Marcus Rashford has been included in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad before the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
The Aston Villa forward’s international future had been uncertain after he was sent out on loan by Manchester United in January.
Tuchel on Friday also recalled midfielder Jordan Henderson of Ajax and included uncapped defenders Myles Lewis-Skelly and Dan Burn.
England hosts Albania next Friday and Latvia three days later at Wembley Stadium.
Aston Villa’s Marcus Rashford helped his loan club overcome Club Brugge in the Champions League round of 16]Jaimi Joy/Reuters]
Rashford’s last appearance for England was in March last year in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley, resulting in his omission from Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad.
The 27-year-old has scored eight goals in his 60 caps for England but his loss of form at club level saw him dropped from the international fold. He was then being dropped by United manager Ruben Amorim from the match-day squads, not long after the Portuguese took charge at Old Trafford.
A loan move to Villa has returned four assists and an impressive uptick in performances, which has also helped the Premier League club into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with their victory against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
England squad:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Trafford (Burnley)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
For the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia in March, England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel has named his squad.
Marcus Rashford, Reece James, and Jordan Henderson are among the players who have been called back.
The Three Lions aim to compete in the USA, Canada, and Mexico for a spot in the next year’s World Cup Finals with a Wembley double-header before beginning their new campaign.
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Tuchel’s first for England since taking the helm, making the 26-man selection. The players will arrive at St. George’s Park early next week to begin their training under the new regime.
Dan Burn, a Newcastle United defender, is the first to be called up for England while Myles Lewis-Skelly, an Arsenal player, has previously made the Young Lions’ senior squad at the MU19, MU18, and MU17 levels in recent years.
On Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m., Tuchel’s first game against Albania will face a sold-out Wembley before England travels to the national stadium on Monday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. for a game against Latvia. Tickets are still available for that game. The team
Goalkeepers: James Trafford (Burnley), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), Jordan Pickford (Everton), and Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace).
Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (AC Milan, on loan from Manchester City), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), and Dan Burn (Newcastle United).
Midfielders: Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea),
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Francisco Cerundolo to reach the quarterfinals of the event, which would have ended the youngest American since 2004. The Spaniard will now face Jack Draper in the final round.
Ben Shelton, 22, had made headlines for his home-grown run when Draper, a British player, won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
Alcaraz, the 13th-seeded player, will face the 13th-seeded Draper, who has won 16 matches while 6-3, 7-6, (4) over Cerundolo.
Alcaraz rallied from 1-4 down to win the tiebreaker on a different cold, windy night in the California desert, keeping his title defense alive with a break and two love service holds to put his bid into contention for third straight Indian Wells wins.
Francisco Cerundolo (unidentified) defeats Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals with a shotgun.
In each of his first three games with the baton, Alcaraz was required to save break points. But he got the first break of the match with a deft volley just like he was serving the first set after holding the game a lurgously for 4-3.
After sliding to pop a drop-volley winner over the top of the net for set point, Alcaraz drilled a powerful forehand that Cerundolo was awestruck by.
However, Cerundolo was the one to break out in the second, surviving with 4-1 after converting his ninth break point.
However, he was unable to hold off the world number three, who had a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker for victory.
Alcaraz, who appeared less at ease in the windy conditions than he did the day before, said, “It was really difficult for me to start the match.”
In the first set, Alcaraz said, “He had a lot of chances.” “I’m just happy that I managed to save all of them and get rid of the one I already had.”
“I didn’t hit the ball as clearly as yesterday, but I just did what I had to, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Ben Shelton defeated Jack Draper in the quarterfinals, and [Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters]
After taking one break of serve, Draper rallied from 0-3 down in a second-set slugfest.
Five double-faults, with one resulting in Draper getting a break for 6-5 in the second, were made by Shelton’s 32 unforced errors.
In a wild, wind-blown final set, Daniil Medvedev, who had previously finished second to Alcaraz, rallied from a break down to defeat Arthur Fils 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (9/ 7).
The world number six defeated Tallon Griekspoor to reach the semifinals against Denmark’s Holger Rune, who won 7-5, 6-6, and 6-3.
In the third set of a compelling fight that was momentarily paused due to gusting winds that sent towels and trash cans flying on Stadium Court, Medvedev, a six-time Grand Slam champion, lost to 20-year-old Fils 2-4.
In contrast to Medvedev’s formidable defensive abilities, France’s Fils had displayed admirable maturity.
He quickly overcame his first set of forced errors to win the second, and he kept his composure as he won the game with a comfortable victory.
Medvedev, however, held his ground and won with a long backhand volley from Fils, who had forced the tiebreaker.
After their quarterfinal, Arthur Fils and Daniil Medvedev shake hands. [Janes Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters]
In order to maintain his bid for a first title since 2023, Medvedev, who had only won one of his previous nine third-set tiebreakers, delivered a leap of pure joy with the win in 2 hours, 25 minutes.
Medvedev said, “I lost a lot of tight matches this year where I could have won or perhaps should have won.” I’ve lost a lot of tight matches where the balance is a little 50-50, and the tighter the tighter the match becomes.
