Second-place France are now three points behind Ireland, who need a massive favour from old rivals England this evening. However, the chances of that happening appear remote if the form book is anything to go by, with Steve Borthwick’s struggling side having followed a 12-Test winning streak with three successive sobering losses to slump to fifth and on the brink of their worst-ever Six Nations campaign.

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Hello and welcome to coverage from the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table with victory over Everton.

The league leaders will start the match seven points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand, and play West Ham at 8pm tonight.

With City 3-0 down to Real Madrid ahead of the second leg next week, their focus this evening could be elsewhere and should Arsenal move 10 points ahead, the pressure would be on to respond.

But in north London, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has dismissed suggestions they have adopted a siege mentality amid mounting pressure.

“You just have to go in that dressing room and feel the mood, the energy and the way we talk to each other and how much we value the position that we have right now,” Arteta said. 

“So our focus is on what ‌we have to ‌do, what we ⁠have to maintain and what we have to improve together.”

With no FA Cup fixture last week, Everton have not played since March 3, so they should start the match fresh but could be a little rusty.

However, since David Moyes returned to Merseyside for a second spell 14 months ago, Everton have won the most matches on the road of any Premier League side other than Arsenal.

Ahead of the match, Moyes came to Arteta’s defence, hitting back at suggestions that Arsenal’s physical approach and set-piece prowess present ​problems and saying ‌it would be boring if every team played the same way.

Arsenal have attracted criticism in recent weeks, especially for their corner-kick routines, as their go-to strategy to score, sparking debate about its tactical evolution.

“You are making it ⁠sound as if that’s a problem because they are good at set pieces and they are a strong, physical side,” Moyes said.

“I don’t see any problem with any of that. It’s part of the game.”

One Brit who escaped said: “We watched the rockets in the skies and then saw the official accounts from the Government. They were simply not right and did not match reality. You realised it was part of the propaganda war.”

Tens of thousands of British workers and tourists have fled the UAE since Iran retaliated following Israel and the United States launching surprise attacks last month.

But the Dubai Government has been accused of trying to “cover up” the war’s impact on the city by putting strict rules in place in a bid to “protect its image”.

Tourists, influencers and social media commentators are not allowed to show any footage of Iranian rockets as it faces losing billions of pounds in tourism revenue.

The World Travel and Tourism Council predicted visitor spending in the UAE would reach £46bn in 2025. Dubai recorded almost 19.6 million visitors in the year leading up to February 2026, a five percent increase.

A 60-year-old from London was one of 21 people of various nationalities arrested for filming missiles in the sky.

The campaign group ‘Detained in Dubai’ is helping them.

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Ben Keith, an international human rights barrister who has represented many of those arrested in Dubai, said: “They want to show that the UAE is safe for foreign tourists and workers.

“They do not want to show any images of the missiles getting through. They will do anything to protect the image of Dubai.”

One Brit who escaped over the desert with his family to Oman told the Mirror: “We watched the rockets in the skies and then saw the official accounts from the Government.

“They were simply not right and did not match reality. You realised it was part of the propaganda war.”

UAE’s defence systems stopped more than 90 percent of 1,700 Iranian projectiles. But military installations and the Fairmont Hotel, located on Dubai’s famous tree-shaped island, were dramatically hit.

The airport, one of the busiest aviation hubs in the world, had to close.

Attacks on two data centres briefly left Dubai residents unable to use their phones for digital payments. British financial giant Standard Chartered evacuated its entire staff from the prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre after an Iranian threat to target economic and banking interests linked to the US and Israel.

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard listed the tech giants Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle among targeted US companies, warning people to stay at least a kilometre away from banks. But any foreigner, including holidaymakers, who causes “reputational harm” to Dubai can face fines of up to £200,000, as well as a decade or even life in prison. And that includes any footage of Iranian attacks.

Campaign groups report that WhatsApp video and voice calls are banned because their encryption makes them harder for the regime to ‘spy on’.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has refused US offers to enter the conflict, as one Dubai businessman stated that ‘reckless American decisions plunged the region into war.’ And the crisis has not only impacted Dubai tourism. It has hit all of the Gulf states, including 2022 World Cup host Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, which will hold the 2034 tournament.

A mum and daughter from Falmouth, Cornwall, who did not want to give their full names before they were back home, enjoyed a holiday in Oman and elected to stay on even after the missiles hit. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Bella, 33, said: “We feel so sorry for the locals. Our guide kept taking calls from people who were cancelling trips. It is their livelihoods, and yet it has nothing to do with them.”

