Author: INDEPENDENT

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailThe US launched airstrikes against Iranian forces and allied militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday as it began its retaliation for a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan last week.Dozens of strikes launched by long-range bombers flown from the US targeted Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups just hours after president Joe Biden received the remains of the three service members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.Mr Biden…

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 Nigeria were the first side to book a semi-final berth at the Africa Cup of Nations after Ademola Lookman’s first-half goal ensured a 1-0 win over Angola in the last eight.Lookman finished off a flying run down the left by winger Moses Simon, who skipped the challenge of defender Kialonda Gaspar to break free and then teed up his team-mate for his third goal of the tournament.The 26-year-old’s 41st-minute strike at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium was enough…

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 man who fatally shot himself at a Colorado amusement park last year had previously researched mass shootings online, police said.Diego Barajas Medina, 20, was found dead in a bathroom at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in October. He was wearing tactical gear and body armour and had a handgun, explosives, and an AR-15 style rifle with him. The phrase “I’m not a killer. I just wanted to get in the cave” was found written on 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 Jurgen Klopp insisted his decision to leave Liverpool in the summer is not giving them any extra motivation to win the Premier League title.Klopp announced last Friday that he will stand down at the end of the season and since then his side have beaten Norwich 5-2 in the FA Cup and Chelsea 4-1 in perhaps their best performance of the campaign.But he is adamant there was no scope for his players to put in any extra…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USAn online extremist stunned the nation with an unimaginably disturbing YouTube video in which he called to overthrow the federal government – and held up the decapitated head of his father, according to Pennsylvania authorities. Justin Mohn, 32, was taken into custody on 30 January after allegedly shooting his 68-year-old father Michael Mohn and beheading his corpse in their home in Middletown Township.He is facing charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and possessing an…

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxingSign up to our free sport email for all the latest newsFrance suffered a significant blow in the first half of their Six Nations opener against Ireland with lock Paul Willemse shown a red card.Referee Karl Dickson sent the second rower off for a second yellow card after Willemse made direct contact with the head of Ireland prop Andrew Porter and No 8 Caelan Doris in two separate incidents. The Porter incident came inside 10 minutes as Willemse misjudged a clearout. Having decided…

Pentagon knows who’s responsible for Jordan drone attackFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsRetaliatory strikes by US forces on Iran-backed militias reportedly began in the Middle East, as president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden participated in a dignified transfer of the three soldiers killed in a drone attack in Jordan by Iran-backed militants.News of the strikes was confirmed by three US officials confirmed the news to Reuters on Friday.The decision to launch what US officials have promised to be…

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 Africa Cup of Nations has reached the knockout stages, as Ivory Coast play host for the second time in the competition’s history.Of the 24 nations taking part in the Afcon, Senegal were installed as the pre-tournament favourites, but the reigning champions have been knocked about amid a flurry of surprising results. The previous beaten finalists, Egypt, have also been knocked out, as have World Cup semi-finalists Morocco, who many tipped to go all the way here.…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailFulton County district Attorney Fani Willis has formally responded to allegations that she had an improper relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to lead a sprawling election interference case against Donald Trump.In a 176-page court filing on Friday, Ms Willis admitted her relationship with outside prosecutor Nathan Wade but rejected “meritless” and “salacious” accusations from Republican officials and defendants in the case, and denied allegations of misconduct or claims that her relationship tainted the proceedings.The “bad faith”…

Nigeria and Angola look ahead to their AFCON quarter-finalSign 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 2023 Africa Cup of Nations has reached the quarter-final stage and the first of those takes place in Abidjan on Friday evening, with Nigeria facing Angola as two unbeaten teams collide.Having kept three clean sheets in a row, the Super Eagles look defensively solid and to have a platform for success, despite possessing some of the best attacking talents with the likes of Victor Osimhen in their squad.…