The 49ers were part of the US consortium who took control of Rangers last year but York is not involved in the day-to-day running of the club.

Rangers and Leeds have both said they will not be commenting.

The 49ers said: “As this is a legal matter, which has been resolved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time.”

York became a co-owner of Rangers through 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm linked to the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, where he serves as chief executive and principal owner.

In May 2025, a consortium led by US businessman Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises completed a takeover of Rangers after acquiring a controlling 51% stake in the Scottish Premiership club.

Cavenagh became Rangers chairman, with 49ers Enterprises taking a leading role in the club’s ownership.

The takeover followed months of negotiations and brought Rangers under majority American-backed ownership.

49ers Enterprises first invested in Leeds United in 2018 when the club was in the Championship, steadily increasing its investment as the Whites returned to the Premier League following a 16-year absence, before assuming full control in 2023.

As an NFL owner, York is subject to league policies. “We are aware of the matter which will be reviewed under the personal conduct policy,” the NFL said.

August 25 is an incredibly painful day for the Rohingya. It marks the anniversary of the 2017 genocidal campaign by the Myanmar military. Babies and young children were thrown into fires. Women and young girls were systematically gang-raped and mutilated. Entire families were slaughtered as they fled. Others were trapped inside their homes and burned alive. More than 700,000 of our people were forced to flee to Bangladesh.

The Rohingya, who are an ethnic Muslim-majority group who speak their own language from the Indo-Aryan family, have long faced discrimination and persecution in Myanmar.

Today, about 1.2 million Rohingya remain trapped in camps in Bangladesh, while a new wave of persecution is forcing more Rohingya from their homes in Rakhine state. Others are risking their lives at sea in a desperate search for safety.

In this desperate situation, there is a ray of hope raised by international justice proceedings in Argentina and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Still, the international community is falling short in fulfilling its commitments to ensure accountability and protect the Rohingya.

The genocide never stopped

Over the past two years, the balance of power in Rakhine has dramatically changed. The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine armed group, now controls most of the state, including the main Rohingya areas in the north. But the brutality and persecution Rohingya face have not ended.

As the AA has consolidated its control, evidence has mounted of mass killings and targeted attacks on civilians, documenting what Rohingya communities have been warning of.

Rohingya also face forced recruitment, forced labour, detention and severe restrictions on movement. Sexual violence, a hallmark of the Rohingya genocide, is continuing under AA authority.

Rohingya in Rakhine report that the violence and oppression they now face from the AA is just as brutal as the Myanmar military’s ethnic cleansing in 2017. Taken together, we see these abuses as part of a deliberate strategy to drive Rohingya from their homes and continue their erasure from Myanmar.

The same anti-Rohingya racism that drove decades of persecution by the Myanmar military is also at the heart of the AA’s treatment of the Rohingya. The perpetrators may have changed, but the dehumanisation and denial of our identity and rights continue.

The AA is completing what the Myanmar military started. Rohingya are being driven from their villages and prevented from returning, while their land is confiscated and new Rakhine settlements are built on it, sometimes by Rohingya coerced into forced labour. The possibility of return is being destroyed in real time.

Nowhere safe to go

More than 150,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late 2023, just as international humanitarian funding for refugees is being slashed. Learning centres in Cox’s Bazar have closed and essential services are being cut. Children who fled genocide are growing up without education or hope for their future. Others were born in the camps and have never known a life outside them. The international community is allowing an entire generation of Rohingya children to be abandoned.

Rohingya are being forced to choose between continuing persecution in their homeland and hunger, insecurity and an increasingly desperate existence in camps.

For those forced to flee, there is often no safe route to protection. The very people forcing Rohingya to flee are often involved in and profiting from their trafficking as they try to escape. In July, two boats carrying more than 500 Rohingya, including children and young people, sank after leaving Rakhine. No one would put their children on such a dangerous journey unless staying was even more dangerous.

Meanwhile, there is growing anti-Rohingya sentiment in countries that host them as refugees. Governments talk about Rohingya returning home while more are being forced out and the land they would return to is being taken. We want to go home. But we want to go home with our rights: citizenship, equal rights and the right to return to our own land.

Nine years of impunity

For nine years, the Myanmar military leaders responsible for genocide against Rohingya have faced no real consequences. The architects of the genocide remain free, while the same military has gone on to commit atrocities against communities across Myanmar. Accountability is not only about the past. It is about stopping the violence happening now and preventing further atrocities.

The world cannot repeat the same failure with the Arakan Army. We have seen this pattern before and know where it leads. The longer the Myanmar military and AA are allowed to act with impunity, the closer we come to the complete erasure of the Rohingya from Rakhine.

Rohingya survivors and organisations have spent years documenting crimes, giving evidence and fighting for accountability. We had to pursue justice on the other side of the world because governments and international institutions failed to deliver it.

