For half a year there has been a war in Ukraine. Half a year in which the capitals and large parts of the country have been bombed by Russian troops, and everyday life and sport are actually out of the question. Now, last week, on August 24, the day of Ukrainian independence, despite all circumstances, the Ukrainian Football League started again. 16 teams have entered and are playing the tournament under the hardly bearable circumstances of the war. For security reasons, the games take place without an audience and near air raid shelters. Many stadiums and soccer fields were completely destroyed anyway. Andriy Pavelko, president of the Ukrainian Football Federation, nevertheless stressed at the start of the season how important the tournament was for the country: "To set an example for the strength and the will to win of the country.
Sad but true: Since the 1979 revolution, women in Iran have not been allowed to watch soccer matches live in the stadium. Now, for the first time, a small group of female soccer fans were allowed to attend a game again: 500 women cheered in their club's fan section during Esteghlal's 1-0 win over Mes Kerman in Tehran. A few weeks earlier, FIFA President Gianni Infantino had spoken out in favor of women's re-entry during his visit to Tehran. An official statement followed: "FIFA's position is firm and clear: women have to be allowed into football stadiums in Iran. For all football matches."
The 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams plays an emotional farewell tournament at the US Open. She won her opening match Tuesday night against Danka Kovini'c, 6-3, 6-3, and will play world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia on Wednesday as a result. "It means so much to me to be here," Williams said in a specially designed glitter outfit and diamond-studded shoes. Three weeks earlier, she had announced her career end in the fashion magazine Vogue - the exit could not be more glamorous.
Design innovation for the German national soccer teams: men and women will play in a uniform design for the first time. On Monday, the DFB presented the new jerseys, which will be worn for the first time on September 3: The German women's team will then wear them in the qualifying match against Turkey and during the 2023 World Cup, while the men will then wear the retro design with a wide center stripe in Qatar. The World Cup will take place there from November 20 to December 18.
The swimming pools in Wiesbaden and Munich are safer than ever before because they are currently testing a new monitoring system. With the help of a monitoring system with smart cameras, movements in the pool are recorded and analyzed. Conspicuous movement patterns of the swimmers are immediately recognized and sound the alarm on the lifeguards' smartwatches at an early stage. And that's not all: At the same time, the exact location of the person in the pool is displayed, enabling targeted and rapid assistance in critical situations. A lifeguard 2.0, so to speak.
In order to make it more attractive for citizens to switch to bicycles, the French government has decided to grant a surcharge of up to 4,000 euros on the purchase of an (e-)bike. The aim is to relieve congestion in major cities such as Paris and Marseille. Their residents have been suffering for years from extreme air pollution and endless traffic jams. Switching to a bike should not only reduce emissions, but also improve general health through increased exercise.
For 11 hours, Duane Hansen of Nebraska knelt in his giant pumpkin and paddled down the Missouri River. He had grown the orange-red vehicle himself in his garden and hollowed it out for his paddling trip. The fact that the pumpkin boat withstood the trip despite its considerable weight of almost 400 kilograms is at least as amazing as the American's stamina: According to his own Facebook post, his knees still hurt.
