He is in line to share a £50,000 147 bonus with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, who knocked in the third maximum of the season earlier this week.
Both players will also collect a further £147,000 if they are able to make another 147 at any of this season’s Triple Crown events – the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship.
In Friday’s earlier last-four match – at a tournament regarded as snooker’s ‘fourth major’ by organisers – Neil Robertson claimed a 6-3 win over Elliot Slessor.
While neither player was at their best, the rejuvenated Australian was always in control and enjoyed two runs of 93 and a 50 as he reached the 39th ranking final of his career.
“The start was crucial today, I could see Elliot was a bit nervous and I was able to use my experience,” said 2010 Crucible winner Robertson.
“To get to the final is huge in terms of ranking points, it means I should be in all of the big events later in the season which makes my scheduling so much easier.
“I took that for granted a few years ago when I was always in the top four. The standard is so high now that I have realised you have to keep your foot down all the time. A lot of hard work has happened to get these kind of results.”
Pope Leo XIV on Friday prayed for an end to global conflicts, the same day as a landmark meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at brokering an end to the war in Ukraine.
“We must not resign ourselves to the prevalence of the logic of armed conflict,” he said Friday, according to the Associated Press.
The pope did not explicitly name-check the war in Ukraine, but has broadly called for peace and a ceasefire in the past.
“Even today, sadly, we feel powerless before the spread of violence in the world — a violence increasingly deaf and insensitive to any stirring of humanity. Yet we must not cease to hope: God is greater than the sin of human beings,” he also wrote on X. “We must not resign ourselves to the prevalence of the logic of conflict and of arms.”
Leo said earlier this week that he hoped the Trump-Putin meeting would result in a ceasefire.
“There must be an end to the violence and so many deaths. Let’s see how they can reach an agreement because the war has been going on too long,” he said in remarks reported by the Catholic News Service.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that the Vatican had been one of a few successful mediators in returning small numbers of Ukrainian children who had been kidnapped by Russia.
The pope has also called for an end to other global conflicts, including for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Danish police direct people involved near the the derailment
At least one person has died and several others injured after a train collided with a slurry tanker and derailed in southern Denmark, officials said.
Police said the crash happened between the towns of Tinglev and Kliplev in southern Jutland, and that officers were at the site.
Local outlet TV2 reported helicopters had been sent to the scene and quoted local rail officials as saying the train had “hit a slurry tanker” at a level crossing.
The country’s rail operator DSB said that it had shut down services between Tinglev and Sønderborg near the German border.
Pictures from the scene showed a carriage lying on its side, with passengers stood around the train tracks.
Police said 95 passengers were on board, including pupils from a school in Sønderborg. Two of the injured were carried away by helicopter.
The national rail agency Banedanmark wrote on X that the collision happened at a railway crossing. According to local media, at least two of the train carriages were derailed.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking at state laws with “out-of-state economic impacts” that could hinder the national economy and interstate commerce.
“Today, the Justice Department and the National Economic Council announce an effort to identify State laws that significantly and adversely affect the national economy or interstate economic activity and to solicit solutions to address such effects,” reads the press release.
The DOJ explained that President Trump has made a series of demands since his first day in office to deregulate American industry.
For example, in the executive order “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” Trump asked to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people.”
In another EO, “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting To Unleash American Energy,” Trump asked agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and others to cease some regulations concerning energy development.
The DOJ, on July 9, for example, sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Rob Bonta for “prohibiting farmers across the country from using commonly accepted agricultural methods that helped keep eggs affordable.”
In one example of Trump’s deregulation goals, the Department of Labor is seeking to remove 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, such as the minimum wage. Furthermore, the administration has removed many regulations imposed during the Biden era on environmental laws and climate change.
“We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
In these continued efforts, the DOJ is asking for comments from the public to help identify “Which State laws significantly burden commerce in other States or between States, thus raising costs unnecessarily and harming markets nationwide.”
And, “Whether the State laws identified may be preempted by existing federal authority and, if so, what authority.”
Giovanni Leoni only made his senior debut in 2023, playing in the Italian third tier for Padova as a 16-year-old, but just two years later he has joined the Premier League champions.
Liverpool have been looking for reinforcements in central defence since selling Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen last month, and although Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi remains very much in their sights, Leoni would provide extra cover in an area where the Reds are potentially light.
After all, captain Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were their only fit senior central defenders for the Community Shield.
With Van Dijk now 34, Liverpool need to have an eye on the future. Eighteen-year-old Leoni certainly ticks that box but also looks ready now, despite only establishing himself in Parma’s starting line-up in the second half of last season.
