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BP Plc raised its dividend by 10% and said it would buy back another $1.5 billion of shares,

A key gauge of borrowing costs in Saudi Arabia has risen to a record, potentially hitting businesses and

Megan Rapinoe, 38, burst onto the global stage at the 2011 World Cup in Germany when she scored a screamer against Colombia and celebrated by grabbing an on-field microphone placed near the corner flag and crooning Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”. A star was born. Since then, the iconic 5’6” neon-haired winger has won gold at the London 2012 Olympics, bronze at the Tokyo 2020 games and both the 2015 and 2019 FIFA World Cups as an integral part of the US Women’s National Team (USWNT). She was named player of the tournament at her last World Cup in France four years ago after scoring six – including a spotkick in the final against the Netherlands – and picked up both the Golden Boot and that year’s Ballon d’Or Feminin. Rapinoe also caused a major political stir back home when she was caught on tape declaring “I’m not going to the f***ing White House” in the event that her side secured the trophy, expressing her disdain for the divisive policies of then-president Donald Trump and advising her teammates to “think hard” before accepting any honours from his administration. She has since continued to use her celebrity to campaign for LGBT+ rights causes and for equal pay for women, speaking on that issue at 1600 Pennsylvania at the invitation of Trump’s successor, Joe Biden. As a player, this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand marks Megan Rapinoe’s last hurrah as she has announced her retirement at the end of the coming season. She arrives in the southern hemisphere having made 199 appearances for the USWNT, scoring 63. Rapinoe was born in Redding, California, on 5 July 1985, one of five children including a twin sister, Rachael, who was also a professional footballer. Her brother Brian first turned his sisters on to the sport and Megan has since spoken movingly about his subsequent battle with drugs and struggle to stay out of prison. As a teenager in high school, Rapinoe played for Elk Grove Pride in Sacramento before enrolling at the University of Portland in Oregon, where she proved herself a prolific goalscorer for the Portland Pilots. Turning professional thereafter, her club career has taken her from the Chicago Red Stars and Philadelphia Independence to the short-lived MagicJack team in Boca Raton, Florida, to Sydney FC in Australia, the Seattle Sounders and to Olympique Lyonnais in France. Get all the latest Women’s World Cup odds here Since 2013, she has played for OL Reign in Tacoma, Washington, favouring the US Pacific Northwest region as her partner Sue Bird, retired basketball superstar, plied her trade nearby for Seattle Storm. Read More FIFA Women’s World Cup fixtures and full schedule Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today

US Women’s National Team (USWNT) striker Alex Morgan, 34, is one of the biggest stars in women’s football, already an Olympic gold medallist and a two-time World Cup winner. The American is heading into her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup and ranks in the top 10 in USWNT history in goals, assists and multi-goal games. Morgan first caught the eye a decade ago at the 2011 World Cup in Germany when she was the youngest player in the American squad but, undaunted by the international spotlight, scored in both the semi-final and final as the US finished runners-up to Japan. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, shrugging off her old nickname of “Baby Horse” to be described as a “full-on stallion” by her international teammate Megan Rapinoe. Morgan has become an icon and an inspiration to young girls around the world and is also a New York Times Best-Selling author and film star, playing herself in Alex and Me (2018), even serving with the US State Department on a diplomatic mission to Tanzania in 2017. She has not entirely avoided controversy, however, having been kicked out of the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World resort in Bay Lake, Florida, in October 2017 along with a group of friends said to be “highly impaired” and “verbally aggressive”, an incident for which she swiftly apologised. Morgan also raised eyebrows at the 2019 World Cup in France when she scored against England in the semi-final and celebrated with a tea-sipping celebration, appearing to mock her opposition, although she has since claimed the gesture was misunderstood. Born in the California suburb of Diamond Bar near San Dimas on 2 July 1989, Morgan was a multi-sport athlete known for her speed at high school and did not begin playing football exclusively until she was 14 and joined local club side Cypress Elite. Get all the latest Women’s World Cup odds here She was soon playing for the Olympic Development Program’s regional and state teams as well, which she credits as integral to her development, and was called up to the US under-20 women’s team at 17, only for an anterior cruciate ligament injury to set back her progress. Morgan subsequently attended UC Berkeley, taking a degree in Political Economy while playing for the California Golden Bears from 2007 to 2010, finishing her college career with an impressive haul of 46 goals. Turning professional in 2011, the same year she announced her arrival at the World Cup, Morgan played for Western New York Flash, before moving to Seattle Sounders for a season, where she played with international teammates Hope Solo and Rapinoe, before being transferred again and spending two years with Portland Thorns FC. In 2015, she joined Orlando Pride in Florida, where she has been even since, barring short spells with Lyon in France in 2017 and Tottenham in England in 2020, where she made just four appearances but scored twice as she continued her return to match fitness after taking time away from the game to give birth to her first child, a daughter, Charlie Elena Carrasco, on 7 May 2020. She subsequently returned to Orlando Pride before signing for San Diego Wave in 2022, scoring an impressive 20 in 28 games so far. Her husband, Servando Carrasco, whom she met at university and married in 2014, is also a footballer, currently playing as a defensive midfielder for Fort Lauderdale FC. Morgan helped Team USA capture gold at the 2012 London Olympics highlighted by her goal in the semi-final win against Canada and subsequently picked up a bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Games, winning the 2015 and 2019 World Cups with the USWNT either side of those honours. Read More FIFA Women’s World Cup fixtures and full schedule Women’s football world rankings: Who could take No 1 at the World Cup? Women’s World Cup TV schedule: How to watch every match today Trinity Rodman: The emerging USWNT talent with a famous father in profile World Cup updates and final score from USWNT and Vietnam Rice makes Arsenal debut and Crawley hits Ashes ton – Thursday’s sporting social

Toyota Motor Corp.’s quarterly profit exceeded estimates as improvements in supplies of semicondcutors and a cheap yen helped

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make a ministerial statement on the ongoing graft investigation involving Transport

China has made a number of pledges recently to revive the economy’s recovery and improve the business environment

Central banks’ gold demand fell for a third straight quarter as massive sales by Turkey outshone buying elsewhere.

Covestro AG said full-year profit is expected to come in at the lower half of its guidance range

Gold purchases in India this year are forecast to drop to the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic hit

One lucky winner could nab a massive $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot that's up for grabs in Tuesday night's drawing.

A year after China set up a company that’s expected to become the world’s biggest iron ore buyer,