ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, is in talks with several banks for a €300 million ($321 million)

Buy Me a Coffee, an online crowdfunding service for creators, has immediately reacted to a

South Africa has won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia in the Cricket World Cup semifinal as it chases a so-far elusive spot in the championship match

The Supreme Court has ruled for a onetime top aide to ex-New York Gov_ Andrew Cuomo and for others who were convicted of corruption related to an economic development project known as the “Buffalo Billion.”

In a legal filing, Mr Trump says past comments by the judge in court are "disqualifying".

A Ukrainian governor says Russia launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv, burning down a warehouse said to house humanitarian supplies and killing one man

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL North Korea denounced the U.N. Security Council for holding a meeting on its recent

Fashion designer Victoria Beckham has revealed that her 12-year-old daughter Harper is becoming quite the young beauty expert and is already "like a pro" when it comes to applying her own make-up.

On Saturday night, two fighters who embody the word heavyweight – every sense of it – will clash in Saudi Arabia. In one corner will be the reigning WBC champion, one of the biggest names in boxing, Tyson Fury. In the other will be the former UFC champion, a man deemed the hardest hitter in combat-sports history, Francis Ngannou. This crossover bout has its detractors yet still holds an air of intrigue, all based on the ‘what if’: What if Ngannou can land on Fury? What if one of those monstrous hands touches the Briton’s chin with the velocity and malicious intent that have come to define Ngannou’s fighting career, and which carried the Cameroonian to the UFC heavyweight title? For all his evasive guile, Fury, 35, has been put down numerous times, but he has never been beaten – not even by fighters with much greater boxing pedigree than the 37-year-old Ngannou. The experiential gap understandably has most viewers doubting Ngannou’s chances in Riyadh, where he faces Fury in a proper, professional boxing match; but what if? And if Ngannou is to win, how will he? Attacking Fury to the body? Battering him in the clinch? Backing him into a corner? Alex Pattle asked former two-weight world-champion boxer Carl Frampton, and Dan Hardy, an ex-UFC title challenger who now works with the Professional Fighters League – the MMA promotion where Ngannou will fight in 2024. Here’s what they had to say... AP: What was your initial reaction to the fight being announced? DH: “I was shocked. I expected Ngannou to have another fight before Tyson Fury, but I think it’s the wise thing to do to step straight in and keep the element of surprise on your side. If he’d have gone in there and fought someone else, Tyson would’ve been able to get reads before the fight even started. Jumping in at the deep end, even though it’s a bit crazy, increases his chances of winning. That was my first thought: It’s a surprise that it’s happening, but relief that Ngannou is getting it on his first shot.” CF: “Initially I was disappointed, and that’s kind of taming it down a bit. Obviously we were hoping for Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk and that fell through, but now I’ve come round to the idea that this is a huge event. And we’ve got Fury vs Usyk off the back of it. I was always hopeful that fight would come about at some point, and I don’t wanna be talking as if Ngannou is gonna be a complete walkover for Fury, but I’m okay about it [because] the Fury vs Usyk fight has been made for some point in the future. Also, the money the guys are making with this event...” AP: Do fans need to be more understanding of fighters taking ‘money fights’? CF: “Maybe a little bit. Boxing fans in particular are very opinionated, and I understand that they’re frustrated. But if you’re Tyson Fury and someone’s offering you a fight of this magnitude against a boxing debutant, and there are talks of $30m – and $10m for Ngannou – how do you turn that down? It’s almost too good to be true.” DH: “I think it's a bit different for MMA fans, because we’re still in new ground; the changes that Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor made in fighters’ purses and expectations for purses... as a matchmaker, I’m still dealing with the repercussions of that! Fighters want ridiculous amounts of money, but the money is out there to be made by certain superstars. I honestly think it’s easier for a layman fan to understand why fighters would take these fights, because they focus so much more on the money. I think it’s more the purists who go, ‘I’m not interested in these fights!’ [To the layman], the money and pay-per-view buys almost represent the value of the fighter; to the purists, the value of the fighter is based on their technical ability and achievements.” CF: “I hate to use the term ‘casual fan’, but there’s a big difference between the purists and just the casual fan. I think you’ll win back [the purists] with Fury vs Usyk, but it’s all a bit trivial almost, because [most] fans are fickle. I’m expecting Fury to beat Ngannou and then fight Usyk, and it’ll almost be like the talk and criticism of the Ngannou fight will go away.” AP: Do crossover events like Tommy Fury vs KSI and Logan Paul vs Dillon Danis risk putting fans off fights like Fury vs Ngannou? DH: “I personally think it’s all on the same spectrum – just at different points on the spectrum. That Misfits Boxing card... I’ll be honest, I was able to make peace with that whole genre of combat sports much easier after that event, because it’s more like pro wrestling. The audience there, they’re not gonna buy a ticket to see ‘Canelo’ Alvarez; they’re not there for that, they’re there for the drama – for the security getting involved, for the plexiglass cages they put them in at the face-offs. It’s theatre with a combat-sports flavour.” AP: What is Ngannou’s chance of winning – as a percentage – in your opinion? CF: “There’s a lot of boxers who are almost anti-MMA, and I’m not. I understand what this is: I understand that Fury is a lifelong boxer, fighting a guy who’s had to perfect many different styles in MMA, so in that sense Ngnannou doesn’t have much of a chance. But to say that he has zero chance, I think, would be very, very wrong – because he’s a big, athletic man who can punch hard. He has a chance, but it’s very small. I hope I’m not being disrespectful to Francis; if you flip it on its head and do it in a cage, then it’s the same odds but reversed [in his favour]. It’s just, when you try to rationalise it, it’s his boxing debut – and it’s against maybe the best heavyweight boxer on the planet.” DH: “We’re definitely in single digits when it comes to percentages, but it’s the ‘what if’ that we’re tuning in for, right? Even if it’s a 0.1 per cent chance that Ngannou is gonna land that shot, we’re all gonna sit and watch in case that happens. If it does, then he’s got the power to knock Fury out. The reason I feel this is an intriguing fight is because... if you look at Ngannou against the likes of Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who’s got over 80 kickboxing matches and moves with very traditional patterns, Rozenstruik was taken out very, very quickly – and ferociously – because Ngannou flew at him, coming from all kinds of different angles. You just can’t predict those things. “Against Deontay Wilder, Fury was dealing with someone who’s got ferocious punching power but who’s got some basic fundamentals that make him a little bit predictable. If Ngannou starts patient and then starts winging those big shots from weird angles, which Tyson’s probably not anticipating, that elevates his chances – but they’re still incredibly slim." CF: “That’s the thing. High-end boxers often talk about when they spar novice guys, it’s all really unorthodox; they’re not taught to defend against shots that are coming from [certain angles], and it can be a bit awkward at times.” AP: We know that Ngannou needs to knock out Fury to win. But how does he knock out Fury? DH: “If I was trying to solve this problem for Ngannou, I’d say: We’re working with 90-degree corners in a boxing ring, so that’s something I’d like to work towards. It’s gonna be difficult to back Tyson up, of course, and he’s very good at standing on his back foot and making his head feel like it’s a long way away. So, Ngannou has to work to the body and vary his target to potentially bring Fury’s hands down. Ngannou has thunderous punching, so if he lands to the ribs, he might open up an opportunity. If he’s just head-hunting, it’s not gonna happen. Play a little bit of boxing, but when it comes to uncorking those big shots, really commit to them. And ideally put Tyson in a corner, up against the ropes.” CF: “With Ngannou’s MMA background and knowledge of wrestling and grappling, he will have success when they’re in really close quarters and Tyson’s trying to hold on. This might be something that Tyson’s never experienced before, where someone can get out of a clinch rather easily and land a shot. Ngannou can’t stand off and outbox Tyson, that’s not gonna happen.” AP: Ngannou last fought in MMA in January 2022 and has largely been in boxing training since. What kind of MMA fighter will he be when he makes his PFL debut in 2024? DH: “I think we’re gonna see improvements in his footwork and his fundamental boxing. I think that’ll be a byproduct of him doing all these rounds on the pads with Mike Tyson, Dewey Cooper and others. But I don’t think he’s necessarily going to neglect his grappling game, because it was never really the prominent skillset for him anyway. I think he’ll return to working on those things when necessary, because everyone who fights Francis knows that they need to take him down – you don’t wanna be dealing with that power. He knows that whoever he’s fighting is most likely gonna be the one to force the grappling exchanges. Then it’s about who the opponent is gonna be. $2m is a lot of money in MMA, even if you have to fight Francis for it!” Fury v Ngannou will be exclusively live from Riyadh Season, Saudi Arabia on TNT Sports Box Office, Saturday 28 October. For more info: tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice Read More Tyson Fury ‘unhappy’ with Oleksandr Usyk fight announcement Tyson Fury reveals December date for Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight title fight Deontay Wilder calls out Anthony Joshua with update over super-fight Francis Ngannou drops hint over Tyson Fury rematch and Anthony Joshua fight How much money are Fury and Ngannou earning for fight this weekend? How many rounds is Fury vs Ngannou and do knockouts count?

