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Sergio Ramos has confirmed he will leave PSG at the end of the season.

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON The Republican chairmen of two House of Representatives panels on Friday urged President Joe

Multiple people have been rescued following a building collapse in New Haven, Connecticut, according to a tweet by the New Haven Fire Department.

The search for survivors of an Iowa apartment building continues, as crews work to stabilize the structure to make it safer for recovery efforts.

Payment apps like PayPal and Venmo might be convenient, but they're not banks — and a federal financial services watchdog is worried that too many consumers are treating them as such.

Manchester United were pointless and headed for humiliation. As Brentford scored four goals in a half – and the first half at that – and Erik ten Hag’s reign began amid farce, a footballer who had starred in four Champions League final victories reached for his phone. United’s most high-profile transfer target texted his agent. But not to back out of a deal. The message, instead, was to tell United he would “fix” it. It was a sign of Casemiro’s confidence. If that self-assurance is a product of a career of rare success – the Carabao Cup took his trophy count to 21 – many another would have been deterred by the impression United were in crisis. They might have stayed at Real Madrid. Not him. “No second thoughts at all,” he recalled. “But to be honest I did say that. I was speaking to my agent, and with John [Murtough, United’s director of football] too about this afterwards. I’d said this after it had happened because I was also very excited and I was aware that my period at Real Madrid had come to an end and I was really upbeat about coming here and taking on this new project, this new challenge. It was clear in my mind.” Eight months later, it is tempting to contemplate an alternative reality where, after missing out on Frenkie de Jong last summer, Casemiro was put off by the shambolic display at Brentford, where instead of being a £63 million method of transforming a team, there was still a void at the heart of the midfield. “I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy challenge because it was a tough defeat to take but I think the excitement of coming here and making a change,” he reflected. Which he did: Casemiro provided a boost to United’s self-esteem even before he played, his unveiling at half-time of the win over Liverpool a sign of the club’s status. United only lost three of the first 32 games he started. He scored and was player of the match in the Carabao Cup final. United took 75 points from the 36 league matches after he joined and finished third. “We knew that it was a project in which you wouldn’t start winning things overnight,” he said, but they could complete a cup double at Wembley on Saturday. It appears as though he has fixed it. “It’s impossible for a single player to change performances but as a squad you can,” he demurred. Yet a turning point was October’s 6-3 defeat to Manchester City. Casemiro watched two-thirds of it from the bench: Ten Hag was still picking Scott McTominay ahead of him and if the Dutchman has made relatively few missteps, that seems one. The Brazilian marked his first Premier League start with an assist for Cristiano Ronaldo’s winner at Everton the following week. His first goal came a couple of weeks later, an injury-time equaliser at Chelsea. Each was a sign he tended to make telling contributions. Tallies of seven goals and six assists may be more than most expected; so, in a different way, are his two red cards. But they underline his centrality. He has been a fulcrum for United, the man at the heart of everything. Which is how he thinks it ought to be. City’s galaxy of gifted midfielders mean Casemiro’s skills as a nullifier will be required if Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are to be kept quiet at Wembley. “When people talk about central defensive midfielders, they forget that you need to help your teammates, you need to defend, to slot in between the centre-backs, cover any gaps that the full-backs or midfielders leave,” said a man who forged a reputation as the world’s best holding midfielder in Madrid, before offering an explanation for his greater productivity. “These are the basic principles for a central defensive midfielder. Of course, beyond that, people want you to score goals, to pass the ball, to get the team playing because football’s changed. In the past it would be the No. 10 that would be required to do that.” He can be both destructive and constructive presence, which he sees as a sign of the evolution in tactics. “I saw an interview with [Juan Roman] Riquelme once talking about central defensive midfielders and specifically [Sergio] Busquets,” Casemiro explained. “He said that often the team didn’t play well because the central holding midfielder hadn’t played [well] and people forget that throughout the history of football, it was the No. 10 who was the playmaker. The central defensive midfielder was always someone that helped the centre-backs, helped in the midfield, helped the full-backs, filled in and stopped counter attacks. The way that central defensive midfielders have had to adapt has changed a lot.” But he will hope some things stay the same. He has an outstanding record in finals; with Real, United and Brazil, he has only lost one, in the 2018 European Super Cup. “Without doubt it’s a significant stat,” he said. He also has experience of getting the better of City; Real trailed for 178 minutes of the Champions League semi-finals last season and yet still overcame Pep Guardiola’s team. “They play very good football and have a great manager and great players but every game is a different story, a different film,” he said. But if the movie of United’s season started in ignominy and ended in glory, the Casemiro biopic might have a certain monotony, if only because he has won so much, so often. Read More Manchester United are obsessed with stopping Man City – their history depends on it The unlikely Manchester United answer to derail Man City’s treble hopes How Raphael Varane transformed Manchester United: ‘You need the character to fight’ Andre Marriner retires from refereeing Bruno Fernandes nets Man Utd winner in comeback against Fulham to clinch third Manchester United owe Champions League return to one man

