⚽️ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off ⚽️ Live scores | Full table | Follow on Bluesky | Mail Michael Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, O’Brien, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Ndiaye, Armstrong, McNeil, Barry. Subs: Travers, Beto, Dibling, Dewsbury-Hall, Coleman, Alcaraz, Branthwaite, Rohl, Aznou. Leeds: Darlow, Bornauw, Rodon, Struijk, Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Gruev, Justin, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Lucas Perri, Longstaff, Piroe, Nmecha, Okafor, Tanaka, Byram, Gnonto, Buonanotte. Continue reading...

Myrie is great company, getting stuck into everything from street art to milking goats and having tea with Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter – but he is incredibly moving, too. More soon please! After decades as a BBC journalist and – latterly – one of the corporation’s best-known news presenters, you may well associate Clive Myrie with more serious endeavours. Indeed, it was a little jarring to see him – just a few hours before presenting the latest Trump-flavoured bulletin last Tuesday – reclining on the One Show sofa to promote his latest travelogue, declaring himself “a warrior god”. As unlikely as this recent-ish pivot might seem (he previously presented Clive Myrie’s Italian Road Trip in 2023, and the Bafta-winning Clive Myrie’s Caribbean Adventure in 2024), I’m here for it. As a chronicler of cultures, Myrie is faultlessly fun and eager, and his African Adventure is no exception. This series of 10 half-hour episodes set in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco is infused with joy and hope, while also not entirely adopting a fingers-in-ears approach to some of the bigger issues affecting the continent – be it environmental concerns or health inequalities. We kick off in South Africa, a place Myrie knows well from his time posted there as a foreign correspondent for the BBC. He catches up with a former colleague, Milton Nkosi, and the pair reflect on the stories we tend to hear about the country. The news, says Nkosi, “is not wrong, but it can be one-sided”. Their episode in Soweto is a beautiful thing: a corrective to some of those more difficult stories about the country and its largest township, which also acknowledges its complex history. Myrie was, he says, inspired to get into journalism in the first place by the stories he saw on the news back home in Bolton about apartheid. Now, all these decades later, he finds himself having lunch with Nkosi and Ndileka Mandela, Nelson’s eldest granddaughter. They reflect on Mandela Sr’s humanity, and Myrie seems genuinely touched to find out that – by chance – they’re even eating the great man’s favourite food (braised oxtail, if you were wondering). Continue reading...

Roy Morton was 80 when he was stunned, restrained and arrested in bungled raid at his home in 2021 Scotland Yard has settled out of court with a retired ballet dancer who sued the force after he was shot with a Taser weapon in his own home in a bungled dawn raid. Roy Morton, who has a pacemaker and lives alone, was stunned, restrained and arrested by firearms officers who forced entry into his home in Cricklewood, north-west London on 28 December 2021. Continue reading...

Aircraft carrier strike group assets aided by Israeli aircraft could have enough firepower to bring down regime The Iranian government is bracing itself for a fresh US and Israeli missile assault after it was announced that the US Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has now deployed key assets to the region, observers have said. It is thought that Washington has the firepower in conjunction with Israeli aircraft to mount an attack designed to topple the government accused of brutally suppressing protests and killing thousands of Iranians. Continue reading...

Open letter to Fifa and all football associations It condemns killings, arrests and threats against athletes A group of prominent Iranians with links to football have called on Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, to condemn the killing and arrest of footballers in Iran and the threats made against players in the country. The demand was made in open letter also addressed to the presidents of Fifa’s more than 200 national associations. Among its 20 signatories are Ali Karimi, who played 127 times for Iran, and three other former full internationals. The list also includes a football coach, a referee and sports journalists. Continue reading...

Borthwick: ‘We are deeply saddened for him’ Itoje misses launch of 2026 Six Nations England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was conspicuously absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join up with his squad until Wednesday evening. With the tournament commencing on Thursday week every team is scrambling to be ready for their opening games but Steve Borthwick, England’s head coach, has given the Saracens lock permission to miss the start of this week’s training block in Girona. “He is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him,” said Borthwick, whose side open their campaign at home to Wales on Saturday week. Continue reading...

