fresh

With all this flux and not a lot of time to bed everything in, the question is whether Hearts can push on again at the top of the table.

Vranckin was clear the remit was to do just that, and in his first job outside of Belgium he appears to relish that challenge.

He can also sympathise with what Hearts went through last season, losing the title in the dying minutes of a thrilling campaign.

The same thing happened to Vrancken at Gent in 2023, when a late Royal Antwerp goal on the final day denied his team the title.

“It takes time [to get over] for sure,” he said.

“But with aiming on the new season and working for the new goals, that’s the only way to get over it and to work for it.

“I hope that we’re on the good side of the story, let’s say, the next time. I think it’s just putting the energy in it and what’s left to come and not looking back too much.

“The best clubs to work in are those that have ambitions. I think this is a good ambition, it’s a good point of focus, a good goal to have. And then we have to work for it and aim as high as possible and then we’ll see where we’ll end.”

South Korean stocks finished at an all-time high Monday on a continued rally in semiconductor shares amid signs of progress in U.S.-Iran talks to end their monthslong war in the Middle East. The local currency lost against the U.S. dollar.

After opening 1.08 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 62.13 points, or 0.69 percent, to 9,114.55 after rising as high as 9,253.00.

Trade volume was moderate at 377.2 million shares worth 41.4 trillion won (US$26.9 billion) with losers outnumbering winners 739 to 148.

Retail investors and institutions were net buyers, purchasing 2.15 trillion won and 308.4 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors sold a net 2.55 trillion won.

On Sunday, Washington and Tehran wrapped up their first talks and agreed on a road map to reach a final deal within 60 days, according to a statement issued by the mediating countries of Qatar and Pakistan.

The negotiations had been at risk of breakdown as Tehran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. President Donald Trump had repeated his threats to resume attacks on Iran.

“Negotiations went smoothly in general despite some aggressive messages, which were considered short-lived noises,” said Kang Jin-hyeok, an analyst from Shinhan Securities.

Semiconductor shares ended in positive territory.

Chip giant SK hynix jumped 5.61 percent to 2.92 million won, surpassing Samsung Electronics in terms of market capitalization for the first time.

SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, surged 10.67 percent to 1.97 million won, and Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip manufacturing equipment provider, increased 2.2 percent to 301,500 won.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace advanced 0.27 percent to 1.13 million won, and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) climbed 1.43 percent to 148,600 won.

However, Samsung Electronics dropped 0.14 percent to 353,500 won, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, lost 1.85 percent to 2.23 million won.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor decreased 5.22 percent to 581,000 won, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 4.7 percent to 385,500 won.

Samsung Life Insurance slid 9.36 percent to 450,500 won, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics retreated 5.75 percent to 1.3 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,537 won against the U.S. dollar, down 10 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 2.6 basis points to 3.810 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 3.9 basis points to 4.044 percent.

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Justin Herbert is starting from the ground up in Mike McDaniel’s new-look Chargers offense.

The 28-year-old quarterback has dedicated much of the offseason to tweaking his footwork — putting his left foot in front of his right from the shotgun, against traditional NFL form — to fit Los Angeles’ new offensive coordinator’s scheme.

McDaniel prioritizes getting the ball to playmakers in space as efficiently as possible, as he did for four seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach with speedy wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and envisions Herbert’s flip in footing accelerating and syncing the timing of passes with receivers’ route breaks.

“If guys train it so that they don’t have to think about it and they can be comfortable, you can do a couple things that put the defense in a bind with how you do your footwork,” McDaniel said at Chargers minicamp in El Segundo. “I don’t mandate it. With Justin, I really just showed him where I thought it would be advantageous, and he didn’t blink for a second and was excited to attack it.”

“The patternization in Mike McDaniel’s system has required some footwork changes,” added head coach Jim Harbaugh. “[Herbert’s] been working very hard, very hard at those. And as you would expect, Justin has picked it up.”

McDaniel said he got the idea as an up-and-comer on staffs in Houston and Washington alongside current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and pointed to Matt Ryan and Tua Tagovailoa as recent quarterbacks with whom he has implemented the stance change and reaped positive results.

Herbert, who has been one of those traditional right-handed quarterbacks to have their right foot forward from the shotgun, has embraced his new coordinator’s methodology.

“It’s about playing the way that [McDaniel] sees the quarterback position being played,” Herbert said, “and talking about how we can get the ball to the receivers in a position where they can run with it and allow them to do the things that they’re so good at: making plays.”

To accelerate his adaptation, Herbert has thrown less in practice sessions and done plenty of drills without a football — two markers that are simply unlike the seven-season veteran, who is known to sling the rock plenty at practice and in games.

McDaniel and Harbaugh added that, besides helping Herbert adjust his feet, keeping the ball out of their quarterback’s hands during the offseason will help him stay fresh later in the regular season.

Herbert is on board, but made it clear he does not require any maintenance.

“I’ve thrown a lot of footballs, and it’s May and June and I didn’t think it was as necessary to throw as much now,” Herbert said. “And do everything I can to get the footwork ready and get the offense down. The throws, they’ll be there. We’ve got plenty of time in camp and throughout [organized team activities] to get timing. I think it’s been smart by everyone, taking it easy.”

Herbert added that it’s better to focus on where his feet are now rather than in a live, meaningful game. However, Harbaugh and McDaniel said Herbert is ramping up his throwing in practice with training camp looming.

The Chargers expect big things out of McDaniel’s offense after they averaged a subpar 21.6 points per game in 2025.

Harbaugh and McDaniel are hopeful for career years from Quentin Johnston, Ladd McConkey and Tre’ Harris — exactly what the wideouts want to hear.

