clear

It was a new-look England as Wiegman is managing the return of several key players from injury, while rewarding those in form.

Manchester City’s Laura Blindkilde Brown was handed a rare start, while London City Lionesses defender Poppy Pattinson made her debut in the second half.

The back four in the starting XI had fewer than 100 caps combined – with captain Leah Williamson earning 65 of them – as Maya Le Tissier was at right-back over Lucy Bronze, while Taylor Hinds started her third game in four matches at left-back.

In-form Jess Park was playing out wide, as she has done for Manchester United so impressively this season, rather than in midfield where Wiegman has often used her.

It was uncharacteristically experimental from Wiegman considering this was their first competitive fixture since Euro 2025 and it took time to take shape.

England had 40 touches in the opposition box and 85% of the possession in the first half, but failed to score from their 15 efforts on goal.

The tempo had dropped, Ukraine were defending well and England’s hopes of flying out of the blocks had not materialised.

“They didn’t quite figure it out in the first half. They were a little bit stunned about what to do,” ex-England midfielder Fran Kirby told BBC Radio 5 Live Extra.

“Ukraine defended really well. They were really tight between the lines and they made it very difficult for England.

“They needed to have a little bit more composure in the box instead of crossing it for the sake of crossing it.

“The second half showed that they learned from the first half in terms of what wasn’t working.”

With a side stacked full of quality, the two-time European champions responded in the second half.

Arsenal striker Alessia Russo netted two goals in four minutes to put England in control, before a double from Georgia Stanway took them out of Ukraine’s reach.

Wiegman’s “clear win” was confirmed when Park also scored twice later on.

“I think it took us the first half to break them down. We were still very good in the first half. They were defensively solid,” said Russo afterwards.

“When the spaces opened, we took our chances. I wouldn’t say it was relief [when we scored]. We knew we had the quality in us and it was just executing it.

“It was finding the final moment, the final pass and the final shot. You saw that in the second half.”

The “scariest” road in Britain can be a nightmare to drive up in winter, as it has steep hairpin bends, minimal barriers, and it climbs from sea level to 2,053 feet very quickly

Britain boasts some of the world’s most spectacular countryside, but reaching its more isolated spots often means braving some genuinely hair-raising roads. The Bealach na Bà pass, nestled in the Applecross peninsula of the Scottish Highlands, is widely regarded as the most terrifying road in the entire country.

The route is renowned for its absolutely stunning vistas, where mountains, glens and sea converge in a single panorama, with mist drifting across the peaks. Yet motorists are cautioned against being distracted by the scenery – the narrow single-track road features minimal safety barriers and climbs from sea level to 2,053 feet over a remarkably short stretch.

The route includes several extremely steep hairpin turns demanding exceptionally careful driving, whilst Scotland’s notoriously wet weather only heightens the peril.

During the winter months, the road regularly closes due to snow and ice. Even when conditions are milder, it’s best left to experienced and confident motorists only.

As you initially approach the road after departing Applecross village, a prominent sign warns learner drivers, large vehicles and caravans against attempting the crossing, directing them towards a safer alternative route, reports the Express.

The road appears straightforward for the opening mile before beginning to wind as you ascend the mountainside. Sheep are frequently spotted grazing alongside certain stretches of the route.

Motorists are warned of a perilous drop just off the edge, and the wind, which reportedly becomes increasingly unsettling as you ascend, only adds to the trepidation.

The challenge of manoeuvring around tight bends, avoiding wildlife, and dealing with foggy conditions makes this journey a truly daunting one – made all the more so by the fact that turning back is virtually impossible due to the numerous twists in the road.

However, upon reaching the summit, the road levels out slightly, revealing a stunning vista of the Isle of Skye, one of the most breathtaking sights the Highlands have to offer.

On Tripadriver, Bealach na Ba Road generally receives positive reviews for its scenic beauty, but almost every review cautions that it’s a terrifying drive not suited for the faint-hearted.

One reviewer, Lesley, commented: “Scariest drive in Scotland but the most scenic. This is a wonderful drive, but one which will tax even experienced drivers.”

Another woman advised: “Road probably stunning in fine weather, but my advice is that you need to be able to see the top, and it’s not likely to be covered in cloud or mist, as this was one of the scariest drives I have ever done and it was not something I will be doing again anytime soon.”

A different user added: “Should be avoided if narrow passing places, hairpin bends and steep drops worry you. However, for those who stick with it, the view from the top is absolutely breathtaking.”

Welcome to Black History Month, 2026 style.

President Trump posted a video Thursday to his social media site that contains animated images depicting former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.

