Latest news with #Americanisation
New Indian Express
21-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
A war turned into a costly test of stamina
Operation Sindoor and the Iran-Israel-US standoff took the world's eyes off the scanner on Eastern Europe. The focus has now returned to Ukraine, especially with the spate of Russian drone and missile attacks and the US decision to resume supply of military hardware to Ukraine. Three years since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the battlefield remains frozen in more ways than one. Despite billions of dollars in Western aid, thousands of lives lost, and relentless offensives, the war shows few signs of a decisive conclusion. Instead, it has evolved into a grinding war of attrition—with military breakthroughs elusive and the political will for total victory giving way to discussions on containment, ceasefire and face-saving 'off ramps'—in effect, the Americanisation of the war. Ukraine failed to make major territorial gains through its much-anticipated counteroffensive in 2023, highlighting not just how well-entrenched the Russian forces are, but also the limits of modern Western weaponry. For Russia, despite its superior numbers and recent gains in places like Avdiivka, the advance has been incremental and costly. Neither side currently possesses the capability to inflict a decisive blow. Ukraine lacks the strategic depth and offensive firepower to roll back Russian positions across the entire front. Meanwhile, Russia has neither the political cover nor the operational capacity to overwhelm Ukraine without incurring massive costs—both militarily and diplomatically. In short, even if militarily possible, Russia cannot justify a total war or occupation of Ukraine in a politically sustainable way. The war has thus settled into a brutal equilibrium. Localised gains are made, but strategic momentum is absent. This military deadlock mirrors the diplomatic one. A key variable in prolonging this balance has been the sustained Western military aid to Ukraine—particularly from the US. The recent U-turn by Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled House by agreeing to support fresh aid to Ukraine marked a significant shift. For months, they had stalled arms packages and questioned the logic of endless support for Kyiv. Yet, facing mounting pressure from both Nato allies and the US defence industry, aid has been given the green light—albeit with strings attached.
The Journal
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
'An attempt to rinse hard-pressed families': TDs slam new 'exit through gift shop' rule at zoo
TWO DUBLIN TDS have added their voices to criticism of Dublin Zoo over the change to the attraction's exit route which means customers are now advised to leave via the gift shop. Parents contacted The Journal earlier this week to express their anger over the rule, arguing that the change has led to unnecessary pressure to purchase items from the shop. One parent we spoke to said it was the 'last thing' families need after hours of walking around the zoo. The change leaves parents of small kids having to deal with potential demands and tantrums, the zoo customer said – 'whereas previously we could have simply left via the main gates and walked back to the car park without passing the shop at all'. In the wake of the publication of our original article , customer services staff at the zoo confirmed to parents who complained that some changes were being brought in and that from now on any visitor who asked to leave via the old route (through turnstyles at the main gate) would be permitted to do so. However, visitors need to ask a staff member to be told that that's an option. Photos taken at the zoo yesterday afternoon showed signage placed around the turnstyles with 'NO ENTRY' displayed in large lettering and a direction to 'please exit Dublin Zoo via our Gift Shop'. A spokesperson for the zoo did not respond to a question on whether management would consider bringing in clear signage to make customers aware of the alternative to the gift shop exit. Dublin South Central TD for the Social Democrats Jen Cummins said going to the zoo is already expensive enough without additional pressure to spend money being placed on parents and guardians. The gate price for entry for two adults and two children is currently €72.50 – with discounts available for advance booking. Cummins, who has four children, said: 'From a parent's perspective, trying to corral a child to get out of the zoo is a feat in itself. But now having to go through the gift shop, it's a real Americanisation – I think we can move away from that here, we don't need to do that.' 'I thought it was working very well before. I mean, lots of people are going to the shop anyway, it's not like everyone was avoiding it. Parental choice is really important in these situations, and perhaps people would be thinking about not going to the zoo if there is going to be an added cost on top of the entry fee.' As for the zoo's position that parents should request an alternative exit, Cummins said: Advertisement 'The idea of what they are saying of 'if you give us a nod, we will let you out the other way' [...] are you really going to be the one parent who says 'I'll go out that way' while your child is hysterical?' Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins TD Fingal East TD for Labour Duncan Smith called on the zoo to go back to the old system, arguing that the new exit route feels like an attempt to 'rinse' people before they leave. 