DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – West Indies captain Hayley Matthews and legendary all-rounder Deandra Dottin have joined voices praising the ICC’s decision to introduce equal prize money for men’s and women’s competitions. This monumental step comes ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, marking a significant moment for the tournament and the future of women’s cricket. The winners of this year’s World Cup, which concludes on October 20, will take home USD 2.34 million, while the runners-up will receive $1.17 million. The total prize pool of $7.95 million reflects a 225% increase from the previous edition, positioning cricket as the only major team sport to offer equal prize money for both its men’s and women’s World Cup events. As West Indies prepares to open their campaign against South Africa on October 4 in Dubai, Matthews expressed her delight at the move, highlighting its significance for women cricketers globally. “It puts a lot of respect on the game,” said Matthews. As professional cricketers, we work as hard as men do, so receiving equal prize money is a huge step forward. It validates our efforts and the passion we bring to the game. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of more positive changes for women’s cricket across the board.” Matthews’ sentiments are echoed by the returning Deandra Dottin, who is back in the West Indies squad after a two-year absence. Known for her explosive all-round abilities, Dottin welcomed the changes, noting that this shift reflects the growing respect for women’s cricket at the global level. “It’s great to see the ICC taking this step. It shows that women’s cricket is being taken seriously, and that’s a huge boost for players like us. We’ve always worked hard, and now we’re seeing tangible recognition for that effort. This is a major move in the right direction.”

By Tamara Hardingham-Gill, CNN (CNN) — It finally set off on a three-and-a-half-year cruise from Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday night after months of setbacks. But nearly two days later, Villa Vie Odyssey remains just a few miles into its journey, having dropped anchor in the Belfast Lough waterway within hours of embarking. The ship, which was scheduled to set sail on its round-the-world voyage May, was hampered by yet another delay when outstanding final “paperwork” meant it had to halt at around 11:30 p.m. on Monday. “We will stay in the general Belfast area until the final administrative paperwork is signed off,” Villa Vie CEO Mike Petterson told CNN on Tuesday. As of 1200 GMT (8 a.m. ET) Wednesday, Villa Vie Odyssey was still in the same position, according to marine tracking website Vesselfinder. Petterson has yet to respond to a request from CNN for updates. The delayed departure had previously been blamed on a longer than usual certification process. The ship, formerly the Braemar operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, was built in 1993, but has been held to the standards of a new vessel, according to Petterson. The long delays meant that passengers, many of whom have paid tens of thousands of dollars and, in some cases, given up their homes, were waiting to embark Odyssey for four months. “We are excited and relieved,” passenger Lanette Canen said shortly before the ship was due to set sail on Monday. “We are at our muster station doing the safety drills now. [Villa Vie] did it! There is nothing but smiles here.” CNN’s Julia Buckley and Marnie Hunter contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

By Ariel Edwards-Levy and Jennifer Agiesta, CNN (CNN) — Registered voters who watched Tuesday’s debate between vice presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance were closely divided over which candidate did the better job, according to a CNN instant poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS, and the event left viewers with more positive views of both candidates than they held pre-debate. Among debate watchers, Walz remains the candidate who’s seen more positively and as more in touch with their needs and vision for the country. Vance, who suffers from more of an image deficit among both viewers and the public at large, boosted his standing among the debate audience, outperforming expectations and gaining ground on the share who perceive him as qualified. He was also narrowly seen as doing a better job than Walz of defending his running mate. Both men, the poll finds, are viewed by a majority of debate watchers as qualified to assume the presidency if needed. And practically none of the voters who tuned in saw the debate as a reason to change their votes. Following the debate, 51% of viewers said that Vance did the better job, with 49% picking Walz. In a survey conducted of the same voters prior to the debate, Walz held the advantage as the candidate they expected to perform more strongly, 54% to 45%. The closely divided opinions about the outcome of Tuesday’s debate stand in sharp contrast to the more decisive audience reaction following this year’s top-of-the-ticket debates. In June, two-thirds of debate watchers thought that former President Donald Trump outperformed President Joe Biden, while a 63% majority who tuned in to the September debate between Trump and Kamala Harris said that the vice president did the better job. Views of the vice presidential hopefuls split largely along pre-established political lines Tuesday night: 90% of debate watchers who support Trump’s candidacy said that Vance did the better job, while a slightly narrower 82% of the Harris supporters who tuned in saw Walz as the winner. The poll’s results reflect opinions of the debate only among those voters who tuned in and aren’t representative of the views of the full voting public. Debate watchers in the poll were 3 percentage points likelier to be Democratic-aligned than Republican-aligned, making for an audience that was about 5 points more Democratic-leaning than all registered voters nationally. That’s a difference from the audience for the two presidential debates this year, both of which were slightly more GOP-leaning than the potential American electorate overall. What voters who don’t tune in hear about an event in the following days can often be as impactful as immediate views of the event itself. Following the debate, 59% of debate watchers said they had a favorable view of Walz, with just 22% viewing him unfavorably – an improvement from his already positive numbers among the same voters pre-debate (46% favorable, 32% unfavorable). Debate watchers came away from the debate with roughly neutral views of Vance: 41% rated him favorably and 44% unfavorably. That’s also an improvement from their image of Vance pre-debate, when his ratings among this group were deeply underwater (30% favorable, 52% unfavorable). Among debate watchers, Walz boosted his favorability far more among women than men, while Vance’s gains were about the same among voters of both genders. About 1 in 5 Trump supporters (21%) who tuned in now say they have a favorable view of Walz, while Vance’s favorability rating with Harris’ supporters remains at just 8%. In a CNN poll of all Americans taken prior to the debate, views of Walz were narrowly above water, with 36% of voters viewing him favorably, 32% unfavorably, and a sizable 33% saying they hadn’t heard of him or had no opinion of him. By contrast, views of Vance tilted negative, with 30% of registered voters rating him favorably, 42% unfavorably, and 27% offering no opinion. A 65% majority of debate watchers now say Walz is qualified to serve as president if necessary, with 58% saying the same of Vance. Prior to the debate, 62% of the same voters thought Walz was qualified to assume the presidency if needed and 50% that Vance was qualified to do so. Debate watchers said, 48% to 35%, that Walz is more in touch than Vance with the needs and problems of people like them, and by a similar margin, 48% to 39%, that Walz, rather than Vance, more closely shares their vision for America. The share of viewers who said that both vice presidential hopefuls are in touch with their problems is twice as large as the share who said that neither is, 12% to 6% – a level of positivity unusual in this year’s election cycle. There’s a significant gender gap among viewers over which candidate more closely shares their vision for America: Among female voters, Walz has the clear advantage, with half saying he does compared with the 36% who see Vance’s vision as closer to theirs. Male voters split more evenly, 47% Walz to 43% Vance. Viewers said by a narrow margin, 37% to 33%, that Vance did a better job than Walz in defending his running mate, with 27% saying that each candidate did an equally good job, and 3% that neither did. Seven in 10 Trump supporters said Vance did the better job defending his running mate, while 57% of Harris backers said Walz did best on that. A negligible 1% of voters who tuned into the debate said it had changed their mind about whom to vote for, with Harris and Trump supporters equally unlikely to view the event as decisive. The CNN poll was conducted by text message with 574 registered US voters who said they watched the debate Tuesday, and the poll findings are representative of the views of debate watchers only. Respondents were recruited to participate before the debate and were selected via a survey of members of the SSRS Opinion Panel, a nationally representative panel recruited using probability-based sampling techniques. Results for the full sample of debate watchers have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points. The-CNN-Wire & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.