That fight is finally producing results. My organisation, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), brought a universal jurisdiction case in Argentina which has resulted in international arrest warrants for 22 Myanmar military officials and three civilians, including the military government’s leaders Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and General Soe Win, for genocide and crimes against humanity. We are also pursuing reparations for Rohingya survivors.

A judgement is also expected in the coming months in the genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar at the ICJ.

Rohingya are getting closer to justice in international courts but at the same time are being pushed further from our homeland. Legal progress means little if Rohingya continue to be killed, forced out and stripped of the land to which they hope one day to return.

We have fought for years to get this far. Now governments must act. Every possible pressure point must be applied.

States must enforce the Argentinian arrest warrants whenever those wanted enter their jurisdictions, and Interpol must act on Argentina’s request for red notices. Governments must impose coordinated targeted sanctions on the AA and the Myanmar military, alongside restrictions on arms, aviation fuel and revenue streams that enable further atrocities. Maximum international pressure must be applied on the AA to end its persecution of Rohingya and ensure our protection and equal rights.

The United Nations Security Council must act. The United Kingdom, as penholder on Myanmar, must push for an urgent council meeting on the atrocities taking place in Rakhine and the continued failure to protect the Rohingya.

Governments must restore and increase humanitarian funding for Rohingya in Bangladesh and Rakhine, facilitate cross-border aid and pressure the Myanmar military and the AA to end restrictions on humanitarian access.

Governments must pursue every available route to justice and accountability for crimes by the Myanmar military and the AA. They must also be ready to respond to the forthcoming ICJ judgement.

Justice and accountability delivered years too late will mean nothing if there are no Rohingya left in Myanmar.

Justice is not only about what happens in courtrooms. For Rohingya, it means being able to return to our villages and our land. It means restoring the citizenship and rights that have been taken from us. Above all, it means being able to live freely and as equals in Myanmar, without ever again facing persecution and genocide.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Islamabad, Pakistan — Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir spent Monday moving through the power corridors of Tehran: the presidency, parliament, the Supreme National Security Council, and the foreign and interior ministries.

He met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is Tehran’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States to end their now six-month-long war.

But amid a deadlock in those peace negotiations, many analysts say that Munir’s true test as mediator will lie in his ability to use his position as one of the region’s most powerful military leaders to convince his Iranian counterparts in olive uniforms to agree to a return to talks with Washington.

Days before Munir’s visit, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a gathering of doctors in Tehran that it was time to end the war while Iran held the advantage, a message aimed as much at Tehran’s own security establishment as at Washington.

“It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity,” he said, adding that “the whole world acknowledges our victory”.

Hours later, on August 21, the chief of the general staff of Iran’s armed forces, Major-General Ali Abdollahi, promised “revolutionary, crushing, regret-inducing and devastating” responses to any American miscalculation.

It was a sharp illustration of the gap between Iran’s president and the men now running its military — one that Munir will need to also navigate, analysts say.

And that’s why Munir’s most significant meeting on Monday might have been with General Mohsen Rezaei, a representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the newly appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei is essentially the bridge between the military and Khamenei.

State of the war

Munir’s visit to Tehran came on a day when the region and the world were bracing for US President Donald Trump’s threatened “economic D-Day” sanctions against Iran, accompanied by a threatened punishment for all countries that continue to trade with Tehran.

Later in the day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast“, a sweeping sanctions campaign targeting Iran’s digital assets, gold, aviation, technology and shipping networks.

But while warning other countries to sever trade ties with Iran, he held back from actually announcing any penalties for those nations, acknowledging that such a step would “blow up the global financial system”.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking the same day, kept the option of renewed strikes open.

“If we need to use kinetic strikes, we’ll use them. If Iran is foolish enough to overplay their hand or mess with the American military, we’ll do what we need to do,” he said.

It’s unclear whether Munir’s visit helped stave off broader US action against Iran and its trading partners.

But the timing was significant, analysts point out. Munir travelled to Tehran days after taking a phone call from United States President Donald Trump, who reportedly asked Islamabad to use its influence to bring Iran back to the table.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the one-day visit had produced “comprehensive discussions” on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war.

Iranian officials, the ISPR added, “appreciated Pakistan’s constructive role and sincere efforts”.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who travelled with Munir, went further, calling the talks “very positive and productive” and saying “significant progress was made”.

A reshuffled Iranian military

This was his fourth visit to Tehran this year, but his first since Iran’s military hierarchy changed earlier this month.

On August 10, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei installed Abdollahi as chief of the general staff and moved Rezaei into the Supreme National Security Council. Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has held his post since March, when his predecessor was killed in the war’s opening strikes.

It is these military men that analysts say are now shaping Iran’s war moves, potentially giving a fellow man in uniform an edge over traditional diplomats in convincing Tehran to get back to talks.