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Mum Virginia, a retired scuba diving instructor, added: “One holidaymaker went to the airport, but returned when her flight to Australia was cancelled. It has been terrible for so many here.”

Jamie Mallon, 54, a financial advisor from Southampton, was convinced that the World Trade Centre of Abu Dhabi was a target for Iran because of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. Jamie and his daughter, Izzy, 27, were caught in the terrifying spread of the war in the Middle East within minutes of arrival. One security alert on his phone told him 1,184 drones were fired at Abu Dhabi in one day along with eight cruise missiles.

Like thousands of UK nationals, they fled across the desert to fly home from Oman. Last week, 168,000 Brits had registered their presence across Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

More than 12,000 Brits were repatriated from the UAE on Government chartered aircraft and scheduled flights.

Manchester City No.2 Pep Lijnders will be the leading man in the dugout for the Blues at West Ham on Saturday night

Pep Guardiola was not allowed to be in the Manchester City dugout for the Premier League game with West Ham. The Blues boss must serve a second suspension of the season after picking up his sixth yellow card last week.

City’s manager picked up yellow cards in Premier League games with Arsenal, Forest, and Brighton earlier in the campaign to mean he had to sit out the FA Cup game with Exeter. And he has since picked up three more to mean he must now miss two games.

The rules cover both the Premier League and FA Cup but not the Carabao Cup or Champions League, meaning Guardiola will be allowed on the touchline for games next week against Real Madrid and Arsenal. However, for the West Ham game and the Liverpool FA Cup match next month he will only be able to communicate with his staff from the stands, with Pep Lijnders taking charge.

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Guardiola was fortunate not to get a red card at Newcastle last week, only picking up a yellow despite remonstrating on a number of occasions about the officiating both during the game and after it.

Asked about the incidents afterwards, he said: “When Jeremy Doku dribbles past (Kieran) Trippier and goes alone to the box and is being pulled form behind, I’m not asking for a yellow card but please – it’s a foul.

“I will defend my team. We have all the records in this country -all of them. Despite everything, we have all of them. And we have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I have always wanted this record and now I have it. Two game banned now and I will go on holidays.”

As the following question began, Guardiola pressed on: “Oh my God. Oh. My. God. There are things that still after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action, review the action. Of course I’m going to defend Doku, and all my teams. They continue to do it.”

Patrick J Adams has opened up about his new role in The Madison, a modern Western series created by Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan

Meghan Markle’s former co-star Patrick J Adams is a far cry from Suits in the new Paramount+ contemporary Western series, The Madison.

Conceived by Yellowstone genius Taylor Sheridan, the six-part series tracks the Clyburns, a wealthy New York family who are abruptly compelled to move to rural Montana following a tragic loss.

Michelle Pfeiffer heads up the series as matriarch Stacy Clyburn, who relocates to her husband Preston’s (played by Kurt Russell) picturesque ranch house by the Montana River with her two daughters, Paige (Elle Chapman) and Abigail (Beau Garrett).

Suits actor Adams takes on the role of Russell, the city-dwelling investment banker spouse of Paige, who grapples with adjusting to the rigours of life in the wilderness.

Speaking exclusively to Reach at The Madison’s London premiere, Adams reminisced: “My first impression was how cool it is that he’s there for this journey. Because, at first I was like, this seems like a guy who’d probably be like ‘I’m gonna stay home and work. You go do your thing in Montana’”, reports the Express.

“So I was just really impressed that he showed up no matter what, to be this uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment.

“But never is there a doubt that he’s gonna do it, because he loves these people and he’s gonna show up for them. Whatever the seed of that was, I had a lot of respect for that.”

In the first three episodes, released today (Saturday, 14th March) on Paramount+, Russell and Paige strive to solidify their bond whilst courageously navigating the challenges of their new surroundings, often with comical outcomes.

This is a stark contrast from Adams’ portrayal of the suave, unlicensed solicitor Michael James Ross in the USA Network drama Suits, where he starred alongside Meghan Markle as Rachel Elizabeth Zane for seven series.

Reflecting on his time on the show, he revealed: “I shot a show for years in a studio on the outskirts of Toronto, so now, every day, to drive through the most beautiful state in the world and just be by this river all day, it’s unspeakably beautiful.”

He added: “And inspiring, it does so much of the work for you. If you ever feel uninspired or you’re not sure how you feel, you just look around and look at the sky and look at the mountains and watch the sun go down. That’s all you need, it’s a magical place.”

