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Taylor Swift accepts the best pop vocal album Grammy award “Midnights.” Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesCNN — 

With unprecedented and dangerous storm activity in and around Southern California, the music industry mustered all of its “the show must go on” spirit to pull off the 66th Grammy Awards, live from Los Angeles.

And go on it did. And on. And on. But that’s award shows.

Thankfully, a few interesting and fun moments — bolstered, of course, by a fast car and a swift bit of news — helped the three-and-a-half-hour program feel like less of a slog than some years in the past. There were also some attention-getting gasps, like when Jay-Z chided the Recording Academy (i.e., the body responsible for putting on the Grammys).

Whether you missed the whole thing, pulled a Meryl by showing up a little late or just want to relive the action, here are some highlights:

News from the Taylor Swift department

In case you didn’t hear the collective Swiftie gasp heard ‘round the world, Taylor Swift has a new album coming out in April. Oh, you were expecting an announcement about “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)”? How cute.

No, Swift knows how to make a headline-making moment into a bigger headline-making moment, and that’s exactly what she did when she picked up her 13th Grammy — for best pop vocal album. Yes, 13 as in her favorite number. Which she made sure to point out in her speech.

“The Tortured Poets Department” was a surprise as Swift-lovers, Grammy viewers and everyone in between didn’t see coming. And those are the best kind of award show moments.

To top it all off, as she is known to do, Swift also picked up a 14th Grammy at the end of the night – a history-making album of the year win.

Fantasia Barrino performs at The 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Sonja Flemming/CBS Entertainment

An unforgettable In Memoriam segment

The music world had what felt like an extraordinarily tough year, with the deaths of many legendary figures. Those indelible losses were highlighted in a 16-minute In Memoriam segment that was at times somber and at other times celebratory.

The tribute enlisted the talents of Stevie Wonder (for an ode to Tony Bennett), Annie Lennox (singing a hit made famous by Sinéad O’Connor), Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino.

The latter, star of “The Color Purple,” was introduced by Oprah Winfrey for a celebration of Tina Turner that got the crowd on their feet and, likely, the heavens hip-shaking with joy.

Mariah Carey, left, presents the award for best pop solo performance to Miley Cyrus for “Flowers” during the 66th annual Grammy Awards. Chris Pizzello/AP

Miley’s great night

Who was having more fun than Miley Cyrus on Sunday night?

First, she won her first-ever Grammy Award for best pop solo performance. Then, she received it from Mariah Carey. Then, she put on an energy-filled performance of “Flowers” that woke up a sometimes-tough-to-win-over audience.

“Why you acting like you don’t know this song?” she chided the audience at one point, mid-song.

Oh, we know it Miley. But it sounds so much better coming from you.

If that wasn’t enough, Cyrus picked up her second Grammy, for record of the year later in the night.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs perform at The 66th Annual Grammy Awards. Sonja Flemming/CBS Entertainment

Rare performances rock the stage

In the notable department, Tracy Chapman, Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel aren’t artists you’d see performing on the Grammy stage every year.

Mitchell’s performance at age 80 on Sunday was her first-ever at the awards event. She performed seated alongside singer Brandi Carlile, who also introduced her.

And Chapman has only appeared as a performer on the ceremony three times prior to this year, the last in 1997. Chapman performed her hit “Fast Car” with country singer Luke Combs, whose country cover of the song gave it new life last year. It was their first time performing it together. Chapman, of course, did what she always does – sing like a storyteller who’s telling a tale both for the first and last time. What a moment.

Joel, meanwhile, took the stage Sunday night to perform “Turn the Lights Back On,” his first new pop single in 17 years. Making the most of his appearance, he performed again following the final award, which was presented by Celine Dion.

Dion’s appearance was, of course, a https://ikutisaja.com welcomed sight, as the singer has been open about her health issues.

Dion presented album of the year following a standing ovation that clearly moved the performer.

“I love you right back,” she said to the crowd.

The heart – like the show – indeed always goes on.

Sheikh Akram Al-Kaabi, leader of the Al-Nujaba militant group, attends a ceremony honoring members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards killed in Iraq, on April 24, 2019. Murtaja Lateef/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCNN — 

An Iran-backed militia in Iraq has said it will continue to strike United States forces as the Biden administration considers how to retaliate against a drone attack on its base in Jordan that killed three US service members last week.

The leader of the Al-Nujaba militant group, Akram Al-Kaabi, said it won’t follow a decision this week by Iran’s most powerful Iraqi proxy, Kataib Hezbollah, to suspend operations against US forces in the region.

Al-Kaabi said that attacks against the US won’t stop until American troops withdraw from Iraq, and Israeli military operations cease in Gaza, according to a statement on Friday.

The move suggests that Iran may not be fully in control of some of the militant groups it funds, trains and arms in the region, as some continue to target US forces despite the risk of a significant escalation that could draw Iran and the US into a direct confrontation.

RELATED ARTICLEWhite House formally assigns blame for drone strike in Jordan that killed 3 American service members

The US believes an umbrella group of Iran-backed militants called Islamic Resistance in Iraq was behind the strike on the Jordan base and is now preparing to respond. The assault was the most serious of many targeting US forces in the Middle East since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, and the first in which US troops have died.

