calling

Festival season is well and truly here and there was one very special thing at Kendal Calling that left be utterly gobsmacked

Summer is well and truly upon us and that means one thing – the return of the festival season.

While it might be a fallow year for Glastonbury, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an entire raft of fun in fields to be had.

I was one of the lucky 40,000 people who descended on the fields of Cumbria for this year’s Kendal Calling – which gets bigger and better each year. Once again, it was a sell-out and not only that but festival goers were blessed with the most incredible weather.

I’m a Cumbrian myself so I know only too well how much it likes to rain in that particular county – the lakes in the Lake District do need their water from somewhere afterall.

There were some concerns Kendal Calling‘s organisers had a too tough a job to match 2025’s epic experience and line-up but people needn’t have worried as this year was even more spectacular.

From Vanessa Carlton and The Kooks on the open night to Two Door Cinema Club, Ash, The Coral and Scissor Sisters on the Friday, the incredible Biffy Clyro in what many are calling Kendal Calling’s best ever headline set and The Libertines on the Saturday before The Lancashire Hotpots got everyone going on hangover Sunday and the whole incredible experience was rounded out by a very on form Primal Scream and Wolf Alice – the line-up truly was something to behold.

One of the glorious things about Kendal Calling is the mish mash of activities on offer – from the stunning woodlands in Lost Eden, which transform into a magical fairytale after dark, to Tim Peaks Diner, Desert Island Disco and Chai Wallahs – this really is a festival with something else.

And this year there was a huge surprise I didn’t expect – the food. To call it varied and plentiful would be doing it a serious dis-service. From the usual burgers and pizza there was fish and chips, gyros, Yorkshire pudding wraps, pasta, BBQ, rotisserie chicken, meatballs, vegan offerings, fried chicken, poke bowls and anything else you can possibly imagine.

Don’t get me wrong, you couldn’t call it cheap but the prices were far from extortionate (although I am a London-dweller these days so I have lost all sense of what is ‘reasonable’) and everything I sampled was freshly cooked and utterly delicious.

There was even an actual sit down restaurant in the fields in the form of Ranch 76 Smokehouse, with the nicest staff you could meet and a breakfast that truly set us up for the day.

I wasn’t expecting to come back from a festival absolutely stuffed and my only regret is that four days is simply not long enough to try everything on offer.

Kendal Calling will be back next year with tickets going on sale at 10am on Tuesday.

If Guardiola was ready to return to management, would the English Football Association make an approach?

England have just finished third in the World Cup, their highest position in a men’s tournament since winning it in 1966.

However, boss Thomas Tuchel has been widely criticised after the 2-1 semi-final loss to Argentina as his defensive substitutions were perceived to have contributed to the Three Lions being unable to hold on to their 1-0 advantage.

Tuchel, 52, signed a two-year contract extension in February having been appointed in January 2025 and retains the backing of the FA.

But former England captain Wayne Rooney felt the FA might “go and get” Guardiola if he is available.

“I don’t see anyone else out there at the minute, unless you go and get Pep Guardiola. If Pep is available, then maybe you go and get him,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show after England’s loss to Argentina.

“If we sack him [Tuchel], what managers are we going to bring in? And I don’t think there’s anyone out there who’s as good as Thomas Tuchel, unless Guardiola.”

The FA approached Guardiola before appointing Tuchel, with reports suggesting there was a verbal agreement, external in place, with Guardiola remaining at Manchester City.

During his decade in England, Guardiola won 20 trophies, including the Premier League six times, the FA Cup on three occasions, the League Cup five times and the Community Shield three times.

He also won the Champions League in 2023, following that with the Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup.

Ty Simpson listens to himself in the evening before he falls asleep. And also when he gets up in the morning and heads to work at the Rams’ practice facility.

The rookie quarterback hears his own voice on audio recordings as he recites the team’s play calls.

“I want to make sure it’s the last thing I think about when I go to bed,” he said recently, “and the first thing that I wake up to.”

The Rams ended their offseason program last week. But Simpson, a Tennessee native, said he would remain in Southern California and continue to study in preparation for training camp at Loyola Marymount in late July.

Simpson began the practice of recording himself at Alabama, where he was the starter in the last of his four seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Now he is the heir apparent to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL most valuable player.

The Rams surprised many when they used the 13th pick in the draft to select Simpson, who started only 15 games. But Simpson is doing everything he can to fit into a position group that includes Stafford, 38, fourth-year signal-caller Stetson Bennett and undrafted free agent Matthew Caldwell.

“Feel like I’m a freshman again — drinking from a fire hydrant,” he said, adding that he knows and is comfortable with high expectations. “The quarterback runs the show here, just how I like it.”

Stafford, entering his 18th season, has said that Simpson has not been shy about asking questions.

