UK News

Salah to miss Old Trafford trip; Newcastle ‘supportive’ of Howe; World Cup latest: football – live | Premier League

Published

2 months ago

May 1, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Key events

Some fans have been let loose on Sky Sports News to talk about the Premier League title race and other matters.

The Arsenal fan has surrendered, at this point:

“I’ve had four years of this and I can’t take another let-down,” he says.

“I’ve had my cry. I’ve broken down. If we win it now, I’ll be happy.”

Thanks Tom, hi everyone.

Here’s a line off Reuters about a former Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and England legend:

Raheem Sterling was meant to be a marquee signing for Feyenoord as they battled for supremacy in the Netherlands, but with three games left in the season, the Dutch club are still waiting for the 31-year-old to make an impact.

Feyenoord continue their quest for second place in the league, and qualification for the Champions League, with a trip to 12th-placed Fortuna Sittard on Sunday, but it is not certain Sterling will be in the team.

The former England international, signed on a short-term contract in February, has started four league games and made three substitute appearances, and is yet to score.

He seemed a frustrated figure when left on the bench for the key clash against third-placed NEC Nijmegen last month, and came on for the final 15 minutes in last weekend’s win against Groningen.

Feyenoord cannot win the league, sitting 19 points behind the champions PSV Eindhoven, but still have much to play for, with a tenuous three-point lead over third-placed NEC Nijmegen in the battle for second place.

Raheem Sterling of Feyenoord on the run against Groningen. Photograph: ANP/Shutterstock

Coach Robin van Persie called Sterling’s signing “one of the biggest transfers in the history of the club” but his form has not lived up to the hype.

Van Persie, however, backed him despite criticism in the Dutch media and some scorn from disappointed supporters.

The coach said last week he had a positive conversation with Sterling, who he felt was getting better and fitter, but said any decision on whether the former Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City attacker would stay next season would come later.

Sterling’s move to Feyenoord was something of a surprise but was seen as a genuine effort to resurrect his career after being sidelined at Chelsea.

Sterling had not played for nine months before his first appearance for Feyenoord, where fans gave him a rapturous reception, but he has since been jeered by supporters. Reuters

And with that, I’m handing over to Luke McLaughlin, who’ll take you through to lunchtime. Laters.

One of the biggest games of the bank holiday weekend doesn’t come until Monday night, when Hearts host Rangers knowing they could practically end the visitors’ title hopes – and massively boost theirs – with a win, turning the title race into a two-way fight with Celtic (IF the Hoops beat Hibs on Sunday). The Jambos’ manager, Derek McInnes, is trying not to think about it: “Every team in with a chance of the title will see themselves as right in it, which makes it even more exciting. We’ve got a good enough record in this fixture but we need to concentrate on ourselves and not focus too much about what the opposition are thinking.”

All sorts of rivalry-distortions are in play too – Hearts fans willing their Edinburgh foes Hibs against Celtic? Celtic fans preferring a draw for Rangers at Hearts rather than a defeat?

In case you missed it yesterday, a spot of early-summer transfer whispering with Manchester United chasing West Ham’s El Hadji Malick Diouf as possible left-back competition for Luke Shaw.

Just perusing the weekend’s Premier League and EFL fixtures, a huge number of matches have something at stake for at least one of the teams playing in them, and here’s a list:

Premier League
Leeds v Burnley
Brentford v West Ham
Arsenal v Fulham
Bournemouth v Palace
Man Utd v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Spurs
Chelsea v Forest
Everton v Man City

Championship
Derby v Sheffield Utd
Hull v Norwich
Ipswich v QPR
Millwall v Oxford
Wrexham v Middlesbrough

League One
Barnsley v Stockport
Bolton v Luton
Exeter v Bradford
Leyton Orient v Burton
Northampton v Plymouth
Stevenage v Wigan

League Two
Barrow v Newport
Bromley v Walsall
Crawley v Salford
Crewe v Cambridge
Fleetwood v MK Dons
Harrogate v Barnet
Notts County v Bristol Rovers
Swindon v Chesterfield
Tranmere v Grimsby

Gianni Infantino’s “football heals the world” schtick came off worse in an encounter with reality when his attempt to orchestrate a handshake between the Palestinian and Israeli delegates at Fifa’s congress backfired.

The Palestinian Football Association’s president, Jibril Rajoub, refused to stand alongside the Israel FA’s vice-president, Basim Sheikh Suliman, towards the end of the congress after both men had been called to the stage in Vancouver by Infantino.

Asked what Rajoub said when he refused, the Palestinian FA’s vice-president, Susan Shalabi, told Reuters: “I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering.”

Matt Hughes has the story here:

Palestinian football federation president refuses handshake with Israeli FA vice-president – video

Given the horror-show of a season Leicester fans have endured, the 10th anniversary of their sensational Premier League title triumph might feel a tad bittersweet, but what a season 2015-16 was, and what a team they were. Ben Fisher has been talking to some of the key participants, including Claudio Ranieri …

It changed the lives of everybody. For my players, who can say: “I won the Premier League.” I’m a very shy man, I don’t say: “I won the title!” But I’m very proud, very happy. In Leicester there is a big Indian community and some Indian people told me: “Thank you, Claudio, because now we link more with the Leicester people, the English people. When we go to the stadium, we push together.” And that is very, very special for me. It’s bigger than football.

