By Alasdair Pal SYDNEY Spain defeated England 1-0 in the Women's World Cup final on Sunday, capping off

As their team wins its first-ever World Cup in Sydney, supporters of women's football celebrate back home.

A swimmer has been attacked off the coast of Spain by a blue shark after it became "confused". Reports say that the shark "collided" with a swimmer who was standing in shallow water at Rabdells Beach in Oliva, Valencia. Specialists analysed the bite mark and found that it came from a Blue Shark. Spain has seen several sightings of the species over the summer, sparking panic among swimmers. Beaches along the coast including Rabdells, Aigua Blanca and Aigua Mota were closed by local authorities while an investigation took place following the attack last Thursday. But they were reopened the following day after the Guardia Civil were certain that there was no longer a threat posed by any animal in the water. The victim, who is an Oliva resident, said he saw a "shadow" before the attack. Speaking to Las Provincias, he said: "I didn't have time to get scared. "Noticing that blood was coming out of me, I went into the sea so as not to alarm everyone." Calmly, he walked to the nearest medical post before being transferred to Oliva Health Centre. He was treated for the injury on the side of his foot and was given a tetanus shot. According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, the shark approached the shore after it became disorientated. Oceanogràfic’s marine biologist, Jaime Penadés, told the paper that humans are not part of a shark's diet. He also said the incident is "not at all common" and should not be "magnified". Mr Penadés added: "These species don’t want anything from us, they are looking for fish, not people." This is the first shark attack in Valencia since 2016 and the attack before then was in 1993. Shark attacks are generally rare overall, with confirmed unprovoked cases totalling 57 worldwide in 2022, according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), which is lower than the most recent five-year (2017-21) average of 70 incidents annually. The database suggests those that end in a fatality are even rarer, numbering just five of last year’s figure, which is roughly in line with the five-year global average of six unprovoked fatalities per year. It adds there were an additional four shark-related deaths in 2022 that were classed as provoked. Read More Whale shark ‘dances’ with fish in mesmerising spectacle off Thailand coast Sea temperatures lead to unprecedented, dangerous bleaching of Florida's coral reef, experts say Woman seriously injured in ‘extremely rare’ shark attack at New York City beach Tenerife wildfires mapped as blaze forces thousands to flee Zelensky vows revenge over deadly Chernihiv ‘terror attack’ - live Talks between regional bloc and Niger's junta yield little, an official tells The Associated Press

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to send F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv during a surprise visit by

By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY Captain Olga Carmona scored the winner in the first half as Spain won the

European diplomats are not overlooking the possibility that Donald Trump might secure a second term in the Oval Office if he is re-elected in 2024, and are actively formulating back-up strategies in case this scenario materialises, according to a report. The prospect of Mr Trump returning to the White House has become an important topic of discussion in private conversations, with some calling it “terrifying”, The New York Times reported. Steven Everts, a European Union diplomat who is set to become the director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, told the outlet that his colleagues were relieved at US president Joe Biden’s response to the Ukraine war. But they are now being “forced to confront the Trump question again”. “It’s slightly terrifying, it’s fair to say,” he said. He noted that the US plays an important role in European security, and said that diplomats will now “have to think again about what this means for our own politics, for European defence and for Ukraine itself”. The discussions around the potential fallout if Mr Trump returns to power are intensifying as the former president is emerging as a strong challenger for the Republican presidential nomination, tying up with his popularity in opinion polls despite a slew of indictments against him. Fresh polling conducted by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that almost two-thirds of Republicans, specifically 63 per cent, are now expressing their desire that the former president run for office again. This marks a marginal increase from April’s figure of 55 per cent, which was recorded when Mr Trump was beginning to confront a string of criminal allegations. Additionally, Mr Trump’s favourability rating among Republicans has climbed, with seven in 10 respondents holding a positive opinion of him, up from the 60 per cent reported two months earlier. The possibility that the former president could secure a second term has not escaped the attention of Western Europeans – especially in Germany, given the notable animosity Mr Trump appears to harbour towards the country. A second term as president “would be different from the first, and much worse”, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, a former official in the German government, told the Times. “Trump has experience now and knows what levers to pull, and he’s angry,” he said. He added that the former chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, had known how to deal with Mr Trump and had talked about “managing the man”. One of the primary concerns of US allies pertains to the potential impact of a Trump comeback on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a situation in which many European countries have significant involvement. During his presidency, Mr Trump threatened to withdraw Washington from Nato, and withheld assistance from Ukraine as it grappled with a Russian-supported rebellion – a matter that contributed to his first impeachment. He also gave the order to withdraw thousands of US troops from Germany, in a decision that was subsequently reversed by Mr Biden. If Mr Trump returned to power following the 2024 election, it is possible that Ukraine will still be in deep conflict with Russia, a country that has continued to make subtle and even direct threats to use nuclear weapons in the region. Mr Trump has said he would end the war in a day, which analysts have said suggests that he would force Ukraine to cede territory to Russia. Read More Trump sparks derision for saying he was ‘apple of Putin’s eye’ as EU diplomats ‘terrified’ of 2024 win – live Biden hails ‘a new era in partnership’ as US, Japan and Korea announce ‘Camp David Principles’ Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft suffers technical glitch in pre-landing maneuver Indictment shows White House lawyers struggling for control as Trump fought to overturn election Ecuadorians choosing a new president amid increasing violence that may scare away voters Guatemalans head to the polls, hoping their new leader will bring real change

