⚽ News and previews going into Sunday’s football action
⚽ Fixtures | Tables | Follow on Bluesky | Mail matchday live

And for a roundup of yesterday’s Championship action, click below.

Yesterday’s results

Brighton 2-1 Liverpool

Fulham 3-1 Burnley

Everton 3-0 Chelsea

Leeds United 0-0 Brentford

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• Iran vows to destroy Middle East water and energy facilities if US attacks power plants

Several blasts could be heard from Jerusalem on Sunday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military warned of incoming missile fire from Iran towards central Israel.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

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Circling back now to Diego Garcia, Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean – but neither of them hit, according to news reports citing US officials.

The Wall Street Journal said one of the missiles failed in flight, and that a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, citing two US officials. It could not be determined if an interception was made, one said.

⚽ Football updates as England squad announced
⚽ Things to look out for this weekend | Mail Xaymaca

So, who has been left out of the squad? The big omission is Trent Alexander-Arnold. The defender has started seven of Real Madrid’s last nine games after being out of favour earlier in the season. Reece James is also unavailable as he picked up a hamstring injury against Newcastle. It seems strange to leave him out of a 35-man squad.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Aaron Ramsdale, Jason Steele

President demands Congress passes the Save America act and claims Democrats do not want to vote for restrictive legislation ‘because they cheat’

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The US military is deploying thousands of additional marines and sailors to the Middle East, three US officials told Reuters on Friday.

One of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the USS Boxer, along with the marine expeditionary unit onboard, were departing the west coast of the US about three weeks ahead of schedule.

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Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the seizure of the tanker, which he said belonged to the Russian shadow fleet.

In a strongly worded post on X, he said:

“The French navy boarded this morning in the Mediterranean a new vessel from the shadow fleet, the Deyna.

The war in Iran will not divert France from its support for Ukraine, where Russia’s war of aggression continues.

Move to allow shipments already at sea comes amid a supply crisis and after US president says he does not ‘want to do a ceasefire’; IDF says it is attacking regime targets in Iran’s capital after strikes on Beirut

• US to send three more warships and thousands more troops, reports say

• How the Iran war has sent shocks rippling across the globe

Kuwait’s state oil firm KPC said its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by multiple drone attacks early on Friday, causing a fire in some units, with no initial casualties reported, the state news agency said.

Firefighters responded immediately, with several units shut down as a precaution to ensure workers’ safety.

Sanae Takaichi tells reporters she told Trump that Japan’s ability to deploy military forces overseas is limited by post-WWII constitution

• Trump news at a glance: president claims ignorance of Israel’s plan to strike Iranian gasfield, exposing rift

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Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets.

“They came into this fight with a lot of weapons.,” he said, adding that the US continues to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran.

Nigel Farage echoed Nick Timothy’s comments after he said public prayer for Ramadan was an ‘act of domination’

• Starmer claims Tories have ‘problem with Muslims’ after Timothy tweet

Cleverly is trying to show a video, but it is not working. So he just invites Kemi Badenoch to start her speech.

The Conservatives are launching their local elections campaign. There is a live feed here.

EU leaders fail to convince Viktor Orbán, shortly facing Hungarian elections, to drop his opposition to aid

Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for de-escalation in the Middle East, welcoming what he said were signals by US president Donald Trump that combat action in Iran could come to an end, which could allow Europe to contribute to securing peace in the region.

“I am expressly grateful that the US president sent a signal in this regard last night that he is prepared to bring the fighting to an end,” he told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels in comments reported by Reuters.

Committee chair Rand Paul and Markwayne Mullin exchange heated remarks at hearing to confirm new homeland security secretary

• Mullin never served in military but talks as if he did

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Rand Paul seemed immediately frustrated with Mullin as he opened the hearing. While he was speaking, he suggested that Mullin wasn’t listening to his remarks, during which he pushed Trump’s nominee on his vote against Paul’s amendment to stop all funding for refugee welfare programs.

“You decided to transfer the blame. You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted,” Paul said, referring to when he was attacked by a neighbor in Kentucky in 2017, which resulted in Paul breaking several ribs and developing pneumonia.

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Iran is still exporting millions of barrels of oil, with about 90 ships, including oil tankers, having crossed the strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the war with Iran, according to maritime and trade data platforms reports.

This is despite Iran saying it had closed the vital waterway to vessels from the US and its allies.

President says he will ‘never (ever) endorse anyone’ who votes against Save America act as Senate prepares to take up debate on controversial bill

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A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration has resigned over the ongoing war on Iran.

Joe Kent, who reported to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said that he “cannot in good conscience” support the joint conflict with Israel.

You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.

Iranian army chief Amir Hatami threatened to launch a ‘decisive and regrettable’ retaliation for the killing

• Full report: Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, killed in airstrike, Israel says

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

• Are fuel price increases making you cut back?

The head of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has said that naval escorts through the strait of Hormuz will not “100% guarantee” the safety of ships attempting to transit the waterway, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Military assistance was “not a long-term or sustainable solution” to opening up the strait, Arsenio Dominguez told the newspaper.

We are collateral damage of a conflict when the root causes have nothing to do with shipping.

Remaining in the area of the specified buildings exposes you to danger

The Trump administration has sought to end most enrollment in the program – and tried to strip the status from a string of countries

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Donald Trump drew a backlash on Sunday for suggesting US efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz were unnecessary – and that “maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all” because his country has plenty of oil of its own.

The president made the contradictory comment to reporters on Air Force One after pleading with European and Nato allies to enter the war in Iran to help the US secure the strait amid the largest oil supply disruption in history.

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Continued from previous post:

Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said she has no immediate plans to send her country’s maritime self-defence forces to help protect tanker traffic in the strait of Homuz.

We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done ⁠within the legal framework.

I would like to ⁠engage in solid discussions based on Japan’s views and position regarding the need for early de-escalation.

Trump says Nato faces ‘very bad’ future if US allies don’t help open strait of Hormuz; airport flights suspended after ‘drone incident’ causes fire in area

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Iraq’s football team will travel to Mexico for a 2026 World Cup playoff match despite calls for it to be postponed due to the Middle East war, the country’s football association has announced.

“The national team will depart at the end of the week to Mexico via a private plane,” said Iraq football association president Adnan Dirjal in a statement, adding they had contacted Fifa to help facilitate the trip during the conflict in the region that has hampered flights.

The US president said he did not want to make a deal with Iran yet, while claiming that he might hit Kharg Island again ‘just for fun’

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Iranian media has reported there is no damage to its oil infrastructure on Kharg Island, following US attacks that Trump claimed had “obliterated” military targets on the Island.

Iran’s armed forces have threatened to destroy US-linked oil infrastructure if its own energy facilities are hit. Kharg Island serves as the export terminal for 90% of Iran’s oil shipments.

Only some agencies within the DHS, including the Tsa and Fema, and the Coast Guard are affected by the shutdown

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Both Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine were asked today about energy secretary Chris Wright’s comments to CNBC on Thursday, where he said that the US Navy cannot escort ships through the strait of Hormuz now but it was “quite likely” that could happen by the end of the month.

Gen Caine appeared to agree with Wright’s assessment, calling the waterway a “tactically complex environment”.

Iranian military said in a statement that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that cooperated with the US would ‘immediately be destroyed’

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry is saying that two drones have been intercepted and destroyed in the eastern region.

More now after reports of explosions in Dubai on Friday morning: thick black smoke rose over the financial hub’s skyline after what authorities described as a fire in an industrial area of the city-state.