It’s a big weekend in the Women’s Super League too and Manchester City can move closer to the title with a home win over Liverpool tomorrow, though they have been wobbling lately. Their main challengers, Arsenal, are otherwise engaged – in WCL semi-final action against OL Lyonnes.

But as the season draws to an end, fixture scheduling remains a sore point in the women’s game, as Tom Garry reports:

Waiting for men’s broadcast picks, dodging local fun runs and even having to avoid clashing with nearby comedy gigs: welcome to the quagmire of trying to arrange the Women’s Super League and WSL 2 schedule.

The fixture list is often a bone of contention for supporters, and organisers face a painstaking task in trying to organise games in venues where other teams get first dibs.

“Stadium availability is led by the men’s game and then broadcast is led by the men’s game, so it can be really hard,” Zarah Al-Kudcy, chief revenue officer at WSL Football, says. “Some of the reasons we are given as to why fixtures have to change, you just have to laugh or you’d cry.”

Howe: Newcastle owners remain ‘supportive’

Eddie Howe says Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners remain supportive after meetings with PIF representatives on their trip over to the north-east this week. “I saw the owners and their representatives; it was constructive” said the manager before tomorrow’s home game against in-form Brighton. “It’s always constructive because they clearly care so much about the football club.

“There are exciting times ahead regardless of what happens in the short term. There’s no change in the level of support I’m receiving and the infrastructure but there is still an understanding of how football works and we need results.”

Howe was fairly non-commital about Anthony Gordon’s prospects of being fit to face Brighton. “He did a session on Wednesday, it was great to see him back on the pitch we’ll make an assessment closer to the game.”

Slot: Salah not fit enough to face Manchester United

Arne Slot has been up early for the press conference to preview Liverpool’s game at Manchester United and Mohamed Salah, who has scored 16 goals for the Reds against their biggest rivals, is not fit enough to make a final appearance at Old Trafford in a Liverpool shirt as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Mo is always working incredibly hard during the season when he is fit and when he is injured to get back as soon as possible. Usually he is back earlier fit than other players. He has a minor injury and we expect and need him back for the final part of the season, but not for Sunday. It is a big relief that his injury is minor and he is able to play for us and at the World Cup. If a player deserves a big send off then it is Mo.”

Slot also said that Alisson is close to a return.

Preamble

Morning everyone and welcome. We’re at that stage of the season where clubs are either on the beach or deep in a world of stress/pain/excitement, each casting envious glances at the other. A hugely consequential weekend looms, starting tonight with Leeds having another opportunity to distance themselves from the relegation rabble when they host managerless and relegated Burnley. By around 3pm tomorrow we’ll know the identity of one more of the clubs replacing the Clarets, with Ipswich, Millwall and Middlesbrough duking it out for second place in the Championship, while ups, downs and playoff places in the rest of the EFL will be sorted by teatime, when everyone can chill out watching Arsenal’s bid to keep their creaking title bid on the road when they face Fulham.

There was plenty to chew on last night too. Nottingham Forest just about edged their all-English Europa League semi-final first leg against Aston Villa, but not without the inevitable VAR blow-up, Unai Emery fuming at the failure to punish Elliott Anderson for a dangerous tackle on Ollie Watkins. In the Conference League, Oliver Glasner’s chances of bowing out at Crystal Palace with a second trophy in two years were substantially enhanced in a 3-1 semi-final first leg win against Shakhtar Donetsk. The Europa League place denied them last year is now in sight.

Anyway, we’ll be across all the buildup and news going into the weekend, with pressers due at Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City this morning and pre-match chat from Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United and Chelsea around lunchtime. And to get you in the mood, here’s 10 Premier League things to look out for, in time-honoured fashion.

Source link

UK News

Gasps and tears in court as 10 more sentenced over Ely riots

Published

1 hour ago

June 18, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

The deaths of teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans sparked hours of violence and vandalism.

Source link

UK News

Supreme court sides with Texas marijuana user who wants to own a firearm in latest case expanding gun rights – live | US supreme court

Published

2 hours ago

June 18, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Supreme court backs challenge to ban on gun ownership for drug users

The supreme court has sided with a marijuana user who wants to legally own a gun, the latest in a line of firearm cases from a court that has expanded gun rights.

In a 9-0 ruling, the justices sided with Ali Danial Hemani, a resident of Texas who was charged with felony gun possession after he acknowledged being a regular marijuana user. Hemani wasn’t charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence.

The 1968 Gun Control Act makes possession of a firearm illegal for anyone ⁠who “is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance”.

That gun restriction led to the 2024 conviction of Hunter Biden, who later that year received a pardon from his father, then-president Joe Biden. Prosecutors had accused him of lying about his use ⁠of narcotics in 2018 when he purchased a Colt Cobra handgun.

Hemani argued that a federal law barring gun ownership from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the constitution’s second amendment.

The decision is a loss for the Trump administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions.