With just 14 top-flight starts under his belt, he has not played as much as fellow highly rated teenage centre-backs Pau Cubarsi at Barcelona, Mamadou Sarr at Strasbourg or Real Madrid’s Dean Huijsen, but his stats are impressive.
At 6ft 5in (1.96m) he is exceptional in the air, ranking in the top 10% for aerial duels won in Serie A last season.
At Parma, Leoni played in the middle of the back three or as the right centre-back and, as well as his aerial strength, he is also composed in possession, especially given his lack of experience.
He will probably have to be patient for his chances. But the opportunity to develop his game with the Premier League champions and learn from Van Dijk, who he has previously called his inspiration, appears to have helped clinch the move.
Two Democratic Senators sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Friday urging her to end a policy requiring her personal sign-off on grants of more than $100,000.
“We write to convey our deep concerns about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) policy requiring the Secretary’s personal approval of all expenditures exceeding $100,000, including those for disaster-related costs,” wrote Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
“This directive, as currently implemented, creates dangerous delays and undermines the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) effectiveness, placing lives at unnecessary risk,” they continued.
This comes after reports that FEMA’s response to the devastating Texas floods in June may have been delayed by Noem’s policy.
The letter said this resulted in call centers being “understaffed in the crucial early days of the disaster, leaving thousands of survivors without answers or assistance.”
The senators argue $100,000 is an extremely low threshold given the scale of FEMA’s work. Disaster recovery often requires millions of dollars in resources to be mobilized in hours. These extra bureaucratic steps, according to the letter, also hinder the agency’s ability to coordinate with other local agencies.
“These failures are not isolated missteps, but foreseeable outcomes of a policy that centralizes decision-making at the expense of speed and flexibility,” wrote the senators.
Noem last month denied the policy had slowed federal response efforts in Texas, saying it was an “accountability measure” in an interview with NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”
“So those claims are false,” she told NBC News’s Kristen Welker about the reports. “They’re from people who won’t put their name behind those claims. And those call centers were fully staffed and responsive. And this is the fastest, I believe, in years, maybe decades, that FEMA has been deployed to help individuals in this type of situation.”
Murray and Peters set an Aug. 31 deadline for Noem to respond to several questions in the letter.
Among the questions: “What metrics, if any, are being used to evaluate whether the Secretary review policy improves accountability or financial stewardship without compromising emergency response?” and “Has DHS conducted or commissioned any after-action reviews to assess how the Secretary’s review policy affected the response to the Central Texas floods or other disasters? If so, please share those findings.”
The Hill has reached out to DHS for comment on the letter.
(Reuters) -U.S. energy firms this week held the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating steady, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, remained at 539 in the week to August 15.
Baker Hughes said oil rigs rose by one to 412 this week, while gas rigs fell by one to 122.
The oil and gas rig count declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil and gas prices over the past couple of years prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output.
The independent exploration and production (E&P) companies tracked by U.S. financial services firm TD Cowen said they planned to cut capital expenditures by around 4% in 2025 from levels seen in 2024.
That compares with roughly flat year-over-year spending in 2024, increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022, and 4% in 2021.
Even though analysts forecast U.S. spot crude prices would decline for a third year in a row in 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a record 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to around 13.4 million bpd in 2025.
On the gas side, the EIA projected a 65% increase in spot gas prices in 2025 would prompt producers to boost drilling activity this year after a 14% price drop in 2024 caused several energy firms to cut output for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for the fuel in 2020. [NGAS/POLL]
The EIA projected gas output would rise to 106.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025, up from 103.2 bcfd in 2024 and a record 103.6 bcfd in 2023.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavinoEditing by Marguerita Choy)
Watch: Royals and veterans mark VJ Day 80 years on
King Charles III and Queen Camilla have joined World War Two veterans for a remembrance service to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.
Some 33 men now aged between 96 and 105, who served in military in the Far East and Pacific, were the guests of honour at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Wreaths were laid by the royal couple before a flypast by the RAF’s Red Arrows and a national two-minute silence.
The event heard moving accounts from veterans and civilians caught up in the war. Earlier, the King released an audio message in which he hailed the courage and sacrifice of the veterans.
VJ Day, or Victory over Japan Day, is commemorated on 15 August each year and marks the date in 1945 when Japan surrendered to Allied forces, bringing World War Two to an end after nearly six years.
An estimated 71,000 soldiers from the UK and the Commonwealth died fighting Japan, including upwards of 12,000 prisoners of war.
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Sir Keir Starmer laid a wreath while the King and Queen watched on
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Actress Celia Imrie narrated the story of the war in the Far East at the service, as the experiences of those who took part were told in person and through films shown on a screen.
