
Treason, contempt, exposing secrets. Legal challenges against Pakistan's Imran Khan keep growing
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been granted bail by the country’s Supreme Court in a case related to a lawyer’s murder last year
2023-07-25 02:25

Former England striker Trevor Francis, the first £1m player, dies at age of 69
Trevor Francis, British football’s first million-pound player, has died at the age of 69. The ex-Birmingham and England striker, who scored Nottingham Forest’s winner in their 1979 European Cup final triumph, earned 52 England caps and later guided Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham to major finals as a manager. Plymouth-born Francis burst onto the scene as a teenager with Birmingham, making his first-team debut at 16 in 1970. “He died in Spain this morning from a heart attack,” said a spokesperson. Forest shattered the British transfer record when they paid £1.15m for him in 1979, although manager Brian Clough famously claimed the fee was £999,999 to take pressure off the player. He started his career at Birmingham, playing 328 times and scoring 133 goals. In 1971, at just 16 years old, he became the youngest ever player to score four times in Football League history in the Blues’ 4-0 win over Bolton. At international level, he played for England 52 times between 1976 and 1986, scoring 12 goals, and played at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He earned his record move to Forest in 1979 and headed the winner in the 1-0 victory over Malmo to win the European Cup just a few months later. Francis missed the European Cup win over Hamburg a year later through injury and joined Manchester City in 1981. Spells at Sampdoria, where he won the Coppa Italia, Atalanta, Rangers and QPR – where he was player-manager – followed. He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1990 before he replaced Ron Atkinson as manager. Under Francis, the Owls finished third in the old First Division in his first season in charge before finishing seventh in the newly created Premier League while also being runners-up to Arsenal in the 1993 FA Cup and League Cup finals. He left in 1995 and returned to Birmingham the following year, reaching the play-offs three times and also the 2001 League Cup final where they lost to Liverpool. Francis left St Andrew’s in October 2001 and joined Crystal Palace soon after, leaving the Eagles in 2003 in what was his last job. Francis spent half a year in Spain and the rest in Solihull. He suffered a heart attack 11 years ago and had kept himself fit with daily power walks. He had an annual health check through the League Managers’ Association and, according to his spokesman, was “enjoying life very much having eventually got over the death of his wife”. Helen passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Today at the World Cup: Ary Borges hat-trick has Brazil up and running James Anderson could play until he’s 50, says Saqib Mahmood We’re massively up for it – Zak Crawley says England hungry to end on Oval high
2023-07-25 02:18

Following a historic start, the slumping Rays are suddenly playing catch-up in the AL East
Baseball’s best team for much of this season has seen a historic start give way to a July swoon that’s loosened its stranglehold on the top record in the American League
2023-07-25 02:15

Crawley adamant England still 'massively up' for Ashes finale
England batsman Zak Crawley has insisted the hosts will have no trouble motivating themselves for this week's fifth Test against Australia even though they can...
2023-07-25 01:57

NY Mets: 4 monstrous trade packages for Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer
As the New York Mets come to terms with a selling mentality, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are on the trade block.It's been a disappointing season for the New York Mets, but the team is in a decent position to retool for the 2024 campaign, should they make the right decisions.Tradin...
2023-07-25 01:55

Tesla Looks Abroad to Keep Growth Going as US Revenue Plateaus
Fresh off weeks in which it started taking orders in Malaysia and exhibited at a motorsports festival in
2023-07-25 01:55

US Supreme Court asked to set aside ruling that blocks construction on Mountain Valley Pipeline
The state of West Virginia is appealing a court ruling that temporarily blocked construction on a contentious natural gas pipeline
2023-07-25 01:52

Biden supporters exploit Republican’s $1 donation cashback campaign pledge: ‘I gave $1 to you and $20 to Biden’
Republican presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum is offering $20 gift cards to donors who give $1 to his campaign — but some supporters of Joe Biden say they have been funneling the gift card money to the president’s re-election campaign. Mr Burgum’s campaign site says: “Donate $1 and receive a $20 gift card!” The Republican candidate also took a direct hit at Mr Biden, “The burden on American families caused by the Democrats is unruly, and Joe Biden is doing nothing to fix it. We want to help, so we’re offering YOU a $20 gift card, and all YOU have to do is contribute $1 to claim it.” The gift cards are ironically called “Biden inflation relief gift cards.” However, some donors say they are taking advantage of the extra cash and sending it to the incumbent. One Twitter user wrote, “I gave @DougBurgum $1 so he would send me $20. Then I gave the $20 to @JoeBiden.” He attached photos of his donations. Another user tweeted that he “donated $1 to Doug Burgum and turned around and donated $20 to Joe Biden.” Yet another said, “Ok I gave him $1 and when my $20 gift card arrives I will give Biden-Harris a $19 contribution in honor of Doug Burgum.” “We passed the 40,000 mark today. We’ve got more gift cards to give out. We’re going to keep on going,” the North Dakota governor said, indicating he reached the unique donor threshold to qualify for the GOP presidential primary in August. Still, Fivethirtyeight shows Gov Burgum polling average at a mere 0.1 per cent. Former President Donald Trump is handily leading the Republican polls, with 51 per cent. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis is trailing him with only 18.9 per cent. Read More Joe Biden is breaking his promise to end the federal death penalty The presidential candidates who have so far met criteria to join first RNC debate Who is running for president in 2024?
2023-07-25 01:50

