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What is ‘All eyes on Rafah’? Decoding a viral social trend on Israel’s war | Israel-Palestine conflict News

A picture with the textual content “All eyes on Rafah” is on each different Instagram story, dominating social media discourse on Israel’s warfare on Gaza.

Right here’s extra concerning the development and the picture, which has been re-shared on greater than 46 million Instagram tales since Monday, a day after Israel’s lethal offensive on Gaza’s Rafah.

What does ‘All eyes on Rafah’ imply?

  • “All eyes on Rafah” is a man-made intelligence (AI) generated picture with a slogan calling consideration to the state of affairs in Rafah, the southernmost metropolis within the Gaza Strip close to the border with Egypt.
  • After the start of Israel’s warfare on Gaza, Israel started bombing it from the north and moved down, displacing Palestinians from their properties as they fled south to hunt shelter.
  • By February, about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants had been pushed into Rafah when Israel stated it deliberate to launch a floor operation on Rafah, claiming Hamas 4 brigades, the Palestinian group that governs the Strip, had been there.
  • The announcement was condemned worldwide. In February, Richard “Rik” Peeperkorn, WHO consultant for Gaza and the occupied West Financial institution, stated “all eyes” are on the upcoming Rafah offensive. Ameera Kawash, a UK-based Palestinian-Iraqi-American artist and researcher, whose work explores the impact of AI on Palestinian lives and narratives, advised Al Jazeera that “All eyes on Rafah” possible originated from his assertion.
  • Since then, the slogan has appeared on protest posters and different social media posts.

What’s taking place in Rafah?

On Sunday, two days after the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah, Israeli bombardment killed not less than 45 individuals in al-Mawasi in western Rafah, which was beforehand declared a secure zone.

One other Israeli assault killed 21 in a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday, not less than 12 of these killed had been girls. Air assaults had been reported on Wednesday morning.

Israel has killed not less than 36,171 individuals in Gaza since October 7, in accordance with the Ministry of Well being in Gaza.

What does the ‘All eyes on Rafah’ picture seem like?

  • The AI-generated picture exhibits an aerial view of a camp set out in orderly rows of tents, nestled between what seem like snowy peaks. Within the center, some lighter-coloured tents are organized to spell out “All eyes on Rafah”. A transparent blue sky with cotton-ball clouds is within the background.
  • Rafah seems nothing like that: Its skies are gray with smoke from Israeli bombs and there are not any orderly rows of tents – many are smouldering after being bombed with their occupants nonetheless inside, and particles is scattered between them.
  • Rafah can also be way more crowded – with an estimated 1.4 million individuals in search of refuge there from Israel’s bombs in February, in accordance with the United Nations.
  • Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking company confirmed that the picture was generated utilizing a man-made intelligence (AI) instrument.
  • There are tell-tale indicators of AI, together with repetition, the symmetrical alignment of the tents, the shortage of element, and the absence of shadows. You possibly can learn extra on methods to spot AI-generated photographs right here.

Right here’s what Rafah regarded like on Monday:

[Jehad Alshrafi/AP]

Right here’s a picture of Rafah from Tuesday:

[Hatem Khaled/Reuters]

Who has shared the ‘All eyes on Rafah’ AI-generated picture?

The picture is being reposted on Instagram tales by customers globally.

As of 11:30 GMT on Thursday, it has been reposted on 46.6 million Instagram tales. These embody the accounts of:

  • American supermodel Bella Hadid, whose father is Palestinian.
  • Irish actress Nicola Coughlan from the Netflix present Bridgerton.
  • American comic and author Hasan Minhaj, in addition to American actor Aaron Paul.
  • British actor and activist Jameela Jameel and British singer Dua Lipa.
  • Well-known Indian actors, together with Varun Dhawan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor Khan.

The primary Instagram story utilizing it was posted on Monday by consumer @shahv4012. Al Jazeera couldn’t affirm whether or not this consumer created the picture. However the consumer has commented on their Instagram tales “that they apologise if many individuals weren’t ‘glad’ with the image and to maintain urgently spreading the phrase to cease what is going on in Rafah,” Kawash stated.

In addition to Instagram, the picture has additionally been re-shared on X.

Why is ‘All eyes on Rafah’ so viral?

The picture has caught extra consideration than many photographs of Rafah or Gaza.

This may very well be as a result of the picture is being shared utilizing Instagram’s “Add Yours” characteristic, which permits customers to repost it in seconds with out having to seek for photographs.

