Andy Robertson makes up for his mistake by putting Liverpool ahead.
34 min Liverpool have had 76 per cent possession and nine shots to Arsenal’s one.
Continue reading...National Crime Agency uses encrypted chat to uncover gun factories in north-west
Organised criminal gangs from Liverpool have risen to the summit of the UK underworld and “dominate” the firearms and drugs-trade outside London, the latest intelligence from senior officers at the National Crime Agency (NCA) reveals.
Analysis of encrypted messages from a communications system used by criminals has shown that the city has become the preeminent location for top-tier gangs sourcing high-volume importations of drugs and automatic weapons.
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NBA superstar LeBron James, the 35-year-old star of the Los Angeles Lakers who obtained a 2% stake in Fenway Sports Group back in 2011, was among the first to congratulate Liverpool on today’s long-awaited Premier League title.
PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET’S GO @LFC #YNWA♥️
The sun is just going down in New York but Reds throughout the city are raging on into the night. Typically the center of the party would be the 11th Street Pub in the East Village, which is the headquarters of the Liverpool FC Supporter’s Club of NYC, in addition to the six other bars across the city LFCNY works with to accommodate overflow crowd. But the coronavirus pandemic mostly left the group’s 750-strong membership, which Wells estimates are half Americans and half expats, watching today’s match separately while keeping in touch via Zoom and WhatsApp.
“Due to Covid most people watched at home, but a few of our bars with outdoor space were able to host small crowds,” LFCNY president Justin Wells tells the Guardian. “We’re planning some sort of party at 11th Street when it’s safe.”
Champions. That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Continue reading...Virgil van Dijk and Sari van Veenendaal hit out at pundit and say ‘enough is enough’
The captains of the Dutch men’s, women’s and youth national football teams are boycotting a leading sports TV programme over the racist comments of a longstanding pundit, warning: “Enough is enough.”
The Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk, and the Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal have led the way after years of the behaviour of Johan Derksen on the Veronica Inside show being explained away as straight-talking humour.
Continue reading...Study prompts further criticism that chances to suppress infection early in outbreak were missed
There was no “patient zero” in the UK’s Covid-19 epidemic, according to research showing that the infection was introduced on at least 1,300 occasions.
The findings, from the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium, have prompted further criticism that opportunities to suppress the spread of infection in February and March were missed.
Continue reading...Research appears to back up stories of people who believe they got coronavirus at events UK government allowed to go ahead
The last major football match played in England before all sport was suspended because of the coronavirus crisis was the European Champions League showpiece between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. It was a thrilling contest that transfixed 54,000 people under the floodlights of Anfield.
But now that match, along with many other mass events that the government allowed to go ahead as the pandemic spread in March, is coming under renewed scrutiny as evidence grows of the lethal danger to which people were exposed. They include rugby matches, horse races, musical concerts and dog shows attended, in total, by hundreds of thousands of Britons.
Continue reading...Latest figures reveal English regional differences in spread and peak of coronavirus
More people are in hospital with coronavirus in the north-west of England than in London, as regional differences in the spread and peak of the pandemic become increasingly apparent.
Latest figures show 2,033 people in London hospitals compared to 2,191 in the north-west, where the peak for hospitalisation appears to have been on 13 April, compared to 8 April in the capital.
Continue reading...Offences including burglary and violence fall by as much as 20% in some areas
The coronavirus crisis has led to a drop in recorded crime, by as much as 20% in some areas.
Offences such as burglary and violence were down last week compared with the previous seven days, after Boris Johnson made his first request for people to stay home on the Monday.
Continue reading...Steve Rotheram says far-right Italian politician is not welcome in the city
Italy’s far-right leader, Matteo Salvini, has denied he is going to Liverpool after the mayor of the city said “the only audience he’ll find here is one that won’t be shy in telling him what they think of fascists like him.”
The mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, said Salvini’s “division and hate” would not be welcomed in the city after reports Lega nel Mondo, a global network of the League established by Salvini in 2018, was holding an event in March.
Continue reading...Smaller steak advertised as ‘one for the ladies!’ at Manhattan Bar and Grill
A restaurant in Liverpool has attracted online ridicule for selling an 8oz “ladies fillet” steak, which is smaller than the other cuts on its menu.
