Who: Inter Miami vs Al Ahly What: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Where: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, United States. When: Saturday, June 14 – 8pm kickoff (00:00 GMT on Sunday, June 15)
How to follow our coverage: We’ll have all the build-up from 6pm (16:00 GMT) on Al Jazeera Sport.
The rebranded and expanded FIFA Club World Cup kicks off on Saturday, and the organisers have picked a plum tie to launch the 32-team tournament.
Inter Miami and their star name, Lionel Messi, take on the most successful side in world football – Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
Al Jazeera takes a look at the first match of the monthlong event.
How did Inter Miami qualify for the Club World Cup?
Miami finished as the club with the most points in Major League Soccer’s (MLS) regular season, handing them a place at the Club World Cup instead of LA Galaxy, who won the MLS Cup, which is regarded as the highest prize in the MLS.
FIFA announced Miami’s addition to the Club World Cup in October after they broke MLS’s regular-season points record with a 6-2 win over New England Revolution to reach 74 points – one better than the previous record set by New England in 2021.
Inter Miami’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez speaks to the media during a training session on the eve of the Club World Cup 2025 Group A football match against Egypt’s Al Ahly [Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP]
How did Al Ahly qualify for the Club World Cup?
Al Ahly were crowned CAF (Confederation of Africa Football) Champions League winners two seasons ago to qualify for this tournament.
They were, however, dethroned as Africa’s continental kings last season, leading to the departure of the coach, Marcel Koller, following their loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in the semifinals of CAF’s showpiece.
Jose Riveiro, who coached Orlando Pirates of South Africa last season, has been appointed as the new coach, and Inter Miami will mark his first game in charge.
Does David Beckham still co-own Inter Miami?
Former England and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham bought a $25m stake in the franchise that would become Inter Miami in 2014. In doing so, he was exercising a clause from his contract during his playing days with the MLS.
Inter Miami eventually debuted in 2020 and is also co-owned by American business magnates, Jorge and Jose Mas, although Beckham is very much the figurehead of the club.
Lionel Messi, centre left, holds his new Inter Miami jersey as he poses with team co-owners Jorge Mas, left, Jose Mas, second right, and David Beckham, right, at an event to present him to fans in 2023 [File: Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo]
How many Club World Cups has Messi won?
Messi is a two-time winner of the competition. The Argentine forward lifted the trophy with Barcelona on both occasions in 2009 and 2011. He may well come up against his manager at the time.
Much of Miami’s chances rest on Messi’s shoulders. “He’s in good shape this season. There were moments when we had to give him some time to rest, but he’s played the last 15 games, except for the match against Dallas when we rested the entire squad,” said Inter manager Javier Mascherano.
“We were also fortunate he was able to rest during Argentina’s last two games,” he added, referring to Messi playing 111 minutes in Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia earlier this month.
“It’s our responsibility to create the right environment for him to shine.”
Are Al Ahly the most successful club in the world?
Al Ahly have won an astonishing 155 trophies, including their 45th league title this season.
That is balanced against Real Madrid’s 15 UEFA Champions League titles in the world’s premier club competition, along with the Spanish giants claiming the La Liga title on 36 occasions.
David Beckham, co-owner of Inter Miami, looks on as Lionel Messi participates in training [File: Chris Arjoon/Getty Images via AFP]
Who else is in Inter Miami and Al Ahly’s group?
Brazilian club Palmeiras and Portuguese giants Porto complete Group A.
Here is the full list of the eight groups:
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, LAFC
Group E: River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, Monterrey, Inter Milan
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan HD FC, Mamelodi Sundowns
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, FC Salzburg
Head-to-head
This is a first meeting between the sides as the Concacaf representatives come face-to-face with the CAF (Confederation of African Football) square up.
Inter Miami team news
Coach Javier Mascherano has been forced to re-shuffle his backline due to a string of injuries.
Fullback Jordi Alba, fellow defender Gonzalo Lujan and defensive midfielder Yannick Bright have all been ruled out of the Group A clash.
“Hopefully they will be available for the second game,” Mascherano told a news conference on Friday.
Alba, one of Messi’s former Barcelona teammates, is sidelined with a hamstring issue. There were also concerns regarding the fitness of centre-back David Martinez.