Work requirements in two safety net programs for low-income Americans are set to change under the compromise debt ceiling package negotiated by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Actions and words have consequences. From the Premier League to grassroots, the abuse of referees is a crisis that faces all levels of football, but the pattern of behaviour only flows in one direction: it starts at the top and is mimicked at the bottom. The appalling abuse suffered by English referee Anthony Taylor as he travelled home from officiating the Europa League final highlighted that cause and effect. Taylor had been tasked with officiating a fractious and ill-tempered contest between Roma and Sevilla in Budapest: the sort of match where the referee finds themselves at the heart of the action as much as the players. After Roma lost on penalties, Jose Mourinho blamed Taylor for the defeat. The manager then confronted Taylor in the car park, launching a tirade of insults and labelling him a “f***ing disgrace”. A few hours later, Taylor was confronted again, but this time the 44-year-old was not faced with just one aggrieved dissenter. As Taylor arrived at the airport with his family, the referee was surrounded by a mob of Roma supporters. Still incensed by their team’s defeat the previous night, the Roma fans attempted to get to Taylor and objects and drinks were thrown in his direction. Taylor, who could be seen shielding two women from the attack, was left without adequate protection. The scenes were dangerous and frightening. A line had been crossed, but it was crossed by Mourinho the night before, first as he identified Taylor as the reason Roma lost and then as he approached Taylor in the car park. The Englishman made a few contentious decisions during the final – Roma were denied a penalty in the final moments of extra time, and Mourinho believed Sevilla should have been shown a red card – but Roma’s defeat had as much to do with Mourinho’s negative approach after taking their lead than any of the referee’s decisions. Taylor had been praised elsewhere for how he handled the final – a game that appeared as unmanageable as an official could face. But there is a difference between being aggrieved at ending up on the losing side and turning criticism of the referee personal, targeted and aggressive. Mourinho had sat in his post-match press conference and said his team “lost a game but not their dignity” before accosting Taylor in the car park, away from the pitch. Any argument that criticism of the referee is part of the game vanished when Mourinho crossed that line. A day later, Taylor was confronted again in a public space at Budapest Airport but this time, Taylor or his family could have been seriously harmed. It was a reminder that touchline behaviour at the top level filters down to real-life situations. The body that represents elite referees in England, PGMOL, said it was “appalled” at the “unjustified and abhorrent” abuse but a much starker warning came from lower down the chain. Responding to the video of Taylor being abused by the Roma fans, the charity Ref Support UK said: “This is so worrying to see. [Managers’] comments and players’ behaviour encourage this and it is on a worrying rise where a serious incident or murder is just around the corner.” An indication of the danger of that has been clear this season. The FA have this year started a trial of giving referees body cameras in four adult grassroots leagues in England. The initiative is designed to improve behaviour and respect from players and spectators towards officials, but it also represents a damning indictment of how vulnerable referees are to physical abuse. A survey by the BBC of almost 1,000 members of the Referees’ Association found that more than 30 per cent said they had come in for physical abuse from spectators. A similar number said they had been threatened with violence against them or a loved one. The Premier League said they were “shocked” at the “unacceptable” abuse Taylor and his family faced – but the English top flight can only be too aware of the levels of referee abuse in its own competition. The abuse of officials has been commonplace in the top flight for years and the problem is not getting any better. Just a few weeks ago, Jurgen Klopp celebrated in the face of assistant referee John Brooks as Liverpool scored a late winner against Tottenham, and was banned for two games following comments he made about referee Paul Tierney. In response, Ref Support UK said Klopp’s behaviour was “disgraceful” and accused the League Managers Association of “silence” on the issue. “They appear to do nothing to address the behaviour of their members whose actions are mimicked at grassroots level by managers and spectators where children are refereeing and have to deal with this replicated behaviour,” a statement said. Referees are an integral part of the game but they will continue to face abuse until action is taken at the top, or else football faces an existential threat. Mourinho admitting some responsibility for what Taylor and his family suffered would be a start to addressing it. Read More English referee Anthony Taylor harassed by Roma fans at airport after Europa League final Uefa awaits reports following Jose Mourinho’s rant at referee Anthony Taylor Jose Mourinho confronts English referee in car park after Europa League final defeat Jose Mourinho charged over criticism of referee Anthony Taylor Premier League ‘appalled’ by abuse of referee Anthony Taylor at airport Anthony Taylor harassed by Roma fans at airport after Europa League final

To be sure, at Computex 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan, the AI wave was inescapable, with

