Manchester

The beef is building between Bruce Springsteen and President Trump.

The Boss did not back down on his fiery rhetoric against Trump on the third night of his “Land of Hopes and Dreams” tour in Manchester, England, on Saturday — a day after Trump lashed out against the legendary singer on Truth Social, calling him an “obnoxious jerk,” a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker,” and writing that he should “keep his mouth shut.”

Springsteen didn’t oblige. In a resolute three-minute speech from the Co-op Live venue, Springsteen thanked his cheering audience for indulging him in a speech about the state of America: “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore.”

He then repeated many of the lines that he used during a previous Manchester show — the same words that upset Trump to begin with, including the administration defunding American universities, the rolling back of civil rights legislation and siding with dictators, “against those who are struggling for their freedoms.”

Trump’s Truth Social post contained what appeared to be a threat, writing of Springsteen, “We’ll see how it goes for him,” when he gets back to the country. This did not dissuade the “Born in the USA” singer.

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“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” Springsteen said. “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”

In a steady voice, he listed the many concerns of those who oppose Trump, his enablers and his policies.

“They are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners. That’s happening now. The majority of our elected representatives have utterly failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government,” Springsteen said as the crowd applauded and yelled its support. “They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”

He finished on a positive note.

“The America I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its many faults, it’s a great country with a great people, and we will survive this moment. Well, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ ”

Springsteen has long been a vocal critic of Trump, and campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Trump is known for his angry diatribes against celebrities who criticize him, including Taylor Swift and Robert DeNiro.

A PRISON governor has been jailed over an illicit relationship with a drug gang boss who gifted her a £12,000 Mercedes.

Kerri Pegg was seen as a “rising star” in the Prison Service and quickly rose through the ranks to become governor at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire.

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But her career is now in ruins after she embarked on a relationship with inmate Anthony Saunderson, who was known as Jesse Pinkman after the series Breaking Bad.

Pegg, 42, has now been jailed after she was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office.

One relates to the divorcee’s fling with Saunderson and the second by failing to disclose county court judgements about her debts.

She was also convicted of one count of possessing criminal property, the Mercedes car, from Saunderson.

Preston Crown Court heard Pegg released Saunderson on licence in 2019 despite not having the authority to approve the bid.

After he was granted his freedom, the prisoner used cash from selling 34 kilos of amphetamines to buy Pegg the Mercedes coupe.

On April 6, 2020, Saunderson was sent a message on Encrochat saying “car her for ya bird 12 quid or work” and a photo of the vehicle.

The court was told “12 quid” meant £12,000 and “work” meant drugs.

Saunderson asked “what work they want” and he was told “top or weed” – meaning cocaine or cannabis.

Two days later, he arranged for “17 packs” to be dropped off in Manchester to pay for the car.

The Mercedes was registered in Pegg’s name, with a pal messaging Saunderson: “Where u ya seedy man u and Peggy out floating orrel in the new whip?”

Law enforcement agencies cracked the criminal’s Encrochat and discovered he was involved in drug trafficking on a huge scale.

Saunderson, who was also known to his criminal pals as James Gandolfini -the actor who played Tony Soprano in the mafia TV Series – has now been locked up for 35 years.

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The court was told other messages revealed the “ongoing nature” of his relationship with Pegg.

Police searched her home on November 19, 2020, and found a toothbrush and flip flops containing Saunderson’s DNA.

Officers also discovered a haul of designer clothing and found Pegg was subject to a number of county court judgements for unpaid debts.

Prosecutor Barbara-Louise Webster said: “Her downfall was two-fold, the first, despite having a good income, she lived beyond her means.

“She spent all her income and more, incurring debts and she had county court judgements made against her.

“As a consequence, she became vulnerable and open to exploitation.

“The second was that she became emotionally and personally involved with a serving prisoner, Anthony Saunderson and later accepted an expensive car, a Mercedes C class, which was paid for by him out of his proceeds of criminal activity ie trading in drugs.”

Pegg joined the prison service in 2012 as a graduate entrant and worked at prisons in Risley, Liverpool and Styal.

By April 2018, she was a governor at HMP Kirkham, where Saunderson was serving a lengthy jail term.