“David had some kind of pain yesterday, and we did not want to take any risks,” said Mascherano.
“The reality is that throughout the season, the team have dealt with injuries, but the players who stepped in rose to the challenge. That gives us peace of mind,” he said.
Al Ahly team news
The Egyptian side have been in the US for two weeks and have already played a warm-up match against fellow Club World Cup participants Pachuca. The Mexican club won 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Riveiro has a fully fit squad to choose from, which is spearheaded by former Aston Villa forward Mahmoud Trezeguet.
How much does the Club World Cup winner receive?
The total prize pot is $1bn, with the champions earning up to $125m.
About half of the $1bn will be divided between the 32 clubs, with the amount per club based on sporting and commercial criteria.
In a village on Hong Kong’s outskirts, Wong Chin Ming inspects zucchini, watermelons, cherry tomatoes and kale growing in his greenhouses. For 19 years he’s been raising crops here on the site of what was once a factory. Soon his farm will be wiped off the map to make way for a massive development, which China hopes will be Hong Kong’s answer to Silicon Valley. The government is setting aside 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) for the project, an area more than twice the size of San Francisco.
It’s called “Northern Metropolis,” yet, for now, it’s anything but. Hong Kong’s hinterland is a hodgepodge of sleepy hamlets, apartment blocks and stray dogs. Rusty fences surround warehouses, abandoned cars lie in bushes, and scores of cabins built to quarantine patients during the Covid-19 pandemic sit empty. Northern Metropolis won’t grow organically over decades like California’s storied tech hub near Stanford University or the glittering skyscrapers of Hong Kong, where companies and citizens had enjoyed greater autonomy from Chinese Communist Party rule before the government cracked down in 2020.
Real estate developers are privately expressing reservations about investing in Northern Metropolis out of fear of making huge financial commitments amid a steep decline in Hong Kong’s property values. Conservationists question the environmental impact, and some local residents don’t want to leave their home. But with dissent in Hong Kong now severely restricted, citizens from all walks of life are resigned to change. The government says Northern Metropolis is set to displace 4,500 households so far. “If they have to develop this place, we can’t stop it from happening,” Wong says of his farm. “We will just take it as it comes.”
Hong Kong’s former leader, Carrie Lam, first proposed Northern Metropolis in 2021 as a way to increase the supply of land for development. Beijing had expressed frustration that homes in the city were the world’s least affordable. The Hong Kong government spent the next few years planning for the area, which makes up one-third of the city.
Northern Metropolis will be built on land along the Shenzhen River, which separates Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland and contains seven border crossings. Its blueprint divides the development into four zones: technology, logistics, border trade and ecotourism. There will be new subway stations, including a cross-border rail line to Shenzhen, China’s third-largest city by gross domestic product. Official plans call for buildings with cutting-edge tech companies and research facilities as tenants and a more than doubling of the area’s population. “As an investment crucial to the social and economic development of Hong Kong, the Northern Metropolis has topped the Government’s agenda,” the Hong Kong administration says in a statement.
The project has taken on urgency because the city’s traditional economic pillars, finance and real estate, are faltering as tension grows between China and the West, whose often conflicting interests Hong Kong has long been adept at balancing. Given the world’s growing geopolitical conflicts, “we need to diversify in terms of our economic engines,” says Kathy Lee, the Hong Kong-based head of research at Colliers International Group Inc., a real estate investment company.
Northern Metropolis could align the city even more with the mainland and the economic goals of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The development will help the city further integrate into the Greater Bay Area, a region encompassing 11 southern Chinese cities, Lee says. It could also be used as a platform to export high-end Chinese technologies, by registering them in the city, according to Carlos Lo, a professor in the school of governance and policy science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Many countries consider the city as less of a threat than mainland China. “Hong Kong has to find a new model to revive the economy,” he says. “The government can’t go back to how things were run in the good old days.”
Hong Kong authorities expect the city’s rich families to invest in Northern Metropolis. In the city, the government owns land, and companies buy the right to develop it for a set time, usually 50 years. No one knows how much Northern Metropolis will cost. The government has put the figure in the tens of billions of dollars, but other estimates have been far higher.