'I am urging Dublin Zoo to revert to the previous system of entrance and exit from the zoo. As a regular visitor to the zoo with my family, I am fully aware of the costs associated with a visit to what is a great Dublin amenity. 'Many families have to make a budgetary decision in order to visit in the first place. There is a safe and senisble exit adjacent to the gift shop and it should be left to visitors' discretion as to whether they visit the gift shop. 'This feels like an attempt to rinse hard-pressed families before they leave.' Labour TD Duncan Smith. Leah Farrell / Leah Farrell / / Other parents who contacted The Journal this week said they would not be going to the zoo while the new arrangement remained in place. Some also raised concerns about the burden being placed on parents of children with additional needs in particular. The Zoological Society of Ireland, which runs Dublin Zoo and Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, had an income of €25.1 million in 2023 and its annual report for that year noted a surplus of €131,000. Figures for 2024 are not yet publicly available. The zoo is a not-for-profit organisation. In its initial statement earlier this week the zoo confirmed the change to the exit route had been brought in, adding: 'Dublin Zoo remains committed to providing a positive experience for all guests and we value all feedback as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the visitor experience.' In response to follow-up queries, including one about how visitors would be told about the alternative exit option (via the turnstyles), a spokesperson said yesterday: 'If a parent or guardian deems the exit unsuitable or inaccessible for themselves, their family, or guests, Dublin Zoo can make arrangements to facilitate departure through an alternative gate.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
7NEWS
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Geelong's T-shirt stunt receives mixed reviews from AFL fans
Geelong's white T-shirt stunt ahead of superstar Patrick Dangerfield's 350th game on Friday night has divided the AFL world. The powerhouse club told fans they would be contributing to a 'slice of history' but the nod to US sports and college football, according to many, missed the mark. In a bid to transform GMHBA Stadium into 'a sea of white', Geelong had 'a free collectable T-shirt' placed on every seat for the blockbuster clash with Brisbane. And fans got in the spirit early, waving and wearing the items as the team ran out on the ground to great fanfare. 'A white-out down here in Geelong ... these are great scenes,' star commentator James Brayshaw said as the broadcast showed the vision of the crowd. But it didn't take long before things fell flat as the Lions sucked the air out of the occasion before powering along to an emphatic 41-point victory. And the club was immediately mocked, with many suggesting the T-shirts were symbolic of 'waving the white flag' or throwing in the white towel (common acts of surrendering). 'The way they played it looked like they were waving white flags of surrender,' one fan said on social media. 'Waving the White Flag before the game even started,' said another. And another: 'White out turning into a whitewash.' And another: 'I didn't have high expectations for the white T-shirt thing but it's looking pretty average.' And another: 'Conceded the first 4 of the game, wave the white flag.' While another raged: 'Cheap tatty cotton on tees in the bin after tonight's pathetic game.' Fans also questioned the Americanisation of the game. 'Why would we want to copy American sports???' one fan asked And another: '(It's part of) the AFL's desperation to Americanise the game.' While another said, 'I pray my club never does this, 'and another called it an 'Absolute cringe ****fest.' But the reviews weren't all negative. Popular sports account Bear said: 'I absolutely love this and it makes me sad Melbourne will never be able to do something like this. Shoutout Geelong.' And another: 'Hate Geelong as much as the next Hawks fan but god damn those white shirts in the crowd look good.' Maybe if the Cats had won the take on the tees would have been more positive.
The National
14-06-2025
- Business
- The National
Adam Webb: Health battle, 49ers impact, Championship 'reset'
In September, weeks after he purchased the club, the 54-year-old temporarily stepped back from the chair to undergo invasive treatment for cancer of the neck and the head. Far from adding to his health issues, a futile battle to prevent relegation from the SPFL Premiership proved a useful and welcome distraction. Watching football helped to take his mind off chemotherapy, radiation and the efforts to save his life. 'You don't know how something like that is going to affect you,' he tells Herald Sport now. 'You might think, 'that's gonna happen and I'm just going to forget all about football.' Read more: 'Luckily, St Johnstone actually proved a great distraction from my health problem. 'I was dealing with that for six months or thereabouts. I was aware of the cancer in the summer but I didn't start treatment until September and received a cancer free scan in late January. 'I ratcheted back my involvement in the day to day operations of the club, just because I worried that would caused anxiety or hurt my sleep and be counter productive to my health. 'But I watched all the games and that was a great distraction in-fact. It was something to take my mind off things and get passionate about even though, unfortunately, we were not winning most of our games. 