In what has become an unexpected annual tradition for a coastal city in Maine, gigantic inflatable ducks are once again floating in Belfast Harbor, and for the third year running, the mystery of how they got there has yet to be solved.

There is set to be a coronation at in Glasgow this weekend but when the celebrations die down, the message from Ange Postecoglou will remain the same. The only difference is whether that message stays with Celtic, or goes elsewhere. Tottenham are circling. A decision looms. Amid a party of green and white, Postecoglou would be forgiven for taking a sweeping look at what he has built in the two years since he arrived at Celtic Park unheralded, second-choice and without a previous position in European football. The doubters have long since been silenced by the ties that have been forged between fans and manager, and a team constructed in Postecoglou’s image that is blazing a trail towards one of the most successful seasons in the club’s history. But then, with a sharp, gruff bark, Celtic will snap into action in the manner the Australian demands, powered on by the gems he has helped unearth. Celtic play with ferocity, fuelled by the defiance of a manager who has taken an unwanted hand and produced a team that not only sweeps aside all before it domestically, but excites and enthrals while doing so. Postecoglou lives by the ethos that football should be that way, and a philosophy that a club should give back to its people. In Glasgow, Celtic fans love him for it - it helps, too, that a second consecutive league title has been sealed and a domestic treble is likely to follow in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final. Such success for Celtic is nothing new given their dominance over the past decade, but this side stands for something more. One may argue that Celtic’s 11th title in 12 seasons is a reflection of woeful lack of competitiveness of the Scottish top-flight, but that has been the case for some time and Postecoglou’s side have elevated the standard. Under Postecoglou, Celtic are a vision of breathless, attacking football. The defence of their Premiership title was sealed with four games to spare but it has felt like a one-horse race since they thrashed Rangers 4-0 in September. While Rangers have regressed, sacking Giovanni van Bronckhorst midway through the season, now unconvincing under Michael Beale, Celtic’s improvement has been relentless. It’s what Postecoglou promised as he stood on the pitch at Celtic Park after lifting his first Premiership title last May, and his team have delivered. “We never stop”, is the ethos that rings around Celtic these days, set by Postecoglou when he walked through the door in the summer of 2021. The club needed energy and drive but the situation Postecoglou inherited was unenviable. That may sound ridiculous, given Celtic had won an unprecedented quadruple treble of domestic honours before enduring a trophyless season the year before Postecoglou arrived. It spelled the end for Neil Lennon midway through the campaign, before the club’s protracted pursuit of Eddie Howe led down a blind alley. Celtic looked leaderless and desperate. After Howe turned Celtic down, whoever took the job was suddenly faced with the sizable task of rebuilding the squad in one summer. Odsonne Edouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie were sold to the wealth of the Premier League, Olivier Ntcham to the Championship, while captain Scott Brown ended his 14-year stay at the club and joined Aberdeen. Amid the uncertainty and Rangers’ first league title since 2011 - which stopped Celtic’s attempts to win a historic 10 in a row - the feeling on both halves of Glasgow was there had been a distinct power shift. When Postecoglou was unveiled there were stern warnings of the difficulties of the job he had walked into, as well as scepticism over whether he was ready for such a position. Postecoglou had the experience and his managerial CV featured league titles with the Brisbane Roar and the Yokohama Marinos in Japan, as well as leading Australia to the Asia Cup, but to some it was not the ‘right’ experience given the part of the world those honours were won. There was ridicule when it emerged that Celtic had to apply to Uefa for a special exemption as Postecoglou did not hold the required European coaching licence. But those who rushed to dismiss Postecoglou’s track record once he arrived in Scotland had failed to do their research. Postecoglou did not just win leagues but the football they played had a transformational impact on them, particularly in Australia and then later Japan. Still, and just like Arsene Wenger when he arrived in the Premier League from Japanese side Nagoya Grampus, Postecoglou’s past was received with prejudice that bordered on British and European arrogance. Yet throughout this career, the football his teams played had left their mark, and he was about to do the same in the Scottish Premiership. Those early days at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base set the tone. As Postecoglou gathered his players and began to instil the fundamentals of his approach, there was one phrase that rang repeatedly until it was drilled into the psyche of the side: “We never stop”. Postecoglou wanted Celtic to be unrelenting, with constant movement and rotation. The full-backs would tuck inside and the central midfielders would push out wide, while a narrow but fluid front three buzzed around and interchanged positions. Postecoglou