British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell believes England’s Lionesses have a vital role to play in the diplomatic mission of fighting for the rights of women and girls around the world. England players on Tuesday released a collective statement, posted on Twitter by captain Millie Bright, outlining their “disappointment” in not reaching an agreement with the Football Association over performance bonus payments and commercial structures ahead of their World Cup opener against Haiti in Brisbane. That fight, they said, was driven not solely by personal gain but by “a strong sense of responsibility to grow the game” globally – a sentiment reiterated by numerous players over the last few days in the Queensland capital, where defender Lucy Bronze explained “we’re not only doing this for ourselves, we’re doing it so that we can set a standard.” Asked how she felt about the Lionesses’ advocacy, Treadell told the PA news agency: “I’m hugely proud. If you have a platform you should use it for global good. “I think the Lionesses are doing just that. They are personalities, they have a profile, it’s part of a much broader global agenda of closing the gender pay gap. [In many professions] women are still behind the men. “We must all work together to say ‘that is wrong’. If we’re doing the same job we should have equal pay. So if they voice that, if we voice that it’s about pushing that and getting people to say actually, that is about equality, that is about fairness. “Football is played on every continent. The English Premier League, the Women’s Super League in the UK, has a global audience. It’s a great soft power asset. More people watch British football than any other nation’s football. They are personalities, they have a profile, it's part of a much broader global agenda of closing the gender pay gap Vicki Treadell “So for us they are amazing brand ambassadors entering every room.” This is not the first time the Lionesses have used their platform politically. Days after lifting the Euro 2022 trophy, they collectively released a letter to then-Conservative leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss with a host of demands including a school football provision for girls identical to that offered to boys. Their campaign paid off in March when the government responded with a new package of measures designed to grant equal access to all school sport, backed by over £600 million in funding over the next two academic years. According to last year’s FIFA benchmarking report on women’s leagues and clubs, the average salary in the women’s game worldwide is just USD 14,000 (£11,000). And at international level, players from World Cup nations including France, Spain, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa and Zambia have all called out or taken action over issues ranging from playing and training conditions to personnel, while this is the first World Cup the United States will play following their landmark legal battle for equal pay. An increased prize pot of 110 million US dollars (£84.2m) for this World Cup came after an open letter to FIFA signed by 150 players from 25 national teams called for equal conditions and a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players. That pot is more than three times that of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but still pales in comparison to the 440 million USD (£342m) doled out after the 2022 men’s edition in Qatar, though FIFA has outlined ambitions for parity by the next World Cups. Bright will for England’s second match wear an armband advocating for Indigenous People, a collective choice she said was “massively important to us as a team” after meeting members of the community in Australia. Treadell lauded that decision, adding: “It’s really important cultural understanding and awareness. The wonderful thing is that it’s the women of those First Nations who have been at the forefront of these welcomes. “Women to women, gender empowerment, inspiring young girls of whatever race, religion, ethnicity, that there is potential that they can realise their dreams. “And of course the Lionesses are role models about realising your dreams.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2012: Bradley Wiggins celebrates historic Tour de France victory Day four of fourth Ashes Test: Eyes on the skies as England chase victory Tommy Fleetwood vows to give chase as Open history favours Brian Harman

What was he doing?

The parish priest said he would have acted differently had he known they were carved by children.

MOSCOW Russia expresses its most serious concern at the sharp aggravation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Russian foreign ministry

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Catholic school that terminated a teacher for having premarital sex, according to court documents.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to upset the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, but Patrick Peterson is handing out free bulletin board material to his opponent.

Epic Games has revealed Fortnite Ranked, but will players be able to earn rewards and items in this new competitive mode?

New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers announced his intention for next season with a very Aaron Rodgers Instagram post.

Someone could soon be at risk of dying or being injured by a falling satellite every other year, according to a new report. By 2035, if SpaceX’s Starlink space internet satellites continue to grow in number, then they some 28,000 pieces of them will be falling from the sky each year, according to a report from the Federal Aviation Authority. The chance of one surviving its fall to the ground and injuring or killing someone would be 0.6 per year, it said – which would make it likely to happen once every two years. They could even pose a risk to aircraft, it said. The probability of an aircraft being downed by a satellite would be 0.0007 per year by 2035, the report claimed. The report was commissioned amid increasing concern about falling space debris, and the vast collection of material that has been put into space in recent years. Companies such as SpaceX are launching more and more satellites each years, and experts have warned that there is a danger of collisions both in space as well as on the ground. The new report aimed to evaluate the risk posed by that falling space debris. It also suggests that some of the danger could be limited with more regulation. But it notes that the FAA does not have any power over launches that happen outside of the US. As with many of the problems in space, the world currently lacks an international approach to space debris, new satellites and the dangers that those objects might pose. The report primarily looked at the constellation of satellites that have been launched and are planned by SpaceX, for instance. The company has launched 5,000 such satellites already, and plans to increase that dramatically, and SpaceX represents over 85 per cent of the risk posed to people on the ground, the FAA’s report said. But it did not look at other networks of satellites planned in other countries. Recent reports have suggested that China is planning its own huge constellation of satellites that will also offer their own space internet, named Guowang, for example. SpaceX has said that the analysis used to calculate the number is “deeply flawed” and based on false assumptions about the danger posed by its satellites. The company’s satellites are more likely to burn up on entry than the report assumed, the company’s principal engineer David Goldstein wrote in a letter to the FAA, according to a report from Space News. Read More PlayStation announces brand new version of the PS5 ChatGPT founder says bitcoin is ‘super logical’ next step for tech Google to trial AI in UK traffic light systems to reduce stop-and-go emissions

Earning your Dalaran Hearthstone is a super simple process.

Brexit is partly to blame for stubbornly high inflation levels seen in the UK, former Bank of England

Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker has been suspended without pay amid an ongoing investigation, the university announced Sunday.