.

Local media reported an attendance of "tens of thousands" at Saturday's protest. However, crowd sizes at pro-Palestine demonstrations worldwide are often played down by media and authorities, and some estimated as many as 250,000 had taken to Cape Town's streets.

Videos purportedly taken at the demonstration showed crowds stretching as far as the eye could see.



The demonstration came on the same day as hundreds of thousands of people marched through central London to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, where some 11,100 people have been killed by Israel's air and ground onslaught since 7 October.

Right-wing politicians and organisations in the UK had claimed that holding the pro-Palestine march on Remembrance Day - marked to commemorate the loss of soldiers during the First World War - would "cause offence". UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman had earlier branded the protests calling for an end to Israel's war on Gaza as "hate marches".

As a Commonwealth state, South Africa also observes Remembrance Day on 11 November, though it is not a public holiday there.

A day earlier, South Africa had called in the ambassador of Israel to discuss his recent "unfortunate conduct relating to the unfolding, tragic Israel-Palestine war", the country's foreign ministry said in a statement.

South Africa said earlier this week that it would recall its diplomats from Israel.

Black South African leaders and activists in South Africa's civil rights movement have long drawn parallels between their experiences under apartheid and the conditions of Palestinians today.

After becoming president of post-apartheid South African, Nelson Mandela said: "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."

Armed Israeli settlers attempt to seize Armenian Patriarchate property in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter


Ibrahim Husseini
Jerusalem
07 November, 2023

"We are fighting for our existence". The Armenian community in occupied East Jerusalem is contesting a murky real estate deal signed between their Patriarchate and an Israeli settler.

The Armenian Convent, also referred to as Mar Yacoub, is situated within the Armenian Quarter within Jerusalem's Old City. [Ibrahim Husseini/TNA]

Armed Israeli settlers stormed the Armenian Quarter in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday, 5 November, in an effort to lay a hand on a piece of land following the signing of a murky deal between the Jerusalem Arminian Patriarchate and Xana Capital, owned by Jewish Australian investor Danny Rubenstein.

Rubenstein carries an Israeli passport and also goes by the name Danny Rothman.

News of the deal first emerged in 2021. It was contested by a group of Armenian priests who alleged it was done illegally without ratification by the Synod and the General Assembly.

Hagop Djernazian, a resident of the Armenian community and a leading activist against the land deal in question, told The New Arab, "We are fighting for our existence, for the status quo of Jerusalem, we have to maintain a Christian Armenian presence in Jerusalem".

The deal reportedly pertains to 11.5 dunams in the Armenian Quarter, which amounts to 25 per cent of the total size of the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. It includes a vast tract of land currently used as a parking lot, a seminary, and five residential homes.

Last month, the Armenian Patriarchate informed Xana Capital it was withdrawing from the deal. The deal's cancellation came following pressure from the local Armenian community and Areminians worldwide.

Jerusalem's Armenian community faces an uncertain future

In-depth

Jessica Buxbaum

In May of this year, the Petra news agency reported that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan suspended Nourhan Manougian from his role as the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem because he "mishandl[ed] culturally and historically significant Christian properties in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter".

Under a long-established tradition that has been upheld for centuries, senior church appointments in the Holy Land usually necessitate the approval of the authorities governing the land. Presently, these authorities are Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.

In a statement released on 6 November, the Armenian Patriarchate said that the party with whom it had signed the contract responded to the cancellation of the deal with "demolition of walls, demolition of the parking lot and scrapping of asphalt pavements".

According to Hagop Djernazian, following the deal cancellation, about 15 armed settlers broke into the Armenian Quarter and proceeded to knock parts of a stone wall. They also partially destroyed asphalt ground.

Soon after, several Armenian community members assembled and prevented the settlers from carrying out further damage to the property.

Activists Hagop Djernazian (L) and Setrag Balian (R) are challenging a real estate deal in a sensitive area in occupied East Jerusalem between the Armenian Patriarch and an Israeli settler.
[Ibrahim Husseini/TNA]

Videos and images show the settlers armed with rifles accompanied by attack dogs rowing with the local community members.

"Danny hired the settlers from the Jewish Quarter", Djernazian told The New Arab.

After several hours of tense arguments, the settlers dispersed.

Djernazian told TNA that community members had organised to guard the property.

Djernazian estimates that around 1,000 people of Armenian descent reside in occupied East Jerusalem.

The Arminian Jerusalem Patriarchate isn't the only Christian Church to become embroiled in questionable real estate deals with Israeli settlers in occupied East Jerusalem.

