Is the fear of losing, or drawing, turning up the pressure valve on players who will know this season represents their best chance of winning the title to such an extent they are now struggling to close out victories?

It is a highly pressurised environment. This season there are no excuses. It may just be now or never.

Arteta invariably cuts an agitated figure on the sidelines. He recently urged Arsenal‘s fans to “jump on the fun boat”, but does not look as if he is having fun at the moment, even though he is leading a team top of the table and insists “the present is beautiful”.

He says he will be “keeping calm, keeping my eyes open, my ears open, and understanding what the players need to give their best”.

Arteta added: “We have to live the present. What we did in the past is great, but we have to live the present, and the present is beautiful.

“We are exactly where we want to be in every competition. We need to earn it, like we’ve done in the last seven or eight months.”

Getting to this position, and it is a healthy one, is another factor in the equation. Are the physical demands starting to take their toll on players?

Martin Zubimendi, outstanding since his summer move from Real Sociedad, is one such example.

He has seen more Premier League action than any other Arsenal outfield player, figuring in all 27 games with 26 starts, playing 2,270 minutes in his first season in the English top flight.

Eberechi Eze has almost been a bystander in comparison, despite the fanfare that greeted his £60m arrival from Crystal Palace in August, stolen away from Spurs at the 11th hour.

Since scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 win against Spurs in November, Eze has featured in all 15 of Arsenal‘s league games but has made only four starts and played 360 minutes.

The wider questions, however, surround Arsenal‘s temperament to withstand the pressure that is suddenly closing in on them, an ominous reminder of previous failings.

Arsenal are still in a superb position in every competition – positions they would have instantly signed up for in August. And their cause could be helped the return of key duo Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz.

If the Gunners win at Spurs, doubts will be eased, but one thing is beyond question.

This north London derby is now a completely different proposition from a fortnight ago.

WARSAW (AP) — Five European nations have announced a new program to produce low-cost air defense systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise hard-won over the past four years of war against Russia.

Friday’s initiative of the E5 nations — France, Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy — comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defense along their borders, like a “ drone wall ” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is already working with Ukraine on drone technology in joint military training programs and manufacturing projects.

Those efforts were sparked by a spate of incidents in which Europe’s borders and airports have been tested by rogue drones. Russia has been blamed for some of them but denies that anything was done on purpose or that it played a role.

“The UK and our E5 partners are stepping up — investing together in the next generation of air defense and autonomous systems to strengthen NATO’s shield,” said Luke Pollard, Britain’s minister for defense readiness and industry.

“We have some of the best kit on the entire planet for shooting down air threats. The problem is to be effective at shooting down relatively low-cost missiles, drones, and other threats facing us,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re matching the cost of the threats with the cost of defense.”

Poland’s defense minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, said the group of countries signed an agreement to jointly invest in the production and procurement of drone-based strike capabilities as well as cheap drone defense systems in a program called called Low-Cost Effectors and Autonomous Platforms, or LEAP.

“Combat technologies and techniques are changing rapidly — we must respond quickly and appropriately,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said. “We also signed a crucial commitment regarding the joint development of drone-based strike capabilities, low-cost joint production, and joint procurement of drone effectors, i.e, combat payloads, using artificial intelligence.”

When Russian drones entered Polish airspace in September 2025, Warsaw and its NATO allies used multimillion-dollar jets to respond to drones that cost thousands and that ended up crashing into the Polish countryside. Low-cost kinetic or electronic effectors would allow the detection and destruction of drones at a fraction of the price.

Europe has scrambled to arm itself in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s deep criticism of NATO, European defense spending and once iron-clad alliances. The EU has ramped up spending and is openly questioning even deeper military projects.

“Europe’s security is more uncertain than it has been in decades,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, citing Russian aggression, instability in the Middle East, China and a “redefined” alliance with the U.S. She said that the low-cost interceptor program exemplifies the European commitment to its own security.

“If we want to keep our country safe, we must strengthen our hard power. The good news is that we are already investing record sums in defense. Europe is stepping up. but it’s not about competing with NATO. It’s about making Europe stronger within NATO. A stronger Europe makes the alliance also stronger.”

Yet the 32-nation military alliance has been shaken by Trump’s second administration. Most recently, his repeated threats to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and disparaging remarks about his NATO allies’ troops in Afghanistan drew another outcry.