Exactly as a result of the picture is AI-generated, it seems to have escaped any censorship based mostly on key phrases, serving to with its explosive unfold. “The AI-generated template appears to have handed key phrase detection or text-based censorship,” Kawash stated.

It is usually a straightforward method for celebrities and influencers to speak a couple of warfare a lot of them haven’t spoken about beforehand, she stated.

However there may very well be another excuse, too, some consultants stated: The AI picture could be extra palatable to some viewers than actual photographs of Gaza, that are graphic and sometimes present blood, useless our bodies and violence.

“I consider the virality of this picture is essentially because of its stark distinction with the predominant visible imagery of the warfare … To humanise the victims in Gaza and Rafah, social media customers usually share vivid photographs of casualties and mourning members of the family,” Eddy Borges-Rey, affiliate professor in residence at Northwestern College in Qatar, advised Al Jazeera.

“This would possibly clarify why algorithms on platforms like Meta [Facebook and Instagram], designed to filter graphic violence, didn’t flag this picture. In contrast to actual, graphic photographs of the warfare, which could be restricted or eliminated because of content material insurance policies, this AI-generated picture may unfold extra freely, contributing to its speedy virality,” stated Borges-Rey.

How have individuals reacted to ‘All eyes on Rafah’?

Whereas a number of social media customers have celebrated the virality of the picture, many others have been angered by it.

These vital of the submit deem re-sharing it as performative activism that distracts from actual photographs and vital updates from Rafah.

“The picture undermines Palestinian testimony and lived expertise. It portrays an AI-generated scene with digital tents organized into readable textual content throughout an enormous expanse with snow-covered mountains within the background — a far cry from Gaza,” stated Kawash.

“This AI-generated picture has precipitated controversy as a result of Palestinians have for many years requested the world to see them and consider them. Palestinian lived experiences and testimony have been systematically undermined and gas-lit by Israeli hasbara,” she stated, referring to Israel’s public diplomacy efforts that use fastidiously crafted propaganda narratives.

“With so many Palestinian citizen journalists in Gaza risking their lives to doc their realities on the bottom, the AI-generated picture can appear to be one other type of digital erasure.”

Some have steered what else to submit as an alternative of re-sharing the AI-generated picture.

What’s subsequent after ‘All eyes on Rafah’?

That, stated Kawash, is the massive query, as Israel’s assaults on Rafah intensify. On the one hand, she stated, the virality of the AI picture helps shine a world mild on the disaster within the southern Gaza metropolis.

“Nevertheless, this messaging falls quick — as many Palestinians and advocates have famous, ‘All eyes are on Rafah – and now what?’” she stated. “The messaging ought to embody requires an instantaneous ceasefire, but that has not labored to this point, so it must also embody calls for for governments to sanction Israel now.”

Extra broadly, she stated, the explosive unfold of the picture factors each to how AI may help unfold the Palestinian narrative — by evading some censorship efforts — and its limitations.

“I might encourage customers and shoppers of AI-generated photographs, to contemplate how these AI-generated photographs are aestheticising and normalising scenes of horrific violence towards Palestinians, and rendering them extra digestible and secure,” Kawash stated.

DR. BOB BROWN: A Soldier’s Reflection Memorial Day 2024

A Letter From Michael / Might 2024

Bob Brown, the place do I start? For years, you might have promoted an concept that I like, however I’m not positive the place to start. None the much less, In small batches, I’ve been writing what I’m at present pondering, and attempting to recall lots of my life’s reminiscences, each good and unhealthy.

Years of placing nasty substances into my physique have made remembering issues far harder than it must be for a 50 12 months previous. Extra so than something, Doc, I notice that our reminiscences usually are not eternal.

I’ve typically thought in regards to the hours that Keith and Keyta sat in that small circle looking for a means out of our personal, toxic minds. I’d spend my complete test for the chair I sat in, the tiles our ft restlessly slid throughout, or the door to the room. A room that appeared insignificant from the skin, but extra lives have been saved in that room than in a downtown Chicago ER.

Doc Brown, I nonetheless have your CD’s. Are you aware what number of instances I’ve “Sat on the finish of the dock with my ft dangling off the tip”? I’ve typically puzzled the way you emotionally dealt with a Job that sees souls come, and go. I do know that alongside the way in which, you developed a “powerful love” temperament, Lord is aware of you yelled at me loads of time. I do know your Religion at all times performed a task in your day after day journey, because it ought to. However, you might have at all times made an effort to maintain observe of us. Figuring out you might be nonetheless out there was past comforting for me, Doc.

