Cole Palmer has been ruled out of action for six more weeks, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday.
The England midfielder has not played since Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United on September 20 — when he came off midway through the first half.
Maresca initially said he hoped Palmer, 23, would be back after this month’s international break.
“I was wrong. Unfortunately, he needs to be out probably six more weeks. So, yes, this is the update,” he said.
The Italian said he was confident that the forward would not require surgery.
Chelsea’s Italian head coach Enzo Maresca shouts instructions to the players from the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge in London on September 27, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
READ ALSO: Yamal Set To Return As Wounded Barca Start Clasico Countdown
“We try just to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that when he comes back he’s fully recovered,” he added.
Maresca, whose team face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, said replacing “one of the best players in the Premier League” was difficult.
“For sure, we need to find a different solution, we need to find different skills, because we don’t have another player like Cole,” he said. “Because Cole is unique.”
Controversial actor Laurence Fox was sued by now-Stonewall chief executive Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal, real name Colin Seymour, over a row on X/Twitter
Laurence Fox’s libel claim after he was called a racist on social media is set to face a retrial, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
The actor-turned-activist was successfully sued by now-Stonewall chief executive Simon Blake and drag artist Crystal over a row on social media platform X.
Mr Fox, 47, called Mr Blake and the former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, whose real name is Colin Seymour, “paedophiles” in an exchange about a decision by Sainsbury’s to mark Black History Month in October 2020.
Mr Fox called for a boycott of the supermarket and was called “a racist” by the men, as well as by broadcaster Nicola Thorp, before he responded with the “paedophile” tweets which led to the libel claims.
READ MORE: ITV’s ‘superb’ war period drama with Brit legend streaming nowREAD MORE: Niko Omilana’s pranks from humiliating Rishi Sunak to KSI stunt as he joins Celebrity Traitors
In two judgments in 2024, Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Mr Blake and Mr Seymour, and said Mr Fox should pay them £90,000 each in damages.
The judge dismissed Mr Fox’s counter-claims against them and Ms Thorp over tweets accusing him of racism. Mr Fox challenged this decision at the Court of Appeal in London, where his lawyers described the previous judge’s decision as “plainly wrong”.
And in a decision on Friday, Lord Justice Dingemans, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Lord Justice Warby ruled in Mr Fox’s favour on his counter-claims and the level of damages.
Lord Justice Warby said that the tweets describing Mr Fox as a racist caused serious harm to his reputation and his libel claim should be reconsidered at a retrial.
He also said that the amount of damages Mr Fox was ordered to pay to Mr Blake and Mr Seymour was “manifestly excessive”, halving both sums to £45,000.
Lord Justice Warby said: “I am acutely aware of the need for this court to respect the function of the trial judge, and show due restraint. Having reflected on the arguments and revisited the written materials presented to us I have however concluded that the judge’s approach was in some respects wrong in law in ways that are material to the outcome.”
The Court of Appeal judge dismissed Mr Fox’s bid to overturn the finding that he had libelled Mr Blake and Mr Seymour. In 2024, Mrs Justice Collins Rice ruled in favour of Blake and Seymour, and told Fox to pay them £90,000 each in damages. The judge dismissed the controversial star’s counter claims against them and Nicola Thorp, who also branded him a racist.
He took to the Court of Appeal in London to challenge the decision and his lawyers claimed the judge’s decision was “plainly wrong”. At the end of a two-day hearing in July, Lord Justice Dingemans, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Lord Justice Warby said the decision will be handed down on October 17.
“It won’t particularly surprise you to know that we won’t give judgment this afternoon, we will reserve matters. Thank you all very much indeed, we will try to give you a judgment as soon as we can,” it was said in July.
The appeal process saw Patrick Green KC, for Fox, claimed the judgement which found the actor had libelled the men should be quashed due to “errors of approach” by the judge, including over whether Blake and Seymour were caused serious harm.
Adrienne Page KC, for Blake, Seymour and Thorp, said Fox’s appeal was “lacking in merit”, with Page later saying: “Whichever way one looks at it, the judge was fully entitled to reach the factual conclusions that she did on the serious, real-world, reputational impact of the appellant’s tweets, for the reasons which she gave.
