DULUTH, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 16, 2023--

The Netherlands and Denmark will supply dozens of F-16s to Ukraine as they pledged “unwavering support” in a landmark announcement yesterday. While Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would receive 42 jets in total, the two donor countries did not specify numbers in a joint statement confirming the deliveries. Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen said 19 jets will “hopefully” be sent to Kyiv, of which six will arrive around the new year, eight more next year and the remaining five will be sent in 2025 as he asked Ukraine to “please take this donation as a token of Denmark’s unwavering support for your country’s fight for freedom”. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands has 42 of the jets, but said some will be needed for training purposes. Ukraine has been asking its allies for advanced fighter jets since the very beginning of Russia’s invasion, but its Western allies have been reluctant to provide military donations that could be used to strike deep inside Moscow’s territory. It comes as nearly 50 flights to and from Moscow were disrupted after Russia said it foiled attacks by two Ukrainian drones in the city. Read More ‘Wagner is victim of its own brand name’: How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus? Zelenskyy visits NATO candidate Sweden for 1st time since full-scale war with Russia Ukraine war troop deaths and wounded nearing 500,000, say US officials

As football fans across the globe gear up for the Women’s World Cup, some of the biggest names in the game including England captain Leah Williamson will be absent because of a wave of ACL injuries which has rocked the sport in recent years. It is a common sight in the women’s game when clubs and countries are forced to announce that their biggest stars will be out for months on end. Williamson ruptured her ACL – or anterior cruciate ligament – in April, and will miss the World Cup as a result. Other stars to miss the tournament are England’s Beth Mead and the Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema, who both suffered the injury in November. Canada's Janine Beckie and the USA’s Catarina Macario are in the same boat. The issue also blighted the Euros last summer, as Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas missed the tournament after rupturing her ACL days before the opening game. Northern Ireland’s Simone Magill was also ruled out, along with France striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had been one of the favourites to win the Euro 2022 Golden Boot. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But what is this injury, and why are so many women’s footballers getting it? A recurring problem The ACL is a small band of connective tissue in the centre of the knee. It can tear during routine activities like jumping. Any athlete that gets it faces surgery followed by six-to-12 months of rehab. Men also sustain ACL injuries – the likes of Virgil Van Dyke and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are high-profile examples in recent years – but it is more prominent in the women’s game. Speaking to Sky Sports last year, female health specialist Dr Emma Ross said: “We know female athletes are up to six times more likely to have a non-contact ACL injury than their male counterparts.” “In sport and exercise science research, only about 6 per cent of the studies are done exclusively on females – meaning they study things that are happening to the female body – so we don't have a lot of research on female athletes. “But what we do know about the menstrual cycle and injury is that the changing hormones across the cycle can impact the physiology and biomechanics of the body. “For example, when oestrogen is elevated in the menstrual cycle, and that happens in about the second week, it can affect the stability of joints. It can interfere with the collagen in our joints and it can create looser, more lax joints. A loose joint is therefore less stable and more inclined to injury. “So we do have some information about loose joints, but what we don't have is the end step of whether that really does increase the risk for injury in female athletes.” ‘Please no more’ Meanwhile, the workload for elite women’s footballers has grown because of the spiralling popularity of the game. Top players can play up to 44 matches a year, while three out of every four summers there is a major tournament, whether it is the Olympics, Euros or World Cup. The game has grown more professional in lockstep with the ever-busier schedules in recent years, with more Premier League clubs than ever pouring significant cash into their women’s teams. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur spent a combined £33m on running their women’s football teams in the year to July 2022. Nonetheless, it remains lightyears behind the men’s game in terms of funding. The teams paid £186m to agents for men’s team transfers in the same season, according to the Telegraph. There are other factors at play too – women’s feet are significantly different from men’s in shape and size, and experts are concerned that ill-fitting boots could be contributing to the wave of injuries. Sports rehabilitation expert Dr Katrine Okholm Kryger told Sky Sports that “we know that women have a two to five times higher risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries”, which affect the knee. Many of the major manufacturers are developing women's specific boots which should be available for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023, but Dr Okholm Kryger said the lack of available football boots is a general concern. She said she hopes to start a discussion and “kindly nudge manufacturers and research towards the need to pay more attention in this area”. Until they listen, the problem could continue depriving women’s football of its biggest stars. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Cindy Crawford has shared how her father, John Crawford, didn’t initially understand that modelling was a career. The supermodel, 57, spoke candidly about the beginning of her career in a sneak peek of the new Apple TV+ documentary series, The Super Models, shared via People. While the clip showcased a photo of Crawford from the 1980s, she expressed that back when she was a teenager, she didn’t understand how the modelling world worked. “I never even thought about modelling,” she said. “I didn’t even know it was a real job. I didn’t know how I would get from DeKalb, Illinois, to a magazine.” After the clip showed footage of Crawford posing for the camera in the 80s, she then added that her father didn’t know what modelling was either. “My dad really didn’t understand that modelling was a real career. He thought modelling was like another name for prostitution,” she said. “So [my parents] came with me to my very first modelling appointment.” This isn’t Crawford’s first time opening up about the early days of her career. During an interview with Vanity Fair in 2016, she recalled how she posed for her first portrait at the age of 16, while living in her hometown. “When I was 16, Roger Legel, a local photographer in my small town of DeKalb, Illinois, asked to photograph me for the college newspaper. I agreed, and he shot this picture at the backyard pool of my high-school boyfriend,” she said. According to Crawford, that photoshoot offered her a change of perspective, as it ultimately encouraged her to go into modelling as a career. “I was still a teenager and dreamed of becoming something big - a nuclear physicist or the first woman president, the two biggest jobs I could think of,” she said. “Doing this first shoot changed my life. The photographer encouraged me to go to Chicago to try to find an agent.” The actor once again shared her parent’s initial thoughts about modelling, before recalling how she went on to officially start modelling in Chicago. “At the time, my dad thought modelling was a nice word for prostitution, so my parents were very protective of me,” Crawford said. “I went to Chicago, ended up signing with Elite, and from there started doing catalogue shoots as well as working with Victor Skrebneski - the most important photographer in Chicago.” She concluded: “This one photograph opened my eyes to a whole new world and started me down the path of modelling.” In the new Apple TV + series, The Super Models, Crawford comes together with fellow modelling legends – Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington – to open up about her time in the fashion world. According to a press release shared by Apple TV, the program will discuss some of the achievements that these four women have had so far, as well as how they’ve shaped the modelling industry today. “Their prestige was so extraordinary that it enabled the four to supersede the brands they showcased, making the names Naomi, Cindy, Linda and Christy as prominent as the designers who styled them,” the press release reads. “Today, the four supermodels remain on the frontlines of culture through activism, philanthropy and business prowess.” “As the fashion industry continues to redefine itself – and women’s roles within it – this is the ultimate story of power and how four women came together to claim it, paving the way for those to follow,” the statement continued. The Super Models will premiere on Apple TV + on 20 September. Read More Supermodels recreate iconic Vogue cover from 1990 Watch: Cindy Crawford re-creates iconic 1992 Super Bowl Pepsi ad Kaia Gerber addresses nepotism in Hollywood: ‘That just isn’t how art is made’ See plus-size model Ashley Graham stun in Old Hollywood-inspired Harris Reed LFW show Football legend Michael Owen: My four kids all have opinions about my fashion choices Sex Education season 4: How vintage finds help characters get their unique style

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