At a meeting in Shenzhen late last year, Xia Baolong, the top Chinese official overseeing Hong Kong, urged a group of tycoons and executives to take “concrete action” to support the city’s growth and participate in projects, including Northern Metropolis. Steve Tsang, director of a China research center at SOAS University of London, describes Beijing’s attitude: “If the business elites of Hong Kong do not make contributions to the economy as Beijing deems appropriate, there is no reason why they need to be well treated.”
The costly initiative “comes at an inappropriate timing when everyone needs cash,” says Hannah Jeong, head of valuation and advisory services in Hong Kong for real estate company CBRE Group Inc. Home values in the city are hovering at the lowest in nine years, and office rents have declined 40% since their peak in 2019.
There’s another reason developers might find investing in Northern Metropolis unattractive. The government, facing deficits, is testing the idea of shifting more costs to private companies in three invitations to make bids. They’ll be responsible for electricity, water pipes and other infrastructure, which the government formerly provided.
Property companies have raised concerns with the government about this change, according to people familiar with the discussions. Building infrastructure could add years to projects, making it hard for developers to assess land prices and risks, according to Patrick Wong, a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “It’s a big problem,” says Wong, who expects developers to be cautious in submitting bids.
If local developers balk at such large investments when businesses are weak, Chinese state-owned companies, which have more access to cash, will have a significant presence in Northern Metropolis, CBRE’s Jeong says. The government says it’s considering developers’ feedback and could ease their burden by offering more pay-as-you-build and other attractive arrangements.
“We believe that the packages to be tendered would be of good commercial interest to the market,” it says in its statement. About two dozen companies, including Hong Kong and mainland Chinese developers, contractors, conglomerates and an e-commerce logistics company, have expressed interest in making offers under the process the government is testing. Bidding starts in the second half of this year.
Brian Wong of Liber Research Community, a think tank in Hong Kong, questions the environmental cost of Northern Metropolis. The area “has a lot of distinct natural and human landscapes, and it would be a waste if those landscapes are destroyed for a development that doesn’t come to full fruition,” he says. The government says, when possible, it’s trying to preserve active farmland and is turning fallow fields into wetland habitats; it’s also encouraging sustainable urban farming, including on rooftops.
Villages in the Ta Kwu Ling district will be among the first to disappear and give way to Northern Metropolis. The government wants to make the area attractive for universities. In 2028 construction is scheduled to begin on thousands of new apartments for teachers and students. In Sing Ping, a rural village in the district that’s only a 20-minute walk from the mainland Chinese border, residents are worried. Emerald Lee has lived all her life in a house her parents built in the 1960s. About 50 families occupy one- or two-story homes, near fields where they grow their own food.
Even though the government will compensate residents, Lee says she expects it won’t be enough. People living in houses such as hers can get compensation of HK$12,816 ($1,633) per square meter, one-tenth of the area’s average asking price. If their incomes are low enough, they’re eligible to move into subsidized government housing. Lee would rather the government relocate the village to land nearby. “We have lived here for six, seven decades,” she says. “Why do they have to force us out and replace us with a bunch of very different things?”
Global oil prices jumped after Israel said it had struck Iran in a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
The price of the benchmark Brent crude rose more than 10%, reaching its highest level since January, before losing some gains.
Traders were concerned that a conflict between Iran and Israel could disrupt supplies coming from the energy-rich region.
The cost of crude oil affects everything from how much it costs to fill up your car to the price of food at the supermarket.
After the initial jump, oil prices eased a little. But Brent crude still ended the day more than 7% higher than Thursday’s closing price, trading a $74.23 a barrel.
Despite Friday’s moves, oil prices are still more than 10% lower than where they were at the same point last year. They are also well below the peaks seen in early 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when the price of crude soared well above $100 a barrel.
Share prices fell across Asia and Europe on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei share index ended the day down 0.9%, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index closed 0.39% lower.
Stock markets in the US also closed down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.79% while the S&P 500 was down 0.69%.
So-called “safe haven” assets such as gold and the Swiss franc made gains. Some investors see these assets as more reliable investments in times of uncertainty.
The gold price hit its highest level for nearly two months, rising 1.2% to $3,423.30 an ounce.
