Archive May 12, 2025

Pope Leo calls for release of jailed journalists, notes their courage

Pope Leo XIV has called for the release of journalists imprisoned for doing their work while affirming free speech.

Leo, who was elected pontiff on Thursday after the death of Pope Francis, gave his first news conference at the Vatican on Monday.

Addressing some of the thousands of journalists who travelled to Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff, he said journalists jailed “for seeking and reporting the truth” must be released.

“The church recognises in these witnesses – I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives – the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed because only informed individuals can make free choices,” he said.

“The suffering of these imprisoned journalists challenges the conscience of nations and the international community, calling on all of us to safeguard the precious gift of free speech and of the press.”

The new pope also reiterated his message of peace that he had communicated to large crowds on Sunday as well.

“Peace begins with each one of us – in the way we look at others, listen to others and speak about others,” he told assembled journalists at the Vatican’s vast Paul VI Audience Hall.

“In this sense, the way we communicate is of fundamental importance. We must say ‘no’ to the war of words and images. We must reject the paradigm of war.”

Leo, who was active on social media before becoming pope, cautioned against  “communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred”.

“Let us disarm words, and we will help to disarm the world,” he said, urging reporters to favour a path of communication for peace.

During his first Sunday blessing as pontiff, Leo advocated for genuine peace in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere.

Tottenham v Man Utd final for German referee who served ban

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German referee Felix Zwayer, who once served a ban for alleged involvement in a match-fixing plot, will take charge of next week’s all-English Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United.

Zwayer, now 43, was given a six-month suspension in 2006 after he was investigated for taking a £250 bribe from official Robert Hoyzer, who was subsequently handed a life ban.

It emerged that Zwayer, who has denied wrongdoing, was one of the officials to notify the authorities of Hoyzer’s match-fixing scheme and his relatively short ban was recognition of that.

Since the ban was imposed, Zwayer has become one of Europe’s leading referees and officiated in Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg defeat by Paris St-Germain last Wednesday.

Zwayer also took charge of England’s European Championship semi-final victory over the Netherlands last summer.

When England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham played for Borussia Dortmund, the midfielder was fined 40,000 euros (£34,000) in 2021 for criticising Zwayer by making a reference to his ban.

The Europa League final will be played in Bilbao on Wednesday, 21 May.

Bosnian Irfan Peljto will referee Chelsea’s Conference League final against Real Betis on 28 May in Wroclaw, Poland.

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  • Europa League
  • Tottenham Hotspur
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Foakes career-best as Surrey draw at Edgbaston

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Rothesay County Championship Division One, Edgbaston (day four)

Warwickshire 665-5 dec: Latham 184, Barnard 177*, Malik 105*; Lawes 2-107

Surrey 504: Foakes 174*, Sibley 64, Steel 55; Yates 3-124 & 15-0 (f/o)

Warwickshire (13 pts) drew with Surrey (11 pts)

Ben Foakes harvested a career-best unbeaten 174 for champions Surrey as their County Championship match with Warwickshire drifted to a draw at Edgbaston.

Foakes amassed 174 from 361 balls, the last 107 of them in a 10th-wicket stand of 158 in 58 overs with Matt Fisher, who made 40, as Surrey totalled 504 in reply to Warwickshire’s 665-5.

On a bowlers’ graveyard of a pitch, the game’s third innings finally began at 3.15pm on the final day. Surrey, following on, reached 15 without loss before a merciful downpour arrived to wash out a pointless last session.

This was the 172nd County Championship match between these teams and although The Oval pitch on which they completed an entire game in one day in 1953 (Warwickshire 45 and 52, Surrey 146) may have been a bit too bowler-friendly, this was way too far the other way.

Surrey resumed on the last morning on 369-9, still 147 short of the follow on figure, but Warwickshire knew they had to polish off the first innings quickly if they were to press for victory.

The excellent Foakes ensured that didn’t happen and advanced down the pitch to strike Rob Yates for successive glorious sixes; the first took him to 9,000 first class runs and the second to his 17th first class century, from 197 balls.

Foakes and Fisher batted through the morning session to add 118 in 39 overs with a degree of comfort which only increased the mystery as to how Surrey’s batters got into a tangle on the third day.

At 131, the partnership between Foakes and Fisher became a 10th-wicket record for Surrey against Warwickshire, beating the 130 by Bert Strudwick and Bill Hitch at Edgbaston in 1911.

At lunch, it stood at 141, 32 short of the county’s 10th-wicket best against anyone – 173 by Andy Ducat and Andy Sandham against Essex at Leyton in 1921.

They advanced to within 15 of the record when Fisher edged Ed Barnard to wicketkeeper Alex Davies.

Despite having just spent 178.2 overs in the field, Warwickshire enforced the follow on with a minimum of 43 overs left in the day.

