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Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scottie Scheffler reacts to PGA Tour's major change to season-ending Tour Championship
Scottie Scheffler is the reigning Tour Champion (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Scottie Scheffler has welcomed a major change to the season-ending Tour Championship that will see the PGA Tour finale's format simplified. The conclusion to the FedEx Cup, the event is held annually at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and has since 2019 seen players start in a staggered strokes set-up, with the player entering with the most FedEx Cup points start at 10-under-par. Advertisement The player with the second most points would then start at -8, and so on and so forth down through the final five players in the 30-man field at evens. The PGA Tour has, however, confirmed that the event will be overhauled to revert to a straight strokeplay tournament contested across four rounds, with the winner after 72 holes capturing the FedEx Cup and a five-year Tour exemption. World No 1 Scheffler - who captured his first crown last year despite Collin Morikawa bettering his tally across the event - believes that the switch should make it easier for fans to follow the Tour Championship. 'We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," Scheffler said in a statement. Advertisement "Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players-which brings out the best competition." The PGA Tour are also thought to be considering a change of venue for the tournament, though East Lake could remain in the rotation having hosted since 2004. From 2007 to 2018, the PGA Tour crowned two golfers at the Tour Championship, with the winner of the tournament and the leader in the season-long FedEx Cup points race both recognised.
Indian Express
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
US military shifts messaging in Africa, telling allies to prepare to stand more on their own
The US military is backing off its usual talk of good governance and countering insurgencies' underlying causes, instead leaning into a message that its fragile allies in Africa must be ready to stand more on their own. At African Lion, its largest joint training exercise on the continent, that shift was clear: 'We need to be able to get our partners to the level of independent operations,' Gen. Michael Langley said in an interview with The Associated Press.'There needs to be some burden sharing,' Langley, the US military's top official in Africa, said on Friday, the final day of the exercise. For four weeks, troops from more than 40 countries rehearsed how to confront threats by air, land, and sea. They flew drones, simulated close-quarters combat and launched satellite-guided rockets in the desert. Maneuvers mirrored previous editions of African Lion, now in its 25th year. But mostly gone now is language that emphasizes ideas the US once argued set it apart from Russia and China. Messaging about the interwoven work of defense, diplomacy and development once formed the core of Washington's security pitch. In their place now are calls for helping allies build capacity to manage their own security, which Langley said was a priority for President Donald Trump's Defense Department. 'We have our set priorities now protecting the homeland. And we're also looking for other countries to contribute to some of these global instability areas,' he said, referencing US support for Sudan. The shift comes as the US military makes moves to 'build a leaner, more lethal force,' including potentially cutting military leadership positions in places like Africa, where America's rivals continue to deepen their influence. China has launched its own expansive training program for African militaries. Russian mercenaries are recalibrating and cementing their role as security partner of choice throughout North, West and Central Africa. In an interview a year ago, Langley emphasized what US military officials have long called a 'whole of government approach' to countering insurgency. Even amid setbacks, he defended the US approach and said force alone couldn't stabilize weak states and protect US interests against the risk of violence spilling out. 'I've always professed that AFRICOM is just not a military organization,' Langley said last year. He called good governance an 'enduring solution to a number of layered threats — whether it be desertification, whether it be crop failure from changing environments, or whether it be from violent extremist organizations.' The 'whole of government approach' no longer occupies the same place at the center of U.S. messaging, though Langley said holistic efforts have worked in places like Ivory Coast, where development and defense had reduced attacks by jihadi groups near its volatile northern border. But such successes aren't a pattern. 'I've seen progression and I've seen regression,' said Langley, who is scheduled to exit his post later this year. As the US steps back, insurgencies gain ground. The US military's new posture comes even though many African armies remain ill-equipped and insurgent groups expand. 