“It is increasingly the IRGC and the wider security establishment driving decisions on war and peace during this crisis,” Ahmed Saeed, a former vice admiral in Pakistan’s navy and a defence analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Naqvi, the interior minister, has travelled to Tehran eight times since April without those visits producing a substantial breakthrough.

But unlike him, Munir is not a politician. He’s a general who appears to enjoy the trust of both the Iranian leadership and, crucially, Trump — who has described the Pakistani army chief as his “favourite field marshal”.

“The call [to Munir a few days ago] was initiated by Trump himself, requesting Pakistani leadership use its influence to bring Iran back to the table,” Saeed said.

Warm words, no movement

What Iranian officials actually told Munir, in accounts carried by Iranian state media, differed little from what they have been telling their own broadcasters all week.

“We distrust America, and it must change its behaviour,” Rezaei told Munir, according to IRNA.

Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, was blunter.

“We are pursuing the implementation of the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, and it is America that must adhere to its commitments based on the Memorandum of Understanding,” he told Munir, according to IRNA.

Pezeshkian, meanwhile, pressed Munir to tell Washington to “correct its tone and approach”, warning that “relying on force and bullying will only complicate the process”, according to Tasnim, another Iranian outlet.

Two tracks, one strait

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi is also expected in Tehran today for a separate round of talks focused specifically on the Strait of Hormuz, a track that has run alongside Pakistan’s mediation for months.

Oman’s involvement is not new. Albusaidi has held recurring talks with Tehran on the strait’s navigation rules.

Ejaz Haider, a Lahore-based defence analyst, said the Omani and Pakistani diplomatic tracks complement each other.

“Oman and Islamabad channels complement, because clause 5 of the Islamabad MoU stresses a bilateral understanding on the strait [between Oman and Iran],” he told Al Jazeera. The Strait of Hormuz passes through the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.

“This [a deal between Iran and Oman to jointly manage the strait] is not in the interest of the US, which is why Trump has threatened to bomb Oman,” Haider said, referring to remarks Trump made on August 17, when he told Fox News he would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of reopening the strait, the second time he had threatened the US ally over Hormuz.

Where Islamabad’s advantage as a mediator lay was in its “direct access to Vahidi, Abdollahi and Rezaei, the actual architects of Iran’s decision-making”, Saeed, the former naval official, said.

An Iranian official close to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Albusaidi would be in Tehran “primarily to hear what Iran has decided and what it has discussed with its Pakistani mediator”.

Who holds the leverage?

Andreas Krieg, an associate professor of defence studies at King’s College London, said the differences that had emerged between the Iranian military and civilian leaderships demonstrate a gulf between their understanding of where the war stood.

Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf, Krieg said, were “essentially warning that Iran cannot live indefinitely in this condition”, while “parts of the IRGC believe the opposite and think time is working against Washington”.

But ultimately, he said, “Mohsen Rezaei, Ahmad Vahidi and the IRGC are central to whether any political understanding [to end the war] can be implemented”, referring to Iran’s top military leadership.

“[Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi can negotiate something, and Qatar can broker it, but none of that matters if the security apparatus does not accept the operational consequences.”

For now, Munir appears to be the candidate mediators believe has the best shot at getting Iranian generals from their war room to the board room.

In the video game world, it’s one of the biggest releases of 2026.

For years, fans have been eagerly awaiting the sixth installment to the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise.

But the much-anticipated release of the game has been disrupted by a flurry of leaked scenes — such as a plane flying over a metropolis and the interior of a strip club — that has flooded the internet in the last week without the consent of its publisher, Rockstar Games.

Rockstar has not confirmed the videos’ authenticity, but its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, is taking action. The New York-based company late last week issued subpoenas to Microsoft, Discord, X and Google to track down the alleged hackers.

The requests were filed in the Southern District Court in New York under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The filings involve the unauthorized use of copyrighted material such as “audiovisual content, artwork, images, dialogue, or other creative elements” from proprietary software owned by Take-Two, according to the documents.

Take Two is asking for identifying information associated with the online profiles and activity tied to the leaks, which have generated considerable buzz in the gaming world.

Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar did not respond to a request for comment. Here’s what to know:

Who’s behind this hack?

The online persona Cyberleek appears to be closely associated with the ongoing leaks, according to court documents. The hackers claim to be leaking these gameplays as an act of protest and have a list of demands, which include a physical disc of the game, which Rockstar previously said it would not release. The other demands include no paywalled solo player content and full offline access.

“Publishers sell licenses and call them purchases. They ship unfinished games and call them living services,” Cyberleek wrote on its website. “They lock content on discs and call it DLC. They kill games and keep the money. Every year anti-consumerism tightens its grip, and every year gamers get less for what they pay.”

The group also claims to have obtained a playable build of the game and asks users for cryptocurrency donations.

What does this mean for ‘Grand Theft Auto’?