“As you all know … the timing, that’s a different aspect for us than we’re used to, but I think it’s great,” McConkey said. “It just gets the ball in the playmakers’ hands and lets us go to work.”

Before any dreams of the Chargers winning a Super Bowl on their home SoFi Stadium turf can come true next season, Herbert must simply get his footing, with his feet and new playbook.

“I’m sure you guys are eager to see him execute in a high regard in the stuff that we’re doing,” McDaniel said. “You got to be patient … that’s been part of the very calculated, very deliberate, intentional process that we take into the offseason.”

Newcastle United defender Tino Livramento is a major doubt for England’s World Cup campaign, with Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah poised to replace the full-back.

Livramento, 23, is understood to have sustained an injury during a training session on Sunday before England’s World Cup opener against Croatia on Wednesday night (21:00 BST).

While the Football Association is not commenting on the extent of Livramento’s injury, it is understood there are fears he could be out of action for up to four weeks.

Livramento’s involvement in the tournament had already been in doubt after he missed the final five weeks of the season with a thigh injury.

If, as is now expected, Livramento is ruled out of the tournament, Chelsea defender Chalobah is set to replace him – though he will not join up with the squad until after the Croatia match.

Outfield players who sustain a serious injury or illness can be replaced in a World Cup squad up to 24 hours before the team’s first match of the tournament gets under way.

Livramento, who was handed his international debut under Gareth Southgate in November 2024, has featured five times during Tuchel’s reign, starting twice.

He came on at half-time during England’s 1-0 warm-up win over New Zealand but was left on the bench against Costa Rica.

Reece James is Tuchel’s first choice at right-back but there are also question marks about his fitness, following another injury-plagued campaign.

The 26-year-old missed nine games for Chelsea at the end of the season because of a hamstring injury.

Other options who are already in the England squad include Djed Spence and Ezri Konsa.

Spence, who can play on both flanks, has featured six times under Tuchel while Konsa, predominantly a centre-back, has played 11 times, including nine starts.

Chalobah has not featured for England since June 2025 when he played the full 90 minutes in a friendly against Senegal, but was on the bench for multiple World Cup qualifiers under Tuchel.

Like Konsa, the 26-year-old’s preferred position is centre-back.

WASHINGTON — U.S. retaliatory strikes against Iran will continue after its forces shot down an American helicopter, President Trump said Wednesday, accusing the Islamic Republic of stringing him along over months of negotiations to end the war.

The prospect of a renewed U.S. air campaign cast fresh doubt on the viability of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran that has largely held since April, when the two sides reached a tenuous truce, pausing weeks of fighting. Trump’s decision to resume attacks comes after an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran threatened to spiral into open war over the weekend.

The administration has presented Trump with options to expand U.S. targets beyond the immediate area around the Strait of Hormuz to Iranian power plants across the country, an escalation that will open the president up to accusations he is targeting civilian infrastructure, according to a defense official familiar with the matter.

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump encouraged the Iranians to accept a framework agreement negotiated between the two sides, and suggested that additional military action might compel Tehran to accept a final truce.

“We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re gonna hit ‘em again hard today,” Trump said. “And we’ll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along — they keep playing us for suckers.”

The president’s remarks came a few hours after Trump posted on his social media website that Iran “will have to pay the price” for taking too long in negotiating a peace deal.

When pressed by reporters to elaborate, Trump said he meant that bombing would resume but declined to say whether that would include strikes on Iranian power plants and bridges, a threat he has repeatedly issued during the war.

The ongoing conflict, which is in its fourth month, has left a mark on the global and domestic economy. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that inflation accelerated in May, driven by a surge in energy prices linked to the war with Iran.

The consumer price index rose 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis — the largest monthly increase in three years — pushing the annual inflation rate to 4.2%.

Asked whether he was concerned about the inflation numbers, Trump told reporters that the “numbers were great.”

“You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over…,” Trump said, without finishing the thought.

The remark prompted near instantaneous news releases from Democratic operatives, as well as the party war room, which sent out a statement accusing Trump of mishandling a reckless war that has devastated the economy in the process.

“Donald Trump’s disastrous economic agenda and deadly and costly war with Iran have made life unbearable for millions of Americans,” Kendall Witmer, the Democratic National Committee’s rapid response director, said in a statement.

“Working families are shouldering skyrocketing costs for basic goods, with their wages being eaten up by Trump’s soaring inflation,” she added. “On the campaign trail, Trump promised to ‘defeat inflation,’ and to lower costs on ‘Day One,’ but two years later, Trump can’t get a handle on his war of choice with Iran as he tanks the economy back home.”

Trump then told reporters about a secret military mission to ensure safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important commercial waterways. He said the operation had secured the passage of more than 100 million barrels of oil through the strait since it began.

“We took out, the other night, 22 ships late at night with no lights because they don’t have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it,” Trump said.

A couple of hours later, Trump wrote in another post that the military operation had been “wildly successful,” and that it proved the United States — not Iran — was in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost,” he wrote. “It’s over for Iran!”

Over months of diplomacy with Iran, Trump has sought to avoid a return to conflict, often seeking de-escalation when fighting has flared — and repeatedly pressuring Israel to minimize its attacks in Lebanon, where it continues to battle the militant group Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran.

Israeli strikes continued Wednesday, according to local news reports, while Hezbollah said it carried out attacks on Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon.

Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, the president implied he was losing patience with Iranian tactics at the negotiating table.

“I gave them a break, at the request of Pakistan,” he said. “They still are working on trying them to do what’s right. But we want a deal that’s meaningful. We want a deal that works.”

“It was just tap, tap, tap,” the president added. “I don’t know what they’re doing.”