Opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu has won the Maldives presidential election, beating incumbent President Ibrahim Solih in a second-round runoff that could herald a pro-China shift for the Indian Ocean archipelago from traditional partner India.

Saturday's Barcelona transfer rumours, with updates on Marcelo Brozovic, Ousmane Dembele, Eric Garcia, Vitor Roque & more.

Real Sociedad have not reached the Champions League for a decade but Imanol Alguacil's side can qualify for Europe's premier competition with just two more points from...

Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller believes the national team have strong options up front as they approach their latest qualifiers amid the absence of Che Adams. Adams has been a key player in recent times but Lyndon Dykes started up front in Scotland’s 2-0 win over Spain after the Southampton forward suffered an injury in the opening Euro 2024 qualifying win against Cyprus. Dykes has scored eight goals for Scotland and Miller feels there are other serious alternatives for Steve Clarke ahead of Saturday’s clash with Norway in Oslo and the visit of Georgia three days later. Miller told the PA news agency: “Lyndon was crucial to the team making it to the last Euros, sometimes on his own and sometimes with Che. “I think Lyndon had it nailed, Lyndon had the jersey to himself but Che came in and did very well when he was injured. “It’s good Steve has the options up front. “Jacob Brown has been a support act but we have Kevin Nisbet and Lawrence Shankland who have had good seasons, particularly Lawrence at Hearts. So there’s a lot of options.” Miller, who scored 18 goals for his country, added about the Hearts forward: “I think he’s a really well-rounded striker with a really good level of goals. “He’s had a wonderful season – 28 goals is a wonderful return for a striker outwith the Old Firm. “But not just that, I think his all-round game is pretty good. “He seems to have accepted the responsibility of the captain’s armband in Craig Gordon’s absence really, really well. “It’s a big responsibility, one that’s not affected him in a negative way. If anything it has affected him in a positive way.” Scotland have a guaranteed play-off place as a fall-back option but Miller is confident they can finish in the top two of Group A following their flying start. Clarke took the squad on a training camp to Spain last week to prepare for the double-header and further foment the spirit among the players. Miller, who was speaking after taking part in a McDonald’s Fun Football session with children in Glasgow, said: “People talk about this club atmosphere but what it means is that the team has been doing well and everyone wants to be part of it and everyone is looking forward to going away. “The group do look like they have got this spirit and togetherness but it comes from what they have created on the pitch. “It’s been really good performances and really good results, none more so than the last game against Spain where the lads were excellent and really deserved the win. “And what it has done is put us in a really strong position going into these qualifiers. “That means we can potentially forget about this play-off position and get there automatically, which I do believe we can. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on but I do believe we will.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ruthless Australia gear up for Ashes by being crowned Test world champions Southern Vipers romp to successful Charlotte Edwards Cup defence The hamstring just snapped – Kevin De Bruyne reveals long-running injury battle

China’s central bank will keep monetary policy targeted and ensure credit growth is stable, Governor Yi Gang said,

Reacting to Kevin Costner's claims, Christine Baumgartner stated that he would leave their children homeless by making them vacate the California home

Deadly wildfires erupted on Greece’s mainland, killing two as it scorched the land and left a path of destruction in its wake. The coastal area of Magnesia and city of Volos were gripped by engulfing flames on Wednesday evening, forcing the evacuation of several local communities fleeing to safety. It comes as the Greek fire brigade warned the risk of fire remained “extreme” for several areas of the country on Thursday, with climate crisis minister, Vassilis Kikilias, echoing: “Nothing is over, the battle will continue throughout the summer.” High temperatures and winds have created a “perfect storm” to allow the fires to spread this week in Europe and north Africa including Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, France, Croatia, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia. As the threat lingers in Rhodes, TUI has said customers booked “on a package holiday to a hotel in the south of the island” have the option to “rebook or amend their holiday, or cancel with a full refund” upto and including 11 August. Read More Where are the wildfires? The nine affected countries mapped More than 40 people killed as wildfires rage in nine Mediterranean countries in record heatwave UK’s 40C summer of 2022 ‘will seem cool’ as extreme weather events become frequent, Met Office warns When will heatwave in Europe end? New forecast shows relief in sight

Nevada says its has fired football coach Ken Wilson

Jurgen Klopp reflects on what it means for Liverpool to be playing Europa League football next season.

(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it expects a jump in fourth-quarter revenue and profit, boosted by a holiday marketing

Rico Lewis says winning the treble once “isn’t good enough” as Manchester City look to repeat the feat and eye an unprecedented quadruple. Pep Guardiola’s perennial Premier League champions added the FA Cup in June before beating Inter Milan to win the club’s first ever Champions League crown. City joined Manchester United’s 1999 side as the only English teams in history to complete the treble, but there appears little chance of them stopping there. Erling Haaland’s brace saw them open up their league campaign with a 3-0 win at promoted Burnley on Friday, after which teenage star Lewis outlined his ambitions. “The objective is to win the treble again, to win the quadruple,” the homegrown 18-year-old talent said. “You know, winning it once isn’t good enough, so we have to keep on going and try and win it again.” You would not back against City winning the European crown on top of claiming the three main domestic trophies given their quality, cohesion and strength. However, Guardiola’s men have already missed out on one piece of silverware this season having lost the Community Shield to Arsenal on penalties. This week, though, offers another chance at a trophy as City seek to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time against Sevilla in Athens. “Obviously it’s a new competition for us,” Lewis said. “We’ve never won it, the club’s never won it, so, again, it’s another trophy that we want to go and win. “It’s another competition and an important thing we need to go and take on.” City make the trip buoyed by a solid start to the Premier League season, with Rodri adding to Haaland’s double on a night that also saw Lewis struck by an object. Burnley quickly confirmed the individual responsible for the first-half incident had been identified, removed from the ground by police and now faces a banning order. “Obviously when you’re in the game you can’t really focus on that,” Lewis said. “But it was just something I had to deal with at the time. “It’s just an incident that’s unfortunate it’s happened to me but, you know, it happens to a lot of players, which is not a good thing. “But there’s nothing really much you can do about it. You’ve just got to ignore it and then it’ll get sorted at the end of the game.” Another issue City’s players could not let distract them was the injury to skipper Kevin De Bruyne. The 32-year-old has only recently returned from a hamstring issue and Guardiola says he faces weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of the issue. “Well, you know, injuries happen to everyone,” Lewis said. “Every team suffers with injuries and it’s something that you’ve just got to deal with. “There’s enough quality in the squad where if someone gets injured someone can slot in and just carry on playing in the same way that the last person did. “Obviously there’s going to be certain positions where we’ll be more hurt than others just because of squad depth, but it’s something that happens to everyone and everyone has to deal with it.” While City return to action on Wednesday, the Clarets have an extended wait until they play again. Next weekend’s trip to Luton was postponed due to ongoing stadium works at Kenilworth Road, meaning Vincent Kompany’s side are next in action at home to Aston Villa on August 27. That fortnight will give promoted Burnley an invaluable opportunity to work with their new-look squad after showing signs of promise against City. Summer signing Luca Koleosho, 18, said after making his debut: “I think we had our moments in the game but obviously we were playing against the best team in the world right now. “So, I just think that every game we’re going to get better and just improve. “The mentality is just to win, there’s 37 games (to go), it’s a long season but just take it one at a time and just go out there and try and win.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Harry Kane hints at future Tottenham return after completing Bayern Munich move Ange Postecoglou backs Richarlison as Tottenham deal with Harry Kane exit Harry Kane’s highs and lows at Tottenham as he signs with Bayern Munich

Five weeks ago, the world watched as China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing for high stakes talks between the two powers.