Seamer was set to spend February helping at his father’s restaurant until late World Cup call – now he’s focused on another England upset
It is fair to say that England’s first two games at the T20 World Cup have not inspired much confidence – unless you’re one of their future opponents. For Scotland, last-minute call-ups after the decision to banish Bangladesh from the tournament last month, English travails have put some extra pep in their step ahead of the now-crucial Group C clash in Kolkata on Saturday.
“Definitely,” says the seamer Safyaan Sharif. “They’ll be feeling pressure because they know they have to win if they want to qualify. Obviously that’s the same with us, but I don’t think we have too much to lose. I think they have more to lose than us. Nepal gave them a good run and they were stressed in that game. They were panicking a lot – you could tell, the way they were playing in the final few overs. So it’s how they handle the pressure.
Florida judge rejects BBC move to put off disclosing internal documents relating to spliced version of 2021 speech
President Trump’s multibillion dollar lawsuit against the BBC over the editing of one of his speeches has been set for a year’s time.
In a blow to the corporation, the Florida judge has also rejected the BBC’s attempt to put off disclosing internal documents relating to the episode of Panorama that contained the spliced version of Trump’s 2021 address.
Evangelos Marinakis is close to appointing fourth head coach of season after Sean Dyche’s sacking and it’s a mess of his own making because he should never have fired Nuno
Sacking three head coaches in a season does not reflect well on Nottingham Forest or their owner, Evangelos Marinakis. It is a mess of their own making, which started with the exit of their most successful manager in recent history and has the latest P45 going to the man brought in to sort out the problems created by an ill-judged appointment that lasted eight winless games.
Twelve months ago Forest were battling for a Champions League spot under the stable stewardship of Nuno Espírito Santo. A lot has changed and they will become the first Premier League side to have four permanent managers in a season, which was not a record Forest were aiming for in August, when they were hoping to build on a seventh-place finish, an FA Cup semi-final and qualifying for Europe for the first time in 30 years.
Late-night hosts discussed Pam Bondi’s heated hearing and an embarrassing post-race Winter Olympics interview
Late-night hosts recapped US attorney general Pam Bondi’s contentious congressional hearing as she faced tough questions over the justice department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
There are a lot of billionaires making global headlines at the moment and even if we were dying of thirst, Football Daily wouldn’t go for a pint with any of them. Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe almost certainly wouldn’t want to come for a pint with us, given our backstreet local’s clientele boasts no end of foreigners of every stripe and shade, all of whom are apparently more hell-bent on annexing the pool table than “colonising the UK”. A man who is so patriotic he would do anything for his country except live or pay taxes in it, Big Sir Jim has plumbed unprecedented depths of unpopularity among Manchester United fans by embarking on a diatribe against immigrants that played fast and loose in its use of far-right rhetoric and was backed up by wildly inaccurate statistics.
Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. I am sure I am in tune with 1,057 others when I suggest that Tottenham Hotspur did a Frank appraisal of their situation and decided to have a frank conversation with Frank to explain that, frankly, his tenure as manager was not good enough and that, as soon as their franking machine could print off the postage, Frank would be getting a frank letter, asking him – frankly – to do one. Which is a great shame, as he seems to be a really good guy and, as his time at Brentford shows, he is a very good manager. As an Arsenal fan, I now wish him well, which I haven’t been able to do since June last year” – Andrew Kluth (and no others).
In yesterday’s Football Daily (full email edition), we have Liam Rosenior making sure his players are ‘switched on for 90 minutes’. Can I be one of 1,057 pedants pointing out that, according to no less an authority than Big Website, games now last an average of 100 minutes, 36 seconds? Demand more, Liam. Demand more” – Simon Riley (and no others).
This may be scant consolation to Rod de Lisle (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) but Leicester’s capitulation against Southampton, while spectacular, is eclipsed by at least one other game. Back in 1957, Huddersfield Town – managed by Bill Shankly, who, were he still around, would surely win letter o’ the day so often you’d probably drop it altogether as a feature, and also featuring future Wolves manager Bill McGarry as a player – somehow contrived to turn a 5-1 lead in the 63rd minute away at Charlton (who had also been down to 10 men since the 17th minute) into a 7-6 defeat” – Simon Gill.
It doubtless won’t be much consolation to interim Leicester boss Andy King, but given that his team weren’t playing against 10 men when they threw away that 3-0 lead to lose 4-3, it probably wasn’t the worst half in the history of football” – Nick Payne.
The Trump administration has claimed it is drawing down its immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to the death of two US citizens, mass detentions and widespread protests.
The move was announced by Tom Homan, the US border czar, at a press briefing on Thursday.
The top adviser to the EU’s highest court has said it should annul a decision by the European Commission to unfreeze billions of euros of payments to Hungary that had been suspended because of serious concerns over corruption and the rule of law.