Article continues below
“There was nothing wrong with her analysis in fact or law. After very careful and conscientious evaluation, the judge was, unsurprisingly, not persuaded of this on the facts.”
Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
READ MORE: Best value pre-lit Christmas trees to invest in now– and that can save households £875READ MORE: ‘Best’ Charlotte Tilbury product sells ‘one a minute’ and is ‘brilliant for mature skin’
John Bolton, who served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser before the two men fell out, has been indicted for allegedly sharing sensitive government information with two relatives and for retaining “documents, writings, and notes” containing classified material.
It’s the third time in recent weeks that the Department of Justice has charged one of Trump’s outspoken critics.
According to the indictment, classified information may have been exposed when a cyberactor believed to be associated with Iran infiltrated Bolton’s personal email account and gained access to the material he shared.
The charges are the result of a criminal investigation that started in 2022, when Democrat Joe Biden was president.
Here is what we know:
Who is John Bolton?
John Bolton is an American lawyer, diplomat, and one of Washington’s most recognisable foreign policy hawks – a man whose trademark moustache and hardline worldview have made him both influential and controversial.
He served as Donald Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, clashing frequently with the president over diplomacy and military strategy. Before that, he was US ambassador to the United Nations under George W Bush, where he became known for his scepticism towards multilateralism and his belief in US power above all else.
Bolton, one of the strongest proponents for the war on Iraq, repeatedly made the case that Saddam Hussein was a threat not just to the US but also to the wider world, pushing and amplifying claims about weapons of mass destruction and links to al-Qaeda that have since been proven to be false.
He also championed regime change in countries like Iran and North Korea.
US President George W Bush (R) shakes hands with the US Permanent Representative to the UN John Bolton [File: Larry Downing/Reuters]
After his turbulent exit from the Trump White House, because of deep policy disagreements with the president, Bolton returned to private life and later became one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
“John Bolton is absolutely a hawk,” Trump told NBC in June 2019. “If it was up to him, he’d take on the whole world at one time, OK? But that doesn’t matter because I want both sides.”
Bolton later published a blistering memoir, The Room Where It Happened, offering an insider’s account of the rivalries and ideological battles that defined his time in the Trump administration.
I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House. I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore….
What are the charges?
Bolton was indicted under the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling and sharing classified government information.
The law, passed in 1917, is typically used in cases involving leaks, espionage, or unauthorised retention of classified defence material.
According to the indictment:
Bolton sent more than 1,000 pages of “diary-like entries”, some marked top secret, to two of his relatives. The material was allegedly handwritten and electronically sent.
“Bolton used his personal nongovernmental email accounts, such as email accounts hosted by AOL and Google, to email information classified up to the Top/Secret/SCI level to individuals’ personal email accounts,” the indictment said.
“Often, Bolton’s notes described the secure setting or environment in which he learned the national defense and classified information that he was memorialising in his notes,” prosecutors added.
The indictment also states that in July 2021, a representative for Bolton notified the government of a hack into his personal email account, but did not disclose that it contained national defence and classified information.
Bolton, however, said on Thursday that the FBI was “made fully aware” of the breach and noted that “in four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed.”
He is also accused of keeping “documents, writings, and notes” – including classified material – at his Maryland home and Washington, DC, office.
According to the indictment, in 2018, the day before he became national security adviser, Bolton allegedly created a group chat with two relatives, writing that it was “For Diary in the future!!!”
That July, he sent the group a 25-page document, followed by a message cautioning, “None of which we talk about!!!”, according to court filings.
The indictment includes 18 counts – eight for transmitting national defence information and 10 for unlawfully retaining similar material without authorisation. Each count carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
His indictment suggests prosecutors believe the violations were not merely careless acts but systematic and willful decisions, involving both the retention and transmission of national defence information.
In 2023, Trump was also indicted on 31 counts of willful retention of national defence information in violation of the Espionage Act.
How did Bolton respond?
Bolton’s lawyers have denied wrongdoing on the part of their client, saying the information was unclassified or already cleared for publication, and that the charges are politically motivated.