I’m unsure if my buddies know the battles you had, on our behalf, with the bureaucrats in that constructing, however I bear in mind. You have been our Lawyer, our sounding board, our Physician and our pal and Doc I’m unsure learn how to thanks. Your humility has by no means allowed for a public “ol shucks” second however the way in which I, for one, am residing my life is my expression of Gratitude to you. You by no means needed plaques or awards; you needed us to search out our means.

The ethical compass you offered me has, and can at all times, work. Thanks, Doc. You’re a legend, a hero, a person of nice religion that I’ll at all times Love. If I ever write something, there can be a considerable portion of the guide for you. With out these years of counsel, the final 15 years wouldn’t have been potential. That’s for positive. Please keep in contact. You’re liked.

– Michael

Dr. Bob Brown’s Reply to the Soldier’s Memorial Day 2024 Reflections

Michael, you can’t understand how a lot I’m touched, honored, and sure, happy to be bragged about by your observe.  The timing is the work of the Holy Spirit.  My spouse of 70 plus years isn’t proud of me.  She can not perceive why I watch WW II motion pictures all day and into the night time, nor why they trigger me to cry.  I defined they remind me of the courageous Troopers I liked at Fort Lee.  I advised her the depth of the love my Troopers felt for one another was the therapeutic balm.

She is in each means a beautiful mate.  She needs to know, however I don’t imagine anybody can perceive who has not been deployed to fight with them.

As soon as, I advised the group I needed to go to Iraq.  Keith mentioned, “Sir you don’t must go to Iraq; we’re bringing Iraq and Afghanistan to you.”

As you understand, Keith and so many different combat-proven Troopers are geniuses.  I used to be 74 when God “spoke” to me in chills up and down my backbone and tears in my eyes when He mentioned, “I’ve ready each step of your means right here to deal with these Troopers. You needed to be a Soldier and a physician, however I needed you to be a physician to Troopers.”

Thanks, expensive Michael, a Soldier with writing expertise I want I had, and thank each Soldier God offered for me to admire, respect, and deeply love.

  • Dr. Bob Brown : Might 27th 2024
Robert S. Brown Sr.

Robert S. Brown, MD, PHD a retired Psychiatrist, Col (Ret) U.S. Military Medical Corps devoted the final decade of his profession to treating troopers at Fort Lee redeploying from fight. He was a Medical Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Schooling at UVA. His famend Psychological Well being course taught the worth of train for a sound thoughts.

All charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dropped

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE/Grey Information) – Expenses towards PGA golfer Scottie Scheffler have been dismissed.

Scheffler was arrested exterior of Valhalla Golf Membership on Could 17 whereas attempting to get inside to organize for the second spherical of the 2024 PGA Championship.

Jefferson County Lawyer Mike O’Connell requested a decide to dismiss costs towards Scheffler throughout a listening to Wednesday afternoon. Scheffler was not there in individual, however his lawyer, Steve Romines, was.

In response to the Related Press, Scheffler was charged with a felony for assaulting a police officer along with his car, together with three misdemeanors.

It was reported that O’Connell instructed the decide that after his group reviewed the case, they discovered Scheffler’s account that the scenario was a misunderstanding to be corroborated by proof.

In response to the sources with direct data of the case, each the officer concerned, Detective Bryan Gillis, and Scheffler’s group consider it could be greatest for everybody if the costs don’t proceed. The sources stated the 2 events need the scenario to be resolved amicably.

The sources additionally stated they mutually acknowledged the scenario by which Scheffler was arrested was chaotic and that they each needed to maneuver on.

Louisville Metro police reported Scheffler was arrested for dragging considered one of their detectives along with his PGA-issued car. The detective was on the scene of a deadly crash and was allegedly attempting to inform Scheffler he couldn’t go round.

There’s been plenty of backlash towards the police division and the detective concerned on this case, particularly after video was launched by police of the incident that didn’t present the dragging really happening.

Metro police stated the video solely reveals what occurred afterward and that their lack of video was partially as a result of the detective didn’t activate his physique digicam.

The video launched was sufficient for individuals to name on O’Connell to drop all costs towards Scheffler.

