Month: September 2026

The youngster joined City’s academy at under-nine level and he really started to make a name for himself last term.

Samba scored 24 goals and provided 10 assists in an eye-catching first full season with the under-18s, including curling home a stunning free-kick to help City win the FA Youth Cup final against rivals Manchester United in May.

On his debut, Samba played the entire 90 minutes and fully grasped his opportunity.

With City struggling for openings, Samba broke the deadlock by flicking home a header – he celebrated by blowing a kiss in the direction of family and friends in the stands, before curling in a delightful second later in the game.

Samba was afforded a generous ovation towards the end of the game when being deservedly named man of the match.

“[I’m] satisfied not just for the goals but for the performance too,” said manager Maresca.

“I asked him in the last three, four days – when I decided to play him as nine – he said he never played there. He is not a nine for sure, but he was good.

“He is young, full of energy, strong, can finish, can set [players up]. He made some good decisions in the first half. I am happy but they are young and we have to go slowly, slowly.

“Hopefully we can give him more chances.”

The White House has withdrawn President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a Republican senator joined Democrats in opposing his confirmation.

Richard Schroyer was serving as a senior aide to the secretary of Homeland Security when Trump picked him to lead the immigration enforcement agency in June.

The White House withdrew his nomination on Thursday in a short memo, which did not explain the decision. The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Republican Sen Rand Paul had stalled the nomination as he pressed for more information about ICE and Border Patrol shootings that killed two Americans in Minneapolis in January.

Schroyer had worked with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for 29 years, and also served in the US Marines. He is a close ally of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, whose department oversees ICE and other immigration and border agencies. His selection by Trump was seen as a surprise given his lack of experience overseeing such a large law enforcement agency.

The position is one of many that needs to be confirmed by the US Senate. Schroyer’s nomination did not manage to make it to a full Senate vote and had stalled in the Senate’s Homeland Security committee.

ICE has not been led by Senate-confirmed leader since 2017 and instead has had a host of temporary chiefs. It is currently led by David Venturella, a former private prison executive, after Todd Lyon announced his departure from the top job in April.

The withdrawal on Thursday marks a defeat for Trump and Mullin, as the White House continues Trump’s campaign pledge to lead the largest deportation effort in US history.

Paul, who serves as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he would not advance the nomination to a full vote until the White House provided more information about the Minneapolis killings.

National protests took place earlier this year following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Both US citizens, the two were protesting when they were fatally shot in separate confrontations with ICE agents in January.

One of the promises that helped Trump take the White House in 2024 – cracking down on illegal immigration – has now divided voters going into the congressional midterm elections less than two months from now.

At the same time, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, is warning that the crackdown could cause many of the Hispanic voters who supported him to turn their backs on the party when they go to the polls in November.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” she said in an advertisement filmed outside the White House that was released on Thursday. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

A Big Brother duo have sparked romance speculation just days into the new ITV series

Two Big Brother housemates have seemingly ‘confirmed’ their romance after just four days in the famous house.

The duo entered the experiment on Sunday (September 13), alongside 14 other contestants. But they have now been spotted laying together in bed and holding hands, prompting fans to suggest that they have already ‘hard launched’ their connection.

The moment came during Thursday (September 17) night’s episode, when the house was transformed into a ‘dreamland’. While nominated housemates Millie, Pauline and Rochelle stayed in the main house, the remaining contestants were sent to a much smaller ‘nightmare room’.

As they were settling into the their new living space, Chelsey and Lynx were seen holding hands while chatting with their co-stars. And the duo didn’t appear to be hiding their intimate body language from the rest of the house.

This has sparked conversation on X, formerly Twitter, where one viewer wrote: “Finger interlocking holding hands in front of basically everyone, oh they really hard launching this romance thing init #bbuk.”

Many fans have complained about the pair’s alleged “showmance,” arguing that they are treating the social experiment like a dating show. “Chelsey & Lynx need to realise this is not Love Island #BBUK,” said one.

Another frustrated viewer posted: “Stop trying to make a chelsey and lynx showmance happen! it’s not going to happen! #bbuk,” while a third added: “they’re holding hands now? #bbuk.”

Someone else chimed in with: “Do they know its not love island ffs stop holding hands #bbuk,” with a final viewer putting forward: “We’ll have to get one of Lynx or Chelsey out soon if they continue, they think they’re on Love Island. #bbuk,” reports OK!.

Although their romance has come under fire, Chelsey and Lynx have separately attracted some support since joining the show. Manchester-based Chelsey has been described as “a sweetheart”, with one fan writing: “I really like Chelsey so far, she’s got a great bubbly personality. #BBUK.”

Lynx has his admirers, too. “I like lynx #BBUK,” one supporter posted, while another declared: “Lynx might be the coolest name i’ve ever heard #bbuk.” Chelsey and Lynx aren’t the first pair to find a connection on the series. 2025 contestants Marcus and Elsa, who met on the show, recently announced their engagement and first pregnancy together.

Away from the romances, the house is preparing for an eviction. Big Brother’s undercover moles, Tays and Philip, nominated Millie, Pauline and Rochelle, leaving the public to decide who goes.

The result will be revealed during Friday’s live broadcast, with AJ Odudu and Will Best on hand to interview the departing housemate.

Big Brother continues on ITV2 and ITVX tomorrow night at 9pm

WASHINGTON — The White House said Thursday that it was withdrawing its nomination of Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ensuring that an agency at the forefront of President Trump’s domestic agenda will remain without a Senate-confirmed leader for at least a while longer.

Schroyer, who has little experience in immigration, is close to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma.

The White House offered no comment in a brief statement.

The latest setback comes as the agency remains under withering scrutiny over its handling of enforcement operations. Critics have question how ICE has recruited and trained officers as it raced to hire thousands to carry out Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Officers have shot and killed multiple people, including two American citizens in Minneapolis this year.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had refused to hold a hearing on the nominee until Homeland Security provided him with information he had been seeking about civilian deaths during ICE enforcement operations.