Bolton maintained that his conduct was lawful and accused Trump of using the Justice Department to advance his own agenda.
“I have become the latest target in weaponising the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said.
“These charges are not just about [Trump’s] focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct,” Bolton said. “Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom.
“I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”
He added that the Justice Department had used his own diary about his time in office, which included criticism of Trump, against him.
“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct.
“Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power,” he added.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton speaks at the John F Kennedy Jr Forum at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters]
What’s next?
After being indicted, which means a grand jury formally charged him with a crime, John Bolton will next go through an arraignment, the first court hearing where he will be read the charges and asked to enter a plea. The former NSA is expected to plead not guilty.
According to a report by CNN, Bolton is expected to surrender himself as soon as Friday and appear in federal court in Maryland, but a hearing has not been scheduled.
Because the charges involve classified information, parts of the legal process may take place behind closed doors under national security rules.
The Justice Department has recently brought cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, following demands from Trump.
Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has shared a heartbreaking tribute to the One Direction star on the first anniversary of his tragic death
Sam Huntley Senior Showbiz & TV Reporter and Zoe Delaney Assistant Showbiz Editor
View 3 Images
Liam Payne’s girlfriend shares heartbreaking final moments with star(Image: kateecass/Instagram)
Kate Cassidy has revealed her final moments with Liam Payne before his tragic death.
The One Direction star plunged to his death from the balcony of his hotel room on the third floor at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died from “multiple trauma” sustained from the fall and suffered “internal and external bleeding”.
To mark the first anniversary of his death, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy has shared a heartfelt tribute to the late star. She posted a TikTok clip showing Liam attempting to lift her up into the air.
The amusing moment sees Liam try to hoist her up but, when he fails to do so, the pair burst out laughing. Kate paid tribute to Liam alongside the clip.
She wrote: “This video was taken during the last hour and last day Liam and I shared in this lifetime. I am forever grateful for the beautiful moments we shared. I will miss you for the rest of my life Liam.”
Kate also shared a black and white photo of her and Liam in bed with the singer planting a kiss on her cheek. She also posted a picture of the two embracing.
She wrote: “Today marks a full year without you here. I will forever hate goodbyes. I miss you Liam.”
Liam’s sister Ruth also shared a moving tribute to Liam. She wrote: “1 year, 12months, 52weeks, 365days… whichever way I say it, it still means the most heartbreaking truth that you’re not here any more.
“When you used to go away on tour, and I’d cry that you’d be gone for a while, I always knew you’d come back, but now I can’t get you home, I can’t meet up with you somewhere in the world, I can’t facetime or text to see how you’re doing, it’s an eternal homesick feeling because we can’t go back.”
She went on to say: “‘I underestimated grief, woah did I underestimate it. I am paralysed by it daily. I thought I had felt it before but I know the losses before you were just intense sadness, you are the loss of my life, the one person who I will miss at every single occasion in my life.”
Article continues below
‘I’d taken for granted that my little brother would be there through life, what a cruel lesson to learn in our 30s, that a sibling is not guaranteed to be a lifer, that I have to face this without you.”
Ruth also shared that she has been having a recurring nightmare about Liam’s final moments in the hotel room. She confessed that his death will “never make sense to her”.
York Knights and Toulouse Olympique will play in an expanded 14-team Super League next season after being selected to join rugby league’s top flight by an independent panel.
Bradford Bulls were promoted to Super League on Thursday having taken the place of financially troubled Salford Red Devils thanks to jumping from 16th to 10th in this year’s grading system, meaning three Championship teams will move up to the top flight from 2026.
Earlier this year, Super League’s 12 current clubs voted to expand the competition to 14 teams from next season – the first time the league will have operated with that number since 2014.
Nine applications were submitted and considered by a panel which was chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine as well as two non-executive Rugby Football League (RFL) directors Abi Ekoku and Dermot Power, RFL chief executive Tony Sutton, interim head of legal Graeme Sarjeant, RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones and Super League (Europe) board member Peter Hutton.