Bob Allies on Rome and the value of learning from the past | Features

“John Tuomey utilized for the Rome scholarship the identical 12 months I did. Nevertheless, James Stirling had simply received the fee for the Neue Staatsgalerie, and wished John to work on it, so he withdrew his software. Simply as effectively actually,” Bob Allies muses, “John in all probability would’ve received it if we had been competing”.

It’s with this somewhat attribute modesty that Allies, co-founder of Allies and Morrison, describes the appliance that led him to spending 9 months in Rome between 1981 and 1982 because the Rome scholar in structure. Allies had utilized to the British Faculty at Rome (BSR) 4 years after ending his Half 2, whereas working for Michael Brawne.

His time in Rome was spent contemplating the parallels between Renaissance structure and Mannerism. Allies discovered himself fascinated by the evolution of structure on this time from a stylistic rule that thought of the constructing as an ideal object, to at least one ready to adapt or regulate to one thing extra advanced. This shift was one he noticed mirrored within the adjustments in modernism within the Nineteen Eighties.

Rome, Allies explains, opens your thoughts. It’s not a lot what you obtain, or draw, or write once you’re there – however the useful resource it provides you that helps in design later. The themes which shaped his Roman analysis would go on to tell and encourage Allies, and his good friend Graham Morrison, after they arrange their apply after his return from Rome. Allies acknowledges that this sense of a kind of developed complexity nonetheless evokes the work of their apply, Allies and Morrison, to this present day.

I believe many Rome students would agree with Allies. For these I’ve spoken to over this sequence of interviews, most, if not all, of their Roman analysis continues to be sitting in notebooks and on harddrives. Nevertheless, whether or not they went into careers in apply or academia, the rules of design and house they found in Rome have survived as a continuing thread and inspiration of their subsequent work and careers.

Allies isn’t any totally different actually. He wrote two essays throughout his time in Rome considered one of which was printed, and one which nonetheless sits in a hoop binder on his bookshelf. This unpublished essay thought of Bernini’s Scala Regia- a staircase that kinds a part of the ceremonial entry to St Peter’s by the Pope. It’s well-known for its intelligent use of perspective, narrowing because it ascends, thus showing grander from the bottom.

It’s not new to scholarship, however Allies thought of it from above (a perspective exhausting to realize for the typical vacationer however one which the BSR’s permissions officer enabled him to get). The phantasm considered from above is one Allies described as “nonetheless and calm, as in case you are trying into an ideal quantity”. He stated this calm gave one nice serenity- maybe making ready popes for his or her entry into St Peter’s Basilica.

“I loved serious about that” Allies recounts. “We nonetheless take into consideration that within the apply – there’s extra to creating areas than forming parallel sides”.

His printed Roman essay thought of the Palazzo del Te at Mantua- a wonderfully “bizarre” Mannerist constructing. The important thing right here was the ingenuity with which the architect Giulio Romano utilized the classical orders to what was a pre-existing facade. The significance of this venture is in accommodating the realities of the pre-existing, Allies notes.This can at all times be necessary he provides. Historical past is at all times price investigating – it makes you assume extra deeply about what you’re doing in the present day.

Allies’ time on the BSR was thoughts increasing and confidence constructing. He would meet his late spouse there, and the BSR appears to take a seat within the background of a lot of his subsequent profession. Allies recounts not solely the libraries and the buildings he visited, however the journeys the students and artists organised collectively. Seeing a web site by the eyes of an architect, an artist, an historian, an archaeologist, all of whom are engaged on the planet of Rome – you possibly can’t simply replicate that type of expertise.

The BSR Allies went to, and which stays in the present day, is a social place with its core of employees and resident students and a continuing circulation of transient teachers and college students. Mary Beard handed by when Allies was there, and famous structural engineer turned archaeologist Janet DeLaine led them across the Baths of Caracalla. Visiting these locations with a specialist is a privilege Allies notes, you expertise them with an intimacy you’ll by no means in any other case have.

Allies is now Chair of the School of Structure on the BSR. He’s keen about creating alternatives for extra architects, particularly these from under-represented backgrounds, to expertise one thing of life there. The summer time faculty he launched final 12 months led by O’Donnell and Tuomey will proceed in 2024. I’ve promised to not reveal who will lead it however Allies has managed to search out somebody as thrilling because the RIBA Gold Medal winners and I envy those that will take part!