is intense, direct - and he wanted Celtic to be the same with and without the ball. There were some early set-backs. Postecoglou’s first competitive games were against the Danish side Midtjylland in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. Given the importance of Champions League finances for Celtic, Postecoglou was immediately faced with a must-win tie but Celtic were beaten and consigned to the Europa League after a 2-1 defeat in Denmark. By mid-September, Celtic had already lost three times in the league - the opening day trip to Hearts, the first Old Firm of the season to champions Rangers, and then a 1-0 defeat at Livingston. Yet they would not suffer another in the Premiership that season, finishing with a 32-game unbeaten run. Already, the early signs of Postecoglou’s free-flowing, attacking football were evident and it soon became apparent that goals would be a near-guarantee. The Celtic fans coined Postecoglou’s philosophy as ‘Angeball’ - an appreciation of the manager’s demand to play football in the right way, to excite and build a team they could enjoy as well as take pride in. The night it all changed came in early February as Rangers arrived at Celtic Park with a two-point lead in the table. But in a crystallisation of Posecolgou’s vision, Celtic were rampant and blitzed a Rangers side who would reach the Europa League final that May, leading 3-0 by half time. Already the balance of power in Glasgow was beginning to shift again and Celtic didn’t look back. As they reclaimed the Premiership title on the penultimate weekend of the season, Postecoglou’s status among the congregation was unimpeachable. Postecoglou is a manager who seeks total authority and his desire to take control over the playing style extended to the club’s recruitment, which was a significant responsibility given the extent of the rebuilding job. But after Celtic recouped around £40m by selling Edouard to Crystal Palace, Ajer to Brentford and Christie to Bournemouth, they overhauled their squad and made it better for less. Like with Postecoglou, Celtic found quality and value in the places where no one else was looking, and it was the Australian’s extensive experience of those markets that allowed Celtic to revolutionise their approach to transfers. The jewel in the crown and the signing that changed everything was the Japan international Kyogo Furuhashi, who Postecoglu knew from facing the Vissel Kobe forward in the J-League. Kyogo arrived for £4.5m and hit 20 goals in his debut season, while he has reached 30 this campaign and is set to sweep the individual awards in Scotland. His instant impact paved the way for Celtic to sign the industrious and skilful Reo Hatate for £1.5m and the versatile finisher Daizen Maeda for £1.6m. The Japanese trio have transformed Celtic and Postecoglou’s ability to immediately get a tune out of his new signings has been key to their astonishing success in the market. The list of hits are impressive and so too are the prices. The winger Jota signed for £6m from Benfica after a dazzling first season on loan. The same can be said for the defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, £6m after a loan from Tottenham, who has formed a formidable partnership with Carl Starfelt - £4m from Rubin Kazan. Matt O’Riley was plucked from MK Dons at £1.5m and looks an excellent young midfield talent. The former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, now 35, has proved a shrewd and important signing at £1m. With the exception of the elder statesman Hart, those prices will be doubled, trebled, even quadrupled now. When right back Josko Juranovic was sold to Union Berlin for £7.5m following his performances for Croatia at the World Cup he was swiftly replaced by Alasdair Johnson at £3.5m, who himself caught the eye for Canada in Qatar. It displayed Celtic’s newfound propensity for efficiency in the transfer market, but Postecoglou has also found improvement in the players he inherited. Callum McGregor, the longest serving player in the side, has gone up another level and did not look out of place against Spain’s midfield at Hampden earlier this year. It is no surprise that there is not a sacking that goes by in the Premier League without Postecoglou’s name being mentioned among the candidates. The Australian plays attractive football under a clear tactical system, understands the transfer market, and improves players - managerial qualities every Premier League club is desperate for. According to The Independent, Postecoglou’s name is at the top of Tottenham’s wishlist, with the club planning on holding talks after the Scottish Cup final. Tottenham’s interest will be a test of Celtic’s resolve and Postecoglou’s ambition to resist them. There are clear improvements for Celtic to make in the Champions League, though, and that will be where he can take them next. For now, Celtic will hope to crown their treble with a victory against Inverness at Hampden on Saturday. With each trophy, the bond and emotional attachment between Celtic and Postecoglou grows stronger, but so too does the determination to keep moving forward. Read More Tottenham set two-week target to confirm managerial appointment Tottenham identify new first choice for manager after Arne Slot snub ‘We never stop’: How Ange Postecoglou became Tottenham’s first choice Callum McGregor rescues point for Celtic from dramatic draw with St Mirren The differences between old allies Ten Hag and Guardiola that will decide cup final

