Woman files complaint against former player and analyst
Sharpe’s lawyer issued denial of allegations
NFL hall of famer Shannon Sharpe has been accused of sexual assault and battery by a former partner in a lawsuit filed on Sunday in Nevada.
The woman says she met the 56-year-old Sharpe, who is now an ESPN analyst, at a Los Angeles gym in 2023 when she was 22. A two-year consensual relationship ensued, during which she alleges he raped her.
Veteran breaks down after beating Joe O’Connor 10-7
Mark Allen looks to past after seeing off Fan Zhengyi
Tearful four-time world champion John Higgins overcame overwhelming emotions to beat Joe O’Connor 10-7 at the Crucible.
The 49-year-old was out of sorts in losing the morning session 5-4 but returned later in the day to turn things around and admitted afterwards he was battling strong feelings.
María Isabel Salvador tells security council the country could face ‘total chaos’ without necessary international aid
Haiti, where rampant gang violence has surged in recent weeks, is approaching a “point of no return” leading to “total chaos”, the UN special representative to the troubled Caribbean nation has warned.
“As gang violence continues to spread to new areas of the country, Haitians experience growing levels of vulnerability and increasing skepticism about the ability of the state to respond to their needs,” María Isabel Salvador told the UN securitycouncil.
The university is fighting back against the administration’s threat to review about $9bn in federal funding after Harvard officials refused to comply with a list of demands that included appointing an outside overseer to ensure that the viewpoints being taught at the university were “diverse”. Harvard is specifically looking to halt a freeze on $2.2bn in grants.
‘Collectively, as players and as a club, we failed’
Jamie Vardy has apologised to Leicester’s fans for the club’s relegation and labelled his own season as a “total embarrassment”.
Leicester were relegated on Sunday with five games of the Premier League campaign to play after defeat at home to Liverpool. That loss saw Leicester slump to a record ninth successive top-flight home defeat without scoring a goal.
WTC format ‘as if designed on the back of a fag packet’
New 2025 edition includes tributes to Graham Thorpe
Wisden hits the shelves this week and, as well as unveiling its latest batch of award winners, it has trained its sights on the International Cricket Council. The World Test Championship, the book argues, is a “shambles masquerading as a showpiece”.
The publication of the sport’s annual bible is timely, with the future of the WTC discussed recently at ICC meetings in Zimbabwe. In typically opaque fashion, the sport’s governing body is yet to announce the outcome of the debate.
Ekaterina Barabash, 63, facing up to 10 years in jail due to outspoken criticism of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine
A Russian journalist who faced up to 10 years in prison for criticising the army has escaped house arrest and is now wanted by police, Russian state media has reported.
Ekaterina Barabash, 63, had been arrested in February on suspicion of spreading false information about the Russian armed forces in several posts she made on social media.
There is no need to attempt to rewrite history by arguing that Tottenham failed to see what they had in Nuno Espírito Santo. All that matters now is that this meticulous, softly spoken manager is the perfect fit for Nottingham Forest.
They have provided Nuno with the perfect platform for his counterpunching tactics and, in what would surely be the story of the Premier League season, are closing in on Champions League football after beating Ange Postecoglou’s half-hearted Spurs.
Daniel Farke lauds his side for delivering ‘in great style’
The Burnley head coach, Scott Parker, described his third Premier League promotion as his best yet after taking Burnley up, while Daniel Farke said Leeds are “back where we belong” after securing a top-flight return.
Parker has taken Fulham and Bournemouth to the Premier League in previous jobs and will have a third chance to challenge the elite next season after two goals from Josh Brownhill edged Burnley past third-placed Sheffield United to ensure their opponents can no longer catch them or Leeds.
Nayib Bukele offered to exchange 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador for 252 prisoners in Venezuela
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has accused El Salvador’s president of being a “tyrannical” human trafficker after Nayib Bukele offered to exchange the 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to his country’s prisons by Donald Trump for the same number of political prisoners in Venezuela.
Bukele made the offer on Sunday night in a message addressed directly to his authoritarian counterpart Nicolás Maduro. “I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number … of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold,” El Salvador’s leader posted.
When Burnley last escaped the Championship for the promised land of the Premier League, they blew a hole in the wall under Vincent Kompany. Scott Parker decided it was more sensible to chisel their way out, inch by inch, completing their route to freedom with a tense victory against Sheffield United.
Amid the change of owners, managers and styles the captain, Josh Brownhill, has been a mainstay and it was fitting his two goals completed the painstaking job. Parker’s promotion push has been the polar opposite to Kompany’s approach. The Belgian’s all-conquering side played fast, aggressive, attacking football, whereas the current style is based on discipline and defensive organisation. Burnley have conceded 15 goals in 44 games, a record anyone would be proud of and the foundation of their success.
