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As the current season of 'Jeopardy!' is almost at an end, it was reported that old clues would be used due to the WGA strike

By Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM Israel's parliament ratified new legislation this week that rolls back some Supreme Court powers,

When word came through that Kylian Mbappe was available this summer, Manchester United were surprisingly quick to insist they weren’t interested. The Old Trafford club are actively looking for a forward and are one of very few clubs that could afford the 24-year-old’s fee and wages. It has been insisted to The Independent that the United hierarchy are similarly willing to make separate funds available for Harry Kane should he become buyable, so they would surely see the commercial logic in securing Mbappe. Instead, they have no current interest this summer and don’t see that changing. It was similar with Arsenal, especially as their budget isn’t as big as United’s. This is one of many contradictions to Mbappe’s career that has left both Paris Saint-Germain and the player’s camp considering a world-record offer from Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League. It is difficult not to think it would be a waste; a needless squandering of a football great’s limited years in his physical prime, even if it is only for a season. This is not to besmirch the Saudi Pro League itself, before you even get to all of the other debates about how it is used politically by Mohammed Bin Salman. That is another warranted discussion in this, in how Mbappe himself would be politically used. This is not too much different from Qatar's ownership of PSG now. It is more that he would be outside Europe, outside the Champions League. The Saudi Pro League is aiming to be the second-best in the world after the Premier League, but it is clearly nowhere near there yet. It may have attracted a lot of headlines for its transfer business this summer, but it’s going to take a long time for that to translate into an actual audience. The legacy just isn’t there. The executives of one major broadcaster already confided this summer they would have no interest in paying for rights. The Saudi Pro League is still a football backwater, if a lucrative one. And yet it could well play host to a prime season for one of the greatest footballers who ever lived. If that currently feels like an exaggeration given Mbappe’s career so far, it is how he is looking at things, and it plays into this contradiction. While many footballers aren’t too bothered about the history of the sport, that isn’t the case with the 24-year-old. Mbappe is one of those obsessed with the lore of the game, and has consequently become obsessed with his own legacy within it. Those who know him say he was more anguished than most realised to lose the World Cup final in December, because that would have meant equalling Pele in winning his first two finals. This is how he sees his career. It is also why a move to Arsenal appeals, since he likes the idea of delivering such a great football institution to their first title in 20 years. The same outlook explains his ultimate ambition to become one of Real Madrid’s great names, alongside Alfredo Di Stefano and his boyhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo. He could instead play against the Portuguese for a season in Saudi Arabia, just when they were supposed to be going in opposite directions – and even if it is en route to Madrid. Ronaldo would not have even considered that at the same age. It could well end up ‘Mbappe: the lost year’, no matter what he wins. Many in football would say that already applies to his time at PSG, mind. The Qatari sportswashing project are so likely to win the French league every season that it isn’t really seen as a proper feat and barely has much of a global audience. It also means such a great player only features in about eight consequential fixtures a season. If even that. All of this as Erling Haaland has made himself a global megastar in the Premier League, scoring in front of a TV audience of hundreds of millions every week. Mbappe must surely envy that. In some ways, though, it isn’t a contradiction at all. That is for the same reason it just wouldn’t have been a consideration for Ronaldo. The game is very different than it was even in 2009. That point in its history was still the end period of an era where there was a remaining vitality to the European game. Clubs of genuine legacy and stature such as Lazio, Parma, Valencia and Borussia Dortmund would have at minimum been in the same financial sphere as one of the best players in the world, and at least offered him an option. It was only a decade before that point that Real Betis broke the world transfer record. This was a period where people could genuinely talk of the “big five” leagues. That description is now an irrelevance. The economic evolution of the game has meant it is now just the Premier League and a handful of other clubs in western Europe. They have just been buttressed by what is essentially a state competition in the Saudi Pro League, that in many cases offers a necessary financial counterbalance. This is the true cost of a Champions League that is itself becoming a closed shop and a Premier League that is becoming a Super League. This is what the global audience wants to see. And, without any checks or balances from football’s authorities, it could well mean not even getting to watch Mbappe for a prime season. A final contradiction is that the Saudi Pro League may further fall into this. For all the necessary sportswashing criticisms of the competition, the other side of it is that the country’s sporting authorities are legitimately trying to build a sustainable – if super-funded – league. They want it to become the next best league after the Premier League, and the plan was to go from great old names like Ronaldo to that next tier of good quality players like Ruben Neves in order to offer that substance. That has happened quickly but Mbappe would represent a drastic acceleration. Maybe too quickly. As excited as Al Hilal have been about the prospect of the signing in the weeks they have sounded it out, that isn’t quite shared within the rest of the Saudi Pro League. There is an argument it would look bad if he just departed for Madrid after a season, and that it would then leave a vacuum. The league would already be looking to constantly catch up with one season it had. And what a season it might be for Mbappe, even if one argument within his camp that these years will mean his career will be able to go on for longer. It is not like he has been suffering the physical rigours of the Premier League in his early twenties. It may all play into him becoming a Real Madrid legend, in exactly the way he wants. It might just play into something bigger too. Read More Kylian Mbappe’s Al Hilal transfer could spark chain reaction affecting every top club in Europe World-record bid made for Kylian Mbappe as PSG exit looms PSG attempting to hijack Bayern Munich’s bid to sign Harry Kane Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are making progress in striker search Premier League chief ‘not too concerned at moment’ about Saudi Arabia rise Football rumours: Premier League clubs scramble for Kylian Mbappe

