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Roy Hodgson has targeted a top-half Premier League finish after being appointed Crystal Palace manager for the 2023-24 season. Hodgson, who will celebrate his 76th birthday on August 9, returned to Selhurst Park in March following the departure of Patrick Vieira. Palace were involved in a relegation battle at the time, but the former England manager guided the Eagles to an 11th place finish. “I am immensely pleased and proud

Partygate investigator Sue Gray broke civil service rules “as a result of the undeclared contact” between her and the Labour Party, according to a Whitehall investigation. The former senior civil servant is due to take up the role as Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff after being cleared to start the job in September by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), the anti-corruption watchdog. But in a separate Cabinet Office

JD Sports is to launch dozens of stores in the Middle East in the sportswear retailer’s first franchise deal as part of its ambitious growth plans. The Bury-based retailer told investors on Monday it will expand into the region through a new partnership with Dubai-based company GMG. It plans to open around 50 stores under the JD brand over the next five years, focusing on locations in the United Arab

Joe Biden will meet the King and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he visits the UK later this month. A visit to the UK had long been expected and comes after Mr Sunak visited Washington last month for talks with the US president. Downing Street said that the visit reflected the “strong relationship” between the UK and US, after the White House confirmed the trip. “President Biden is scheduled to

Max Verstappen said he is refusing to dream about completing a hat-trick of world championships after he delivered another emphatic performance to win the Austrian Grand Prix. The double world champion was made to work for his seventh victory from nine rounds after he passed Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on track in Spielberg. But after manoeuvring himself ahead of both Ferrari drivers, Verstappen raced off into the distance to

Ben Stokes produced another astonishing Ashes performance at Lord’s, but his dazzling century was not enough to save England from defeat as Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal sparked fury in the second Test. The England captain embarked on a six-hitting rampage after Alex Carey pulled off a deeply-divisive stumping of Bairstow, making 155 as he sought to fashion an unthinkable sequel to his 2019 miracle at Headingley. But this time a

A hike in rail fares from Monday is “bleak news” for travellers amid the current cost of living crisis, opposition politicians told ministers. With ScotRail to rise ticket prices for most journeys by 4.8%, Conservatives condemned the “steep rise”. Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton insisted the cost of travelling by train should remain frozen “until at least the end of the year”. The rise in fares, which comes

Unverified accounts can only read 600 posts a day Twitter has begun limiting the number of tweets people can read, Elon Musk has announced. Mr Musk, who took over Twitter in October after buying it for 44 billion dollars (£35.5 billion), declared on Saturday that verified accounts are being limited to reading 6,000 posts a day. Unverified accounts can only read 600 posts a day, with new unverified accounts limited to just 300

The final few hours on Saturday night saw Australia all out for 279 and England reduced to 114 for four in pursuit of 371 England will look to captain Ben Stokes on the last day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in their attempt to pull off another miraculous chase. Day four had initially been slow going for most of the morning and afternoon session before a dramatic final few hours

Seven more specialist gambling clinics are being launched to support people who are struggling Health officials have raised concerns over children and adults being “bombarded” with gambling adverts after a record number of people have sought help for gambling addiction in England. NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard also sounded the alarm over “touch of a button” bets as she announced that the NHS is ramping up support for people with gambling problems. New specialist clinics are