ReportWire

Tag: MATCHES

  • ‘FIFA Pass’ to fast-track US visas for ticket-holding World Cup fans

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    WASHINGTON, D.C.: With the United States preparing to host matches in next year’s World Cup, the Trump administration is rolling out a new visa initiative aimed at keeping the influx of international visitors moving smoothly, while still maintaining the president’s hard-line messaging on immigration.

    The program, called the “FIFA Pass,” will allow foreign travelers who have purchased official World Cup tickets to secure expedited visa interview appointments. The name stands for “prioritized appointments scheduling system.”

    “If you have a ticket for the World Cup, you can have prioritized appointments to get your visa,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, standing alongside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on November 17. Turning to Trump, he added: “You said it the very first time we met, Mr. President, America welcomes the world.”

    Trump urged prospective visitors to apply “right away,” emphasizing the scale of interest and the need for early action.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department has deployed more than 400 additional consular officers worldwide to handle increased demand. He noted that in roughly 80 percent of countries, travelers can already secure a visa appointment within 60 days. Under the new system, those with FIFA-purchased tickets will use a dedicated “FIFA portal” to help move their applications and interviews to the front of the line.

    “We’re going to do the same vetting as anybody else would get,” Rubio said. “The only difference here is, we’re moving them up in the queue.”

    Next year’s World Cup will span 104 games across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Trump has made its success a significant priority, and Infantino has become a frequent White House visitor as FIFA prepares for the Dec. 5 World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, now run by Trump loyalists.

    Trump again raised the possibility of shifting matches away from any host city he views as unsafe, most recently pointing to Seattle, where newly elected mayor Katie Wilson has spoken about protecting the city’s sanctuary-city status and, in Trump’s words, “Trump-proofing” the city.

    “If we think there’s gonna be a sign of any trouble, I would ask Gianni to move that to a different city,” Trump said.

    Infantino did not commit to any venue changes, responding only that “safety and security is the number one priority for a successful World Cup” and adding that strong global ticket sales show “people have trust in the United States.”

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  • NWSL roundup: Courage snap winless streak with victory over Angel City

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    (Photo credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images)

    Manaka Matsukubo and Brianna Pinto scored in the first 20 minutes and the North Carolina Courage registered their first victory in seven matches, topping Angel City FC 2-1 on Saturday at Cary, N.C.

    The Courage (6-7-7, 25 points) have defeated Angel City twice this year by 2-1 scores.

    Sveindis Jonsdottir scored in the 88th minute for Angel City (6-9-5, 23 points). It was her first goal in seven matches this year.

    Marisa Bova made two saves for North Carolina. Angelina Anderson stopped five shots for Angel City, which has gone back-to-back matches without a point following a four-match points streak.

    Matsukubo’s sixth goal came in the sixth minute off an assist from Payton Linnehan, giving her two goals in a four-match stretch. Matsukubo’s shot from the right side went into the left-side of the net.

    Pinto posted her third goal of the year, a sequence aided when the ball bounced off an Angel City player before Pinto booted it into the net.

    Bay FC 1, Orlando Pride 1

    Ally Watt scored in the 70th minute and the Pride managed a home draw but saw their winless streak in league play extended to eight matches.

    Racheal Kundananji scored in first-half extra time for Bay FC (4-10-6, 18 points), which halted a four-match losing streak but saw the team’s winless stretch extended to nine matches. Bay goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz made seven saves.

    Pride (8-7-5, 29 points) goalkeeper McKinley Crone made four saves.

    Orlando’s goal came on Lizbeth Ovalle’s long delivery to Watt, who converted on a header. Bay FC’s opener came on a header in the box from Kundananji on a stellar lofted pass into the box by Caprice Dydasco.

    –Field Level Media

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  • WTF Fun Fact 13682 – Lighters Were Invented Before Matches

    WTF Fun Fact 13682 – Lighters Were Invented Before Matches

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    Lighters were invented before matches. It sounds like a historical hiccup, doesn’t it? After all, you’d think the simpler technology would precede the more complex one.

    Yet, the path of innovation and invention doesn’t always follow a straight line. So, let’s flick through the pages of history and see how this came to be.

    The Early Flame: How Were Lighters Invented Before Matches?

