The Champions League group stage has reached the halfway point and by now teams know whether they’re in a great spot to qualify for the last 16 knockouts - or face an uphill battle in their final three fixtures. Tuesday and Wednesday nights from this point onwards can go from exciting to stressful very quickly, with results elsewhere also impacting on whether clubs might need a positive result on the road or a surprise upset in one of their hardest games. Here we focus on what the Premier League quartet of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle United need to do in their respective groups to go through, along with Scottish side Celtic and the rest of Europe’s elite. Group A Bayern Munich are flying at the top and a win on matchday four (MD4) will guarantee progression. It’s still up for grabs for a top-two finish between the other three clubs. Man United are third, one point behind Galatasaray who beat them at Old Trafford, so job No.1 is to make it a double over Copenhagen on MD4. If they do that and Bayern win against the Turkish side, a draw in Istanbul next time out will ensure United go into the final game in second place. Group B Arsenal are top despite slipping up at home to Lens on MD2. If they can beat Sevilla at the Emirates Stadium this week, they’ll be within touching distance of the last 16. Behind them, Lens are second but there’s not much to choose between themselves, PSV and Sevilla. The Dutch side realistically need to beat the French outfit in MD3 to bunch up the race. Group C The group which looks the most set at this stage. Real Madrid are top and unbeaten, with Napoli second. Braga and Union Berlin, who are pointless, are likely fighting for third and a Europa League spot. Group D Another clear hierarchy group, with Real Sociedad and Inter Milan tied at the top on seven points apiece. Salzburg and Benfica will fight for third, unless a shock result or two crops up quickly. Group E Celtic earned a point at home to Atletico Madrid on MD3 but a thrashing in the reverse means their hopes of any European football in the new year are all but extinguished. Celtic need to win both their last two and hope Feyenoord lose them both, otherwise they’ll finish last. Atleti are now top, with Lazio one point back and Feyenoord sitting a further one behind in third, so games between the Spanish club and those two rivals will still dictate the top two. Group F The tightest quartet of all, but it’s looking very tough for Newcastle United, who sit bottom after MD4, though only three points off Borussia Dortmund in first. Back-to-back wins for the Germans over the Magpies means Eddie Howe’s team realistically need to beat both AC Milan and PSG, while the MD5 Milan vs Dortmund clash will almost certainly dictate who goes through from that pair. PSG have work to do themselves but winning at home to Newcastle will go a long way towards putting them through. Group G An easy ride so far for Man City, who have already guaranteed themselves passage to the last 16. RB Leipzig are also through and just top spot remains to fight for, with Red Star and Young Boys earning just one point each through MD4. Group H Porto and Barcelona are the top two with three wins from four each, but Shakhtar’s surprise win over the Spanish club on MD4 keeps them in the running, three points back in third. Antwerp are out of the running after four straight defeats. Read More Newcastle discover brutal truth - it’s so much harder in the Champions League Stones injury dampens Manchester City joy at Champions League progress Man City into Champions League knockouts as Celtic embarassed and Shakhtar stun Barca Erling Haaland back with a bang as Man City cruise into Champions League knockouts Celtic suffer Champions League embarrassment as Atletico Madrid show gulf in quality Eddie Howe knows Newcastle need two wins to keep Champions League hopes alive

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he plans to travel to Florida Saturday morning after Hurricane Idalia battered the state earlier this week.

The brunt of extreme heat that has been choking the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions this week is expected to end late Saturday, but many in southern US are set to endure suffocating temperatures for a few more days as heat-related deaths rise.

By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL South Korean nuclear safety experts who visited Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant said

LONDON The decline in euro zone business activity accelerated faster than initially thought last month as the bloc's

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Captain Owen Farrell kicked 16 points for England as clung on to beat Argentina 26-23 on Friday to claim third place...

