Manchester City have stepped up their interest in Josko Gvardiol and are in talks with RB Leipzig over a deal, though are reluctant to meet their €100m price tag.

Russia has claimed it can play a role in resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine as Vladimir Putin blamed US foreign policy for the escalation in the region. The comments from Moscow come despite Russia currently being the primary aggressor in the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, and also make no mention of Russia’s own role in the Middle East peace process since 2002 as part of the “Quartet” of powers with the UN, US and EU. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was speaking to both sides in the conflict and that it would seek to be involved in its settlement. He told a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow’s top priority was the safety of its own citizens in the region. Russia’s own history in the region is complex – and seemingly riddled with contradictions – as the former Soviet Union had supported the immediate recognition of the state of Israel along with the US after the Second World War. Mr Peskov said the conflict risked “spilling over” into other regions and stated Moscow has engaged in diplomatic efforts, despite limited progress. “But nevertheless we intend to keep making efforts and play our role in terms of providing assistance to seek ways to a settlement,” he said. In comments reported by Russian news agencies, Mr Peskov said the turmoil was “more than worrying. It has the potential to be dangerous by growing and spilling over from the current zone of the Arab-Israeli conflict”. “It is very important now that both sides show restraint,” he said in comments earlier on Russia’s Channel One on Tuesday. And while Mr Peskov on Tuesday said Russia has “a lot in common” with Israel, with many Israelis being former Russian citizens, Mr Putin blamed the US for ignoring the interests of Palestinians and their calls for an independent Palestinian state. The Russian president did not refer directly to Hamas in his own comments – the militant group that launched terror attacks across southern Israel on Saturday and which is heavily backed by Iran, a Russian ally. Moscow is accused of using Iranian Shahed drones in its war in Ukraine and has longstanding ties with Hamas, which sent a delegation to Moscow in March. Mr Putin hosted Iraq’s prime mininster Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Tuesday and took the opportunity during talks with his Iraqi counterpart – whose own country was invaded by the US after 9/11 – to attack American foreign policy in the region. “I think that many people will agree with me that this is a vivid example of the failure of United States policy in the Middle East,” Mr Putin said. He said Washington had sought to “monopolise” efforts at forging peace, and accused it of failing to seek workable compromises. The situation has meanwhile continued to escalate in Israel as the country said it sealed the Gaza strip, governed by Hamas, from getting supplies of food, fuel and medicine in a decision sharply criticised by the UN and several non-profits. Israel also vowed to intensify its response to the attack by Hamas with aerial bombardments on Gaza, seen by many as a prelude to a ground offensive. US president Joe Biden has pledged America’s full support for Israel and issued a warning to anyone who might seek to take advantage of the situation. Russia has issued a range of diplomatic statements with a far less full-throated support for Israel. A Kremlin statement said Mr Putin and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan deplored the “catastrophic rise in the deaths among civilians”. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called for a rapid ceasefire in a conversation with his Iranian colleague Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Since the latest crisis erupted, the Kremlin has sought to appear even-handed, underscoring its relations with both sides. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Israel-Hamas war – live: Troops mass at Gaza border as strip ‘only has 10 hours of fuel’ left Watch live view of Gaza skyline as Israel bombards territory Inside Israel’s Supernova Festival: My terror as Hamas bombs fell on us during desert rave The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Week 7 of the NFL season is upon us and bye weeks are beginning to come into play in the fantasy football realm. With six teams on bye, be sure to be active on the waiver wire if you are a manager who rosters players on any of these teams.

Manchester United crashed to a second successive Champions League defeat on Tuesday, losing 3-2 at home to Galatasaray, while Lens stunned Arsenal and Jude Bellingham...