He had been locked up in 2014 for his part in importing £19m of cocaine in shipments of corned beef from Argentina.

From the start, there were concerns about Pegg being inappropriately close to prisoners.

It was also noted that she spent a lot of time in her office with Saunderson.

In October 2018, he put in a request to be released on temporary licence.

Despite Pegg not having the authority to green light his release, she intervened and approved his application without notifying the official who should have dealt with the case.

Days later she was moved to another jail, later becoming duty governor at HMP Lancaster Farms.

Saunderson meanwhile was revealed as one of nine gangland figures responsible for producing amphetamines on an industrial, multi-million-pound scale.

The gang made and dealt 2.6 tonnes of amphetamines worth £1million – as well as trafficking heroin, cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, MCAT and diazepam.

Tarryn McCaffrey, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Kerri Pegg’s conduct fell far short of what might be expected from any professional within the Prison Service, let alone one of such a senior grade as prison governor.

“She was clearly involved in an inappropriate relationship with Saunderson after he was released and the evidence points to this going back further, to a time when he was in jail.

“This relationship, and the fact that Pegg failed to disclose her debts to her employers, amount to a gross breach of trust and are therefore extremely damaging to public confidence.”

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The cup final against Palace will be one last Wembley appearance with City for midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, with the 33-year-old Belgium international leaving the club on a free transfer in the summer when his contract expires.

De Bruyne has won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and the League Cup on five occasions while at City.

He is second in the list of most assists in the Premier League era, with 119 assists, behind only former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs on 162.

“We would love for Kevin to finish with a trophy,” said Haaland.

“He has had an incredible time at Manchester City, it is ridiculous how many trophies he has won. Hopefully he will get one more trophy.

“He ranks right up there for me. To get the balls from him is a dream. It has been really special playing with him. Such a joy, and I am going to do everything I can to have this joy in the last few games.

“The future will be different with different players. When Kevin leaves we will need someone to replace him, although Kevin is irreplaceable in so many ways.”

Haaland helped City win the 2023 FA Cup final and the Community Shield in August, although they were not his first trips to Wembley.

Back in 2014, when he was only 13, he visited the national stadium to watch City beat Sunderland 3-1 in the League Cup final, with his father Alf Inge, a former City midfielder, sitting next to him.

“It is just as special to go to Wembley,” said the striker. “I have seen City win in the stands, have won as a player, and hopefully we can win there again.”

The aftermath of the West Ham defeat has been filled with stories about the plans United’s hierarchy have put in place around the final.

Limits have been placed on the number of tickets players are allowed – and what staff are entitled to.

There will be no parade in the event of a win against Tottenham. Instead celebrations will be restricted to a low-key barbeque at the club’s Carrington training ground when Amorim’s squad return on Thursday.

Evidently, Amorim and his players have the financial muscle to pay for their friends and family to get to Bilbao if needed.

However, others who work closely with the first team are not in the same fortunate financial position.

So, at a time when a second round of up to 200 redundancies are planned following the 250 jobs that were axed last year, Amorim and his players have decided to help out by paying for some tickets for the backroom team’s families.

“The situation is simple,” he said. “We have a lot of things, with people leaving and a lot of changes in the staff, so at this moment in our club sometimes it is hard to know when to give and when to take.

“We have to respect the people whose jobs are being taken to survive and rebuild.

“It is complicated for the club to start giving to other members of staff, which makes it a really hard position.

“That situation was explained so my reaction was to help.

“It is not going to change my life [financially]. To help the staff be there and comfortable means they will be better staff for the final.

“We talk to the players and the players have the same reaction – everybody wants their families there.”

Amorim has his own experience of a Europa League final, as a player in the Benfica side beaten on penalties by Sevilla in Turin in 2014.

Aside from the £100m financial windfall that qualification for the Champions League would bring, as a straightforward football match Amorim knows next week is not a game to lose.

“I will never say I was a finalist,” he said. “The feeling has to be ‘what a waste of time’.

“My message to the players is we have to win or it doesn’t matter.”

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim says he is “far from quitting” his job after saying he may have to give the “space to different people” if their poor form continued following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by West Ham in the Premier League.

