⚽ News, discussion and buildup before day’s action
⚽ Premier League things link | Email us here

As always, feel free to email in with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, observations and all that jazz. What are your plans for the weekend? Where will you be watching the football? Let me know!

How the Premier League table looks as things stand…

Motion submitted by Virginia house speaker paves way for appeal to Friday’s ruling striking down recently passed redistricting referendum

• Virginia supreme court strikes down new congressional maps in win for Republicans

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A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest on the conflict in the Middle East. Including secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to Rome, to mend strained relations with Italian leaders and the Vatican after Donald Trump chided Pope Leo XIV for his stance on the war in Iran.

Rubio told reporters in Rome that the US should get a response on Friday from Iran to its proposal to end the war.

⚽ All the latest news and previews going into a big weekend
⚽ Premier League preview | Fixtures | Tables | Mail Dominic

Premier League: The press conferences from the Premier League managers are coming thick and fast. Before we get to those, here is what can be decided this weekend.

European qualification: With Manchester United joining Arsenal and Manchester City in securing Champions League football next season after beating Liverpool last weekend, there are just two guaranteed spots left in Europe’s top-tier club competition. Liverpool and Aston Villa currently sit fourth and fifth respectively, with the Arne Slot’s side hosting Chelsea on Saturday and Villa travelling to Burnley on Sunday. Both sides will confirm Champions League qualification if they win and sixth-placed Bournemouth drop points away to Fulham on Saturday. A draw will also be enough for Liverpool and Villa if Bournemouth lose. However, sixth place could yet earn Champions League qualification. That will be the case if Villa finish fifth in the Premier League and go on to win the Europa League.

Relegation: Leeds and Forest both moved a step closer to securing their Premier League status thanks to 3-1 wins last week, beating Burnley at home and Chelsea away respectively. Victory for Leeds at Tottenham on Monday will guarantee their top-flight status for next season regardless of results elsewhere – though they will be safe before a ball has been kicked in north London if West Ham lose at home to Arsenal on Sunday. If West Ham draw with Arsenal, Leeds will be safe with a draw against Spurs. Forest will also be safe if they win at home against Newcastle on Sunday and West Ham fail to do so later in the day against Arsenal. A draw will be enough for Forest if Arsenal go on to beat West Ham.

Centcom says it has struck two tankers heading for Iran after Tehran warned Washington was violating fragile ceasefire; two days of ‘intensive talks’ between Israel and Lebanon slated as strikes continue in the region

• Ceasefire under threat after strikes exchanged in strait

The ship monitor Tanker Trackers has posted the following on X about the Ocean Koi oil tanker:

Her new name is actually JIN LI (9255933), and has been so since 2025-11-30. Examining our data, we can see that she’s transported various Iranian hydrocarbons on at least 16 occasions since 2021; and with full knowledge of Iran because half of her loadings were conducted directly at port in Iran while the other half were conducted via Ship-to-Ship transfer further out.

JIN LI’s ownership is based in Shanghai, China. The vessel was slapped with sanctions by US OFAC on 2026-02-25.

Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat with party pushed into third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform

• 2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votes

• 2026 elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directions

We’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.

For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:

We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling highs, that this will be a difficult set of elections for us. But we will continue to rebuild and to show the public that we have changed, to demonstrate that only this new Conservative party is a credible alternative.

People are deeply disappointed with a Labour government that has been too timid to fix the country, but they are also appalled by the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics. While those on the extremes of the right and the left want to burn everything down, Liberal Democrats want to fix what’s broken. Every Liberal Democrat local champion elected today will fight tirelessly for the communities they serve.

I’ve travelled across England and Wales and I’m hearing the same everywhere I go – confidence that we will win more councillors than ever before. The news from the doorstep is that we will be taking seats from not just Labour but the Tories and Lib Dems too, from all across the country. Voters are responding to the fact that Greens are the only party taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously, with real plans to cut bills, reduce rents and provide genuinely affordable homes, as well as tackling the climate and nature crisis.