Al-Kaabi, who is listed by the US as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), added that US threats will not intimidate his group. “Any targeting will be met with an appropriate response,” he said.

US officials believe there are signs the Iranian leadership is nervous about some of the actions of its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, according to multiple people familiar with US intelligence, as attacks from militia groups threaten to disrupt the global economy.

Iran has repeatedly said that it does not seek conflict. On Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country will not initiateany war but will “respond strongly” to bullies.

“We have said many times that we will not start any war; but if an oppressive country or force wants to bully us, the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond strongly,” he said in a televised speech in the southern Iranian Hormozgan province.

RELATED ARTICLEUS sees signs Iran is worried about escalating proxy attacks amid heightened tensions

Since October 7 and the start of the war in Gaza, American troops have come under attack approximately 166 times in Iraq and Syria, US officials said. The US has meanwhile carried out a series of strikes in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Yemen’s Houthis have also continued to attack US interests despite multiple airstrikes by US and UK forces.

Last month, a US strike in Iraq killed two members of Al-Nujaba, including a prominent commander of who was actively involved https://ikutisaja.com in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel, a US defense official said at the time. The US has also targeted Kataib Hezbollah.

The above ink, on the forearm of tattooer John Lapides’ first Spotify tattoo customer, leads to the Michael Bublé song “Everything.” John Lapides/Spray Day Tattoos

(CNN) — What if you were able to have your favorite song basically on speed dial, ready to go for any moment that calls for it?

What’s known as a “Spotify tattoo” has made that possible: On Spotify, every piece of content has a series of unique sound bars known as a Spotify code, meant for sharing the content with someone when scanned with the camera function on Spotify’s mobile app. Get a code tattooed on your arm or another body part and, when scanned, it should immediately play the content associated with it.

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Pictured is the Spotify code for “Dear to Me,” a song by the Los Angeles-based band Electric Guest. From Spotify

(That is, when the tattoo has been done well, and especially when it’s fresh. The Wall Street Journal, for example, has interviewed several people who reported their tattoos were no longer working once both the body art and their skin had started to age.)

Spotify launched its codes in 2017. Exactly when the tattoo fad began isn’t clear, but on TikTok, videos tagged “#spotifytattoo” have garnered 14.8 million views. Ten million of these were on a viral clip of a UK-based tattoo artist showing off the results of a Spotify tat on his friend’s forearm — it played the friend’s wedding song, “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri, to their delight. In the last few years, at least a few hundred people have also gone under the needle to pay permanent tribute to their favorite tunes, showing off their musical ink on TikTok or Instagram.

See how tattoo art has changed since the 18th century

“We love seeing listeners wear the audio they love on their sleeves and helping them rep their fandom,” Spotify told The Wall Street Journal in a statement. CNN has reached out to the company for additional comment.

This Spotify tattoo is for “Gone Away” by The Offspring. John Lapides/Spray Day Tattoos

Tattooing the codes can be stressful, especially in that moment of truth between finishing the piece and testing whether it works, said tattoo artist John Lapides of United Tattoo in Fountain, Colorado. Lapides has inked two Spotify tattoos: One connected to the Michael Bublé song “Everything” in November 2022, and another in December of that year for “Gone Away” by the band The Offspring.

“I told them, ‘If it is scannable, fantastic. If it’s not scannable, I’m sorry, but that’s part of the risk,’” Lapides said. “Lo and behold, when we finished it was scannable.”

Reasons why people get these tattoos run the gamut: Some people simply want the fun party trick of flashing a phone at their arm to play Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” while others have more sentimental motivations.

The song choice of Lapides’ first Spotify code customer was related to a memory of their father who passed away, he remembered. The customer shared that the tattoo “almost brought their dad back around,” Lapides said, “because now they’re able to listen to the song and always have it.”

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7330651527587319086?lang=en-US&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2024%2F02%2F01%2Fstyle%2Fspotify-tattoo-trend-risks-tips-wellness%2Findex.html&embedFrom=oembed

Other times, it’s simply a means of decorating the body, said Drew Hibbard, a tattoo artist and piercer at Blue Lotus Tattoo & The Piercing Lounge in Madison, Wisconsin. Hibbard has applied one Spotify tattoo.

“Life is short,” he added. “I’ve definitely fallen victim to getting quirky, fun tattoos just for the hell of it … Each one of my tattoos are like a time stamp for a part of my life.”

In conversations with CNN, Lapides and Hibbard discussed what to know if you’re considering having a favorite song immortalized on your body.

These conversations have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: How do you tattoo a Spotify code?

John Lapides: Prior to the actual tattooing process, I’d take a picture of the code and, like I would for any other tattoo, print it out on a machine that had ink on the back of the page so I could transfer the design from the paper to the skin. That helps me know that all my straight lines were straight, all my parallel lines were parallel, and all my circles were circular. I just follow those purple stencil lines with the tattoo machine as closely as possible, and then do the shading on top.

Are there ways to maximize the chances of it working?