Allies’ goal although is to maintain structure on the BSR alive – he has spoken to myriad younger architects about their functions through the years. He’s optimistic about the way forward for structure on the BSR – and quietly evangelical in regards to the potential affect even quick intervals of time in its distinctive atmosphere can have on younger architects. It galvanised him, giving him the power and perseverance to ascertain his personal apply. It has accomplished the identical for the various students I’ve interviewed on this sequence.

It could appear an odd, quaint kind of thought – to ship architects to Rome to find out about structure. Nevertheless, I hope this sequence has demonstrated among the range of careers and experiences which have resulted. The constructive affect on our career is profound- and we shouldn’t undervalue that.

The BSR in two phrases based on Bob Allies? Eye-opening and time-expanding. Lengthy could it proceed to be thus.

>> Additionally learn: Simone Shu-Yeng Chung on ‘town as textual content’

£1 bus fare cap needed as part of five-year plan in England

The subsequent authorities ought to introduce a £1 fare cap and herald a five-year bus revival programme in England inside its first 100 days, in keeping with a brand new report from suppose tank Inexperienced Alliance.

The paper A bus revolution Driving up prosperity throughout the areas says such a plan is required to “repair” shrinking networks, scale back inequity, meet decarbonisation targets and increase the economic system.

The authors say extending the present fare cap scheme in England – set at £2 and as a consequence of final till the top of the yr – and chopping the utmost single fare to £1 would value £2.1 billion over 5 years.

They add that that is towards deliberate highway spending by Highways England of £11.5 billion for a similar interval from 2025-2030.

Inexperienced Alliance says that, if such a fare cap have been put in place by the following authorities following the overall election on 4 July, it could result in a discount of three.85 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over 5 years, as a consequence of 15 billion fewer automobile miles being pushed.

In April – when autumn was thought of by far the most certainly timing for a basic election – the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) referred to as on the following authorities to increase the fare cap for just a few months whereas a overview of alternate options occurred.

Along with the fare cap, the Inexperienced Alliance report requires a change in laws for bus governance fashions throughout the nation to offer native transport authorities extra management, a long-term settlement for bus funding, electrification of the bus fleet, enhancing bus precedence measures and instigating a minimal degree of service.

Introducing the £1 fare cap for no less than 5 years ought to the primary precedence as a part of this plan, funded by highway pricing or by reprioritising spending away from new highway developments.

Additionally for the primary 100 days, the report recommends setting new laws to streamline franchising for native authorities and an finish on the ban on creating municipal bus operators.

It says that the federal government ought to, in its first yr, decide to five-year funding of the bus sector and increase native companies utilizing Bus Service Enchancment Plans as a information.

On the decarbonisation agenda, the report advocates for, in yr two, setting a 2030 phase-out date for the sale of recent diesel buses, encouraging electrification by committing to 40% of buses utilized in city areas being zero emission by 2030 and introducing a centralised grant to proceed on from the scheduled finish of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme.

It additionally calls on the following authorities to work with native transport authorities (LTA) to make sure £1 billion of the five-year funding settlements is used on bus precedence highway measures and to ask LTAs to stipulate plans.

Additionally instructed is a replication of a mannequin utilized in Switzerland to find out a statutory minimal degree of bus companies, based mostly on inhabitants dimension and native facilities.

Rosie Allen, coverage adviser at Inexperienced Alliance and an creator of the report, says: “Enhancing bus companies is the quickest route to raised transport. The federal government’s personal evaluation reveals spending on buses has 4 instances the advantages of roadbuilding. But over two thousand bus routes have closed prior to now two years.

“Eight in ten folks in England say they like travelling by bus, and a giant proportion of journeys are important, for college and work. The subsequent authorities ought to hearken to the general public who will not be asking for extra polluting roads however need higher buses as an alternative.”

 

 

 

 

Officer in Scottie Scheffler case thanks golfer, takes aim at attorney; jokes about ripped pants

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) -The officer on the middle of the case in opposition to professional golfer, Scottie Scheffler issued his assertion after the costs in opposition to the athlete have been dismissed.

Within the letter, Detective Bryan Gillis thanked Scheffler for his demeanor all through the ordeal.

“Mr. Scheffler and I each agree that there might be no sick will over this going ahead,” Gillis wrote. “As a substitute of giving a detrimental public response, he selected to talk with dignity, humility and respect. My household and I respect that.”

Nonetheless, Gillis took difficulty with claims made by Scheffler’s high-profile lawyer, Steve Romines. Throughout a press convention after the court docket listening to on Wednesday, Romines stated Gillis was by no means dragged, and that it was a “false arrest.”

