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A woman inspects damage to a school in Lviv following Russian attacks on Thursday. Roman Baluk/ReutersCNN — 

Russia and Ukraine exchanged air attacks on Thursday, with Moscow targeting cities across Ukraine and Kyiv striking the Russian border city of Belgorod, one day after Kyiv said it sank another Russian warship off the coast of Crimea.

At least seven people were reported injured after attacks on Kyiv, Lviv and the eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, and infastructure facilities were damaged, in a string of attacks launched by Russia early on Thursday.

Hours later, Russian authorities said five people were killed and 18 injured, in a missile strike on the Russian city of Belgorod. The regional governor Vyacheselv Gladkov also said that seven homes were damaged.

The city, which sits near the border with northeast Ukraine, has been a hotspot of Russia’s war, as Kyiv looks to bring the conflict home to the Russian people in an effort to dent domestic support for their country’s invasion.

The latest series of strikes follows the damage to Russia’s landing ship Caesar Kunikov, which was attacked with “MAGURA” V5 drones that punctured “critical holes” on its left side before sinking, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said on Telegram. Russia has not disclosed if there were casualties in that attack.

Russian authorities in Belgorod following Ukraine’s attack on the border city. Governor of Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov/Telegram/Reuters

In Zaporizhzhia, the secretary of the city council, Anatolii Kurtiev, said at least four people had been injured and an infrastructure facility damaged. “It is also currently known that apartment buildings, an educational institution, and the premises of a trade facility were damaged,” he said.

The head of the Lviv regional military administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, said strikes had landed in the city injuring at least three people and causing damage to buildings.

“A hit to an infrastructure facility in Lviv was documented. The fire continues,” he said, adding, “in 16 residential buildings on Naukova Street, part of the windows were blown out by the blast wave, cars parked nearby were damaged.”

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In Kyiv, the city military administration said missiles had approached the city from multiple directions but that no significant damage or deaths had been reported.

“The air raid alert in the capital lasted for more than 2 hours.  All enemy missiles flying at Kyiv were destroyed by the forces and means of air defense,” the administration said.

Ukraine’s attack on the warship Wednesday was the latest in a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s navy, as it tries to land both strategic and symbolic blows against Russian forces that annexed Crimea in 2014.

Ukraine claimed last week that they had disabled about a third of Russia’s warships in the Black Sea, amounting to 24 disabled ships and one submarine. The landing ship Caesar Kunikov would be the 25th disabled ship, according to Ukraine’s count.

Ukraine’s strikes on Belgorod on Thursday are the latest in a series of attacks on the city, which has been dragged into Moscow’s conflict.

Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions near the border have continued almost daily for over a year, sometimes resulting in civilian casualties. At the end of last year Russia claimed Ukraine killed 24 people in shelling on Belgorod.

Kyiv is increasingly using drones to level the playing field with Russia. Ukraine’s former top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, stressed the importance of drones in a CNN op-ed written earlier this month before he was removed from his post last week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It is these unmanned systems – such as drones – along with other types of https://menjangkau.com advanced weapons, that provide the best way for Ukraine to avoid being drawn into a positional war, where we do not possess the advantage,” Zaluzhnyi wrote.

Prabowo Subianto attends a campaign event in Jakarta, Indonesia on January 27, 2024. Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesCNN — 

A former army general with a controversial past has claimed victory in Indonesia’s presidential election.

Unofficial results show Prabowo Subianto, 72, winning nearly 60% of the vote – enough to avoid a presidential runoff – with around 85% of votes counted, according to state-owned news organization Antara, CNN affiliate CNN Indonesia and Reuters, which are reporting early counts done by a series of non-government think tanks. Ballot stations closed across the country early on Wednesday afternoon.

Prabowo, billed as the frontrunner ahead of Wednesday’s contest, told supporters in Jakarta, he and running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, would govern “for all the people of Indonesia.”

“Although we are grateful, we must not be arrogant, we must not be euphoric, we must remain humble. This victory must be a victory for all Indonesian people,” Prabowo declared. “I will lead together with Gibran to nurture, protect and defend all the people of Indonesia, regardless of tribe, ethnic group, race and religion and social background, the people of Indonesia are our responsibility to protect.”

Popular former governor Anies Beswadan was running second with fewer than 22% of the votes, with rival Ganjar Pranowo in third, according to the unofficial early count.

Both their teams have disputed the early results and said it is too early to call the election, according to party spokespeople quoted by Reuters.

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CNN cannot independently verify the early polls, though counts by reputable thinktanks have proved accurate during previous Indonesian elections.

During his speech Wednesday, Prabowo called for supporters to “calmly wait” for the official vote to be declared by the country’s election commission, which will publish its official results in March.

Deadly riots broke out after the last election in 2019 when Prabowo, who lost, contested the results.

Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and home to the world’s largest Muslim population. More than 200 million people across 38 provinces were eligible to cast their votes on Wednesday, in what was billed as the world’s biggest single-day election.

However, running a vote in the world’s largest archipelagic nation is a huge effort. The country is wider than the United States and straddles three time zones. It is made up of over 18,000 islands and islets, of which 6,000 are inhabited, and over 150 languages spoken across its breadth.

Young voters have been key to this year’s vote, experts note, with around half of registered voters being under the age of 40, according to the General Election Commission.

Gibran, who took the stage after Prabowo, acknowledged the impact of youth voters in during the election, telling supporters that in “the future we will involve young people.”

What will a Prabowo presidency mean?

Prabowo hails from an elite political family and his past is controversial, especially his time during years of the late dictator Suharto, who was also his former father-in-law. Accusations of human rights violations in his military past have dogged him throughout his political career.

His father Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, was a former Finance and Trade minister and his grandfather Margono founded the state Bank Negara Indonesia and led a presidential advisory council.

He enrolled in Indonesia’s Military Academy in 1970 and went on to become a special forces commander where he led missions against pro-independence groups during Indonesia’s ruthless 24-year military occupation of East Timor.

He is also alleged to have ordered the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in the final months of Suharto’s authoritarian regime.

He has since transformed himself into a supporter of Indonesia’s vibrant democracy, building an image more recently as a friendly but dependable grandfather figure, and has been a major player within politics over the last decade.

He ran for president in 2014 and 2019 but lost both times to outgoing president Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.

The two former rivals then shelved their differences when Jokowi brought Prabowo into his cabinet as defense minister.

This year, he teamed up with Jokowi’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice presidential pick – a controversial decision that also sparked heated criticism of Jokowi over alleged interference as he prepares to leave the presidency.

“It is widely expected for the president to remain neutral in elections,” said Leena Rikkilä Tamang, Asia Pacific Director at International IDEA. “A Prabowo win will also be seen as “a continuation of Jokowi’s policies.”

Prabowo supporters at a campaign rally in Jakarta on February 10. Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Prabowo’s popularity has risen since the 2019 election, experts note, owing largely to Jokowi’s tacit support.

Jokowi, who came from humble origins and campaigned as a break from Indonesia’s traditional wealthy elites, oversaw impressive economic growth and will leave office popular. But Indonesia also backslid on human rights and on corruption indexes during his time in office. Prabowo very much positioned himself as a successor to Jokowi’s legacy.

“Concerns (about a Prabowo presidency) will focus on the potential for an increase in illiberal actions as he has previously advocated for removing presidential term limits, ending direct presidential elections and curtailing human rights protections,” said Laura Schwartz, Senior South East Asia Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. “Such developments would dent Indonesia’s reputation and its ability to attract foreign investment.”

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Zachary Abuza, a professor in Southeast Asian politics and security issues at the National War College in Washington, DC, told CNN Prabowo “has worked really hard to reinvent himself and to whitewash his past.”

Having a former military man at the helm could signal a return to the dark days of authoritarian rule, he added. “Jokowi surrounded himself with many army generals and had a tendency to ‘securitize’ many problems such as the (coronavirus) pandemic but things could get worse with Prabowo,“ Abuza said.

“I think he would go into the ranks of retired military men for his advisors and cabinet officials. But the bigger concern is that he would accelerate the return of the military.”

Voters in Jakarta told CNN that this year’s result could also signal the https://menjangkau.com return of “dynasty politics.” Yohanes Gregorius Tukan, 41, said Prabowo and Gibran’s campaign showed “nuanced nepotism and corruption.” Another voter, Kuncoro Rikoni, feared “a return to authoritarian rule.”

“We do not want to lose the democracy that we have fought for with blood and tears in 1998.”

National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb pictured at an election night event in Helsinki on Sunday. Tom Little/ReutersHelsinki, FinlandReuters — 

Alexander Stubb of the center-right National Coalition Party narrowly won Finland’s presidential election on Sunday, defeating liberal Green Party member Pekka Haavisto, who conceded defeat.

Stubb is pro-European and a strong supporter of Ukraine who has taken a tough stance towards Russia.

He declared himself winner in the run-off vote after securing 51.6% of the votes as 99.7% of ballots had been counted, against Haavisto’s 48.4%, justice ministry data showed.

Finland’s new head of state will be responsible for its security and foreign policy, including the recently approved NATO member’s stance towards Russia, with which it shares a long border.

In televised remarks Stubb called his victory “the greatest honor” of his life.

“The feeling is calm, humble but of course at the same time I am extremely happy and grateful that the Finns in such large numbers have voted and that I get to serve as president of the Republic of Finland,” he said.