Their bowlers no doubt led the sense of collective relief when, after just five of those overs, a terminal thunderstorm arrived.

Warwickshire head coach Ian Westwood:

“We turned up this morning with a lot of hope and expectation and I think if we had managed to get that wicket early, out there with fresh legs and a new ball it might have been very interesting.

“But I don’t want today to put a dampener on how well we have played on the first three days.

“Yes, it was a good batting pitch but we got stuck in and managed to get a big total and then I thought the highlight was yesterday’s performance with the ball. The effort and skill was fantastic.

“It’s been a good start to the season. We were desperate to win this game but a solid, high-scoring draw against Surrey is not the worst result by any means and puts us in a good place going into the next two games before we go into the T20.”

Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes:

“We had one job to do and just had to bat as long as possible. Matt (Fisher) batted really well – it helped that he is not a number 11.

“I have felt alright so far this season. We have played on some pretty good pitches away from home and I have managed to cash in.

“It’s not easy taking wickets on these pitches so we have got to try and work out ways to get wickets. There definitely are ways to get wickets, you’ve got to be creative on pitches like that.

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Love Island star’s ‘heartbreaking abortion’ just months after giving birth to first child

Love Island’s Liana Isadora Van-Riel asked fans not to judge her as she bravely revealed she recently had an abortion, seven months after giving birth to her daughter

Love Island star Liana Isadora Van-Riel has revealed she made the heartbreaking decision to have an abortion just seven months after giving birth. The 29-year-old, who was on the second series of the ITV2 dating show, asked fans not to ‘come for her’ as she explained her reasons for making her decision.

Sitting in her car, recording a clip on TikTok, wearing Ugg boots and grey tracksuit bottoms, she says she didn’t have to “justify” her choices, but wanted to do so for “awareness and transparency”. Explaining she found out she was pregnant while still breastfeeding her daughter, who was born last year, Liana said: “I had an abortion last week at nine months post partum, and I just want to talk about it a little bit.”

Love Island’s Liana Isadora Van-Riel asked fans not to judge her as she bravely revealed she recently had an abortion(Image: TikTok/@lianaisadora1)

Explaining news of her second pregnancy came as a “shock”, she warned her followers in a caption “don’t come at me” and said: “It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve been through.”

Liana continued: “So obviously this pregnancy came as a huge shock, and in an ideal world, I think I’d have loved to have carried on the pregnancy.

“Me and my boyfriend spoke about it, we did consider it, but the reasons for were for all the wrong reasons – it was to give my daughter a sibling, it was because it was a nice age gap, it was mostly because I didn’t want my daughter to be lonely when she’s older and that’s just the wrong reason.”

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Love Island's Liana Isadora Van-Riel and daughter
Liana gave birth to her daughter last year(Image: TikTok/@lianaisadora1)

Opening up about the difficulties of her breastfeeding journey with her first baby, she added: “I would not be able to take on the mental and physical pressure of doing that again.”

Liana also explained she had lived in a different country for much of last year with no family and friends and, because of her boyfriend’s ‘busy job’, had already been “parenting in solitude.”

She concluded: “I had to go with my head over my heart and my gut, and I knew I was making the decision for the right reasons.

“And as lovely as having two under two sounds, it would not be ideal for my situation, and I just know I wouldn’t be able to be the best mum I could be to my daughter – and the baby if I had it.

“I would absolutely crumble.”

Responding to her post, one supportive fan replied: “Your body, your choice, your decision. Well done and hope you feel OK.”

Meanwhile, another said: “An abortion is never an easy decision but you’ve done what was right for your family and that’s all that matters.”

Love Island's Liana Isadora Van-Riel
She found fame on Love Island in 2016(Image:
ITV
)

Liana found fame on Love Island in 2016 when she entered as late arrival. She was coupled up with Adam Maxted on the show, but they were separated after being voted as one of the weakest couples by the rest of the contestants.

Liana and new partner, Tom Powell, then received the fewest votes from the public and left the villa.

* If you have been affected by this story, please contact the Abortion Recovery Care and helpline

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Raducanu’s Rome run ended by classy Gauff

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Emma Raducanu’s encouraging Italian Open run came to an end in the last 16 as world number three Coco Gauff proved too much of a step up in class.

Raducanu, ranked 49th in the world, lost 6-1 6-2 on the Rome clay to American Gauff.

For the first time in her career, the British number two had won three clay-court matches in a row to reach the fourth round in the Italian capital.

But any hopes she could cause a shock against 21-year-old Gauff were soon extinguished.

Like Raducanu in 2021, Gauff’s sole major victory so far came on the hard courts of the US Open two years ago but on Monday she showed why she is also a force on the red dirt.

Gauff, who reached the French Open final three years ago, returned superbly from the start and also dug deep in service games when required.

“Emma is a tough opponent no matter what surface and always tough to play – so I’m happy with how I played,” Gauff told Sky Sports afterwards.