Where is the game? Well, we know what Spurs will do: press high, with a high line; and we know what Forest will do: sit deep and counter. Simple?
Not quite. With Richarlison through the middle, not Solanke, I’m not totally certain what type of goal Spurs will be trying to score. I think they’ll be hoping Kulusevski drives through midfield; that Tel makes another man in the box; and Odobert and Porro get around the outside to pick out cut-backs.
Flight headed for Atlanta, Georgia, had left gate when flames began to rise, forcing people to clear jet via slides
A Delta aircraft caught on fire on the tarmac at the Orlando international airport on Monday morning, forcing frightened passengers to evacuate the jet via slides.
The Delta flight, which was headed for Atlanta, Georgia, had left its gate at about 11.15am ET when one of the aircraft’s engines caught fire, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Potential danger to humans and wildlife from harmful pesticide discovered in fish at 10 times safety limit
Residues of the insecticide DDT have been found to persist at “alarming rates” in trout even after 70 years, potentially posing a significant danger to humans and wildlife that eat the fish, research has found.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, known as DDT, was used on forested land in New Brunswick, Canada, from 1952 to 1968. The researchers found traces of it remained in brook trout in some lakes, often at levels 10 times higher than the recommended safety threshold for wildlife.
Worshippers gathered in Rome for the Easter weekend reflect on legacy of pontiff who pushed the limits
Bill Nicoletti and his family, from Philadelphia, were among the thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday mass when Pope Francis arrived in his open-air popemobile.
The vehicle cruised through the square, stopping occasionally for the pontiff to bless babies that were brought towards him, as the delighted crowd shouted “Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope!)
The Argentine pontiff was a vital progressive influence on issues such as migration, and fought for a more merciful, less rigid Catholic church
Defying doctors’ orders to rest following his battle with double pneumonia, a weak Pope Francis last week visited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, where he blew kisses towards inmates and spent half an hour in discussion with some of those incarcerated. Sadly, this Maundy Thursday encounter turned out to be one of the last acts of a supremely hardworking papacy. In retrospect, its location was entirely appropriate.
Throughout his 12 years in Saint Peter’s chair, Francis sought admirably to refocus the Catholic church’s energies on the marginalised, while challenging the power of entrenched interests. Coming, as he put it, “from the ends of the earth”, the first non-European pontiff of modern times was an outsider pope and a radical one. Within the church, the Argentine was a sometimes spikily direct reformer; outside it, he was a significant, high-profile ally of progressive causes.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
The world champion went from one masterclass on the track to another off it with his discontent at recent FIA rule changes
In the aftermath of a superb drive at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen went on to give something of another masterclass, in putting across an opinion while ostensibly declining to say anything at all.
It was an arch display of discontent and dissatisfaction, delivered with a disarming smile, and aimed at the FIA; the latest expression of a cumulative wave of disquiet with the governing body.
Investors in Boeing are braced to learn the full impact of Donald Trump’s trade war, amid fears the US planemaker could be hit harder than first expected after jets intended for a Chinese airline were returned to the US.
A Boeing 737 Max 8 plane intended for use by a Chinese airline returned to the US on Monday from Boeing’s China finishing centre, according to flight data cited by Reuters. It followed the arrival in the US on Sunday of another 737 Max painted in the livery of China’s Xiamen Airlines at Boeing’s US production hub in Seattle.
John Korir wins 13 years after brother Wesley’s victory
Sharon Lokedi broke the Boston Marathon course record, and fellow Kenyan John Korir joined his brother as a race champion on Monday.
Lokedi outran two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri over the final mile a year after losing a sprint down Boylston Street to the same athlete in one of the closest finishes in race history. Lokedi finished in an unofficial 2hr 17min 22sec – 19 seconds ahead of Obiri and more than two minutes faster than the previous Boston best.
Numerous celebrities, many among the nearly 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide, expressed condolences for the late Pope Francis, who died early on Monday – the morning after Easter Sunday – at the age of 88.
Martin Scorsese, who has grappled with Catholic faith in several of his films, called Pope Francis, “in every way, a remarkable human being” in a statement to Variety. “He acknowledged his own failings. He radiated wisdom. He radiated goodness. He had an ironclad commitment to the good. He knew in his soul that ignorance was a terrible plague on humanity. So he never stopped learning. And he never stopped enlightening. And, he embraced, preached and practiced forgiveness. Universal and constant forgiveness.”
It is a place where a Disney-ish castle, complete with turrets, sits near a scaly ‘pangolin’ house. But is Graven Hill now straying from the DIY vision that made its anarchic jumble of styles so mesmerising?
What would the world look like if Kevin McCloud had his way? What if each of us had the chance to build our very own Grand Design, letting our streets be lined with personal visions, liberated from the identikit brick boxes offered by the usual big housebuilders?
