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Surrey bolster Oval security, Somerset v Yorkshire, and more: county cricket, day one – live | Cricket
Key events
Time for a sandwich, back soon!
Lunchtime scores
Division One
Southampton: Hampshire v Glamorgan 89-1
Leicester: Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire 120-1
Taunton: Somerset v Yorkshire 115-3
The Oval: Surrey v Sussex 105-7
Division Two
Canterbury: Kent 99-4 v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex 82-1 v Durham
Northampton: Northants v Worcestershire 104-4
Big Craig Overton throws his maroon Somerset cap on the ground after shelling Bairstow at second slip on 22. He’s still covering his face with his hands two balls later. Pretorius runs in. Yorks 115-3.
Stokes batting at Lord’s
Andy Bull is out and about at Lord’s and has spotted Ben Stokes batting in the nets on the Nursery ground. “He has drawn a crowd of 30 school kids and 20 men in blazers.” And looks “rugged.”
Somerset’s bowlers are currently getting schooled by Bairstow and Root – whose cover drive on one knee against Craig Overton was like a bite of a warm buttery croissant straight from a Parisian paper bag. Yorkshire 110-3.
Asa Tribe going great guns (45) in Glamorgan’s 77-0 against Hants. Ben Kellaway is back for Glamorgan after injury.
Notts have made a perky start against Leicestershire. They’ve lost HH for 42, but Ben Slater still there on 50. Notts 97-1.
Yorkshire 78-3 at Taunton, Root and Bairstow batting together, and they’ve just changed the ball.
And, oh! at The Oval, where a zillion runs have been laid down over the last few weeks, Sussex are 84 for six. Jordan Clark four for 9, Tom Clark out for 44.
Briefly gobsmacked to see Somerset selling Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo tickets for £10 – but just realised it is a tribute show. Still, nice idea after the Somerset and Surrey women’s game in June
A steam engine hoots as it chugs on its way behind Taunton. Somerset 70-3. Let’s skip around the grounds.
There’s a cute brown dog in the Taunton crowd that just watched Jonny drive Ogborne, feet in fourth position, standing tall, plink to the rope.
Switching streams to Taunton. The panatone colour chart has dulled in the move from east to west. And there goes Finlay Bean for 35 to Pretorius, caught low down by James Rew. On runs the water man in an anorak. Joe Root at the other end on 3. Yorks 64-3. Here comes Jonny.
Go to make a cup of coffee, when I come back the umpire is replacing the bails at Canterbury. Crawley gone for a fleeting, but lovely 44. Andersson the wicket-taker. Kent 73 for 2.
Lord’s breaks women’s Test attendance record
England women play their first (yes, really) Test at Lord’s later this summer, against India. The MCC have already sold more than the 23,207
tickets which were the previous record for a women’s Test.
Zak Crawley has just driven Zac Chappell through the covers with the sweetest sound. No-one in the field moved. But three slips wait. He reaches 29. Kent 45-1.
A catch for Ollie Robinson, who seems to have slipped out of England conversations with the rise of Jamie Smith. De Caires for eight, Middlesex 34 for one.
Warwickshire to name new stand after Dennis Amiss
Warwicks have announced that their new stand, due to open next year, will be named after their leading run-scorer.
On the Kent stream, Sam Northeast and Zak Crawley are looking good.
Thomas Rew is making his Championship debut, alongside brother James, at Taunton. Yorkshire have lost Adam Lyth, lbw Ogborne, for 8. Yorks 26-1.
And an early wicket in glorious Canterbury sunshine, Dawkins dollies a catch back to Haydon. Kent 21-1.
An early wicket at The Oval where Tom Haines has edged Sean Abbott to slip for a duck. Sussex 2 for one.
Worcestershire have also lost an early wicket against Northants, and it’s their banker, Jake Libby, for three. Worcs 13-1.
Good morning Mike Daniels!
“Sun’s shining here at Grace Road for the “Ay Up, Me Duck” Derby.
“Not sure Leics will get their first win this round, Notts look a strong side even without Josh Tongue.”
They really do.
More news has dropped from OT, where Luke Wells has signed a three-year contract.
Time to lace up your boots, the players are out around the grounds.