While tensions over Greenland have subsided for now, the infighting has seriously undercut the ability of the world’s biggest security alliance to deter adversaries.

——

McNeil reported from Brussels.

The small talk of a taxi ride is the beating heart of British chit-chat – a soundtrack to thousands of journeys across London and beyond.

On Sunday, a passenger might glance at the driver in the rear view mirror and ask the usual: “Good weekend, mate? Get up to much?”

For 37-year-old Bilal Fawaz, the answer could be a little different than the usual traffic complaints or remarks about the drizzle.

“I became a British champion. And then I drove this Uber,” he plans to say, using the same casual tone he might use to discuss a bottleneck on the North Circular.

But for that conversation to happen, Fawaz must first handle business this Saturday in Nottingham, where he challenges Ishmael Davis for the prestigious British light-middleweight title.

In boxing, the story of the “working-class hero” – the athlete who still clocks in for a nine-to-five – is a great marketing hook. But for Fawaz, there is no romanticism in the grind.

“I’m an Uber driver. I’m a personal trainer. I’m a fitness instructor. And I’m a professional boxer. That’s four jobs,” he tells BBC Sport in fight week.

“I was doing Uber the day I came here. I trained clients before I left London. I pay for the car on a subscription every week and if I don’t work, money goes out and nothing comes in.

“So on Sunday after the fight, when the kids are asleep, I’ll jump in the car, make £70 or £80, park it, sleep, drop them to nursery and train clients again.”

Fawaz is articulate and thoughtful, with a hint of theatrical flair that reflects his time at acting school.

But beneath that poise lie challenges far heavier than night shifts or 10-round fights. His fight began long before Nottingham – a childhood marked by abuse, years in the care system and a life spent proving he belongs.

BBC Sport first told Fawaz’s story in 2018, revisited it in 2022, and yet he remains in limbo as an English champion still without a passport.

Did anyone really need a medieval jousting movie scored to Queen and David Bowie? No. Did millennial audiences in 2001 immediately understand that Brian Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale – out again in cinemas this week – was exactly what they wanted anyway? Absolutely.

Five years after Baz Luhrmann had proved that modern soundtracks could electrify period texts in Romeo + Juliet, Helgeland applied the same logic to tournaments in the Middle Ages, and discovered it worked brilliantly. For this is a film so joyous and free of pretentiousness that questions about historical accuracy splinter on impact.

Part of the film’s pleasure is indeed how gleefully it flaunts every bizarre, wonky anachronism: peasants hammer wooden stands to “We Will Rock You”, courtly balls pivot to Seventies disco, and the whole thing vibrates with a classic-rock swagger that feels bracingly alive. Heartwarming, too. Tingeing it all with bittersweetness, of course, is Heath Ledger’s wonderful lead performance, shot seven years before his death in 2008. The film preserves his beauty in permanent youth.

In many ways, A Knight’s Tale is a time capsule from a very specific cultural moment. The story of a peasant squire who seizes his destiny landed at a point when Pop Idol had reduced stardom to a phone-in vote and the right sob story; when The Strokes had every alternative kid in drainpipe Levi’s and battered Converse thinking they could transform themselves through nonchalance and the correct haircut.

What the film instinctively gets – and what millennials understood right back – is that reinvention isn’t about lying. It’s about performing a role so completely that the performance becomes the reality. William Thatcher doesn’t pretend to be a knight; he decides he is one, then commits. Beneath that surfer hair, he moves like nobility and talks the same way.

Confidence becomes truth – it’s the same logic that powers Gatsby’s rebranding, Don Draper’s assumed identity in Mad Men, and Julien Sorel’s social climbing in The Red and the Black. Helgeland applies it to the stratified ranks of 14th-century feudalism, and makes anything seem possible. If a peasant can become a knight through self-belief, why can’t a medieval movie have a soundtrack with synthesisers and guitar riffs?

Ledger and Paul Bettany are the film’s twin engines, both operating at maximum charisma. Ledger plays William with courtly grace despite the beach-blond tangles, spouting lines like “Perhaps angels have no names, only beautiful faces” as if Jocelyn’s reaction is the only thing in the world that matters.