Tamara Ćapeta, the advocate general of the European court of justice, said on Thursday the commission should not have paid out the funds because Hungary had not actually carried out the judicial reforms that were a condition for their release.
Opéra Royal de Versailles/Angioloni (Château de Versailles Spectacles) Doubling as vocalist and conductor, Angiolini is joined by fine singers in this rarely recorded late work. Giacomo Nanni’s sonorous ‘Fra l’ombre e gl’orrori’ is a particular highlight
Premiered in 1732, Sosarme is a bit of a sleeper among Handel’s mature operas, with only Anthony Lewis’s 1954 recording in the current catalogue. That’s a shame, as it possesses emotional depth as well as a swag of memorable arias. Contemporary audiences gave it a warm welcome, though the composer’s last-minute attempt to avoid a diplomatic faux pas by switching settings from medieval Portugal to mythical Lydia hasn’t helped its reputation.
This lightly sprung performance from Opéra Royal de Versailles under conductor Marco Angioloni goes some way to rehabilitating the work, even if the engineered sound and edgy string tone are a little in-your-face. Rémy Brès-Feuillet is honey-toned in the title role, originally a vehicle for the great contralto castrato Senesino, with Sarah Charles suitably soubrettish as his beloved Elmira.
The film-maker and author narrates this vivid account of his wide-eyed adventures as a young music journalist in 70s America, hanging out with heroes from David Bowie to Led Zeppelin
The title of The Uncool refers to rock critic Lester Bangs’s assessment of Cameron Crowe, whose adventures as a music journalist were loosely depicted in his 2000 movie, Almost Famous. Long before he became a film-maker, the teenage Crowe travelled around the US interviewing some of the biggest rocks acts of the era, among them Gram Parsons, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Eagles and the Allman Brothers Band. Crowe’s memoir reveals him as the perennial outsider who, unlike his interviewees, cared little about sex, booze and drugs and who lacked a certain savoir-faire. Yet rock stars liked having him around, enjoying his sincerity and the fact that he was more admiring fan than dispassionate reporter.
Crowe is the reader, delivering a warm and vivacious narration that conveys the wide-eyed astonishment of his youthful self as he is thrust into the orbit of his heroes. He also paints a vivid picture of an era in which bands weren’t protected by gaggles of PR representatives and a writer could spend 18 months with an artist – as Crowe did with Bowie in the mid-1970s – to write a single profile.
In yet another confusing and chaotic period for British politics there is one thing on which just about everyone can agree: Keir Starmer is unpopular. Very, very unpopular.
His net favourability rating, the difference between those who have a generally positive or negative view of the prime minister has been, depending on the pollster, anything from -50 to -57, a nadir only beaten by Liz Truss. Recent focus group descriptions of Starmer include a “jellyfish” and a “doormat”.
Stuart Vevers wants the luxury brand to keep championing upcycled materials and reduce landfill waste
Stuart Vevers, the British designer of the American mass luxury brand Coach, is working to keep sustainability in the spotlight at New York fashion week. Not an easy task, when environmental concerns are slipping down the global agenda and fashion, perennially a mirror to the world we live in, has reverted to putting profits first.
“I’m an optimist, but it’s not a blind optimism. There’s a lot of tension in optimism, because the world is challenging and I am not ignoring that. My optimism comes from believing that the young people of today are going to make this world better,” he said before Wednesday’s show, held in the historic Cunard building in downtown New York.
Vincent Chan admitted a series of crimes against young girls in his care as well as women over nearly two decades
A paedophile former nursery worker has been jailed for 18 years at Wood Green crown court for the “wicked” sexual abuse of young children.
Vincent Chan abused young children in his care – engaging in physical sexual abuse, taking obscene photos of them and creating others using software – as well as taking obscene images of himself in a classroom. He also set up cameras to watch women changing or going to the toilet, and sexually assaulted a woman while she was asleep.
Katie Holmes has shared a handwritten letter to her late Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek.
The actor, who played Joey in the era-defining teen drama series, posted a tribute on Instagram addressed to Van Der Beek, who died this week at the age of 48.
Legislation is latest step in crackdown by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government on irregular migration
Italy’s prime minister says her government will deploy every tool at its disposal to “guarantee the security of our borders” after approving a bill authorising naval blockades to stop boats from arriving in Italy during periods of “exceptional pressure”.
The bill is the latest step in the crackdown on irregular immigration by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government, which has included tough measures against charity rescue ships, harsher jail terms for human smugglers and schemes aimed at swiftly repatriating people.
From Yoko Ono to Frida Kahlo, from Louise Bourgeois to Artemisia Gentileschi, women have long been capturing the unvarnished truth about their own bodies – and that’s why my novel Female, Nude weaves them into the plot
‘If you want to paint, put your clothes back on!” That was how Carolee Schneemann summarised the critical response to her 1975 performance piece Interior Scroll, which she had performed nude standing on a gallery table. After making a series of life model poses, she removed a scroll from her vagina and began to read her manifesto. In doing so, Schneemann asked an important question: “What does it mean for a female artist to be both the artist and the life model?” Or as she put it: “Both image and image-maker?”
