MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich goalkeeper Mala Grohs revealed Saturday that she has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor as the club extended her contract in a sign of support.
The 23-year-old Grohs has played in all of Bayern's games in the Women's Champions League this season including Tuesday's 3-0 win over Valerenga.
Grohs will be out indefinitely so she can “concentrate fully on her recovery,” Bayern said. The club extended her contract by a year through the end of next season.
Grohs said in a video message that she was “very optimistic” ahead of her treatment.
“I'm in the very best hands with the doctors here. The girls and everyone at the club are really supporting me in any way that they can,” Grohs said.
“The whole thing is definitely a challenge that I didn’t count on having to tackle now, but with the help of everyone here I'll certainly master it. I'm going to try to be around the team as much as I can now to absorb the energy that the girls give and to be part of things, and then we'll surely see each other again very soon.”
Grohs joined Bayern in 2019 and has won three German titles in her time with the club. Grohs was called up to the German national team last month but had to withdraw because of an operation on her tonsils, and she has yet to make her senior international debut.
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FILE - Bayern goalkeeper Maria-Luisa Grohs in action during the women's Champions League group C soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in Munich, Germany, Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Hundreds of activists formed a human chain outside one of the main plenary halls at the United Nations climate summit on what is traditionally their biggest protest day during the two-week talks.
The demonstration in Baku, Azerbaijan will be echoed at sites around the world in a global “day of action” for climate justice that's become an annual event.
Activists waved flags, snapped their fingers, and hummed and mumbled chants in a silent protest, with many covering their mouths with the word “Silenced.”
Demonstrators held up signs calling for more money to be pledged for climate finance, which involves cash for transitioning to clean energy and adapting to climate change. It comes as negotiators at the venue try to hammer out a deal for exactly that — but progress has been slow and observers say the direction of any agreement is still unclear.
Lidy Nacpil said protestors like her are “not surprised” about how negotiations are going. But past wins — like a loss and damage fund that gives developing nations cash after extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change — keep organizers going, said Nacpil, a coordinator with the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development.
“The role we play is to increase the pressure,” she said of the action. “We know we’re not going to get the results that the world needs in this round of negotiations, but at least to bring us many steps closer is our hope, is our aim.”
She added: “I think we have no option but to keep fighting ... It’s the instinctive response that anyone, any living being, living creatures will have, which is to fight for life and fight for survival.”
Tasneem Essop said she was inspired by the action, which was challenging to organize. “To be able to pull off something where people feel their own power, exercise their own power and get inspired in this creative way, I’m super excited about this,” she said.
Essop says she’s “not very” optimistic about an outcome on finance, but knows next week will be pivotal. “We can’t end up with a bad deal for the peoples of the world, those who are already suffering the impacts of climate change, those who need to adapt to an increasing and escalating crisis,” she said. “We fight until the end.”
Negotiators at COP29, as the talks are known, are working on a deal that might be worth hundreds of billions of dollars to poorer nations. Many are in the Global South and already suffering the costly impacts of weather disasters fueled by climate change. Several experts have said $1 trillion a year or more is needed both to compensate for such damages and to pay for a clean-energy transition that most countries can't afford on their own.
Samir Bejanov, deputy lead negotiator of this year's climate talks said in a press conference that the climate finance talks were moving too slowly.
“I want to repeat our strong encouragement to all parties to make as much progress as possible,” he said. “We need everyone to approach the task with urgency and determination.”
Diego Pacheco, a negotiator from Bolivia, said that the amount of money on the table for developing countries needs to be “loud and clear.”
“No more speeches but real money,” he said.
Observers were also disappointed at the pace of progress.
“This has been the worst first week of a COP in my 15 years of attending this summit,” said Mohamed Adow, of climate think tank Power Shift Africa. "There’s no clarity on the climate finance goal, the quality of the finance or how it’s going to be made accessible to vulnerable countries.”
“I sense a lot of frustration, especially among the developing country blocks here,” he said.
Panama environment minister Juan Carlos Navarro agreed, telling The Associated Press he is “not encouraged” by what he’s seeing at COP29 so far.
“What I see is a lot of talk and very little action,” he said, noting that Panama is among the group of countries least responsible for warming emissions but most vulnerable to the damage caused by climate change-fueled disasters.
“We must face these challenges with a true sense of urgency and sincerity,” he said. “We are dragging our feet as a planet.”
Associated Press writer Dorany Pineda in Los Angeles contributed.
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Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
An activist holds a megaphone that says silenced during a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Raphael Abacan leads a demonstration during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
An activist participates in a demonstration with the word silenced over his mouth at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Activists participate in a demonstration against fossil fuels at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
People arrive for the day outside the venue for the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
People demonstrate with a sign that reads "keep your promises COP39 for the people" at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Activists participate in a demonstration for land rights at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
A person walks holding an object with the likeness of a house that says tax over health at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