Ah yes, Jocelyn. Played by Shannyn Sossamon – whom the casting director, Francine Maisler, discovered DJing Gwyneth Paltrow’s birthday party – she’s the hipster pinup with whom William is smitten. Watch Ledger’s face light up around Sossamon, around his co-stars, around the audacious silliness of it all. Bettany’s Chaucer – first appearing naked, trudging through the countryside having gambled away his clothes – struts through the film like he’s already famous, a braggadocious raconteur with mischief in his eyes.

Before his first joust, Chaucer promises William: “I got their attention, you go win their hearts.” If the baroque pre-tournament hype handles the attention-getting, the “Golden Years” scene is where the film ignites. At a formal ball, William is asked to demonstrate how nobles dance in Gelderland, his invented homeland. What starts as courtly footwork suddenly shifts when Bowie’s melody kicks in and the room turns into a swirling medieval rave. The young lovers start bouncing and flailing, while Rufus Sewell’s deliciously villainous Count Adhemar glowers from the sidelines.

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It will remind you of the prom scene from another millennial coming-of-age classic, 1999’s She’s All That, only in doublets and wimples. One reviewer admitted to leaving the film “with a great big grin” on their face, and that’s the alchemy of A Knight’s Tale. It bypasses any critical faculties, heading straight for the pleasure centres where sincerity and silliness become entwined.

Roger Ebert, the celebrated film critic, called it “whimsical, silly and romantic”, noting that it reminded him “of the days before films got so cynical and unrelentingly violent”. The cast back this up: Mark Addy’s Roland makes tunics from tents, Alan Tudyk’s Wat promises to “fong” his enemies, Laura Fraser’s Kate stamps her armour with a Nike swoosh. In one scene, they assemble a love letter together from the wreckage of their broken hearts, and somehow it doesn’t feel sickly sweet.

Weighed and measured, this is a movie that runs on innocence and uncut charm. Like its star, it will forever radiate warmth.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street kept calm Friday after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which had triggered panic in financial markets when announced last year, and stocks ticked higher.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7%. It had been flipping between small gains and losses before the court’s ruling, following discouraging reports showing slowing growth for the U.S. economy and faster inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 230 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.9%.

Many on Wall Street were likely expecting such a ruling from the Supreme Court, according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. That likely led to the relatively muted reactions across financial markets, and trading remained tentative as investors tried to suss out the long-term effects.

Tariffs also aren’t going away, even with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Trump in the afternoon said he would use other avenues to put taxes on imports from other countries after calling the court’s decision terrible.

“Just so you understand, we have tariffs, we just have them in a different way,” Trump told reporters in an afternoon briefing. He said he would sign an executive order to impose a 10% global tariff under a law that could limit it to 150 days. The president also said he’s exploring other tariffs through other avenues, ones that would require an investigation through the Commerce Department.

“During that period of about five months, we are doing the various investigations necessary to put fair tariffs – or tariffs, period – on other countries,” Trump said.

Earlier in his comments, Trump said that the Supreme Court’s ruling had other countries “dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long.”

Among the tentative moves across markets, Treasury yields edged a bit higher in the bond market.

If investors thought the tariff ruling would improve inflation significantly, it could have sent yields lower. On the other hand, if investors were worried about the U.S. government’s debt rising faster in the future because of the loss of revenue from tariffs, long-term yields could have jumped. For now, at least, yields held relatively steady.

The stock price of Ralph Lauren, meanwhile, rushed from an early loss to a gain of 3.3% after investors learned of the Supreme Court’s ruling. But it quickly flipped back to a loss before finishing with a rise of 2.2%. During April last year, the stock had dropped nearly 23% in four days after Trump announced his tariffs because of worries about how they would hurt its profits.

In other markets, gold’s price slumped briefly after the ruling and then erased the loss. Stock indexes in Europe added to their gains from earlier in the day, while the U.S. dollar’s value edged down against other currencies.

Heading into the day, the main event for markets had seemed to be discouraging reports showing slowing U.S. economic growth and accelerating inflation. They found a relatively muted response from investors.

While the reports underscore the tricky situation the Federal Reserve faces as it sets interest rates, they did not change traders’ expectations much for what the Fed will ultimately do. Traders are still betting that the Fed will lower rates at least twice this year, according to data from CME Group. Some shifted bets for the timing of when the cuts could begin to slightly later in the summer.