Throughout this election, we have heard a clear appetite for change. People want a government that will stand up for Wales and focus relentlessly on the key issues affecting their lives. People have told us they have been inspired by Rhun ap Iorwerth’s leadership and driven by a desire for a positive alternative to Reform UK’s chaos and division.

Iran accuses US of targeting two ships in the strait and attacking civilian areas; US Central Command says it responded to ‘unprovoked Iranian attacks’ in strait

The European Union is set to tell airlines the impact from the Iran war on tourism is not yet severe enough to justify emergency measures for the sector, draft EU guidelines seen by Reuters showed.

“The current situation does not point to the need for dedicated measures for the tourism sector, unlike during the COVID-19 crisis,” said the draft EU guidelines, which the European Commission is due to publish on Friday.

Ro Khanna criticizes commerce secretary after closed-door interview about ties to Jeffrey Epstein as Democrats call performance ‘embarrassing’

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It’s worth noting, ahead of Howard Lutnick’s closed-door testimony before House oversight committee members today, that the commerce secretary has refused to answer questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein from lawmakers during congressional hearings on Capitol Hill over the last month.

In April, Represenative Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, asked whether the president expressed “concerns” about the commerce secretary’s relationship with Epstein. Lutnick refused to comment.

Statement comes after Trump’s threats to escalate bombing if Iran doesn’t agree deal and IRGC suggestions the strait of Hormuz could reopen

The UK work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has warned that job losses “could happen” in Britain due to the economic impacts of the Iran war.

He said the UK economy was “going in the right direction” at the start of the year and unemployment figures for February showed a decline. He added that interest rates were expected to come down and the markets were pricing in cuts during the course of the year.

UK maritime trade agency report comes as US is keen to portray ‘Project Freedom’ as defensive rescue effort for mariners stuck in Gulf

• US-Iran truce teeters on meltdown as stalemate takes toll on each side

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is travelling to Beijing later today for talks with his Chinese counterpart “on bilateral relations and regional and international developments”, his ministry said on its Telegram account.

While Beijing condemned the initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran which started the war in late February, China has largely adopted a posture of neutrality ever since and has urged for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

Supreme court issued a temporary order to restore access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail on Monday

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The supreme court issued a temporary order to restore access to the abortion pill mifepristone by mail on Monday.

This comes after two companies who manufacture mifepristone the drug filed an emergency appeal to the court on Saturday asking it to halt a court decision that would require an in‑person exam before the medication can be prescribed.

US president’s comment echoes threat that ‘whole civilisation will die’ as tension over strait of Hormuz ramps up again

• Donald Trump sends warships to break Iran’s strait of Hormuz blockade

We have a bit more of the statement from Maj Gen Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, who said earlier that the US or any other foreign armed forces would be attacked if they entered the strait of Hormuz (see post at 07.39 for more details). Abdollahi also said:

We will maintain and vigorously manage the security of the strait of Hormuz with all our might, and we inform all commercial ships and tankers to refrain from any attempt to transit without the coordination of the armed forces stationed in the strait of Hormuz, so as not to jeopardise their security.

President says ‘a small amount of weapons were sent and we’ll see who has them’ after news about weapons intended for Iranian protesters

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Meanwhile, the White House has said it will not detail private diplomatic conversations when Reuters asked about Iran’s new proposal to the United States that was submitted to Pakistani mediators.

“We do not detail private diplomatic conversations. President Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and negotiations continue to ensure the short- and long-term national security of the United States,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters.

I do have the impression from some of the briefings that I have received, as well as other sources, that an imminent military strike is very much on the table.

There really is no coherent strategy, which came across very vividly and graphically in the hearing today with Secretary Hegseth.

And it comes across in the president’s comments, which oscillate between seeming open to negotiation and then foreclosing it entirely and threatening destruction of civilizations.

Questions for Trump’s defense secretary fall along partisan lines – Democrats make critical points as Republicans give Hegseth the chance to flaunt war successes

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Louisiana governor Jeff Landry yesterday told GOP candidates that he plans to suspend next month’s primary elections so that state lawmakers can pass a new congressional map first, the Washington Post (paywall) reported last night.

