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By Howard Schneider BOSTON Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said on Friday she remained optimistic the U.S.

It’s another sweltering Saturday evening in Singapore, and the air conditioning at the ION Orchard shopping mall is

The Green Bay Packers' offense is a mess, but rookie wideout Jayden Reed continues to impress despite the difficult circumstances.

Jim Chanos, the legendary short-seller known for his bearish bets against Enron and Tesla Inc., is shuttering his

Sam Altman, one of the most prominent figures in the world of artificial intelligence, is being forced out

Portugal’s government bond rating was raised two levels by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the economy’s “solid” medium-term

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has told Evan Ferguson to play without pressure as he attempts to enhance his blossoming reputation on the international stage. The 19-year-old striker has shaken off a back injury to make himself available for Saturday evening’s final Euro 2024 qualifier against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and the chance to add to his tally of three goals in eight senior appearances for his country. Ferguson’s presence at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where he played in Brighton’s 2-0 Europa League win over Ajax last week, will excite the travelling support, although Kenny is keen not to place too much weight on his young shoulders. He said: “It’s important not to expect too much. We’ve to be cognisant of his age. He’s made the breakthrough and played international football at 18. “He’s just turned 19. He’s got an all-round game and a few goals already for Ireland. “He was in this stadium last week, of course. He’s been very positive this week, very positive. “He could easily have pulled out of the squad or opted to pull out having not been available for his club last week. “He’s here, determined to well and deserves a lot of credit for that. We’re looking forward to it. “There’ll be no pressure on him tomorrow. We want him to enjoy his football and show his quality.” Ferguson missed September’s 2-1 home defeat by the Dutch – who would clinch their place at the finals along with leaders France with a win – due to a knee injury and was a frustrated bystander as Cody Gakpo’s penalty and a second goal from substitute Wout Weghorst overhauled Adam Idah’s opener. That has been the story for much of a disappointing Group B campaign in which Ireland have beaten Gibraltar home and away, but have otherwise failed to pick up a single point. Asked how much that had affected morale, Preston midfielder Alan Browne said: “Not as much as you might think. “Given the circumstances, the opposition that we faced, it doesn’t hurt as much. When you try to go toe-to-toe with those teams and you’re not far off, you can take bit of credit, a bit of confidence from that. “We try to stay as positive as we can. I’m not saying we’re happy to lose games – we’re obviously disappointed after every game we lose, even draws to a certain extent. When you see it back and see all the positives and the moments that have cost you, you kind of think there’s not an awful lot in it Republic of Ireland midfielder Alan Browne “We reflect on those games, we analyse them. When you see it back and see all the positives and the moments that have cost you, you kind of think there’s not an awful lot in it. “Hopefully – it’s not going to be this campaign, but going into the next and the ones after it – if we can benefit from those performances and change those losses or draws into wins or into draws and keep accumulating as many point as we can, we can find ourselves in a better position.” Read More England continue unbeaten Euro 2024 qualifying run with victory over Malta Wembley celebrates life of Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of England’s Malta qualifier Alan Browne says Republic upsetting Netherlands ‘would mean an awful lot’ Stephen Kenny’s last dance? 5 talking points as the Republic face Netherlands Golden Boy award recognises Jude Bellingham’s irrepressible rise at Real Madrid Fine finish hands Nicolai Hojgaard two-shot lead at halfway stage in Dubai

Michael O’Neill could point to individual and collective mistakes after Northern Ireland lost 4-0 to Finland in their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier but the inexperience of his young squad played a major role in Helsinki. Northern Ireland played well for much of the first half but fell behind to Joel Pohjanpalo’s penalty just before the break, and Daniel Hakans then doubled the lead three minutes into the second half before substitutes Teemu Pukki and Robin Lod added to the score late on. Ross McCausland made his debut from the start only days after being drafted in as injury cover on Monday, and there was also a late debut for Michael Forbes with O’Neill trying to make up for the raft of missing players. But it was a sadly familiar story as O’Neill’s men were unable to capitalise on early chances before being punished at the other end. “We played very well for 40 minutes in the game I thought,” O’Neill said. “We had a plan to make ourselves difficult to beat and to contain Finland and we did it very well, I can’t remember them having any opportunities in that period… “We created one or two half chances we could have done better with. Then the penalty, for all the work you do in the first 40 minutes you end up going in 1-0 down at half-time because of a penalty.” Isaac Price clipped Nikolai Alho on the edge of the box before Pohjanpalo sent Conor Hazard the wrong way. “Probably it’s a challenge he’s better off not attempting,” O’Neill said. “There’s not a lot of contact but there’s enough. The player wasn’t really in a position to shoot, we could possibly have been able to block the shot… “I was really pleased with the first 40 minutes but obviously by 48 minutes you’re in a really difficult position.” Hakans’ strike was in many ways the killer blow, coming so early in the second half. The Valerenga winger skipped through four challenges before exchanging passes with Glen Kamara, beating Hazard at his near post. O’Neill was disappointed with his stand-in goalkeeper, but also accepted more experienced players might have stopped the run by fair means or foul much further from goal. “It’s a shot that I would not expect to beat my goalkeeper at the near post,” O’Neill said. “You have to recognise the danger and there’s points in the game where maybe you have to make a technical foul as they call it and we didn’t do that. I felt probably that was something that if I was to be critical of, we didn’t win enough of those types of challenges through the 90 minutes.” When Finland then introduced Pukki off the bench, with the former Norwich striker scoring the third and creating the fourth, the game quickly went away from Northern Ireland. “That has been the big difference, the attacking players some of the opposition have had and we saw that tonight with goals three and four,” O’Neill said. “We’ve got a group of players where a lot of them are new to international football. This is their first campaign. They’re coming into games and the games are going away from them. As a manager I have to support them and back them. “They have to learn on the job and they’re having to learn quickly.” The good news is that this miserable qualifying campaign is almost over, with only Monday’s match at home to Denmark remaining. “When you come out of a defeat you look at the game from a tactical point of view and a performance point of view but what’s most important as a staff and a coach and a group of players is that people don’t question your character or mentality,” O’Neill said. “That’s what we have to show again on Monday night.” Read More Finland put Northern Ireland to the sword in Helsinki Trent Alexander-Arnold receiving the keys to England’s midfield suggests one thing England labour to win over Malta in front of bored Wembley crowd Finland put Northern Ireland to the sword in Helsinki Jarell Quansah keen to become ‘top centre-back’ after Liverpool breakthrough On this day in 2004: John Toshack becomes Wales boss on five-year deal

