Author: Darren Smith

Chelsea have broken their silence over Enzo Maresca’s departure, revealing in a bombshell statement that their former head coach resigned in December 2025 because he wanted to succeed Pep Guardiola at Manchester City — despite being under a long-term contract he had no right to terminate. In a statement posted to their official Instagram account, the club said they were first informed in Autumn 2025 that Maresca believed there might be an opportunity for him to take over at City at the end of the season. “It became clear to us that it was his strong desire to succeed Guardiola…

Manchester City have appointed Enzo Maresca as their new manager, signing the Italian on a three-year contract as the club looks to move forward following the end of the Pep Guardiola era. Maresca, who stepped down from Chelsea in January, is no stranger to the Etihad Stadium. He first joined City in 2020 to lead their development squad, guiding them to the top of the table in his debut season. He returned in 2022 as one of Guardiola’s assistant managers after a spell in charge of Parma in Italy, gaining further insight into City’s methods and philosophy at the highest…

At least five people have been killed in a shooting at a youth facility in Stade, a town of around 50,000 people east of Hamburg in Lower Saxony, northern Germany, according to initial reports from German police and media. A large-scale police operation is currently underway at the scene. The motive for the attack is unclear at this stage, and no details have been confirmed about the shooter, the victims or whether the perpetrator is among the dead or in custody. Two suspects detained after shooting Local police have confirmed two suspects have been detained after the shooting in northern…

Rescue teams searching for survivors of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes have made a shocking discovery in the rubble — collapsed buildings whose walls appear to have been filled with styrofoam rather than solid construction materials, prompting fury over the quality of the housing built under the country’s socialist government. A rescuer posted a video on TikTok showing himself pulling apart collapsed wall sections with his bare hands, revealing a thin outer layer of concrete concealing what appears to be styrofoam or a similar lightweight material underneath. Digging his finger into the material with ease, he said in Spanish: “Look at…

A brand new £183 million train station has opened in Cambridge with just six car parking spaces, sparking immediate anger from locals who say the decision to prioritise cyclists over drivers is a “total missed opportunity” that will push more traffic onto an already congested city centre. Cambridge South, the city’s third railway station, welcomed its first passengers after three years of construction, offering links to London, Brighton, Birmingham and Stansted Airport. Expected to serve more than one million passengers a year, the station sits next to Cambridge’s busy Biomedical Campus and has been designed with more than 1,000 bicycle…

A Polish national has been charged with the murder of a 26-year-old man who was killed “in the most brutal way” at a Bronze Age stone circle in the Peak District during a summer solstice celebration attended by hundreds of revellers. Isaac Clare-Watts, from Nottingham, was found dead at the Nine Ladies Stone Circle on Stanton Moor, near Darley Dale, in the early hours of Monday 22 June — the morning after the summer solstice. Szymon Babynko, 23, of Commonwealth Way, London, was arrested three days later and has now been charged with murder. He has also been charged with…

A man has been charged with five counts of attempted murder after a car struck pedestrians outside Marks and Spencer in Ealing Broadway, west London, on Saturday afternoon. Timir Ahmed Mohamed, 34, of Grange Park, Ealing, who was born in Somalia, has been remanded in custody and will appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Monday. In addition to the five attempted murder charges, he has been charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop, failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis and criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police confirmed. Five pedestrians were injured when the car struck them on The…

Emma Raducanu has been forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after a scan revealed the leg injury she had been managing has developed into a stress fracture, ending her hopes of competing at her home grand slam for the second time in four years. The British number one had addressed the media at the All England Club on Sunday, indicating she was planning to take on Antonia Ruzic on Court One on Monday lunchtime, but her situation changed dramatically late on Sunday evening when a final scan delivered the devastating news. Writing on Instagram, the 23-year-old said: “I can’t believe I’m…

A viral social media trend has taken off in which Chinese users are posting videos of their pigs living in fully air conditioned barns — pointedly mocking Europeans who are sweltering through a record-breaking heatwave while facing planning rules, permit requirements and green building regulations that make fitting air conditioning at home far more difficult than it sounds. The videos, circulating widely on Chinese and Western platforms alike, show climate-controlled pig enclosures in China’s warmer southern farming regions, often with commentary that drives the joke home: while Europe lectures the world about saving the planet and restricts air conditioning, Chinese…

Two sisters were caught smiling and glancing at a camera as they were handcuffed and led to police vehicles after being arrested for the fatal stabbing of a mother of five in broad daylight in a Texas city. Kitty Mia Diaz, 21, and Amaya Cookie Diaz, 19, were taken into custody in Del Rio, around two hours outside San Antonio, on Thursday, hours after Caroline Peña was stabbed multiple times and left fighting for her life. A third woman, Kyandra Renee Faz, 21, was also arrested in connection with the killing. All three have been charged with murder and taken…