Author: INDEPENDENT

Here is how the England football team is preparing for the Euro 2024 semi-final on Wednesday (10 July). England players spent today (Sunday 7 July) doing recovery work after a tense match against Switzerland , which they won in a penality shoot-out. Bike rides, weight training and swimming had the Three Lions working up a sweat ahead of their big game. But not big enough for some apparently, as Adam Wharton asked at one point: “Why are we going so slow?”Among the favourites to go all the way in Germany, the Euro 2020 runners-up are now just one victory away…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailJoe Biden’s problems got even worse on Sunday as he completed a short campaign swing  through battleground state Pennsylvania.Congress remains out of session until Monday, when many lawmakers will face their first real pressure to answer questions about the president’s future. But already the first hints of a landslide were visible as Democrats issued statements calling on the president to step aside — or at least have a serious conversation about doing so.That list got longer on Sunday.…

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 beat Switzerland on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-final thanks to a changed secret approach that involved rethinking every detail of a penalty shootout, right down to the steps that players take and where they should look. One insight was even to not practise too much, as this can have a detrimental effect on nerves.The Football Association have been so protective of these decisive tie-winning approaches that they stopped players like Jordan Pickford and Ezri Konsa…

Hurricane Beryl on path for Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of MexicoThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USTexas Lieutant Governor Dan Patrick warned residents that Tropical Storm Beryl — which is expected to make landfall along the state’s southeast coast on Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane — will be a “deadly storm” for those in its path. The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm will continue picking up strength on its path toward Texas, potentially becoming a Category 2 hurricane, before…

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 Defiant Gareth Southgate is using relentless ridicule, hurtful personal criticism and the beer cups thrown his way as fuel in his attempt to lead England to Euro 2024 glory.Among the favourites to go all the way in Germany, the Euro 2020 runners-up are now just one victory away from becoming the first English men’s team to reach a major final on foreign soil.Saturday’s penalty shoot-out triumph over Switzerland secured a third semi-final in four tournaments under Southgate,…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails The most notable thing about the Mercosur trade bloc’s meetings on Sunday in Paraguay was an absence — that of Argentine President Javier Milei. With the Argentine populist skipping the summit to star at a right-wing rally in Brazil, South America’s biggest trade bloc — politically divided, notoriously slow-moving and beset by backsliding — faces an uncertain future. Milei has advocated for pulling Argentina, a leader of the alliance, out of the agreement altogether.Overseeing…

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 says he has used being “ridiculed” as “fuel”, in an extraordinarily reflective moment after guiding England to the third semi-finals of his tenure. The manager spoke about how it’s not “normal to have beer thrown at you” or to have “your professional capability” questioned “beyond belief”, but that this served in setting an example about resolve. Southgate spoke proudly about the “resilience” his players showed, stating that is as important as performance in “navigating tournaments.England…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailA Philadelphia radio station has cut ties with its host after she revealed that Joe Biden’s campaign team sent a list of pre-approved questions prior to an interview with the president. Sara Lomax, the president and CEO of WURD Radio, posted a statement to the company’s website on Sunday announcing that the station and radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders had “mutually agreed to part ways”.On Saturday, Lawful-Sanders told CNN that four of the questions she asked Biden were provided…

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 Manchester United are in positive discussions about a deal for Joshua Zirkzee and the Bologna forward could become their first summer signing.The Netherlands football international has a £34m release clause United could trigger while they have also been in talks with the former Bayern Munich player’s representatives.United are looking for another striker this summer after releasing Anthony Martial and put Zirkzee on a shortlist that also included Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Lille’s Jonathan David.They have decided to…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsWatch live as voting takes place across France on Sunday 7 July, in a parliamentary run-off election that will reconfigure the political landscape, with opinion polls forecasting the far-right National Rally (RN) will win the most votes but likely fall short of a majority.Such an outcome could plunge the country into a chaotic hung parliament weeks before the Paris Olympic Games, severely denting the authority of president Emmanuel Macron.Equally, if the nationalist, eurosceptic RN did…