“My level is getting better every match and [reaching the] Madrid [final] was a step in the right direction.

Why Raducanu will take positives to French Open

Clay is a surface which does not come naturally to Raducanu.

Like most British players, the 22-year-old Briton had less exposure to the red dirt in her formative years and lacks experience on these courts as a professional.

Raducanu’s meeting against Gauff was only the 21st clay-court match of her career – compared to 81 on hard courts and 20 on the grass.

Therefore, it is no surprise she is still – by her own accord – finding her feet on the surface.

Beating Australian teenager Maya Joint, Switzerland’s Jil Teichman and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova to reach the Rome last 16 represented solid progress.

Facing Gauff was a different proposition.

While Raducanu’s movement has improved on the clay, it was not enough to hang tough consistently with Gauff in the rallies.

Gauff’s weight of shot proved difficult to cope with and, although Raducanu did regularly manage to get herself into the points, the American’s superior athleticism meant it was difficult for the Briton to dictate them.

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Meghan Markle makes huge staff shake-up after brutal ‘Duchess Difficult’ claim

The Sussexes have have hired two new senior advisers as they continue to navigate post-royal life – and one of them has a close connection to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates

Harry and Meghan have made some changes amongst their staff(Image: Getty Images for TIME)

There are some big changes underway at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s office. It has been revealed that Meghan has appointed her first chief of staff – Sarah Fosmo, who will be her most senior adviser as she continues a new shift in career.

Sarah, 45, has an impressive CV; she previously worked for Gates Ventures, Bill Gates’ private office, in executive administration for six years. Before that, she spent seven years working for Tony Robbins, an American motivational speaker, as a senior executive assistant.

And she will now oversee Meghan during a period of immense professional change and growth, with the recent launch of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, and podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, as well as the rebrand of her lifestyle company, As Ever.

READ MORE: Prince Harry’s cutting remark about Meghan Markle’s family that ‘intensified rift’

Meanwhile, Prince Harry also has a new chief of staff after his last pick, Josh Kettler, left after his three-month trial period. Rather than bringing in a new replacement, one of Harry’s most senior members of staff, Lianne Cashin, a former executive assistant and Archewell’s head of operations, has been promoted to a ‘senior consultant’.

She will be responsible for guiding the Duke through the next stage of his post-royal career. According to the Telegraph, she will also have played a pivotal role in arranging Harry’s BBC interview last week, in which he spoke candidly about the ongoing rift with his father King Charles and complained of an “establishment stitch-up” after losing his legal appeal against the Government over security provision. A source told the publication: “Sarah and Lianne exemplify the strength and vision driving the Duke and Duchess forward.”

READ MORE: Prince Harry ‘knocked on wrong door looking for friend’ in ‘odd’ move after UK safety claim

The insider further said that Harry and Meghan consider themselves fortunate to have two “exceptional leaders” in Ms Fosmo and Ms Cashin, adding: “Sarah, our proud senior hire as chief of staff for the Duchess of Sussex, brings a wealth of experience perfectly suited to guide the Sussexes’ ambitious ventures, including a new business, podcast, and television project. Her expertise and steady leadership are critical to navigating this dynamic period of growth.”

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Ms Cashin, meanwhile, has become a valued consultant and provided “deep operational insight for key projects”. It follows various claims against the Sussexes regarding their staff’s tenure and their “apparent inability to attract and retain the right staff”.

Royal author Tom Quinn previously spoke to the Mirror about Josh Kettler’s departure and said his abrupt exit came as “no surprise”. He said: “In the years since Meghan and Harry married in 2018, they are estimated to have lost a staggering amount of key members of staff. One former employee told me the problem is that Meghan and Harry always assume that it is as easy to do something as it is to tell someone to do it. The couple hates being told something is just not possible.

READ MORE: Prince Harry’s friends left ‘disgusted’ by comments on King Charles’ health

“Kettler had been seen as having the golden touch. Harry believed his new chief of staff could reverse his declining popularity in the States and transform him into an internationally important figure. Anything less than that would not be acceptable.”

Tom further claimed that Mr Kettler’s departure had been a “serious blow” and not just because the couple were “now rudderless once again”. He added: “What makes Kettler’s departure really embarrassing for the royal couple is that word is beginning to get around and one or two people who have been approached by them have turned down the chance to work for them.

“The real issue is that Kettler’s departure reminds everyone that working for Meghan and Harry is a seemingly impossible task. They are just too demanding and always expect too much.”

But Kettler has since spoken out about his time working for the couple and had high praises. Speaking to US Weekly, Kettler, who had previously been chief of staff and head of strategic partnerships at the communication platform Cognixion, revealed what it was really like working for Harry and Meghan – and told how he was “warmly welcomed” by both of them and their Archewell team.

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