'We see Africa as the epicenter for both al-Qaida and Islamic State,' a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month, noting both groups had growing regional affiliates and the Islamic State group had shifted command and control to Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue publicly. Africa has rarely ranked high on the Pentagon's list of priorities, but the US has still spent hundreds of millions of dollars on security assistance and has roughly 6,500 Africa Command personnel on the continent. In some regions, the US faces direct competition from Russia and China. In others, regional affiliates of al-Qaida and the IS still require direct military action, Langley said. The messaging shift from 'whole of government' to more burden-sharing comes as fears grow that rising violence could spread beyond hotspots where insurgents have expanded influence and found vacuums in which they can consolidate power. Parts of of both East and West Africa have emerged as epicenters of violence. In 2024, more than half of the world's terrorism victims were killed across West Africa's Sahel, a vast desert territory ruled by military juntas, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. The group, which compiles yearly terrorism statistics, also found Somalia accounted for 6% of all terrorism-related deaths, making it the deadliest for terrorism in Africa outside the Sahel. Since Trump took office, the US military has escalated airstrikes in Somalia, targeting IS and al-Shabab operatives. But despite air support, Somalia's army remains far from being able to maintain security on the ground, Langley acknowledged. 'The Somali National Army is trying to find their way,' Langley said, adding that they had regained some footing after years of setbacks. 'There are some things they still need on the battlefield to be very effective.' Similarly in West Africa, the notion that states could soon have the capacity to counter such threats is a distant prospect, said Beverly Ochieng, an analyst at Control Risks, a security consulting firm. Even before Western influence began to wane in the Sahel, needed military support was limited, threats remained active, and local militaries were left without the tools to confront them. Western powers with a presence in the Sahel have gradually scaled back their engagement, either by choice or after being pushed out by increasingly hostile governments. 'Many of them do not have very strong air forces and are not able to monitor the movement of militants, especially in areas where roads are very difficult to traverse, the infrastructure is extremely poor,' Ochieng, who specializes in the Sahel and Great Power competition in Africa, said.
Economic Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Russian drones attack Ukraine after the Kremlin turns down a ceasefire proposal
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Russia launched more than 100 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, the Ukrainian air force said Monday, after the Kremlin rejected an unconditional 30-day ceasefire in the more than 3-year was no response from the Kremlin, meanwhile, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's challenge for Russia's President Vladimir Putin to meet him for face-to-face peace talks in Turkey this United States and European governments have made a concerted push to stop the fighting, which has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides as well as more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians. Russia's invading forces have taken around one-fifth of a flurry of diplomatic developments over the weekend, Russia shunned the ceasefire proposal tabled by the U.S. and European leaders but offered direct talks with Ukraine on along with European allies, had demanded Russia accept a ceasefire starting Monday before holding peace talks. Moscow effectively rejected that proposal and instead called for direct negotiations in Istanbul.U.S. President Donald Trump insisted Ukraine accept the Russian offer. Zelenskyy went a step further Sunday and put the pressure on Putin by offering a personal meeting between the added its voice to that offer Monday, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urging Putin to accept - though he repeated the European position that a truce must be in place before the talks. Russia's failure to join the ceasefire offered by Ukraine would bring further sanctions on Moscow, European leaders Kyiv, local people expressed a mixture of hope and despondency amid the latest peace doesn't want a truce to halt the war because "it will mean that he has lost," Antonina Metko, 43, told The Associated Press."That is why they are postponing it. And everything will continue in the same way. Unfortunately," she Nehrybetskyi, 72, was more upbeat, saying "the seeds" of a peace agreement are being sown even though "a difficult process" lies ahead. "So let's hope," he Ukrainian government has tried to keep up the momentum for a peace deal started by the Trump administration."Ukraine wants to end this war and is doing everything for this," Zelenskyy said on Telegram Monday. "We expect appropriate steps from Russia."The Ukrainian leader said he told Pope Leo XIV about peace efforts during his first phone conversation with the new is counting on the Vatican's help in securing the return of thousands of children that the Kyiv government says have been deported by Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that he had invited the pope to visit his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff, Leo called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine. "I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people," he 2022, in the war's early months, Zelenskyy repeatedly called for a personal meeting with the Russian president but was rebuffed, and eventually enacted a decree declaring that holding negotiations with Putin had become and Zelenskyy have only met once, in 2019. Trump says "deep hatred" between the sides has made it difficult to push peace efforts forward.___Sylvie Corbet contributed from Paris.___Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Business Mayor