A glimpse of this world exists, sort of, on the outskirts of Bicester in Oxfordshire, where the country’s biggest self-build experiment has been under way for 10 years. Graven Hill is a place where rooftops tilt, zigzag and bulge, where windows come in circles, squares and triangles, or poke out from unexpected places. There are balconies fashioned from glass, steel and rustic timber clinging to facades of stone, brick, wood and render, along with every type of fibre-cement board available. Wandering the freshly tarmacked streets feels like walking through a building supplies catalogue. Panels of fake wood are proudly fixed next to rusted cor-ten steel and bits of slate, as if residents were fed fizzy drinks and let loose in a cladding warehouse.
Out of the Woods, the fourth novel of Gretchen Shirm, is a sobering reflection on the necessity of bearing witness. It is also inseparable from real events: the massacre in 1995 of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys by the Serbian Army of Republika Srpska in Srebrenica, and the later conviction of a senior military commander, Radislav Krstić, for genocide. The novel, though imperfect, elevates the lived experience of survivors with care and verisimilitude, while asking probing questions about how to comprehend their trauma.
Jess, an introverted Australian woman in her 50s, has moved to the Netherlands to work as a legal secretary at The Hague. It’s the year 2000, and a United Nations tribunal is prosecuting war crimes committed in former Yugoslavia, with Jess’s days filled with transcribing the testimony of survivors of the Bosnian war. As the trial unfolds, two divergent feelings increasingly disorient her: the yawning gulf between the atrocities and her written account; and her sympathy for one of the defendants, a military commander named K.
… she was writing these words down but none of them seemed to make sense and she wondered whether something was wrong, whether the translation was off. She waited for someone to tell the witness to stop, to say that an error had been made.
Leader of the Catholic church who pushed for social and economic justice, and an urgent response to the climate crisis
The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope in March 2013 was unexpected, even to the then cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires himself. He may have come a distant second in the previous papal conclave in 2005, but at 76 and, following the resignation on the grounds of old age of the candidate who had come first back then, the 85-year-old Benedict XVI – Bergoglio was convinced that a younger man was needed.
However, the majority of cardinals who gathered in the Sistine Chapel to vote were looking for something more than (relative) youth. Top of their agenda as they assembled was openness to fresh thinking after 35 years of no change under the almost seamless reigns of Pope John Paul II and Benedict, his erstwhile right-hand man. And so they surprised everyone by opting for Catholicism’s first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American successor to Saint Peter, and first leader from outside Europe in over a millennium.
The 2005 shooting of the Brazilian created national headlines, but the shocking truth of his death remains unknown by many. A new series aims to do justice to his story – and those who fought to clear his name
On 22 July 2005, 27-year-old Jean Charles de Menezes was shot and killed by firearms officers on the London underground shortly after boarding a train. The information relayed by the Metropolitan police at the time was that he had leapt over the ticket barriers at Stockwell station and was wearing a bulky coat under which officers thought he was hiding a bomb.
The incident occurred two weeks after the 7/7 bombings on London’s transport network, where 52 people were killed, and the day after a copycat attack in which four men tried – and mercifully failed – to detonate devices on three underground trains and a bus; the bombers in the latter incidents fled the scene, triggering a police manhunt. It later emerged that De Menezes was innocent and the intelligence on him was flawed. But such was the impact of that early narrative – the one where his actions and appearance made him seem guilty at a time when police were on high alert – that, 20 years on, it is still what most people remember.
Such a move would be unprecedented. The president has historically respected the independence of the central bank, and kept out of its way – even if there was disagreement over Fed policy.
Peep! We’re off – and in no time at all, Sheffield United create a decent chance …
“Smug Leeds fan here, I was nervous at 3pm, it all went away after 26 mins,” cheers Jeremy Boyce. “Big one tonight then, a must-win for Wilder’s Blades. This is going to rattle their teeth and nerves. Do they go all out for the win ? Or keep some back for the possible playoffs?”
UN, Palestinian Red Crescent and civil defence service condemn lack of accountability after Israeli investigation
The UN’s humanitarian agency, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Gaza’s civil defence service have rejected the findings of an Israeli military investigation that concluded the killings of 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers in Rafah last month were caused by “professional failures”.
Eight PRCS paramedics, six members of the civil defence rescue agency and one employee of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, were carrying out two rescue missions when they were shot and killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza in the early hours of 23 March.
Aimee Boorman, Biles’s longtime coach, outlines the story in her new book, The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles. The twisties cause gymnasts to lose their orientation while in the air, a dangerous situation in a sport where falls can cause serious injury. The condition, along with mental health concerns, caused Biles to withdraw from all but one final at the Tokyo Olympics, where her only medal was a bronze on the beam.