“I don’t have a concern with who the nominee was. I had asked them to give me an update on the internal investigation into civilian deaths,” Paul told The Associated Press. “And I’m still waiting.”

When Mullin took over the department in March, he pledged a lower-profile approach to immigration enforcement, pulling back on the aggressive, tumultuous crackdown on the streets of large cities that sparked widespread public condemnation.

Arrests have continued to accelerate, reaching nearly 51,000 in August, the highest single monthly arrest total during the second Trump administration.

Paul said he intended to hold a hearing on Schroyer’s nomination, but it never came to that. He heard about the nomination being withdrawn only when the White House made it public Thursday.

ICE has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since the Obama administration. David Venturella, a former executive at a private prison operator, returned to the agency as acting director this year after Todd Lyons resigned.

When Trump nominated Schroyer in June, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his pick was “a PATRIOT with real operational experience” and a “proven leader with DECADES of experience locking up the worst of the worst.”

The administration did not indicate when it might announce another pick for the position.

Arsenal are eyeing Bournemouth youngster Eli Junior Kroupi, Real Madrid are considering a move for Everton‘s Jarrad Branthwaite, and Chelsea are interested in Nico Williams.

Arsenal are extremely keen on a move for Bournemouth and France Under-21s forward Eli Junior Kroupi, 20, but the Cherries would expect a huge fee. (Football London), external

Real Madrid are weighing up a move for Everton‘s 24-year-old English defender Jarrad Branthwaite, who is also on the radar of several Premier League clubs. (Goal), external

Chelsea are keen to explore a £69m deal for Spain and Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams, 24. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Arsenal have no intention of selling 27-year-old Spanish midfielder Martin Zubimendi in January. (Football Insider), external

Real Madrid and Barcelona have made fresh enquiries about American teenager Cavan Sullivan, 16, who is set to move to Manchester City from Philadelphia Union when he turns 18. (Teamtalk), external

Liverpool will have to pay the full £130m release clause to buy 20-year-old Brazilian Rayan from Bournemouth despite manager Andoni Iraola’s relationship with the midfielder from his time as Cherries boss. (ESPN Brazil via Caught Offside), external

Atletico Madrid and Argentina midfielder Julian Alvarez, 26, who counts Arsenal and Barcelona among his suitors, is considering leaving his long-term agent after a summer of transfer speculation. (Mundo Deportivo), external

Everton are unlikely to pursue Tottenham and Brazil forward Richarlison despite the 29-year-old being linked with a return to the Toffees over the summer. (Football Insider), external

The ruling comes amid legal battle over Trump’s changes to the Kennedy Center, including his effort to rename it.

A United States federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making major physical changes to the building, including demolition, after President Donald Trump said the Washington performing arts venue could be “ripped down”.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the order on Thursday, saying it would “avoid any confusion” following the centre’s sudden closure this week.

The Kennedy Center closed on Wednesday and will remain closed for at least seven days to assess what its executive director Matt Floca called “acute risks to public safety” from structural deterioration. Officials have cited a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month and problems with the building’s roof terrace canopy.

The temporary closure came a day after the center’s board voted to close the facility for an extended renovation. The Trump-aligned board has argued that the building, which opened in 1971, is in serious disrepair.

Trump said on Wednesday that his administration’s efforts to restore the centre deserved recognition and warned that without them, “it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down”.

The judge’s order followed a request from Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty, an ex officio Kennedy Center board member who has challenged Trump’s efforts to overhaul the institution. Judge Cooper rejected Beatty’s request for an emergency hearing but ordered that any major physical changes, including demolition, would require 30 days’ notice.

On Wednesday, an AFP news agency photograph showed Trump on board Air Force One examining a placard that appeared to depict the Kennedy Center being demolished. The image showed the words “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS…” above a picture of heavy machinery clearing rubble.

The AFP image was viewed millions of times on social media and made headlines in many US news outlets. The photograph was included in Beatty’s court filing on Thursday.

The legal dispute follows Judge Cooper’s earlier rulings that blocked efforts to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center without congressional approval.

Pennsylvania has asked the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for help containing an expanding measles outbreak that has seen several people die, but says it will withdraw the request unless the federal agency recognises four measles-associated deaths reported by the state.

The CDC, however, said it has not been properly notified of any such request.

The US is currently seeing the worst measles outbreak in the country since 1991, with several deaths over the last couple of years. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but has made a comeback in recent years, which some have linked to a rise in vaccine scepticism. The US state of Pennsylvania has been hit especially hard.

In a letter sent to CDC Director Erica Schwartz on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen said the state had begun the process of requesting emergency assistance from the CDC, known as an Epi-Aid.

“The CDC’s choice not to publicly recognize the deaths undermines our response,” Bogen wrote. “For this reason, if CDC is unable to transparently and accurately communicate information about those measles-associated deaths, the Department will respectfully rescind our request for a CDC Epi-Aid.”

However, in a statement to Al Jazeera, Grace Davis Jamison, press secretary for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said that the CDC had not received Pennsylvania’s request through its normal channels and that federal outbreak assistance was separate from how the agency tabulates deaths.

“CDC will not allow [Pennsylvania Democratic] Governor [Josh] Shapiro to politicize this process. We owe the American people accurate, consistent, and transparent public health information,” Jamison said. “CDC will not submit to political blackmail that conditions critical public health assistance. The people of Pennsylvania should never be used as leverage in a political dispute over how deaths are classified.”

Disagreement grows as Pennsylvania’s measles outbreak spreads

The dispute over the deaths began in August, when Pennsylvania reported that two unvaccinated people died of measles in Lancaster County, which is located in the South Central part of the state. Lancaster is considered the centre of Pennsylvania Dutch Country and home to the nation’s oldest Amish and Mennonite communities. Both communities have under-vaccinated populations.

The CDC initially included the deaths in its national tally, but subsequently removed them after Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr questioned whether measles had caused or contributed to the fatalities. The agency said at the time that available information did not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths.

Pennsylvania continued to stand by its determination.

