Author: INDEPENDENT

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planetGet our free Climate emailJill Shinefield stood in front of the yellow caution tape in the drizzle. Behind her the scene was chaotic, with debris strewn across the road and an abandoned black Nissan half submerged in mud.“It was mayhem,” she said. “We’ve lived here 23 years, we’ve never, not even remotely, had anything like this before.”Firefighters responded to a heavy debris flow in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles on Sunday night, evacuating seven homes. Six adults and nine children were rescued from the…

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 Mauricio Pochettino has called for perspective on the struggles of his Chelsea team, insisting “I cannot lose my hair” over recent poor results.Sunday’s 4-2 loss at home to Wolves was the 10th in the league since the 51-year-old arrived in the summer and triggered the first audible signs of discontent from fans towards the manager.Afterwards Pochettino appeared to suggest he believed the players were not good enough to arrest the club’s slide, though he has since clarified…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USA former high school football coach was awarded a $25m payout after an Oklahoma jury ruled in his favour in a defamation case.Scott Sapulpa had sued The Oklahoman, the state’s leading newspaper, after he was wrongly identified as the person who had referred to a high school basketball team by a racial slur when they kneeled for the national anthem.In March 2021, Mr Sapulpa had been one of two announcers at a high school basketball game…

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 Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold hopes his initiative to find jobs for academy prospects who fail to become professional footballers is “the beginning of a wider conversation”.The 25-year-old, one of the rare few to make the grade, set up The After Academy platform to provide those youngsters who miss out with the tools to succeed in a variety of careers.Part of that is a jobs board, hosted on the Professional Footballers’ Association’s website, where roles will be exclusively…

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 emailsIsrael’s military says 31 of the hostages in Gaza are dead – a fifth of the 136 people still being held captive by Hamas.It comes after a document compiled by Israeli intelligence officers reported by the New York Times, suggested 32 have died since the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October and the Israeli bomardment of Gaza in response.Four military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel was also assessing unconfirmed intelligence…

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 Chelsea boss Emma Hayes has revealed her love of Star Wars as she described the sci-fi franchise as having messages that are “so essential in life”.Hayes’ side, in what will be their final campaign under her before she steps down to take charge of the United States national team, are navigating a busy schedule with Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final against Sunderland their sixth game in 18 days.And when asked at a press conference ahead of the tie…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailDonald Trump has slammed what he called the “nation-destroying ruling” after his presidential immunity defence was struck down in an appeals court. The former president called the appeals court decision “nation-destroying” and repeated his baseless allegation that his multiple criminal indictments are a “political weapon” directed by President Joe Biden against him in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. “A President of the United States must have Full Immunity in order to properly function and do what…

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 Mauricio Pochettino has rejected suggestions he said Chelsea’s players are not good enough, claiming his words following Sunday’s defeat by Wolves were taken out of context.Immediately after the 4-2 loss at Stamford Bridge that left his team in the bottom half of the Premier League table, the Argentinian appeared to say he did not have the squad to significantly remedy the club’s plight.Chelsea were booed off at half-time and again at the final whistle, with audible anger…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailAs if election season weren’t complicated enough already, Nevada Republicans are holding both a primary and a caucus this year – effectively giving registered conservative voters two chances to declare their preferred candidate for the party’s presidential nomination.The situation is the result of a dispute between the state and the local branch of the Republican party over a bipartisan bill passed by Nevada’s state legislature in 2021.The bill stipulated that the Silver State must hold political primaries if…

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 area outside the Brentford penalty box proved inauspicious surroundings for Erling Haaland to make his first Manchester City start in two months. Tightly enclosed by Brentford’s physical back three and deep-lying midfield, Haaland’s long-awaited return was not marked with a goal – Thomas Frank’s side remain the only Premier League team the Norwegian has not scored against. Pep Guardiola shook his head. “I cannot imagine one striker in the world, surrounded by six players for Brentford,…