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‘The club is in a mess’: Manchester United fans voice feelings before the next interim twist

Supporters serenaded Solskjær, Carrick and Fletcher among others at Burnley and staged a brief anti-Ratcliffe protest

“Jim can’t fix it,” the sign said. A dozen red letters nestled on a white background, a stark contrast in an away end at Burnley full of dark-coated figures in front of which they were held aloft. It was small, a couple of square metres of material, maybe. But the message to Sir Jim Ratcliffe was powerful. Remember your lane, Jim? Yeah, stick in it, pal.

As Darren Fletcher, in Manchester United blazer and red tie, strolled along the touchline, flanked by tracksuited his former teammate and friend Jonny Evans, the flag flew. And then it was gone. The protest was done.

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© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

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Household burning of plastic waste in developing world is hidden health threat, study shows

The practice is ‘much more widespread’ than previously realised, researchers say, with serious environmental impact

The household burning of plastic for heating and cooking is widespread in developing countries, suggests a global study that raises concerns about its health and environmental impacts.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, surveyed more than 1,000 respondents across 26 countries.

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© Photograph: Diptendu Dutta/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Diptendu Dutta/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Diptendu Dutta/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

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Tech titans divided over whether to pay billionaire tax or flee California

State residents worth more than $1bn could face one-off, 5% tax to help fund education, food assistance and healthcare

A battle is brewing in California over a plan to tax billionaires – with tech titans divided over whether they should pay up, or flee the state.

Under a tax proposal that could be put to voters this November, any California resident worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state.

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© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

© Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review – remastered 1997 classic is even more politically resonant now

PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, Xbox, PC; Square-Enix
This landmark role-playing game remains a revolutionary tour de force

At first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, first released in 1997 and now available in newly remastered guise, does little to separate itself from other boilerplate fantasy fiction. There is a hero, Ramza – an idealistic nobleman with luscious blond hair who cavorts about the medieval-inspired realm of Ivalice in search of high adventure. But quickly, and with narrative elegance, the picture complicates: peasant revolutionaries duke it out with gilded monarchists; machiavellian plots plunge the kingdom into chaos. Ramza must navigate this knotty political matrix, all while experiencing his own ideological awakening.

There is a strong case to be made that Final Fantasy Tactics tells a better story than the landmark Final Fantasy VII (which saw Cloud Strife and a ragtag bunch of eco-terrorist pals taking on the shady megacorporation Shinra). And with our real-world political focus shifting from the looming threat of the climate crisis to the more pressing rise of fascism (though the two are inextricably linked), one can make the argument that Tactics is now also the more timely game.

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© Photograph: Square Enix

© Photograph: Square Enix

© Photograph: Square Enix

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Terry Yorath, former Wales and Leeds midfielder, dies aged 75

  • A league champion with Leeds, midfielder won 59 caps

  • As Wales manager just missed out on 1994 World Cup

The former Leeds and Wales midfielder Terry Yorath has died at the age of 75 after a short illness, his family have said in a statement.

Born in Cardiff, Yorath played a big part in the Leeds team under Don Revie, winning the First Division title in 1974, before spells with Coventry, Tottenham and Bradford. He also won 59 caps for Wales.

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© Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

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Football transfer rumours: Ethan Nwaneri to replace Semenyo at Bournemouth?

Today’s rumours are riding the District line

Antoine Semenyo’s farewell goal for Bournemouth, before his move to Manchester City, sets off a chain reaction over who succeeds him. Ethan Nwaneri, who has struggled for game time at Arsenal, is wanted by a few suitors.

Bournemouth are very interested in a loan move for someone who was the next big thing not too long ago. And still can be, though the word is he still wishes to stay a Gunner and play his part in a title-winning team.

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© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

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Germany’s dying forests are losing their ability to absorb CO2. Can a new way of planting save them?

Vast swathes of the country’s trees have been killed off by droughts and infestations, in a trend sweeping across Europe. A shift towards more biodiverse cultivation could offer answers

Even the intense green of late spring cannot mask the dead trees in the Harz mountains. Standing upright across the gentle peaks in northern Germany, thousands of skeletal trunks mark the remnants of a once great spruce forest.

Since 2018, the region has been ravaged by a tree-killing bark beetle outbreak, made possible by successive droughts and heatwaves. It has transformed a landscape known for its verdant beauty into one dominated by a sickly grey.

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© Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

© Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

© Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

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Cristian Romero takes apparent swipe at Spurs board for staying silent as team struggle

  • Reference to ‘lies’ deleted from his social media post

  • ‘It should be other people coming out to speak,’ he writes

Cristian Romero has taken an apparent swipe at Tottenham’s board for staying silent amid the team’s struggles. The captain posted a strongly worded message after Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth that initially appeared to accuse the hierarchy of telling “lies” before being edited to remove that incendiary reference.

What remained on Romero’s Instagram post, though, was what an apparent call for the Spurs directors to speak up. The players were again subjected to abuse by some of their fans after a latest loss that leaves Tottenham with five points from their past six matches, three of which have ended in defeat.

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© Photograph: Alex Morton/Tottenham Hotspur FC/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Alex Morton/Tottenham Hotspur FC/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Alex Morton/Tottenham Hotspur FC/Shutterstock

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The Timberwolves should not play until ICE violence in Minneapolis is held to account | Lee Escobedo

A federal enforcement operation ended with a woman dead and the facts contested. The NBA cannot treat state violence in a residential neighborhood as background noise

The SUV sat motionless against a tree on a south Minneapolis street, its engine quiet, angled as if it had simply run out of gas. Except the windshield bore a small shattered star, delicate and sharp, like a snowflake pressed into glass. Cold Minnesota air leaked through the fracture, settling over the still body inside. The car became a sealed room, a thin shell holding death in place, surrounded by the stuffed animals of the woman’s children.

In the street, witnesses screamed. Not in words, but in sounds that come before language, as reality breaks faster than thought.

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© Photograph: Kerem Yücel/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kerem Yücel/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Kerem Yücel/AFP/Getty Images

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Harry Brook’s pre-Ashes scuffle with bouncer deepens crisis around England

  • White-ball captain issues apology for October incident

  • Latest revelation just hours after abject Ashes reversal

Harry Brook has issued a public apology for becoming embroiled in a late-night incident in New Zealand just before the Ashes, admitting his actions “brought embarrassment to both myself and the England team”.

A matter of hours after the 4-1 series defeat by Australia was confirmed in Sydney and shortly after the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, Richard Gould, launched a formal review into the tour – including into the behaviour of players – the growing sense of crisis around the team deepened.

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© Photograph: Philip Brown/Getty Images

© Photograph: Philip Brown/Getty Images

© Photograph: Philip Brown/Getty Images

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