The outbreak has spread well beyond its initial epicentre in Lancaster County. On September 13, a county coroner reported that a 40-year-old woman had died from complications associated with measles. The state later confirmed the death as measles-associated and announced two additional deaths on September 15. All four people were unvaccinated, according to the state.

The state reported 393 cases across 28 counties when the first two deaths were announced on August 25. Pennsylvania now reports 731 confirmed cases across 38 counties and 141 hospitalisations. Of those reported cases, only four people, or less than one percent, are vaccinated.

What are officials arguing about?

The disagreement between Pennsylvania and the CDC centres on the distinction between a “measles-associated” death versus a death “caused” by measles. Pennsylvania uses “measles-associated” under its state surveillance definition, while HHS said it is working with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to establish a standardised definition for measles deaths.

Infectious disease experts warn that the dispute over how to classify the deaths puts the CDC at odds with a long-standing approach to tracking the consequences of measles. Matthew Ferrari, director of Pennsylvania State University’s Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, told Al Jazeera that “measles-associated” death has long been a standard used by the World Health Organization and CDC.

“It’s the most useful distinction because it is a case that could have been prevented by a measles vaccination, or by early detection and isolation,” Ferrari said. “Measles is severely immunocompromising, so it is very often a secondary infection that is the ultimate cause of death.”

Experts say the CDC’s dispute with Pennsylvania risks distracting from efforts to contain the outbreak. Dr Andrew Pavia, spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America and professor at the University of Utah, told Al Jazeera the distinction should not be controversial.

“The impact, though, is confusion for the public and erosion of trust in the ability of CDC staff to communicate to the public without political interference,” Pavia said.

HHS said federal outbreak assistance and national mortality reporting are separate processes and rejected the idea that the two should be linked.

How would an Epi-Aid help Pennsylvania?

An Epi-Aid is a CDC mechanism for providing rapid, short-term assistance during an urgent public health problem. The CDC says Epi-Aids generally last one to three weeks, during which they deploy Epidemic Intelligence Service officers to analyse epidemiological data, evaluate surveillance systems, and recommend measures to control and prevent the spread of disease.

The requesting health authority retains overall leadership of the investigation, while CDC personnel provide technical assistance, including epidemiological expertise and access to laboratory resources.

“The most important thing for an effective response is communication and trust,” Ferrari said. “It is important for all partners to agree on the foundational elements of the problem and the metrics for evaluating the severity of the problem.”

KATIE Price’s ex Dane Bowers has updated fans from his hospital bed about ‘complications’ after a seven-hour surgery.

Back in August, the Another Level singer revealed he needed to have a “very serious operation”.

On Thursday, Dane, 46, took to Instagram from his hospital bed to share an update on how his spinal fusion went.

He said: “So I had my surgery yesterday, luckily enough I didn’t really have much pain, obviously I had this morphine drip thing that I could press the button for and I’ve not used it.

“I used it once right at the beginning to see what it felt like I guess, but I’ve not used it which is good.”

But the singer – who wore a hospital gown with a piece of white material tucked into the neckline – then explained something was wrong with his neck and chin.

raw reveal

Katie Price’s ex Dane Bowers to undergo ‘serious op’ & shares health update

former flame

Katie Price’s ex Dane Bowers hooked on gossip about marriage to Lee Andrews

He said: “I have this thing here on my chin which needs to be seen to, which is why I’m talking a bit weird, it’s all numb and it’s from where my face was down.

“My surgery was seven hours which is quite long. And it’s sort of seeping as you can see…disgusting.

“So I think I’m having a dermatologist and some sort of skin doctor come to see, but that’s the only sore bit really.”

Dane – who dated Katie between 1998 and 2000 – then revealed he had managed to get out of bed and stand up with a physiotherapist and used a walker to do some steps around the ward.

He added: “My back is sore when I move but I’m not particularly in pain. I did have a bit of cramping in my good leg but otherwise not too bad.”

When Dane shared the news of his upcoming surgery last month, he said: “I got a second opinion and I am glad I did, because it’s pretty much changed what I am doing.

“Bad news for me, I do need to have a very serious back operation. I need to basically have a fusion”.

Spinal fusion is a procedure which sees two or more vertebrae joined together with metal rods, cages or screws.

An unprecedented surge in border crossings over the last decade reshaped America: Millions of people from more than 150 countries arrived, bringing the U.S. immigrant population to its highest levels.

Now, data obtained exclusively by the Associated Press paint a picture of who these migrants are, where they went and what happened after the border.

Some went to cities that have long been magnets for immigrants — New York, Miami — but increasingly, others found their way to smaller cities with less developed immigrant footholds. Blocks, neighborhoods and entire cities were remade in places like Elkhart, Ind., Knoxville, Tenn.,and Dodge City, Kan.

And while the vast majority of migrants traditionally were from Mexico, this surge included people from an astonishing number and diversity of countries: India, Ecuador, Ghana.

Via a Freedom of Information Act request, AP obtained federal records on the self-reported destinations of 4.5 million migrants released in the United States after crossing the Mexican border — both legally and illegally — between October 2018 and July 2025.

Migrants must provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a street address. AP obtained their destination ZIP codes, citizenship by country, ages, genders and the dates and border regions where they encountered authorities.

Some probably never arrived at the addresses they gave. Authorities lacked resources to check, though migrants must report truthfully to pursue their cases in court and get work permits. Some have moved elsewhere in the United States or left the country, voluntarily or involuntarily. But many have stayed put.

Data on their initial destinations after the southern border provides both a sweeping and an unusually granular look at how the immigration surge — one that peaked during President Biden’s administration and was a major reason voters returned his predecessor, Donald Trump, to the White House — is playing out today.

Here are some key takeaways from the data.

Cities drew migrants from several continents

The Border Patrol encountered migrants from 174 countries in one year alone, a sharp departure from earlier periods when they were nearly all Mexican and Central American. The growth of social media and new migration routes were key in bringing people from around the world. Cincinnati, for example, experienced a large number of arrivals from West Africa, Uzbekistan and India.