Our sex lives can be a complex, wonderful part of our identities, but they can

Even before this week’s last preparations for the FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag long realised he had to do something different. Managers like the Dutch coach and Pep Guardiola usually avoid referencing media narratives, in order to ensure the players stay focused on “the process”. Ten Hag knew that was impossible in this case, so it’s better to use it as motivation. It might even be all the more necessary given his Manchester United side had been flagging. Going right back to the semi-final victory over Brighton, though, Ten Hag knew it was pointless to talk down the idea of stopping City doing a treble. He was well aware it means everything to the fans, so he is insistent his team will play with “everything”. That is a message that has repeatedly been rammed home in the last week. United go into this with the sort of emotional intensity that many recall from Jose Mourinho’s better moments, but that can still go one of two ways. City themselves would know that too well, from their own experiences of such fixtures before the 2008 takeover. It shows how the course of history has gone a different way than many would ever have anticipated - not least Sir Alex Ferguson - as those 142 years of rivalry see a first ever Manchester derby in an FA Cup final. For most of the living memory of that, United were so superior to City they didn’t have to even concern themselves with their neighbours. They were just fun to further beat down, especially en route to grander feats. The path to their domestic double, in 1995-96, involved a typical comeback win over City. Far more meaningful history weighs over this match. It could never have just been about United seeking to do a first domestic cup double - and just the fifth on record - or even the prize of lifting the oldest trophy in the sport, and one long associated with the club’s key moments. Nor is it about what victory mean for the future of Ten Hag’s side. It is all about preserving the greatest success in United’s history, and the feat that has most defined the post-Busby era of the club. “The treble” is one of a few precious factors that make United unique, all the more so for how it was delivered with a group of homegrown players that echoed the Busby Babes. For City to equal it, and especially by beating United in the final that matters the least to them, would be more symbolic than either "the 6-1" or the FA Cup semi-final of 2011. This is where we are now, though, and how history has turned just as the two clubs play out this epochal match. It is now City that are more concerned with greater aims, and United that have become obsessed with just stopping their rivals. It is also why another FA Cup final has been repeatedly mentioned this week, fittingly from a similar period when United were between eras of glory. That was the 1977 showpiece, as Tommy Docherty’s burgeoning side faced an identical situation against Liverpool. Bob Paisley’s side had already claimed the league and were preparing for a European Cup final against Borussia Monchengladbach. They won that 3-1 but wouldn’t win the FA Cup, as Jimmy Greenhoff scored to give that United side a 2-1 win and the eternal legacy as “treble busters”. This has the same stakes. It is also why United are very much the story to this game, especially after so much focus on City’s brilliance, if also the Premier League charges that cloud their future. The situation over the next few days is much clearer. While City would derive great satisfaction in beating their neighbours to win a double and set up the treble, defeat would be forgotten if they won the Champions League the following week. That is what everything is building up to. That is the one they want above anything else. This will not define their season, even if it will decide the treble. The very preparation for Wembley has been with Istanbul in mind, the staff looking at minutes played and fitness in the way they wouldn’t have to if the FA Cup final was the last game. For United, this is the be-all and end-all of the campaign, and a potential landmark moment. The current squad are keenly aware of this. Even allowing for the economics of the modern game, most of these players are at United because of the prestige of the club. They want to preserve what makes it special. Casemiro is understood to have internalised it. Marcus Rashford has been talking about it. Ten Hag has similarly pressed all of this home. Perhaps the biggest question about the game is whether such emotional intensity will influence the tactical approach. Does Ten Hag go with it, or use it in a more restrained way. This is again why United are more the story, or at least where more of the intrigue lies. Just as we know what City prioritise, we also know how they’ll set up - at least in terms of imposing their game on United. Ten Hag would ideally play something much closer to what City do, but knows his team are still some way off that. He also knows they've been some way off the accelerated level of January-February when they beat Guardiola’s side. This is why the stakes of the treble involve useful motivation. It might also mean Ten Hag has to go with something much more tactical. The absence of Lisandro Martinez is key, too. He would have been seen as important to drawing Erling Haaland into a scrappier battle. All of this is another reason why this marquee match may not be that pretty. The Metropolitan Police have similarly taken necessary precautions given the train strike and the precedent set by some of the fan issues that surrounded the 2011 FA Cup semi-final. There are undeniably heightened emotions around this game. There are also heightened stakes. This is a rare case where one of the teams wants their players to be even more aware of those. Read More How Raphael Varane transformed Manchester United: ‘You need the character to fight’ Ruben Dias interview: ‘Man City have done nothing yet - thinking too far ahead will kill us’ What time is the FA Cup final? How Yaya Toure changed everything for Man City – and delivered Man Utd a ‘slap in the face’

A court has upheld reports that a top soldier killed unarmed Afghans - but wider questions remain.