Stubb, a former prime minister, had won the first round on January 28 with 27.2% of the vote ahead of Haavisto on 25.8%. He has also led Haavisto in opinion surveys, most recently by 6-8 percentage points.

Haavisto congratulated Stubb as “the 13th president of Finland.”

“I believe Finland now gets a good president for the republic. Alexander Stubb is an experienced, competent person for the job. No more babble,” he said.

National Coalition Party (NCP) Presidential candidate Alexander Stubb, center, reacts to the results of the advance votes at his election reception in Helsinki, Finland, February 11, 2024. Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva/Reuters

The vote marks a new era in Finland, which for decades has elected presidents to foster diplomacy, in particular with neighboring Russia, and opted not to join military alliances so it could soothe tensions between Moscow and NATO.

But Finns changed their minds after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in a rapid U-turn that led to the country joining NATO in April last year.

Now under the Western alliance’s security umbrella, Stubb will replace Sauli Niinisto, who is retiring after two six-year terms in which he earned the nickname “the Putin Whisperer” for his previous close ties with the Russian leader.

Stubb will have a central role in defining Finland’s NATO policies, while taking the lead on overall foreign and security policy in close cooperation with the government and acting as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

“Warm congratulations to Alexander Stubb. Finland is our close friend and partner,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post on X.

Lauri, a 36-year-old IT worker who voted in Helsinki, named Russia as the main task the new president will face.

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“Obviously we all know that we are in a difficult position nowadays looking at Russia, the entire turbulence in the world today. So I think that’s the biggest threat and biggest issue that we have,” he told Reuters on Saturday.

In an interview with Reuters last month, https://menjangkau.com Stubb said there would be no Russian pillar in Finland’s foreign policy for now.

“Politically, there will be no relations with the president of Russia or with the Russian political leadership until they stop the war in Ukraine.”

Stubb is in favor of deep NATO cooperation, such as allowing the transport of nuclear weapons across Finnish soil and placing some NATO troops permanently in Finland. He does not support storing nuclear weapons in Finland, however.

“At times, a nuclear weapon is a guarantee of peace,” Stubb said in a debate on Tuesday.

Russia has threatened Finland with retaliation in response to its NATO membership and a defense cooperation agreement signed with the US in December.

Jesse Lingard in Premier League action for Nottingham Forest against Manchester United on April 16, 2023. Visionhaus/Getty Images/FileSeoul, South KoreaCNN — 

Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard has signed for South Korea’s FC Seoul in a surprise move that ends the England international’s months-long search for a new club.

FC Seoul announced the transfer on Thursday, calling Lingard, 31, “the biggest name in K League history.”

Lingard, who had been training without a team since he was released by English Premier League side Nottingham Forest in the summer, expressed his delight on social media.

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“New beginnings,” he wrote on Instagram Thursday. “So excited to finally get back on the pitch and do what I love the most. (I’m) so grateful for the love and support in Korea.”

Lingard rose through the ranks at his boyhood club Manchester United, where he lifted trophies including the EFL Cup, UEFA Europa League and scored the winning goal in the 2016 FA Cup final.

He also impressed for England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where the team reached the semi-finals. He won his most recent of 32 international caps in 2021.

But Lingard fell out of favor at Old Trafford, failing to find consistency in a team struggling to live up to to the glory days of yesteryear.

Following a successful loan spell with Premier League side West Ham in 2021, Lingard made a permanent transfer to newly promoted Forest, becoming the team’s highest-paid player.

FC Seoul, South Korea’s oldest professional club, https://menjangkau.com finished seventh in the top division last year. The new K League season begins next month, when Lingard could make his debut in FC Seoul’s clash with Gwangju FC on March 2.

An artist’s illustration depicts the ‘super-Earth’ exoplanet TOI-715b as it orbits within the habitable zone around a red dwarf star. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.CNN — 

Astronomers have discovered a “super-Earth,” or a world larger than our planet, orbiting a star about 137 light-years away. A second planet, thought to be the size of Earth, may also be orbiting the same star.

The super-Earth exoplanet, known as TOI-715b, orbits a red dwarf star that is cooler and smaller than our sun. Astronomers spotted the planet using NASA’s TESS, or Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, mission. A study detailing the discovery was published in January in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Researchers have determined that the planet, estimated to be one and a half times as wide as our planet, takes just over 19 Earth days to complete one orbit around its star. The planet is close enough to its star to exist within the habitable zone, or the distance from a star that provides a planet with the right temperature for liquid water to exist on its surface.

The habitable zone is usually calculated based on factors such as the size, temperature and mass of a star as well as the reflectivity of a planet’s surface. But there can be large margins of error associated with these factors, calling into question whether a planet really resides in the habitable zone, said lead study author Dr. Georgina Dransfield, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy in the United Kingdom.

