In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.

Coverage of Scotland’s World Cup group opener against Haiti was disrupted on Sunday morning with fans taking to social media to complain in the aftermath

The BBC were forced to apologise for a loss of picture during Scotland’s World Cup opener against Haiti.

Midway through the first-half, viewers lost coverage of the match held in Boston due to a world feed issue with a ‘ESF USD C’ message appearing, which lasted around five seconds.

Though no incidents were missed, the loss of action would have caused distress across Scotland and the rest of the world as the issue was put down to a world feed issue. The problem meant that it wasn’t just viewers in the United Kingdom that saw their coverage halted.

Commentator Liam McLeod said: “Apologies again if there’s a loss of picture, it’s a World Feed problem so everyone suffered it. But you’re back with us now.”

Meanwhile, a message at the top of the screen read: “Sorry for the loss of picture.”

It would have been a heart-in-mouth moment for Tartan Army supporters watching outside the stadium in Massachusetts, having endured a nervy opening exchange with the FIFA-ranked 83rd team in the world.

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The livewire Ben Gannon-Doak saw his effort saved by Johny Placide before Scott McTominay rose highest and headed over from Andy Robertson’s cross.

But the CONCACAF side were no pushovers with Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor proving to be tough to handle for the Scotland backline.

Meanwhile, Louicius Deedson was a tricky prospect for captain Andy Robertson to deal with down the left-hand side.

But by the time the disruption came during the BBC’s coverage, Scotland were one-up thanks to John McGinn.

The 31-year-old was in the right place at the right time to finish after a flowing move from the Scot’s. Ben Gannon-Doak and Che Adams combined, only for Adams to be denied by Placide. However, the save fell as far as McGinn, who fired into the ground and his effort deflected home.

A win for Scotland would see them go top of Group C after the opener after Brazil were held by Morocco in New York.

It was a difficult afternoon for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as their weaknesses were exposed by the hungry and energetic AFCON winners.

The record World Cup-winners fell behind after just 20 minutes when Brahim Diaz carved open the backline with an incisive pass for PSV Eindhoven’s Ismael Saibari. However, their lead was cut-short when Vinicius Jr equalised before the break.

Brazil had the lion’s share of possession in the second-half but almost found themselves on the end of a 2-1 reverse but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker kept them at bay with a double save.

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Hundreds of fans were stuck in queues outside Boston Stadium before kick off.

Scotland fans were heard jeering outside Boston Stadium ahead of the game against Haiti.

The Tartan Army turned up in their droves for the national team’s opening fixture of the World Cup.

However, footage shows hundreds of frustrated punters stuck outside the stadium.

The clip appear to have started around an hour before the game started, with a number of seats still empty inside the stadium.

The video pans around and shows a large number of fans stuck in a queue, which does not appear to be moving.

The clip ends as fed-up fans chant “you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Chaotic scenes marked Scotland’s return to the World Cup as the Tartan Army took over Boston in recent days.

The atmosphere built up throughout today as excited supporters waited for kick off.

Around 250 fans blew off steam by heading off on a three-hour party boat earlier in the day.

The cruise featured an open bar, with fans lining their stomachs with sandwiches before starting on the early lagers at around 11am local time.

A Boston policeman was captured performing a keepy uppy routine in front of the Tartan Army.

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The pubs were swarmed with Scots and sing songs erupted throughout the day.

Around 800 fans booked local school buses to transport them the match and they were seen hanging out of windows singing, “Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio!”

A number of famous face have been spotted in Boston, including John Swinney and actors Richard Gadd, Gerard Butler and Martin Compston.

The First Minister was welcomed by a piper after arriving at a Scottish Night in Boston Dinner and Gala Event at the Royale in the US city.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will appoint one of his personal lawyers to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, filling a pending vacancy after Trump tapped the man currently in the job to be director of national intelligence.

James M. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor in the office he had been picked to run, served as a financial regulator during Trump’s first term and worked in the White House counsel’s office in President George W. Bush’s administration.

A partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald is part of the legal team handling Trump’s pending appeal of felony convictions in New York related to hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels as the Republican ran for president in 2016.

