fire

Malawi’s success at an expanded 16-team tournament in Morocco is proving that women’s football in Africa has the potential to grow beyond the traditional big names.

Excluding the inaugural edition in 1998, they are the first debutant to reach the final.

But having already booked their place at next year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brazil, courtesy of their run to the last four, the Scorchers are now on the verge of something very special – and anything looks possible with the Chawinga sisters firing on all cylinders in attack.

With Tabitha helping OL Lyonnes to another French title last season, and with Temwa winning a second golden boot and MVP award with NWSL side Kansas City Current, there was plenty of hype ahead of this campaign.

All of it now appears justified as the sisters have scored eight of their team’s 12 goals – with five for Temwa and three for Tabitha – and appear to have a level of pace, power and positional awareness which opposition defences struggle to cope with.

Tabitha’s opener in this match will be remembered for a long time.

When Asimenye Simwaka, who just two weeks ago was running in the 200m and 400m semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, headed a corner back into the middle of the penalty area, the elder Chawinga looked to pose little danger given she had her back to goal.

But the 30-year-old twisted to apply a clever left-footed overhead kick which beat Algeria goalkeeper Chloe N’Gazi but not the crossbar.

As N’Gazi also twisted to avoid being struck by the ricochet, she probably thought she would be able to collect the ball on the bounce, but the backspin meant it could only end up in the back of the net.

Belkhiter’s red card, which had come midway through the first half, had looked harsh, even if replays clearly showed the defender catching Tabitha on the back of the heel.

The challenge came a long way from goal and Belkhiter’s team-mate Roselene Khezami, who was challenging from Chawinga’s other side, did get something on the ball as she lunged in at the same time.

Temwa Chawinga took advantage of the numerical advantage to round N’Gazi and stroke home to make it 2-0, but Kadzere’s deserved red card shortly after opened the door to the North Africans.

The Malawi midfielder just about made contact with the top of the ball before going over the top and catching Marine Dafeur above the ankle.

The challenge, however, came inside the Algeria penalty area and was totally unnecessary.

Algeria’s Melissa Bethi and Temwa Chawinga both missed glorious opportunities inside the opening minutes of the second period before Adjabi’s strike on the hour.

Two Malawi defenders made a mess of dealing with Dafeur’s deep free-kick, allowing the forward to fire back across goal on the volley to half the deficit.

Both sides looked to be running out of steam before Tabitha Chawinga settled the contest with her second goal, driving into the penalty area almost unchallenged to side-foot home from just outside the six yard box.

Ranked 153rd in the world, Malawi have taken Wafcon by storm.

One final hurdle remains in the form of Cameroon, after they saw off the hosts on penalties, but on this form the Chawinga sisters will feel anyone is beatable.

SACRAMENTO — Two state lawmakers from Los Angeles want tougher penalties for disasters caused by industrial companies after a massive fire in Boyle Heights left neighbors struggling with smoky air and the smell of rotting meat.

Assemblymember Mark González and state Sen. María Elena Durazo, both Democrats, are seeking a new law that would require any new cold storage facility to create a contingency fund for emergencies.

The fund would be used to help neighbors mitigate the fallout from a disaster.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, will appear with González and Durazo at an event Wednesday to discuss the proposed laws.

Lineage’s 500,000-square-foot food warehouse in Boyle Heights caught fire on June 17. The company blames a power company, which was working on the warehouse’s roof, for the blaze.

The company, Altus Power, has denied responsibility, stating that the cause is undetermined. The company accused Lineage of finger-pointing instead of focusing on community relief.

Noxious smoke and an influx of rats and flies attracted to rotting meat stored at the facility have tormented neighbors. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has cited Lineage for unsanitary and nuisance conditions related to rodent and pest control violations.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued at least 20 violation notices to Lineage for public nuisance.

Lineage recently applied for building permits to replace the site, which Bass called “a slap in the face” to Boyle Heights families.

A press release ahead of Wednesday’s news conference said the proposal by lawmakers “will ensure that Lineage can’t rebuild without being accountable to the community.”

González and Durazo plan to insert proposed legislation related to the Lineage fire into existing bills, a process known as “gut and amend.”