Following Israel’s attack, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said Iran had launched around 100 drones towards the country.
Analysts have told the BBC that energy traders will now be watching how much the conflict worsens in the coming days.
“It’s an explosive situation, albeit one that could be defused quickly as we saw in April and October last year, when Israel and Iran struck each other directly,” Vandana Hari of Vanda Insights told the BBC.
“It could also spiral out into a bigger war that disrupts Mideast oil supply,” she added.
Analysts at Capital Economics said that if Iran’s oil production and export facilities were targeted, the price of Brent crude could jump to around $80-$100 a barrel.
However, they added that such a spike in prices would encourage other oil producers to increase output, ultimately limiting the price rise and the knock-on effect on inflation.
A spokesman for UK motoring body the RAC, Rod Dennis, said it was “too soon” to say what impact the latest rise in oil would have on petrol prices.
“There are two key factors at play: whether higher wholesale fuel prices are sustained over the coming days and, crucially, the sort of margin retailers decide to take,” he said.
In an extreme scenario, Iran could disrupt supplies of millions of barrels of oil a day if it targets infrastructure or shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is one of the world’s most important shipping routes, with about a fifth of the world’s oil passing through it.
At any one time, there are several dozen tankers on their way to the Strait of Hormuz, or leaving it, as major oil and gas producers in the Middle East and their customers transport energy from the region.
Bounded to the north by Iran and to the south by Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea.
“What we see now is very initial risk-on reaction. But over the next day or two, the market will need to factor in where this could escalate to,” Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Financial said.
Welcome to Music Business Worldwide’s weekly round-up – where we make sure you caught the five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their income and reduce their touring costs.
Also this week, Universal Music Group launched a joint venture with WTSL, the Silver Lake-backed investment firm founded by Hollywood agent and WME co-founder Patrick Whitesell.
Meanwhile, we learned that legendary UK independent music company Cooking Vinyl will be acquired by US-headquartered Exceleration Music.
Elsewhere, on Wednesday (June 11) The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) said that Spotify‘s ‘bundling’ move could cost music publishers $3.1 billion through 2032.
Finally, Harbourview Equity Partners secured $500 million in debt refinancing, led by investment giant KKR.
Rob Stringer, the Chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, updated investors on the music company’s performance and strategy on Friday morning (June 13).
Delivered as part of Sony Group’s 2025 Business Segment Presentation for investors, Stringer covered Sony’s financial performance, catalog deals, distribution strategy, AI opportunities, music streaming subscription prices, and more. He also took part in a fireside chat with Justin Hill, Senior Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations, Sony Corporation of America.
During the presentation, Stringer revealed Sony “completed more than 60 investments in the past year alone” and spent “over $2.5 billion for frontline, catalog, as well as creative and service ventures with outside entrepreneurs across a vast number of territories.”
Stringer discussed Sony’s strategy in greater detail during the presentation and Q&A. Here are seven more things you should know…
Patrick Whitesell credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com / Sir Lucian Grainge credit Photo: Austin Hargrave
Universal Music Group has formed a joint venture with WTSL, the Silver Lake-backed investment firm founded by prominent Hollywood agent and WME co-founder, Patrick Whitesell.
According to the official announcement, the venture’s goal is to “accelerate commercial opportunities for UMG’s artists and artist estates in rapidly growing areas outside traditional recorded music and music publishing”.
The press release added that the JV will pursue opportunities that “extend music’s value across film, television, fashion, consumer products, branded experiences, and other emerging growth areas.”
Exceleration Music has entered into an agreement to acquire iconic UK-headquartered independent music company Cooking Vinyl, which it describes as “one of the UK’s most successful and long-standing music companies”.
Founded in 1986, Cooking Vinyl is home to a roster of artists that includes Shed Seven, Suzanne Vega, Passenger, The Prodigy, The Cranberries, Billy Bragg, The Darkness, Deacon Blue, 47 Soul, Roger Waters and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Exceleration said on Monday (June 9) that Cooking Vinyl will continue to operate independently, led by Managing Director Rob Collins and his team.
The National Music Publishers’ Association projects that music publishers will “lose over $3.1 billion” through 2032 due to Spotify‘s audiobook “bundling practices”.