The White House took down the post Friday, and after first calling it nothing more than a meme, they dubbed it a mistake by a staffer. Sure.

But while the justifiable outrage over this overt racism spins itself into a brief media circus (because we all know something else will come along is about three minutes), let’s look a bit deeper into why this video is more than an affront to everything America stands for, or should stand for, anyway.

It’s no accident that the images of the Obamas are embedded deep inside a video about voter fraud conspiracies from the 2020 election (which are untrue, if I need to say it again). This video is an escalation in the assault that is likely to come on voting rights and voting access in the midterms.

“Absolutely, there’s a connection to the vote,” Melina Abdullah told me Friday. She’s a professor at Cal State Los Angeles and co-founder of Black Lives Matter-LA.

“This is about more than just about the Obamas,” added Brian Levin, a professor Emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino, and founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. “It’s about people that are (perceived as) undermining our elections and our democracy.”

I caught Levin the day after he turned in a chapter about authoritarianism for a new book, which happens to look at how discrimination and the imposition of social hierarchies ties in with power.

Let me summarize. Vulnerable groups are smashed down as dangerous and not fit to be full citizens, so a smaller group of elites can justify power by any means to protect society from these lowly and nasty influences.

Let me make that messaging even simpler: Black and brown people are bad and shouldn’t be allowed to participate in democracy because they don’t deserve the right.

How does that play out at the ballot box?

All that talk about voter identification and election integrity is really about stopping people from voting — people who legally have the right to vote. Those who are least likely to be able to obtain proof of citizenship — which might require a passport, or birth certificate along with the money and know-how to get such documents — are often Black or brown people. They are often also poor, or poorer, and therefore have less time and money to put into obtaining documents, and also live in urban areas where they share polling places.

Is it such a stretch to imagine some kind of federal oversight at those types of polling places, turning away — or simply intimidating away — legal voters who have long made up a strong block of the Democratic base?

Let’s hope that never happens. But the current undermining of the legitimacy of Black and brown voters is, said both Levin and Abdullah, systemic and concerning.

Trump’s latest video is “part of a floodgate of bigotry and conspiracy that relates to elections and immigrants and Black people and it’s important to condemn the manner in which these puzzle pieces are put together to label African Americans and immigrants as a threat to democracy with respect to the vote,” Levin said.

The premise of the video in question is that Democrats have engaged in a complicated and decades-long scheme to steal elections. It’s presented as a documentary, and the images of the Obamas have been weirdly inserted as almost a subliminal flash near the end.

If you’ve missed the white supremacist postings that have now become commonplace on official government communications such as those from the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security, let me assure you that Levin is right and this primate video is indeed part of a “firehose” of white nationalist rhetoric coming not just from Trump but from the federal government as a whole.

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, for example, has turned its focus toward punishing diversity, equity and inclusion. Just this week, another federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, began a probe against Nike for allegedly discriminating against white people in hiring.

“It has been not even a dog whistling, but a Xeroxing of the exact kind of terms that that I’ve been looking at on white supremacists and neo Nazi websites for decades,” Levin said.

It’s not my place or intent to warn Black people about racism, because that would be ludicrous and insulting, but I’ll warn the rest of us because in the end, authoritarianism targets everyone. This video is a clear statement that Trump’s vision of America is one in which every non-white group, every vulnerable group really, is a second class citizen.

“He’s enabling an entire group of people who want to take this country back to a time when rampant violent white supremacy was enabled in the law,” Abdullah said. “What they mean is recapturing an old school, oppressive racism that is pre-1965 pre-Voting Rights Act.”

That message, Levin said, has “a resonance with a decent part of his base,” and when fed ceaselessly into the system, can have violent outcomes.

Levin uses the example of when Trump tweeted during the protests over the killing of George Floyd, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” a phrase with a violent and racist history.

Levin said Black people have always been the primary targets of hate crimes in the United States, but after that tweet, it was some of the “worst days” for violence aimed by race.

“When a high transmitter, like a president, circulates imagery with regard to prejudice, it creates these stereotypes and conspiracy theories, which then are the groundwork for further conspiracy theories and aggression,” he added.

Abdullah said she worries that even if the voter crackdown isn’t officially sanctioned, those empowered conspiracy theorists will take action anyway.

“So the people who are so-called ‘monitoring,’ self-appointed monitors … this is who’s going to be pulling people out of voter lines, and so this is what he’s whipping up intentionally,” she said.

Keep your eye on the ball, folks, because the far-right Republicans running the show are laser-focused on it. The midterm elections have to go their way for them to remain in power.

The easiest way to ensure that outcome is to only allow voters who see things their way.