Astronomers believe that TOI-715b exists in a narrow and more optimal region around the star known as the conservative habitable zone, which is less likely to be affected by the margins of error.

“This discovery is exciting as it’s the first super-Earth from TESS to be found within the conservative habitable zone,” Dransfield said. “Additionally, as it’s relatively close by, the system is suitable for further atmospheric investigations.”

TESS, the planet hunter

Since it launched in 2018, TESS has helped astronomers spot planets around relatively nearby stars suitable for follow-up observations with ground- and space-based observatories.

“This is allowing us to get a much clearer picture of the diversity of exoplanetary systems orbiting a broad range of stellar types,” Dransfield said.

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Telescopes can pick up on dips in starlight that indicate the planet is passing in front of its star, and those dips in starlight are called transits. TOI-715b is close to its star and has a quick orbit, meaning that the planet passes in front of its star, or transits, frequently. As a result, the exoplanet is an optimal candidate for future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb telescope sees the universe in infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, and can peer inside the atmospheres of planets.

As the planet transits the star, starlight filters through it, allowing Webb to look for evidence of an atmosphere and even determine the planet’s atmospheric composition. And understanding whether planets have atmospheres can reveal more about their ability to be potentially habitable for life.

“We really want to know the planet’s mass with high precision to understand if it’s a true super-Earth or a member of the novel category of ocean worlds,” Dransfield said, referring to moons with global oceans such as Jupiter’s Europa or Saturn’s Enceladus. “This will allow us to really shape our follow-up investigations and learn more about exoplanet demographics as a whole.”

To confirm the existence of the likely Earth-size second planet, researchers need more successful observations of the planet’s transits in different wavelengths of light, Dransfield said.

If the Earth-size planet is confirmed, it will become the smallest planet yet that TESS has found in a habitable zone.

The search for Earth-like planets

Red dwarf stars are the most common stars in our galaxy, and a number of them have been found to host small, rocky worlds, such as the recently discovered TRAPPIST system with its seven planets, located 40 light-years away. Planets that orbit more closely to these smaller, cooler stars could receive enough warmth to be potentially habitable.

But a key question is whether these planets are also close enough to be lashed by stellar flares and radiation, which could erode their atmospheres, evaporate water and limit their ability to be habitable for life.

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TOI-715b’s star has only shown a couple of flares within the past two years and isn’t considered active, making it an old star, Dransfield said.

In the future, astronomers hope to have the ability to search for planets around stars more similar to our sun, which will require the ability to block intense starlight to find faint Earth-size planets.

Upcoming missions such as the European Space Agency’s PLATO, or PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, will carry 26 cameras to study Earth-like planets in habitable zone orbits around sun-like stars. The mission is expected to launch in 2026.

“So far, no telescope has been capable of this, but it should be possible within the next decade,” Dransfield said, referring to PLATO. “ https://menjangkau.com This will be one of the most anticipated discoveries, as it will begin to show us how common planets truly similar to Earth really are.”

Scientists used samples from sclerosponges off the coast of Puerto Rico to calculate ocean surface temperatures going back 300 years. Douglas Rissing/iStockphoto/Getty ImagesCNN — 

Using sponges collected off the coast of Puerto Rico in the eastern Caribbean, scientists have calculated 300 years of ocean temperatures and concluded the world has already overshot one crucial global warming limit and is speeding toward another.

These findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, are alarming but also controversial. Other scientists say the study contains too many uncertainties and limitations to draw such firm conclusions and could end up confusing public understanding of climate change.

Sponges — which grow slowly, layer by layer — can act like data time capsules, allowing a glimpse into what the ocean was like hundreds of years ago, long before the existence of modern data.

Using samples from sclerosponges, which live for centuries, the team of international scientists was able to calculate ocean surface temperatures going back 300 years.

They found human-caused warming may have started earlier than currently assumed and, as a result, global average temperature may have already warmed more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Researchers say the results also suggest global temperature could overshoot 2 degrees of warming by the end of the decade.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledged to restrict global warming to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition to limit it to 1.5 degrees. The pre-industrial era — or the state of the climate before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels and warming the planet — is commonly defined as 1850-1900.

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The study authors argue their findings suggest the pre-industrial era should be pushed further back to between the 1700s and 1860. Changing that baseline would mean the world has already warmed at least 1.7 degrees (scientists say long-term global warming currently stands at between 1.2 to 1.3 degrees).

“The big picture is that global warming, and the urgent need for emission reductions to minimize the risk of dangerous climate change, has been brought forward by at least a decade,” Malcolm McCulloch, lead author of the study and marine geochemist at the University of Western Australia, said at a news briefing. “So, this is a major change to thinking about global warming.”

