Pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run homer that sent the Cincinnati Reds to their latest dramatic victory, 4-3 over the San Diego Padres

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China has failed to release data on how many cremations took place in the country at the end of 2022 -- obscuring a key indicator that could have shed light on the impact of the wave of Covid-19 infections that were sweeping the country at that time.

In 2023, as in 2022, a marathon season ended for England’s players in June, north of their Wembley home, against eastern European opposition. And there, it is fair to say, the similarities ended. A year ago came the historic low, the 4-0 loss to Hungary at Molineux that was England’s heaviest home defeat since 1928, the night Gareth Southgate was told he did not know what he was doing and when both he and many another concluded his reign was nearing an undignified end. Twelve months and five days later, a 7-0 thrashing of North Macedonia at Old Trafford capped a restorative spell. Euro 2024 beckons, a broadly positive World Cup has been followed by a quartet of qualifying wins and the feel of Southgate’s reign, of youthful progressiveness, has largely been restored. The torrid June of 2022 has started to look like the anomaly, not the start of the slide. The encouraging June of 2023 has more in keeping with most of Southgate’s tenure. “We look back at last summer, with four matches, [playing] behind closed doors for two and we needed to look at new players,” he reflected. “There were a lot of circumstances around those.” A year on, England could have been forgiven for suffering from a similar tiredness. Yet if the fixtures were easier now, there was a relish and a sharpness. Southgate fielded a forward line with three of the outstanding players of the Premier League campaign, in Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford: they scored six of the seven goals to take their combined tally to 96 goals for the season for clubs and country. They were emblematic of a side who still showed a sharpness. “Post World Cup, we have hit a sweet spot,” Southgate said. The most seismic result of England’s season was actually the victory over Italy in Naples but, after the 6-2 demolition of Iran in the World Cup, North Macedonia can testify that teams with the ability to get excellent results can find themselves eviscerated by England. “We have a hunger to go further than we’ve been and keep pushing forward, confidence from big nights we’ve been involved in,” Southgate said. “It’s a good place but we have to keep pushing. We have set a standard in the last four games where anything possible. There is a brilliant feel around the squad and that creates a strong team.” Few players are better at engendering a positivity feeling than Saka with his infectious enthusiasm. “He’s talented, he’s humble, he’s incredibly popular,” said Southgate. There was a certain symbolism to Saka’s hat-trick. There has seemed something of a changing of the guard over the last year. Southgate has been a loyalist to the core of the team who gave him breakthrough tournaments in 2018 and 2021 but he has also recognised talent when it has emerged. England’s player of the World Cup was Jude Bellingham. Even though he missed their June fixtures, Real Madrid’s newest signing may have been their outstanding individual of the season. But if not, then Saka has a compelling case. When the campaign began, perhaps neither was an automatic choice. Now each is. Bellingham shifted the equation in the World Cup, to the detriment of Mason Mount; if Southgate plays 4-3-3 – as he does now, though last summer it still felt as though he wanted the security blanket of a third centre-back – then the Bundesliga player of the year suits the role as the most attacking midfielder. In attack, if Raheem Sterling used to be the guaranteed starter on the flanks now it should be Saka; it helps that he has become a regular scorer. A third player of rare gifts may yet join them in the strongest side. Trent Alexander-Arnold had felt the conundrum Southgate could not solve; until Jurgen Klopp gave him a helping hand, anyway. The Liverpudlian’s end-of-season shift into midfield for his club led to two encouraging performances for his country. A remarkable pass for Saka’s terrific second goal, the kind of 50-yard ball that invokes mentions of quarterbacks, was an illustration of his passing range. It was nevertheless notable that Southgate singled out another Liverpool player for praise. “Our senior players set a brilliant tone. [Jordan] Henderson won’t get the headlines but the way he set the tone, mixing the game up was really important.” Yet the thought of a midfield trio of Bellingham, Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice is tantalising. A department where England felt short of options in the 2018 World Cup could be one where they boast enviable class. It helps, too, to have players on the rise. Saka, Rashford and Bellingham have just had the best seasons of their careers so far. Five of their England teammates did a treble for their club. If a theme of Southgate’s reign has been to give the national team back a feelgood factor and a sense of optimism, it has been a feature of the last year, too. Southgate won’t be defined by the summer of 2023, but nor will he be by the summer of 2022. But now he can get for the summer of 2024 with renewed hope of a defining achievement. Read More Bukayo Saka cements his place as England’s next leading man with first career hat-trick ‘Exceptional’ Bukayo Saka lauded by Gareth Southgate after England hat-trick England vs North Macedonia LIVE: Euro 2024 qualifier result and reaction Bukayo Saka cements his place as England’s leading man with first career hat-trick Marcus Rashford’s complicated England relationship could be at turning point

PGMOL has admitted a "significant human error" saw Luis Diaz's goal for Liverpool ruled out in the defeat to Tottenham.

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said there was still room for improvement after his side cruised to a 3-0 home Premier League win against Nottingham Forest. Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez scored within the space of four minutes before the interval to put Liverpool in control and Mohamed Salah struck his eighth league goal of the season in the second half. Klopp’s side made it five wins from as many league games at Anfield this season – their eighth in a row in all competitions – and sit three points behind leaders Tottenham. Klopp said: “If you’re chasing a game it’s obviously a completely different task, but if you are in complete control you should stay in control. “The last five minutes I think before half-time, all of a sudden we were a bit too deep and they just could chip the balls there and these are moments we have to improve, clearly. “In creative situations you can always improve because the boys have a lot of potential and we have to use it fully.” Once Liverpool broke the deadlock there was no way back for injury-hit Forest, but Klopp still remains wary of his side’s ability to protect a lead in front of their own fans. “You might remember three or four years ago, all of a sudden we became slightly more dominant and were leading at home and always came under pressure,” he said. “Like one-nil up meant nothing. Everybody thought ‘Oh my god, 1-0, 10 minutes to go!’ Maybe they saw the equaliser coming and that’s the situation you have to grow into and the boys showed wonderful signs in all aspects. “That’s now something we have to learn again because the key positions are obviously occupied by different players than that time, up front, midfield, last line. “So that’s the space for improvement. Creating without losing the compactness is pretty much the idea.” Forest’s winless league run was extended to six league games and head coach Steve Cooper admitted it had been a torrid 90 minutes. He said: “For sure it is a tough afternoon. Coming into the game, you know you have to play really well and commit to a plan in order to get some success in the game. “We were forced into some player selection, formation and plans through the unfortunate situation with attacking players. We had to go with a couple of players out of position.” Cooper was without a recognised central striker after Chris Wood (hamstring) was a late withdrawal, with Taiwo Awoniyi returning to the bench after a groin injury. “We only had one player who could play as a number nine in Anthony (Elanga),” Cooper added. “It’s a position which is a little bit foreign to him anyway and two days ago we didn’t think he would be available because of illness.”

By Steve Holland and Gerhard Mey LONDON/WINDSOR, England (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will look to deepen his relationships with

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