The New Imperial Hotel, located in Jaffa Gate and long owned by the Greek Orthodox Church, was sold in 2004 to a right-wing Israeli group known as Ateret Cohanim. The Greek Orthodox Church claims the purchase of the properties was fraudulent and has challenged the deal's legality. However, the courts have ruled in favour of the settlers.

The New Imperial Hotel is a minute's walk from the property leased to Rubnestein in the Armenian Quarter. Both properties are within a minute's walk of the Holy Sepulchre, the Christian Quarter.

EU 'appalled' by reports of 1,000 killed in Darfur

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
12 November, 2023

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have allegedly killed over 1000 non-Arab Masalit people in West Darfur, in what has been described as a "campaign of ethnic cleansing" amid Sudan's raging civil war.

The Rapid Support Forces, led by Hemedit, are comprised of the former Janjaweed militias that carried out genocide in Darfur in the recent past 

The EU said Sunday it was "appalled" by reports of more than 1,000 people killed this month in Sudan's West Darfur in an apparent "ethnic cleansing campaign"by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"These latest atrocities are seemingly part of a wider ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by the RSF with the aim to eradicate the non-Arab Masalit community from West Darfur, and comes on top of the first wave of large violence in June," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

Since April, forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan -- Sudan's de facto head of state -- have been at war with the RSF commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The European Union statement said there were "credible eyewitness reports (that) more than a thousand members of the Masalit community were killed in Ardamta, West Darfur, in just over two days, during major attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its affiliated militias".

The toll was higher than a previous one of 800 given by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which said 100 shelters in a displaced persons' camp in Ardamta had been razed.

The human cost of Sudan's spiralling war

"What is happening is verging on pure evil," the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said Friday, citing reports of young girls being raped in front of their mothers.

She voiced fears of a repeat of the genocide campaign that gripped Darfur in the early 2000s.

The EU stressed that Sudan's warring sides "have a duty to protect citizens". It said it was working with the International Criminal Court to document violations "to ensure accountability".

"The international community cannot turn a blind eye on what is happening in Darfur and allow another genocide to happen in this region," it said.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the Sudan conflict so far, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.

The war has displaced more than 4.8 million people within Sudan and has forced a further 1.2 million to flee into neighbouring countries, according to UN figures.

Sudan: More than 800 reportedly killed in Darfur attack, UN says

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
12 November, 2023

More than 800 people were reportedly killed when fighters from a paramilitary force and their allied Arab militias rampaged through a town in Darfur, the UN has said.

A UN official has called the Sudan conflict 'one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history' 

Fighters from a paramilitary force and their allied Arab militias rampaged through a town in Sudan’s war-ravaged region of Darfur, reportedly killing more than 800 people in a multi-day attack, doctors and the UN said.

The attack on Ardamata in West Darfur province earlier this month was the latest in a series of atrocities in Darfur that marked the monthslong war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since in mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.

The war came 18 months after both generals removed a transitional government in a military coup. The military takeover ended Sudan's short-lived fragile transition to democracy following a popular uprising that forced the overthrow of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

In recent weeks the RSF advanced in Darfur, taking over entire cities and towns across the sprawling region, despite the warring parties’ return to the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia late last month.

Hundreds of displaced Sudanese evicted as war rages

The first round of talks, brokered by the US and Saudi Arabia, failed to establish a cease-fire.

The dayslong attack in Ardamata came after the RSF took over a military base in the town after a brief fighting on 4 November with troops there, said Salah Tour, head of the Sudanese Doctor’s Union in West Darfur. He said the military withdrew from the base, adding that around two dozen wounded troops fled to Chad.

After seizing the military base, the RSF and their allied Arab militias rampaged through the town, killing non-Arabs inside their homes and torching shelters housing displaced people, Tour said.

"They violently attacked the town," he said, adding that the RSF and their militias targeted the African Masalit tribe. "They went from house to house, killing and detaining people."

The Darfur Bar Association, an advocacy group, accused RSF fighters of committing "all types of serious violations against defenceless civilians" in Ardamata.

It cited an attack on 6 November during which the RSF killed more than 50 people including a tribal leader and his family.

The UNHCR said more than 800 people have been reportedly killed and 8,000 others fled to neighbouring Chad. The agency, however, said the number of people who fled was likely to be an underestimate due to challenges registering new arrivals to Chad.

