Manchester United’s hunt for trophies is over inside the second week of January after a ruthless Brighton took advantage of yet another loose defensive performance. This FA Cup third-round knockout means the 13-time winners have been dumped from the competition and the League Cup at the first opportunity for a first time since 1981-82.
By the end of May United’s season will stand at a total of 40 games – their lowest number in a complete campaign since 1914-15. If August’s Carabao Cup penalty shootout elimination at Grimsby was dire, this disappointment was as concerningly insipid, goals from Brajan Gruda and Danny Welbeck, one in each half, (probably) ending Darren Fletcher’s record as the interim manager as winless – this defeat following Wednesday’s draw at Burnley in the Premier League.
Stars from Bob Dylan to Brandi Carlile remember rock band co-founder as ‘beautiful human’ after his death at 78
The death of Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead co-founder, rhythm guitarist, vocalist and writer of much of the legendary psychedelic rock band’s songs, drew a chorus of tributes from fellow musicians and fans who described him as a “musical guru” and “the last actual hippie”.
Weir recently survived cancer but died from “underlying lung issues”, according to a statement posted on Saturday on Instagram.
Each week we cut through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better – from what is worth buying to the tools, habits and ideas that actually last.
At this time last year, I was a full-time student, throwing on the requisite leggings and an oversized sweatshirt for evening classes and late-night library sessions. This year, I’ve joined countless others in office life, zipping in and out of conference rooms and hopping on video calls for interviews and meetings. I love any excuse to shop, but many office-friendly pieces, including pricey blazers and crisp button-downs, are far outside my price range.
No more Venezuelan oil or money will flow to the communist-run island after Maduro’s fall, says US president
Donald Trump has told Cuba to “make a deal” or face unspecified consequences, adding that no more Venezuelan oil or money would flow to the communist-run Caribbean island that has been a US foe for decades.
As Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela and major beneficiary of its oil, braced for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as the South American nation’s leader, the US president ramped up his threatening language on Sunday.
One of the founding members of the Grateful Dead, brilliant guitarist and writer of many of the group’s key songs
Though perhaps not as instantly recognisable as the band’s guru-like lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, who has died from cancer aged 78, was an indispensable pillar of the Grateful Dead as guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Weir, Garcia and their bandmates first came together in San Francisco in 1965, and would become integral players in the psychedelia boom and the city’s summer of love in 1967, fuelled by the mind-expanding drug LSD.
Forget the magic of the FA Cup, for West Ham the reality of what is soon likely to be a Championship fixture – an indicator that life in the second tier will be no cakewalk. That QPR took them to extra time will do little for Nuno Espírito Santo’s standing, despite a first win since 8 November.
There were, though, positives to take in the performance of Taty Castellanos, the Argentinian striker who scored the Hammers’ winning goal. Have West Ham at last ended a search for a striker that has lasted almost as long as their London Stadium tenancy? They have looked everywhere.
Buffalo travel to Jacksonville to play the Jaguars (6pm GMT KO) Eagles take on 49ers in Philadelphia (9.30pm GMT KO) Get in touch: email Graham here
Bills 0-0 Jaguars 9:22, 1st quarter
There is a seriously charged atmosphere in Jacksonville. The jeers are popping off while Josh Allen picks up another 1st down with a 10-yard pass to Brandin Cooks on the right sideline. Before that a Bill and Jag were locking facemasks. Spicy.
A globally unique programme allowed the poor to demand – and get – jobs, empowering rural women. Narendra Modi courts trouble by hollowing it out
Few countries have attempted anything as ambitious as India’s rural jobs guarantee. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, any adult in the countryside who demanded work was entitled to a job on local public works within 15 days, failing which the government had to pay an unemployment allowance. Enacted in 2005, MGNREGA created the world’s most far-reaching legal right to employment. It generates 2bn person-days of work a year for about 50m households. Over half of all workers were women, and about 40% came from Dalit and tribal communities.