Birmingham received an inspirational pep talk from NFL great Tom Brady before a last-gasp victory against Leeds that boss John Eustace dedicated to the late Trevor Francis. A sold-out St Andrew’s celebrated the club’s greatest ever player and an exciting future under new ownership as Daniel Farke’s relegated side came to the second city. It is a month since American businessman Tom Wagner completed his takeover at Birmingham, who nine days ago saw seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady join as minority owner. The former NFL star enjoyed a memorable first trip to St Andrew’s, visiting a local pub before meeting the players and watching a 1-0 stoppage-time win. “The new owners came into the dressing room just as I was coming out and congratulated the lads,” Blues boss Eustace said. “It’s great to see Tom Brady in there as well. “Tom spoke to the group before our meeting today, so that is great to have one of the most famous sporting people in the world come down and chat to the group. “They were all very excited to listen to him and he gave us some real good words of advice. “I think you can see today his presence at the club (is a benefit), the vision that he’s got for the football club is amazing. “He wants this football club to be a world brand, he wants this Birmingham City family now all over the world, which is what we all want. “We want this magnificent football club to grow and get better and be known all around the world. “We’ve got a great person to come in and do that.” Substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz’s stoppage-time penalty was the difference at the end of a tense match that began with a heartfelt tribute to Birmingham great Francis following his death in July. “I’m delighted with the performance for the whole game,” Eustace said. “We dedicate that winner to Trevor Francis and his family. I think it marked a real special occasion. “The boys today were outstanding with and without the ball. “Tactically you have to be spot on against an excellent Leeds team and I think the level of concentration and the way the boys went about their business today was superb.” Leeds counterpart Daniel Farke felt like a point would have been deserved from Saturday’s performance at St Andrew’s where the relegated side’s shortcomings were obvious. “(This job) is exactly what I would have expected because I have been in the situation before,” the Leeds boss said. “I know after relegation it’s never easy for the club. There is a hangover. “It’s more like you’re getting used to having disappointing results (when relegated), there’s always question marks especially in the first transfer window. “What makes it a bit different is the situation with the contract. We spoke quite openly about it, that there are exit clauses that makes the situation obviously also quite difficult. “But I knew this before and, yeah, my decision for this massive club was really with full commitment and also totally convinced that we can lead the club in the middle and long term to success. “We knew that the start would be bumpy and would be tricky and it’s not the easiest shop at the moment, but I mentioned before if it would be it would be easy everyone could do this and it wouldn’t be that much fun to turn our fate around. “I know that it’s a hell of a task. I said this even in my first press conference and especially during August we have to be a bit patient.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live West Ham boss David Moyes considering using Jarrod Bowen as striker Lachlan Lam lands golden point drop goal to give Leigh dramatic win over Hull KR Everton pay price for missed chances as Fulham snatch win at Goodison Park

Man Utd are dealt another injury blow as Harry Maguire is ruled out of the game against Bayern Munich. Mason Mount and Raphael Varane have returned to training but neither are in contention to face the Bundesliga giants.

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President Joe Biden unveiled his administration's new "whole of society" plan to combat antisemitism Thursday, which he called the "most ambitious and comprehensive US government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history."

After both Elon musk and and Mark Zuckerberg agreed for a cage fight, the Twitter CEO shared information about a potential venue to host the match. On Friday Morning, Musk tweeted "some chance fight happens in Colosseum". Last week it was leaked that Zuckerberg's Meta was planning to release a rival to Twitter, likely to be called Threads. The app was announced in a company meeting where Meta's chief product officer Chris Cox called "our response to Twitter." Cox went on to throw some shade towards Musk by saying that the company's goal for the app was have it "sanely run". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter After hearing of the news, Musk responded to a tweet about the leaked information saying: "I'm sure Earth can't wait to be exclusively under Zuck's thumb with no other options. At least it will be "sane". Was worried there for a moment." A fan responded to Musk saying "Better be careful @elonmusk I heard he does jiu jitsu now" followed by laughing emojis. "I'm up for a cage match if he is lol," replied Musk. Zuckerberg then posted a screenshot of Musk's tweet to his Instagram story saying "send me location". TMZ Sports reported on Thursday that Italy's Minister of Culture had apparently reached out to both Musk and Zuckerberg to offer the Colosseum as a venue for their fight. TMZ were told that Zuckerberg forwarded the message to UFC chair president Dana White. Apparently, both tech giants are taking the fight seriously and have begun training for the match. UFC fighter Kevin Lee claims that Zuckerberg had reached out to him for training. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Kevin Costner's obsession with film and storytelling comes after he and his wife Christine Baumgartner parted ways and ended their 18-year marriage

India's space agency Isro's footage shows Chandrayaan-3's rover Pragyaan for the first time ever.