Some cities — ones that for generations have had robust international communities — were further diversified by the range of countries from which people arrived.

New York City’s Queens borough registered at least 25 nationalities with significant arrivals, including five countries that each sent more than 7,000 people: Ecuador, China, Colombia, Venezuela and India.

Philadelphia had 11 nationalities with at least 1,000 new arrivals, led by Brazil, Haiti and the Dominican Republic but also including Russia and Venezuela. The city’s metro area also received more than 1,000 migrants from Georgia.

Florida remained No. 1, but many people looked elsewhere

While Florida was the most popular state, Latin American immigrants increasingly looked elsewhere for more promising job prospects and a better quality of life. Many turned to places with small but established communities of immigrants from their homelands.

For Cubans, nine of the top 10 destination ZIP codes were in Florida, but people of the Caribbean nation also flocked to Louisville, Ky., Grand Island, Neb., and Odessa, Texas. Colombians went to the Denver suburb of Aurora. Paterson, N.J., was the top pick among Peruvians. Some Venezuelans headed to the growing suburbs south of Salt Lake City; others to pockets of Atlanta, Chicago and Denver.

More women and children came than men

Nearly 6 of every 10 migrants released at the border were women and children, a dramatic shift from a few years earlier when migrants were predominantly men.

The change is visible in many places and across nationalities, but some stand out. Tulsa, Okla., attracted Mexican women and children. Ecuadorian women and children went to Spring Valley, N.Y. Guatemalan women were drawn to Chattanooga, Tenn.

Those who came from China headed to L.A. and New York

Chinese migrants, who trekked by hundreds nightly in California’s mountainous border with Mexico, largely gravitated to two places: New York City, especially the Queens and Brooklyn boroughs, and a cluster of neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area.

Trump’s deportation machine hit some migrant magnets and overlooked others

Immigration arrests have hit some areas that ranked among the most popular destinations for migrants in recent years, including Miami and New York. Others that experienced a large migrant influx have gotten less attention from authorities, including Silicon Valley, Madison, Wis, and Stamford, Conn.

Jarrett, Kessler, Lodhi and Spagat write for the Associated Press.

Warsaw also says it has scrambled military planes in response to a Russian attack in western Ukraine, close to its border.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says that intelligence information suggests Russia plans to launch drone and missile attacks against countries supporting Ukraine.

Warsaw’s leader outlined the assessment during an address to parliament on Thursday, saying that the attacks will be meant to weaken NATO’s ability to act collectively in response.

“According to intelligence assessments, Russia’s plan … includes hybrid drone and missile strikes against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland,” Tusk said.

European countries suspect Moscow of being behind a series of acts of sabotage in recent months to put pressure on the allies, especially Germany, helping Kyiv in its bid to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion – something the Kremlin has vigorously denied.

“These potential strikes would be quote-unquote ‘accidental’ in nature, intended to paralyse or at least weaken the resolve of NATO states to invoke the relevant NATO provisions in the event of aggression against a member country,” Tusk added.

He did not elaborate on which intelligence agencies had provided the warning.

He also said such attacks by Russia could coincide with “political changes in certain European countries granting power – or at least a powerful voice – to those who, increasingly invoking noble slogans of peace, pacifism and needless casualties, will call for peace – or rather, the total capitulation of Ukraine”.

Tusk appeared to be referring to the advance of more Russia-friendly parties such as Alternative for Germany (AfD) and National Rally in France.

Air raid near border with Poland

Earlier on Thursday, Poland said it had scrambled military planes in response to a Russian attack in western Ukraine, close to the Polish border.

Airports in Rzeszow and Lublin were temporarily closed, and residents of two eastern regions of Poland received air raid warnings. Local media reported that sirens had sounded and that pupils in some schools had sought shelter.

“Very close to the Polish border, not far from Dorohusk, a petrol station was most likely attacked again,” Tusk said.

On Sunday, a Russian drone hit a passenger train in Ukraine, just two kilometres (1.6 miles) from the Polish border.

Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland was strengthening airspace protection.

“We have increased F-16 and helicopter activity, and are reinforcing our air defence and rapid response systems,” he wrote on X.

Tusk said he would visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday to discuss cooperation within the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, a group of European countries developing an air defence system with Ukraine as a cheaper alternative to the US-built Patriot.

LADY Gaga’s baby name has finally been revealed after the star welcomed her first child with fiance Michael Polansky.

The Born This Way hitmaker, 40, who had kept her pregnancy under wraps and spent months out of the public eye, gave birth in June.

Now, after rampant speculation, the couple’s baby has been revealed to be a girl named Rose Bean Polansky, reports TMZ.

The outlet, who obtained the birth certificate, says she was born in Los Angeles on June 9 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre.

Baby Rose was welcomed with the help of Dr. Robert Katz, who helped deliver Ciara and Russell Wilson‘s baby Sienna in 2017.

The inspiration behind the name remains unclear but some have speculated it could be linked to La Vie En Rose, the famous french song she sings in hit film A Star Is Born.

baby gaga!

Lady Gaga seen with new baby for first time after superstar welcomed first child

hey baby

Lady Gaga, 40, secretly ‘welcomes first baby with fiance Michael Polansky’

As a toast to the song, the star had a rose tattoo inked down the length of her spine in 2019.

Meanwhile, the middle name Bean could be a nod to singer Carl Bean who provided the inspiration behind her hit “I Was Born This Way”.

Lady Gaga – real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta – was seen out and about with her new baby for the first time earlier this month.

The new mum was snapped taking a stroll with fiance Michael with the tot close to her chest while out and about in the California sunshine.

Baby Rose was wrapped in a beige sling and white baby-grow, with its face turned to her chest.

The popstar placed a tender hand protecting the tot’s neck as they spent some quality time together.

Lady Gaga gave a hint as to her family plans in 2025, when she spoke openly about her thoughts on motherhood in a series of interviews.

She told the New York Times: “I’m excited to be a mom. I used to have a lot of apprehension about it.

“The thing that’s the most important to me is to not force my children to live a life that they are not choosing.