Scientists expect 41% of the projected global population to face the extremes, with ‘no part of the world’ immune The number of people living with extreme heat will more than double by 2050 if global heating reaches 2C, according to a new study that shows how the energy demands for air conditioners and heating systems are expected to change across the world. No region will escape the impact, say the authors. Although the tropics and southern hemisphere will be worst affected by rising heat, the countries in the north will also find it difficult to adapt because their built environments are primarily designed to deal with a cooler climate. Continue reading...

Azruddin Mohamed’s election comes six months after he formed political party that became country’s second largest A Guyanese businessman facing extradition to the US on gold smuggling and money laundering charges has been elected as the country’s opposition leader, six months after he formed a political party that quickly became the second largest in the South American nation. Azruddin Mohamed, 38, was confirmed as Guyana’s opposition leader after 16 lawmakers from the We Invest in Nationhood party (Win) and another from a single-seat outfit voted in his favor. The tally made Win the second-largest party in parliament, securing Mohamed’s election even as a magistrate’s court hears state arguments for his extradition to the US. Continue reading...

AMR26 car will not run until Thursday and Friday Williams unable to take to the track at all in Spain The Aston Martin team have admitted they are to miss at least one day of their allotted three at Formula One’s first pre-season test in Barcelona and will not run their car before Thursday at the earliest. They are the second team to fail to take full advantage of the opening test after Williams also announced they would be unable to take to the track at all in Spain. Testing is taking place from Monday to Friday this week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with teams able to use three of the five days to assess their cars. They have been designed to the entirely new regulations and with new engines this season and consequently three full pre-season tests are being held this year. However, as the track running began Aston Martin conceded they would not be there at the off and issued a statement. Continue reading...

Party spokesperson apologises for statement on former home secretary who has defected to Reform UK UK politics live – latest updates The Conservatives have withdrawn a claim that Suella Braverman’s defection to Reform UK on Monday was connected to her mental health after criticism from across the political spectrum. Earlier, in an official statement it now says was “sent out in error”, the party said: “It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect. The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy.” Continue reading...

Without Braverman and Robert Jenrick, and their divisive rhetoric, Kemi Badenoch is free to return to the political mainstream At a time of bleak headlines, there was at least some good news for Conservatives earlier today: Suella Braverman has finally left the party. As with the defection of Robert Jenrick earlier this month, the continued “self-purge” of the “out-Reform Reform” brigade can only help the electoral fortunes of the Conservative party. As I said in a previous article, “wreckers like Braverman are why the public don’t like us”. For those of us who have long pointed out the utter failure of their strategy, it’s schadenfreude to see them leave a ship they themselves so effectively torpedoed. Reform UK is welcome to them. I suspect Nigel Farage will rue the day they came on board. Many Conservatives will hope they have the same record of failure at their new party as they did at their last. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Drummer helped to define the sound of roots reggae and dancehall, and worked with stars including the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Grace Jones Sly Dunbar, the Jamaican musician and producer who created generations of global hits as one half of production duo Sly and Robbie, has died aged 73. His wife, Thelma, told Jamaican newspaper the Gleaner that she found him unresponsive on Monday morning, with doctors later pronouncing him dead. Other sources close to Dunbar confirmed the news to the Guardian, adding that Dunbar had been unwell for some months. Continue reading...

Move comes as the SEC has taken a series of friendly stances towards the cryptocurrency industry under Trump The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday agreed to dismiss its enforcement case against a cryptocurrency exchange founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, after investors in its lending program recovered their assets in full. The SEC has taken a series of industry-friendly actions in recent years, a shift in its approach to crypto enforcement under Donald Trump, who promised to be the “crypto president”. He brought in more favorable rules and pledged to popularize mainstream use of digital currencies. Continue reading...