Trump said Saturday he would name McDonald to the role of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most influential positions in the Justice Department. He would replace Jay Clayton, whom Trump put forward this week as his pick for the director of national intelligence.

McDonald’s perch as U.S. attorney would give him oversight of arguably the most prestigious of the Justice Department’s prosecution offices, with a vast portfolio ranging from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.

McDonald was also part of the legal team that last month secured a favorable outcome for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani when the Trump administration Justice Department dropped a fraud and conspiracy case that had been brought under the Biden administration.

McDonald has also served as director of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during Trump’s first term in office and was deputy associate counsel in the White House under Bush.

“I am confident that Jamie will deliver strong results for our Country,” Trump posted Saturday about McDonald on the Truth Social platform.

Nicholas Biase, spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, said it “welcomes the President’s choice to lead the SDNY. Mr. McDonald is widely respected.”

Trump’s announcement on Clayton came as pressure increased from Congress to name a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation as national intelligence director last month. Trump faced intense pushback over his decision to name Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director.

___

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

Menopause is a natural stage of life for women where periods change and eventually stop due to lower hormone levels.

It usually affects women between 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.

According to the NHS, some symptoms of this include weight gain in the stomach and upper body, loss of bone density, muscle aches, joint pains and skin changes.

Melissa Cohen, a nutritionist at Vitabiotics and supplement brand Menopace, has shared that it’s important that women going through menopause focus on specific nutrients in their diet.

This can help support overall well-being as part of a balanced lifestyle.

What nutrients should menopausal women focus on in their diets?

Melissa shared that calcium, vitamin D, protein and fibre are nutrients that can play an important role in a balanced diet during and after menopause.

The focus should be on obtaining these through everyday foods, rather than looking for quick fixes.

She explained: “Bone health is particularly important for women during and after the menopause, as bone mass significantly declines.

“Women should consider prioritising nutrients such as Magnesium, zinc and vitamin D as these nutrients all contribute to the maintenance of normal bones. 

 “Calcium and vitamin D are particularly important during and after menopause, as both contribute to the maintenance of normal bones.

“Good sources include dairy foods, fortified alternatives, tofu, leafy greens and oily fish.

 “Including protein-rich foods such as fish, eggs, dairy, beans, lentils or tofu at each meal can help women meet their daily protein requirements.

“Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass.”

This advice was backed up by Holly Fivian, founder of wellness brand Holsm.

She shared: “Women in midlife need enough protein alongside regular strength training to help protect muscle mass, bone density, metabolism, posture and confidence.

“Fibre is especially important too, [as] it supports gut health, helps keep blood sugar steadier, and plays a role in healthy hormone clearance.”

Dr Louise Newson, GP and leading hormone expert, highlighted the importance of getting enough vitamin D and calcium in particular.

She said: “Calcium and vitamin D are particularly important for bone strength.

“Foods naturally rich in vitamin D include oily fish, such as herring, salmon, sardines and mackerel, as well as egg yolks.

“For calcium, try dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, kefir and cheese, green leafy vegetables, soft fish bones found in tinned fish, dried fruit, pulses and tofu.”

Kathleen Cornmell, a registered nutritionist, also echoed this advice.

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She explained: “Rather than focusing on restrictive diets, I encourage women to prioritise protein, fibre and healthy fats at every meal.

“Protein becomes particularly important during menopause as it helps preserve muscle mass, supports metabolism and can help women feel fuller for longer.

“Colourful vegetables, fruit, herbs and spices also provide important nutrients and fibre to support gut health and overall wellbeing.”

Will you be following this advice going forward for your diet? Let us know in the comments.

A building with potential or two-weeks in the sun?

It could be very easy to miss this former cute chapel and community building as you wander down a dead-end, terraced lined, south Wales valleys street – it’s nestled at the bottom of the tiny road, behind trees and dwarfed by its much bigger chapel neighbour.

A stone-built former chapel cloaked in ivy, situated at the centre of a historic mining community, could be acquired at auction for the cost of a luxury Mediterranean cruise.