It came hours after the US supreme court decided that Louisiana’s creation of a second majority black congressional district to satisfy previously rulings relied too heavily on race and was “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander”, as opposed to a required effort to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

PM calls Cobra meeting after condemning ‘appalling antisemitic attack’; man with ‘history of serious violence and mental health issues’ arrested

Specialist officers from Counter Terrorism Policing are leading the investigation and working with police to establish the full circumstances and any links to terrorism, the Met said in a statement.

Head of counter terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said:

Whilst I must stress this investigation is at an early stage, we are working quickly to understand exactly what happened.

Thank you to those who were in the area at the time and supported the response to this terrible incident.

Our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. We are grateful to officers who swiftly Tasered and arrested the suspect before he could cause further harm.

We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area. A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.

An investigation is under way and a man has been arrested following a stabbing incident in Barnet.

At 11:16hrs on Wednesday 29 April, officers responded following reports of people stabbed in Highfield Avenue.

NAACP decries 6-3 decision that ruled Louisiana must redraw its congressional map, a landmark case that guts major section of Voting Rights Act

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• US supreme court ‘demolishes’ key Voting Rights Act provision that prevented racial discrimination

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a key policy meeting, likely the last chaired by central bank chief Jerome Powell, a frequent target of president Donald Trump’s ire.

Policymakers will weigh the risks of surging energy prices and snarled supply chains due to the US-Israel war on Iran, with analysts widely expecting a third pause in a row as the effects of the conflict ripple through the world’s largest economy.

US president claims Friedrich Merz ‘doesn’t know what he’s talking about’ after German leader criticised US strategy in Iran

• US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says Friedrich Merz

• Hezbollah drone strikes target Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon

Saudi Arabia is to host a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah later today, in what will be first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became dragged into the war.

A Gulf official told the Reuters news agency that the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on 28 February.

Sources say country wants US to end its blockade as part of proposal but has not addressed its nuclear programme

Iran is proposing that shipping companies should pay charges for specific services when they cross the strait of Hormuz, in a move that would enable it to raise money from shipping traffic without presenting the payment as a toll.

Iran’s framing is designed to maximise political and legal support for the plan it is developing with Oman. Iran has made a solution to its demands an essential precondition to winding down the conflict, including an end to its effective blockade of the Strait and the counter-blockade of Iranian ports being mounted by the US Navy.

President says he ‘wasn’t worried’ about injuries during the commotion: ‘I understand life. We live in a crazy world’

• Suspected gunman at White House press dinner named

Donald Trump took to Trump Social on Sunday to repeat his statement from the night before in which he said the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner was why a White House ballroom was necessary.

“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote.

It does appear the suspect was targeting members of the administration … We don’t have specifics yet about particular members of the administration, except that we do understand that that was his goal and his target.

⚽ Keep up with a big day in Scottish title race
⚽ All Sunday’s latest scores and results

Arsenal, the holders, take on Lyon in the Women’s Champions League.

Suzanne Wrack has spoken to Olivia Smith: “As the season reaches its climax, a Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday is testament to how far up the ladder Smith has climbed. Now, she is heading towards unknown territory: a second season at the same club for the first time in her senior career. “I do feel quite calm now, knowing that I have set down some roots here, but at the end of the day, football is football and you never know what’s next,” she says. “So I’m always on my toes but, right now, I’m kind of laid-back, just enjoying the time here in the present with Arsenal and looking forward to winning more silverware and growing as a player and a person.”

I sorted out my mind: “Come on, Gigi,” I said to myself, and I gave myself strength: “When the game is over you can stop playing football. Just take on this hour and a half and then say goodbye to it all.”

President and other top leaders evacuated from annual dinner after shots fired

• Suspect in custody after Trump evacuated in shooting incident

• White House correspondents’ dinner shooting – what we know

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CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said he was within a few feet of the shooter, and called into CNN to describe his observations.

Blitzer said he saw “a very, very serious weapon. He starts shooting, and I happened to have been a few feet away from him. As he was shooting, of course, the first thing that went through my mind: is he trying to shoot me? And I don’t think he was trying to shoot me, but I was very close to him as the gunshots were fired and he was very, very scary. But I’m OK, now.”