However, several climate scientists have questioned the study’s findings, especially using one type of sponge from one location in the Caribbean to represent global temperatures. Gavin Schmidt, a NASA climate scientist, said estimating global average temperature requires data from as many locations as possible, as climate varies across the planet.

“Claims that records from a single record can confidently define the global mean warming since the pre-industrial are probably overreaching,” he said in a statement.

Gabi Hegerl, a professor of climate system science at the University of Edinburgh, said the study was “a nice new record that illustrates how temperatures in the Caribbean started to rise over the industrial period.” But, she added in a statement, “the interpretation in terms of global warming goals overstretches it.”

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Some went further. Yadvinder Malhi, professor of ecosystem science at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, said the way the findings have been communicated were “flawed” and have “the potential to add unnecessary confusion to public debate on climate change.”

A co-author of the study defended its robustness and argued that temperature changes in the part of the Caribbean the sponges came from have always mimicked changes around the globe.

“It’s probably one of the best areas if you’re trying to figure out global averaging on the Earth,” said Amos Winter, a professor of geology at Indiana State University. Ocean temperatures in the region are predominantly affected by planet-heating pollution, rather than natural climate variability like El Niño, he said.

Whatever the baseline for measuring global warming, what remains clear, experts say, is that the impacts will worsen with every fraction of a degree of warming.

“It’s exciting to see new research that allows us to peek centuries in the past,” said Joeri Rogelj, director of research at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, in a statement. But, he added, “relabeling the warming that has occurred until today by https://menjangkau.com using a different starting point does not change the impacts we are seeing today, or the impacts we are aiming to avoid.”

Winter hopes the study will function as a call to action. “Hopefully this will help change our viewpoints of what is happening in the globe, make us act now, and not wait for some disaster to happen for us to change our habits.”

Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton stands on the podium after the 2023 Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on April 2, 2023. Martin Keep/AFP via Getty ImagesCNN — 

Forget soccer’s transfer deadline day on Thursday. The only switch most sports fans were talking about was the announcement that seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the this season to join Ferrari in 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz at the Italian outfit.

“No two ways about it. For me it’s the single biggest driver transfer in the history of the sport. An incredible story,” F1 broadcaster Will Buxton said on social media.

Despite signing an extension with Mercedes until 2025 in August last year, the team said in a statement that Hamilton had “activated a release option in the contract” and would depart the Silver Arrows at the conclusion of the upcoming campaign.

“I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I’m so proud of what we have achieved together … making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make,” Hamilton said in the statement. “But the time is right for me to take this step and I’m excited to be taking on a new challenge.”

Ferrari announced shortly after that it had signed Hamilton to “a multi-year contract.”

Prior to Red Bull’s recent dominance in F1, the Hamilton-Mercedes partnership has become synonymous with success, with the German manufacturer securing eight World Constructors’ championships and Hamilton winning the drivers’ title six times.

Hamilton celebrates after claiming his seventh Drivers’ title in 2020. Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

For Ferrari, it’s a remarkable coup, having lured a driver that many consider to be the greatest of all time away from the team that he won six championships with. For Mercedes, it is a devastating loss, unable to retain a generational talent and the face of its entire motorsport brand.

Is the grass greener?

There is jeopardy in Hamilton’s decision to swap the Silver Arrows for the Prancing Horse. He has been so successful with Mercedes that it’s almost hard to imagine the 39-year-old Briton racing for any other team.

Hamilton holds the all-time record for F1 wins (103), achieving 82 of those with Mercedes and 21 with McLaren. His association with the German constructor goes back over 25 years to when he was signed as junior driver by McLaren – who used Mercedes engines – at 13 years old.

Hamilton will depart a team that he knows well – leaving behind mechanics and engineers that he has forged relationships with – to step into an unknown environment.

Hamilton and Mercedes dominated F1 in the previous decade. Clive Mason/Getty Images

The Scuderia is statistically the most successful F1 team of all time, although it has not claimed a constructors’ crown since 2008, the year that Hamilton won his first F1 title with McLaren, and has not produced a world champion driver since 2007.

Though Ferrari mounted a challenge with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in 2012 and 2017 respectively, it was unable to make a dent in Red Bull’s era of dominance between 2010 and 2013 and fell victim to the Mercedes dynasty during the remainder of that decade.

Now, Red Bull, led by three-time world champion Max Verstappen, is again on top and Ferrari have been unable to get close.

Charles Leclerc briefly flirted with challenging Verstappen at the start of the 2022 season, though both Ferrari drivers finished behind Hamilton in 2023 and Mercedes beat the Scuderia to second in the constructors’ race.

Success in red is far from a guarantee for Hamilton, who will also have to contend with new teammate Leclerc, who is well-established at the team and has long been touted as Ferrari’s next drivers’ champion.