Lower interest rates would give the economy and investment prices a boost, but they also risk worsening inflation. Fed officials said at their last meeting that they want to see inflation fall further before they would support cutting rates further.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.08%, where it was late Thursday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, inched up to 3.48% from 3.47%.

On Wall Street, Akamai Technologies dropped 14.1% for one of the market’s sharpest losses. The cybersecurity and cloud computing company reported stronger results for the end of 2025 than analysts expected, but it gave a profit forecast for the upcoming year that fell short of estimates.

Akamai plans to spend a bigger percentage of its revenue this upcoming year on equipment and other investments. It’s the latest potential indicator of how shortages of computer memory created by the AI boom are affecting customers throughout the economy.

On the winning side of the market was Comfort Systems, which rose 6.5% after the provider of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electrical services reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Brian Lane said his company is seeing “unprecedented demand.”

Al told, the S&P 500 rose 47.62 points to 6,909.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 230.81 to 49,625.97, and the Nasdaq composite rose 203.34 to 22,886.07.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a more mixed finish in Asia.

The Hang Seng fell 1.1%, but South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.3% to a record, led by major defense contractors like Hanwha Aerospace. The company is one of many benefiting from a ramp up in military spending in many countries.

___

AP Writers Matt Ott, Elaine Kurtenbach and Seung Min Kim contributed.

Kane Drummond, 25, was originally given a suspended sentence for a brutal attack outside a takeaway

An Oldham Athletic player who was given a second chance following a savage assault on a man during a night out has failed to comply with any of his court-ordered appointments. Kane Drummond, 25, received a suspended sentence after punching, kicking and stamping on his victim outside a Liverpool city centre takeaway.

The attack took place on December 12, 2022, outside Pizza King on Berry Street. Oldham Athletic forward Drummond and two of his former teammates, Leon Arnasalam and Rio Merrifield, became embroiled in a dispute with victim Shayan Lawrence after Merrifield “made a joke about one of the defendants scratching his car”.

The altercation escalated as Drummond, Arnasalam and Merrifield were caught on CCTV repeatedly striking Mr Lawrence as he lay defenceless on the ground. The victim sustained a fractured spine as a result of the attack.

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All three defendants pleaded guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm at Liverpool Crown Court in May last year. Drummond, of Mozart Street in Toxteth, was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, and instructed to complete 200 hours of unpaid work alongside a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.

He returned to court on February 19, where he admitted violating the conditions of his suspended sentence by failing to attend unpaid work appointments, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Prosecutor Olivia Bell said: “The defendant failed to attend his first appointment for unpaid work in November, and a subsequent appointment in December.

“This defendant has not attended any unpaid work sessions. Since January, he has failed to attend six unpaid work appointments. He’s also attended no further supervision appointments. No further rehabilitation activity days have been completed – 20 remain outstanding.

“Notwithstanding this is a defendant who has shown persistent, wilful noncompliance with this order, probation has taken the view that they would be willing to work with with the defendant, as a degree of flexibility has been afforded to the defendant as I understand he’s a professional footballer and has a baby on the way.”

Paul Becker, defending, said Drummond, a Liverpool FC academy graduate, formerly played for Warrington and Macclesfield, and was now a striker for Oldham Athletic.

He said: “He understands that his commitments to his football club are no excuse as to why he’s not complying with the orders of the court. His concern was that if he failed to attend training, he would be in trouble with the club, he would be dropped from the team, and he wouldn’t be able to play.

“I have explained that’s all well and good, but if he doesn’t attend the appointments and is now in breach of the suspended sentence order, then he goes to jail. So if he didn’t understand the seriousness of the order, he does now.”

He added: “The defendant appreciates now that he needs to take this court order seriously. I have also instructed him that he needs to explain this to the club.

“I ask you to give him a further chance. The offence itself goes back to 2022 and he’s lightly convicted. I submit there’s a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. He’s a family man, he has a professional job and I would ask Your Honour to give him a further opportunity.”

Her Honour Judge O’Brien said “I have to say it’s not a good start”, but agreed to adjourn the case until April 15 “to see what the defendant has done” by then.

Mr Becker said Drummond “may well be spending the summer break in jail” if he continued to fail to attend his appointments.

Addressing Drummond, Judge O’Brien said: “You need to do the unpaid work in the meantime. It’s not for probation to be chasing around after you, trying to get you to do something the court has ordered you to do.