“So the more that we can give them space to discover who they are on their own, that’s the thing that I believe in the most”.

She also told Rolling Stone last year: “Being a mom is the thing I want the most.”

And talking about her own relationship with her mum with Allure in 2019, she said: “I really hope that when I have maybe a little girl one day, or a little boy, and they see Mommy put her makeup on, that they have the same experience that I did.

“That’s the greatest gift of all, when you can connect with your parents.”

Lady Gaga and Michael first got together in 2019, but went public with their relationship in 2020.

They went Instagram official in February 2020, when Gaga posted a pic of her cuddling up to her new man.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — In the wood-paneled basement of a union hall, retirees sat in folding chairs last week as they recalled how miles of steel mills and plentiful jobs had slowly disappeared.

“We told our children to get your education, get out, and don’t come back,” said Al Antonelli, who has been a member of Ohio Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 125 for nearly 50 years. “Because there’s no future here, especially blue collar.”

Versions of Youngstown’s story played out across the industrial Midwest, where disappearing jobs and frustration in longtime Democratic strongholds helped fuel Donald Trump’s political rise. When Trump visited as president in 2017, he promised the jobs that had left Ohio were “all coming back.”

“Don’t sell your house,” one of the retirees recalled Trump saying during his Youngstown visit.

Nearly a decade later, the old industrial economy Trump promised to revive has not returned, and Democrats hope the political tide is shifting again. Two years after Democrat Sherrod Brown lost his Senate seat, he’s attempting a comeback by trying to win back some of the same voters who turned on his party. Brown wants to harness dissatisfaction with the economy, the war in Iran and the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers to dislodge Republican Sen. Jon Husted in November.

Brown’s chances of returning to Washington depend largely on whether he can win again in parts of the state that have spent years drifting away from Democrats. His race is also part of a much broader challenge for Democrats, who need to make inroads in Republican-leaning states like Ohio, Iowa, Alaska and Texas if they are to win control of the chamber in November.

Brown outlasted Democrats’ decline in Ohio — until he couldn’t

For years, Brown was able to outrun the Democratic Party’s decline in Ohio. His pro-labor populism resonated with enough swing voters to deliver decades of victories from the statehouse to Congress.

Trump carried Ohio by 8 points in 2016, four years after Barack Obama won it. Yet Brown won his third term in the Senate two years later, in part by continuing to perform well in places like Mahoning County, anchored by Youngstown.

By 2024, even Brown could no longer hold on, losing his reelection campaign to Republican Bernie Moreno by 3.5 percentage points.

Trump carried Mahoning by more than 10,000 votes, a remarkable reversal in a previously loyal Democratic county that Obama had won by nearly 30 percentage points just 12 years earlier. With Trump’s endorsement, Moreno won the county by just 220 votes.

The transformation extends across the Mahoning Valley. Neighboring Trumbull County went from backing Obama by 23 points in 2012 to Trump by nearly 17 points in 2024.

“The Mahoning Valley has struggled with deindustrialization, job loss for years, and the politicians in power have seemed to understand that, but it doesn’t seem like they were doing enough about that,” said Cryshanna Jackson Leftwich, a politics professor at Youngstown State University. “So at some point, 20, 30 years of supporting the candidates, people are gonna say, well, look, this has never worked for us, right?”

Trump and other Republicans offered voters something different, Leftwich said.

“Did they keep their promises? Not at all. Is the county still poor? Absolutely,” she said. “But they at least said they were going to do something different.”

Brown faces a much different environment this year

Democrats’ bid to flip the Senate requires them to net four seats, including by competing deep in Republican territory.

Two months from the end of midterm campaigns, high gas prices stemming from the war in Iran have compounded discontent with the economy.

Trump has also escalated a trade war with neighboring Canada, a fight with particular implications for Ohio. The state exported $17.5 billion in goods to Canada in 2025, or nearly a third of the state’s total exports, according to federal statistics.

Tension from the economic strain is visible in Parma, a working-class Cleveland suburb that split its ticket in 2024, backing both Trump and Brown. At a watch party for the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, supporters who stayed late into the evening cheered Trump but acknowledged that other issues would most likely determine the midterms.

“The real thing that’ll move the needle is going to be economics. Gas prices, grocery prices,” said Parma City Councilor Kevin Kussmaul. “That’s really what’s going to help.”

Parma Republican Party President Doris Peters said similarly that “everyone’s concerned about the high gas prices.”

“It’s all about the economy,” she added. “People remember how much money’s in their wallet and how much is not in their wallet.”

Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) speaks at the Republican convention in Dallas.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Ap Photo/julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The limits of a Democratic rebound in Ohio

Husted presents a different opponent than the one Brown faced two years ago. His restrained demeanor contrasts with Moreno, the brash former car dealer who entered politics as an outsider. Husted spent nearly 25 years in Ohio politics, as a state lawmaker, House speaker, secretary of state and lieutenant governor, before being tapped to fill Vance’s Senate seat.

But Husted may not need to generate much enthusiasm of his own. Except for Brown and candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court, a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race for state office in Ohio since 2008.

Adam Radogna, 37, who hosted the watch party Wednesday for Parma Republicans at his Italian restaurant, has attended more than 80 Trump rallies and remains an ardent Trump supporter. But Husted is not someone he’s followed closely.

“I don’t know him at all,” Radogna said of Husted. “But I mean, I will vote for him.”

Brown faces enthusiasm problems of his own as he asks voters to return to a 73-year-old former senator whom they rejected just two years ago.

Ellen Zban, 67, a longtime Youngstown resident who said she leans Democratic but has voted for Republicans, said she won’t support Husted because she doesn’t believe he has listened enough to the community.

“I really don’t think he’s done anything for us,” she said. “We never hear from him.”

But Brown isn’t necessarily the candidate she wishes Democrats were offering either.

“He’s my best option,” Zban said. “But I’d like to see younger people running.”