Hamilton, who was infamously involved in a title fight with teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016, will join the highly-rated Leclerc at Ferrari. Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

Despite Hamilton’s apparent ability to defy the effects of time, age could also be a factor in how much he achieves with the Maranello-based team.

“[Hamilton] will actually be 40 when he starts racing for Ferrari, which is remarkable in itself that he’s starting this new chapter so late in his career,” Phil Duncan, who is PA Media’s F1 correspondent, told CNN Sport.

The oldest man to win an F1 world title is Juan Manuel Fangio at the age of 46 in 1956 and no driver has won a championship in their forties since Jack Brabham in 1966.
Winning a title in what will be his 19th year in the sport would mean that Hamilton would be doing something unprecedented in modern times.

For the best?

Perhaps the move, however, is a masterstroke.

“A change of scenery can completely rejuvenate you,” said CNN’s Coy Wire on World Sport. “Going into a new building, getting new teammates, no more staleness.”

Wire pointed to the NFL as an example, explaining that Tom Brady’s decision to end a 20-year tenure with the New England Patriots and sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers “brought him to life,” with the quarterback winning a Super Bowl with the franchise in 2021.

Hamilton’s move could reinvigorate the seven-time world champion and give him another chance to compete at the top of the sport. It also reunites him with Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, who Hamilton raced for at junior level.

Hamilton is without a win since December 2021, having watched Verstappen claim the world title in the final race of that season and then lap the field in 2022 and 2023.

Much of this can be attributed to Mercedes essentially falling off a cliff after 2021. New technical regulations were introduced in 2022, and while Red Bull swam, Mercedes sunk.

The team has looked uncompetitive, finishing hundreds of points behind Red Bull and losing out on podiums to the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin. Last season, a Mercedes driver failed to win a race across a whole season for the first time since 2011.

The last couple of seasons have been a bumpy ride for Hamilton, pictured here colliding with Fernando Alonso in 2022. John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

A damning indictment of Mercedes’ car development came over the airwaves from team principal Toto Wolff in Austria last year: “Lewis, the car is bad, we know. Please drive it.”

It is uncertain whether Hamilton https://menjangkau.com will have better fortunes on the track at Ferrari, but with Mercedes’ process stagnating, it may well be worth taking the leap to racing’s most famous team.

Aside from all else, the move holds significance on a personal level for Hamilton. He has previously described driving for Ferrari as a “dream” and was unsure about why a move there never came to fruition. Now, as Duncan put it, it is a dream, “fulfilled.”

Protesters clash with police officers in Brussels on Thursday. Dirk Waem/Belga/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN — 

Protesting farmers descended on the heart of the European Union on Thursday as leaders across the bloc held a crucial meeting at which they agreed new funding for Ukraine.

Demonstrators rolled into Brussels in their tractors in the early morning hours before gathering outside the European Parliament where the summit was being held, blaring horns, hurling eggs and sparking fires.

A handful of tractors had been parked near the EU Parliament all week before convoys from across the country converged on Thursday morning.

Some of the protesters set objects on fire in front of the parliament building, while others held signs with slogans including: “No farmers, no food.”

Police said on Thursday that around 1,000 tractors were expected in the Belgian capital for the planned demonstration, warning about “traffic problems” in the area.

Rows of tractors clogged roads in Brussels on Thursday morning. Hatim Kaghat/Belga/AFP/Getty Images

There were chaotic scenes outside the European Union headquarters as a key meeting on aid to Ukraine got underway. Yves Herman/Reuters

Although EU farming issues are not part of the summit’s agenda, the demonstrators are aiming to put pressure on the bloc for their grievances to be heard.

Farmers have called for a loosening of the rules that govern the bloc’s shared agricultural policy, saying they are not paid enough, are being choked by taxes and environmental restrictions and face unfair competition from abroad – including cheap agricultural imports from Ukraine.

The EU has waived quotas and duties on Ukrainian imports in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Renaud Foucart, a senior economics lecturer at Lancaster University in England, told CNN that there are two overarching issues that the protesting farmers have.

“One of them, which is mostly for eastern European farmers, is the fear that wheat and a lot of other agricultural products entering the market from Ukraine is unfair competition and they would like to get some protectionism for that.

According to Foucart, for farmers in western European countries the main issue is the environmental measures being introduced under the EU Green Deal, which they say will burden them with extra costs and regulations.

“Those farmers, they would like to get some form of exemption from that, some form of compensation.”

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called farmers’ concerns “perfectly legitimate.”

“As you have seen, there is a major farmers protest in Brussels. We need to be able to discuss in the Council on this topic because the concerns that they have are perfectly legitimate.

“The climate transition is a key priority for our societies. We need to make sure that our farmers can be a partner in this,” De Croo said on arrival at the summit.