Lapides: Make sure the tattoo is done on a flatter body part so the camera can read it as easily as possible with as little distortion as possible — I’m sure if it’s in some way rolling off the side of your arm, it will be harder to scan. Both tattoos I did were done on forearms, one was closer to the wrist and the other to the elbow.

The surprising history of the barcode

Drew Hibbard: You don’t want it on your hands or feet because they don’t hold ink well and they’re always being used.

Lapides: Line weight and line thickness also play a huge role. The lines (in a Spotify code) vary in height, and if one of those lines is not straight or not symmetrical on the top and bottom ends, or on the left and right, the tattoo might not be readable.

It’s also good to have the lines be a little thinner than needed at first, because if it doesn’t work, you can thicken them — but you can’t take away thickness. And as time goes on, those lines will get a bit thicker (as skin stretches, ages or loses elasticity). You need to have gaps in between that are going to always stay gaps.

Also, the tattoo doesn’t necessarily need the three lines within that little circular Spotify logo, but it does need the circle.

Will these tattoos age well over time?

Hibbard: Spotify tattoos are a super cute and meaningful idea, but years down the road, who knows if Spotify will even be a thing? Also, companies are always upgrading what they’re doing — who knows if they’ll switch to a QR code like everybody else.

Lapides: I’m not sure if these will be scannable 10 to 20 years from now. People lose weight, gain weight or get pregnant. But I’ve hopefully given them the best chance of being scannable by leaving gaps or space for the tattoo to expand and age.

Hibbard: That’s why you should also pick a size that will age well — doing a 4- or 5-inch tattoo leaves a lot more room than a 2-inch one. And doing the correct instructed aftercare also helps. Always moisturize.

How can someone find an adept tattoo artist or studio?

Lapides: Studios’ websites and Instagrams are helpful resources; you can also find a reputable studio by good reviews or word https://ikutisaja.com of mouth. You can go to the shop as well to get a sense of their professionalism and respect for your input.

But not everyone in a reputable studio is created equal. Artists who do fine line, traditional, geometric or black-work styles — which revolve around very clean line work — are good choices, but a watercolor tattoo artist might not do the cleanest piece.

The aftermath of a Russian attack on the Retroville shopping mall in Kyiv last March. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty ImagesLondonCNN — 

Russian assets frozen in European accounts are generating billions of dollars in interest payments that could be diverted to help repair Ukraine’s war-torn economy — and the European Union just took a step closer to doing that.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries froze nearly half of Moscow’s foreign reserves — some €300 billion ($327 billion). Around €200 billion ($218 billion) sits in the European Union — mostly at Euroclear, a financial institution that keeps assets safe for banks, exchanges and investors.

EU leaders agreed a crucial $50 billion funding package for Ukraine on Thursday and came closer to finalizing a plan to use the profits piling up in Euroclear’s accounts.

In a statement issued at the end of a summit, EU leaders said “potential revenues could be generated … concerning the use of extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from the immobilised Central Bank of Russia assets.”

Belgium-based Euroclear disclosed Thursday that it has earned €5.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in interest on income generated by sanctioned Russian assets since they were frozen by EU and Group of Seven countries in 2022.

“The number of sanctions and countersanctions that have been introduced since February 2022 are unprecedented and continue to have a significant impact on the daily operations of Euroclear,” the group said in a statement.

The European Union and its allies are determined to make Russia foot part of the colossal bill for rebuilding Ukraine — estimated by the World Bank a year ago at $411 billion over the next decade.

One proposal put forward by the European Commission would involve using a special levy to collect the windfall interest income, which would then be paid into the EU budget for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

RELATED ARTICLEEU agrees $50B funding deal for Ukraine at pivotal time in the war

That plan has been delayed by legal and financial concerns, with some EU member states and the European Central Bank worried that even carefully targeted measures could fall foul of international law and shake confidence in the euro as the world’s second biggest reserve currency. The EU has been at pains to contrast the illegality of Russia’s invasion with its own strict adherence to the rule of law.

EU member countries have now agreed in principle to tap this windfall interest income, although the details of how this will be done practically must still be ironed out, an EU diplomat told CNN. Lawyers are working on the text of the agreement before returning it to EU member states for final approval.

In its earnings statement, Euroclear — which settles cross-border trades and safeguards more than $40 trillion in assets — said it was focused on “minimising potential legal and operational risks” that may arise from proposals by EU officials to hand the money to Ukraine.

Euroclear said additional administrative costs relating to the sanctions cost it €62 million ($67 million) last year, “with considerable senior management and board focus on the topic.”

It added that cash on its balance sheet soared €38 billion ($41 billion) year-on-year to €162 billion ($175 billion), boosted by payments associated with frozen Russian assets, including bonds.

These payments include, for example, interest paid on bonds, known as coupons, or the proceeds generated by securities that mature and are reinvested.

Ordinarily, these payments would have been made to Russian bank accounts, but they have been blocked by the sanctions and are generating vast amounts of interest — even more so given the recent spate of rate hikes.

Euroclear, for its part, is embroiled in several legal proceedings pertaining to the sanctions — almost exclusively in Russian courts — as claimants seek to access the assets blocked in its books.

