Everton’s takeover by the American investment firm 777 Partners remains on course, despite the possibility of a points deduction that could put the Merseyside club at greater threat of relegation. The Premier League are reportedly pushing for Everton to be deducted 12 points during an investigation into possible breaches of financial regulations but 777 are adamant they still want to proceed with plans to complete a buyout. Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri has signed a deal with 777 Partners, who have invested in a range of clubs including Genoa, Sevilla and Hertha Berlin. Everton were accused of breaking Financial Fair Play rules, which are supposed to limit clubs to a total loss of £105m over a three-year period. But Everton announced losses £44.7m in 2022, £121.3m in 2021, £139.9m in 2020, £111.8m in 2019 and £13.1m in 2018. The Premier League charged them in March though Everton have insisted they have complied with the regulations and their additional losses stem involve allowances clubs were permitted when Covid meant grounds were empty. Everton disclosed all scenarios with 777 during talks and financial due diligence and the potential outcome was priced in to the structure of the deal. A 12-point deduction would leave Everton, who only just avoided relegation in the last two seasons, on minus five. Other potential punishments, if Everton are found guilty, could include a transfer ban or a fine, which West Ham were given for the third-party ownership of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in 2007. Read More Everton face ‘12-point deduction’ over alleged financial breaches Everton boss Sean Dyche pays tribute to ‘amazing servant’ Bill Kenwright Bill Kenwright: Theatre producer who went from terraces to boardroom at Everton

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Imagine drinking 10 pints in a day. Achievable, for sure, but probably not advisable. Now, imagine drinking 10 pints a day for a week, a month, or even six months. The sheer size of the task – and the unrelenting, crashing hangovers – would soon catch up with you soon enough, and the impossibility of the challenge would dawn on you eventually. But not for Jon May, a 25-year-old pint slinger of the highest order, was not daunted by such a proposition. Jon has become one of the most talked-about-people on the internet after managing to sink a mind-boggling 2,000 pints in the space of just 200 days. After spending almost £8,000 on drink and putting away 360,000 calories worth, he crossed the finish line of this completely self-imposed challenge by smashing a whopping 19 pints on the last day. @j0nmay #jonmay #fyp #drinking #pints #alcohol It’s news that’s impressed and (let’s be honest) repulsed people in equal measure – and one of the world’s great boozers has reflected on his experience and looked ahead to his latest challenge in a chat with indy100. “I wouldn't really call it an incredible achievement. I’m just a drunk on the internet,” he said, reflecting on his efforts. Discussing how the whole thing came about, the streamer and content creator was egged on by one of his viewers. Soon, he was pledging to do 2,000 pints in 200 days. “I was doing football content at the time. I made another video about football and all of the comments were asking for an update. In the end, I just completely changed the content to me drinking pints, essentially.” Miraculously, he achieved the feat – and it sounds like he did so pretty easily. Despite spending £8,000 on pints to manage it, he took it all in his stride. “I was drinking the same amount before. It was just normal life, and somehow I turned it into a job.” What sort of stress did it put on his body? “I put on about half a stone. I’ve got quite a fast metabolism,” he said. “Being 25, I am essentially in peak condition. You wouldn’t want to do it if you were any younger, I don’t think. But you wouldn’t want to do it in your 60s.” Half a stone really isn't much, we're sure you'll agree, and he did put some thought into his choice of drink as well as his routine throughout the week too. “Some days I’d start [drinking] at about 11. Other days I’d start at about 4. I do a lot of volunteering in a church, and I can’t be drinking while doing that. So once I’d finished that, then I’d go to Wetherspoons. @j0nmay #jonmay #fyp #cycling #challenge “Some days I’d have about seven. Then on Fridays or Saturdays if I was watching football I’d have about 15 to make up for the fact I’d had less during the week.” He added: “I did cider as well [as lager] because that contains slightly fewer calories. It was half cider and half lager, because it gets a bit sickly if you try and drink too much of one. It was a mixture of Cruzcampo, Madri and Thatchers. Thatchers Blood Orange was my favourite. I’d never had it before.” After finishing with the task, he’s decided to throw himself into another challenge – this time, focusing on something very different. “I’m going to cycle 2,000 miles, from Portsmouth to Land’s End, then Land’s End to John O’Groats, then back again to John O’Groats. So I’m going around the country twice,” he told us. The challenge was inspired after a social media exchange with the Hardest Geezer – who is currently running the entire length of Africa. “I literally thought of it two days ago,” Jon said. “The Hardest Geezer, when he quoted me and said something like ‘the next thing has to be something a little bit more worthwhile'. So I decided to do that. I’ll train for 200 days and then cycle 2,000 miles. I’ll do it for three charities.” As ever, it wouldn’t quite be his style if he didn’t stop for a pint or two along the way. “I’ll probably stop off at some pubs. If any of the pubs want to sponsor me, that would be great.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