Some of the protesters set objects on fire in front of the parliament building. Yves Herman/Reuters

Protests have also taken place over the past days in Italy, Spain, Romania, Poland, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.

In Greece, tractors are marching towards the second biggest city of Thessaloniki Thursday, hoping to block key routes inside the city.

In France, protesting farmers continue their roadblocks outside of Paris and near the cities of Lyon and Toulouse.

According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, 91 people were detained on Wednesday for obstructing traffic and causing damage near the Rungis market south of Paris, a key distribution food hub. According to the French government, more announcements are expected “in the coming days.”

On Thursday, newly appointed French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced new measures for the farming industry, including financial support, in a press conference.

Following the announcement, two of France’s major farming unions urged their members to end roadblocks.

“We believe we need to change our mode of action https://menjangkau.com and so we’re calling on our networks through national channels to suspend the blockades and enter into a new form of mobilization,” said Arnaud Gaillot, president of Jeunes Agriculteurs.

In an effort to address some of the farming industry’s concerns, the European Commission proposed a “temporary” exemption for farmers to an EU rule that would oblige them to keep 4% of their arable land fallow or unproductive for biodiversity purposes.

It also proposed to “renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while reinforcing protection for sensitive EU agricultural products.”

Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna in the 1995 mafia movie Casino emdodied the fur coat and big jewelry ‘mob wife’ aesthetic. Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Business of Fashion, an editorial partner of CNN Style.CNN — 

Edwards-Lowell Furs didn’t expect 2023 to be a good year.

In anticipation of the ban on the sale of new furs that went into effect in its home state of California in January 2023, the company had transitioned its business from selling furs to storing them. Plus, Edwards-Lowell Furs’ said, dwindling sales — declines of around 50 percent year-on-year — had forced it to sell its building in Beverly Hills.

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But then owner Paul Matsumoto connected with Natalie Bloomingdale, founder and CEO of vintage e-tailer The Sil, and the two teamed up to host an online auction of pre-owned coats from Edwards-Lowell Furs’ on The Sil’s Instagram.

Dua Lipa, seen here in a full-length faux fur coat in New York in November 2023, is a modern adopter of the look. Raymond Hall/GC Images/Getty Images

“We sold the first batch of furs in a matter of minutes,” said Bloomingdale. The two now host sales three times a month, and Matsumoto said it’s breathed new life into the business.

This year may bring even more demand due to the explosion of the “mob wives” aesthetic on TikTok. Characterized by animal prints, heavy gold jewelry, glossy leather trousers, perfectly coiffed hair and a massive fur coat, the trend has already racked up over 160 million views on the platform. Its emergence has been fueled by several factors — the 25th anniversary of HBO’s mafia-centric hit “The Sopranos,” the onset of a colder winter, and a burgeoning interest in fur among younger consumers.

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It’s quite a pivot from just a few years ago, when it appeared fur’s trajectory was on an unstoppable decline. Since the late 2010s, brands and retailers including Canada Goose, Gucci, Net-a-Porter, Versace, Prada, Neiman Marcus and Michael Kors all announced their intention to phase out fur products. In 2021, Israel became the first country in the world to enact a ban on new fur sales, while Italy and Norway announced they would stop fur farming. In 2021, Kering chief executive François-Henri Pinault said that fur had “no place in luxury.”

From left: TV personality Angela Raiola in February 2012; Drea de Matteo playing Adriana La Cerva in season 5 of The Sopranos and Victoria Gotti, sister of John “Junior” Gotti leaving federal court in New York in November 2009. Ray Tamarra/Getty Images; HBO/Everett Collection; Mary Altaffer/AP

Fast forward to 2024, and the sentiment around fur appears to be shifting as the mob wife aesthetic raises awareness of the material amongst a new generation of consumers.

But this fur moment is different from the past. Now, it’s secondhand and fast fashion retailers that are reaping the benefits of fur’s viral moment, as are alternative material startups and brands with good quality faux fur offerings.

‘Mob wives’ influence

On TikTok, trends can rise and fall within a matter of weeks, if not days, and “mob wife” is no exception. While weekly searches have grown by 21.3 percent year-on-year, data and retail analytics platform Trendalytics anticipates this fad to be short-lived, with an arc of roughly six months.

“Mob wife is more of a reflection of the diminished meaning of trends and aesthetics,” said Mandy Lee, a trend analyst and forecaster. “We seem to be in this endless cycle of nostalgia for trends that were rooted in subcultures, values and context. Today, they are quite literally costumes that people put on and take off everyday.”

Anticipating and preparing for these viral moments can be challenging for brands that don’t already have corresponding products and as fickle consumers are itching to hop on the bandwagon, selling products on a preorder model won’t work, said Lee.