Child protection experts have fiercely criticised social media giant Meta over its plans for end-to-end encryption, accusing the tech firm of prioritising profit over children’s safety. Simon Bailey, a former police chief constable who was national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, accused Meta of a “complete loss of social and moral responsibility” over the plans. John Carr, who is secretary of a coalition of UK children’s charities to deal with internet safety, called the move “utterly unconscionable”. Their comments came after head of the National Crime Agency Graeme Biggar said introducing end-to-end encryption on Facebook would be like “consciously turning a blind eye to child abuse”. Speaking at a lecture in Westminster earlier this month, the law enforcement chief said it should be up to the government rather than technology companies to draw the line between privacy and child safety. Meta responded by saying it has robust measures in place to combat abuse and that it expects to make more reports to law enforcement after end-to-end encryption is brought in. Mr Bailey said as he had seen the scale of online sexual abuse grow, he also saw “big tech companies, like Meta, absolve themselves of any responsibility when it comes to tackling online child sexual abuse”. The former chief constable said: “Big tech facilitates and, through their algorithms, encourages this abuse to take place. It is time their complete loss of social and moral responsibility is highlighted and challenged Simon Bailey “In response to what they know and can see as a global pandemic of online child sexual abuse, they have consciously decided to take the easy way out of dealing with the problem. “Meta, one of the largest carriers of this abuse, has decided to implement end-to-end encryption by default, and effectively stop law enforcement’s ability to identify and arrest offenders and, ultimately, to protect children. “They are using the guise of privacy to justify their position and in doing so, are continuing to put profit before child protection. It is time their complete loss of social and moral responsibility is highlighted and challenged.” Mr Carr, who is secretary of the UK Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety said: “If introduced without the appropriate safeguards that will allow law enforcement to detect and prevent online child sexual abuse, end-to-end encryption threatens to deny justice to huge numbers of children. “Children are major user of social media. A great many use Meta’s platforms, including Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct. “The design and nature of these platforms make them a perfect space for dangerous people to discover, befriend, groom and sexually abuse children – and if end-to-end encryption is introduced without appropriate safeguards, Meta will be willingly blinding itself to the abuse taking place online. “Their plans are utterly unconscionable – particularly when there are tech solutions out there that enable end-to-end encryption to exist and child sexual abuse to be detected, reported, and justice to be served. “Big tech companies, like Meta, must think again before introducing a blanket roll-out of end-to-end encryption across their platforms. “If they don’t, thousands of children will be at risk, and we will fail to solve the growing problem of online child sexual abuse. Do better Meta – it’s time to prioritise child safety over profit.” I cannot emphasise enough the impact this has on me and other victims of this abuse Rhiannon-Faye McDonald Rhiannon-Faye McDonald, head of advocacy at the Marie Collins Foundation, was herself sexually assaulted at the age of 13 after a predator contacted her online. She said: “To say I am disappointed that Meta is continuing with their plans to roll out end-to-end encryption is an understatement. The measures they say will be in place – using metadata to identify patterns of behaviour rather than content – are not good enough. “This move gives child sex abusers the ability to act undetected on its platforms as Meta will also lose the ability to use technology to detect and remove child sexual abuse images and videos. “As a victim of child sexual abuse myself, where my abuse was documented and shared online by the perpetrator, I cannot emphasise enough the impact this has on me and other victims of this abuse. “I am horrified that the images of my abuse could be infinitely reshared across the globe with no hope of them being blocked or taken down. How is this protecting my privacy?” She said it is “incredibly worrying” that big tech companies “can unilaterally make decisions that limit our ability to protect children”. A Meta spokesperson said: “The overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals. “We don’t think people want us reading their private messages so have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse while maintaining online security. “We recently published an updated report setting out these measures, such as restricting people over 19 from messaging teens who don’t follow them and using technology to identify and take action against malicious behaviour. “As we roll out end-to-end encryption, we expect to continue providing more reports to law enforcement than our peers due to our industry-leading work on keeping people safe.” Read More Call of Duty launch sparks record traffic on broadband networks Crypto investment fraud warning issued by major bank Council investigating extent of cyber attack that affected website and systems Setback for Ireland as EU legal adviser recommends revisit of Apple tax case Smartphones ‘may be able to detect how drunk a person is with 98% accuracy’ Ireland and Apple await major development in long-running EU tax dispute