'I'm sure that did cause some anxiety from time to time but on the whole you have to accept that, when you have this level of involvement in a football club, you can't turn it off. And, what's more, you don't want to turn it off.' A lawyer to trade Webb is one of the growing number of American investors exerting a growing influence on Scottish football. Aberdeen, Dundee, Dundee United, Hibernian and Livingston have all accepted sizeable financial assistance from the United States. And St Johnstone's chairman expects the arrival of Andrew Cavenagh and the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers at Rangers to take the Americanisation of the Scottish game to a whole new level. Projected to rejuvenate commercial revenue off the pitch while targeting a sustained challenge to Celtic on it, the full impact of the 49ers group on one of the nation's sporting institutions will be determined over time. A global sporting franchise, Webb believes the influence of vice-chairman Paraag Marathe and the 49ers on the fabric of the Scottish game to be significant. His only regret is that the financial spin-offs for St Johnstone will be less than they would have been had the Perth club avoided relegation and retained place in the top flight. 'I think change is inevitably going to happen because people like the 49ers take things to a whole different level,' the Saints chairman told Herald Sport. 'They have huge marketing departments behind them and people they can call upon to come in and do more global branding and be tied in with more incredible events. 'Then you have Bill Foley and his operation, which not only has Bournemouth but also a very successful hockey club in the United States. 'So I think that a growing influence is going to happen and it's probably going to be unavoidable because of those massive international multi-club owning entities which are now involved.' While there is no good season for a club to be relegated, St Johnstone's drop through the trap door is poorly timed. Manager Simo Valakari has just spent three days with Webb in Atlanta plotting a reset of the squad and operations, with cost economies on the horizon to offset an anticipated annual loss of up to £2million. Prepared to absorb the losses in the short term Webb wants to trim the waste to avoid creating a black hole and plans to 'think outside of the box' in a quest to get the club back to the top flight in a sustainable and challenging condition. Buoyed by the arrival of more American investment in the national game the Saints owner is enthused by the job ahead. 'I think it's a great challenge. We have to do a lot of things differently, so it really is a reset, a refresh. 'However you want to characterise it we have to tighten our belt because revenues are going to be way down. 'TV revenue, UEFA solidarity revenue, FIFA revenue, league revenue. That's all way down, so we have to tighten the belt and look at all the expenditure. 'We have to come up with new sources of revenue and excitement and we have some things in that area. 'We have added a digital scoreboard, we have added sideline LED panels, we have started a matchday fan-zone. 'If we have our way we will eventually be selling beer in our fan zone before every home game. 'We'll have more hospitality areas that can do more to upsell and get people to spend more time and more money at McDiarmid Park. 'So we are doing all that we can do, but I think that it's gonna happen across Scotland. 'And I think the reason it's gonna happen is because you now have these really well established global sporting brands coming into the SPFL now and I think that's going to lift us all. 'I'm not intimidated by it. Okay, I am intimidated by it, but I'm not scared. 'The big picture is that it's a net positive. Even though the task of competing with these teams and these brands is intimidating it's still going to be a rising tide that is going to lift all boats.' Facing their first season without Premiership football in 16 years St Johnstone are evaluating what comes next. Plans for the future revolve around a quick return to the top flight, with manager Simo Valakari set to play a central role. July 12 and the first Premier Sports Cup tie – away to newly promoted East Kilbride – is already marked in the chairman's diary. 'Simo was just here in Atlanta. He spent three nights in Atlanta with his wife. 'And so we had a lot of meetings here and he is a unique element of Scottish football, to my way of thinking. 'I haven't seen anyone else like him in the game. He is open, transparent, fun loving, energetic and knows his football. 'He had a great playing career and a great coaching career. We haven't seen the benefits yet at St Johnstone but nearly everyone I speak with is confident that Simo is the right man for the job. 'And so, even though we got relegated, there were no calls for him to go. I didn't see any calls for Simo to get sacked and even if there had been we wouldn't have sacked him anyway because I feel like you have to give a gaffer a chance to put their own squad around them.' Webb returns to Scotland on July 11, when he will have dinner with his predecessor Geoff Brown, St Johnstone's irascible custodian for three decades. Describing Brown as a 'legend' the American still marvels at the way he ran the club as a sustainable entity for so long. 'I think we have been public that we will have a nearly £2million revenue shortfall,' he admits. 'Obviously we are making some cuts and trimming and belt tightening to hopefully avoid losing as much as £2million. 'But we will have a substantial loss this season and if we go back up we will the belt tightened and we will have a new streamlined operation."