Fendi’s haute couture show in Paris in January 2024. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

But brands that are at the right place at the right time can expect to earn dividends. In the case of the “mob wife” trend, because so many luxury labels have moved away from fur, it’s more likely to be fast fashion or mass market retailers who benefit. A faux fur jacket from Zara has emerged as one of the leading products benefitting from the trend, with searches and social interest in it and similar products seeing an increase of 212.7 percent in search and social buzz compared to last year, found Trendalytics.

“Even though fur was once synonymous with luxury, fast fashion brands are well-positioned for this moment… selling on points of affordability and as a suitable alternative,” said Kayla Marci, senior retail analyst at Edited analytics.

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For those who want the real deal, vintage provides an option. On TikTok, users are encouraging the purchase of secondhand furs over new, making this viral moment key for vintage fur sellers like The Sil or even The RealReal.

“Sales have exploded,” said Matsumoto. “We’ve never sold this many used garments before.”

The future of fur

The mob wife trend may be destined to be short-lived, but the appetite for fur or fur-like materials will likely last. However, as fur’s popularity has shifted, consumers’ values around sustainability largely haven’t, creating an opportunity for next-generation material startups like plant-based fur brand BioFluff and Spiber, a Japanese biotech company using brewed protein-based fiber to create fur alternatives through a process similar to brewing beer. In the coming months, Spiber said they will partner with a number of brands to develop custom fur products.

Leopard print is another key tenet of the ‘mob wife’ style. This look formed part of Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring-Summer 2023 show in Milan. Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

“We hope to underscore that you can have it both ways,” said Callie Clayton, head of global client relations at Spiber. “The look and feel of fur is possible without the cruelty.”

Still, animal rights advocates aren’t happy with the material’s resurgence, arguing that even if it’s attained sustainably — via plant-based means, for https://menjangkau.com example — the increased visibility of fur will inevitably stoke demand for the real thing.  PJ Smith of the Humane Society of the United States  is hopeful that legislation introduced in the last couple of years is robust enough to curb demand.

“We can already see the end of the tunnel, the fur industry is dying thanks to policies like fur bans,” said Smith in an interview with the Business of Fashion. “Trends like these could lead to higher first sales but it won’t be enough to reverse the trajectory of the industry.”

Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla are seen leaving the London Clinic on Monday.Peter Nicholls/Getty ImagesLondonCNN — 

Britain’s King Charles III has been discharged from a hospital in London after undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate.

Buckingham Palace said the 75-year-old monarch had left the hospital and that his upcoming public engagements have been rescheduled “to allow for a period of private recuperation.”

The palace added that he “would like to thank the medical team and all those involved in supporting his hospital visit, and is grateful for all the kind messages he has received in recent days.”

The King spent three nights at the London Clinic – a private hospital near Regent’s Park – after being admitted on Friday, and was said to be “doing well” following the procedure.

Queen Camilla, who has been visiting her husband daily, was by his side as he left on Monday.

Camilla previously said her husband was “fine” and “looking forward to getting back to work” while on recent engagements.

The King’s departure comes hours after Kensington Palace announced that Catherine, Princess of Wales had left the same private hospital and returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery from abdominal surgery.

The princess went into the London Clinic two weeks ago for an abdominal operation.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said Catherine is “making good progress” and that she and her husband, Prince William, were grateful to the staff at the hospital “for the care they have provided.”

“The Wales family continues to be grateful for the well wishes they have received from around the world,” the spokesperson added.

The Princess of Wales, pictured in November, returned home on Monday after nearly two weeks in hospital.Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images

The Princess of Wales was admitted to hospital on January 16 for planned abdominal surgery. A day later, Kensington Palace announced the operation was a success and that she would remain in hospital for 10 to 14 days.

News of Catherine’s surgery, which was announced only 90 minutes before Buckingham Palace separately revealed Charles’ diagnosis, sparked concern at the time.

It is unclear what her surgery was for, but a royal source told CNN on January 17 that the 42-year-old’s condition was non-cancerous.

It is expected that the princess will need to recuperate for several months, as Kensington Palace previously said she was unlikely to resume her public duties until after Easter.

According to a royal source on Monday, the princess’ return will depend on medical advice closer to the time. Prince William has also taken a step back from public engagements to support his wife while juggling childcare duties.

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Charles was diagnosed after experiencing symptoms and receiving a check-up while at his Birkhall residence in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the UK’s PA Media news agency previously reported.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wished the monarch a “speedy recovery” after his procedure, PA reported, citing a Downing Street spokeswoman.

Buckingham Palace previously said the King was “delighted” to have helped raise awareness with his diagnosis.

NHS England said visits to its “enlarged prostate” webpage — which provides information on https://menjangkau.com causes, symptoms and treatment options — saw traffic surge more than 1,000% above its daily average after the palace’s announcement on January 17.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct when CNN learned about the Princess of Wales’ condition.