The company said it continues to https://ikutisaja.com retain profits related to these assets “until further guidance is provided on the distribution or management of such profits.”

A new study raises new questions about Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases.Andrew Brookes/Image Source/Getty ImagesCNN — 

Early-onset dementia symptoms in five adults may be connected to a now-discontinued human growth hormone medical treatment that they received decades ago as children, a new study suggests.

The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, provides the first reported evidence of medically acquired Alzheimer’s disease in living people. In these cases, the patients’ early-onset dementia symptoms may be the result of the possible transmission of amyloid beta protein, which is a key component of Alzheimer’s disease when it forms plaques in the brain.

Abnormal buildup of the protein amyloid beta in the brain is associated with Alzheimer’s and the new study suggests that amyloid beta contamination may have a connection with the early dementia symptoms experienced by the patients in the study. The study findings do not suggest that Alzheimer’s disease can be contagious, or spread like viral or bacterial infections, for instance, but they raise new questions about Alzheimer’s and other degenerative diseases.

“I should emphasize these are very rare occurrences, and the majority of this relates to medical procedures that are no longer used,” John Collinge, lead author of the study and director of the University College London Institute of Prion Diseases, said in a news briefing.

RELATED ARTICLENew blood test that screens for Alzheimer’s may be a step closer to reality, study suggests

All five adults had growth hormone deficiency as children and received pituitary growth hormones prepared in a specific way from cadavers. The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain, and human growth hormone, or HGH, is a natural hormone the gland makes and releases, promoting growth in children.

Between 1959 and 1985, these patients were among the at least 1,848 people in the United Kingdom who were treated with a human growth hormone derived from a cadaver’s pituitary gland, according to the study. At the time, this treatment also was used in other parts of the world, including the United States. The treatment approach was discontinued after cases of a rare brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were found to be associated with the administration of contaminated human growth hormone from cadavers.

The new study suggests that repeated exposure, over multiple years, to treatments with cadaver-derived HGH that had been contaminated by both prions associated with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and amyloid beta seeds could transmit Alzheimer’s disease. Prions are proteins that can act as transmissible agents of neurodegenerative diseases.

The researchers wrote in their study that Alzheimer’s disease may be transmissible, in certain circumstances, in a way similar to conditions known as “prion diseases” — a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders known to be associated with prion proteins, including Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD. Although Alzheimer’s is not a prion disease, some separate research suggests that the two proteins that are hallmarks in Alzheimer’s disease — amyloid beta and tau — behave like prions.

“It looks like what’s going on in Alzheimer’s disease is very similar in many respects to what happens in the human prion diseases like CJD,” Collinge said in the news briefing. “It does raise implications about therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer’s disease.”

‘The public has nothing to fear’

In 2015, the researchers previously described “possible evidence” that transmission of amyloid beta protein from a cadaver’s growth hormone to a recipient was feasible and then in 2018, they studied this in lab mice.

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RELATED VIDEOHear physician explain new research clue on Alzheimer’s disease

“We now provide evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is also transmissible in certain circumstances,” the researchers – from the University College London and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in the United Kingdom – wrote in their study. Though they add that this type of transmission is “rare” and there is no suggestion that amyloid beta can be transmitted between people in everyday activities or modern-day routine medical care.

“After human growth hormones were no longer used in the 1980s due to concerns over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease transmission, strict procedures were put in place to minimise cross-contamination. But in light of these findings, researchers recommend that medical procedures should be reviewed to ensure that rare cases of Alzheimer’s transmission like this do not happen in the future,” Dr. Susan Kohlhaas, executive director of research and partnerships at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said about the new study in a written statement distributed by the UK-based Science Media Centre.

“This study suggests that in very rare circumstances Alzheimer’s disease may be transmitted between humans via human growth hormone from deceased donors. It must be stressed that this treatment is no longer used today and has been replaced with synthetic growth hormone,” Kohlhaas said in the statement. “It’s also important to stress that this is the only recorded instance of Alzheimer’s transmission between humans.”

RELATED ARTICLEAlzheimer’s and HRT: Study suggests sweet spot to avoid dementia

Dr. Richard Isaacson, who was not involved in the new study, said in an email that he has suspected for a while that Alzheimer’s disease may have some transmissibility similar to prion diseases, but prior research he has seen was unable to prove it.

“While it’s hard to say, there must be something different about how HGH may have infected recipients in this study when compared to prior work,” said Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida.

He added that “the public has nothing to fear” since this type of human growth hormone treatment is no longer in clinical practice, but the study emphasizes the importance of sterilization and decontamination of instruments in between surgeries.

While there is no suggestion that amyloid beta can be transmitted between individuals in day-to-day activities, “its recognition emphasizes the need to review measures to prevent accidental transmissions via other medical and surgical procedures,” researchers wrote in the study.

“I’m also intrigued by how these results may inform potential therapeutic targets and strategies in the future,” Isaacson said, regarding Alzheimer’s disease.

‘Asking new scientific questions’

The researchers examined eight cases in which a person had a history of being treated with human growth hormone derived from a cadaver’s pituitary gland. All of them had been treated as children. Five of the patients were still alive during the study and were in their 50s. The three others had died at ages 57, 54 and 47.