    The first version of a lighter, known as the “Döbereiner’s lamp,” made its debut in the early 19th century, around 1823. This gadget relied on a chemical reaction to produce a flame. It used hydrogen gas, which was produced on the spot by a reaction between zinc and sulfuric acid, to create a spark when it came into contact with a platinum catalyst. This contraption was both fascinating and slightly terrifying, considering the volatile substances involved. Despite its innovation, the Döbereiner’s lamp was far from the pocket lighters we’re familiar with today. It was bulky, somewhat dangerous, and definitely not something you’d want to carry around.

    Striking Back: The Advent of Matches

    Now, you might wonder, “If they had lighters, why invent matches?” The answer is convenience and safety, or at least an attempt at the latter. Matches made their first successful commercial appearance in 1826, thanks to John Walker, an English chemist. Walker’s friction matches, known as “Lucifers,” were a game-changer. They were portable, relatively easy to use, and didn’t require carrying around a mini chemical lab in your pocket. However, these early matches were far from perfect. They were notorious for their unpleasant odor and the potential to ignite unexpectedly, which posed quite the safety hazard.

    Following Walker’s invention, matches underwent a series of transformations to become safer and more reliable. The “safety match” as we know it today was developed by the Swedish chemist Gustaf Erik Pasc. It was later improved by John Edvard Lundström. This invention in the mid-19th century utilized the red phosphorus that we now commonly find on the striking surfaces of matchboxes, significantly reducing the risk of accidental ignition and eliminating the noxious fumes produced by their predecessors.

    Why Lighters Took the Back Seat to Matches

    Given the initial complexity and danger of early lighters, it’s no wonder that matches caught on fire, metaphorically speaking. They were more accessible to the general public. In addition, they are easier to manufacture, and safer to use once the safety match was developed. Lighters required a level of mechanical and chemical know-how that wasn’t widely accessible until later technological advancements.

    As technology progressed, so did the design and safety of lighters. The development of ferrocerium (“flint”) by Carl Auer von Welsbach in the early 20th century. Used in many modern lighters for the spark mechanism, it made lighters more reliable and easier to use. The invention of the butane lighter, with its refillable and controllable flame, eventually brought lighters back into the limelight, offering convenience that matches couldn’t match.

    Reflecting on the Flames of Innovation

    The tale of lighters and matches is a fascinating narrative about human ingenuity, the evolution of technology, and the nonlinear path of invention. It’s a reminder that sometimes, necessity drives us to develop complex solutions before we find the simpler ones. Or perhaps, it speaks to the nature of innovation itself, where convenience and safety are constantly being reevaluated and redesigned to better serve our needs.

    In the end, whether you’re striking a match or flicking a lighter, the ability to control fire remains one of humanity’s defining achievements. The story of how we got here, with lighters appearing on the scene before matches, is just one of many examples of how invention and innovation can take unexpected turns, illuminating the paths of progress in surprising ways.

    — WTF fun facts

    Source: “The match and lighter war” — The Matches Museum

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    WTF

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  • Night Country gets True Detective’s vibe better than True Detective ever has

    Night Country gets True Detective’s vibe better than True Detective ever has

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    True Detective is the rare show that was much more exciting and complicated after seven episodes than it is after three seasons. What started out as a brooding series about detectives looking into the dark heart of senseless, seemingly occult killings eventually transformed into a detective show mostly about men being sad. What is remarkable about the show’s newest season, True Detective: Night Country, is that in just one episode, new showrunner Issa López has managed to bring back the creeping, supernatural horror vibe that gave the first season so much promise.

    The new season is set in the small town of Ennis, Alaska, and this first episode is mostly concerned with setting up the peculiarities of the town and the bones of this season’s mystery, along with getting to know our latest true detectives, of course. The show’s opening, and its central mystery, is classic cold-weather horror: A group of researchers in a secluded winter base suddenly disappear, only to be found far from their base, frozen deep in the ice.

    Where the first season of the show hinted at the supernatural and the ways it sometimes may (or may not) peek through into our world, Night Country leaves no room for doubt. By the end of this episode, more than one character has had visions, and the condition the scientists are found in seems impossible to imagine happening naturally. But the true underline that makes the supernatural elements of the story undeniable is that local weirdo Rose (Fiona Shaw) is the one who finds the frozen scientists for the police, and the only reason she knew where to look is because some long-dead friend showed her the way.