Sensors in smartphones may be able to detect how drunk a person is based on changes in their voice, according to a small study. Following experiments involving 18 adults aged 21 and above, scientists said they were able to predict a person’s level of intoxication with 98% accuracy based on an analysis of their voice patterns. Brian Suffoletto, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University in the US, said the accuracy of the findings of his research “genuinely took me by surprise”. He added: “While we aren’t pioneers in highlighting the changes in speech characteristics during alcohol intoxication, I firmly believe our superior accuracy stems from our application of cutting-edge advancements in signal processing, acoustic analysis, and machine learning.” While Prof Suffoletto said larger studies are needed to confirm the validity of the findings, he added his work has the potential to deliver “just-in-time interventions” to prevent alcohol-related road injuries and deaths in the future. Prof Suffoletto said: “Imagine if we had a tool capable of passively sampling data from an individual as they went about their daily routines and survey for changes that could indicate a drinking episode to know when they need help.” Imagine if we had a tool capable of passively sampling data from an individual as they went about their daily routines and survey for changes that could indicate a drinking episode to know when they need help Prof Brian Suffoletto For the research, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, the scientists tailored alcohol doses based on the body weight of each person taking part and were given an hour to finish their drink. Each individual was randomly given a series of tongue twisters to read out loud and a smartphone was used to record their voices. Recordings were made before drinking, and each hour up to seven hours after drinking. The researchers also measured each person’s breath alcohol levels at the beginning of the study and every 30 minutes for up to seven hours. Using digital programmes, the researchers were able isolate the speaker’s voices and analyse measures such as frequency and pitch in one-second increments. When checked against breath alcohol results, the researchers found that the model they developed was a good predictor of how drunk a person was – with 98% accuracy. Prof Suffoletto believes that other behaviours such as gait and texting could be combined with voice pattern sensors to gauge intoxication levels. He said: “Timing is paramount when targeting the optimal moment for receptivity and the relevance of real-time support. “For instance, as someone initiates drinking, a reminder of their consumption limits can be impactful. “However, once they’re significantly intoxicated, the efficacy of such interventions diminishes.” Read More Ireland and Apple await major development in long-running EU tax dispute Guidance urges parents not to buy smartphones for primary school children William ‘blown away’ by futuristic technology from Singapore start-ups Return of original Fortnite map causes record traffic on Virgin Media O2 network NatWest creates new AI-powered chatbot capable of ‘human-like’ conversations Succession star Sarah Snook says AI use in film industry needs ‘stringent rules’

Mathew Barzal scored at 2:46 of overtime to lift the New York Islanders past Carolina, 5-4 on Thursday night after the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho tied it with 2.5 second left in regulation