The first “Grand Theft Auto” was released in 1997 by BMG Interactive. Before it was even released, the action-adventure game was met with a wave of controversy, as the game was centered around illegal activities such as stealing cars and running people over.

The game started to gain real traction in the early 2000s, when Rockstar took over its development. Rockstar is based in New York and maintains California offices in Santa Monica and San Diego. The “Grand Theft Auto” franchise remains its hallmark title and continues to grow a loyal fan base.

The new release of “Grand Theft Auto VI” is slated for Nov. 19 for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It marks the first major release in the franchise since 2013. The standard version will cost $79.99, while the ultimate version will cost $99.99.

These leaks, which include several maps, video from a gas station and a car wash, come just days before the game is set to have an exclusive preview on Netflix. On Thursday, Rockstar and the media giant are set to share an exclusive extended look at the game on the streaming platform.

So will the leaks hurt sales of the game?

That’s hard to say. Investors appear to be nervous about the potential effect on the company’s business. Since the leaks first started to pop up last week, Take-Two’s stock has continued to plummet. On Monday, the stock closed at $233, down 10% over the last five days.

Although investors appear to be uneasy about the leak, some analysts don’t think it will dampen sales of the game.

“This game is gonna crush every record ever,” said Michael Pachter, a video game industry analyst. “This game could sell 10 million units in the first minute. I think it could do 20 million in the first day and a half.”

Are leaks in the gaming industry common?

Unauthorized leaks aren’t as commons as they are in the music and movie industries, but they do occur. In the last few years, several games and sensitive information have been leaked. One of the largest instances was in 2023 when developer Insomniac Games was targeted for data surrounding the upcoming “Marvel Wolverine” game.

But it’s rare for hackers to get a hold of a playable version of the game, which might have happened in the “Grand Theft Auto” incident, said Sanjay Madhav, a technology professor at USC.

“If you compare it to something like a movie being leaked, that’s a little bit different because presumably if you watch the whole movie, you’re not really compelled to watch it again,” Madhav said. “But I think in this case, unless they release the playable build for other people to download, I don’t think that it’s going to have a noticeable impact on their sales.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is not lazy, I’ll give him that.

During his unsuccessful run for governor this year, you may recall that the MAGA devotee found time to seize more than 650,000 ballots from the Proposition 50 redistricting race, claiming he suspected there were tens of thousands more votes cast than there should have been — a favorite (and false) complaint of election deniers.

There were not.

Undaunted by reality, and likely law, Bianco announced he was going to have his deputies recount the votes, even though this kind of interference in the chain of custody of ballots never had occurred anywhere in the United States.

This unprecedented seizure of ballots — something election-denier-in-chief President Trump has been hinting at trying himself for years — quickly became a national news story, and a national concern.

With midterms looming and more than one MAGA sheriff out there, what would stop another conspiracy-minded, badge-wearing maverick from doing something similar this November, potentially throwing our national election into turmoil?

The specter of Bianco setting a precedent for like-minded conspiracists to follow prompted two significant lawsuits — one led by the election experts at the UCLA Voting Rights Project and the other from state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.

The state Supreme Court heard arguments in those cases Monday, and while we’ll have to wait for the official rulings, things did not seem to go well for the sheriff.

What surprised me most, or maybe just relieved me, was how thin Bianco’s arguments were to support his actions. In the end, his legal team came with little more than contortions and cartwheels, trying to twist Bianco’s overreach into existing law.

His lawyer, Bradley Hertz, attempted to argue that legislators, when crafting laws protecting ballots, meant different rules to apply to investigations of elections preceding formal prosecutions. If that sounds confusing, it’s because it is.

Hertz seemingly was trying to convince the court that Bianco legally could pull his shenanigans as long as he didn’t actually find criminal wrongdoing, which would trigger a different set of rules.

“That seems bizarre,” Justice Goodwin H. Liu said during a back-and-forth with Hertz.

Indeed.

But it was Justice Joshua Groban who hit at the national implications of what Bianco had done — and what it could mean for the midterms if this court ruled in his favor.

“It seems like under your broad view of the warrant power … the sheriff could could seize ballots even before election day, right?” Groban asked. “Even before they were counted.”

It’s terrible to have ballots seized after they’re counted. It’s devastating if they were to be taken before there was an official tally, because how would anyone trust that there hadn’t been tampering? Simply seizing uncounted ballots, no matter what happens next, would create such paranoia and uncertainty that the election results almost certainly would be called into question — something that could play into the favor of, say, a wannabe authoritarian who fears he’s likely to lose a fair vote count.

Even Hertz seemed to acknowledge such a scenario was bad.

“If search warrants were allowed during the election or preelection, that would obviously wreak havoc,” he said. “There would be, kind of, a cat out of the bag, so to speak. You can’t count ballots if they’re not in the possession of the registrar.”

But then Hertz tried to come up with logic that what Bianco was arguing wouldn’t mean that ballots could be seized anytime, anyhow, and that instead courts could find a way to allow seizing only after the official count. The court did not seem convinced that this was a good idea, or that that is what the law should or did allow.