“I was happy that I was able to cross the line because he had a lead in the third period and saved some match points.” I’m happy to win, just.
Rune, who won the Paris Masters final over Novak Djokovic in 2022, is another young gun that Medvedev faces.
Rune has struggled frequently since, but after dropping the first set, the 43-year-old Dutchman who had defeated Alexander Zverev in the second round, he dominated.
Madison Keys then extended her winning streak to 16 matches, defeating wild-card seed Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-1, to reach the women’s semifinals.
The Australian Open champion needed only 65 minutes to complete her rematch with top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-3, later.
Prior to the upcoming Local Government Council elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the updated voter register for Rivers State, as well as a list of the country’s registered political parties.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) was formally informed of the release in a letter dated March 13, 2025, signed by the Administrative Secretary, Odor Napoleon Emezuiruke.
A soft copy of the voters’ register was provided in response to the commission’s request, according to the letter sent to the RSIEC Chairman.
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Following this development, RSIEC announced in a press release that INEC Headquarters had received the updated register.
The release, which Tamunotonye Tobins, the commissioner in charge of media and civic education, reawakened the public and stakeholders in the RSIEC’s commitment to running free, fair, and credible elections. On August 9, 2025, the elections are scheduled to take place.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Action Peoples Party (APP), the Labour Party (LP), and 15 others are included in the list of registered political parties that INEC has made available.
Iranian, Russian, and Chinese representatives have urged Iran’s, Russia’s, and China’s governments to lift sanctions against Tehran and restart the multilateral discussions on the issue.
In a joint statement released on Friday, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu read that the three countries “emphasized the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions.” Kazem Gharibabadi from Iran and Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich from Russia, flanked him.
According to Ma, “the relevant parties should work to remove sanctions, pressure, and threats of the use of force” to address the root causes of the current situation.
Gharibabadi, the president of Iran, praised the meeting as being “very constructive and positive,” while criticizing “some nations” for causing an “unnecessary crisis” to thwart Tehran.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the three senior diplomats were scheduled to meet later on Friday.
Trump’s latest attempt to break with the Iran impasse is seen as the latest attempt to rekindle dialogue, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attempting to do so.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council along with the US, France, and Britain, must support any progress in the Iran negotiations with the Trump administration.
The Security Council’s approval set off years of attacks and tensions in the Middle East, allowing Trump to implement the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in his first year as president.
Iran was permitted to keep a 300 kilogram (661) stockpile of uranium in accordance with the original 2015 nuclear agreement, which only allowed enrichment to 3.67 percent of the purity. The IAEA’s (IAEA) most recent report on Iran’s program estimated its stockpile at 8, 294.4 kg (18, 286 pounds) because it enriched a small portion of it to achieve 60 percent purity.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran has vowed to keep its economy in check despite US sanctions, but it has already threatened to sabotage it. Iran’s government has recently been shaken by protests over women’s rights, the economy, and Iran’s theocracy.
Trump claimed on Friday that he had written to Khamenei a letter urging both negotiations and appointing a military action.
Khamenei made fun of the US president by saying he was not interested in engaging with a “bullying government.” Trump “tore it up,” he claimed, and Tehran “negotiated for years, reached a complete and signed agreement.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian added that he would not negotiate with the US because it was “threatened,” and that Iran would not abide by US “orders” to speak. However, he had previously stated in a UN speech that Tehran was “ready to engage.”
Primark’s new £36 Rita Ora jacket looks so glamorous that shoppers say they’ll never take it off. The “statement” jacket wowed fashion fans after Danielle Collins (@daniellecollins67) showcased the style in a TikTok video that’s been seen over 50, 000 times.
In the viral video, Danielle modelled the £36 Rita Ora Faux Suede Star Jacket, and viewers loved the look. As Primark explains, shoppers can “channel effortless Western glam with this Rita Ora faux suede star jacket”.
The description adds: “Designed in brown tones with contrast panelling, studded detailing, and bold star motifs, it’s the statement piece your wardrobe needs”! With its eye-grabbing studs and stylish two-tone design, it’s easy to see why the jacket is such a hit.
Danielle looked stunning in her try-on video. It’s worth mentioning that her jacket was personalised to include her name on the back, but other than that, there were no noticeable differences.
Praising the style, Danielle wrote: “Never taking this jacket off”. Equally impressed, a commenter said: “Love it. The jacket!”! Another fan wrote: “JACKET IS]fire emojiis]”, and someone added: “YEHAW”.
Danielle paired the jacket with black jeans, a tan belt, and brown sunglasses, but the styling options are endless. Primark says: “The soft faux suede finish and structured fit make it perfect for layering over everything from casual tees to sleek dresses.
” Pair with denim and ankle boots for a laid-back vibe or style with co-ords for a standout look. Whether you’re heading to a festival or brunch, this star jacket brings instant cool-girl energy. “
Rita Ora’s collection includes several stylish items, so there are plenty more options for shoppers still looking for a jacket. For fans of the suede look, options include the £34 Rita Ora Faux Suede Bomber Jacket or the Rita Ora Faux Suede Fringed Jacket, and there are more styles available to browse online and in-store.