George Durrant, who served in the intelligence corps, appeared on stage with his great-granddaughter as he paid tribute to a fallen comrade, saying he was present “not as a hero but as someone who witnessed the price of freedom”.
Royal Navy veteran Alfred Conway, from Lincolnshire, watched as his great-grandchildren laid a wreath on the Burma Thailand Railway memorial at the Arboretum.
There was also a tribute from poet Sir Ben Okri to the contributions of soldiers who had enlisted from countries in the British Commonwealth to fight in Burma (now Myanmar).
The Queen appeared to wipe away a tear as veteran Yavar Abbas, originally from Lucknow in India, went briefly off-script “to salute my brave King, who is here with his beloved Queen in spite of the fact that he is under treatment for cancer”.
The 105-year-old added that he hoped it would bring “comfort” that he had been free of cancer for 25 years.
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The Queen appeared to shed a tear as Yavar Abbas spoke
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Veteran Alfred Conway watched on as his great-grandchildren laid a wreath
The service – also attended by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – concluded with a flypast by World War Two-era aircraft, the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber.
A reception was then held for the King and Queen to meet the veterans and their families.
Among those at the service was Edward Hadfield, now 100, who served in the 8th Punjab Regiment in Burma and had been sailing from Chennai, in southern India, on VJ Day.
“You’ve never heard such a cheer in your life,” he recalled to the BBC. “The war was over, and you were alive, and I was alive.”
However, he said he had also remembered friends who did not survive who “gave [their] today so we can have our tomorrow”.
Edward Hadfield was sailing in the Indian Ocean when VJ Day was declared
Katharine Canning spent her early childhood in a internment camp in Japanese-occupied China
Katharine Canning, 83, was also at the National Memorial Arboretum. She was 11 months old when her family were declared “enemy aliens” in Japanese-occupied China.
Along with her parents and brother, she was taken to an internment camp, where she spent the first few years of her life and recalls being rescued by paratroopers on VJ Day, when she was three years old.
Another veteran at the event, Stanley Roberts, 99, said the VJ Day ceremony was “deeply important” as “we won’t be around for the 90th”.
The son of a Japanese military doctor travelled to the UK to attend the ceremony too.
Yoshi Sekiba said he was paying his respects to the British troops who died, explaining: “Unfortunately, we fought with each other in World War Two, but we are now good friends.”
Stanley Roberts said the VJ Day ceremony was “deeply important”
In a message released before the service, King Charles vowed that those who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East “shall never be forgotten”.
He reflected on the moment 80 years ago that his grandfather, King George VI, announced that the war was over – “the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for”.
He said he spoke now in the “same spirit of commemoration and celebration, as we honour anew all those whose service and sacrifice saw the forces of liberty prevail”.
The King referred to the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces who continued to fight for months after the war in Europe had ended, who became known as the “Forgotten Army”.
He noted the “horrific” conditions prisoners of war endured in Japanese captivity, and the “grievous hardships” innocent civilians in occupied territories faced.
“Their experience reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life – a tragedy all-too vividly demonstrated by conflicts around the world today.”
King Charles marks 80 years since VJ Day in speech to nation
The King also acknowledged the “immense price” paid by the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where more than 200,000 people died as a result of the US atomic bombings in August 1945.
He said it was a “price we pray no nation need ever pay again”.
The King added: “But in recalling so much suffering, we must not lose sight of how great was the cause and how sweet the victory.”
He went on to cite the collaboration across faiths and cultural divides, and said the “courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity’s darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future”.
In a message posted on social media, the Prince and Princess of Wales praised the “courage, sacrifice and resilience” of those who fought, adding: “We owe an enduring debt to the generation who gave so much.”
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The service concluded with a flypast by World War Two-era aircraft, the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber
VJ Day commemorations began on Thursday with a sunset ceremony at the Memorial Gates in Green Park, in central London, which paid tribute to Commonwealth personnel.
As dawn broke on Friday, British military bagpipers played the lament Battle’s O’er in the Far East section of the National Memorial Arboretum and at Edinburgh Castle – as well as in Nepal, Brunei, New Zealand, Japan and aboard HMS Prince of Wales, currently at sea in the Far East.
A piper also performed at a Japanese peace garden in west London to reflect the reconciliation between the UK and Japan in the decades since the war ended.
From 21:00 BST on Friday, buildings across the country will be lit up to mark VJ Day, including Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Tower of London, Blackpool Tower, Durham Cathedral and Cardiff Castle – as well as the Kranji War Memorial in Singapore and the White Cliffs of Dover.
Events to commemorate the 80th anniversary will conclude with a reception for veterans at Windsor Castle later in the autumn.