That’s according to Executive Vice President and General Counsel Danielle Aguirre, who, speaking at the NMPA’s 2025 Annual Meeting in New York on Wednesday (June 11), detailed how Spotify‘s decision to reclassify its premium music service as a bundled offering in March 2024 has, “by Spotify’s own numbers” resulted in a $230 million loss for publishers during its first year of implementation.
Aguirre added that “these losses will continue if we can’t reverse or correct Spotify’s actions. In fact, if we don’t stop them, we are projected to lose over $3.1 billion through the next CRB period,” which will be Phonorecords V, which determines mechanical royalty rates for 2028 through 2032.
HarbourView Equity Partners has secured $500 million in additional debt financing from investment giant KKR, secured via a private securitization backed by its music portfolio.
This latest transaction follows a previous $500 million in debt financing secured by HarbourView in March 2024, through a private securitization backed by its catalog of music royalties, and led by KKR.
Citing an interview with HarbourView Founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke on Monday (June 9), Bloomberg reported that the company plans to use the new financing “to scale up, to add to its portfolio of music content and to push deeper into film and TV-rights management”.
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was one of 242 people on the 787-8 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, and the only known survivor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to attack Iran for “as long as necessary” after his forces launched devastating air strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme and military facilities, triggering a new war in the Middle East.
The assault, which came after years of tensions between the two states, struck facilities long at the heart of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, killed Iran’s top three military commanders, as well as leading scientists, and sought to disable the country’s air defences.
Iran retaliated on Friday night, launching a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel. A US official told the Financial Times that the US was helping to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel.
Tel Aviv was among Iran’s targets, with video on social media appearing to show missiles hitting the city. Thirty-four people have been injured in rocket strikes on the area, Israeli emergency services said.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel with “heavy blows” and said it would not be allowed to escape unscathed after provoking a war.
“They should not assume that they hit [us] and it is over. No. They were the ones to start it and waged a war,” he said in a pre-recorded televised message late on Friday.
In a video broadcast earlier on Friday, Netanyahu said Israel’s strikes would continue for “as long as necessary, to distance and remove the threat as much as we can”.
In a separate video he addressed the Iranian people, saying Israel’s attacks were “clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom”. He added: “More is on the way. The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them.”
On his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran that the next “already planned attacks” on it would be “even more brutal”, adding that “Iran must make a deal [on its nuclear programme], before there is nothing left”.
In a later post, he added: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to ‘make a deal’. They should have done it! Today is day 61.”
For more than two decades, Israel has viewed Iran’s nuclear activities as an existential threat and has long been opposed to efforts by the US and other powers to negotiate with Tehran, which insists its programme is purely peaceful.
US administrations going back to George W Bush have sought to prevent an Israeli strike on the Islamic republic for fear of escalation into a wider conflict, but Trump has signalled fewer misgivings.
Speaking to ABC News, he said of the Israeli attack: “I think it’s been excellent.”
An Israeli military official said the attacks could last for as long as two weeks, while another said dozens of strikes had already been carried out.
After massive explosions rocked Tehran at about 3.30am local time on Friday, state television also showed smoke rising from the main command headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the regime’s most powerful military force, in eastern Tehran.
Further strikes took place later on Friday, according to local media reports.
Iran’s state news agency said several senior military figures including Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed. Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed, state television reported, while Israel said it had killed the IRGC air force commander.
Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent physics professor, and Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran’s atomic organisation, also died, the state news agency said.
Unofficial estimates quoted by the Iranian media suggested that 78 people were killed and 329 injured by the Israeli strikes on military sites and residential areas in Tehran province. But they did not specify how many of the casualties were civilians.
US stocks extended their sell-off as the conflict intensified. The S&P 500 ended Friday’s session down 1.1 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.3 per cent. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, surged as much as 12.5 per cent after Israel’s strikes before paring back to $74.36 a barrel, up 7.2 per cent.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had damaged an underground facility in Natanz, the country’s main site for uranium enrichment, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons-grade material.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said there had been some radiation and chemical contamination at Natanz, but the site, and another underground enrichment facility at Fordow, had not been seriously damaged. IDF strikes on Isfahan, another major site in Iran’s nuclear programme, caused fires in several warehouses, it added.