RELATED ARTICLEAs Alzheimer’s burden grows, ability to care for US seniors faces critical challenges, report says

The researchers found that five of the patients had symptoms consistent with early-onset dementia and three of those five had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease before the study. Four of the patients started experiencing symptoms between the ages of 48 and 49. The remaining patient started having symptoms at 55.

“We have found that it is possible for amyloid-beta pathology to be transmitted and contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Gargi Banerjee, the study’s first author and researcher at the University College London Institute of Prion Diseases, said in a news release.

“This transmission occurred following treatment with a now obsolete form of growth hormone, and involved repeated treatments with contaminated material, often over several years,” Banerjee said. “There is no indication that Alzheimer’s disease can be acquired from close contact, or during the provision of routine care.”

The new study is the first time that Dr. James Galvin, director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health at UHealth, the University of Miami Health System, has heard of Alzheimer’s disease transmission in humans.

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“The cases were all very young onset, which would make one suspicious that there are extraneous factors involved. Typically, early onset is linked to genetic mutations, but as this was not found, the most likely common attributable cause would be the cadaveric growth hormone treatment. More investigation is needed,” Galvin, who was not involved in the study, said in an email.

“I would say at this point, there is nothing additional that we need to do as far as clinical practice, but this certainly lends itself to asking new scientific questions. Proteins involved in brain disease, such as prion protein in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, are transmissible,” he said. “Additionally, other proteins involved in disease, such as alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, share some of these properties but do not appear to https://ikutisaja.com be transmissible. The science of amyloid and tau proteins in Alzheimer’s disease may need to be revisited.”

Britney Spears and Justin TimberlakeGetty ImagesCNN — 

In the music world, old grudges die hard, especially when it comes to devoted fans of a specific artist.

On Friday, Britney Spears’ 2011 song “Selfish” – off her seventh album “Femme Fatale” from that year – reached no. 1 on the US iTunes chart, topping a new song of the same name from her former boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who dropped his “Selfish” track just the day before.

On Saturday, Spears’ song was still holding steady at the no. 2 spot on the chart, two slots ahead of Timberlake at no. 4.

Why does this matter? Both a 2021 documentary titled “Framing Britney Spears” and a memoir by the singer published last year, titled “The Woman In Me,” reframed and pulled back the covers on Spears’ very high-profile, decades-old romance with Timberlake, with whom she starred on the Mickey Mouse Club as children and later dated from 1999 to 2002.

In the memoir, Spears talked about how the breakup of her relationship with Timberlake became very public due to infidelity on her part, but what the public didn’t know was that Timberlake had not been faithful either, Spears wrote in the memoir, and that she was aware of his indiscretions.

She also discussed how she had an abortion during her relationship with Timberlake, something she wrote she “never would have done” if it were up to her alone. “To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life,” she added in her book.

Those revelations came two years after the “New York Times Presents” Hulu documentary “Framing Britney Spears,” which also renewed focus on her breakup with Timberlake and how, at the time, the former *NSYNC member was portrayed more positively in the media narrative about their breakup while Spears was summarily vilified.

The documentary prompted Spears’ devoted fanbase – who became galvanized during the #FreeBritney movement toward the end of her 13-year-long conservatorship – to call for an apology from Timberlake, which he did days after the doc’s premiere, writing on social media at the time, “I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments and concerns and I want to respond.”

“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, https://ikutisaja.com or did not speak up for what was right,” he continued, later adding, “I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears.”

Clearly, devotees of Spears are still rallying to show support for the “Piece of Me” singer.

Jannik Sinner is aiming to win his first grand slam title.Alessandra Tarantino/APCNN — 

For years, tennis has been searching for the players to fill the sizeable shoes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when all of the ‘Big Three’ finally hang up their rackets.

Carlos Alcaraz has emerged only relatively recently to pick up the torch as the leading star of the new generation, but Jannik Sinner now has the chance to join him at the head of the pack.

Sinner ended defending champion Novak Djokovic’s 33-match winning streak at the Australian Open, a run stretching back to 2018, to reach his maiden grand slam final, where he will face Russia’s Daniil Medvedev on Sunday.

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The 22-year-old has always been lauded as one of the tennis’ most talented young players, but his ascension since the latter stages of last season has vaulted him into the upper echelons of the sport.

It was put to Sinner after his semifinal win that he, Alcaraz and Holger Rune seem to be having more success than the generation before them.

“I feel like that mentally everyone is different and [the] attitude on the court is different, but that, what I think we have in common is we believe in ourselves in one way, and this helps a lot because, in tennis, when you believe, it’s a huge amount already,” Sinner told reporters.

“But I think we have [been] really lucky to see him [Djokovic] around, that we can see what he’s doing, how he’s practicing. Hopefully, Rafa [Nadal] is coming back, so I can see also him. I had the privilege to watch him when I was in Adelaide with him. Roger, unfortunately, I have never had the chance to, but it is what it is.

“In another way, I feel like talking about my part is that I always try to learn from them and then trying to get something from them, no? This has been always my part of the process, and the process we are making is not finished yet because I feel like that we still have to improve a lot.”