Bryn Heulog chapel, with its Welsh slate roof, stands on Ruperra Street in the Gwent valleys village of New Tredegar and is being offered at auction with a price tag of just £5,000. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.

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Olivia Williams, who is managing the sale of the historic building for Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “This substantial stone built former chapel/community building could be a real bargain for an investor or entrepreneur with an eye for a good deal.

“The chapel appears fairly overgrown and neglected from the outside but inside it’s a different matter altogether with a substantial, double-height main space rising to the roof, a corner kitchen and separate toilet facility.

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“Nevertheless, the property will most likely require refurbishment and renovation irrespective of what a new owner plans to do with this lovely former chapel.

“The building has immense character and development potential. It’s situated in the heart of the village of New Tredegar with a glorious backdrop of rolling hills and all the while is close to local shops and amenities.

“This could be a great opportunity for the small investor with imagination. The former chapel could perhaps be converted into a residential home or perhaps for community use, all subject to obtaining the necessary planning consents.”

Another job that the new owner will have to sort in addition to the renovation, and the planning application if required, concerns the neighbouring building and doors.

The auction house states that there is a doorway in the property that will need to be blocked up to separate the property from access into the next door building, and that this will need to be sorted by the new purchaser.

A new owner may want to put aside some of the budget for that Mediterranean cruise as an incentive and a reward because it’s a long renovation list to sort out, but arguably it’s a bargain buy if you can bag it for somewhere near the guide price.

Olivia adds: “The village of New Tredegar is ideally situated close to great road links for Bargoed, Blackwood and to the north the Heads of the Valleys A465 and Parc Bryn Bach with its 340 acres of parkland.”

Rightmove adds, using Land Registry data, house prices in New Tredegar have an overall average of £119,667 over the last year, 12% up on the previous year and 10% up on the 2023 peak of £108,551.

The majority of properties sold in New Tredegar during the last year were terraced properties, selling for an average price of £106,321. Detached properties sold for an average of £306,500.

The chapel, community space or potential first-time buyers abode is going online auction with a guide price of £35,000 with Paul Fosh Auctions, bidding opens at noon on Tuesday, June 23 and ends 2.14pm on Thursday, June 25, call 01633 254044 to find out more.

For more property, renovation, and interior design stories join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here.

Donald Trump said the US is close to signing a deal with Iran to wind down the war, with a memorandum of understanding to be signed in the coming days but there remains plenty of uncertainty over what will happen.

But some of the key objectives Trump laid out for the conflict seem to remain unfulfilled. And while the Trump administration has said its objectives are clear and unchanging, the list has expanded and shifted as the president and his administration have spoken about the war since it started February 28.

All the while, the conflict has battered the global economy, tested alliances and raised unanswered questions about the planning for the conflict, its justification and its aftermath.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the US and Iran have reached a “final, agreed upon text”. He said: “Peace has never been this close as it is now.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday an agreement “has never been closer” in a post on X, which was also shared by Trump.

But, at the same time, no details have been shared and Trump has said multiple times in recent weeks the countries are on the cusp of a deal.

By most accounts, the strikes by the US and Israel have significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities and killed scores of senior leaders. But those tactical successes don’t necessarily translate into achieving all the president’s aims.

And Iranian officials said nuclear details will follow an agreement to end the war despite this having been set out by the US President as his main reason for the conflict.

Councillor says Millisle plan will be “a vast improvement on a rather awful pond arrangement”

A new lagoon park has been approved for a picturesque seaside village on the Ards Peninsula.

Elected representatives at the Ards and North Down Borough Council Planning Committee this week approved the regeneration of Millisle Lagoon Park and Garden, an application by the council itself.

The proposal includes “environmental improvements”, including a repurposing of the disused paddling pool for a new “tiered amenity space,” the provision of new cube-shaped floating pontoons, and new concrete steps to the beach.

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The plan includes new granite planters with timber top seating, six new five-metre lighting columns , two new external shower units with a timber screen, and a portable toilet.

There were no objections from any of the statutory partners. The council officer’s report recommended the plan for approval.

