Author: INDEPENDENT

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter They got to trudge past the trophy, given an immediate illustration of what they could have won. England were so close – denied by an 86th-minute winner in the final – and yet perhaps also so far away. They were the second-best side in Euro 2024 in the sense they stretched their participation right to the end; not in others, though. But for Jude Bellingham’s magnificent overhead kick against Slovakia, they would have exited early and ignominiously.…

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discountsGet Simon Calder’s Travel emailDelta has decided that only US flags will be allowed on uniforms after it faced backlash for saying they would be “terrified” as well when an X user pointed out two employees wearing Palestine flag pins. The airline confirmed the change in an email to The Independent. The new policy will go into effect on July 15.The decision followed an X exchange between the airline’s account and the complaining user this week. Photos had emerged of flight attendants wearing the Palestinian flag on…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter England suffered heartbreak in the Euro 2024 final after a tight offside call on Mikel Oyarzabal’s late goal for Spain in a 2-1 win in Berlin was confirmed by Uefa’s technology.The Three Lions had dragged themselves back into the game with Cole Palmer’s fine strike in response to Nico Williams’ opener. But Luis De la Fuente’s side regained the lead in the 86th minute through the Real Sociedad forward.Initial replays to the naked eye suggested Oyarzabal might…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter The Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia kicked off after a delay of over an hour as fans broke through the entrance gates of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.More than a dozen people were detained and some were injured, requiring medical treatment, as chaos ensued ahead of the match, which Argentina went on to win 1-0 after extra time, Lautaro Martínez scoring the winner late on.Fans started arriving about three hours before the 8pm start…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Gareth Southgate said “now is not the time” to decide his future as the England manager praised his heartbroken players after a European Championship final he admitted Spain deserved to win.A summer that started with unconvincing performances and jeers from the stands ended with just a third ever major men’s final appearance and a shot at history in Berlin.England suffered a crushing penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy at this stage three years ago and another shot at…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USThe photograph of a bloodied Donald Trump with his fist in the air and an American flag looming in the background is quickly emerging as the pivotal image of Saturday’s shooting, and it wouldn’t exist without a journalist who acted quickly and on a hunch.Video of the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally filled television screens before it was even clear what had happened. Yet the work of The Associated Press’ Evan Vucci, Getty’s Anna Moneymaker…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter The Henri Delaunay trophy indeed goes home, as Spain have now won it for a record fourth time. England’s years of hurt will go to 60 years, and at least the 2026 World Cup in America. Whether Gareth Southgate will still be there remains to be seen, after a defeat that was respectable but still reflected something bigger.England, for the second tournament in succession, were beaten by the better team.This wasn’t like Italy at Wembley in Euro…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailFormer classmates of the 20-year-old gunman authorities identified as the would-be assassin who fired several rounds at former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday remembered him as a somewhat unremarkable teen who enjoyed video games and didn’t make much noise about politics.Thomas Matthew Crooks, who lived with his parents in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park before he was shot dead by Secret Service snipers following his attempt on Trump’s life, “never outwardly spoke about…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Gordon Banks, George Cohen, Jack Charlton, Bobby Moore, Ray Wilson, Alan Ball, Nobby Stiles, Bobby Charlton, Martin Peters, Roger Hunt, Geoff Hurst. It is still just those 11 men: immortal in one respect, though in another only Hurst is still with us. They remain the lone England men’s team to win a major trophy. There remain reasons that 1966, like 1066, seems a pivotal year in the country’s history. There has still been no repeat. Like Italy…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailPresident Joe Biden forcefully condemned the assassination attempt of Donald Trump in a rare Oval Office address on Sunday evening, saying it was time to “lower the temperature” of politics as the country heads into the final months until Election Day.“I want to speak tonight about the need to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, though we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden said, speaking behind the Resolute Desk. “We are neighbors, friends, co-workers,…