If that case didn’t go well for Bianco, it was the second case brought by Bonta that really might end up being a hard loss.

For years, decades really, in California and across the country, there has been a group of sheriffs who have argued they are a law onto themselves because they are elected, not hired or appointed. Some of these sheriffs argue that they are literally above federal law.

In California, there has at times been momentum to rein in this line of thinking by creating clear boundaries in law, but the state Legislature always has backed down in the face of opposition from law enforcement.

One potential curb on sheriffs’ power comes from a single line in our state Constitution that seems to say the state attorney general has supervisory power over them. But the meaning and power of this particular clause has long been debated and seldom invoked.

Bonta, however, invoked it against Bianco, claiming the the sheriff had to back off the ballot-seizing because Bonta had authority to order him to stop. Bianco did stop, to his credit. But the standoff was heard by the court Monday and likely will force clarity on an issue that has long lacked it.

Here again, the justices seemed amenable to Bonta’s argument that sheriffs, at least to some extent, answer to him as the state’s chief law enforcement officer. But the justices seemed far more cautious on this issue, and even the state’s attorney conceded that “it’s actually pretty remarkable how little our Constitution says about county sheriffs.”

If Bianco loses on this issue, it would be huge. It would mean that Bianco not only overstepped his power by seizing the ballots, but that he also had forever lessened the power of California sheriffs by clarifying they do answer to the attorney general. I’m sure that will be very popular with other sheriffs.

We’ll see what the justices say, but at least it seems likely that this embarrassing chapter of California election history will end in favor of the law, and democracy.

Maybe Bianco really does believe his conspiracy theories. After all, “there are some people who believe they had breakfast with Elvis on Sunday,” pointed out Chad Dunn, who argued the case for the Voting Rights Project.

“We can’t satisfy them,” Dunn warned.

More importantly, we shouldn’t — even when they wear a badge. Our laws already have robust protections for elections, and rogue sheriffs aren’t one of them.

Sir Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney have been named the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Merit Award winners for 2026.

The award honours individuals who have made a lasting contribution to football.

The PFA Awards ceremony will be held in Manchester on Tuesday evening, where the men’s and women’s players’ player of the year winners will be announced.

Dalglish enjoyed a prolific career as both player and manager, becoming Scotland’s most-capped men’s international with 102 appearances and matching Denis Law’s national team record of 30 goals.

At club level, he began with a trophy-laden spell at Celtic before moving to Liverpool for a British record fee in 1977 and becoming an integral part of the club’s golden era.

Over the next 14 years, Dalglish won eight First Division titles and three European Cups across 515 appearances for Liverpool and was runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 1983. Appointed player-manager in 1985, he guided the club to three league titles and two FA Cups – including the double in 1985-86 – before retiring from playing in 1990.

After resigning as Liverpool’s manager in February 1991, Dalglish led Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995 and had stints with Celtic, Newcastle and Liverpool again, where he won the 2012 League Cup.

Off the field, Dalglish remains a significant figure in Merseyside. He led the club through the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, earning praise for his support of the bereaved families, and has raised millions of pounds to support cancer care and treatment through the Marina Dalglish Appeal, set up in 2005 following his wife’s treatment for breast cancer.

Dalglish, 75, announced in June 2026 that he is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Former England attacking midfielder Carney was a member of the Arsenal side that completed a historic quadruple in 2006-07, winning the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Women’s Cup, the forerunner to the Women’s Champions League.

She spent two seasons with Chicago Red Stars before returning in 2011 to home club Birmingham City, where she had started her career. Carney scored an extra-time equaliser as Birmingham won the FA Cup the following season.

Moving to Chelsea in late 2015, Carney won the WSL and FA Cup double in 2017-18 and later served as club captain before ending her playing career in 2019.

On the international stage, Carney made her England debut as a 17-year-old in 2005. She went on to score 32 goals in 144 appearances for the Lionesses and helped England finish third at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

That was one of eight major tournaments for Carney with England, while she also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Since retiring, Carney, 39, has built a career as a broadcaster and analyst and was appointed by the UK Government to chair an independent review, published in 2023, into the future of domestic women’s football.

Celebrated artist Sliman Mansour, one of the founding figures of contemporary Palestinian art, has died at the age of 79 after a long illness, his family announced on Monday.

Born in Birzeit, near Ramallah, in 1947, Mansour rose to prominence in the 1970s as part of a generation of Palestinian artists, writers and poets seeking to rebuild a threatened identity through symbols rooted in land and memory. Over more than five decades, his paintings came to embody the story of Palestine: the farmer clinging to his soil, the stone house on a hill, the embroidered thobe and the smile of a young girl carrying the hope of return.