Ben Shapiro mocked for dressing like Ken amid furious rants against Barbie movie
The internet is roasting Ben Shapiro after he watched the Barbie movie wearing an outfit that was almost identical to the one Ryan Gosling wears as Ken. On 21 July, the conservative commentator tweeted a photo of himself inside a movie theatre where he attended a screening of the new Barbie film, which stars Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie doll and Ryan Gosling as her paramour, Ken. “My producers dragged me to see ‘Barbie’ and it was one of the most woke movies I have ever seen,” Shapiro wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of himself wearing a black T-shirt tucked into a pair of black pants with a matching black belt. “My full review of this flaming garbage heap of a film will be out on my YouTube channel tomorrow at 10am ET.” Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for many Barbie fans to point out that Shapiro was seemingly wearing the exact outfit that Gosling wears as Ken during the film’s musical performance of “I’m Just Ken”. “You hated it so much you cosplayed as a Ken,” replied one user on Twitter. “My brother in Christ, you are wearing a Ken cosplay,” another person joked. “I hated it so much I had to dress like ken and get a cute outfit photo with the movie poster,” a third person said, while someone else wrote: “Ken Shapiro out here pretending he was ‘dragged’ to this movie while giving full Kenergy.” Despite his accidental Ken fashion moment, Ben Shapiro proceeded to post a 43-minute scathing review about the “woke” Warner Bros film. “Well, folks, wasting two hours of my precious time, two hours I will never get back, two hours around my deathbed I will wish that I had not spent that time doing. It makes me viscerally angry,” he said, waving a notepad at the viewers and setting fire to a Barbie doll in the clip. Shapiro condemned Gosling’s portrayal of Ken as “annoying and ridiculous” and criticised the film for including a transgender Barbie character, played by actor Hari Nef. The conservative commentator argued that many parts of the film are too mature for a younger audience, as he claimed that his theatre was full of “youngish and middle-aged moms” with their “six, seven and eight-year-old girls”. He also refuted that the real world in the film has a patriarchal system, and pointed to the women-centric cast and crew of Barbie. “I mean, Greta Gerwig is a lady. She’s making a good living off of this,” Shapiro said. “Margot Robbie is playing the lead. In fact, the entire cast aside from basically Ryan Gosling is women, so it seems like women are doing okay.” Ben Shapiro isn’t the only conservative to share their Barbie hot takes. Last week, Republican congressman Matt Gaetz and his wife Ginger Gaetz attended the red carpet premiere of Barbie at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. After the Barbie screening, his wife took to Twitter to share her list of critiques, including that the film “neglects to address any notion of faith or family” and that it contained “disappointingly low T from Ken”. “Thinking about watching the Barbie movie? I’d recommend sticking to getting outfit inspiration and skipping the theater,” she tweeted. “Here’s why: The Barbie I grew up with was a representation of limitless possibilities, embracing diverse careers and feminine empowerment. The 2023 Barbie movie, unfortunately, neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalize the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively (yuck).” Ginger Gaetz concluded her Barbie review by listing what she felt were the pros and cons of the movie. “Pros: Margot Robbie’s performance, Stunning costume design, Amazing soundtrack,” she wrote. “Cons: Unfortunate portrayal of big dreams causing anxiety instead of inspiration, Disappointingly low T from Ken, Unfair treatment of pregnant Barbie Midge.” Despite Barbie’s negative reviews from conservative commentators calling the newly-released film “woke”, the live-action movie is estimated to amass more than $300m (£233m) internationally, making it the most successful opening of an original non-superhero film ever. Read More Ben Shapiro mocked for posting 43-minute video rant about Barbie movie as he sets fire to doll Barbie on track to earn biggest ever box office opening for non-superhero film With ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig breaks a box office record for female directors America Ferrera points out ‘revolutionary’ detail in original Barbie Dreamhouse America Ferrera reveals her guilty pleasure is ‘not showering for a few days’ Mattel accused of ‘stealth marketing’ after giving away free Barbie dolls in schools
2023-07-25 01:50

Braves land relievers Pierce Johnson and Taylor Hearn in trades with Rockies and Rangers
The NL-leading Atlanta Braves traded for a pair of relievers, acquiring right-hander Pierce Johnson from Colorado and lefty Taylor Hearn from Texas
2023-07-25 01:49

Denny Hamlin courts controversy, counts victories at Pocono after milestone 50th win in Cup
Denny Hamlin became just the 15 driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win 50 races
2023-07-25 01:29

Challenge to Florida drag shows law won't go to trial until next spring
A trial to determine if a new Florida law targeting drag shows is constitutional won’t start until next spring
2023-07-25 01:28