Jill Biden met France’s first lady Brigitte Macron on Tuesday, 25 July, as she visited Paris to mark the United States’ official re-entry into United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). The US First Lady will attend a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the re-entry into the agency after a five-year hiatus. She is expected to make a speech about the importance of American leadership in preserving cultural heritage. Under Donald Trump’s administration, the US pulled out of Unesco because of an alleged anti-Israel bias and a need for “fundamental reform” in the agency. It was the second time the US returned to Unesco after withdrawing, after previously leaving under Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1984 citing alleged advancement of Soviet interests, mismanagement, and corruption. The nation announced its intention to rejoin the agency in June 2023 before the agency’s 193 member states approved re-entry. Today’s ceremony will feature a speecy by Unesco’s director general Audrey Azoulay. Read More First Lady Jill Biden to mark US reentry into UNESCO with flag-raising ceremony in Paris Oui, oui: Jill Biden heads to Paris to help mark US return to UN educational and scientific agency Jill Biden welcomes proposal for Medicare to pay for navigation services for cancer patients

EasyJet and Jet2 flights carrying passengers from areas affected by wildfires will touch down tonight.

Binance will roll out full services on its new platform for Japan in August, the crypto exchange’s founder

WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is making a fresh push to force health insurance companies to improve access to

Russia launched a fresh wave of drone strikes on Kyiv and other parts of the country early on Tuesday morning, Ukraine has said. The Kremlin used Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Kyiv for the sixth time this month, but all were shot down, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said. Air raid sirens wailed across the capital and attacks were also reported in the north and centre of Ukraine but none in the south. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to buildings. Air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said air defences had been engaged in three regions in the north of the country. “About 10 drones were recorded, the information is being clarified,” he told Ukrainian television, adding that up to five were destroyed. Earlier, thousands of Wagner group mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since the group’s short-lived rebellion, a military monitoring group said. Between 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have travelled to a camp close to Asipovichy, a town 230 kilometres (140 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, according to Belaruski Hajun, an activist group that tracks troop movements within the country. Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The Wagner Group mercenary chief who rebelled against Putin Monitoring group says thousands of Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus since failed uprising Wagner mercenaries training Belarus special forces just miles from border with Nato-member Poland

US-born basketball player Kyle Anderson will play for China at next month's FIBA World Cup after obtaining Chinese nationality, Anderson and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) announced Monday.

Eight simple lifestyle changes could add more than 20 years to your life, research suggests. According to a study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Boston, making minor changes even if you are already middle aged could pay massive dividends when it comes to extending your life. “Our research findings suggest that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important for both public health and personal wellness,” said Xuan-Mai T Nguyen, a health science specialist involved in the work at the US Department of Veteran Affairs. “The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial,” she added. So what are the lifestyle changes? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They are: Eat well. Avoid cigarettes. Get a good night’s sleep. Be physically active. Manage stress. Avoid binge drinking. Be free from opioid addiction. Have positive social relationships. Who knew stopping smoking was so good for you?... The research drew on data from questionnaires and medical records collected between 2011 and 2019. The records covered more than 700,000 US veterans aged from 40 to 99 who were enrolled in the Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program. “Men and women who adopted eight therapeutic lifestyle factors could gain 23.7 or 22.6 years of life expectancy, respectively, at age 40 years compared to those with no adopted lifestyle factors,” the authors write. However, as the study was done through observation, the work cannot prove a causal link between the factors identified and differences in lifespan. 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.