The entry for the £18.95 dish on the Manhattan Bar and Grill menu reads: “One for the ladies! A beautiful 8oz cut, because we can!”
Continue reading...Two of England’s most prestigious Premier League football clubs, both owned by US investors, have been confronted by international human rights abuses in recent days, and responded with starkly contrasting positions. Liverpool, who as European champions are competing in Qatar in Fifa’s Club World Cup, produced a carefully diplomatic statement which nevertheless managed to be forthright in supporting improved conditions for migrant workers labouring in the Gulf.
Campaigners had asked the club to consider using its reputational power to highlight the deaths of many young men working on construction projects in baking heat. Its chief executive, Peter Moore, challenged Qatar to seriously address the risks of heat stress for workers, reaching into Liverpool’s own heritage to say that any and all unexplained deaths should be investigated thoroughly and bereaved families should receive the justice they deserve. That call for accountability was woven into a more predictable corporate clarification: “We remain a sporting organisation and it is important that we are not drawn into global issues on the basis of where our involvement in various competitions dictates that our fixtures take place.”
Continue reading...Premier League leaders urged to join fight for better working conditions as they prepare for Fifa Club World Cup match
As Liverpool fans stream into Qatar to watch the Fifa Club World Cup next week, it will be easy to forget the thousands of workers from the poorest countries in the region who have toiled for years to construct its glittering buildings.
When they take their seats at the Khalifa International Stadium, where Liverpool will play their semi-final match, they may not realise that scores of workers who refurbished the stadium were housed in filthy, overcrowded accommodation with an ever-present stench of raw sewage.
Continue reading...Explosion at Pascal Blasio’s furniture shop in Wirral injured 81 people and destroyed or damaged 63 properties
A furniture shop owner has been jailed for 20 years for causing a “colossal” explosion which injured 81 people in an attempt to claim insurance.
Pascal Blasio, 57, of Gillingham in Kent, caused the blast at his furniture store in New Ferry, Wirral, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Health secretary Matt Hancock has ordered a “root and branch” review of NHS food after two more patient deaths were linked last week to a listeria outbreak. The new deaths bring the number of suspected fatalities to five and doctors have warned that further cases could occur.
Hancock said he was “incredibly concerned” after it emerged the patients were suspected of dying as a result of eating pre-packaged sandwiches and salads linked by the same supplier, The Good Food Chain.
Continue reading...Presumably, none of the Liverpool supporters will care too greatly that the kaleidoscope of banners they had unfurled in Madrid suddenly look so out of date. Liverpool had their sixth star and when we see them again next season we can be sure they will have added “Madrid, 2019” to the red, yellow and white flags that have been fluttering from Spanish balconies, hotel windows and lampposts in memory of Istanbul, 2005, as well as Rome, 1977 and 1984, plus Wembley, 1978, and Paris, 1981.
Related: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool: Champions League final – live!
Continue reading...HS2 is a once-in-two-century chance to rebalance the UK economy. It isn’t just about creating links to London. There are over 25 stops from Scotland to the south-east. It increases desperately needed capacity on existing lines, creating more space for extra commuter trains. It takes lorries off the road as freight moves to rail, creating more space for the driver on our motorways. There is something in HS2 for every traveller.
The report by the New Economics Foundation (Scrap HS2 and pour £56bn into regions, says thinktank, 20 March) ignores what cities including Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham have all been doing to make sure we benefit. Altogether, cities around the route have plans to create nearly 500,000 jobs, 100,000 new homes and add billions to the economy of the country. Poor connections between our major cities have been holding us back for far too long. Together HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect will give us the links that will unleash investment and bring prosperity to the Midlands and the north.
Continue reading...Mark Fellows and an associate also convicted of killing John Kinsella during gangland feud
A gangland hitman has been convicted of the murder of the Salford criminal Paul Massey, known as “Mr Big”, and his associate John Kinsella.
Mark Fellows, 38, shot Massey in the chest with an Uzi machine gun in July 2015 as part of a deadly feud between rival gangs in Salford. The attack sparked a series of tit-for-tat repercussions.
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