In an indication that Israel was seeking to establish air supremacy, the IDF said it had also carried out a large-scale strike against Iran’s air defences, including bases at Hamadan and Tabriz in western Iran. “Tabriz base was destroyed as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Israeli security officials added that Mossad operatives had smuggled explosive drones and precision weapons into Iran that were then used to target missile launchers and surface-to-air missile systems.
The attack came ahead of a sixth round of negotiations on Sunday between the Trump administration and Iran in an effort to resolve the nuclear crisis.
Trump said on Thursday that Washington was “fairly close to a pretty good agreement”, adding that he did not want Israel to attack Iran because it could “blow” the chances of a deal. But in comments before and after the attack he also suggested strikes could help progress towards an agreement.
Netanyahu, who had been lobbying the US to support military action against Iran, said in a video statement that Tehran was buying time, alluding to US and Israeli demands that Iran halt its nuclear enrichment programme.
“That is why we have no choice but to act and act now,” he said.
Israel’s strikes drew swift condemnation from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Turkey. Riyadh said the attack violated international laws.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region”.
“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defence,” Rubio added. “Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the strikes could not have happened without a green light from the US, adding that Washington was “responsible for the dangerous repercussions of this aggression”.
Earlier this week, Tehran reiterated warnings that the republic could also target American bases across the region if it was attacked.
Tehran has for several years been enriching uranium close to weapons grade. Both Israel and the US have vowed to prevent the republic developing nuclear weapons.
While Tehran says its programme is for civilian purposes, it has the capacity to produce sufficient fissile material required for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks.
The board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog, declared on Thursday that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, the first such censure in two decades.
The strikes cap nearly two years of conflict across the Middle East that began with the war between Israel and Hamas triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel.
Additional reporting byBita Ghaffari in Tehran andJamie Smyth and Steff Chávez in New York
We’ve made it to the penultimate night of racing at the 2025 Australian World Championship Trials with tonight’s agenda including some of the most highly anticipated races of the meet.
The women’s 100m freestyle contains one of the tightest fields as the athletes are vying not only for the top two individual spots but also for a coveted slot on the 4x100m free relay.
Olympic medalist Meg Harris led the field out of the heats, however, she has withdrawn from tonight’s final. That means Mollie O’Callaghan, Olivia Wunsch, Milla Jansen and Shayna Jack are very much in the mix for gold with everyone saving some fuel for tonight’s main event.
Olympic medalist and former world record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook will also be in the water as the clear favorite in the men’s 200m breaststroke while Bradley Woodward will try to fend off Joshua Edwards-Smith in tonight’s men’s 200m backstroke.
Add in the women’s 200m breast and the men’s 1500m free and we’ve got quite the show in store as action unfolds from the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre.
Men’s 200 Backstroke – FINAL
World Record: 1:51.92 – Aaron Piersol, USA (2009)
Australian Record: 1:53.17 – Mitch Larkin (2015)
AllComers Record: 1:53.72 – Mitch Larkin, AUS (2015)
Joshua Edwards-Smith didn’t hold back with his post-race celebration as the 22-year-old Griffith University swimmer nailed a World Championships-worthy effort of 1:56.94 to take the 200m back title.
He was strong from start to finish, splitting 27.41/29.33/30.02/30.18 to hold off Bradley Woodward, who also was under the qualification time with a silver medal-worthy 1:57.14.
Stuart Swinburn rounded out the podium in 1:58.89.
Edwards-Smith talked post-race about the disappointment of missing out on the Paris 2024 Olympic team and how bouncing back to qualify here was what he set out to achieve.
His performance this evening represented the 4th-best result of his career, one which boasts a lifetime best of 1:55.42 from the 2022 Queensland Championships.
Women’s 100 Freestyle- FINAL
World Record: 51.71 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2017)
Australian Record: 51.96 – Emma McKeon (2021)
AllComers Record: 52.06 – Cate Campbell, AUS ( 2016)
It was a very tight race among this women’s 100m freestyle pack, one that contained four teenagers, a testament to the ever-present depth waiting to rise to the surface within this sprinting nation.