The politicians also want to allow for stiffer fines against companies following a disaster.

Their proposed legislation also would ensure that anyone who sues over the fire doesn’t have to pay state taxes on any settlement, and that local jurisdictions are responsible for pest extermination efforts.

Greg Lehmkuhl, president and chief executive of Lineage, said in a quarterly earnings call last week that the company has committed $3.3 million to the community in the aftermath of the fire.

“Safety remains our top priority, and I’m incredibly proud of our team and how they’re handling this very challenging situation,” Lehmkuhl said on the call.

Rangers are being “proactive” in seeking a new striker after Youssef Chermiti was ruled out long term, says manager Derek McInnes, who warned defensive injuries have left the club “playing with fire”.

Chermiti, 22, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Saturday’s defeat by Hibernian, shortly after McInnes confirmed a bid had been rejected for the Portugal Under-21 cap. Galatasaray have been linked with the former Everton player.

A specialist in London will be consulted, with a possible operation next week.

Chermiti is joined on the sidelines by left-back Tuur Rommens, who has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a groin problem suffered in the same game.

McInnes, whose side will attempt to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit at home to Jagiellonia Bialystok in their Europa League third-round qualifier on Thursday, said of Chermiti: “Obviously, really disappointing for ourselves.

“Selfishly, he’s a big part of what we wanted to do this season and he’s obviously a talented boy.

“For Youssef himself, obviously he’s very young. It’ll be difficult for him to accept and understand what’s happened to him.

“The only saving grace from our point of view as a club is the fact it’s happened in a transfer window and we’ve got the opportunity to react to that.

“The plan was for Youssef to stay in. Obviously it was a big number that was reportedly bid for him. I don’t know exactly what the figure was. Obviously the club rejected that. It’s neither here nor there now, to be honest. It’s done.

“We are obviously looking at maybe strengthening that area of the pitch. We’re trying to be quite proactive with that and seeing what is available. Number nines are normally the most difficult ones to get.”

The chair of the California Senate’s utilities committee said Tuesday that he was “deeply troubled” by electric company executives’ recent threats to take action to protect their shareholders if they don’t get legislation in Sacramento to limit their wildfire liabilities.

In a letter to Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric, Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) wrote that he was considering calling the utility executives to an oversight hearing to have them explain their plans.

Allen sent the letter after the Times reported that the two companies’ top executives promised their investors in recent conference calls that they planned to respond if they don’t get legislation for which they have been lobbying. Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers are working behind closed doors on a package of wildfire bills.

“While I understand that utility investors seek predictability for their invested dollars, and stable utilities are important to the state of California, we as legislators must balance the additional interests of wildfire victims and survivors, our residents’ ability to access affordable insurance, and the need to ensure affordable utility service,” Allen wrote.

“We are certainly not interested in being threatened as we seek a balanced path that is right for California,” he added.

In response to the letter, PG&E and Edison said Tuesday night that The Times had “mischaracterized” their executives’ comments to investors.

“PG&E’s objectives remain unchanged: safely and reliably serve our customers, ensure wildfire victims are compensated quickly and fairly, and protect customer affordability,” PG&E said in a statement.

Edison declined to comment further.

Besides chairing the Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, Allen also is running in November’s election to be the state’s next insurance commissioner.

Newsom and lawmakers already passed legislation that cut the state’s three biggest electric companies’ liabilities for wildfires. Edison’s shareholders, for example, may pay little of the billions of dollars of damage from last year’s devastating Eaton fire — which killed 19 people and left thousands of families in Altadena homeless — under current laws championed by Newsom to protect the utilities from bankruptcy.

The utilities say more needs to be done. Among the recommendations in a report ordered by Newsom is limiting the amounts that victims can receive for pain and suffering and capping the fees of attorneys who represent them.

The commissioned report also suggested that utilities should no longer reimburse property insurers for damage from fires sparked by electrical equipment. Although this would reduce utilities’ liability for fires, insurers say it would increase premiums for homeowners.

“If the Legislature does not act, or if they act and don’t actually solve the problem, then we’re going to have to take action,” Patti Poppe, PG&E’s chief executive, said on a July 23 call with Wall Street analysts.