09-05-2025
- Science
- Business Mayor
The reason eggs are less likely to crack when dropped on their side
Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Want to avoid a yolky mess when hard-boiling eggs? Try dropping them in sideways. Experiments with over 200 eggs reveal they're less likely to crack when falling on their side, potentially preventing those stray fissures that release egg white into the boiling water. While this might not revolutionise your morning scramble – cracking an egg around the middle remains the best way to access the yolk – it could offer a helpful tip for smoother hard-boiled eggs. It's often assumed that eggs are strongest at their ends, mimicking how they're packaged. The rounded bottom is thought to deflect impact. However, compression tests show eggs crack under the same force whether squeezed from the ends or the sides. Hundreds of eggs were used to reveal the findings (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) 'The fun started when we thought we would get one result and then we saw another,' said Hudson Borja da Rocha with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who helped run the experiments. The researchers also ran simulations and dropped eggs horizontally and vertically from three short heights up to 0.4 inches (10 millimeters). The egg result? The ones dropped horizontally cracked less . 'The common sense is that the egg in the vertical direction is stronger than if you lay the egg down. But they proved that's not the case,' said materials scientist Marc Meyers with the University of California, San Diego who was not involved with the new study. Read More Why do deep-sea fish look like aliens? Scientists found that the egg's equator was more flexible and absorbed more of the energy of the fall before cracking. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Physics. Eggs are also usually nestled top-down into homemade contraptions for egg drop challenges as part of school STEM projects, which partially inspired the new study. It's not yet clear whether the new results will help protect these vulnerable eggs, which are dropped at much loftier heights. It's a bit counterintuitive that the oblong side of an egg could hold up better against a tumble, said study co-author Tal Cohen with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Countless broken eggs show 'the courage to go and challenge these very common, accepted notions,' Cohen said.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Winning National Lottery numbers for Wednesday April 30
Wednesday's estimated jackpot is £2 million (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Tonight's National Lottery Lotto winning numbers are: 16, 23, 28, 40, 42, 55. The Bonus Ball is 44. Tonight's estimated jackpot is £2 million. Tonight's National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are: 01, 19, 21, 29, 34. The Thunderball is 13. One lucky player scooped a £3.9 million Lotto jackpot after Saturday night's draw. The ticket-holder matched all six main numbers to win the £3,989,857 prize. One player also won £1 million after matching five out of six numbers plus the bonus ball. The winning Lotto numbers for Saturday's draw were 07, 08, 11, 32, 36, 59 and the bonus number was 21. Set of balls 8 was used along with draw machine Guinevere. ADVERTISEMENT No-one won the Lotto HotPicks top prize of £350,000 after no players matched five out of five numbers. The winning numbers for Lotto HotPicks are the same as those for the Lotto draw. A lucky winner scooped £3.9 million on Satuday (PA Archive) Andy Carter, senior winners' adviser at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: 'What fantastic news for our lucky Lotto players, as one ticket-holder has won tonight's £3.9 million jackpot. 'That makes it three Lotto jackpot wins so far this month after a lucky ticket-holder won the £7.3 million jackpot on April 5 and another won the £5.2 million jackpot on April 16. 'Players are urged to check their tickets and to give us a call if they think they are tonight's lucky winner.' Euromillion results Tuesday night's National Lottery EuroMillions winning numbers were 02, 09, 24, 30, 41. The Lucky Stars were 01, 11. ADVERTISEMENT The estimated jackpot is £72 million Millionaire Maker Selection – one UK millionaire has been created: ZWMS62356 Category Main Numbers Category Lucky Star numbers Total No of winners (across all countries) Prize per UK winning ticket 5 2 0 £0 5 1 0 £0 5 0 11 £46,627.00 4 2 32 £945.70 4 1 605 £92.10 3 2 1,156 £50.90 4 0 1,502 £27.50 2 2 16,848 £12.20 3 1 25,854 £8.90 3 0 67,339 £6.30 1 2 89,036 £5.80 2 1 373,985 £4.30 2 0 972,679 £2.70 The National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers were: 02, 04, 15, 23, 24. The Thunderball was 07.