Mollie O’Callaghan got the job done for gold, producing the sole time of the field under the 53-second barrier.
The 21-year-old Olympic multi-medalist produced a swift 52.87 to grab the gold and add a remarkable 4th individual event to her potential Singapore lineup after already nailing QT’s in the 50m back, 100m back and 200m freestyle.
O’Callaghan finished 4th in this event in Paris but was the 2022 and 2023 world champion. Her time tonight inserts her into slot #4 in this season’s world rankings.
Slightly surprising was that Olivia Wunsch snagged the silver, putting up a solid 53.38 to earn her bid in this event for the World Championships.
That was just .21 off her lifetime best of 53.17 registered at last year’s Olympic Trials, despite being reportedly afflicted with granular fever (mono) in the lead up to this competition.
Alex Perkins rounded out the top 3 with a mark of 53.53 to add her name onto the 4x100m freestyle relay while Abbey Webb will join her as the 4th swimmer in 53.83. However, Hannah Casey tied Webb for that 4th slot, with Milla Jansencapturing 6th in 53.95.
Olympic medalist Shayna Jackwas shut out, finishing a disappointing 8th in 54.03.
As a refresher, Meg Harris was this morning’s top performer in a mark of 53.01 but withdrew from the final.
For perspective, the top 4 American women’s 100m freestyle performers include Torri Huske (52.43), Gretchen Walsh (52.78), Simone Manuel (52.83) and Kate Douglass (53.16).
The Mel Marshall-trained Zac Stubblety-Cook accomplished his mission of qualifying for the World Championships, hitting a winning effort of 2:09.09. That positions the former world record holder and Olympic multi-medalist just outside the list of top 10 performers in the world this season.
Stubblety-Cook took silver in the 200 breast at the Paris Olympics with a time of 2:06.79 and helped the Aussie mixed 4×100 medley relay snag silver despite dealing with COVID-19 at the meet. He also revealed on Instagram after the competition that he broke his neck at the end of 2023, but did not reveal how he suffered the injury.
Joshua Yong touched second but wound up being disqualified for flinching at the start.
With that disqualification, Bailey Lello earned silver in 2:10.74, painstakingly short of the 2:10.32 Swimming Australia-mandated qualification time needed for Singapore.
The top 3 performers in this women’s 200m breaststroke all dipped under the 2:30 barrier, led by 2024 Olympian Ella Ramsay.
20-year-old Ramsay of Griffith University produced an effort of 2:23.92 to capture gold and add this event to her World Championships lineup. Ramsay already made the Singapore roster earlier in the meet, courtesy of her 200m IM and 100m breaststroke performances.
Ramsay’s lifetime best remains at the 2:22.87 notched at last year’s Trials and in Paris she placed 12th overall in a time of 2:24.56.
Tara Kinder reaped silver in tonight’s final, hitting 2:24.61 to also clear the QT of 2:25.91. 22-year-old Kinder of Melbourne Vicentre already made the World Championships roster in the 200m IM behind Ramsay.
Of note, B-Final winner, 16-year-old Lily Koch, fired off a time of 2:30.48, a mark which would have tied fellow 16-year-old Amelie Smith for 5th place in the A-final. That represented the 3rd-swiftest performance of Koch’s young career and the 2nd-best of Smith’s career to date.
Men’s 1500 Freestyle – FASTEST HEAT
World Record: 14:30.67 – Bobby Finke, USA (2024)
Australian Record: 14:34.56 – Grant Hackett (2001)
AllComers Record: 14:34.56 – Grant Hackett, AUS (2001)
It was a thrilling race to the final touch in this men’s 1500m freestyle, with a cap-less Sam Short being chased by Ben Goedemans through the final 100 meters.
Rackley’s 21-year-old Short lost his cap during the race, which threw off his tempo a tad, but he still remained composed to put up a solid time of 14:52.43, the 4th-swiftest outing of his career. He easily clear the Swimming Australia-mandated QT of 15:01.89.
As did 21-year-old Goedemans who ripped sub-30-second splits on each of his final 6 50s en route to silver by less than half a second.
The Dean Boxall-trained Goedemans turned it on the final stretch and nearly caught Short, registering a final time of 14:52.99. That was a huge personal best, overtaking the 14:57.75 he notched at last year’s Australian National Championships. He’s now Australia’s 7th-quickest man in history.
