Global news every hour

Max Rushden , Barry Glendenning , John Brewin and Lars Sivertsen discuss a dismal top-four clash, the PFA Awards, Leeds playing dirty – and then not, plus the Bundesliga title race. Oh, and Lars goes full #teamNeymar Join the conversation on Facebook , Twitter and email . We look back at the weekend of football just gone, starting with Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea , in which David de Gea continued his recent trend of dropping clangers at inopportune moments. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GQHGGb

It may have required some intense squinting, but with this feature-length flurry of limbs, Game of Thrones is back to sticking them with the pointy end Game of Thrones episode three recap – The Long Night Warning: this article contains spoilers for season eight, episode three of Game of Thrones. Thwack! The time for talking is over. Here was the ultimate rebuttal to any complaints about the chat-heavy nostalgia-fest of this final season’s first two episodes, a clonking great feature-length instalment that flew by in a flurry of limbs and severed heads. Game of Thrones is back to sticking them with the pointy end. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2ZF73Ct

Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have never been in a stronger position. The future of the United Kingdom is in the balance Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday reiterated her promise to give her country another referendum on independence within the next two years . After all, if there’s an argument for Britons having another Brexit referendum just three years after the last, Scotland can surely have another on independence after five years. Besides, Sturgeon must be thinking, was there ever a better moment for divorce from a marriage so dysfunctional as the United Kingdom? Some might wonder what new horror history could unleash on poor Britain. After Brexit comes Scexit. But Sturgeon is in the ascendant. The weekend’s polls put her SNP’s lead over all other parties at between 23 and 26 points , astonishing for a governing party that has been in office for 12 years, with Sturgeon as its leader for five. In that time, the popularity of Scottish independence has risen to an u...

Matt and Erika Blayney, 52 and 40, met 16 years ago on a London bus. They live with their two children in Brasília ‘We met on the No 73 bus,” says Matt Blayney, remembering the scorching hot day in August 2003 with total clarity. “No,” says Erika, laughing at her husband. “He’s got this wrong. It was the No 94 and then we changed to the 73.” When Erika climbed the bus stairs at Notting Hill, the top deck was almost empty. “He loves to tell people that I came to sit beside him,” says Erika. “But I was a tourist, so I only decided to sit at the front of the bus for the views of London.” Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2vt2vBe

Stopping Frenkie de Jong and the success of the Dutch side’s first press will be key, writes the former Spurs and Ajax manager As a Dutchman it goes against my principles to say this but Spurs have to stop Frenkie de Jong. He is unbelievable. You have never seen a player like him. He is like Johan Cruyff in the pass but deeper and if he can’t pass it he runs away from you. That is why he is going to Barcelona in the summer for €75m . Since De Jong came on to the international scene last year, the Netherlands team has developed. Before him, we did not go to the Euros or the World Cup but with him we are a very good country again. We have beaten Germany, we have beaten France and it’s only because of him. You have to stop him. If you don’t, he will kill you. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2vuoebG

MPs call on party to support European election manifesto that campaigns for second vote The Labour MPs behind the parliamentary drive for a confirmatory referendum on Brexit have written to their party’s governing body urging it to use the European elections to campaign for a fresh poll regardless of whether a deal has been reached with the government. The call, from Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, comes before a crunch meeting of the party’s national executive committee on Tuesday to consider a draft manifesto for the 23 May vote. Presented by Labour’s policy chief, Andrew Fisher, the manifesto is expected to stick closely to the conference policy of supporting a referendum but only to prevent a Conservative version of a Brexit deal. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XSsuy4

Relentless Arsenal seal their title and Chelsea look ready to challenge on all fronts, but Everton need to improve Arsenal were crowned WSL champions with a game to spare after beating Brighton 4-0 in front of a record 5,265 crowd at the Amex. Arsenal flew out of the traps this season and have not relented, although they have had to overcome a few challenges, not least only being able to name three substitutes in their first game of the campaign and losing Jordan Nobbs to a cruciate ligament injury. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XQUjqp