CHICAGO (Reuters) -Pilots at United Airlines will get cumulative 34.5%-40.2% increase in pay raises in a new four-year contract, their

Women who smoke during pregnancy are 2.6 times more likely to give birth prematurely compared with non-smokers – more than double the previous estimate, new research suggests. The University of Cambridge study also found smoking meant the baby was four times more likely to be small for its gestational age, putting it at risk of potentially serious complications including breathing difficulties and infections. There was no evidence caffeine intake was linked to negative outcomes. We’ve known for a long time that smoking during pregnancy is not good for the baby, but our study shows that it’s potentially much worse than previously thought Professor Gordon Smith, University of Cambridge Professor Gordon Smith, head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Cambridge, said: “We’ve known for a long time that smoking during pregnancy is not good for the baby, but our study shows that it’s potentially much worse than previously thought. “It puts the baby at risk of potentially serious complications from growing too slowly in the womb or from being born too soon. “We hope this knowledge will help encourage pregnant mums and women planning pregnancy to access smoking-cessation services. “Pregnancy is a key time when women quit and if they can remain tobacco free after the birth there are lifelong benefits for them and their child.” The NHS recommends that women who are pregnant should stop smoking and limit their caffeine intake because of the risk of complications to the baby. When the toxins from smoke travel through the bloodstream to the baby, it struggles for oxygen. When this happens it affects their development, and is linked to premature birth and low birthweight, though it has also been linked to a reduced risk of pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy). High caffeine intake has also been linked to lower birthweight and possibly foetal growth restriction. But caffeine can be more difficult to avoid than cigarette smoke as, as well as being found in coffee and tea, it can be found in chocolate, energy drinks, soft drinks and certain medications. Researchers say studies looking at the links between smoking and caffeine and their impact on pregnancy tend to rely on people reporting how much they have consumed, or exposure to smoke, data which is not always reliable. Blood tests for metabolites – chemical by-products created when substances such as tobacco and caffeine are processed in the body – might be more accurate. Researchers at Cambridge and the Rosie Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, recruited more than 4,200 women who attended the hospital between 2008 and 2012 as part of the Pregnancy Outcome Prediction (POP) study. The team analysed blood samples taken from a group of these women four times during their pregnancies. To assess exposure to cigarette smoke, the team looked at levels of cotinine, which can be detected in blood, urine and saliva. Only two out of three women with detectable levels of cotinine in every blood sample were self-reported smokers, showing that this measure is a more objective way of assessing smoking behaviour, researchers say. A total of 914 women were included in the smoking analysis. Of these, 78.6% were classified as having no exposure to smoking while pregnant, 11.7% as having some exposure and 9.7% as having consistent exposure. The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that compared with those without smoke exposure while pregnant, those with consistent exposure were 2.6 times more likely to experience spontaneous preterm birth. According to the researchers, this is more than double the previous estimate of 1.27 from an analysis of multiple studies. They were also 4.1 times as likely to experience foetal growth restriction. Additionally, babies born to smokers were found to be on average 387g lighter than babies born to non-smokers – that is, more than 10% smaller than the weight of an average newborn. This increases the risk that the baby will have a low birth weight (2.5kg or less), which in turn is linked to an increased risk of developmental problems as well as poorer health in later life. Unlike in previous studies, the team found no evidence that smoking reduced the risk of pre-eclampsia. To assess caffeine intake, researchers looked for the metabolite paraxanthine in 915 women. Of these women, 12.8% had low levels of paraxanthine throughout pregnancy (suggesting low caffeine intake), 74.0% had moderate levels and 13.2% had high levels. The researchers say there was little evidence of an association between caffeine intake and any of the negative outcomes. However, because the researchers did not study all possible adverse outcomes of pregnancy, and some of the outcomes not studied – such as stillbirth – have been associated with higher caffeine intake in previous studies, they cannot interpret the findings as indicating that current recommendations around caffeine intake should be changed. The work was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the Medical Research Council. 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Game engine Unity has announced it will begin charging developers a fee every time a