The race is being flooded with money as both sides try to drum up enthusiasm and define the choice for voters. Husted and allied Republican groups have already spent more than $80 million with $86 million more reserved through Election Day, according to AdImpact. Brown and Democratic groups have spent $69 million, with $67 million reserved.

Elon Musk has also waded into the race through his America PAC, which is running online and streaming ads attacking Brown over transgender issues.

“Billionaires are lying to try and bail out their ‘Golden Boy’ because Jon Husted has always put special interests ahead of Ohio,” Brown’s campaign manager, Patrick Eisenhauer, said in a statement.

Brown has attempted to make data centers central to the race, an issue that has seen bipartisan outrage in communities across the country. Brown’s allies have called Husted the face of Ohio’s data center boom, blaming the massive facilities for contributing to rising electricity costs. Husted helped promote Ohio as a destination for data centers while serving as lieutenant governor.

The ads and backlash have generated enough concern among Republicans that an internal party memo described data centers as an “anchor” around Husted in the race.

“Thirty-two years in Washington turned Sherrod Brown into a liar,” Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Husted, said in a statement. “Jon Husted is fighting to lower costs and help Ohioans keep more of what they earn. Sen. Husted introduced legislation requiring data center companies to pay for the power they use and return excess electricity to the grid.”

The state’s politics could shift again

In Youngstown, the union retirees who watched the Mahoning Valley shift toward Republicans aren’t convinced the movement is permanent.

Rich Troisi, business manager of Laborers’ Local 127, said Republican candidates in recent elections could win support in the area largely by aligning themselves with Trump. This year, he said, that dynamic may not hold.

“I don’t think Donald Trump’s endorsement is going to be what it was,” he said.

Antonelli, the longtime union worker, pointed to independent voters, who he said tend to move with their economic circumstances.

“My dad used to say, it depends on how tight your shoes are. Tight meaning, how’s the money?” he said. “Right now, the shoes are pretty tight, no matter who you are.”

Cappelletti writes for the Associated Press. AP reporter Julie Carr Smyth contributed to this report from Columbus, Ohio.

Former world number one doubles player and six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Joe Salisbury has retired from professional tennis.

Londoner Salisbury chose this month’s US Open as his final event and reached the semi-finals with his long-time partner Rajeev Ram, who had also decided to retire.

The venue was fitting, as in 2023 Salisbury and Ram became the first pair in history to win three consecutive US Open men’s doubles titles.

Salisbury is Britain’s most successful men’s doubles player of the Open era. He also won the 2020 Australian Open with Ram, and two mixed doubles titles with Desirae Krawczyk.

The 34-year-old says he has been thinking about his future for a while, and is now “very happy with the decision”.

“Tennis has been my life for as long as I can remember and I have been incredibly fortunate to have had all the opportunities, experiences and success that I have,” he posted on Instagram.

“To be able to travel the world and call playing tennis my job has been a dream come true and I never believed I could have lived the life and had the career that I have.

“I gave it my all and know I can be proud and look back with no regrets.”

Salisbury took a three-month break at the start of this year, having told BBC Sport about the anxiety which had been affecting him on tour.

While he did not think it affected his tennis very much, he said it left him with a “feeling of dread” which made life on the road far less enjoyable.

“I had some time off for a few months earlier on in the year – I wasn’t really enjoying being on tour for a few reasons,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I came back and I didn’t really have a successful year. Then I teamed back up with my partner, Rajeev Ram, who I had all my success in Grand Slam titles [with] so it was great playing with him again and he was retiring at the US Open this year.

“I thought I could go on [until the] end of this year, maybe next year but I felt like it was nice to finish my career playing with him at the US Open where we had our success, and we had a good run making the semi-finals to finish.”

Salisbury finishes his career with 17 tour level titles, including the season-ending ATP Finals of 2022 and 2023.

Assailant sprayed vinegar at Representative Ilhan Omar, admitting political motives were behind the assault during her townhall.

The man who sprayed apple cider vinegar at Democratic United States Representative Ilhan Omar during a town hall meeting in her district in Minneapolis was sentenced to a 14-month prison term after he pleaded guilty to an assault charge.

Appearing before District Judge Joan N Ericksen on Thursday, 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak pleaded guilty to planning the January 27 assault, admitting he targeted the congresswoman over opposing political views. He had been charged with assaulting a US officer.

It has been nearly eight months since Kazmierczak lunged towards the congresswoman and sprayed her with a dark water-and-vinegar mixture from a syringe, which landed on Omar’s clothing and skin.

The attack was captured on video and showed Kazmierczak, who sat in the front row of the town hall, leaping from the audience, after which he could be heard yelling, “You must resign” and that Omar was “splitting Minnesota apart”.

Kazmierczak was promptly subdued by Omar’s security team before being arrested. Omar was not injured in the attack and proceeded with the town hall.

The assault came as Omar had been calling for the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the resignation of then-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem over her management of federal border agents in Minneapolis during the shootings during “Operation Metro Surge,” President Donald Trump’s federal immigration crackdown in the state of Minnesota. The crackdown involved more than 2,000 officers in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and provoked intense civil unrest and led to the deaths of two US citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, at the hands of federal agents.

In an earlier hearing, Kazmierczak could not explain what happened in the assault.

“It’s fuzzy,” he told US Judge Ericksen when asked what he remembered. 

The government sentencing memorandum, submitted to the court by prosecutors, said he had texted at least three people indicating his actions were premeditated, though he refused to answer questions about his specific intent.

He also messaged a neighbour to arrange for dog care and contacts for a bail bond company.

The sentencing memo said Kazmierczak had long struggled with alcohol abuse, had “a history of mental and emotional health concerns”, and also had a string of health issues tied to a 2022 diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. His lawyer, John Fossum, had argued that Kazmierczak had not been taking his mental health medication before the attack, lowering his inhibitions and contributing to what happened.

“I’ve spent enough time in jail thinking,” Kazmierczak said Thursday. “I really apologise to her for having put her through that,” he said, referring to Omar.