Medvedev is part of that prior generation, but the Russian has previously enjoyed grand slam success as the winner of the US Open in 2021.

Medvedev is bidding to win his second grand slam title.David Gray/AFP/Getty Images

This is the 27-year-old’s third Australian Open final after losing to Djokovic in 2021 and Nadal in 2022, but Medvedev is now much more assured in his game, highlighted by his stunning semifinal comeback over Alexander Zverev.

It has been a marathon route for Medvedev to reach the final in Melbourne, playing three five-set epics and spending almost 21 hours out on the court so far.

The Russian even made light of his tough journey so far, writing on a courtside camera lens after his win over Zverev: “Not enough sleep but whatever.”

But Medvedev credited those tough matches for getting him through the semifinal.

“Mentally 100%, I’m stronger than I was before this tournament because now I know that I’m capable of some things maybe I thought I’m not,” he told reporters. “Because before, I didn’t do anything like this to get to the final.

“So mentally, I’m stronger than before, and I’m happy about it. Probably honestly, it’s better to https://ikutisaja.com be in the final winning three-set, four-set matches. That’s the better way physically. But it is what it is, and I’m proud and looking forward to the final to give my 100% again.”

Groundwater-fed irrigation of maize in Kabwe, Zambia.Mark Hughes

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Many parts of the world are experiencing a rapid depletion in the subterranean reserves of water that billions of people rely on for drinking, irrigation and other uses, according to new research that analyzed millions of groundwater level measurements from 170,000 wells in more than 40 countries.

It’s the first study to piece together what’s happening to groundwater levels at a global scale, according to the researchers involved, and will help scientists better understand what impact humans are having on this valuable underground resource, either through overuse or indirectly by changes in rainfall linked to climate change.

Groundwater, contained within cracks and pores in permeable bodies of rock known as aquifers, is a lifeline for people especially in parts of the world where rainfall and surface water are scarce, such as northwest India and the southwest United States.

Reductions in groundwater can make it harder for people to access freshwater to drink or to irrigate crops and can result in land subsidence.

“This study was driven by curiosity. We wanted to better understand the state of global groundwater by wrangling millions of groundwater level measurements,” said co-lead author Debra Perrone, an associate professor in University of California’s Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program, in a news release on the study that published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

RELATED ARTICLEWells are running dry in drought-weary Southwest as foreign-owned farms guzzle water to feed cattle overseas

The authors found that groundwater levels declined between 2000 and 2022 in 71% of the 1,693 aquifer systems included in the research, with groundwater levels declining more than 0.1 meter a year in 36%, or 617, of them.

The Ascoy-Soplamo Aquifer in Spain had the fastest rate of decline in the data they compiled — a median decline of 2.95 meters per year, said study coauthor Scott Jasechko, an associate professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at University of California Santa Barbara.

Several aquifer systems in Iran were among those with the fastest rate of groundwater decline, he added.

The team wasn’t able to gather data from much of Africa, South America and southeast Asia because of a lack of monitoring, but Jasechko said the study included the countries where most global groundwater pumping takes place.

Declines not universal

The study also highlighted some success stories in Bangkok, Arizona and New Mexico, where groundwater has begun to recover after interventions to better regulate water use or redirect water to replenish depleted aquifers.

“I was impressed by the clever strategies that have been put into action to address groundwater depletion in several places, though these ‘good news’ stories are very rare,” Jasechko said via email.

To understand whether the declines seen in the 21st century were accelerating, the team also accessed data for groundwater levels for 1980 to 2000 for 542 of the aquifers in the study.

They found that declines in groundwater levels sped up in the first two decades of the 21st century for 30% of those aquifers, outpacing the declines recorded between 1980 and 2000.

“These cases of accelerating groundwater-level declines are more than twice as prevalent as one would expect from random fluctuations in the absence of any systematic trends in either time period,” the study noted.

Donald John MacAllister, a hydrologist at the British Geological Survey who wasn’t involved in the research, said it was a really “impressive” set of data, despite some gaps.

“I think it’s fair to say this global compilation of groundwater data hasn’t been done, certainly on this scale, at least to my knowledge before,” he said.

“Groundwater is an incredibly important resource but one of the challenges is… because we can’t see it, it’s out of mind for https://ikutisaja.com most people. Our challenge is to constantly bang the drum for policymakers — that we have this resource that we have to look after, and that we can use to build resilience and adapt to climate change.”

Israeli soldiers hold the coffin of Major Ilay Levy, one of the soldiers killed Monday, during a funeral in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance/Getty ImagesJerusalemCNN — 

Twenty-four Israeli soldiers were killed during fighting in Gaza on Monday, the military said, in the deadliest day for its troops inside the battered enclave since the war with Hamas began.

Most of the soldiers – 21 – were killed in an attack in central Gaza “when a terrorist squad surprised our fighters and launched missiles and rockets,” said Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

That attack, which Hagari said happened several hundred meters from the eastern border, was the deadliest single incident for the IDF in Gaza since the ground invasion began on October 27. A further three Israeli soldiers – an IDF captain and two majors – were killed in a separate incident the same day, in southern Gaza.

