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England and Uruguay ended in a 1-1 draw during their friendly match at Wembley Stadium. James Trafford, the Manchester City goalkeeper, made a quiet debut but was beaten by Fede Valverde's equalizing penalty, earning a rating of 6.Tino Livramento was untroubled in defense, supporting the attack with energetic runs, though connections were lacking, also scoring 6. Harry Maguire had a solid return to the international scene with booming passes and a set-piece threat, rated 6.Fikayo Tomori was unruffled in his first England appearance since November 2023, despite a toothless Uruguay attack, earning 6. Djed Spence was fine defensively but struggled as a right footer at left-back, checking back frequently, rated 6.Jordan Henderson was occasionally bypassed in midfield and offered little on the ball before being substituted at half-time, scoring 5. James Garner had a decent debut, delivering dangerous corners, rated 6.Noni Madueke won some corners but often held onto the ball too long and went off injured, earning 6. Phil Foden failed to deliver as the No 10 and may worry about his World Cup place, rated 5.Marcus Rashford had an underwhelming night, mostly dribbling into dead ends, scoring 5. Dominic Solanke tested Fernando Muslera from long range and worked hard without looking likely to score, rated 6.The substitutes had varied impacts: Jarrod Bowen was quiet, Adam Wharton offered urgent passing and a crucial block, Cole Palmer had a lively cameo and delivered the corner for the goal, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed wide from a free-kick.

Ben White stepped onto the Wembley pitch to a chorus of jeers from England supporters when introduced as a 68th-minute substitute. The Arsenal defender's return to international football came nearly two years after walking out on the squad during the 2022 World Cup, making his availability for this fixture a significant development.The friendly encounter lacked intensity for much of the first half, with England struggling to create meaningful opportunities. Thomas Tuchel, utilizing an experimental lineup with no survivors from the previous match against Albania, focused on evaluating fringe players for potential World Cup consideration. The match tempo was low, and patterns remained formulaic as Uruguay comfortably maintained defensive organization.The game transformed dramatically after White's introduction. In the 81st minute, the defender marked his fifth England cap with his first international goal, tapping in from close range following an excellent Cole Palmer corner delivery. Despite scoring, the announcement of his name was met with another round of boos from the home crowd.White's night took a turn for the worse in stoppage time when he conceded a penalty with an ill-advised challenge on Federico Vinas. After a video assistant referee review, Federico Valverde converted the spot kick, leveling the score at 1-1. The match had been particularly fractious, featuring several contentious challenges including an X-rated lunge by Uruguay's Ronald Araújo at Phil Foden, which left the Manchester City player limping off.Tuchel expressed frustration with the officiating, questioning why Araújo escaped punishment and suggesting the VAR system was malfunctioning. The England manager had made numerous changes to his squad, prioritizing rest for first-choice players during a condensed training week leading up to the fixture.

When Hurricane Beryl devastated Union Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines in July 2024, 61-year-old Tedica Alexander found refuge at the Ashton community center, which her grandchildren called 'Final Destination.' As the storm intensified, the shelter quickly filled to capacity with 47 children and 147 adults, including three people using wheelchairs, while windows shattered and floodwaters rose above ankle height. Alexander's experience mirrors a broader pattern revealed across the Caribbean: women often take on caretaker roles during natural disasters, yet studies show this responsibility can make their experiences more difficult. UN Women reported in 2022 that pre-existing social and cultural demands on women as primary caregivers increase their vulnerability during disasters, with gendered roles making women and girls more likely to be killed in such events. While emergency shelters provide critical protection from storms, they often fail to address gender-based violence risks. A 2021 systematic review published in BMJ Global Health found that post-disaster environments frequently heighten risks for women and girls, with inadequate shelter infrastructure—such as lack of doors, walls, and locks—contributing to increased violence in Haiti, Japan, and Nepal. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has been working to address these challenges, according to Loyce Pace, the organization's Americas regional director. The federation publishes manuals providing guidance to agencies working during natural disasters, focusing on ensuring governments understand their roles in emergencies and have access to necessary resources. Despite these efforts, significant challenges remain. In the Bahamas, emergency shelter capacity accommodates only 3% of the population, according to Aarone Sargent, managing director of the Disaster Risk Management Authority. During Hurricane Melissa in 2025, approximately 1,800 people from the southern islands were evacuated to New Providence and accommodated in six or seven shelters. The recovery phase presents particular difficulties for women. As Pace notes, while immediate response has improved attention to vulnerable populations, the recovery period often proves more challenging, especially for single women seeking loans or rebuilding businesses. Alexander, whose home and livelihood were destroyed in Hurricane Beryl, continues to live without electricity or water, struggling to regain stability months after the disaster. As the Caribbean region faces increasingly frequent and intense storms, experts emphasize the need for gender-responsive disaster planning and adequate shelter infrastructure that addresses the specific vulnerabilities women and girls face before, during, and after natural disasters.

Iran's national football team made a poignant statement before a friendly match against Nigeria in Turkey on Friday. As their anthem played, the players held up school bags and wore black armbands, a powerful gesture of protest against the killing of schoolgirls in a recent US-Israeli strike.The friendly match, held in the resort town of Belek, comes as Iran's participation in the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada hangs in the balance due to the ongoing conflict. The team's actions were a clear reference to the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school, which Tehran claims resulted in the deaths of over 175 people, including children and teachers, on the first day of joint US-Israeli strikes.An Iranian team spokesperson confirmed that "the players are holding the school bags close to their heart in remembrance of the 165 girls the Americans killed in an Iranian school." This dramatic gesture underscores the team's stance on the issue and highlights the human cost of the conflict.The incident has sparked significant controversy, with some members of Iran's women's football team refraining from singing the national anthem during an Asian Cup match earlier this month. State TV in Tehran responded by labeling them "traitors."Iran's football federation had sought to have their national team's World Cup games relocated from the US to Mexico, but this request was rejected by Fifa. The team, which lost Friday's game 2-1 to Nigeria, is set to play Costa Rica in another friendly match in Turkey on Tuesday.