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Numerous fans are poised to be captivated by Sheridan’s expansive new family drama, with another trio of episodes arriving in a week’s time.

Viewers also have reason to rejoice as The Madison has already been renewed and even filmed its second series, so anticipate the Clyburns’ saga to resume imminently.

The Madison continues next Saturday on Paramount+.

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Hormone therapy is widely used to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats. But scientists have long debated whether it affects dementia risk.

A new study adds another piece to this puzzle. It suggests that an Alzheimer’s biomarker may help identify which women are more vulnerable to dementia with certain hormone therapies.

Researchers analysed blood samples from 2,766 women recruited into a clinical trial in 1996 to 1999. They then followed participants until 2021 to examine whether levels of plasma p-tau217 at the start of the study were linked to people developing dementia, and whether this relationship differed depending on whether participants had used hormone therapy.

Plasma p-tau217 is a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, a measurable biological signal of the condition. Higher levels in the blood are linked to brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s.

The study compared women who received a placebo or two types of hormone therapy. One was combined hormone therapy containing oestrogen and progesterone, usually prescribed for women who still have their womb. The other was oestrogen-only therapy, typically given after hysterectomy.

Women with higher levels of the Alzheimer’s biomarker had a substantially greater risk of developing dementia. In the study’s main analysis, higher baseline p-tau217 levels were associated with about three times the risk.

However, the relationship differed depending on the type of hormone therapy used. Among women assigned to combined hormone therapy, higher biomarker levels were linked to roughly four times the risk of dementia. This pattern was not seen among women using oestrogen-only therapy.

The association was strongest in certain groups, including women aged over 70, white women and those carrying the APOE4 genotype, a genetic variant that increases a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists think the difference between therapies may relate to how hormones interact with Alzheimer’s biology. Oestrogen may help protect brain cells and influence how the brain processes amyloid and tau proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease. Progesterone may modify these effects in ways that are not yet fully understood.

Colleagues and I earlier found that carriers of this genetic risk factor who used hormone therapy also had worse dementia-related biomarkers than those not using hormones or not carrying the genetic risk.

Earlier evidence

Data for the new analysis came from the Women’s Health Initiative studies, a large programme of clinical trials examining the long-term health effects of hormone therapy.

One component of this programme, the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, examined whether hormone therapy influenced dementia risk. The 2003 study found that combined hormone therapy roughly doubled the risk of dementia among women aged 65 and older. The wider hormone therapy trial was later stopped earlier than planned because overall risks, including breast cancer, stroke and blood clots, outweighed the benefits.

These findings applied to women who began hormone therapy after age 65. At the time, hormone therapy was often prescribed long-term to prevent conditions such as osteoporosis. Today it is usually started earlier, around menopause, which occurs at about age 50.

After these results were published, many women stopped taking hormone therapy, including those near menopause.

Later research suggested a more nuanced picture. Follow-up analyses of women who started hormone therapy between the ages of 50 and 54 found no evidence that treatment affected cognitive function when assessed six to seven years after the trial ended.

Similar findings have been reported in other clinical trials of relatively healthy women who began hormone therapy close to menopause. These studies suggest that up to ten years of combined hormone therapy appears generally safe but does not provide measurable cognitive benefits.

The picture looks different when hormone therapy is started later in life.

Different results in older women

Among women who began hormone therapy after age 65 in the Women’s Health Initiative studies, overall cognitive performance declined when tested around age 70. This decline was particularly noticeable in women who already had lower cognitive function at the start of the study.

Further evidence came from a 2010 analysis of the same group of women. Eight years after joining the study, MRI scans showed trends towards smaller volumes in the hippocampus and frontal lobes among older women using combined hormone therapy.

Shrinking in the hippocampus is commonly seen in Alzheimer’s disease and may indicate that combined hormone therapy could worsen existing brain vulnerability in some older women.

New findings

The new analysis adds further evidence and is consistent with meta-analyses by my colleagues and me of national registry data showing increased Alzheimer’s risk in older women using combination hormone therapy but not oestrogen alone. A smaller increase was also seen in women nearer menopause when treatment lasted more than five years.

Menopausal symptoms themselves may also play a role. Severe hot flushes and night sweats have been linked to a higher risk of dementia when they occur later in life. Women with these symptoms are also more likely to use hormone therapy, making the effects of symptoms harder to separate from treatment.

Symptom severity is also associated with other dementia risk factors, including smoking and obesity, poor sleep, and stress and alcohol use.

What does this mean for women?