“It was unlucky and disturbing to listen to Steve Romines’ commentary today-claiming a “false arrest” was made and for him to problem my honesty and integrity,” Gillis wrote.  “I’d be stunned and dissatisfied if Mr. Scheffler truly had any half in making these statements. To be clear, I used to be drug by the automotive, I went to the bottom, and I acquired seen accidents to my knees and wrist. I’m going to get better from it, and will probably be okay.”

In the course of the press convention, Romines additionally acknowledged the one motive why Scheffler was not suing LMPD is that the taxpayers would find yourself with the invoice.

“He didn’t do something fallacious,” Romines stated. “And I’ve stated repeatedly, the extra proof comes out, the extra it reveals that Scottie was a sufferer in all this.”

In the course of the press convention, Romines issued a fiery response when requested about statements made by Scheffler moments after the arrest. The feedback have been made after he was learn his Miranda Rights. Scheffler apologized within the video and advised the officer he didn’t know Gillis was a police officer when he tried to cease him. Scheffler tells the officer he was afraid and late for his tee time, so he determined to maneuver ahead. Scheffler additionally admits he ought to have stopped.

“Steve, I’ve to ask you although,” WAVE Information Troubleshooters requested, “the statements that Scottie made after the arrest don’t appear to totally align with what you might be saying proper now. He admits that he acquired impatient and went too far.”

“No, right here’s what occurred, he’s being interrogated after essentially the most worrying scenario of his life and an officer is asking him main questions attempting to get him to agree with him. And that’s why you don’t speak to police,” Romines replied.

Scheffler’s personal phrases after the listening to have been of a special tone than his personal lawyer.

“As I acknowledged beforehand, this was an unlucky misunderstanding,” Scheffler wrote. “I maintain no sick will towards Officer Gillis. I want to put this incident behind me and transfer on, and I hope he’ll do the identical. Cops have a troublesome job and I maintain them in excessive regard. This was a extreme miscommunication in a chaotic scenario.”

Scheffler went on to speak in regards to the life that was misplaced that morning in the course of the deadly crash. Gillis echoed these sentiments.

“The fact is there are extra essential issues on the planet proper now than a back-and-forth over this,” Gillis stated. “An individual misplaced his life that day, and a household misplaced a cherished one. On the finish of the day I take satisfaction in working for the individuals in the neighborhood to protect their security. I’ve spent 20 years attempting to guard this metropolis via some difficult occasions. And I wish to hold doing so with out the distractions brought on by this collection of occasions. I want Scottie Scheffler and his household all one of the best,” Gillis wrote.

“PS…,” Gillis continued. “Sure, the division has us shopping for freaking $80 pants. To these involved, they have been certainly ruined. However Scottie, it’s all good. I by no means would’ve guessed I’d have essentially the most well-known pair of pants within the nation for a couple of weeks due to this. Take care and be secure.- Bryan.”

Sonia Bompastor to become Chelsea Women Head Coach | News | Official Site

Chelsea Soccer Membership is delighted to substantiate Sonia Bompastor will develop into Head Coach of the ladies’s group from the beginning of the 2024/25 season.

Having spent three seasons accountable for Lyon in her native France, the 43-year-old will start her new function on 1 July 2024 after signing a four-year contract.

Bompastor will exchange the long-serving Emma Hayes who departed Chelsea upon the conclusion of the 2023/24 season after almost 12 years accountable for the Blues.

Paul Inexperienced, common supervisor, mentioned: ‘The sporting administrators and I performed a radical and thought of recruitment course of to determine Emma’s successor. Sonia’s imaginative and prescient, teaching philosophy and profitable mentality made her the excellent candidate.

‘She is a world-class coach with a confirmed monitor document of success on the most important levels that can immediately command respect from the dressing room.’

Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting administrators, added: ‘Sonia is the best candidate to construct on Emma’s legacy and take the group ahead.

‘She brings a wealth of expertise from managing on the highest ranges and profitable trophies as a participant and a coach. Her ethos and values align with Chelsea Soccer Membership. We’re all trying ahead to having her on board.’

Bompastor mentioned: ‘I’m extremely grateful to affix Chelsea Soccer Membership as the top coach of the ladies’s group. It’s an establishment in English soccer. I’ll give my all to this new challenge to satisfy the ambitions of the membership, the workers and the gamers.