Injury to Champion Hurdle favourite and contentious decision to run final race overshadow disrupted Trials Day Before the first of the eight races at Cheltenham on Saturday, the afternoon promised to deliver on its Trials Day billing from start to finish, with serious contenders for festival glory in March scattered throughout the card. By the end, the main lesson concerned the vagaries of chance, after a serious injury to Sir Gino, and then a long delay to the final race after a hole was discovered in the turf, close to the final flight on the hurdles course. Trainers, jockeys and officials inspected the course before agreeing that conditions were safe to continue, with the runners re-routed around the problem. By the time Kripticjim and Taurus Bay eventually crossed the line almost as one, the sun had set and the photo-finish image was too murky to determine the result. Instead, the stewards resorted to the video footage to declare Kripticjim the winner by a short-head. Continue reading...

European retailers urge traders to adhere to commitments after Brazilian lawmakers drop forest protection agreement Leading British and European retailers are trying to salvage the core elements of the Amazon soy moratorium after the world’s most successful forest protection agreement was wrecked by Brazilian lawmakers and abandoned by international traders. In an open letter, high street brands including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda warn the breakdown this month of the 20-year-old agreement will damage consumer confidence in Brazil and the shipping firms unless new arrangements are put in place to ensure grain production is not linked to deforestation. Continue reading...

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who had held senior roles in Russian government, used a variant spelling of his name to access UK banking system Bank of Scotland has been fined £160,000 by the UK’s sanctions watchdog after opening a bank account and processing payments for an ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who became the first person to be prosecuted for circumventing UK sanctions last year, made 24 payments totalling £77,383 to or from a personal current account during February 2023. Continue reading...

Most of those at Monday’s event had to remind themselves that Braverman hadn’t defected long ago That noise? The sound of the barrel getting scraped. Only last summer, Reform insiders were briefing the rightwing media that the party would never welcome Suella Braverman into its ranks. Too much baggage. Too out of control. Reform wasn’t a convalescent home for disgraced and failed Tory MPs. Surely not? Heaven forbid. So it was only a matter of time before the MP forced to resign from Liz Truss’s cabinet as home secretary for breaking the ministerial code – imagine the shame of being sacked by Liz – and then fired by Rishi Sunak for criticising Scotland Yard’s policing of protests was welcomed by Nigel Farage. Let’s face it: if Kemi Badenoch weren’t already leader of the Tory party, she’d almost certainly be next in line to defect. Continue reading...

Farai Hallam trusted his own judgment on Yerson Mosquera incident despite a VAR review and, in doing so, showed the way forward I refereed professional football for 25 years. We were talking about handball when I started, and it remains one of the most discussed topics in the game. One reason for this is that we’ve had a number of law changes by the International Football Association Board (Ifab) over recent years. All were made in an effort to achieve consistent outcomes for the benefit of the game, but we can sometimes end up with different interpretations of the laws. Continue reading...

Ex-Fifa boss shows support for boycott calls Security concerns over tournament have risen Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter on Monday suggested he supports fans boycotting World Cup matches in the United States this year due to security concerns. Blatter gave his support to comments from Swiss anti-corruption lawyer Mark Pieth, who worked with Fifa on potential reforms when Blatter was president, saying fans should stay away from the US for the tournament. Continue reading...

Readers respond to an article by Gordon Brown in which he says the free world needs a new plan and strong leadership When we look at the actions of Russia, China, North Korea, Israel, Iran and now the US in recent years, there is a tendency to close our eyes tight, pull the covers over our heads and wait for the madness to go away. The rules-based order that we thought was here to stay after 1989 is no longer something we can rely on, if it ever was – as recent self- serving actions of the US president and his sycophantic gang make clear. Gordon Brown’s piece (As Trump menaces Greenland, this much is clear: the free world needs a new plan – and inspired leadership, 20 January) provides a hopeful antidote to the chaos following the continuing breakdown of the postwar settlement. That settlement gave birth to international bodies such as the United Nations, Nato and others aimed at developing and maintaining democratic values. Brown wants to breathe new life into bodies such as these, essentially through the reiteration and rejigging of founding principles. Continue reading...

