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 Gareth Southgate will not decide on his England future until after Euro 2024, and says that performance will not be the only determining factor. It has long been anticipated that the 53-year-old will leave after this tournament, but it was similar with the 2022 World Cup, and he insisted that his sole focus is preparing for a campaign he hopes ends with victory. Southgate undeniably left open the possibility that he will stay as he spoke at…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailRussian President Vladimir Putin denied that jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich was innocent of the espionage charges for which he remains imprisoned during a rare interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson.In the conversation, which was published in full on Thursday, Mr Putin insisted that Mr Gershkovich had obtained classified information from one of his sources in a clandestine manner, and had been caught “red-handed” upon receiving the information. The Wall Street Journal and US news outlets have strongly…

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 insists he is keeping an open mind about staying with England beyond Euro 2024 this summer.The 53-year-old is under contract until December and accepts it is possible he may not even be in charge by the time England play Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland in the autumn.However, he insists his decision is not yet made either way and remains open to the possibility of staying on and working with…

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 “wilfully” held on to classified materials that were discovered at his home in Delaware and the office of a think tank in Washington DC, but should not face criminal charges for doing so, a special prosecutor appointed by the attorney general found in a report released on Thursday.The special counsel, former Trump appointee and ex-Maryland US Attorney Robert Hur, did not recommend that Mr Biden face criminal charges, citing what he described as significant “mitigating…

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 Blue cards will be shown to players sin-binned in new trials to indicate they must spend 10 minutes in the technical area, the PA news agency understands.The Daily Telegraph first reported the use of the cards on Thursday and it is understood these will be shown by referees as part of a new trial.Dissent and tactical fouls, like Giorgio Chiellini’s tug on England’s Bukayo Saka in the Euro 2020 final, will count as blue card offences.Full details…

Donald Trump beats Nikki Haley in New Hampshire Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailRepublican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is expected to cruise to victory in Nevada’s GOP-organised caucus today, where his only challenger is Texas pastor Ryan Binkley, picking up a further 26 delegates and further cementing his dominance in the race to secure the party’s presidential nomination.Nikki Haley, who has branded the caucus “a scam”, only managed a second place finish in the Silver State’s primary on Tuesday, suffering the humiliation of…

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 admitted all England’s focus was on this summer’s European Championship as the Nations League draw pitted his team against the Republic of Ireland.The two sides will meet competitively for the first time since March 1991 and are also up against Euro 2004 winners Greece plus Finland in Group B2.The Nations League ties will be played in the autumn when Southgate could, depending on how the summer tournament in Germany goes, be out of the job,…

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 will not face charges for “willfully” holding onto classified documents after he left office as vice president, according to a report released by Special counsel Robert Hur.On Thursday, Mr Hur released his report from the investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified Obama-era materials at two locations tied to the president.In the report, Mr Hur said that Mr Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen”.These…

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 Manager Phil Parkinson believes Wrexham’s Hollywood-propelled journey has laid an attractive path that the likes of non-League Chorley can follow with pop group Boyzone.Vanarama National League North outfit Chorley have said they want to replicate the success of Wrexham after entering into negotiations for Boyzone to become the new face of their club.Wrexham returned to the English Football League after a 15-year absence in 2023, fuelled by the investment and publicity that followed their high-profile takeover by…

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 emailsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has shaken up his top military brass, replacing army chief General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi with Oleksandr Syrskyi.Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said separately that the decision had been taken to change the military leadership.The statements follow days of speculation that Zelenskiy was considering dismissing his popular army chief, who is seen by many Ukrainians as a national hero for overseeing the war effort since February 2022.Zelenskiy said in his statement he had met…