A five-year-old girl who was among three children injured in a knife attack in Dublin was fighting for her life on Friday, as the spotlight fell on far-right groups in Ireland following a night of riots in the Irish capital. Police were preparing for a potential second night of disturbances after about 500 far-right sympathisers and apparently angry youths on Thursday went on the rampage, causing damage that could cost tens of millions of euros to repair, according to Irish premier Leo Varadkar. A care assistant was also in a serious condition in hospital after the attack outside a primary school, which some blamed on an immigrant – reports that sparked violence, looting and thuggery. Around a dozen Garda (police) cars were torched, buses and trams were set alight and shops looted and windows smashed. As Dubliners were coming to terms with the violence, police came under fire for how prepared they were. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris blamed the rioting on a “lunatic, hooligan faction driven by a far-right ideology”. Mr Harris, who said some of the 400 officers involved had been injured, one seriously, denied the disturbances were “a failure of personnel”. Asked about his force’s preparedness, he added: “We could not have anticipated that this would have been the reaction.” However, two PSNI water cannons were sent from Northern Ireland to Dublin on Friday to help with policing any further trouble at the weekend. Irish justice minister Helen McEntee said 34 people had been arrested, 32 of whom appeared in court on Friday, and that there would be further arrests. They faced charges relating to the misuse of drugs, theft and public order. But the leader of the main opposition party, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald, called on Mr Harris and Ms McEntee to resign, saying gardai lost control of the city to a “mob fuelled by hate”. The violence flared after the attack on schoolchildren and their care assistant outside Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire school at lunchtime on Thursday. A six-year-old girl also injured remained in hospital on Friday, but a five-year-old boy who was wounded was discharged. Mr Varadkar said it was important to back the police force, and Ms McEntee refused to resign, insisting Garda had all the resources necessary to keep people safe in Dublin over the weekend. Gardai were trawling through social media and CCTV footage, she said. And she described a “very volatile situation”, adding: “I have no doubt that many people will be imprisoned after those horrific events yesterday. “What happened yesterday evening following this awful, tragic act was nothing but thuggery. “This was a group of individuals who used this horrendous event as an opportunity to wreak havoc in our city, to sew division in our city, they will be responded to with force and gardai responded in the most appropriate way.” The clean-up was continuing on Dublin’s thoroughfare O’Connell Street on Friday, with burned-out buses lifted away by cranes while broken glass and missiles were cleared. Gardai made several arrests in Dublin city centre amid a significant security operation in the area. Politicians and police hailed as heroes by-standers who intervened to halt the attacker, including a Brazilian Deliveroo driver. Caio Benicio said he saw the man grab a girl and attack her. He said: “When I saw the knife, I stopped my bike and I just acted by instinct.” He said he took his helmet off and hit the man in the head with it “with all of my power”. “Later on I found out (the woman) was the teacher. She was very, very brave.” Gardai said a man seriously injured at the scene was a person of interest in their investigation. Ms McDonald said she had no confidence in Ms McEntee or Mr Harris, that there had been an “unacceptable, unprecedented collapse in policing” and that a problem had been “building for months”. “I do not say the following lightly, but it must be said. I have no confidence in how Dublin is being policed,” she said. “This shouldn’t have happened and – let me be very clear – it can never happen again.” However, Mr Varadkar said the rioters “brought shame on Dublin, brought shame on Ireland and brought shame on their families and themselves”. “These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland. They did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people. They did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped. “They did so because they’re filled with hate, they love violence, they love chaos and they love causing pain to others.” Ireland does not have a track record of strong far-right support. Various factors led to Thursday’s violence, according to Kevin Doyle, head of news at the Irish Independent – with a homelessness crisis and a steady growth in numbers of migrants helping to feed a growing far-right narrative that “Ireland is full”. “A group of people that arrived at the scene of the attack were chanting things like ‘get them out’,” he told The Independent. “At one point they broke through the Garda cordon. The people supposedly outraged about the attack actually impeded the investigation.” Mr Doyle added: “People are worried about it [far-right support] now. It’s definitely a minority but it’s a minority that has caused millions of damage. Tensions are high.” The unrest follows two high-profile crimes that rocked Ireland – Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee, who were found murdered in their homes in Sligo, and schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, who was stabbed while out jogging in Tullamore, Co Offaly. Last week her killer, Jozef Puska, 33, a Slovakian, was jailed for life. In his victim impact statement, Ms Murphy’s devastated partner Ryan Casey alluded to some of the tensions facing Irish society as he pointed out her unemployed killer had benefited from social housing and welfare for 10 years. “I feel like this country is no longer the country that Ashling and I grew up in and has officially lost its innocence when a crime of this magnitude can be perpetrated in broad daylight,” he said. Earlier this year, a Travelodge in north Dublin housing asylum-seekers became the focus of right-wing protests. In September, crowds of far-right supporters protested outside Dublin’s parliament building. Wendy Via, president of the Global Project Against Hate & Extremism, said the country was part of a global trend in growing right-wing sentiment. “In Ireland, its largely anti-immigrant sentiment driving it,” she told The Independent, adding: “You have to keep your eye on the fringe.” “People claim this attacker is a certain race or ethnicity and it was driven by XYZ and it just spreads and it is very inflammatory. They will co-opt another issue to legitimise themselves and unfortunately sometimes you get what you got last night, which was arson, damage and injuries.” UK Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the scenes showed society needed “a proper debate" about “migration, immigration, what we need in skills and how we treat people and what pressures it brings to our domestic services”. Read More Boris Johnson claims anti-Brexit campaigners having ‘orgasm’ over migration figures Garda have ‘all resources necessary’ to keep people safe following Dublin riots Boris Johnson links Dublin ‘race riots’ to immigration fears Narrative of extremism must be challenged, Scottish First Minister says Irish government challenge to UK legacy laws would not derail relations – Gove Riot damage could cost tens of millions of euros, Leo Varadkar says

“Cult mom” Lori Vallow has been sentenced to life in prison with no parole for the murders of her two children in a dramatic case that gripped the nation. Vallow, 50, was convicted in May of killing her seven-year-old son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan, who vanished without a trace in September 2019. She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her husband Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy, who died in October 2019. The verdict came after prosecutors convinced a jury that Vallow and Mr Daybell conspired with her brother Alex Cox to murder Tammy, JJ and Tylee as part of their bizarre cult beliefs – but also for financial purposes so that they could collect Tammy’s life insurance money and the children’s social security and survivor benefits. Before the sentence was handed down, the court heard victim impact statements from several family members devastated by the harrowing saga that’s seen countless twists and turns over four years. To the surprise of many, Vallow spoke herself and appeared to show no remorse for the deaths of her children and Tammy, claiming they were “busy” and “happy” in heaven. She appeared emotionless as the sentence was handed down. Read More Lori Vallow finally broke her silence at the sentencing. It was too late Lori Vallow claims ‘no one was murdered’ as she breaks silence in bizarre sentencing statement ‘Monster’ Lori Vallow is confronted by victims’ sobbing families at sentencing: ‘Cruel campaign of terror’

Turkey’s state-run banks didn’t intervene to prop up the lira on Thursday, even after a central bank interest-rate

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON Federal Reserve officials "generally agreed" last month that the need for further interest rate