The Department of Justice is likely to attempt to have former President Donald Trump incarcerated if he’s convicted following the indictment laying out 37 charges against him in relation to his handling of classified national defence information. National security lawyer and George Washington University law professor Kel McClanahan said that the department will probably “want to go for incarceration” in the case of Mr Trump, according to Insider. Mr McClanahan said that the evidence in the indictment that was unsealed on Friday afternoon is intended to show that Mr Trump “is a kingpin who knowingly broke the law, endangered national security, endangered nuclear weapon security, [and] endangered other countries’ national security”. The charges include 31 counts of “willful retention” of documents under the Espionage Act. The consensus among most legal experts commenting on the indictment appears to be that Mr Trump is in serious legal jeopardy. If Mr Trump is convicted, he could be sentenced to decades in prison. A former assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York, Sarah Krissoff, told Insider that “to the extent that there’s a conviction here, the Department of Justice is going to want to be seeking a real sentence” because of the “nature of the conduct, how long it lasted, his involvement, the involvement of other people, working allegedly at Trump’s direction”. She noted that if Mr Trump is convicted, the sentence would depend on the judge, which seems likely to be Trump-appointee Aileen Cannon in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Mr McClanahan noted the novelty of possibly having to find a proper way to put a former president behind bars. He questioned how the authorities would go about imprisoning someone “who has a Secret Service detail and who has national security secrets bouncing around his brain, such that if someone holds a shiv to his neck, he’ll reveal the location of our missile bases”. He added that Mr Trump might become a “foreign intelligence gold mine for most countries on earth” if he’s imprisoned. Mr McClanahan sees it as more likely that if Mr Trump is convicted, he would be sentenced to house arrest with an ankle monitor. But Ms Krissoff told the outlet that “Trump can share that information that is in his head whether he is incarcerated or not incarcerated. So I’m not particularly concerned that, as a citizen, the incarceration will trigger the sharing of information that wouldn’t be shared otherwise”. Fox News legal commentator Jonathan Turley didn’t hold back after the indictment was unsealed. Mr Trump showed classified documents to others twice in 2021, the legal filing states. Mr Turley, the Shapiro Chair of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, said on Fox News on Friday afternoon that “it is an extremely damning indictment”. “There are indictments that are sometimes called narrative or speaking indictments. These are indictments that are really meant to make a point as to the depth of the evidence, there are some indictments that are just bare bones,” he added. This is not one of those indictments, Mr Turley said. “The Special Counsel knew that there would be a lot of people who were going to allege that the Department of Justice was acting in a biased or politically motivated way. This is clearly an indictment that was drafted to answer those questions. It’s overwhelming in detail,” he continued. “The Trump team should not fool itself. These are hits below the waterline. These are witnesses who apparently testified under oath [and] gave statements to federal investigators, both of which can be criminally charged, if they’re false.” “Those witnesses are directly quoting the president in encouraging others not to look for documents or allegedly to conceal them. It’s damaging,” Mr Turley said. “This is not an indictment that you can dismiss. There are a lot of people who are testifying under oath, and they’re saying highly incriminating things,” the attorney added. Speaking about the images from Mar-a-Lago of the boxes of documents found in a ballroom and a bathroom, in addition to other less-than-ideal places, Mr Turley said, “It’s really breathtaking. Obviously, this is mishandling. Putting the classified documents into ballrooms and bathrooms borders on the bizarre. And these are the types of pictures that hit you below the waterline in a trial. “It’s hard to show a picture of these boxes surrounding a toilet and saying ‘we really acted responsibly,’” he added, going on to note that “the government is bringing dozens of counts – they only have to land one of those punches”. “Keep in mind that every one of these counts is coming with a substantial potential sentence,” Mr Turley said. The lawyer said that the Trump legal team has “to run the table, they have to take out every single count, or you’ve got a 76-year-old man looking at a potentially terminal sentence”. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump ‘plotted to hide documents from FBI after showing military docs to visitors’ Trump kept classified documents from seven agencies including CIA, DoD, and NSA Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’

NEW YORK (AP) — Liam Hendriks earned his first save since returning from cancer, Lucas Giolito pitched six hitless innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-2 on Tuesday night for their season-high fourth straight victory.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its targets for Japanese stocks after the market soared this year amid expectations

Silvio Berlusconi has died aged 86. The billionaire media mogul was Italy’s longest-serving premier and served three times as prime minister, despite being scarred by scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption. His death has divided opinion across Europe, with tributes being paid by some of his political allies and followers. From counting Russian president Vladimir Putin as a friend, to his notorious “bunga bunga” sex parties, take a look back at the life and career of modern Italy’s most polarising figure.

Jude Bellingham has extended his superb scoring run since joining Real Madrid after striking twice in a 4-0 win over Osasuna to help maintain its lead of the Spanish league

Jurors have begun deliberations at the rape retrial of “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson

'AGT' Season 18 judge Heidi Klum said 'I can't take this' as Thomas Vu set himself on fire

The Man Utd assistant coach who will take suspended Erik ten Hag's place on the touchline against Everton.