Mansour studied art in Beirut and Washington and went on to exhibit extensively, both in solo shows and group exhibitions across the Arab world and internationally. His works are held in museums and private collections worldwide, and he received numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to Arab and Palestinian culture.

His visual language drew deeply from the region’s ancient civilisations – Canaanite, Pharaonic and Assyrian – as well as Islamic and Arab art, particularly calligraphy and geometric motifs. At the same time, his upbringing in Birzeit anchored his work in the everyday life of Palestinian villages: the landscape, peasants, traditional homes and clothing. Mansour also absorbed influences from global art that carried messages of freedom and resistance, blending local forms with a universal appeal.

During the first Intifada, he helped found the New Vision group with fellow artists, turning to mud, straw, wood, leather, henna and natural dyes after Palestinian artists boycotted Israeli-made supplies. This shift, he later said, forged a vital link between post-Nakba art and the work of younger generations.

For many Palestinians, Mansour’s canvases were more than images; they were a visual archive of the cause itself. His brush, critics and admirers agree, carried the homeland.

Al Jazeera looks at some of his famous paintings.

YOU could be sunning it up on a beach right now, cocktail in hand with 28C sunshine – all for the price of a three-course dinner in London.

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Yellow weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office as heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast to break out over parts of the UK later this week.

The warnings span Wednesday and Thursday and include parts of east Wales, the Midlands, northern England, East Anglia and southern England – including London.

It is likely to be the one of the most widespread outbreaks of heavy rain across southern and central parts of the UK this summer.

While good news for regions plagued by drought, significant accumulations could lead to flash flooding where the ground is too dry and hard to absorb the downpours. Lightning, large hail and gusty winds are also possible.

THE world’s most famous nepo-baby North West has revealed she is planning to land a job at Starbucks next year.

The 13-year-old star is arguably the most famous child-star and nepo-baby thanks to her parents being Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

She has already carved out an impressive career having released her own music, appeared in stage productions and taken part in fashion editorials all before becoming a teenager.

But despite already living the life of luxury in the fame world, North has now admitted that she wants to give it all up and bag a “regular job”.

In a brand new interview with Dazed magazine, North confessed that as well as her music career, her dream role is to be work as a barista at Starbucks.

Speaking to the publication, North said: “I still wanna work.

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“I wanna work at, like, Starbucks next year.

“I think I can next year ’cause I’m gonna be 14, so… I think I can.

“I want to have a regular job, I guess.”

It marks a major U-turn for the young star to pivot away from the mega Kardashian brand.

In her first magazine interview, North also opened up on her well-discussed look.

Despite her tender age, conversation has swirled around her dyed blue hair and multiple body piercings.

Clapping back, she said: “Everyone’s in love with boys, vaping and doing all kinds of bad stuff.

“All I want is blue hair and piercings.”

But North did reveal that she had been disallowed from getting her “bridge pierced” – a piercing that goes through the top of your nose and under your eyebrow.

NOT ONE but three new theme parks have been given the go-ahead to open in Europe, which they claim could even rival Disney.

A deal between France and Saudi Arabia for three theme parks near Paris has been announced.

The project is expected to cost €6bn (£5.13bn) overall and will include a manga-themed park, inspired by the popular Japanese franchise Dragon Ball Z.

Little details have been revealed about the theme parks, but local media has reported that it could be built on the site of the former Mirapolis park in Val-d’Oise, which has been closed for 35 years.

The opening dates for the parks are not known yet, but they will be built near Cergy-Pontoise and expected to take years to construct.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that the development would be “extraordinary” and would create a “new global destination”.

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He also said: “Nothing like this has been seen since Disneyland Paris.”

The project is thought to have transpired from a conversation between Macron and bin Salman about their love for Japanese comics.

It is expected to create around 22,000 jobs.

Despite no details being revealed about the new theme parks yet, it is believed that the Dragon Ball Z theme park could be based around the park of the same theme currently being built by Qiddiya in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Riyadh theme park is set to have seven zones including Turtle House, Capsule Corporation and Beerus’s Planet.

There is also set to be a 70-metre high rollercoaster running through the park.

Overall, the Riyadh theme park is expected to have 30 themed attractions, five of which are set to be next generation rides.

Guests will be able to stay in themed hotels as well, and there will be a number of restaurants at the park.

Aug. 25 (UPI) — British authorities said a dozen people have been arrested in an investigation following a weekend crash that killed seven people, including two police officers.

Police in Cleveland, which serves the Teesside area of northeast England, announced the arrests Monday, identifying those detained as nine men and three women between the ages of 19 and 61.

They were detained on a range of offenses, including allegations of participating in organized crime, possession of an offensive weapon and drug-related crimes.

The suspects were detained over the weekend in a wide-scale investigation following a collision early Saturday involving a Volkswagen Passat and a police vehicle on the A66, resulting in the deaths of the five occupants of the Passat and two officers in the police vehicle.