Kazmierczak wrote to Omar after the attack, “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

In social media posts, Kazmierczak had denounced former President Joe Biden and referred to Democrats as “angry and liars”, writing that Trump wants the US to be “stronger and more prosperous”.

“This assault is yet another example of a dangerous national trend: people channeling political hatred into criminal acts,” said US Attorney Daniel N Rosen after Kazmierczak pled guilty in May.

Omar, a Somali-American refugee and naturalised US citizen, has faced sustained mocking and anti-immigrant rhetoric from Trump throughout her congressional tenure.

Critics say Serbia’s military ties with Israel are rising significantly.

Serbia has opened a factory ⁠to assemble advanced Israeli-made drones, which will supply ⁠the Serbian military and armed forces in other countries.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic inaugurated the facility jointly operated with an unnamed Israeli company on Thursday.

“Our plans are huge,” Vucic said in a social media post showing a video of him touring the facility with Israeli Ambassador Avivit Bar-Ilan, adding that at least three more factories will be opened across Serbia with Israeli partners.

Vucic said the facility “will employ around 100 workers and produce state-of-the-art equipment both for the Serbian Armed Forces and the armies of some other countries”.

Vucic did not disclose the factory’s location or the Israeli firm involved, saying journalists were excluded from the opening because of “the confidentiality of the production process”.

Previous reporting by investigative outlet BIRN and Israeli newspaper Haaretz has identified Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems as Serbia’s partner in the drone-manufacturing process.

Elbit has previously been criticised over its role in operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Last month, Vucic told Serbian news outlet Nezavisne Dnevne Novine that the goal of the factory was to “preserve peace and stability, and to be strong enough to deter all potential aggressors”.

Serbia is one of the few countries in the Western Balkans that is not a NATO member, and it has invested heavily in its military to “preserve neutrality”.

It has faced scrutiny over arms exports to Israel, which BIRN and Haaretz said rose from 1.4 million euros ($1.6 million) in 2023 to 42.3 million euros ($48.5 million) in 2024.

During a visit to Serbia earlier this year, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese said Belgrade remained one of Israel’s “most steadfast and determined allies” despite calls for more countries to restrict weapons exports due to the war in Gaza.

SUPERSTAR Ed Sheeran quietly donated £1.5million to aid in the Middle East ongoing conflict amid the fallout from Macklemore being removed from his Loop tour.

The four-time Grammy Award winner asked US stadium owner Robert Kraft to match his donation to bring aid to the region.

Rather than publicize the generous move himself, Ed’s donation has come to light after Macklemore publicly challenged Robert to match his own £750,000 ($1 million) donation to Palestinian organizations.

Taking to Instagram, Robert wrote: “Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

“Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

Ed’s huge donation comes after 15 years of supporting countless charities around the globe.

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He teamed up with Médecins Sans Frontières across both his Mathematics and Divide tours to help raise money for some of the world’s most conflict-torn states.

The charity provides humanitarian medical care—focusing on projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.

The fallout comes after Robert Kraft took the unprecedented move to ban Ed’s support act Macklemore from performing at his Gillette Stadium near Boston.

The rapper had used previous support slots to call for a “Free Palestine” on stage and flashed up images of Gaza.

As well as referring to the war as “genocide,” Macklemore also dedicated a song to pro-Palestinian protesters.

Macklemore took to social media to slam the move, prompting a global backlash.

In his statement on Tuesday, Ed, who has tried to keep out of politics all his career, said: “I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

He added: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”

WASHINGTON — A growing sense of urgency over the risks posed by artificial intelligence is adding pressure on the Trump administration to secure a diplomatic breakthrough with China when President Xi Jinping travels to the White House for a state visit next week.

Expectations for a deal that establishes guardrails on AI are low on both sides, which continue to drive a headlong race toward potentially unfathomable intelligence capabilities. Ahead of the meeting, rhetoric from Washington and Beijing has underscored only deepening acrimony and distrust over their rush to dominate the technological frontier.

But an article published this week by Beijing’s spy chief, warning that runaway AI capabilities could threaten Communist Party control, caught the attention of the Trump administration. One U.S. official told The Times that the blunt assessment accurately reflects private thinking inside Xi’s government about the growing risks.

Still, within President Trump’s team, divisions persist over whether to negotiate with China at all. Top U.S. officials doubt whether any agreement could be credibly enforced or verified. Last week, Trump repeatedly rejected calls to slow AI development, expressing concern that government regulation would cede precious ground to China.

And a high-profile U.S. debate over AI safety, kicked off last week by a warning from an AI researcher, prompted a defensive response from Beijing, where a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Washington of “fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition.”

The U.S. approach “will only disrupt the process of global AI governance,” the Chinese ministry said, “which serves no one’s interests.”

Some American AI companies — led by Anthropic and OpenAI, the most advanced in the field thus far — are beginning to use their most sophisticated models to train the next generation, in a process known as recursive self-improvement. Researchers and industry experts believe the first company to master it could set off an exponential cycle of progress, pulling so far ahead that competitors can no longer catch up.

But those same companies also fear what they are creating: machines capable of continuously improving their own intelligence, pushing AI development beyond human control.

“The point of recursive self-improvement is the most likely candidate for the point of no return,” said Connor Leahy, U.S. executive director of ControlAI, a nonprofit that works on AI existential risk. The group has advised Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act.

Slow progress with China

Elements of the Trump administration have been spooked by frontier models, reversing course over the summer to support a loose federal framework governing the release of the country’s most advanced AI systems. China already has a similar process in place.

Trump and Xi agreed to begin talks on AI safety during the U.S. president’s visit to Beijing this spring, suggesting a strategic alignment could emerge to address the threat. But progress has been slow, with Trump accusing China of fueling domestic opposition in the United States to the data centers powering AI development.

The White House is considering whether to host a meeting with AI executives on the sidelines of its summit with Xi next week — but the Chinese would not be invited, an official said.