The attack in central Gaza took place as the IDF soldiers were laying explosives to demolish “terror infrastructure and buildings,” according to Hagari.

A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit one of the buildings and set off an explosion that led to its collapse.

“Most of our fighters died because of the collapse of that building,” Hagari said.

Another RPG hit a nearby IDF tank, killing the tank commander and another Israeli soldier, Hagari added.

On Monday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 25,295, with at least 63,000 injuries recorded.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing increasing political pressure on multiple fronts, said the deaths of the soldiers represented “one of the most difficult days since the outbreak of the war.”

“I mourn for our fallen heroic soldiers. I hug the families in their time of need and we all pray for the peace of our wounded,” Netanyahu said, adding that the IDF had launched an investigation into the incident.

The Israeli military’s large-scale bombing campaign in Gaza has been ongoing since the October 7 murder and kidnapping rampage by Hamas gunmen that saw some 1,200 people killed in Israel and more than 250 taken hostage. One hundred and thirty two hostages remain in Gaza. Of those, 104 are believed to still be alive.

The incidents in Gaza on Monday bring the number of Israeli soldiers killed since operations there began to 219.

The previous deadliest day for IDF soldiers in Gaza since the start of the conflict was October 31, when 16 Israeli troops died. That day also included the previous deadliest incident, which saw 11 troops killed in an armored personnel carrier.

Khan Younis surrounded

In recent weeks, the Israeli military’s main focus has been in southern Gaza, with intense fighting around the city of Khan Younis.

The IDF said Tuesday that the city is now surrounded, while the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says nearly 200 people have been killed in the past day.

In a statement Tuesday, the IDF said “dozens of terrorists” had been killed in the past 24 hours by IDF ground troops in coordination with the Israeli air force.

“Over the past day, IDF troops carried out an extensive operation during which they encircled Khan Younis and deepened the operation in the area. The area is a significant stronghold of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade,” the IDF said.

Hagari said Israeli soldiers continue to fight in Khan Younis, adding, “It’s a very complicated area – very crowded, with a lot of people living there.” One hundred Hamas fighters have been killed in the Khan Younis area within the last day, Hagari claimed.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN Monday that a major Israeli military offensive underway in western Khan Younis is expected to last several more days. The source said Israeli troops had encircled the Khan Younis refugee camp and were conducting raids to try and dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities in the area.

Medical facilities in the city have been battered amid an Israeli assault in the area Monday, Palestinian health officials said, as the number of people killed in Israel’s siege on Gaza continues to rise.

On Monday, the Hamas-controlled health ministry said Nasser Hospital is receiving more patients with serious injuries than it can accommodate and intensive care units have reached capacity.

This month, Israeli officials said its military will shift toward a new, less intense phase of operations in Gaza, but a humanitarian crisis in the enclave continues to deepen.

Netanyahu is facing mounting pressure both on the state of the conflict at present and on what Gaza will look like once the fighting ends.

The Israeli prime minister is being pushed by the international community – including the US, Israel’s most important ally – to allow the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Domestically, he is being pressured to guarantee Israel’s security, most notably from far-right members of his coalition.

He has also faced growing criticism inside Israel for so far failing to secure the release of all the hostages https://ikutisaja.com taken by Hamas during their October 7 attack.

Israel has offered a two-month ceasefire to Hamas as part of a prospective hostage deal, Axios reported Monday, citing two unnamed Israeli officials. Israeli officials are optimistic about Hamas’ response to that proposed deal, CNN foreign policy analyst Barak Ravid told CNN on Monday.

A Ryanair flight from Dublin struggled to land at Leeds Bradford Airport during Storm Isha.Andrew McCaren/LNP/Shutterstock

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Thousands of airline passengers across Europe woke up this morning at the wrong destination – and even in the wrong country – after Storm Isha caused havoc with flights, with dozens of cancelations, diversions and go-arounds in western Europe.

It’s usually the quickest way of getting from A to B for long journeys, but for those traveling to and from Ireland and the UK last night, flying became an odyssey. Airports in Ireland and the UK were badly hit by the storm, with gusts of up to 90 mph slicing across the runways.

Many aircraft heading west diverted to safer landings in continental Europe, often having flown to the destination before failing to land. Ryanair was especially affected, since its base is Dublin, where a whopping 166 inbound and outbound flights were canceled on Sunday, according to Kevin Cullinane, group head of communications at daa, the operator of Dublin Airport.

The airport also saw 36 flight diversions and 34 go-arounds – where planes abandon landing mid-process and decide to ‘go around’ for another try.

The numbers explain the extraordinary scenes that unfolded as aircraft attempted to complete their flights to and from Ireland.

Airplane bounces along Heathrow runway during Storm Gerrit

A Ryanair flight from Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, to Dublin made it almost as far as the Irish capital, before turning around and diverting to Bordeaux, France, without attempting to land.

Quintupling flight times

This flight from Shannon to Edinburgh ended up in Cologne.FlightRadar

Another Ryanair flight, FR555, was meant to make a quick hop from Manchester to Dublin. After circling nearby in a holding pattern, it attempted to land at Dublin but made a go-around and diverted to Paris Beauvais. What’s usually a half-hour flight became two-and-a-half hours.