Key events

Supreme court releases opinions

The supreme court has started releasing opinions, so far it has issued a ruling backing a challenge to a federal law barring drug users from owning guns.

We’ll bring you any more updates here as we get them.

Indeed, this morning’s Washington Post Early Brief (paywall) asks the question: “Are we back to where we started on Iran?”

The memorandum ends the fighting, reopens the strait of Hormuz and gives Trump a chance to claim he prevented a broader economic crisis. But many of its core terms appear to return the US and Iran to roughly where they were before the conflict: with Iran’s government still in power and its long-term nuclear commitments still unresolved.

Before the war, the strait of Hormuz saw the free flow of shipping, including roughly a fifth of the world’s oil traffic. Reopening the water way essentially restores the status quo.

Iran and the US had also already engaged in negotiations – albeit brokenly – on a framework over Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions. The negotiations were in pursuit of a deal to replace the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Barack Obama, which Trump vehemently criticized and left during his first term.

The terms of the MOU diverge substantially from Trump’s initial threats to obliterate Iran unless it agreed to “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” back in March. And it diverged from long-standing conservative criticisms of Obama’s deal that lifted sanctions on Iran.

After Donald Trump’s signing of the 14-point agreement with Iran yesterday at the Palace of Versailles – the home of humiliating treaties – the question of what the president’s war was actually for continues to divide some Republicans and foreign policy hawks.

GOP senator Lindsey Graham, a key Trump ally, appeared to soften his view of the memorandum of understanding yesterday (from this to this) after a “very lengthy and productive” conversation with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

“After this discussion, it is my opinion that signing the MOU will be beneficial to the United States, in as much as the strait of Hormuz will begin to open, and the hostilities with Iran will stop,” Graham wrote on X. “Whether or not the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program and other issues is yet to be determined, but I see little downside to trying.”

But a handful of other Senate Republicans were more scathing in their views.

Outgoing Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy, who Trump failed to back in a tightly fought primary last month, said that the whole affair had Ronald Reagan “rolling over in his grave”. He wrote on X:

Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future.

Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.

Ted Cruz, who has backed the war, said the president was getting “very poor advice when it comes to this deal”.

Susan Rice, a former official in the Obama and Biden administrations was more blunt in her assessment, calling it “the biggest national security blunder in decades”, while Democratic senator Adam Schiff said it was “hard to imagine a more thorough capitulation”.

Iran gets sanctions relief, the release of frozen funds, the ability to export oil, and a $300 billion reconstruction fund. The US gets a reiteration of the vague promise Iran won’t develop a nuke.

In case you missed it, last night Donald Trump signed a 14-point agreement with Iran, claiming it delivered a “major win” for the United States – even as it made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide depression”.

In extraordinary remarks yesterday, Trump went from threatening Iran with a new wave of attacks to suggesting the country had basic rights to enrich uranium for civilian use, that he would not pressure Tehran to abandon its ballistic missiles programme and the US was “going to have to give back” billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets.

Those remarks, as well as the full text of the agreement – which was hailed by the Hezbollah chief, Naim Qassem, as a “great victory” – are likely to fuel anger in Israel and among hardliners in the Republican party who had urged Trump not to make a deal with Tehran.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed the agreement yesterday from Tehran. US vice-president JD Vance is also expected to sign the deal at a more formal ceremony in Geneva tomorrow.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said:

The agreement is a record of US failure. People will see it and judge.

Trump signs 14-point peace agreement with Iran - video — Trump signs 14-point peace agreement with Iran – video

Supreme court to release opinions with several high-stakes rulings to come including birthright citizenship

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.

The supreme court is expected to render at least one judgment today as the term is set to come to an end later this month. There are a series of cases yet to be decided that are relevant to Donald Trump, including his attempt to limit birthright citizenship and plan to remove legal protection from Haitian and Syrian immigrants.

Generally, terms last between October and late June – but the most significant cases are often left until the end of the term.

There are two main immigration-based decisions yet to be made. One pending ruling is on Trump’s desire to ban birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and those whose parents are temporary residents.

“Birthright citizenship is one of America’s most consequential commitments – the idea that where you are born, not where your parents came from, determines your belonging to this nation,” said Adam Strom, executive director and co-founder of Reimagining Migration, in The74. “For the millions of immigrant-origin children in our schools, this isn’t an abstraction. It’s the ground they stand on.”

The court also has a case that will decide if the US can terminate the Temporary Protected Status that has allowed Haitian and Syrian immigrants to live and work in the country.

Other significant cases include Trump’s wish to fire a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

President Donald Trump. Photograph: dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock

In other news:

Donald Trump has signed a 14-point agreement with Iran, claiming it delivered a “major win” for the US. The Guardian’s Andrew Roth argues that the US entered war with maximalist goals and exited it with a pragmatic decision to end conflict despite political cost.
A teenager has died after being thrown to the ground on Wednesday when a Central Park carriage horse bolted away from its driver, police in New York have said.
On Wednesday, court proceedings revealed that Luigi Mangione’s legal team plans on pursuing a psychiatric defense during his upcoming Manhattan state court trial over the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.