1 day ago
17 hours ago
York, who finished top of the Championship table and won the League Leaders’ Shield this season, in addition to lifting the 1895 Cup at Wembley, were founded as a phoenix club in the early 2000s.
Their ascension to Super League means that top-level rugby league will return to the city for the first time since 1985-86.
Toulouse were founded in 1937 and were forced to switch back to union under the Vichy regime in World War Two, but returned to rugby league in 1945 when the sport was permitted, reaching successive French Championship finals in the aftermath.
Toulouse, who became the first French club to reach the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in 2005, briefly joined the British league system between 2009 and 2010 and have played consistently in it since 2016.
They were relegated from Super League having finished bottom in their only stint in the top flight three years ago, and stunned York earlier this month to win the Championship Grand Final.
Lord Caine said that Toulouse and York would be “worthy and deserving additions” to Super League and said that the decision of the panel was unanimous.
“They were 13th and 14th on the club gradings, with a significant lead on any of the other applicants from the Championship,” he said.
“As was set out on 19 August, it was always the panel’s intention to use those gradings as one of the criteria in our deliberations, along with enhanced financial scrutiny and an assessment of competitiveness.
London, Oldham, Widnes and Doncaster bids unsuccessful
Getty Images
York and Toulouse’s promotion to Super League means that the other Championship applicants – Oldham, Widnes Vikings, Doncaster and London Broncos – are unsuccessful and will play in an expanded Championship next season.
The decision not to include London Broncos in the new-look Super League comes at time when a proposed new ownership group comprising Australia legend Darren Lockyer, former Leeds Rhinos chief executive officer Gary Hetherington and businessman Grant Wechsel is set to take over.
The Wimbledon-based side have already appointed Jason Demetriou on a three-year deal to become their head coach and have signed former Australia international Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Tonga hooker Siliva Havili for next season.
The Broncos finished 10th in the Championship last season. However, Wechsel previously stated that the ownership group would still commit funding even if the club did not move up to Super League for next season.
Oldham made some impressive signings this year, with Jack Ormondroyd, Ethan Ryan, Matty Foster and Ryan Brierley joining from Salford Red Devils, as they finished fourth in the table. However, there is to be no return to Super League for the club for the first time since 1997.
Likewise, Widnes will not make their return to the top flight for the first time since 2018 and Doncaster’s bid to join the game’s elite was also unsuccessful.
Analysis – York and Toulouse have ambition in abundance
BBC Sport rugby league reporter Matt Newsum
Having posted the ‘next best’ IMG grading scores in the overall rankings, it seemed a safe bet to assume York and Toulouse would be the next cabs off the rank to join the extended Super League for 2026.
The independent panel said they were seeking robust evidence of financial sustainability and strong forecast evidence of continued growth in that sector, and these two clubs were able to demonstrate that in their application.
For York, Super League is an achievement scarcely thought achievable or believable in the nomadic days of old, at Huntington, Bootham Crescent or even Heworth.
But, now based at the purpose built LNER Stadium, fresh from a league-topping campaign under Mark Applegarth in the men’s Championship and another strong performance from their women’s side – already a Super League club – York tick plenty of boxes in terms of a positive prospect for the top tier.
Clint Goodchild has spent money to enhance both teams, and that investment will be crucial now as York seek to narrow the gap on their new top tier rivals.
Toulouse had a taste of the Super League back in 2022 following promotion in the traditional manner but only won five of their 27 games to finish clear bottom of the table.
Yet they have ambitious owners keen to pump in money to build a strong team in a rugby-mad city and with Perpignan-based Catalans also in the competition, there is a sense of strength in numbers given some of the resistance within sections of the sport to the French clubs regarding the lack of away support and contribution to television deal funding.
Sylvain Houles will know the challenge they face to compete with relatively short time to prepare for next season on top of their travel and logistical headaches.
However, for both Toulouse and York the grading system might just give them a little more time and space to match their off-field acumen on the pitch.
Thousands of mourners gathered at a stadium in Kenya for a state funeral for opposition leader and former prime minister, Raila Odinga. His flag-draped coffin was carried by uniformed officers ahead of the service, which was attended by President William Ruto.