READ MORE: How bad have Amorim’s United been in the Premier League?

KRISPY Kreme has delighted its fans by bring a sought-after flavour to the UK.

The American doughnut brand was hounded by its UK customers to introduce the Pistachio Overload flavour that had already hit stores in Australia.

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Krispy Kreme told The Sun that “Brits begged the brand to bring the new flavour to the UK after seeing the delicious nutty treat go viral in Australia last month.”

Not only has Krispy Kreme brought the flavour from Australia to the UK, it teamed up with a British company to produce the yummy taste.

The Pistachio Overload doughnut officially made it into stores on Monday (May 12), but was available at Krispy Kremes in Manchester a day earlier.

That was due to the fact Krispy Kreme had teamed up with the Mancunian brand, Blackmilk, to create the iconic dessert.

Blackmilk’s beloved Pistachio Cream spread is being used in the baking of the new doughnut flavour.

The green delight is topped with the Blackmilk cream, a white chocolate drizzle and candied pistachio nibs, while Krispy Kreme’s trademarked pistachio cream fills the doughnut.

Krispy Kreme confirmed to The Sun that Pistachio Overload will be available for £3.49 in all UK and Ireland stores until May 25.

It will land in Tesco UK branches on May 19 until May 25.

Krispy Kreme announced the doughnut’s arrival on social media and said it hoped the news would make up for the April Fools’ joke it had played on its followers.

On April 1, the brand posted a “message” from its managing director saying that after 87 years, it would be discontinuing its famous glazed doughnut.

The joke letter said the decision had been made in order to create space for the reintroduced, raspberry glazed doughnut.

The jam-filled treat was first discontinued in November 2024, causing a stir among sweet-toothed customers.

Even Alison Hammond begged the brand not to axe her favourite flavour on ITV’s This Morning.

The flavour is back by popular demand thanks to a nationwide public vote – dubbed “The Great Doughbate”.

This poll took place in Krispy Kreme shops and across social media between March 17 and 23.

Fans were given the opportunity to decide which discontinued favourite flavour to bring back.

The Glazed Raspberry was pitted against another fan favourite, Chocolate Custard.

However, the fruity flavour won out with the British public, receiving 66% of the total votes.

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The decisions come after a series of cost-cutting measures at the club which have included redundancies and the removal of free lunches for staff.

In addition, it has been established if United win, their intention is to celebrate by holding a barbeque at the club’s Carrington training ground.

Tottenham are yet to announce their plans in the event of victory but it is expected they will have a parade to show off the trophy.

Newcastle held a parade in the city in March to mark their Carabao Cup triumph, while Liverpool are due to host one on 26 May following their Premier League title success.

United have not held a trophy parade since 2013, which coincided with Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. Players were famously irritated in 2008 to discover there was no such celebration to mark their Champions League triumph over Chelsea.

Hosting one this season would have been logistically tricky.

Unlike their last Europa League success, against Ajax in Stockholm in 2017 during Jose Mourinho’s time in charge, United will still have a Premier League game to play after the match in Bilbao – when Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on 25 May.

Immediately after that game, United fly to Asia for two post-season matches against local opposition in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

They return to Manchester on 31 May, after which players have to immediately report for international duty.

Portugal have a Nations League semi-final with Germany on 4 June, which would involve Bruno Fernandes and, if fit, Diogo Dalot.

World Cup qualifiers also take place in South America on 5 June and in Europe from 6 June.

ENGLAND’S Phil Foden says he shuns the nightlife to relax with board games and nature.

The Manchester City ace, 24, relishes home life at his country mansion and fishing lake.

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He said: “I love sitting in my garden and looking at all the wildlife.”

Winding down allows him to go fishing with son Ronnie, six.

He said: “I started with my dad, so it’s nice to pass it on.”

And Phil’s private chef cooks for fiancée Rebecca Cooke, mum to their three kids.

Friends join them some evenings.

The midfielder added: “We love to play Ludo and board games.

“I like to chill and relax really.”

He said the family enjoy zoo trips and hiring bouncy castles.

Instead of a footballer off-season trip to Marbella or Ibiza, Phil will be in France “where the fish are a little bigger”.

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