    López doesn’t let the supernatural overwhelm the rest of the world in Night Country’s first episode, but she’s unambiguous about its existence. This feels like a pointed response to the True Detective stories that have come before. Not combative, per se, but direct. While the previous seasons, particularly the first, led its characters from the natural and explainable world of crime toward something more supernatural, Night Country’s mystery is starting at unexplainable and working its way back.

    Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO

    But for all the ways that López seems to be responding to True Detective’s past in the first episode of her season, she makes her love for the series clear, too. When it comes to the cops looking into this case, López revels in characterizing them as every bit the same kind of broken bastards that original series creator Nic Pizzolatto placed at the center of his three seasons writing the show. Leading the investigation in Night Country is Liz Danvers (played marvelously by Jodie Foster), a brilliant cop with a mile-long record of pushing people away by being an absolute asshole. Then there’s Liz’s old partner Evangeline Navarro (boxer turned actor Kali Reis), a self-destructive hothead who let one case get stuck in her craw and consume her whole career.

    The two cops don’t share the same dynamic as Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson’s Marty Hart, exactly, but it’s clear that López was after the same crackle the two had between them, and through just one episode she’s already seemed to nail it. The two only share brief scenes in episode 1, but the chemistry they have is instant and the bickering is pitch-perfect for cluing us in to the fact that they’re sure to work together again eventually.

    Through just one episode, True Detective: Night Country feels like what True Detective was always supposed to be. Impossibly, it captures the vibes of the series’ best episodes better than anything in the second or third seasons ever achieved. López feels at war with the series’ history, not because she hates it, but because she loves it enough to want its best version. What Issa López wants is the twisty, supernatural, pitch-black mystery show that had the internet in an eight-week chokehold in 2014. And so far, she’s off to a great start.

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    Austen Goslin

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  • Fashion People Love to Gatekeep This Elevated-Basics Brand, so I Tried It IRL

    Fashion People Love to Gatekeep This Elevated-Basics Brand, so I Tried It IRL

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    The word “gatekeep” in the context of fashion exists for a reason. In an environment where an item that feels unique and different from every other ubiquitous viral sensation can easily meet that same fate following one successful TikTok video, we can’t exactly blame fashion people for keeping some of their secret go-to brands under lock and key. After all, we’ve seen how hard the social media platform has made getting reservations at new, hot restaurants. It’s no different with clothes.

    Thus far, the fashion crowd’s been fairly successful at keeping their mouths shut about and their closets full of Raey, the in-house label that London-based luxury e-tailer Matches launched in 2015. Known for its baby-soft knits, cool oversize denim, and perfectly tailored outerwear, the brand’s become a beloved staple for elevated basics, much like The Frankie Shop, Loulou Studio, and Toteme. Unlike those much-discussed labels, Raey flies under the radar for the most part, but I’m bursting its bubble. After trying on 10 pieces by the brand, I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut about how good it is. 

    Scroll down to read all about the pieces I reviewed IRL and shop them, of course. 

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    Eliza Huber

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  • Resisting These 27 Designer Sale Finds Would Be a Bad Idea, Right?

    Resisting These 27 Designer Sale Finds Would Be a Bad Idea, Right?

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    I like to think of myself as a strong, level-headed person, but I’ll be the first person to admit that I have one very dangerous weakness: sales. Whether it’s 15% off or 90%, I’m going to scroll and/or sift meticulously through a sale’s contents, and if the options are good, I usually have no problem justifying a purchase (or two). Luckily, it’s a design flaw that’s made me and my closet very happy, which is why I have no plans to change, especially now that I’ve had some time to look through the late-in-the-season designer sales that are happening as we speak.

    Matches, Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom, Mytheresa, and more continue to mark down last season’s leftovers, and while you might have to do some digging through them, the gems you can unearth are well worth the work. Trust me—I’ve spent the last six or so hours doing just that. To save you some time and curb my never-quenched thirst for sales, I went ahead and rounded up a few of my best designer finds below. That way, you’ll save time (and money), and I’ll still get to do what I love most.  

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    Eliza Huber

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