Mark Dorsey, a 35-year-old resident of East Oakland, works two jobs to make ends meet, often relying on minimum wage or close to it. The current minimum wage in Oakland is $17.34 an hour, higher than California's $16.90 an hour, but still insufficient for Dorsey.Dorsey is part of a campaign to almost double California's minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030. A similar initiative has been tabled in New York City, backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.The initiatives face opposition from business interests, but have widespread public support. The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009.The Oakland and Alameda Living Wage for All campaign has filed two ballot initiatives for the November 2026 ballot to increase the minimum wage in Oakland and Alameda county to $30 an hour by 2030 for large employers.Zach Norris, co-executive director of the Black Organizing Project, emphasizes that the ballot initiatives are also racial justice issues, as Oakland has seen a 46% decline of Black residents since 2000.In New York City, Councilor Sandy Nurse has introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030 for large employers, with small businesses given more time to adapt.The Economic Policy Institute projects that 1.68 million New York City residents, 36.7% of the city's wage-earning workforce, will earn less than $30 an hour by 2030.Business groups have voiced opposition, but a 2023 study found that minimum wage increases do not result in job losses or small business closures.

Iran's men's football team, Team Melli, has been training in southern Turkiye as they prepare for two upcoming friendly matches before the FIFA World Cup. The team's preparations come against the backdrop of the US-Israel war on Iran, which is likely to attract heightened attention during the World Cup.The team held a training session in Belek, Antalya, with tightly restricted media access. Officials stated that they wanted to avoid distractions before the matches, which are critical to their World Cup preparations.Iran's football federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving its World Cup matches to Mexico from the US due to concerns over player safety. The friendly matches were originally scheduled to take place in Jordan but were moved to Turkiye following the outbreak of the war on Iran.The team will play against Nigeria on Friday and Costa Rica on Tuesday. Striker Sardar Azmoun was omitted from the squad after posting a picture on his Instagram feed of a meeting with Dubai's ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Iranian media reported that Azmoun had been expelled from the national team for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government.

Senegal's football governing body has vowed to mount a crusade against the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) decision to strip the country of its African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title. The CAF's ruling was made after Senegal walked off the pitch in protest at a potentially decisive penalty awarded to Morocco in the final.The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has lodged an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision, with its legal team warning that the case could reshape the world of football and undermine the principle that refereeing decisions are final."This decision cannot even be considered a true sporting justice ruling – it is so crude, so absurd, so irrational," lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo Perez, representing Senegal's ruling body, told a news conference on Thursday.The FSF president, Abdoulaye Fall, said: "In the face of this administrative robbery, the FSF refuses fatality. We will fight a moral and legal crusade."Senegal's legal team has gathered international lawyers from Switzerland, Spain, France, and Senegal to plead the case, with lawyer Seydou Diagne saying the country suffered a "betrayal" and that they are asking CAS to speed up the process.

A high-stakes diplomatic effort is underway as a delegation of Russian officials has arrived in the United States for meetings with their American counterparts. This visit, which began on Thursday, marks a significant development in the strained relations between Moscow and Washington, particularly over Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed optimism about the talks, stating, 'We hope that these first tentative steps will, of course, make their contribution to the further revival of our bilateral engagement.' President Vladimir Putin has set the main directives for the trip and will be thoroughly briefed on the meeting.The visit occurs against the backdrop of US-brokered talks to end the war in Ukraine, which are currently in a state of limbo. Despite several rounds of negotiations since US President Joe Biden's administration took office, a deadlock persists, with the Kremlin ruling out compromises to halt its military campaign.Russia, a key ally of Iran, has been accused by Western intelligence officials of supporting the Iranian government as it faces a war launched by the US and Israel. A recent report alleged that Russia was close to completing a shipment of drones to Iran, which Moscow has vehemently denied, calling such claims 'lies being spread by the media.'In a related development, Russia has intensified its military actions in Ukraine, carrying out one of the largest aerial attacks since the start of the war, launching 948 drones in 24 hours. This escalation has prompted Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to appeal for air defence munitions from allies, warning of a potential deficit in missiles while Washington focuses on the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

A California jury has ruled that Meta and Google are liable for $3m in damages in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit. The case, which began over a month ago, accused the companies of designing features intended to hook young users, including notifications and autoplay features.The plaintiff, a 20-year-old woman referred to as KGM or Kaley, claimed that she became addicted to social media at a young age, which exacerbated her mental health issues. She began using YouTube at age six and Meta-owned Instagram at age nine.The jury deliberated for over 40 hours across nine days before reaching a verdict. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified in the case, although YouTube chief executive Neal Mohan was not called to testify.The verdict is the latest in a wave of lawsuits targeting social media companies. There is a looming federal social media addiction case slated to begin in June in Oakland, California. On Tuesday in New Mexico, a jury found that Meta violated state law by misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and by enabling child sexual exploitation on those platforms.Legal experts say the verdict will shape future litigation. 'The fact the jury found Meta and Google liable represents that these cases have real exposure to the social media giants, and are going to frame how future litigation will proceed,' entertainment lawyer Tre Lovell told Al Jazeera.