Mexico’s ruling party Morena approved four external polling companies that will conduct surveys to determine who will be

The ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan is fighting extradition to Florida, where she stands accused of orchestrating a plot to murder Bridegan. Mr Bridegan, 33, was shot dead after dropping off his two children at his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandez’s home near Jacksonville, Florida. A third child — Mr Bridegan’s with his second wife — was in the car at the time of the shooting and was uninjured. Mario Fernandez, Ms Gardner-Fernandez’s second husband, was arrested in March and was charged with orchestrating the murder by hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant residing in one of his properties, to kill Mr Bridegan. Mr Tenon has admitted to shooting the executive. On Thursday, police announced that Ms Gardner-Fernandez had been indicted on a first-degree murder charge and is accused of conspiring to have her husband killed. Ms Gardner-Fernandez is currently in the custody of the Benton County Corrections Department in Washington. During a court appearance on Friday, Ms Gardner-Fernandez refused to waive extradition to Florida, where she faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child endangerment, Fox News reports. She is being held without bond and is expected to reappear in court on 14 September. Read More Ex-wife charged with murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan was shot dead in a chilling ambush. Did his ex wife arrange it?

British Columbia introduced travel restrictions and ordered more residents to leave their homes as record-breaking wildfires in Canada

BUDAPEST The United States won a dramatic World Championship gold with a world record in the mixed 4x400

