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 Portugal’s national side has seen plenty of change since winning Euro 2016 in France, but their goal this summer remains the same as it is in every tournament – return home with the trophy. Roberto Martinez has replaced Fernando Santos as the manager of A Seleção, with a slew of new players blooded into the team from across the country’s best club sides, including Porto, Benfica and Sporting. Nevertheless, several of the team’s stalwarts remain, including Cristiano…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USHoward University’s board of trustees voted on Friday to rescind rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’s honorary degree, as the music mogul faces a raft of lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and other illegal activity.“Mr. Combs’ behavior, as captured in a recently released video, is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor,” the board said in a statement to the student…

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 will attempt to go one better this time out in the European Championship than they managed three years ago on home soil, when they were beaten by Italy in the final. This time around Gareth Southgate has a much-changed squad and much-changed expectations on the team, as the Three Lions look to triumph at Euro 2024.Before thoughts turn to the knockouts, though, they must navigate a solid-looking group stage. Alongside them will be Denmark, Slovenia and…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USDisgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein has filed to appeal his rape and sexual assault conviction in California just weeks after a New York court overturned his rape conviction in that state.Weinstein, who has been in prison since 2022, filed his appeal in Los Angeles on Friday, according to court records seen by NBC News. He is reportedly seeking a new trial. His publicist, Juda Engelmayer, said Weinstein’s team is confident they have a “solid case.” “Harvey…

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 Rob Page says Wales will “move forward” from their Gibraltar draw against Slovakia on Sunday.Page had to withstand boos and calls for him to quit from some Wales fans after Gibraltar – ranked 203 out of the 210 teams in world football – held the Dragons 0-0 in a friendly at the Estadio Algarve on Thursday.The Wales manager fielded an inexperienced side in Portugal with a threadbare squad hit by a host of withdrawals and the sterner…

Footage shows the moment an Israeli hostage reunited with her father eight months after being kidnapped by Hamas.Israel’s military confirmed they had rescued four hostages alive from two separate locations in central Gaza on Saturday 8 June.They were identified as Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.In a video shared on Israel’s X account, Ms Argamani is seen reuniting with her father in what appears to be the back of a van or bus.After eight months of devastating war in Gaza precipitated by Hamas’ 7 October attack, 116 of the around 250 hostages…

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 World Cup finalists France have been drawn in Euro 2024 Group D, alongside the Netherlands for the tournament in Germany.France will undoubtedly be among the favourites to lift the trophy in July, while the Netherlands have not gone further than the quarter-finals since 2004 and will be looking to progress deep into the tournament.Poland and Austria complete the group, and the latter lost just one match in qualifying, while Poland had to qualify via the play-offs, putting…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USFor 13 years, no one has seen or heard from Timmothy Pitzen, an Illinois boy who mysteriously vanished in 2011 – but his loved ones believe he’s still alive and living on a Mormon commune with no access to the outside world or awareness that people are looking for him.Timmothy was just six years old when his mother Amy Fry-Pitzen picked him up from school in May 2011, claiming there was a family emergency. They then…

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 have confirmed their squad numbers for Euro 2024, after Gareth Southgate finalised his 26-man group with Uefa on Friday night.The head coach initially selected 33 players in his preliminary group before cutting the likes of James Maddison, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish to leave himself with a largely inexperienced, though individually exciting, group to head to Germany with.Plans for a positive sendoff went somewhat awry when the Three Lions lost 1-0 at Wembley to Iceland on…

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 emailsFour Israeli hostages taken by Hamas from the Nova music festival have been rescued alive from the central Gaza strip, the Israeli military said.Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were all recovered on Saturday as part of a “complex” daytime operation.They are in good medical condition and have been transferred to the ‘Sheba’ Tel-HaShomer Medical Center for further medical examinations, the Israeli military said.Israel says more than…