Division Two table
1 Lancashire P4 W2 L1 D1 60 points
2 Durham P3 W2 D1 57 points
3 Worcestershire P3 W2 L1 51 points
4 Northamptonshire P3 D3 43 points
5 Middlesex P3 W1 D1 L1 38 points
6 Derbyshire P3 L2 D1 25 points
7 Gloucestershire P4 W1 L3 24 points
8 Kent P3 L1 D2 21 points
Division One Table
1 Warwickshire P 4 W1 L1 D2 55 points
2 Somerset P3 W 2 D1 54 points
3 Nottinghamshire P3 W1 D2 44 points
4 Sussex P3 W2 D1 42 points
5 Essex P4 W1 L2 D1 40 points
6 Surrey P3 D3 37 points
7 Leicestershire P3 L1 D2 32 points
8 Glamorgan P3 L1 D2 27 points
9 Yorkshire P3 L1 D2 26 points
10 Hampshire P3 W1 L2 25 points
Kent turn off comments on social media feed
Kent, who have struggled this season, and lie bottom of Div Two, with just 21 points, have taken the decision to switch comments off the club’s social media accounts.
In a statement, coach Adam Hollioake said: “This has not been a decision that we’ve taken lightly and we are in no means stopping people voicing their opinions, but to align with our short-term strategy to allow players and staff to think and play with freedom and clarity, we feel it is a necessary one…
“There are several ways for supporters to get their views across. There is a member’s forum …on day one of this match and anyone can also contact the club with their feedback at any time….
“You are measured as a person by how you act and apply yourself when times are hard and I’d like to think that our members and supporters will be willing us to do well more than ever. We are giving our all every day to improve.”
Surrey to increase security following Golders Green attacks
Some sobering news from The Oval.
Surrey have increased security and bag checks at the Oval after the Golders Green knife attacks.
Police have charged a 45-year-old man with attempted murder following the stabbings of two Jewish men in north London on Wednesday, with the incident contributing to the UK terrorism threat level being raised to severe.
That is the second highest level on the scale and means the chance of terror attacks are considered highly likely by authorities.
Surrey’s latest first-class fixture against Sussex runs from Friday to Monday and the club have moved quickly to reflect the changing circumstances.
A club statement read: “Surrey are in regular communication with the Met police and will adjust our own security measures in line with the increased threat level. We want to ensure that all staff, spectators and players feel safe and secure at the Kia Oval and will take the action necessary to do so.
“Please note there will be additional security presence and heightened bag searches at this weekend’s Rothesay County Championship match with Sussex, so please allow additional time to enter the ground.”
Surrey have been pioneering a new scheme this season that encourages home-based workers to use the ground as their office, utilising desks and new super-fast broadband connections. Their last home match, against Essex, had a 21st-century record of 15,663 spectators in attendance. PA Media
Fixtures
Division One
Southampton: Hampshire v Glamorgan
Leicester: Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire
Taunton: Somerset v Yorkshire
The Oval: Surrey v Sussex
Division Two
Canterbury: Kent v Derbyshire
Lord’s: Middlesex v Durham
Northampton: Northants v Worcestershire
England withdraw Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson
England have pulled Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson from the Notts and Surrey squads to manage their workloads. Surrey are also without Tom Lawes (soft tissue injury) – a double blow for him as I’ve suddenly seen his name cropping up as a potential England bowler.
It looks as if Fergus O’Neill will play for Notts after recovering from a rib injury and Thomas Rew, brother of James, is included by Somerset for the first time in a CC match.
Preamble
Good morning! May has landed like a gentle kiss on the back of the neck, and with it round five of the Championship.
There are seven games today, with Warwickshire, Essex, Gloucestershire and Lancashire – who will lose Daniel Gidney at the end of the season (retirement) but gain Chris Green early – sitting this one out. Jamie Smith will keep wicket for Surrey against Sussex after Ben Foakes injured himself bowling in the dying dregs of the game against Essex. And Kent must plough on
Surrey, Leicestershire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire, Northants and Derbyshire are also searching for their first wins. Play starts at 11am, do join us.
The deaths of teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans sparked hours of violence and vandalism.
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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
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.
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.
In other news:
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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.
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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.
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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.
Forwarder, a Russian-flagged ship which left port in Primorsk last week, entered the Channel on Wednesday evening.
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