About 40 minutes from the City of London financial district, a sign in the town of Laindon once

Evacuations are set to continue in Greece as Corfu and Evia have become the latest Islands to issue orders while the country grapples with the devastating wildfires. The Greek fire service has said around 2,500 people have evacuated from Corfu so far. Thousands of people have also been forced to leave their homes and hotels - with those in Santa, Megoula, Porta, Palia Perithia and Sinies being told to evacuate to Kassiopi. A spokesperson from the Met Office told The Independent: “Temperatures on Rhodes are likely to peak on Wednesday, and could be close to 39C in some spots. Temperatures are then expected to move back towards average for the time of year later in the week, likely around 30C. “However, windy conditions could impact efforts this week. There are some northwesterly winds today, with these likely to ease on Tuesday and Wednesday. “However, a return of windy weather is possible later in the week, albeit accompanied by that drop in temperatures,” the Met Office added. What will the weather be like this week in Greece? According to the Met Office website, the temperature in Rhodes will be as follows: Monday 24 July - Highest temperature: 36C and Lowest: 31C Tuesday 25 July - Highest: 37C and Lowest: 28C Wednesday 26 July - Highest: 39C and Lowest: 27C Thursday 27 July - Highest: 36C and Lowest: 23C Friday 28 July - Highest: 34C and Lowest: 24C Saturday 29 July - Highest: 32C and Lowest: 22C Sunday 30 July- Highest: 33C and Lowest: 24C How long will the wildfires last? The climate crisis is increasing the risk of larger, more intense and erratic wildfires around the world due to hotter and drier conditions. Other factors also play a role including soil moisture levels, and the presence of vegetation which acts as fuel for fires. “It’s important to note that these wildfires are happening in environments that are naturally prone to fire during hot and dry summers, with vegetation that is highly adapted to live with fire”, Dr Matthew Jones, NERC Independent Research Fellow, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Environmental Sciences, UEA, said in a statement. Dr Jones added that under climate change and frequent changes to weather conditions across the globe, fires are more likely to break out and “also burn so intensely and synchronously across the Mediterranean.” “The Mediterranean has seen a dramatic increase in the frequency of the hot-dry conditions that were considered extreme at the end of the last century, and these increases are expected to accelerate for each added degree of warming in future,” he noted. According to the Joint Research Centre, last year was the second-worst wildfire season in Europe. In 2022, damages exceeded those of 2021, as per data from the EFFIS - an advanced report on Forest Fires in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The EFFIS looked at fires in 45 countries and found that these places suffered from 16,941 fires that burnt 1,624,381 hectares. Looking at just European countries, July 2022 was the month when the most significant proportion of damage occurred in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece. According to Safer Scotland’s Wildfire Operational Guidance, a wildfire can burn for a “period of time” and this is heavily dependent on the landscape, which contributes to how fast the fire might move. The “behaviour” of the wildfire depends on the following factors: the area, its combustibility and arrangement, the arrangement of the area, the weather and time. Dependent on stable or unstable weather conditions the Wildfire Operational Guidance said time “can have a positive or negative effect on fire development throughout the day and this will bring both advantage and disadvantage to firefighting operations.” Space is another important factor as the area in which the fire is burning brings changes to the shape of the fire, altering the fire’s alignment. For example, as fire changes its location and moves across the area “topographical and climactic conditions will work for and against the first altering its intensity and speed.” What impacts does fuel have on wildfires? When a wildfire occurs, the main source of fuel is vegetation. This type of fuel, its size and the way the vegetation is arranged across the landscape will affect the way the fire burns. The Wildfire Operational Guidance has said the size and shape of the fuel are important especially “in regard to their ease of ignition. Smaller fuels, referred to as ‘fine fuels’, are more receptive to fire, while larger or more coarse fuel types generally rely on their interaction with fires in finer fuels before they will ignite.” Fine fuels are considered to be those with a diameter of up to 6mm, this includes grass, small stems and the leaves of low-lying shrubs. These fine fuels can also be found in large quantities in plants - such as needles on conifer trees. “Fuels that are over 6mm in diameter are described as ‘coarse fuel’ and include twigs, branches, and tree trunks,” the guidance has said. Fine fuels can affect the intensity of the fire, the rate and motion of the fire, the flame length, the fire activity and increased ignitions caused by spot fires. When asked about how long the wildfires might last in Greece, Jim Dale, founder and senior Meteorlogical Consultant at the British Weather Services told The Independent: “For as long as there is ‘fuel’ as in combustible brush. The wind is the enemy as far as people and infrastructure are concerned; there is no sign of rain. “The two main fire zones of Rhodes and Corfu will almost certainly be added to as the Mediterranean basin continues to bake with record and near-record temperatures.” Read More Greek fires ‘big warning’ for tourists to Mediterranean, says climate expert Greece fires – live: Corfu evacuations begin as tourists fleeing Rhodes inferno spend second night in airport Greece wildfires: Rhodes tourists sleep on airport floor awaiting evacuation