Importantly, this study does not show that hormone therapy itself causes dementia. Instead, it suggests that biological risk markers may help identify women who could be more vulnerable when treatment begins later in life.

Overall, the relationship between hormone therapy and dementia risk appears to depend on when treatment starts, whether someone already has underlying risk factors, and how long therapy is used.

Starting combined hormone therapy later in life, particularly after age 65, may increase the risk of cognitive decline in some women. But studies have generally not found the same risks when treatment begins around menopause and is used for shorter periods.

Taking hormone therapy for five years or less when started around menopause has not been linked to increased cognitive decline or Alzheimer’s disease in clinical trials or in most national registry studies.

Because most women use hormone therapy for a limited time to manage menopausal symptoms, it is unlikely to increase dementia risk when started around menopause.

This was a much better performance from Wales who claimed their first win in the Six Nations since March 2023

Wales won a Six Nations game for the first time in three years as they claimed a 31-17 victory over Italy at the Principality Stadium.

Steve Tandy’s side scored four tries in total with Aaron Wainwright (twice), Dewi Lake and Dan Edwards touching down. Edwards also contributed 11 extra points from the kicking tee, including a 40-metre drop goal.

Here are the Wales player ratings.

15. Louis Rees-Zammit 7

The Wales full-back looked very threatening with ball in hand linking up very well with both Ellis Mee and Josh Adams.

Rees-Zammit was also strong under the high-ball.

14. Ellis Mee 8

Mee was excellent under the high ball, and he chased very well. The Scarlets man looked physical in contact and made a couple of incisive breaks.

He also got his body underneath an Italian player to stop a try in the second half.

13. Eddie James 7

The 23-year-old put in some huge hits and made some excellent reads in defence. James carried very well getting over the gain-line while his distribution was also very good.

12. Joe Hawkins 7

The Scarlets centre carried well while his distribution helped cut open the Italian defence.

Hawkins’ partnership with Eddie James has also improved over the past four Test matches.

11. Josh Adams 7

The experienced winger was as solid as ever under the high ball and defended well as usual.

Adams also looked a threat with ball in hand and seemed more like his old self.

10. Dan Edwards 8

The Ospreys man controlled the game and kicked well out of hand.

Edwards was a threat with ball in hand showing his pace to score his second international try while he also got the backline moving well.

He plays with so much confidence and even kicked a drop goal from 40 metres out.

9. Tomos Williams 7

The 31-year-old was a constant threat with ball in hand keeping the Italy backrow honest throughout.

He kicked well out of hand and put in a tremendous try-saving tackle on Tommaso Allan.

8. Aaron Wainwright 8 (Star man)

Wales’ best player throughout the course of this Six Nations and it was no different in the final round.

Wainwright hit a superb angle to power his way over the line for Wales’ opening try.

7. James Botham 8

The Cardiff backrower put in another huge shift making 15 tackles while he also carried very well.

His work at the breakdown was his main attribute ensuring Wales got clean ball at the ruck while also effectively slowing Italy’s down.

6. Alex Mann 7

It was another huge shift from the Cardiff backrower who put in 11 tackles and was also very effective at the breakdown.

One of Wales’ most improved players.

5. Ben Carter 8

The Dragons lock has come of age over the course of the Six Nations and is now a first choice player.

Carter was given the responsibility of calling the lineouts, an area of the game in which Wales excelled against the Azzurri.

4. Dafydd Jenkins 7

The Exeter Chiefs lock has been consistently excellent for Wales throughout the Six Nations.

Jenkins got through a mountain of unseen work yet again, making 12 tackles while he was also very effective at the set-piece.

3. Tomas Francis 7

At the start of the Six Nations Tandy said Francis was one of the first players he spoke to upon taking the job.

The Wales coach knows the importance of a strong scrummaging tighthead and Francis has been worth his weight in gold.

He only lasted 37 minutes this time around due to injury but in that time he was excellent.

2. Dewi Lake 8

The Ospreys star led from the front making 13 carries and consistently got Wales over the gain-line.

Lake has improved immeasurably since the opening round defeat at Twickenham and has been nothing short of outstanding in his courageous leadership.

1. Rhys Carre 8

The Wales prop was outstanding yet again carrying extremely well and even winning a penalty at the breakdown late in the first-half.

Carre also scrummaged very well as Wales took the Italians to the cleaners in this area.

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Replacements

16. Ryan Elias 6

The Scarlets hooker carried well and was solid at the lineout.

17. Nicky Smith 6

Smith scrummaged well and got through a lot of work.