“I hope I’m not annoying him,” Simpson said, “but I really appreciate the big brother kind of role he’s playing in my development.”

Stafford is “the MVP for a reason,” Simpson said. “Everything he does, he’s so just aware of everything, aware of how everything works. … I really appreciate him and Stetson taking me in and answering all the questions I have.”

Bennett got limited reps during the offseason program. But his opportunities are expected to increase during training camp as the Rams manage Stafford’s workload.

When asked about Bennett, coach Sean McVay and offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase seemingly have gone out of their way to speak generally about rookies.

“They’re way behind in terms of just the overall teaching progression but they’re learning,” McVay said. “Ty, like the rest of the rookies, are doing a really nice job.”

Scheelhaase, who went through several head coach interviews during the offseason, is in his first season as the Rams’ coordinator.

“I’ve been encouraged with all of our rookies, including Ty,” Scheelhaase said. “First things first, you want to see, do they come in? Are they coachable? Are they willing to work? And you’ve seen that from Ty from Day 1.”

Simpson said that, so far, the jump from college to the NFL has not been daunting. Quarterback coach Dave Ragone and teammates have helped ease the transition.

“The biggest thing is just how detail-oriented everybody is,” Simpson said, adding, “It’s really, really cool because, coming from Alabama in the SEC, that’s how pro-ready I felt.”

With Stafford under contract through the 2027 season, Simpson might not play for a few years. But if Stafford were to suffer an injury, his time could come sooner.

Simpson is expected to play extensively during preseason games later this summer.

To make sure he’s prepared, Simpson recites and listens to his play calls.

“So when I get in the game and hear a play call, I can just imagine it and see it,” he said. “That’s a big thing, just knowing the terminology and being detail-oriented just like Matthew and Stetson.”

Mark Connolly has been appointed Derry City director of football after his decision to call time on his playing career.

Connolly left Derry to link up with former Candystripes boss Ruaidhri Higgins at Coleraine in January.

The Clones-born defender, 34, started his professional career at Bolton before spells at Crawley Town, Kilmarnock and Dundee United, where he won the Scottish Championship title in 2020.

He joined Derry in 2022 following a loan stint at Dundalk and helped the Brandywell club win the 2022 FAI Cup.

“I am delighted to rejoin the club in a new role and I can’t wait to get started,” said Connolly.

“I look forward to working with Tiernan [Lynch, manager] and everyone at the club to help create an environment where players, staff and the academy can thrive.”

Coleraine boss Higgins said Connolly “had a great influence on the group” during his time at the Showgrounds as the Bannsiders won the Irish Cup for the first time since 2018.

“He probably didn’t play as much as he would’ve liked towards the end, but his high level of professionalism remained the same,” said Higgins.

“Mark has been exemplary with me and my staff throughout our years working together at Derry City and Coleraine.

“Naturally at 34-years-old, you think about what’s next in your career and this new role at Derry City is a brilliant opportunity for him.

“I’m not surprised he’s been offered that role as he has all the characteristics to be a success. We wish him the very best of luck in the next stage of his career.”

Derry City sit sixth in the League of Ireland Premier Division standings and host Bohemians on Friday (19:45 BST), a game that can be watched on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app.

BEIRUT — President Trump acknowledged criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” in a phone call that involved expletives, saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.

But even as the president conceded the tensions in an interview released Wednesday, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and that they connected, in part, because they are both “wartime” leaders.

“We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” Trump told the New York Post’s “Pod Force One.”

In an interview on the American business-news channel CNBC, Netanyahu responded that he and Trump sometimes have “tactical disagreements” but have “common goals” and “agree on the main things.”

“He respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences,” the prime minister said.

The president’s comments about the Monday call offered a sign of the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections and hamper global commerce.

Talks have dragged on for weeks as mediators seek to extend a fragile ceasefire into a more enduring truce. The negotiations are further strained by Israel’s broadening war with the Iranian-backed militia group in Lebanon. The conflicts have become increasingly intertwined as Iran insists that any potential truce in the war there must also quell the fighting in Lebanon.

Trump does not commit to timeline for ending Iran war

Trump remained noncommittal about a timeline for settling the Iran conflict, saying the Strait of Hormuz might stay blocked through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7. He has insisted that Iran stop any efforts that could lead to a nuclear weapon and that the strait be reopened for shipments of oil and natural gas.

“I don’t know. I mean, I think it could be [closed through Labor Day], but I think it’s unlikely. I think that we’ll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly,” Trump said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father, is “involved” in peace talks, Trump added.

“They have a lot of respect for him,” the president said in the interview.

Trump said that Khamenei is not doing well due to wounds sustained in an airstrike, but “they say he’s giving approval because that’s the way it has been for a long, long time.” Khamenei’s father was killed in an airstrike when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.