The female nude, as depicted and objectified by the male artist, has dominated western art for centuries. Despite decades of feminist efforts, that interaction between the great male genius and his female model – sometimes muse – remains a subject of perennial fascination. To enter a gallery, or to open a university textbook, is to be confronted with a parade of idealised naked females by male artists from Rubens, Titian and Botticelli to Picasso and De Kooning.
Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts
Elon Musk’s longtime fixation on a white racial majority is intensifying. The richest man in the world posted about how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January, according to the Guardian’s analysis of his social media output. The posts, made on his platform X, reflect a renewed embrace of what extremism experts describe as white supremacist material.
“Whites are a rapidly dying minority,” Musk said on 22 January, a short time before taking the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, while reposting an Irish anti-immigrant influencer’s video about demographic change.
Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson didn’t add to her medal haul during the women’s super-G on Thursday, but she left Tofane with something precious anyway: an engagement ring.
Johnson, who won gold on Sunday in the downhill, crashed out of the super-G after she clipped a gate with one of her poles, sending her tumbling into the safety fence. However, there was some consolation: her boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed to her near the finish line. Surrounded by members of the US Ski Team, Johnson said “Yes!” and the two embraced.
A pilot scheme in Brooklyn is giving businesses batteries to form an electricity storage network – part of a growing number of innovative DIY energy ideas around the world
In the back of Black Seed Bagels in northern Brooklyn is a giant catering kitchen filled with industrial-size containers of condiments and freezers full of dough. A tall, silver electric oven named the Baconator stands in a far corner, cooking thousands of pounds of meat every week to accompany Black Seed’s hand-rolled, wood-fired bagels. The Baconator is connected to a battery the size of a carry-on suitcase, which is plugged into the wall.
While the morning rush is under way, the 2.8-kilowatt-hour battery can directly power the commercial oven to reduce the company’s reliance on the electric grid, Noah Bernamoff, Black Seed’s co-owner, explained recently at the company’s Bushwick shop. Two more batteries are paired with energy-intensive refrigerators in the front.
Much of the wellness economy thrives because it offers the illusion that if we just reframe, breathe, manifest and hydrate we can out-think the chaos
It was 8:37am and I was scrolling Instagram with one eye squinting, the other sealed shut in protest. The morning light was harsh; the algorithm harsher. Somewhere between a video of a dog doing taxes and a girl making her matcha, I stumbled upon Mel Robbins, motivational speaker and Ted Talk legend, telling me to high-five myself.
The video had pandemic energy. That quiet, echoey desperation of someone who’s spent too long indoors talking to objects. Mel explained that in her darkest days she looked at herself in the mirror and gave herself a high-five.
Searchers hope that finding Celine Cremer’s bones, teeth and car key in Tasmania’s north-west will help them solve what happened to her
The Belgian tourist Celine Cremer disappeared in an ancient rainforest during a brutal Tasmanian winter, while it is likely her remains were unearthed during this mild summer.
The 31-year-old backpacker had packed lightly to walk a relatively easy trail through the wilderness of the Tarkine in June 2023. Days later, her family reported her missing.
I’m finding it difficult living up to my morals – where is the line between compromising a little, versus becoming complicit in what I don’t agree with?
I’m one of those people who believes we can each take a role in solving big problems, and that we should try to make things better where we can. For this reason, I’ve ended up working in public service and try to reduce how much meat I eat. I’m vegetarian 60% of the time, which is not perfect, but I believe doing something is better than doing nothing.
The case of the Palestinian activist, the face of 2024’s US campus protests, could have repercussions for thousands
Despite his grim circumstances, Mahmoud Khalil can’t help but laugh.
Walking through Congress’s hallowed halls, the Palestinian student activist, who may be inching toward deportation, has a lightness to him. He is quick with a smile – and not yet ready to waver. He admits he’s in “the scary part” of his ordeal, but he has a new reason to like his odds.
World Bank says children born today could earn 51% more over lifetime if their country’s human capital improved
Deteriorating health, education and training in many developing countries is dramatically depressing the future earnings of children born today, the World Bank has said.
In a report, the World Bank urges policymakers to focus on improving outcomes in three settings: homes, neighbourhoods and workplaces.
Video of a masked suspect in Arizona spurs a surge of calls as the desert search near Tucson yields little evidence
The search for the missing mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie continued on Thursday as investigators revealed they had received more than 18,000 calls about the case. A search of desert terrain near her Arizona home came up mostly empty.
Almost a quarter of the tips came in during the 24 hours since the FBI on Tuesday released door camera video and still images of a masked and gloved suspect outside Nancy Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills area north of Tucson early on 1 February, the Pima county sheriff’s office said.
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