18. Archie Griffin 5

The Bath prop was busy around the park but blotted his copybook when he got sent to the sin bin.

19. Adam Beard 5

Solid if not spectacular.

20. Olly Cracknell 5

Solid with a few strong carries.

21. Kieran Hardy N/A

Not enough time.

22. Jarrod Evans 5

Solid.

23. Blair Murray N/A

Not enough time.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A turf war over a football team is developing between two Midwestern states with a sometimes-discordant history.

The storied Chicago Bears want to leave historic Soldier Field, where they’ve played for half a century. Indiana lawmakers are attempting to lure them from the Windy City with a plan to finance and build a domed stadium in Hammond, Indiana, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from their current home on Lake Michigan’s shore.

The Illinois General Assembly has responded with legislation that would give tax breaks to so-called megaprojects of at least $100 million, a plan that would encompass the Bears’ proposal to build a complex in the northwest Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, about the same distance from Soldier Field as Hammond.

Critics complain it’s a bad deal for Illinois, where property taxes are already among the highest in the nation — especially when taxpayers still owe hundreds of millions of dollars on a Soldier Field renovation from two decades ago.

Here’s a look at what’s shaping up to be a showdown.

Why the big deal?

The Bears, one of only two remaining NFL founding members, are legend. Their nine championships, including a Super Bowl win, are second only to the rival Green Bay Packers — though recent decades have brought mostly heartbreak. The franchise carries an $8.9 billion price tag, among the most valuable of the NFL’s 32 teams, according to Forbes.

Born in the central Illinois city of Decatur in 1920, the Bears have called Chicago home for 105 years. Losing them to the Hoosier State would be a major thumb in the eye.

What’s wrong with Soldier Field?

With 61,500 seats, it’s the NFL’s smallest. The Bears have always rented their facilities — the Cubs’ Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970, and Soldier Field, maintained by the Chicago Park District, since. Like most teams, they want to own a stadium, giving them control over operations, scheduling and revenue streams from ticket sales, concessions, parking, naming rights and more.

And Soldier Field is open air. An enclosed facility would allow for other marquee sporting events: Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours or WrestleMania, for instance.

Why the imbroglio between the states?

Along with the states’ established cultural and economic differences and an intense college basketball rivalry, the political fissure between Democrat-dominated Chicago and conservative Indiana has widened. It amped up last year when Indiana adopted a commission to study changing the state’s boundaries to include some central Illinois counties whose voters have approved ballot measures calling for secession from Chicagoland.

Arlington Heights, back to Chicago, to Hammond

The Bears have threatened to leave Chicago previously. When they broached moving in 1975, then-Mayor Richard J. Daley replied, “Like hell they will.”

But the City of Big Shoulders heaved an anxious sigh in 2023 when the Bears paid about $200 million for a 326-acre (132-hectare) former horse-racing track in Arlington Heights. They have envisioned a $5 billion, taxpayer-assisted development for a domed stadium and campus of housing, hotels, entertainment and retail space.

In 2024, the Bears offered a $5 billion plan, partially taxpayer-funded, for an enclosed stadium next to Soldier Field, which garnered little interest in the capital of Springfield. Late last fall, the team turned to Indiana.

Where the proposals stand

Indiana’s lure creates the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a domed stadium near Wolf Lake in Hammond. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed it into law on Feb. 26. The Bears would agree to a 35-year lease. Borrowed state money would cover the as-yet-unknown cost of construction, repaid by increased local hospitality taxes.

In Illinois, majority Democrats have advanced legislation in the House that would provide incentives for any so-called megaproject of at least $500 million — or less, down to $100 million, depending on the number of jobs created. Developers would pay property taxes frozen at the parcel’s pre-construction value for as long as 45 years. During that time, they would make annual payments in lieu of taxes negotiated with local governments. There would also be a sales tax exemption on building materials for up to 15 years.

Critics claim weakness in Illinois plan

Opponents say the Illinois legislation, with its decades-long property tax freeze, would simply mean increased taxes for homeowners and other businesses — the payment in lieu of taxes would be a bonus.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who supports the plan, last week countered that the proposal would encourage development on land that isn’t producing property taxes while ensuring increased revenue for local governments.

Meanwhile, a substantial debt remains on the last accommodation. Taxpayers in 2001 put up $399 million to finance a $587 million renovation of Soldier Field. With interest, the remaining tab is $467 million, according to the state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability.

The Bears’ $7 million annual lease runs through 2033. Breaking it would cost the Bears a $10.5 million penalty for each year left on the agreement.