The Herald Scotland
14-06-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Adam Webb: Health battle, 49ers impact, Championship 'reset'
Far from adding to his health issues, a futile battle to prevent relegation from the SPFL Premiership proved a useful and welcome distraction. Watching football helped to take his mind off chemotherapy, radiation and the efforts to save his life. 'You don't know how something like that is going to affect you,' he tells Herald Sport now. 'You might think, 'that's gonna happen and I'm just going to forget all about football.' Read more: 'Luckily, St Johnstone actually proved a great distraction from my health problem. 'I was dealing with that for six months or thereabouts. I was aware of the cancer in the summer but I didn't start treatment until September and received a cancer free scan in late January. 'I ratcheted back my involvement in the day to day operations of the club, just because I worried that would caused anxiety or hurt my sleep and be counter productive to my health. 'But I watched all the games and that was a great distraction in-fact. It was something to take my mind off things and get passionate about even though, unfortunately, we were not winning most of our games. 'I'm sure that did cause some anxiety from time to time but on the whole you have to accept that, when you have this level of involvement in a football club, you can't turn it off. And, what's more, you don't want to turn it off.' A lawyer to trade Webb is one of the growing number of American investors exerting a growing influence on Scottish football. Aberdeen, Dundee, Dundee United, Hibernian and Livingston have all accepted sizeable financial assistance from the United States. And St Johnstone's chairman expects the arrival of Andrew Cavenagh and the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers at Rangers to take the Americanisation of the Scottish game to a whole new level. Projected to rejuvenate commercial revenue off the pitch while targeting a sustained challenge to Celtic on it, the full impact of the 49ers group on one of the nation's sporting institutions will be determined over time. A global sporting franchise, Webb believes the influence of vice-chairman Paraag Marathe and the 49ers on the fabric of the Scottish game to be significant. His only regret is that the financial spin-offs for St Johnstone will be less than they would have been had the Perth club avoided relegation and retained place in the top flight. 'I think change is inevitably going to happen because people like the 49ers take things to a whole different level,' the Saints chairman told Herald Sport. 'They have huge marketing departments behind them and people they can call upon to come in and do more global branding and be tied in with more incredible events. 'Then you have Bill Foley and his operation, which not only has Bournemouth but also a very successful hockey club in the United States. 'So I think that a growing influence is going to happen and it's probably going to be unavoidable because of those massive international multi-club owning entities which are now involved.' While there is no good season for a club to be relegated, St Johnstone's drop through the trap door is poorly timed. Manager Simo Valakari has just spent three days with Webb in Atlanta plotting a reset of the squad and operations, with cost economies on the horizon to offset an anticipated annual loss of up to £2million. Prepared to absorb the losses in the short term Webb wants to trim the waste to avoid creating a black hole and plans to 'think outside of the box' in a quest to get the club back to the top flight in a sustainable and challenging condition. Buoyed by the arrival of more American investment in the national game the Saints owner is enthused by the job ahead. 'I think it's a great challenge. We have to do a lot of things differently, so it really is a reset, a refresh. 'However you want to characterise it we have to tighten our belt because revenues are going to be way down. 'TV revenue, UEFA solidarity revenue, FIFA revenue, league revenue. That's all way down, so we have to tighten the belt and look at all the expenditure. 'We have to come up with new sources of revenue and excitement and we have some things in that area. 'We have added a digital scoreboard, we have added sideline LED panels, we have started a matchday fan-zone. 'If we have our way we will eventually be selling beer in our fan zone before every home game. 'We'll have more hospitality areas that can do more to upsell and get people to spend more time and more money at McDiarmid Park. 'So we are doing all that we can do, but I think that it's gonna happen across Scotland. 'And I think the reason it's gonna happen is because you now have these really well established global sporting brands coming into the SPFL now and I think that's going to lift us all. 'I'm not intimidated by it. Okay, I am intimidated by it, but I'm not scared. 'The big picture is that it's a net positive. Even though the task of competing with these teams and these brands is intimidating it's still going to be a rising tide that is going to lift all boats.' Facing their first season without Premiership football in 16 years St Johnstone are evaluating what comes next. Plans for the future revolve around a quick return to the top flight, with manager Simo Valakari set to play a central role. July 12 and the first Premier Sports Cup tie – away to newly promoted East Kilbride – is already marked in the chairman's diary. 'Simo was just here in Atlanta. He spent three nights in Atlanta with his wife. 'And so we had a lot of meetings here and he is a unique element of Scottish football, to my way of thinking. 'I haven't seen anyone else like him in the game. He is open, transparent, fun loving, energetic and knows his football. 'He had a great playing career and a great coaching career. We haven't seen the benefits yet at St Johnstone but nearly everyone I speak with is confident that Simo is the right man for the job. 'And so, even though we got relegated, there were no calls for him to go. I didn't see any calls for Simo to get sacked and even if there had been we wouldn't have sacked him anyway because I feel like you have to give a gaffer a chance to put their own squad around them.' Webb returns to Scotland on July 11, when he will have dinner with his predecessor Geoff Brown, St Johnstone's irascible custodian for three decades. Describing Brown as a 'legend' the American still marvels at the way he ran the club as a sustainable entity for so long. 'I think we have been public that we will have a nearly £2million revenue shortfall,' he admits. 'Obviously we are making some cuts and trimming and belt tightening to hopefully avoid losing as much as £2million. 'But we will have a substantial loss this season and if we go back up we will the belt tightened and we will have a new streamlined operation."