‘I hope to reside as much as Emma’s legacy and proceed the work that has been performed in recent times. Let the journey start.’

The 43-year-old was capped 156 instances by the French nationwide group earlier than retiring in 2013 to take up a training place with Lyon’s Academy. In April 2021, she grew to become first group head coach and has loved a lot success throughout her time within the function, profitable the Division 1 Female title within the final three seasons.

She led Lyon to a league and European double throughout her first full season in cost, turning into the primary individual to win the UEFA Girls’s Champions League as each a participant and a head coach.

Sonia shall be accompanied by her assistants Camille Abily and Theo Rivrin. Abily retired in 2018 after an achieved enjoying profession by which she made 323 appearances for Lyon and earned 183 nationwide group caps for France.

Welcome to Chelsea, Sonia!

How ‘The Gambler’ Was Nearly Willie Nelson’s Hit | Countrytown

Extra Kenny Rogers

Willie Nelson turned down the chance to report Kenny Rogers’ #1 hit, The Gambler, and information publication Nation Music Nation has reminded us of the what-could’ve-been story.

American songwriter Don Schlitz wrote The Gambler in 1976. The track had a number of iterations earlier than Kenny Rogers carried out it in November 1978.

Schlitz shopped the track round for 2 years earlier than Bobby Naked recorded it. The Gambler was then recorded by Johnny Money and featured on his Gone Lady album. Nevertheless, it wasn’t till Kenny Rogers launched it in November 1978 that The Gambler turned a crossover success.

Not solely did the track hit #1 on the Nation Chart, however it additionally crossed over to the Pop Chart – a rarity in 1978. Rogers’ The Gambler noticed him win the Grammy Award for Greatest Male Nation Vocal Efficiency in 1980.

In 2020, shortly after Rogers’ passing, Willie Nelson revealed that Rogers initially provided him The Gambler, however he turned it down.

Talking with TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager, Nelson stated, “He tried to get me to report The Gambler. He stated, ‘I received this track right here; I believe you need to do it.’ And he performed it for me, and I stated, ‘It’s an ideal track, however I don’t suppose I’ll do it…’”

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On why he rejected the supply, Nelson defined that he was already performing the wordy The Purple Headed Stranger each evening and didn’t need one other lengthy track added to his repertoire.

That track already “has 100 verses in it, and it’s a protracted track,” he stated. “And I stated, I simply don’t need to do one other lengthy track, and I can’t give up doing Purple Headed Stranger. So, he stated, ‘Okay, I’ll report it myself.’ And so, he did, and there it’s.”

Bush Hager requested if he regretted not claiming The Gambler, to which Nelson responded, “No, that was Kenny’s track all the best way.”

It is a bit of an outdated story value revisiting, no? It’s worthwhile as Rolling Stone ranked The Gambler because the Twenty first-best nation track in its latest listing of 200 Best Nation Songs of All Time. You possibly can try the listing in its entirety right here.

Final June, the Wanda Rogers-curated and govt produced Kenny Rogers posthumous album, Life Is Like A Tune, was launched.

Rogers handed away in March 2020 of pure causes on the age of 81. The album was launched in reminiscence of Rogers to honour him and his musical legacy.

Life Is Like A Tune was Rogers’s first non-holiday studio album in a decade and his solely non-compilation/non-reissued full-length album to be launched on vinyl since 1991.

Sonia Bompastor: Who is new Chelsea boss?

At Lyon, Bompastor was recognized for her tactical flexibility and in-game adaptability, however has usually favoured a 4-3-3 formation.

Her groups dominate possession by fast transitions, management the midfield and exploit the large areas. Off the ball her groups are stable defensively, with a robust emphasis on urgent for turnovers.

“Tactically, they play actually good soccer,” Laurens mentioned.

“You possibly can see the thought, the way in which they play good soccer, the pass-and-move fashion she all the time wished to implement.”

Bompastor has been privileged to work with one in all, if not the very best squad in Europe at Lyon and is not any stranger to managing large personalities. She additionally has a observe report of giving youthful gamers an opportunity and integrating them throughout the senior group, one thing Hayes did aplenty at Chelsea.

Her fashion will probably be acquainted to quite a few Chelsea gamers, with Catarina Macario and Kadeisha Buchanan enjoying below the Frenchwoman at Lyon.

“She is all the time wanting extra,” Laurens mentioned. “All the time eager to win, all the time hungry, all the time fairly demanding for achievement as effectively.