The UN says it has enough to maintain water supplies for a day, after reducing support for hospitals.

European Union leaders gathered Thursday to debate ways to use their combined leverage to ensure that more aid reaches Palestinians in need, and how to help EU citizens in Gaza escape danger, including some held hostage by Hamas. EU nations have long been divided in their approach to Israel and the Palestinians, but the brutal nature of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7., which killed more than 1,400 people, and the hardship of civilians forced from their homes in Gaza have shone a bright spotlight on those divisions. Across the EU spectrum, Austria, Germany and Hungary are among Israel's top supporters. The leaders of Austria and Germany went to Israel to show solidarity after the assault. Spain and Ireland often focus on the plight of the Palestinians. Hamas, for its part, is on the EU’s list of terrorist groups. The challenge has been to strike a balance between condemning the Hamas attacks, supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and ensuring that the rights of civilians on both sides are protected under international law. EU envoys have wrangled in recent days over whether to call for a “humanitarian pause” or “pauses,” or even a “window” in the fighting, to allow aid in. Israel’s strongest backers oppose any language that might be seen to constrain its right to self-defense. Meanwhile, the death toll in Gaza has soared past 7,000, according to Palestinian officials. It’s unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A draft of the leaders’ summit statement, seen by The Associated Press, sees them call “for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses.” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said: “I’m not obsessed about what language we use. What we want is the killing and the violence to stop; to stop so that humanitarian aid can get into Gaza, where Palestinian people are ... suffering, and also to allow us to get EU citizens out." He said that about 30 Irish Palestinian citizens are stuck. "We’re keen for them to be able to leave Gaza if they want to leave, and that’s currently not possible,” Varadkar told reporters. Despite its limited political leverage, the 27-nation bloc is the world’s top aid supplier to the Palestinians. It has sent almost 78 million euros ($82 million) this year and over 930 million euros ($982 million) since 2000. The EU has little influence over Israel – the United States is its staunchest ally – but remains the country’s biggest trade partner. The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, has trumpeted what it calls an “air bridge” for Gaza – it consists of two plane loads of aid so far – and has demanded that more humanitarian assistance be allowed into poverty and conflict-hit Gaza. In recent days, Israel has let more than 60 trucks with aid enter from Egypt. Aid workers and the EU say it's not enough, just a tiny fraction of what came in before the war. Israel is still barring deliveries of fuel — needed to power generators — saying it believes that Hamas will take it. A warning by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, over waning fuel supplies has raised alarm that the humanitarian crisis could quickly worsen. Gaza’s population has also been running out of food, water and medicine. The EU is UNRWA’s third biggest funder. Dozens of European nationals are believed to be among the more than 200 Israelis and foreigners taken hostage by Hamas. Scores more have been caught up in the turmoil as around 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents fled their homes under orders from the Israeli army. Exact numbers are difficult to establish as some countries prefer not to provide them for security reasons. EU officials also declined to say. Qatar has become a key interlocutor for countries hoping to have their captive nationals released. EU officials have said that Turkey could also play an important role, underscoring the need for the bloc to maintain good relations with countries in the region, beyond Israel. In the draft summit statement – perhaps due to the extreme security concerns – the leaders note only that they “reviewed the state of play and the follow-up on the different strands of action, including concerted efforts to assist EU citizens.” Read More Harris will attend an AI summit at a UK estate that was a base for World War II codebreakers European Union to press the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo to set decades of enmity behind them Europe's central bank is set to halt rate hikes as the Mideast war casts a shadow over the economy Israel-Hamas war could threaten already fragile economies in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan British leader Rishi Sunak marks a year in office with little to celebrate Belgian police are looking for a Palestinian man following media report he could plan an attack

Barry Sanders can't get on LinkedIn.