The kidnapped couple was found at another house in San Antonio where a SWAT team surrounded the property and demanded the kidnappers to surrender

Ludwig asserted that the individual was not a 'good car thief'

Football fans are counting down the days until the Women's World Cup. The tournament takes place in July and will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. And if the Euro 2022 is anything to go by, it looks like it will be the sporting event that will dominate the summer. Indeed, it is the biggest women's football tournament since England won the Euro 2022 last year, beating Germany in the final. And it follows the last World Cup in 2019, which was won by the United States in France. But while these events are household names, sports fans have not always been as interested in women's football as they are now. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The statistics speak for themselves. According to FIFA, a combined 1.12 billion viewers tuned into official broadcast coverage of the 2019 world cup across all platforms. The average number of viewers doubled that of the previous tournament. And the 2022 Women's Euro was watched by 365 million globally, European football governing body UEFA said. This was double the amount of the previous tournament in 2017. Aside from viewers, sponsorships for women’s sports increased by 20 per cent in 2022; showing brands are keen to support it. So how did we get here? Not by accident. The Football Association (FA) launched a strategy to boost people's enjoyment of the sport. Speaking about the strategy in a statement, Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA's Director of Women’s Football, said: “When we launched our Women’s and Girls’ strategy, Inspiring Positive Change, in October 2020 eight months into a global pandemic, we could not have foreseen the incredible two years that lay ahead. While things in the world have changed, we have remained constant in our belief that football has the power to change lives for the better and improve opportunities for girls and women across society." Success became just as important as strategy. With England's Lioness team winning the Euro 2022, this boosted the profile of women's football, making it ever more popular. And with more popularity came more funding, which in turn raised the awareness of women's football. The cycle continues. “The power of women's football was evident on 31 July 2022, a day that will live long in the memory for us all. One goal in the strategy was to 'win a major tournament’ but none of us could have imagined the impact of victory in a home tournament," Campbell added. "When the Lionesses lifted the UEFA Women’s EURO trophy at Wembley Stadium in front of 87,000 fans, it was a moment of great joy, but it was also a moment of great opportunity. The reaction to the success and the way it transcended society has given us an unprecedented chance to change the future of the women’s game forever. It has turbo charged our strategy with demand growing right cross the game. We have seen more girls stepping forward to play, more fans filling our stadiums and new commercial partners all wanting to be part of this great movement for change." Meanwhile in an article, sports scientist Dr Julia West also pointed to the increased exposure of women's football to people through the media as boosting women's football. She wrote: "Free match-streaming and online channels have also helped raise the profile of the women’s game. Watching accessible matches brings players and teams into your home regularly and creates a fan bond. Players become household names. Even those who don’t watch or support football will know the names of a few more players than they think." She added: "The success of women’s national teams across different sports also helps springboard the achievements of the Lionesses into our news reports more regularly. Possibly the worst regular coverage occurs in the printed media, with the exception of our Euros 2022 championship title reporting. The constant stream of posts, opinions and results keeps the game and its developments in current memory. This is vital for the future and success of competitive teams and leagues as it provides a platform for further investment." It is clear the popularity of women's football is on the rise, then. Long may it continue. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

CHICAGO (AP) — Nico Hoerner homered and the Chicago Cubs made the most of a rare gaffe by Tampa Bay, handing Shane McClanahan his first loss of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Rays on Tuesday night.

The St. Louis Cardinals were victimized by umpire Laz Diaz during Thursday night's loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Irish Booker prize winner Paul Lynch has said he was “astonished” by violent disturbances on the streets of Dublin this week, but this kind of behaviour is “always under the surface”. The author, who lives in Dublin, spoke at a Sunday press conference after he received the award during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London His dystopian novel Prophet Song explores what happens when his home country slides into authoritarianism. When asked what he thought about the riots in Ireland, which involved right-wing elements, Lynch said: “Like everybody else, I was astonished by it. “And at the same time, I recognise the truth that this kind of energy is always there under the surface and, I didn’t write this book to specifically say, ‘here’s a warning’, I wrote the book to articulate the message that the things that are in this book are occurring timelessly throughout the ages. “And maybe we need to deepen our own responses to that kind of idea. But at the same time, what was happening in Dublin? Well, you know, we can see it as a warning, I think we should see it was a warning.” Lynch also said he was “distinctly not a political novelist” and his book is really about “grief”, as it tells the story of a woman who has her husband taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police. He also said that “Ireland is an extraordinary country to live in” and a welcoming country. Lynch added: “It’s a great place for writers, any country that supports writers in the way that the Arts Council has supported me and many other really truly worthy Irish writers can only be a great place to live. “So I could not be more proud to be an Irish writer right now, it’s really something. “Well, you know, I think that if any of us were to look at the state of affairs from the point of view of 20 years ago, we couldn’t quite believe the modern world that we find ourselves in. “And I do think that you looked at things objectively, there is a sense of unravelling of a kind. “The question is, is what are we going to do about it and can anything be done about it? “I mean, Prophet Song is a counterfactual novel, it’s not a prophetic statement but there are resonances in it that are there for the taking for readers who want to think about these things.” He also said that “there’s layers and layers at work in my writing” and novels are complex. Lynch added: “To reduce the book down to one single message is actually pointless to a certain extent and goes against, the reason why I wrote the book, the book is actually its own answer.” He also said he was most likely to spend half of the prize, worth £50,000, on his mortgage. Lynch also said that before writing full time he had reached a point in his life where he had “exhausted all the possibilities”. He added: “There was a moment writing this book during lockdown, it was hugely challenging. I had long Covid for periods, and I’d wake up many days and I would have had just like, brain fog, and I had just, like, just fatigue, and I couldn’t work.” Read More Rishi Sunak slams Elon Musk’s ‘wrong’ remarks as antisemitism row deepens Former England footballer Ian Wright among those to collect honours What the papers say – November 27 Covid inquiry kicks off key week with Khan and Burnham giving evidence AI image generators ‘being used by children to create indecent images’ Bill to ban creation of new leasehold houses to be introduced to Parliament

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