For a country where vast numbers rely on seasonal farm work, the scheme mattered. It stabilised incomes, raised rural wages, expanded women’s bargaining power and reduced internal migration. Households could demand up to 100 days of paid work at a statutory minimum wage, turning employment into an enforceable right. The World Bank derided it as a “barrier to development” in 2009 – but praised it as “stellar” five years later. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has however replaced this rights-based system with a centrally managed welfare scheme, VB-G RAM G, a shift opposed by the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and the inequality scholar Thomas Piketty.
The most romantic way to traverse the continent is environmentally friendly and popular with the public. But market challenges need addressing
When the European Union made its 2020 commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, there was a wave of excitement about what that might mean for the continent’s most romantic form of travel. The golden era of night trains had, it was previously assumed, gone for good amid the rise of low-cost, short-haul flights. But the new environmental imperatives suggested that they could be a glamorous part of a greener future, delivering a climate impact that was 28 times less than flying. The European Commission enthusiastically identified a plethora of potential new routes that it judged could be economically viable.
Sadly, due to a series of challenges that Brussels and national governments have done too little to address, the renaissance appears to be stalling. Last month, a two-year-old night service linking Paris with Vienna and Berlin was scrapped after state subsidies were removed. The French operator, SNCF, has claimed that without financial assistance, the particular costs associated with running a night train are simply too high. Meanwhile, a petition was vainly launched to save the new Basel-Copenhagen-Malmö route, which was due to open in April but has also been derailed by the withdrawal of state funding.
Health minister Nina Warken says Robert F Kennedy Jr’s assertions that German doctors are facing legal action are unfounded
The German government has sharply rejected claims by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, that doctors in Germany have faced legal action for issuing vaccine and mask exemptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The statements made by the US secretary of health are completely unfounded, factually incorrect, and must be rejected,” Germany’s health minister, Nina Warken, said in a strongly worded statement released late on Saturday.
A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American public
Donald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.
Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over what Americans watch and which stories get told.
Courtney C Radsch is director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute
Danish prime minister says country is at a crossroads and accuses US of turning its back on Nato
Mette Frederiksen has said that Denmark is at a “fateful moment” amid Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, accusing the US of potentially turning its back on Nato.
Speaking at a party leader debate at a political rally on Sunday, the Danish prime minister said her country was “at a crossroads”.
A guard at a construction site near a 2026 Winter Olympic venue in the mountain resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo died during a freezing overnight shift, authorities have confirmed. Italy’s infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, called for a full investigation into the circumstances of the 55-year-old worker’s death.
Italian media reported that the death occurred on Thursday while the worker was on duty at a construction site near Cortina’s ice arena. Temperatures that night plunged to -12C (10.4F).
Gabriel Martinelli ended Arsenal’s last game as public enemy No 1 with Liverpool fans and Gary Neville after his clash with Conor Bradley on Thursday. But the Brazilian was his team’s saviour against Portsmouth, after the Championship side had threatened briefly to record their first win against the Premier League leaders in 23 attempts after Colby Bishop’s early strike.
Martinelli’s first senior hat‑trick included two almost identical headers from corners after an own goal from Andre Dozzell had drawn them level following – you guessed it – another corner. That takes Arsenal’s tally from set‑pieces this season to 17 and one wonders where they would be without them. Yet such is their proficiency under Nicolas Jover these days that Mikel Arteta can virtually rely on at least one bearing fruit.
Shots to prevent respiratory syncytial virus recommended only for high-risk babies even as experts hail jabs’ success
As US officials move to restrict vaccines, including the shots to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), more evidence is emerging to confirm how dramatically the jabs reduce hospitalizations.
Announced last week as part of new restrictions on one-third of all routine childhood vaccines, RSV shots are now recommended only for high-risk babies, instead of all infants. The Trump administration announcement was led by prominent vaccine critic and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
National Portrait Gallery removes text on new portrait of Trump standing in Oval Office with a scowl and fists on desk
The National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC has removed a placard that referred to Donald Trump’s two impeachments and his supporters’ January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to multiple news reports.