The agency said about 100 shelters in the town were razed to the ground and extensive looting has taken place there, including humanitarian aid belonging to the agency.

"Twenty years ago, the world was shocked by the terrible atrocities and human rights violations in Darfur. We fear a similar dynamic might be developing," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.

The US State Department said it was "deeply disturbed by eyewitness reports of serious human rights abuses by the RSF and affiliated militias, including killings in Ardamata and ethnic targeting of the Masalit community leaders and members.

"These horrifying actions once again highlight the RSF’s pattern of abuses in connection with their military offensives," it said in a statement.

Ardamata is located a few kilometers (miles) north of Geneina, the provincial capital of West Darfur. The RSF and Arab militias launched attacks on Geneina, including a major assault in June that drove more of its non-Arab populations into Chad and other areas in Sudan.

The paramilitary group and its allied Arab militias were also accused by the UN and international rights groups of atrocities in Darfur , which was the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s . Such atrocities included rape and gang rape in Darfur, but also in the capital, Khartoum.

Almost all reported cases were blamed on the RSF.

The UN Human Rights Office said in July a mass grave was found outside Geneina with at least 87 bodies, citing credible information. Such atrocities prompted the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to declare that he was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the latest fighting in Darfur.

The conflict killed about 9,000 people and created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” according to the UN Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths.

More than 6 million people were also forced out of their homes, including 1.2 million who have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UN figures.

The fighting initially centered in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, but quickly spread to other areas across the east African nation, including Darfur.

It turned the capital into a battle ground, wrecking most of civilian infrastructure, most recently the collapse of a bridge over the Nile River connecting Khartoum’s northern part with the capital’s sister city of Omdurman.

Both sides traded accusations of having exploded the Shambat bridge.

Canada take first Billie Jean King Cup to complete double

Seville (Spain) (AFP) – Canada completed a team-tennis double on Sunday as their women took the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time, winning both singles rubbers to build an unassailable lead over Italy.

Issued on: 12/11/2023 - 

Leylah Fernandez races to embrace Canada's captain Heidi El Tabakh after sealing victory © CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

Canada's men are the reigning Davis Cup champions after winning their first title in Malaga last November.

Marina Stakusic, an 18-year-old, opened the final in Seville with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Martina Trevisan, capping a stunning week for the rookie.

"We took a risk by selecting a young player, and it paid off," said Canada's coach Nathalie Tauziat.

Leylah Fernandez then beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-3, to spark jubilation from the Canadian team.

"I'm extremely happy, ecstatic," said Fernandez.

Canada, captained by Heidi El Tabakh, became the 13th nation to win the Billie Jean King Cup and the second consecutive new champion after Switzerland won in Glasgow 12 months ago.

Stakusic, ranked 258th in the world, beat three top 100 players this week, including Trevisan.

Fernandez defeated Czech Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the singles semi-finals rubber on Saturday before playing again in the decisive doubles, as she too shone in the south of Spain.

"Leylah played her role as leader and that made all the difference," said Tauziat. "She prepares like a boxer, ready to enter the ring, to receive blows and to give them."

Fernandez said the victory had taken time.

"You know, it's the first time that Canada has ever won the Billie Jean King Cup. I can finally say this -- we're world champions, and we rightfully deserve it," she said.

"We worked really hard the past years, and, you know, I think every year, as I said before, we just keep improving."

"It's showing on the tennis court. It's showing in competition, individual competitions. Now it has shown on the biggest stage in the world."

Italy continued their 10-year drought in the competition, known as the Fed Cup until 2020, having won the last of their four titles in 2013.

"It's been a very tough week for me, mentally and of course physically," said Trevisan.

"We spent a lot of energy on court and of course out of the court. Maybe today my physical energy was, well, a little bit low.

"I'm a player that need to be very fast on court, and today I wasn't too much -- it wasn't enough."

© 2023 AFP

WRASTLING

Vince McMahon selling $700 million in TKO Group Holdings stock, Endeavor and Ari Emanuel among buyers


 Photo by Michelle Farsi/Zuffa LLC

Vince McMahon — the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings — is selling a huge chunk of his ownership in the combined company that merged the UFC and WWE together.

According to a prospectus filed on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McMahon, 78, plans to sell 8.4 million shares of his stock in the company, which amounts to approximately $700 million in value. That stands as around 25 percent of McMahon’s total stock in TKO, which was approximately 28 million shares as of August.

As a result of McMahon’s sale, Endeavor — the powerhouse agency that purchased the UFC and WWE before spinning it off to a new company — will buy back $100 million in the stock made available.