“You need to do the work and demonstrate you’re able to comply with the order, or the starting point is that the sentence is activated and you will be sent to prison.”

Following the court’s decision, Drummond was seen running out of court with his jacket over his head.

A self-confessed ‘cheapskate’ has shared how she keeps costs down while doing her weekly shop for her family of four. People shared their own money-saving tips.

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We’re all looking for ways to cut costs on our everyday necessities. A woman has wowed her social media followers by demonstrating how she managed to buy a week’s worth of food for her family of four at an astonishingly low price.

Known as frugal866 on TikTok, where she boasts more than 31,000 followers, the woman frequently shares tips on saving money. She recently posted a video of herself doing her usual weekly shop at a branch of Asda, showing how she keeps her costs low.

She kept her bill down by opting for the least expensive items and scouring the reduced section. All the products she chose were from Asda’s budget Just Essentials range, including several items that could be used to prepare multiple meals.

Here’s what she purchased:

• Stick of garlic bread
• Cheese and tomato snack pizza
• 15 cheesy slices
• Six scotch pancakes from the reduced section
• Pasta shapes
• Mild curry sauce
• Tomato ketchup
• Tomato soup 55p
• Tuna chunks in brine
• Four packets of chicken flavour instant noodles
• A bag of bananas
• New potatoes
• Carton of skimmed long life milk
• Two meat and potato pies
• 20 frozen sausages
• Self-raising flour
• Peach slices

While selecting her groceries, she shared some advice. When picking up a carton of milk, she said: “Never buy fresh milk, always long life because it lasts, and lasts for ages.”

And while grabbing a bag of flour, she remarked: “So, I never buy cakes, I always buy flour to make my cakes myself. So much cheaper that way.”

She concluded by showcasing her entire shopping haul, which included some items she hadn’t shown herself selecting, such as a loaf of bread with a reduced sticker on it, and a tin of baked beans. When asked about the total cost, she revealed it had come to just £33, reports the Mirror.

People shared their own cost-cutting advice in the comments. One person commented: “A lot of things that are packaged as yellow label are probably the same as the other stuff they sell at higher prices. Supermarkets have been doing this for years. A friend worked at a chicken factory and the same chickens went to cheaper shops and some to the expensive shops.”

In response, another user agreed: “Absolutely right! I worked at a cheese factory years ago and it was all the same cheese just different prices for different shops!!!”

Another person suggested: “Places like Aldi do the super 5. I would plan what you want to eat throughout the week… then work backwards… I was in Aldi this week and actually some of their own products are more expensive than brand. Go to Waitrose and M&S, their yellow sticker stuff is really good and the products have less preservatives in them – I don’t begrudge people buying these products like pasta etc… but the pre-made sauces are nasty.”

A different commenter offered: “Tomato soup, garlic and a dash of cream cheese makes a good cheap skate pasta sauce.”

And another added: “It’s not being a cheapskate, it’s called survival in 2026.”

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Together, the pair have hosted shows since 2002 and have come a long way since their start in Byker Grove in 1989. 

Since making the move from acting to hosting, Ant and Dec have gone on to present Britain’s Got Talent, Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m a Celebrity.

With an impressive catalogue of shows and productions (and music) under their belts, it’s not surprising that Ant and Dec have made a fortune.

How much are Ant and Dec worth?

It is believed that the presenting duo are worth around £62 million each.

According to The Sun, Ant and Dec signed a £40 million three-year deal with ITV in 2022.

The deal includes presenting family favourites like Britain’s Got Talent, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! and Saturday Night Takeaway.

This deal was expected to be worth £50 million but the exact amount is unknown.

How did Ant and Dec make their fortune?

The Newcastle presenters got their start as actors in the CBBC kids series Byker Grove in the 1980s.

Following the show, they became pop musicians under the same names as their TV characters in the series – PJ and Duncan.

Together, they have 43 National Television Awards and 18 Bafta Television Awards across their careers.

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Ant and Dec are also reported to have invested a lot in property and are thought to own houses worth around £10 million.

They also own a production company together called Mitre and Hurley, which is a promotions firm named after Ant’s dog.

The pair also have their own production companies, with Ant’s being called Teecourt and Dec’s called Deecourt.