The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, removed the text when it replaced an old portrait of Trump with a new image of him standing in the Oval Office with a scowl and his fists on the desk.
Move would mean Brussels would receive compensation if future government reneged on deal Starmer is negotiating
The EU is reportedly demanding guarantees the UK will compensate the bloc if a future government reneges on the Brexit “reset” agreement Keir Starmer is currently negotiating.
The termination clause is a stark reminder of the painful and costly divorce in which the EU set up a colossal €5.4bn (£4.7bn) fund to help its member states cope with the disruption caused by the UK’s exit in 2020.
3 min Moments later, Dalot blooters over the bar from the edge of the area.
Cunha wanders infield and curls a marvellous long pass to put Dalot through on goal. He scampers into the area and is denied by the outrushing Steele. Dalot needed to lift it but his first touch was slightly heavy and that allowed Steele to close the gap.
A mere 238 days since the greatest day in Palace’s history, when he and the club stalwart Joel Ward paraded their first major trophy at Wembley, Marc Guéhi’s first thought after the final whistle at the weekend was to face the music from the diehards who had made the trip to Cheshire from south London. Accompanied by the assistant manager, Paddy McCarthy, the Palace captain held intense discussions with several supporters as Macclesfield celebrated their historic victory with a pitch invasion.
‘The Kid’s jazz-influenced rhythm guitar made him utterly integral to the Dead and his later collaborations solidified the band’s influence over latter-day alt-rock
For most of their career, the other members of the Grateful Dead referred to Bob Weir as “the Kid”. You can understand why. He was only 16 when the band that would ultimately become the Grateful Dead was founded. Moreover, Weir was implausibly fresh-faced and boyishly handsome, particularly compared to some of his bandmates. Jerry Garcia’s photo was used in one of Richard Nixon’s campaign broadcasts, a symbol of all that was wrong with US youth. Keyboard player Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, by all accounts sweet-natured, nevertheless gave off the air of a man who would strangle you with his bare hands as soon as look at you. Weir, on the other hand, somehow managed to look like the kind of charming young man a mother would be happy for her daughter to bring home, even in the famous 1967 photo of him leaving the band’s Haight-Ashbury residence in handcuffs after being busted for drug possession. His relationship with Garcia and bass player Phil Lesh – five and seven years older than him, respectively – is regularly characterised as that of a junior sibling: at one juncture in 1968, the pair contrived to have Weir dismissed from the band on the grounds that his playing wasn’t good enough.
It never happened – Weir simply kept turning up to gigs and the matter was eventually dropped – but it’s hard to see how the Grateful Dead would have worked without him. For one thing, the band’s famed ability to improvise on stage was rooted in a kind of uncanny psychic bond between the key members – “an intwined sense of intuition”, as Weir described it – that they usually claimed was forged while playing together on LSD as the house band at Ken Kesey’s infamous acid test events of 1965 and 1966. For another, whether Garcia and Lesh thought it was up to snuff in 1968, Weir’s rhythm guitar style was an essential component of their sound. It was less obviously striking than Garcia’s fluid soloing or Lesh’s extraordinary approach to the bass – inspired by his grounding in classical music, he played countermelodies rather than basslines – but no less unique, a mass of alternate chords, harmonic pairings and bursts of contrapuntal lead lines that he said were influenced by the playing of jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. More practically, Weir had huge hands, which enabled him to play chords others physically couldn’t.
Content creators are leverging their high follower counts to apply for the visa for ‘individuals with extraordinary ability’
Content creators and influencers in the US are now increasingly dominating requests for O-1 work visas. Astoundingly, the number of O-1 visas granted each year increased by 50% between 2014 and 2024, as noted by recent reporting in the Financial Times.
These visas allow non-immigrants to work temporarily in the US. The O-1 category includes the O-1A, which is designated for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics and the O-1B, reserved for those with “extraordinary ability or achievement”.
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