England’s final home match of the year will be remembered for the pre-match tributes to Sir Bobby Charlton rather than the football that followed as Gareth Southgate’s side limped to a 2-0 win against Malta. Friday’s European Championship qualifier at Wembley saw the senior men’s team play their first match since the incredible 1966 World Cup winner died at the age of 86 last month. A fan mosaic, video montage and minute’s applause formed part of a fitting farewell to Charlton before the current crop made hard work of a simple assignment against the side ranked 171st in the world. Southgate is dealing with a number of absentees right now and his side are already assured of qualification for Euro 2024, but this was hardly the entertaining display he hoped to put on for the 81,388 in attendance. It could have been worse given Teddy Teuma went close to a famous Maltese goal 28 seconds into a Group C encounter, but the hosts went ahead as Enrico Pepe turned Phil Foden’s cross into his own net. Harry Kane was furious to see the referee book him for diving rather than pointing to the penalty spot as a tepid clash continued, with the Euro 2020 runners-up failing to muster a first-half shot on target for the first time in six years. Things did not improve much after half-time but a rare moment of attacking coherency and quick-thinking saw Kane strike home 15 minutes from time. Substitute Declan Rice saw a third ruled out for a contentious offside call on a night that all but assured England’s place among the top seeds in December’s Euro 2024 draw. Southgate named a surprisingly-strong side against the Mediterranean minnows on Friday, showing just five changes from last month’s win against Italy. Conor Gallagher was among those brought in and breathing a sigh of relief after he was dispossessed and Teuma flashed just wide from the edge of the box inside the opening minute. It was a close shave and England quickly went ahead thanks to a moment of Maltese misfortune, with Foden’s attempted cutback ricocheting off Pepe and beating goalkeeper Henry Bonello. Southgate’s side would not give up that eighth-minute lead, nor build on it during a lifeless first-half display. Malta were far more impressive than they had been in June’s reverse fixture and Paul Mbong fired over after Harry Maguire saw a lax pass cut out. England musted just two attempts across a wretched first half that saw fans entertain themselves with Mexican waves and paper planes. They should, though, have seen a penalty after Kane went down as he rounded goalkeeper Bonello. The skipper turned around expecting a spot-kick, only for referee Luis Godinho to show him a yellow card for simulation. The on-field decision was allowed to stand by the VAR. Kyle Walker and Bukayo Saka replaced Gallagher and Fikayo Tomori at the break. Maguire’s deflected, looping header from a corner was easily gathered and Marcus Rashford continued to be frustrated by Malta’s backline as the qualifier limped on. Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold collided and the former was replaced by debutant Cole Palmer, while Rice came on for Jordan Henderson. The veteran again received boos from some fans. Alexander-Arnold, deployed in midfield, saw a shot saved by Bonello and whipped another attempt over as England pushed for a second, which came through the familiar boot of Kane after 75 minutes. Malta were dogged in their defending but quick interplay involving Walker, Foden and Saka ended with Kane firing home from close range. A minute later England appeared to have added gloss to the scoreline. Rice collected the ball, burst forward and whipped a fizzing 20-yard strike past Bonello, only for the goal to be ruled out upon VAR review for Kane being offside. Yannick Yankam thrashed the ball just wide and Alexander-Arnold nearly caught out Malta’s goalkeeper as the clock wound down. Many fans made an early exit and groans met the announcement that there would be six minutes of added time as the night ended in a 2-0 England win, just like Southgate’s first match against the same opposition in October 2016. Read More Michael O’Neill urges Northern Ireland to stick to plan Wembley celebrates life of Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of England’s Malta qualifier Alan Browne says Republic upsetting Netherlands ‘would mean an awful lot’ Stephen Kenny’s last dance? 5 talking points as the Republic face Netherlands Golden Boy award recognises Jude Bellingham’s irrepressible rise at Real Madrid Fine finish hands Nicolai Hojgaard two-shot lead at halfway stage in Dubai

The New York judge presiding over the state’s civil fraud case against Donald Trump rejected the former president’s

LONDON U.S. defence company Northrop Grumman has pulled out of a competition to supply narrowband military satellite communications

Wembley celebrated the life of World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton ahead of England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta. Heartfelt tributes from across the footballing world poured in after Charlton’s death last month – with this the first England home game since. The 1966 World Cup great, who scored 49 England goals in a fine career which also saw him win the European Cup with Manchester United, was remembered in a video montage introduced by Sir Geoff Hurst. A crowd mosaic was held up during the national anthem before a moment of remembrance was held ahead of kick-off. Both teams gathered around the centre circle as the number nine shirt so associated with Charlton was laid down before applause rang around the sold-out stadium. Read More Finland put Northern Ireland to the sword in Helsinki Alan Browne says Republic upsetting Netherlands ‘would mean an awful lot’ Stephen Kenny’s last dance? 5 talking points as the Republic face Netherlands