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Original title: Isak joins Liverpool in £125m British record deal Liverpool have signed striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for a British record transfer fee of £125m, with the Swede saying he “wanted to create history and win trophies” at Anfield. Newcastle sources claim the deal could be worth as much as £130m with add-ons. Sweden international Isak, 25, had a medical on Monday before signing a six-year contract, and the deal takes Liverpool’s summer spending to about £416.2m, without add-on fees. Isak, who will wear the number nine shirt with the Reds, told the Liverpool website: “This is the next step for me in my career. I’m super happy that I’ve been given this chance and I’m very motivated to do something well with it. “I want to create history. I want to win trophies. That’s ultimately the biggest motivation for me. “This is the perfect place for me to grow even further and to take my game to the next level and help the team as well.” Liverpool had an original £110m offer for Isak rejected in August but have now landed their first-ch ...

Original title: EU chief von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS jamming EU chief von der Leyen’s plane hit by suspected Russian GPS jamming Von der Leyen was travelling to Bulgaria as part of a tour to eastern EU states The Financial Times, citing unnamed officials, reported that von der Leyen’s plane had to land at Plovdiv Airport with the pilots using paper maps. They added: “We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.” A spokesperson said the “GPS jamming” happened while the Commission president was about to arrive in southern Bulgaria on Sunday, but she still landed safely. The navigation system of a plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen was disrupted due to suspected Russian interference, the European Commission has said. The European Commission said “threats and intimidation are a regular component of Russia’s hostile actions” and that the incident would reinforce its commitment to “ramp up our defence capabilities and support for Ukraine”. The EU will deploy additio ...

Original title: ‘Covered in dust and too shocked to speak’: Afghan villagers reel at scale of quake’s devastation ‘Covered in dust and too shocked to speak’: Afghan villagers reel at scale of quake’s devastation 5 hours ago Share Save Gabriela Pomeroy BBC News Share Save Matiullah Shahab Matiullah Shahab helped dig graves in the village of Andarlachak Tangi, which was among those hit by Sunday’s earthquake Just before midnight on Sunday, Matiullah Shahab woke up to find his house in Afghanistan’s remote Kunar province shaking. An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude had struck eastern Afghanistan, leaving at least 800 people dead, according to the UN. Even though the epicentre of the quake was 16km (10 miles) away, the whole of Shahab’s village of Asadabad trembled. The 23 family members who live with him ran out of their bedrooms as they feared the walls would fall in on them, and stayed awake all night in their garden. “We were all afraid,” he says. The areas worst hit by the quake were Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, but it was felt as far away as Kabul and in neighbouring Pakistan’s capital, Isla ...

Original title: Starmer shakes up No 10 team - but what is he hoping to achieve? Why Starmer wants No 10 rejig after a year in power 12 hours ago Share Save Henry Zeffman Chief Political Correspondent Share Save Getty Images Many of the names involved in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street shake-up are not even household names in Westminster. But the latest moves, announced on Monday as MPs return to Parliament, are a big deal for several reasons. First, in terms of organisational innovation. If you’re struggling to recall who was Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister before Darren Jones, the answer is that there wasn’t one. The role is a new creation, designed to give Sir Keir Starmer firmer command of the government machine he has complained is sluggish and unwieldy. Bringing an MP into the heart of Downing Street’s operations is unusual, if not completely unprecedented - the Conservative MP Steve Barclay was Boris Johnson’s chief of staff in his final months as prime minister. Clearer structures For all that innovation, these latest moves are also partly about est ...

Original title: UK suspends refugee family reunion applications UK suspends refugee family reunion applications 5 hours ago Share Save Sam Francis Political reporter Share Save PA Media 55 small boats were recorded crossing the Channel in August, the lowest August figure since 2019 The government is temporarily suspending new applications for a scheme allowing refugees to bring their family members to the UK. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the move, in force from this week, would mean refugees face the same restrictions as other migrants hoping to bring family to join them in the UK. This generally means someone must earn at least £29,000 a year and provide suitable accommodation, while their family member may need to demonstrate a basic level of English. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said “tweaking the family reunion rules are not enough” to deal with the scale of the UK’s “border security crisis”. It comes on the day Parliament returned after a summer dominated by criticism over the use of hotels for migrants arriving on small ...

Original title: Russian authorities detain suspect over St. Petersburg cafe blast A Ukrainian tank is seen near the frontline area amid the Russia-Ukraine war, in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on April 02. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) The Ukrainian military has reported little change to the front lines but heavy fire from Russian forces at various parts of the front line in the Donetsk region. The General Staff said that more than 45 enemy attacks had been repelled over the past day, with the focus on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinka. It said there were 17 air strikes and more than 20 strikes by multiple launch rocket systems. “In the Bakhmut direction, the enemy is trying to take full control over the city of Bakhmut and continues to storm it,” the General Staff said. West of the city, Ukrainian defense forces repelled about 20 enemy attacks, according to the General Staff. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, posted on Telegram that in Bakhmut he had met with “soldiers and commanders who destroyed the myth of invincibility of the ...

Original title: READ: Trump indictment related to hush money payment How relevant is this ad to you? Video player was slow to load content Video content never loaded Ad froze or did not finish loading Video content did not start after ad Audio on ad was too loud Other issues Original article

Original title: Haberman reveals why Trump attacked judge and his family in speech How relevant is this ad to you? Video player was slow to load content Video content never loaded Ad froze or did not finish loading Video content did not start after ad Audio on ad was too loud Other issues Original article

Original title: Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday in a New York state court, a judge said Monday night, but he will allow some photographers to take pictures in the courtroom before the proceedings formally begin. Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings. Trump’s arraignment — like most arraignments in the Manhattan courthouse — is a public proceeding, but news cameras are not usually allowed to broadcast from inside the courtroom. However, the judge is allowing five pool photographers to take still photos at the beginning of the proceedings “until such time as they are directed to vacate the jury box by court personnel.” Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for live cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office told the judge they didn’t have a ...

Original title: Scotland scraps peak rail fares - will the rest of the UK follow? Scotland scraps peak rail fares - will the rest of the UK follow? 5 hours ago Share Save Mitchell Labiak Business reporter, BBC News Share Save Ken Jack/Getty Images Train passengers no longer have to pay higher prices for peak time tickets on ScotRail, raising the question over whether the rest of the UK could follow suit. While some passengers told the BBC they would welcome the prospect of cheaper tickets, experts are divided over whether it could push prices up overall or result in overcrowded carriages. Why do we have peak times? The peak/off-peak system is designed to discourage passengers from getting on busier trains, by making it more expensive to travel during the commuter rush before 9am and between 5pm and 7pm. However, the pandemic working from home and rail usage has not yet returned to pre-Covid levels so peak travel times are less busy than they used to be. David Ross, chief operating officer at ScotRail - which is owned by the Scottish government - told BBC Radio 4’s T ...