Endeavor and TKO CEO Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, TKO president and Endeavor chief operating officer, will both spend $1 million each buying back stock with another $850,000 worth of stock bought back by “other directors” involved with the company.

McMahon’s sale doesn’t necessarily affect any of the business decisions made at TKO Group Holdings, because Endeavor already owns 51 percent of the company, giving them a controlling interest.

It’s possible McMahon selling off a huge part of his stock holdings could signal an eventual exit from WWE, as well as his role as executive chairman at TKO. But nothing has been announced or decided yet on that front.

The move comes after McMahon retired and then returned to the company that he helped build. Despite his brief exit from the company during a lengthy sexual misconduct investigation, McMahon returned and remained a majority stockholder in WWE before striking the deal to sell to Endeavor. Then, Endeavor merged the pro-wrestling outfit with the UFC.

In August, McMahon was served with a Federal grand jury subpoena related to the sexual misconduct allegations, though no charges were filed against the executive.

Despite the controversy surrounding McMahon, TKO was initially valued at over $21 billion once the merger with UFC and WWE was completed. TKO stock was down five percent as of closing on Thursday, with the shares trading at $84.90 at the final bell.

COWABUNGA, MAN
German big wave surfer turns to science to tame the breakers

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Sebastian Steudtner already holds the world record for the largest wave ever surfed, but as the giant wave season begins, the German is looking to science and technology to chase a new high.

Issued on: 12/11/2023

Germany's surfer Sebastian Steudtner harnesses technology to chase a new world record © Jorge LEAL / WORLD SURF LEAGUE/AFP/File


Harnessing the technical prowess of racecar maker Porsche and autoparts specialist Schaeffler, Steudtner is seeking to dwarf his record 26.21-metre (86-foot) wave set at the Portuguese surfers' Mecca of Nazare three years ago.

"With the world record wave I realised I've reached a limit for how fast my board can go," Steudtner told AFP of his last run, involving the wave reaching the equivalent of around eight storeys.

"Together with Porsche, we asked ourselves how we could make the board faster and more stable," said the 38-year-old Bavarian.

Surfers who increase their speed can take on bigger swells -- although it's not just a question of a "need for speed" but a question of safety as well.

"Speed is so important to us because the bigger the wave, the more speed I have to have to get away from it," said Steudtner.

"The power of the wave is an absolute force," he said, "like having several buildings pushing you."

Steudtner said the pressure of riding the biggest waves means surfers need to know their equipment will allow them to focus on the run itself.

Describing his record-breaking Nazare run in 2020, when he added almost two metres to the previous mark, he said: "I shoot across the wave at 80 kilometres (50 miles) an hour and concentrate 100 percent."

"I don't think about the past, the present and the future.

"I'm in the flow. I don't have time to think 'wow, this wave is beautiful'."
'A higher level'

Steudtner first fell in love with surfing at the age of nine when boogie boarding in France.

With his parents' blessing, Steudtner traded landlocked Bavaria for Hawaii to pursue a career in surfing at the age of 16.

He worked on construction sites to earn money, while learning to surf in his own time.

"I've made a lot of decisions in my life that nobody understood at the time".

His burning curiosity may have taken him across the world but it has also propelled changes to the sport itself.

Technological innovations could take the sport "to a higher level", he said.

In order to truly let surfers harness and master the force of the ocean, surfboards need not only to be faster, but also more stable and manoeuvrable at extreme speeds.

Porsche engineers helped develop a new board with an adapted nose, tail and edges to improve the hydrodynamics.

Porsche and Schaeffler made Sebastian Steudtner's new surfboard 

© Christof STACHE / AFP/File

Schaeffler developed a friction-reducing coating which helps the board glide through the water.

Through tests in a wind-tunnel simulator, Steudtner was able to see how he should position himself on the board as it handles monster waves.

"Through changes to the board and altering Sebastian's stance, we were able to reduce air resistance by 20 percent," said Markus Schmelz, a project manager at Porsche.

The innovations "made the board faster and more stable at high speeds".

The new board, coloured yellow and black, has since been delivered.

Steudtner, who trains daily in the gym to build up his muscle strength, was set for an autumn and winter chasing big waves.

Accompanied by a team of almost 30 people, including military doctors, Steudtner said he hopes to "understand the journey of the waves in the ocean".

With the power of science and design in tow, the German may be only days away from testing the board on the biggest stage of all.

"I'll have to give my best".

© 2023 AFP