On 10 August, California regulators voted to expand the footprint of paid taxi services by autonomous, driverless cars from Cruise and Waymo in San Francisco. Since then, it’s been utter chaos, with the AVs involved in traffic jams, slapstick malfunctions, and a car accident with a fire truck. A day after the vote, video went viral on social media showing about 10 frozen Cruise taxis snarling traffic in the North Beach neighbourhood, which company officials later said was caused by a connectivity issue due to a spike in cell traffic because of a nearby music festival. The following Tuesday, a Cruise taxi was stuck in wet concrete at a construction site. “I can see five different scenarios where bad things happen and this is one of them,” resident Paul Harvey told SFGATE. “It thinks it’s a road and it ain’t because it ain’t got a brain and it can’t tell that it’s freshly poured concrete.” Two days after that, a Cruise taxi had what might be its most serious accident yet, colliding with a fire truck in the Tenderloin neighbourhood, giving the taxi’s passengers non-severe injuries. A firefighter in the truck said the AV “lurched” as it passed through an intersection ABC 7 reports, while Cruise said its vehicle detected the emergency sirens but was unable to get out of the way in time from the truck, which drove into the oncoming traffic lane. “The AV’s ability to successfully chart the emergency vehicle’s path was complicated by the fact that the emergency vehicle was in the oncoming lane of traffic, which it had moved into to bypass the red light,” the company wrote in a statement. “Cruise AVs have the ability to detect emergency sirens, which increase their ability to operate safely around emergency vehicles and accompanying scenes. In this instance, the AV identified the siren as soon as it was distinguishable from the background noise. “The Cruise AV did identify the risk of a collision and initiated a braking maneuver, reducing its speed, but was ultimately unable to avoid the collision,” the company added. Following the repeated mishaps, the California Department of Motor Vehicles asked Cruise to cut its 400-strong deployment of AVs in San Francisco in half, with the agency saying it was “investigating recent concerning incidents.” As The Independent reported, critics of AVs warned ahead of their expansion in San Francisco that the driverless cars weren’t ready for primetime, particularly when it comes to interfacing with emergency vehicles. According to data Cruise shared with the state earlier this month, between January and mid-July of 2023, Cruise AVs temporarily malfunctioned or shut down 177 times and required recovery, 26 of which such incidents occurred with a passenger inside, while Waymo recorded 58 such events in a similar time frame. Meanwhile, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA), between April 2022 and April 2023, Cruise and Waymo vehicles have been involved in over 300 incidents of irregular driving including unexpected stops and collisions, while the San Francisco Fire Department says AVs have interfered 55 times in their work in 2023. Last year, Cruise lost contact with its entire fleet for 20 minutes according to internal documentation viewed by WIRED, and an anonymous employee warned California regulators that year the company loses touch with its vehicles “with regularity.” Since being rolled out in San Francisco, robotaxis have killed a dog, caused a mile-long traffic jam during rush hour, blocked a traffic lane as officials responded to a shooting, and driven over fire hoses. Jeffrey Tumlin, San Francisco’s director of transportation, has called the rollout of robotaxis a “race to the bottom,” arguing Cruise and Waymo weren’t yet definitive transit solutions, and instead had only “met the requirements for a learner’s permit.” Read More How a vote to empower autonomous ‘robotaxis’ from Cruise and Waymo has divided San Francisco GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit agrees to cut fleet in half after 2 crashes in San Francisco San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit agrees to cut fleet in half after 2 crashes in San Francisco Chinese military launches drills around Taiwan as 'warning' after top island official stopped in US San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of a Texas girl last week. Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez is expected to be charged with capital murder in the death of 11-year-old Maria González, the Pasadena County Police Department announced on Saturday. Mr Garcia-Rodriguez was taken into custody by the Shreveport Police Department in Louisiana and will be extradited to Texas in the following days. He is accused of sexually assaulting Maria and strangling her to death before placing her body in a laundry basket under her bed. Maria’s father Carmelo González, who had received text messages from her daughter saying someone was knocking on the door, found the body when he returned home from work on 12 August. Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said during a press conference on Friday that detectives had talked to and taken DNA samples from Mr Garcia-Rodriguez on the day that Maria was found. He clarified that Mr Garcia-Rodriguez lived in the González’s apartment complex. Maria’s family issued a statement to KHOU 11 thanking detectives for their commitment to finding justice for the family. “We want to say thank you to the Pasadena Police Department and to Louisiana police and any officials that participated in bringing this cold-blooded murderer into custody. “This arrest has brought the family and community some peace. We are extremely thankful that he cannot cause this type of pain to anybody again.” The statement continued: “I ask for those who are in charge to give us justice. May he be burdened with the full weight of the law, for what he has done to my daughter.” Police said that Maria was in communication with her father on the morning of her murder. Mr González told her not to open the door amd asked a family member who lives near the complex to check on Maria, but he wasn’t able to find her. “I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work,” an emotional Mr Gonzalez told Univision in Spanish. Mr González eventually found Maria’s remains wrapped inside two plastic bags and stuffed inside a basket. The medical examiner determined that Maria was sexually assaulted and that her cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma. Maria had immigrated to the US with her father four years ago and they had moved into their apartment just three months ago. Pasadena police said that Mr Garcia-Rodriguez also immigrated from Guatemala and surrendered to border officers in El Paso, NewsNation. reported. Read More Texas girl sexually assaulted and strangled to death after texting father ‘someone was knocking on the door’ An 11-year-old warned about a mysterious stranger before her rape and murder. Now her father needs justice Relative of Idaho killings victim wears T-shirt with pro-firing squad message at suspect’s hearing