“She could be robust at instances, but additionally she could be pleasant. If you happen to want her she is there. She has acquired so many qualities.”

Pro golfer Lexi Thompson retires at 29, citing mental health struggles

A 29-year-old participant on the ladies’s skilled golf tour has introduced her retirement, citing the pressures that include enjoying an expert sport within the public eye.

Lexi Thompson, a 12-year veteran of the LPGA, confirmed she is going to retire from skilled golf on the finish of this season in an open letter she shared on Instagram on Could 28.

“Though this has been an incredible journey, it hasn’t all the time been a simple one,” Thompson mentioned within the letter, which was shared on Instagram together with a video montage of highlights from her profession. “Since I used to be 12 years outdated, my life as a golfer has been a whirlwind of fixed consideration, scrutiny and stress. The cameras are all the time on, capturing each swing and each second on and off the golf course.”

“Social media by no means sleeps, with feedback and criticisms flooding in from around the globe,” she added. “It may be exhausting to take care of a smile on the surface whereas grappling with struggles on the within.”

Thompson made historical past when she certified for the U.S. Girls’s Open on the age of 12 in 2007, turning into the youngest particular person to ever achieve this, in response to her LPGA biography.

Over the course of her profession, Thompson grew to become an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, a significant champion, a two-time Olympian and earned over $14 million.

Thompson mentioned in her retirement video that amid her profession highs, she has discovered consolation in talking publicly about her psychological well being “battles.”

“By opening up about my very own battles, I have been capable of join with others who really feel remoted of their struggles, providing them a way of neighborhood and understanding,” she mentioned. “Every time I share, it reinforces the message that it is OK to not be OK, and that searching for assist is an indication of energy, not weak spot.”

Lexi Thompson of america seems to be on throughout a apply spherical previous to the U.S. Girls’s Open Introduced by Ally at Lancaster Nation Membership on Could 29, 2024 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Patrick Smith/Getty Photographs

Thompson additionally spoke concerning the position psychological well being performed in her choice to retire from skilled golf in a press convention Tuesday on the 2024 U.S. Girls’s Open, the identical match the place her profession began.

“I believe all of us have our personal [mental health] struggles, particularly out right here,” she mentioned. “Sadly in golf, you lose greater than you win, so it is an ongoing battle to proceed to place your self on the market in entrance of the cameras and persevering with to work exhausting and possibly not seeing the outcomes you need and getting criticized for it. So it is exhausting. I’ll say, sure, I’ve struggled with it. I do not assume there’s any individual out right here that hasn’t. It is only a matter of how nicely you disguise it, which could be very unhappy.”

She continued, “It is an vital factor to deal with and be okay with getting assist and getting the assist and surrounding your self with the those who assist you and love you as a result of there are all the time individuals who do care a lot about you and can show you how to get by means of these robust moments.”

Thompson’s feedback on psychological well being come simply days after the dad and mom {of professional} golfer Grayson Murray confirmed the two-time PGA Tour winner died by suicide.

“Life wasn’t all the time simple for Grayson, and though he took his personal life, we all know he rests peacefully now,” Eric and Terry Murray mentioned in a press release about their son.

Different skilled athletes have additionally spoken publicly concerning the pressures of competing within the public eye, together with gymnast Simone Biles and Los Angeles Rams backup quarterback Stetson Bennett, who just lately confirmed his time away from the workforce final season was associated to psychological well being.

Thompson mentioned that in her expertise, being an expert athlete will be “lonely.”

“Being out right here, it may be so much. It may be lonely. Sorry if I get emotional,” she mentioned Tuesday, preventing again tears. “Lots of people, they do not understand lots of what we undergo as an expert athlete … We’re doing what we love. We’re attempting our greatest each single day and we’re not good. We’re people. Phrases harm, and it is exhausting to beat typically.”

She credited a core group of individuals round her with serving to her “get by means of some actually exhausting instances.”

“I believe it is so much for everyone out right here, or in any skilled sport,” she mentioned. “Lots of people do not know what we undergo and the quantity of coaching and exhausting work that we put ourselves by means of. It is so much and I believe we deserve much more credit score than what we get.”

When you or somebody you already know are experiencing suicidal, substance use or different psychological well being crises, please name or textual content 988. You’ll attain a skilled disaster counselor without cost, 24 hours a day, seven days every week. You can even go to 988lifeline.org.

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