Another Manchester-Dublin flight went back and forth between the UK and Ireland for over three hours, appearing to circle but abandon landing at Dublin, attempt to get on the ground at Belfast (where it made a go-around) and circling over Glasgow before landing in Liverpool – just 31 miles away from the departure airport.

A Manchester-Dublin flight tried Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow before landing in Liverpool.FlightRadar

A third, FR816, due to make the hour-long flight from Shannon to Edinburgh, flew all the way to Scotland and then diverted to Cologne, in Germany. It was heavily delayed, too: due to depart Dublin at 3.35 p.m. it arrived in Cologne around midnight.

A Lufthansa flight from Munich to Dublin was forced to do a go-around and return to Munich.

Airport falls silent as priest blesses planes

Cork, in Ireland, saw 13 cancelations on Sunday, as well as six diversions and seven go-arounds.

The UK was also badly hit. There were over 100 go-arounds at UK airports, according to NATS, the UK’s air traffic control operator.

“Isha made its presence felt in the south of England and Ireland, where the winds were gusting 70-75 mph, south-westerly which meant crosswinds at our major airports in the south, with wind shear and turbulence adding extra challenges for flight crews,” Steve Fox, head of network operations for NATS, wrote in a blog post.

“And in the north of the country, the winds were even more fierce, with gusts of more than 90 mph creating problems not just for aviation but the whole of the transport infrastructure.

“As UK airfields started to fill up with aircraft either unable to depart or diverted, throughout the evening we monitored the situation as aircraft diverted from Dublin to Deauville, Edinburgh to Cologne and wherever in the UK was least affected and space still available at the pilot’s critical decision point.”

The day plane spotting took over the UK

There were 44 cancelations at Edinburgh, according to a spokesperson for the airport, who called Sunday’s operations “challenging.” Eight flights were diverted.

Manchester saw 14 cancelations, but fewer go-arounds than other airports because of the direction of the gusts, according to a spokesperson. “We did see some diverted flights leaving Manchester and some diverted to Manchester because of conditions at other airports, particularly Dublin,” they said. A domestic carrier, Loganair, canceled all its flights yesterday at the airport.

London’s Gatwick airport saw 22 diversions, but was able to take five flights diverted from other airports, according to a spokesperson for the airport. Stansted, northeast of London, was less affected, with nine cancelations but receiving 31 diversions.

An easyJet flight from Antalya, Turkey, to Manchester, made all the way to the UK before turning around and making a safe landing in Lyon, France.

One aircraft even attempted to land in the UK instead of continue its route. Ryanair flight 718 from Manchester to Budapest was seen descending to 1,200 feet at Stansted before ascending again and continuing to Budapest.

Flight tracking websites lit up with bizarre routes and swirls, as planes circled, waiting for a safe window to land – then turned around to divert somewhere in another country.

By Monday morning, the knock-on effects were showing, with aircraft out of position scattered across Europe. There were 29 cancelations at Dublin by 8.30 a.m., said Cullinane. Passengers affected by the storm will have additional parking charges waived, he added. There was just one cancelation at Cork today.

‘People want drama’

A Manchester-Dublin flight ended up in Paris.FlightRadar

As is becoming customary when there’s a storm in the UK, aviation streamer Jerry Dyer of Big Jet TV was at Heathrow, watching the planes come in during the afternoon.

Although the winds hadn’t reached their peak – Dyer stopped the feed when it got dark – he caught on camera aircraft struggling with the wind and making hard landings – such as an Aeromexico flight from Mexico City, that started “oscillating” as it landed, tipping from side to side.

“It’s like driving a vehicle in heavy winds, you’re counteracting everything,” he told CNN.

“It’s very controlled, they know what they’re doing.”

Over 350,000 people have watched his footage of the Isha landings.

“People watch for entertainment value but are also secretly watching to see if anything happens – they want drama, like a go-around,” he said.

Another streamer compiled footage of every go-around at Birmingham Airport.

One pilot who landed at London Heathrow in the late afternoon told CNN that they battled winds of almost 90 knots (104 mph) at 3,000 feet, which dropped to 35 knots (40 mph) at ground level.

“Getting the aircraft onto the ground safely is a huge team effort in circumstances like yesterday and not all of that team is piloting the aircraft,” said the pilot, who wished to remain anonymous because their airline does not allow them to speak for it.

“This presents significant challenges for not only the pilots but the air traffic controllers that vector the aircraft onto their final approach. The wind was https://ikutisaja.com so strong yesterday we had a groundspeed that would have, in less extreme conditions, seen us overtaken by a helicopter.”

They added that dealing with situations like this are normal.

“Whilst it may be exciting and sometimes stressful for passengers, and even entertaining when narrated by Jerry from Big Jet TV, it’s all part of a day’s work for an airline pilot. We train for these extreme events and plan for success, but also consider our contingencies in great detail. Yesterday we allowed sufficient fuel for an additional approach if needed, extra holding, and even a diversion to an airport where the wind wasn’t so acute,” they said.

“Safety isn’t an accident, it’s all about planning and having options when a landing isn’t assured at your destination.”