Authorities were initially alerted early Saturday to reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously in Middlesbrough. A Volvo XC60 was reportedly seen ramming properties, while a Volkswagen Passat was believed to be associated with the Volvo. Police said both vehicles were operating with cloned license plates.

Police later spotted the Passat and pursued it for nearly seven minutes before the Passat entered the A66 at South Bank, traveling against traffic, prompting the pursuing police vehicle to end its case.

However, seconds later, at 3:39 a.m. local time, the Passat collided with a second police car, which was traveling in the correct direction, authorities said.

The deceased officers have been identified as Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38. The deceased occupants of the Passat were named as Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Jakub Matusiak and Michael Robert Cahill.

“The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect,” Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox said Monday in a statement.

Fox said they have a duty to investigate the “serious criminal activity” that led to the fatal crash and bring those responsible to justice, though it was not clear how those detained were involved.

“Our robust response will continue in the weeks and months to come, as we continue to tackle those that seek to cause harm to our communities and tackle serious and organized crime,” Fox said.

The trial judge, Dabney Friedrich, has agreed that the start date should be set aside, underlining the potential importance of the new evidence.

She would have been extremely reluctant to allow an 11th hour postponement after months of preparation and marathon pre-trial legal battles.

For the relatives of those who died and Al-Marimi himself, this latest delay means a verdict might not come until next spring.

It is yet another stunning development in a saga that has witnessed countless twists and turns over nearly four decades.

Pan Am 103 was flying from Heathrow to New York when the bomb exploded in its forward hold, breaking the plane apart at 31,000 feet.

All 259 passengers and crew on board were killed. Another 11 people died in Lockerbie when the wreckage fell on their homes.

Of the victims, 190 were American and 43 from the UK.

Nearly four decades later, the bombing remains the worst terror attack and mass murder in British history.

KATIE Price has spoken out on her 26-year feud with Victoria Beckham as a throwback clip goes viral on social media.

The media personality, 48, has famously been long-rumoured to be at loggerheads with Posh Spice since the early 2000s when Victoria admitted they’ll never be “best friends”.

But Katie has now re-shared Victoria’s interview clip to her Instagram story as it continues to go viral.

Putting an end to any speculation, Katie shared her love for Victoria with a simple message.

Katie wrote online: “I have no problem with @victoriabeckham either [red love heart emoji].

“She is [an] amazing business woman.”

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In the clip from T4 in 2000, Victoria was asked about Katie, then known as Jordan, amid reports the pair were feuding.

Victoria clarified that they “used to” know each other as Katie’s boyfriend at the time, Another Level singer Dane Bowers, worked closely with Victoria to create her debut solo album after leaving the Spice Girls.

When Victoria was asked if she would ever form a friendship with Katie, she appeared to politely decline and explained her reasons as to why.

She said on the old Channel 4 morning show: “I actually used to know her.

“She was going out with Dane and I was working with Dane and she was very sweet.”

Victoria then added: “Now, I don’t really know her anymore.”

That comment was used as fuel in the fire as to their apparent rowing.

Posh Spice went on to add: “I very much doubt we would ever become best friends.”

The Grade I-listed estate invites families, friends and history buffs to explore its stunning architecture, formal gardens and rich history

One UK spot feels almost too extraordinary to be real. Tucked away in the Lincolnshire countryside, just outside Grantham, Harlaxton Manor rises dramatically from around 300 acres of parkland and gardens.

With its towers, ornate stonework and imposing silhouette, it feels less like an ordinary country estate and more like something lifted straight from a storybook. The manor was built in the 19th century for Gregory Gregory, with construction beginning in 1831 and the building completed around 1851.

But Gregory wasn’t interested in creating an ordinary English manor.

Inspired by his travels throughout Britain and Europe, he brought together a remarkable collection of architectural influences, creating something theatrical, extravagant and completely unique.

Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture, Gothic details and Baroque grandeur all come together within the same extraordinary building.

Approaching Harlaxton, you can almost imagine a horse-drawn carriage disappearing around the corner, a mysterious figure watching from one of the upper windows, or an old family secret hidden somewhere behind one of its grand doors.

Today, the manor has a very different role. It is owned by the University of Evansville in Indiana and is home to Harlaxton College, a study-abroad campus where students from around the world live and study.

Yet despite its modern purpose, the manor has lost none of its extraordinary character, reports Lincolnshire Live.

Nearly two centuries after Gregory Gregory first imagined it, Harlaxton still feels like a place where reality and imagination meet.

The estate has been nicknamed ‘Lincolnshire’s hidden Hogwarts’ and is set to throw open its doors to the public later this month.

Over the August bank holiday weekend, Harlaxton Manor, will be hosting its summer open house event — a rare opportunity for visitors to discover one of the county’s most captivating and secretive estates.

On Sunday, August 30 and Monday, August 31, visitors can step inside the Grade I-listed manor, stroll through its formal gardens and soak up the atmosphere of the estate.