Leeds United’s long march is almost over. Aided by a vastly superior goal difference, Daniel Farke’s side may yet require a maximum of one more point to rubber-stamp promotion but, depending on the outcome in the evening kick-off at Turf Moor, could be back in the Premier League as soon as Easter Monday night.
Not even heavy rain and a marked dip in the Easter temperature could dampen the euphoria inside Elland Road as Joel Piroe registered a hat-trick in the first 20 minutes. By half-time Farke’s key striker had scored four times.
President amps up attacks against Jerome Powell, pushing him to lower interest rates to offset impact of tariffs
US stock markets fell again on Monday as Donald Trump continued attacks against the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who the US president called “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.
“There can be a slowing of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” Trump wrote on social media.
Customers at SkiStar resort in Sälen, one of Sweden’s largest, say they deserve a partial refund
Outraged skiers in northern Sweden claim they should have been given a discount after finding more mud than snow on the slopes at a popular ski destination.
Visitors complained of slush, water and damaged equipment because there was insufficient snow for skiing.
In what was considered the biggest robbery of an individual in France in 20 years, Kardashian was tied up and held hostage at gunpoint in her bedroom in central Paris by armed thieves dressed as police officers in the early hours of 3 October 2016. The thieves escaped with up to an estimated €10m in jewellery.
That Vanessa Kirby’s character might be having a baby raises mind-bending questions about the trajectory of Matt Shakman’s instalment of the new Marvel franchise
You might have thought that the introduction of Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, into the MCU would be enough heavy lifting for one movie. But while all eyes were on the potential ramifications of villain Galactus turning up for planetary snack time, the new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps delivers a mind-bending revelation: Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is pregnant.
This looks like big news. As they prepare to take on their colossal nemesis and his gleaming, emotionally unavailable emissary Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s the Thing will be doing so in the knowledge that they’re protecting more than just the future of this Apollo-era-inspired version of Earth. And if you’ve even lightly skimmed the back catalogue of Fantastic Four comics, you’ll know this is no ordinary pregnancy; and certainly no ordinary infant.
In its print incarnation, the first child of Storm and Richards grows up to become Franklin Richards, a superhero so powerful he once daydreamed an entire pocket universe into existence during a sugar crash.
Coaching has brought me into close and uncomfortable contact with aspects of my own character that had been hitherto concealed – much like parenting
Karma may not be instant, but it is invariably ironic. So it is that, after four decades of remaining steadfastly opposed to competitive sport, I now spend early mornings, late afternoons, occasional evenings and every weekend driving my children to an ever-expanding range of sporting activities.
The sharpest twist of the irony blade is that, having spent my own childhood as the player no wise coach would want on his team, I am now the coach of four separate floorball teams. (Yes, I know you haven’t heard of floorball, look it up.) To coach one team may be regarded as an accident; four looks like a weird addiction. But here I am.
Wild chimpanzees in west Africa have been observed sharing fruit containing alcohol – not in quantities to get roaring drunk but, possibly, enough for a fuzzy beer buzz feeling.
Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s internal security service, says he was also asked to spy on anti-government protesters
The director of Israel’s internal intelligence agency, Shin Bet, has alleged that Benjamin Netanyahu fired him for refusing to pledge his loyalty to the prime minister over the courts and use the agency to spy on anti-government protesters.
The battle between Netanyahu and Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, has pushed Israel to the brink of a constitutional crisis, after the supreme court blocked a decision by the cabinet to dismiss Bar from his post – the first Shin Bet head to be fired.
A delegation of four House Democrats has arrived in El Salvador to push for the release of Kilmar Ábrego García, part of a mission to challenge the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with a supreme court order to facilitate the return of the immigrant to the United States.
Representatives Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California touched down in Central America on Sunday, following a visit by the Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen last week. The lawmakers are seeking to meet with Ábrego García, who had lived in the US for more than a decade before being swept up in a 15 March operation.
This article was amended on 21 April 2025 to say that Kilmar Ábrego García is now being held in a Salvadorian prison and no longer in Cecot.
Most teams in the battle for Champions League qualification are staggering to the line, battered, exhausted, done in by a season that feels like it finished in February but somehow still has a month to run. But as they falter, Aston Villa have seemingly found another gear.
Liverpool are secure in the Champions League qualification slots and Arsenal soon will be, which leaves the remaining three places between five contenders who are separated by just two points, although Nottingham Forest face Tottenham on Monday. Forest, though, have won just three of their last eight in the league. Newcastle had won six in a row in all competitions before Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Villa. Manchester City are unbeaten in five in the league. Chelsea have won five of their last 11 in the league and have a notably tough run-in. But Villa have won 10 of 11 in all competitions, the only blip their Champions League defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain. There is no question that they are the side in form.
This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.
Connexion