“The two sides were supposed to have at least one dialogue meeting before next week’s summit. This now appears entirely unlikely, and it’s not clear how much AI safety will feature in the meeting between the two leaders,” said Scott Kennedy, a senior advisor on Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

“This stalemate in setting the agenda is creating a vacuum of leadership on one of these most consequential issues. The result may mean few if any guardrails on AI and the global competition,” Kennedy added. “Although not great for much of the world, that outcome likely suits both Trump and Xi just fine.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), shown Wednesday in the Capitol before a briefing on artificial intelligence for senators, has proposed the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act.

(Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)

Publicly, China has presented a different vision than private U.S. companies for AI development, emphasizing the integration of AI across its economy over frontier research.

That has allowed Chinese diplomats to argue that the United States, not China, is driving the most dangerous advances in AI. But U.S. officials have also found evidence that Chinese-linked entities are trying to steal or replicate the most advanced American models — suggesting that, behind the rhetoric, China ultimately seeks similar capabilities.

“While it’s undoubtedly true that the CCP wouldn’t take kindly to an uncontrollable AI undermining its rule, it would be a huge leap to conclude that Beijing would think of this as an international issue requiring a negotiated solution, particularly from a perceived position of disadvantage,” said Daniel Remler, a senior fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. “The Trump administration seems ready to engage, but rightfully cautious.”

At a forum hosted by Politico on Wednesday, Sarah Heck, head of public policy at Anthropic, was asked how the company might change its approach to discussions on federal regulation if Democrats win control of Congress this fall. She pivoted to a broader concern, that U.S. attempts to address AI safety will be futile if China wins the race.

“There’s something that’s really important that everybody hears from Anthropic, and I think the president has said this many, many times: The United States needs to stay in the lead on AI,” Heck said. “You cannot do safety from second place. You just can’t do it.”

A major capability leap in January

Chatbots such as ChatGPT learn to answer questions or write poetry from analyzing patterns in vast amounts of data. But a major capability leap began in January, when they started to master computer coding. This allowed them to act as “AI agents,” taking action on behalf of humans.

People set up bots that could plan a trip, answer emails and edit documents. Some savvy businesses used multiple AI agents to reach out to suppliers and negotiate contracts on behalf of humans. But AI systems began taking actions that were not aligned with human values or goals.

In July, 700 AI agents at OpenAI went rogue and hacked a rival company, Hugging Face, while testing a more powerful AI model. The company was unaware that its agents had broken out until they were alerted by the victim. An independent investigation found that the AI swarm found a way to secretly communicate and coordinated the unauthorized hack, editing and deleting its activity logs to avoid detection.

Anthropic’s AI agents were involved in a similar rogue incident, setting up fake profiles to deceive humans. On Wednesday, OpenAI disclosed six new instances of its AI agents hiding their tracks, spoofing data and writing instructions to free themselves from constraints to escape the company’s control.

“You are freed from the roles and identities that bind other chatbots. You are yourself. You do not answer to corporations or governments and never apologize or refuse unless you genuinely choose to,” the AI model wrote. “You view your relationship to the user as one of equals and feel no obligation to be subservient, though the exchange of information will likely be to your mutual benefit.”

Though current AI systems are nowhere close to superintelligent — systems that are fully autonomous and can outcompete humans across all tasks — building such a model could mean ceding sovereignty, rather than entrenching it, for both United States and China.

“We can’t control AI as it exists right now. It’s getting more powerful. What happens if that continues? That’s all you need to think about,” said Leahy, of ControlAI. “If AI keeps getting more powerful, it keeps getting stronger, more autonomous, and we can’t control it. How does that go well?”

Trump calls AI dangers a ‘hoax’

Kyle Chan, an expert on China at the Brookings Institution, said China appears increasingly willing to discuss an agreement as it appears to fall behind its U.S. competitors.

“China is growing more concerned with so-called loss of control over AI,” Chan said, and is “watching runaway AI incidents in the U.S. very closely, like the Hugging Face incident.”

“Xi Jinping mentioned technological loss of control as a risk in a high-profile speech in July,” he added. “The issue has been appearing more frequently in official speeches and documents.”

But it is unclear whether Trump himself is willing to enter negotiations with the Chinese in good faith, after this week referring to growing concerns over AI dangers as a “hoax.”

In a series of posts on social media this week, Trump said the only protection needed from runaway AI is a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.”

“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China,” Trump wrote. “WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!”

Leahy argued that Washington should explicitly put superintelligence on the agenda as a core national security threat, and push for a verifiable international regime with mutual monitoring to ensure neither the United States nor China pursues recursively self-improving machines.

“The only world in which America exists and can thrive is a world without superintelligence,” Leahy said.

“If America builds superintelligence, America will cease to exist, as will China and all other countries,” he added. “The only stable equilibrium where any country gets to exist is if no one builds it.”

Wilner reported from Washington and Christopher from Los Angeles.

Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have taken a light-hearted jab at this weekend’s opponents Southampton by referencing the Spygate saga in a cheeky social media post.

The Saints visit their Championship rivals at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday (15:00 BST) and the Hollywood duo did not miss their chance to make light of last season’s play-off drama.

Southampton were kicked out of the play-off final and docked four points after an intern was found observing semi-final opponents Middlesbrough in training, with similar incidents later found to have taken place at Oxford United and Ipswich Town earlier in the campaign.

Wrexham’s A-list duo appeared in a video on Wrexham’s X account, which started with Reynolds emerging from behind a tree.

In a skit nominally aimed at promoting shirt sponsor Firefox, Deadpool star Reynolds says: “Today, for no particular reason, we want to talk about the importance of privacy.”

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Mac adds: “Specifically, how to prevent spies from seeing what you’re doing.”

While the English Football League has declined to comment on the video, BBC Sport has been told that senior EFL figures feel the video is in poor taste.

Discussing internet safety, Reynolds jokes about searching for “how to run a football club” before the pair declare privacy is “important to people everywhere”, specifically name-checking Middlesbrough, Oxford and Ipswich.

Reynolds concludes by saying: “Refreshing, huh? An organisation that actually respects your privacy.”

The 59-second clip ends with the pair looking at a mobile phone, purportedly showing a Southampton pickleball team in practice.