Harlaxton is located nearby Grantham and is an underrated market town.

Grantham is nestled along the River Witham close to the Lincolnshire–Nottinghamshire border.

With roots stretching back to Saxon times, the town developed into an important market centre by the 11th century, growing in wealth through the wool and leather trades.

Bethan Watson, events manager at Harlaxton Manor, said: “We are absolutely delighted to once again welcome visitors to Harlaxton Manor for our Summer Open House this upcoming August Bank Holiday.

“It is always a pleasure to share this remarkable estate with the public and give people the opportunity to experience the history, architecture and beautiful surroundings that make the manor so incredibly special.”

Ms Watson continued: “Guests often remark that Harlaxton Manor is simply magical, like a hidden version of Hogwarts nestled in the Lincolnshire countryside, and it’s easy to see why.

“From exploring our magnificent interiors and strolling through the gardens to relaxing with live music throughout the day, we hope families, friends and history buffs will make a day of it and create lasting memories steeped in splendour under the late summer sun.”

Those planning to attend are encouraged to secure their tickets ahead of the event, which will be open from 10am to 5pm across both days.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson. Title winner 1992-93, 93-94, 95-96, 96-97, 98-99, 99-2000, 2000-01, 02-03, 06-07, 07-08, 08-09, 10-11, 12-13.

The first two decades of the Premier League were dominated by one man.

Sir Alex Ferguson won 13 titles and was able to continuously rebuild his side in order to keep Manchester United at the top of English football – from Eric Cantona to the ’99 Treble winners, and later that front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

Even after Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in 2009, and Tevez defected to the other side of Manchester, Ferguson continued winning titles until he retired in 2013.

His record title haul is more than double any manager from any era of men’s English top-flight football, not just the Premier League – Guardiola, Liverpool’s Bob Paisley and George Ramsay for Aston Villa are next on the list on six.

It makes Fergie the undoubted number one.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion confirmed he’s only going to play in an exhibition match and has no plans to return.

Roger Federer is actually nervous about his tennis.

The man who won five straight US Open championships during the height of his dominance of the sport is set to play again in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night for the first time since 2019. And he’s not quite sure how the game that perhaps nobody ever made look more elegant will appear now.

“I haven’t played a singles set in, I don’t know, [Hubert] Hurkacz at Wimbledon maybe, so it’s been five years,” Federer said on Monday, referring to his 2021 quarterfinal loss in his last Grand Slam match.

“I don’t know how it’s going to go tomorrow. So there is a lot of uncertainty but a lot of happiness that I can return to Arthur Ashe, a place where I have had so many beautiful moments.”

It’s only one set of singles in an exhibition against Andy Roddick and one set of doubles with John McEnroe against Roddick and Andre Agassi. The winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles should be fine for those.

But a return to tennis beyond that, competing in major tennis tournaments in his mid-40s like Venus and Serena Williams?

“No, no, no, no. No, not at all,” Federer said during a news conference.

“Thanks for asking. I wasn’t sure if the question was going to get asked, but I’m happy you did so I can clarify in case anybody thought.”

At 45, Federer still looks fit, and said he enjoys working out in the gym. But he said he goes through long stretches where he is rarely on the court.

His lengthy absence from the US Open has done little to dampen his popularity, based on the number of people around the grounds who were mentioning his name. The appearance of “Roger Federer” up on the big board for all to see again, before his afternoon practice on Ashe, where Federer collected the trophy every year from 2004-08, was a welcome sight for his fans.

The trip to New York is a stop for Federer on his way to Newport, Rhode Island, where he will be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Federer never really had the chance to say goodbye to New York as a player, because there was no way to know his loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the 2019 quarterfinals would be his last match. He had reached the French Open semifinals and the Wimbledon final earlier that year, falling to Rafael Nadal in Paris and then Novak Djokovic in a fifth-set tiebreaker at the All England Club.

‘Knee is tired’

It was easy to imagine him returning to the US Open the next year and making another deep run. But after falling to Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open to begin 2020, he had knee surgery that February, then another procedure in May.

He returned to play in the French Open in 2021 but had to withdraw before his fourth-round match. After the loss to Hurkacz – where he appeared to struggle and lost 6-0 in the third set – Federer had another knee surgery that August and knew there would be no more comebacks.

“The knee can’t do it any more. It’s tired,” he recalled thinking. “The mind can’t be patient even more and wait for another couple years and see what happens.”

Federer knows Tuesday night won’t be real tennis, joking that he and Roddick hopefully would be respectful and not try to drop shot each other. But it will be different from when he did return to Ashe a couple of years back to watch.

“They gave me an ovation because they saw me on the big screen, but I just feel, like, tomorrow and I guess today, as well, and Monday next week, it really gives me a true opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, which I think is important for some,” Federer said.

“It’s a nice thing to do, for sure.”