Open water ace Nick Sloman turned in a time of 14:46.59 as tonight’s bronze medalist.
Short now ranks 8th in the world on the season while Goedemans is ranked 9th thus far this season.
This checks in as Short’s 4th World Championships qualification after having earned bids in the 400m, 800m and 200m free, although he said he will most likely drop the individual 200m free. Goedemans also is now a multiple-event qualifier, having already earned a spot in the 800m freestyle event.
Technological progress often follows a quantitative trajectory, with incremental improvements culminating in a qualitative leap. This pattern is evident in recent developments with generative AI. Some innovations on this list are the result of years of refinement, such as 3D printing, while others, like the use of AI in water management, illustrate the ripple effect of innovation and how seemingly unrelated fields can benefit from this cross-pollination of knowledge. Without further ado, here is a list of the technological trends featured on this page in 2024.
1. Houses were built overnight
They say Rome was not built in a day, but some buildings now materialize within that timeframe. Thanks to robotic systems and on-site concrete module production, certain construction companies are exploring the potential to build at record speed. In an era of soaring housing prices, this is a groundbreaking advance. In this article, we highlighted a robot—named after a Roman emperor—that enables companies to meet unprecedented timelines.
2. Green concrete paved the way for more sustainable construction
Of course, achieving these results still requires one of civilization’s most fundamental materials: concrete. Traditionally, concrete production has been a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Thankfully, more sustainable alternatives are emerging, employing techniques detailed in our article on green concrete. If you are unfamiliar with the term “clinker,” it is time to check it out.
3. Largest carbon sequestering facility inaugurated
When it comes to emissions, greenhouse gases—particularly carbon dioxide—remain a major concern in the fight against climate change. One standout innovation in 2024 was the inauguration of the world’s largest carbon sequestration plant, located in Iceland. Want to know how it works? Dive into our article about this plant and the various techniques used to capture carbon.
4. Some wind turbines retired while others were upgraded
While carbon capture strategies hold promise, renewable energy remains the most effective way to decarbonize the economy. In wind energy, significant progress has led to a new trend: wind farm repowering. This involves replacing aging turbines with newer, larger, and more powerful models. Learn all about the advantages of this approach in our feature article.
5. Wind energy scaled new heights thanks to Blade Lifter
As wind turbines continue to grow—some now taller than the Eiffel Tower—new methods for transporting them to mountainous locations have become essential. Traditionally, massive articulated trucks have handled this task, but a new technology, the Blade Lifter, is simplifying the process. It is already in use at the world’s largest wind farms.
6. Green hydrogen started to boost agriculture
While wind and solar energy remained crucial for sustainable development, other renewable energy sources began to make their mark. Enter green hydrogen: a clean fuel with diverse applications in agriculture, from powering heavy machinery to irrigation and heating systems for farms. Explore its potential in our comprehensive article.
7. World’s tallest 3D-printed tower was completed
3D printing had long been heralded as a game-changing technology, opening up possibilities in medicine, space exploration, and construction. In the latter field, it reached new heights—literally—in the Swiss Alps, where the tallest 3D-printed tower to date was completed.
8. Potable water, energy, and minerals were obtained from one process
The solution to this challenge lay in an experimental project known as INDESAL. This innovative desalination plant prototype combined three processes: generating renewable energy using salt gradient technology, extracting valuable minerals from seawater, and producing potable water through reverse osmosis.
9. Artificial intelligence improved water management…
Another major technological advance of 2024 was the application of AI to water-related processes. These included wastewater management, operations in water treatment plants, and decision-making for forecasting water demand. Our article delved into these applications, which aimed to better manage the increasingly scarce resource of drinking water.
10. And made cycling safer
If one technological breakthrough proved its versatility in 2024, it was artificial intelligence. Already making waves in various sectors, its application to urban mobility stood out. This year saw the debut of bicycles equipped with AI to recognize obstacles and alert cyclists to potential dangers.
If you would like to stay ahead of the curve and learn about next year’s technological breakthroughs before December rolls around, subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page. You will receive monthly updates on the latest innovations.
