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Iran live news: Israel bombs Tehran, Beirut; Trump says war to last 4 weeks

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Witness describes Israeli-US ‘double-tap’ strike on downtown Tehran

NewsFeed

A witness says the US and Israel bombed civilians at Tehran’s Ferdowsi Square, as they rushed to help survivors from another bombing only minutes before.

Iran says will attack any ship trying to pass through Strait of Hormuz

A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said the Strait of Hormuz is closed and warned that any vessel attempting to pass through will be attacked, according to Iranian state media.

“The strait is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guard and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the IRGC’s commander-in-chief, said on Monday.

Rising energy prices

The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes, with roughly 20 percent of global oil supplies passing through it.

Any disruptions there will further send crude prices soaring and raise fears of a regional escalation.

Energy prices already rose sharply earlier on Monday as disruptions to tanker traffic through the strait, and damage to production facilities, raised uncertainty about how the US-Israeli attacks on Iran would affect supply to the world economy.

The biggest shock was to natural gas prices, which rose by almost 50 percent in Europe and nearly 40 percent in Asia as QatarEnergy, a major supplier, halted the production of liquefied natural gas after its LNG facilities were attacked.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery also came under attack from drones, and its defences downed the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of more than half a million barrels of crude oil a day.

In response, the US said it would take action ⁠to mitigate rising energy prices due to the war with Iran, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

New wave of heavy Israeli strikes hit Tehran

NewsFeed

Heavy Israeli air strikes have hit multiple parts of Tehran including near the building of Iran’s state broadcaster and the central prison complex. Explosions have been heard across the city.

Striker Welbeck extends Brighton contract to 2027

Sami Mokbel

Senior football correspondent

1 hour ago

20 Comments

Brighton striker Danny Welbeck has triggered a 12-month option in his contract to extend his deal to the end of next season.

The 35-year-old forward’s current contract was due to expire at the end of this season, but it is understood the option for an extra year is now in place.

Welbeck signed a new two-year deal in 2024 but the existence of the 12-month option was not reported at the time.

Welbeck has impressed this season and is currently the club’s top goalscorer with 11 goals in 30 appearances, the latest coming in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

His performances have put him in contention for an England recall in the lead up to this summer’s World Cup, with boss Thomas Tuchel revealing before the qualifiers in November he gave serious consideration to handing Welbeck a place in his squad.

Tuchel names his next squad – the last before selecting his World Cup party – later this month.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has made clear his desire to ensure Welbeck stays at the club in recent weeks.

How did last week’s team do?

An absolute stormer with returns from eight players including captain Bruno Fernandes (26 points), Hugo Ekitike (15) and Harry Wilson (12).

BBC Sport’s FPL team of the week for gameweek 29

Keeper and defence

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City, goalkeeper, £5.6m – Nottingham Forest (h)

Manchester City have three clean sheets in their past four home games and face a Forest side in another difficult period.

With few obvious clean sheets around this week, Donnarumma is worth the price.

Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City, £5.1m – Nottingham Forest (h)

Returning from last week’s team is O’Reilly, who is playing out of position as a midfielder and could easily have scored against Leeds last week.

He had two big chances and an expected goals (xG) of 0.32 – only Antoine Semenyo bettered that.

Gabriel, Arsenal, £7.1m – Brighton (a)

Only four players have outscored Gabriel in FPL this season and one of them, Haaland, is potentially injured.

Arsenal’s corner prowess means Gabriel is pretty much a set-and-forget, although more than 50% of FPL managers still don’t own him!

Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool, £6.1m – Wolves (a)

The Dutchman now has 35 points in his past three games and Liverpool are on a roll as they chase a Champions League spot.

Midfield

Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United, £9.9m – Newcastle (a)

Is Fernandes a must-pick for the rest of the season? He’s got four double-digit returns in seven games.

His 59 points since returning from injury in week 21 is the most of any player.

Antoine Semenyo (c), Manchester City, £8.2m – Nottingham Forest (h)

In the same bracket as Fernandes is Semenyo. Keeps starting, keeps scoring.

Every Manchester City player carries a slight question mark as they enter a period that also involves Newcastle away in the FA Cup, two legs against Real Madrid and the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

But it’s also impossible to second-guess Pep Roulette so start Semenyo with confidence – Fernandes is my vice-captain if he doesn’t play.

Harry Wilson, Fulham, £6m – West Ham (h)

Wilson’s now the fourth-highest-scoring midfielder and at just £6m still.

He takes on West Ham this week, who just conceded five goals at Liverpool, and you’ll want to eye up Burnley at home in gameweek 31 too.

Marcus Tavernier, Bournemouth, £5.3m – Brentford (h)

Another player returning from gameweek 28’s team and, at this price, how can you resist?

A team-high four shots last week and a big chance created, Tavernier ended up with bonus points and an assist.

He has a lot of routes to points for a £5.3m midfielder and faces a Brentford side that conceded three – and should possibly have been more – at Burnley.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Everton, £5m – Burnley (h)

KDH is the forgotten budget gem after his long injury, but he’s got three returns in four games and is always a good shout for defensive contribution points.

Strikers

Hugo Ekitike, Liverpool, £9m – Wolves (a)

Since week 22, no striker has had more shots than Ekitike’s 23.

Only Joao Pedro is ahead of him for big chances – 10 to nine – and he has the third-highest xG.

In that time, the Frenchman has had five blanks but it feels like he has left points on the table, and last week’s 15-pointer was an example of it all coming right.

Give him another chance away to Wolves.

Thierno Barry, Everton, £5.7m – Burnley (h)

Everton’s match-winner last week hopefully regains his starting sport for a juicy home fixture against Burnley.

Subs bench

Jordan Pickford, Everton, keeper, £5.6m – Burnley (h)

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Leeds, striker, £5.7m – Sunderland (h)

James Hill, Bournemouth, defender, £4.1m – Brentford (h)

Calvin Bassey, Fulham, defender, £4.4m – West Ham (h)

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