Author: Darren Smith

The Uruguayan, on loan from Barcelona, put his head on the line twice and won over the Kop. Manager Andoni Iraola praised his “very, very good 90 minutes”. Liverpool defender Ronald Araujo won over the Kop with two fearless defensive actions in the 2-0 home win over Brighton and Hove Albion. The Uruguayan, on loan from Barcelona this summer, twice risked injury to protect Liverpool’s lead after goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. Wirtz’s effort was recorded as a Pascal Gross own goal. The clean sheet, against the division’s top scorers, lifted Liverpool into the top four. Two brave…

Former schoolmates say the North Korean leader was funny and popular as a teenager in Bern, though a former bodyguard of his father describes a stressed, isolated child who was prone to outbursts. Former classmates of Kim Jong Un say he was a “popular, fun loving” boy who was obsessed with basketball. He attended a German-speaking school in Switzerland, where his true identity was kept secret. Staff and pupils knew him as Pak Un and were told only that he was the child of a North Korean embassy worker. The recollections resurfaced days after he made a surprise trip to…

Jack Wolff was hit on the shoulder when a rival’s kart flew over his cockpit in Italy on Friday. Reports say he walked away, and he finished tenth in a ten-lap race on Saturday. Toto Wolff’s nine-year-old son, Jack, was involved in a frightening multi-kart crash on Friday at the Leopard Circuit in Viterbo, Italy. He was taking part in Qualifying Heat 3 of the X30 Mini category. Reports say he got out of the kart unaided, though he is said to have received minor medical treatment. Official timing records show he returned to racing on Saturday and finished tenth…

Thousands marched over school funding and living costs on Saturday, while up to 70,000 officers were deployed to prevent a repeat of last weekend’s looting and arson. Some rallies were banned, and tear gas was used in Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand. Thousands of students and workers marched in Paris and other French cities on Saturday over school funding and soaring living costs. Authorities confined the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the centre, and banned rallies in places including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier. The Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay, the Picasso Museum and the Grand Palais closed their doors…

Police detained a suspect near the Kehlsteinhaus as about 200 emergency personnel tackled the blaze. Bavaria’s interior minister says the site will “under no circumstances remain a ruin”. Police in Bavaria have arrested a 33-year-old German man during a fire at the Kehlsteinhaus, the Alpine mountain retreat also known as Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Dispatchers in Traunstein received a fire alarm from the building at 21:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Friday, and firefighters found it engulfed in flames. No injuries were reported. Police said they apprehended the suspect riding a motorcycle near the scene, and that a criminal investigation has…

Five men have been jailed at Hove Crown Court over a 425kg cocaine haul seized from the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina. The NCA values it at £34m, though the prosecution put the wholesale value at more than £9m. Bodycam footage has captured the moment armed National Crime Agency (NCA) officers found a cocaine smuggler hiding in a kitchen cupboard on a fishing boat. Officers raided the New Horizon at Eastbourne Marina in June and recovered 425kg of cocaine. Five men were jailed at Hove Crown Court on Friday 23 October. Alan Colquhoun, 49, from Alloa, and William Donohoe, 38,…

Rob Jones says “you cannot pivot towards one threat without there being an opportunity cost”, as the National Crime Agency retrains staff to backfill its drugs teams. Police resources have been pulled away from the fight against drugs, firearms smuggling and child sexual abuse to tackle the small boats crisis, a senior National Crime Agency (NCA) figure has told MPs. Rob Jones, the NCA’s director-general (operations), said specialists in the global drugs trade had been switched to people-smuggling cases. The agency is now training new staff to rebuild its narcotics expertise. The NCA does not directly stop crossings but works…

Another 10 people were injured in the attack in Karak governorate, according to local media. No group has claimed responsibility and the authorities have not said who was behind it. At least seven people have been killed after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan, reports say. Another 10 were injured, according to local media. The church is in Karak governorate, about 110 miles south of the capital, Amman. A witness said two men, one carrying a rifle and the other a pistol, fired for several minutes. Jordan’s Public Security Directorate has not…

The Government has temporarily blocked the sale abroad of the rare Bronze Age stone axe, found in North Yorkshire in 1974. Buyers have until 22 December to come forward. The UK Government has placed a temporary export bar on the Scarthingwell battle-axe head, a well-preserved survivor from prehistoric Britain, in the hope that a UK museum, gallery or institution can buy it for public display. The axe is about 4,000 years old and was found near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire. The bar follows a recommendation from the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest.…

The manager used a five-minute opening address to say Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Como “hurt a lot”, and denied that his squad is divided after criticism from captain Bruno Fernandes. Michael Carrick has admitted that Manchester United have “lost our way”, while insisting he is the right person to turn the club around. He asked to speak for five minutes before taking a question at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against Bournemouth. He is under pressure after a seven-game winless run in all competitions and Fernandes’s criticism of his tactics following the defeat in Como.…