Meanwhile in the Persian Gulf region, Kuwait briefly shut its main airport Wednesday after Iranian drones hit a passenger terminal building, killing one person and wounding dozens. It was the latest in the back-and-forth attacks by Tehran and Washington that have tested the ceasefire.

The strike again brought home the risks to residents and travelers in Gulf countries that had considered themselves relative safe havens before the war, now in its fourth month.

Path to a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon is obscured by new strikes

The path toward a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remained unclear as hostilities continued in Lebanon.

An Israeli strike Wednesday hit a car on a busy highway just south of Beirut, hours before the second day of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington were set to take place.

The strike in Khaldeh came without warning, and it was not immediately clear if the person targeted was killed.

Israel and Lebanon on Monday reached a U.S.-brokered agreement in which Israel would not strike Beirut’s southern suburbs and Hezbollah would end its attacks on northern Israel.

The agreement was made hours after Israel announced that it was going to launch strikes across the sprawling urban neighborhoods near the Lebanese capital in what would have been the most intense strikes since a nominal ceasefire went into effect on April 17.

The State Department said progress was made during the first day of talks on Tuesday. Lebanon hopes to widen the scope of the ceasefire so it becomes comprehensive across the country. Israel wants to disarm Hezbollah immediately before the Israeli military ends its operations in Lebanon and withdraws its troops from dozens of villages and towns.

Not long after the strike on Khaldeh, the Israeli military said it intercepted what it called a hostile aircraft coming from southern Lebanon, but it did not immediately blame Hezbollah. Hezbollah has not claimed a cross-border attack since the agreement.

Israeli military warning rattles coastal city

Israeli strikes over southern Lebanon continued, especially in and around the battered cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh. Two overnight strikes near Tyre, a coastal city, killed four Syrians and two Palestinians.

Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that Hezbollah members were among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas in recent days because they were spared from the aerial bombardment along the Mediterranean coast.

After the warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area.

Israel launched an invasion of southern Lebanon days after the latest war was sparked on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran. Israeli troops have pushed deeper into Lebanon over the past week, as Hezbollah continues to claim rocket and drone attacks.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon and displaced 1.2 million people. According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 27 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

Strike on village kills most of a family

Many residents of southern Lebanon remained in villages near the hostilities or returned to areas where strikes occurred after evacuation warnings.

The Al-Abdallah family returned to their home in Marwanieyh, which they left because they thought the village was unsafe following earlier strikes. A day later, two rockets hit the home, bringing down the three-story building and killing six family members, said the brother of Hassan Al-Abdallah, who was killed.

Ahmed Al-Abdallah, 13, was thrown away from the building by the force of the blasts and was the only member of his family to survive. His uncle, Eissa Al-Abdallah, said the boy has two broken legs and shrapnel wounds all over his body.

“What good is talking now? They are gone, and nothing will bring them back,” the uncle told the Associated Press in a phone call Tuesday. “This land costs blood.”

Chehayeb, Boak and El Deeb write for the Associated Press. Boak reported from Washington.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday gave his endorsement to a January study by the Department of Health and Human Services that calls for cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every American child.

An executive order from Trump directs federal agencies to align their policies behind the study, which recommended an overhaul long called for by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The study found that the United States recommends more childhood vaccines than many peer nations.

The Trump administration previously moved to narrow the number of recommended childhood vaccines in response to the report, but the move was blocked by a federal judge in Massachusetts. The administration is appealing the decision.

The study recommends vaccinating all children against 11 diseases. Several others would be recommended only for high-risk groups or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.” That includes vaccines for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV.

Trump’s order adds weight behind the study at a time when the administration had appeared to be trying to shift focus away from Kennedy’s more contentious vaccine policies and toward topics with more widespread support among medical professionals, such as healthful eating.

The order directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review the study and “take any appropriate steps” to update its vaccine recommendations. It says the CDC should “provide maximum flexibility to parents and doctors” and directs agencies to make sure all actions, regulations and funding are aligned with the study.

The order adds that any changes should ensure that Americans retain their current access to vaccines.

States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. While CDC requirements often influence those state regulations, some states have begun creating their own alliances to counter the Trump administration’s guidance on vaccines.

Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the study in December.

Kennedy is a longtime activist against vaccines and has sought ways to inject his skepticism about the shots into national guidance, running counter to the overwhelming consensus of medical experts. Last year, he announced the CDC would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, though public health experts said they saw no new data to justify the change.

Last June, he fired a 17-member CDC vaccine advisory committee and later installed several of his own replacements, including vaccine skeptics.

The January report found that vaccine recommendations for American children had increased in recent decades. It also highlighted countries where no vaccines are required to attend school.

Binkley writes for the Associated Press.