Georgi Kamov and Lisa Harms respond to an article about how screen time affects children and share their experiences in Bulgaria and the US Emine Saner’s article on screen time and toddlers identifies a key symptom, but doesn’t pay enough attention to the deeper diagnosis (How screen time affects toddlers: ‘We’re losing a big part of being human’, 22 January). The problem isn’t simply that children are watching screens. It’s that they’re not creating anything meaningful. For 11 years, Red Paper Plane has worked with more than 30,000 children in Bulgaria using a project-based learning programme we call Design Champions. As part of it, five- to 10-year-old children don’t consume content – they become park designers, car engineers and city architects. They work on “missions” lasting weeks, solving real problems with real materials. Continue reading...

There is no justification to delay political action, say Dr Mike Barrett and Dr Steven R Smith, while Olivia Blake MP says the breakdown of nature is not a side issue that can be buried The government’s delay in publishing its national security assessment on biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse – which was finally issued last week, more than three months later than planned – is inexcusable, not least because much of the content is already out of date (Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn, 20 January). The latest global tipping points report, published by Exeter University in October, revealed that we have already reached the first of many Earth system tipping points – the widespread dieback of warm-water coral reefs – which will cause catastrophic harm without urgent action. The irreversible melting of polar ice sheets, the collapse of key ocean currents and the dieback of the Amazon rainforest are next in line, with devastating risks for people and nature. Continue reading...

Unhappy members | Naked self-promotion | Michael Carrick for Gorton and Denton? | Ominous sign | The lettuce test This is a sorry day for the Labour party. The decision to block Andy Burnham’s return to parliament (Report, 25 January) shows that the so-called “allies of Starmer” who dominate the national executive committee are more interested in keeping their tribe in power than in welcoming back one of Manchester’s finest former MPs. Expect to see a huge exodus of Labour party members, especially from Greater Manchester, including me. Susan Treagus Manchester • Andy Burnham’s latest move is simply about self-promotion, with no concern for the interests of the Labour party, or indeed of the country. It is not to the benefit of either for the government to get involved in a divisive leadership contest at a time when the country is faced with an untrustworthy US, and in the midst of massive global problems – from Ukraine and Greenland to the climate emergency. Sally Burch London Continue reading...

The US cites the ‘wisdom’ of historical immigration policy. But nation states in the Americas have spent more time with open borders than closed Late last year, Donald Trump’s White House published a new National Security Strategy (NSS) outlining its vision for the world. At the time, the plan raised alarm for dismissing European alliances (now largely confirmed after Trump threatened Nato allies over Greenland), previewing interventions in Latin America (also largely confirmed by recent military action in Venezuela), and aligning closely with the priorities of the Kremlin. The document also demonizes immigrants. In one widely cited passage, it even claims that “unchecked migration” has gotten so out of control that Europe is facing imminent “civilizational erasure”. On these grounds, the plan makes ending “The Era of Mass Migration” a top priority for the US. Continue reading...

The ligament that connects your foot bones can cause severe heel pain when inflamed. Here’s how to avoid that Recently, I decided to go for a jog after not running at all for more than [redacted] years. I did a half-marathon a couple of presidential administrations ago, so surely it would be fine? It was! Until the next morning, when I rolled out of bed, put my feet on the floor and felt a sharp pain in my heel. Plantar fasciitis, my old nemesis. Strengthen the muscles of the feet. Silverman suggests doing toe curls (with your feet flat on a towel, grip the towel with your toes and scrunch it towards your body) or marble pickups (using your toes to pick up marbles or similar objects from the floor). Stretching. Specifically, stretching the calf muscles and the achilles tendon. Regularly stretching and massaging these areas “can help to not only assuage the inflammation, but prevent it from coming back”, says Aiyer. Increase activity levels gradually. Allow your body to get acclimated to increases in activity levels rather than suddenly ramping up. Basically, don’t do what I did. Wear the right shoes. Choose a shoe that’s too supportive, and your foot muscles can weaken over time, says Silverman. But choose a shoe that’s not supportive enough, and you may expose your plantar fascia to more direct trauma. Rather than sweating this Goldilocks challenge, Silverman says you should “choose footwear that matches the environment and activity”. Continue reading...