Poppe did not specify what her company would do, but made it clear that any action would protect shareholders’ money.

In earlier conversations with analysts, PG&E executives had “alluded to the possibility of opportunistic share repurchases should the legislative process fail to deliver a more durable wildfire liability framework,” according to a report by the bank Jeffries.

Such buybacks could raise the company’s stock price and benefit shareholders while reducing money available for the utility’s California programs.

Last month, Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of Edison International, told Wall Street analysts on a conference call that he too was prepared to make financial changes if the Legislature does not pass a comprehensive bill to cut the utilities’ financial wildfire risk before the legislative session ends Aug. 31.

Any legislation that passes without a protective framework for utilities, Pizarro said, would “influence how we prioritize and deploy future capital.”

Pizarro declined analysts’ requests to say where the company would cut back, but said the utility would continue spending aimed at keeping its grid safe and reliable.

“We’re going to evaluate the totality of the package that comes to us and figure out our response that goes along with it,” Pizarro said.

This month, state and county officials released their investigation into the Eaton fire, blaming the deadly inferno on Edison’s century-old transmission line that the company kept in place even though it hadn’t carried electricity since 1971.

Utilities have long known that idle lines could spark fires. In 2019, the Kincade fire in Sonoma County, which destroyed hundreds of homes, was ignited by an old, unused transmission line owned by PG&E.

At least seven of the 20 most destructive fires in California history have been sparked by the three biggest for-profit utilities.

Libya’s National Oil Corporation warns it may halt operations at the country’s largest operating refinery if drone attacks continue.

Firefighters in Libya are battling a massive blaze at the Zawiya refinery following a drone attack, with the country’s national oil company warning it may declare a force majeure and shut down operations if attacks continue.

Libya’s Ambulance and Emergency Service said in a statement on Tuesday there were no “serious injuries” from the fire, with most patients treated for smoke inhalation.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed huge flames and thick black ‌smoke billowing over the facility, the largest operating refinery in Libya with a refining capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.

It is located about 40km (25 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Facebook that the fire broke out on Monday evening at tank number 402-T, belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

It said the tank, which contained about 4.5 million litres (1.2 million gallons) of gasoline, was “directly targeted, resulting in a severe fire before the tank completely collapsed”.

The NOC said the attack followed drone strikes on a water desalination plant at the refinery on Sunday and on a naphtha reservoir on Saturday.

The company declared a “maximum emergency” in the region and urged authorities to launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, and the company did ‌not say who they believed was behind them.

In a statement hours later, the NOC said the refinery was “still being subject to sabotage attacks” with a drone targeting an oil blending and filling ⁠plant operated by the Zawiya Oil Refining Company.

It said the drone fell near its main oil tank and a pipeline network used to produce oils for the domestic market, without causing any casualties or damage.

“The company’s board of directors also confirms that if these attacks continue, it will have to declare a state of force majeure and suspend operations at the refinery,” it warned.

The Brega Oil Company, meanwhile, appealed to “all parties to stop the fighting and stay away from oil facilities and depots”. It said “oil facilities are vital infrastructure and owned by all Libyans” and that “protecting them is a national responsibility that does not tolerate any negligence”.

The attacks highlight the continuing security challenges in Libya, where rival administrations and armed groups have retained influence despite a ‌2020 ⁠ceasefire that halted major warfare. The country split in 2014 after a NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar ⁠Gaddafi in 2011.

Two governments are currently vying for power: the United Nations-recognised administration in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and a rival in the east backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In a statement, the Tripoli-based government said Dbeibah held a meeting earlier in the day with key officials, including the interior minister and the chiefs of some armed groups in the capital, “to follow up on the latest security developments”.

Dbeibah “stressed the need to deal firmly with any transgressions or actions that threaten security or harm vital facilities and installations”, the statement said.

Separately, a Libyan parliamentary panel condemned the attack and called for stronger protection of oil installations.

“The House of Representatives’ Energy and Natural Resources Committee condemns in the strongest terms the criminal attack targeting the Zawiya Refinery, one of the most vital facilities in the oil and gas sector that is a cornerstone of the national economy,” it said in a statement.