The report states: “The proposal aims to improve the overall aesthetics of an existing tourist amenity by providing improved access to the beach and saltwater lagoon, a landscaped seating area in lieu of a dilapidated concrete paddling area and the provision of shower/WC facilities for users of the site.

“By contributing to the overall improvement of the tourist asset, the development has potential to increase visitor numbers to Millisle, to the tourist offer of the Ards Peninsula and will contribute to the overall economic performance of the borough.”

At the June meeting of the council’s Planning Committee, held this week, elected representatives unanimously approved the planning application.

A council officer told the chamber at the council’s Church Street offices in Newtownards: “This project has been on the go for over three years, and we have worked very closely with the community association. The council gives the regeneration team money to work up projects to have them oven-ready.

“This is one such project, we are hoping when the planning approval is granted, then we will look for the funding to do the actual works. As it stands, there is no funding as yet to start on site.”

Alliance Councillor Patricia Morgan, who proposed approval for the application, said: “It looks like a great proposal, a vast improvement on a rather awful pond arrangement.”

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As Xbox comes under criticism for its new policy on exclusive games, a reader argues that the company’s entire games line-up suffers from a lack of must-have titles.

I do feel bad for new Xbox boss Asha Sharma. Xbox has been mismanaged for over a decade and has become increasingly irrelevant this generation, to the point where I’m not sure it can even be saved anymore. Which is crazy to say about a company that owns Activision Blizzard and Bethesda, and is the pet project of a $3 trillion company. But they’ve made so many mistakes, so often, that they’re basically a laughing stock now. Or at least they would be if anyone thought about them that much.

Unfortunately, I have to think about them because I’m an Xbox Series X and boy do I regret that. Obviously, I could sell it (for pennies) and get a PlayStation 5 instead, but all my games and gaming history are tied up in my Xbox account and the thought of starting again from scratch is kind of nightmarish.

I am not a blind fanboy though. Phil Spencer should’ve been got rid of a decade ago but he was able to hang on for far too long, where at the end you could see it in his eyes that he was beaten down and defeated. I don’t know if it was actually all his fault – maybe he was being stopped from doing anything sensible by his bosses – but I do know that every choice he made somehow made the situation worse.

The problem today is that there’s no reason for any sensible person to buy an Xbox console and for those that already have one, unlike me, are selling up or just giving up. So it doesn’t make sense to have exclusive games anymore, because you can’t make your money back on them. But if you don’t have exclusives there’s even less reason to buy the console and you’re in a Catch-22 situation.

For the last few months Microsoft has been hinting about bringing back exclusives, but because that doesn’t make any sense no one believed them. Then, at the Xbox Game Showcase, they announced that Gears Of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are going to be exclusives, but nothing else is.

They’ve point blank refused to say why those games and not others and then started insisting that they never even planned to release E-Day on PlayStation 5, even though they very clearly did. Why they thought it was important to push that story I don’t know but then there’s not much that does make sense with Xbox nowadays.

It’s all very silly but it is impossible to understand why those games, particularly Gears Of War, considering the remaster of the first game came out on PlayStation 5 last year. Some people, including GC, have suggested that Microsoft think E-Day won’t be a particularly big hit and so it can be sacrificed to please hardcore Xbox fans. I’m not convinced, but I can’t think of any other reason that doesn’t involve just throwing a dart at a dart board.

I definitely don’t think E-Day will do that well on PlayStation 5 and I doubt Halo: Campaign Evolved will either. Maybe it’ll do okay, with PlayStation owners being curious, but the heyday of Halo was 20 years ago and it’s a long time since it’s been a killer app for anything. Maybe Fable will do well next year, if it’s good, but I don’t think it’s particularly likely.

The only game that Xbox has really got is Forza Horizon 6 which did not even get mentioned at all for PlayStation 5 in any of the summer showcases. Of course there’s Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Call Of Duty but Bethesda work at the speed of a crushed snail (and their last game was pretty bad anyway) while Call Of Duty has never been less popular.

So you’ve got the problem that Xbox is a games company where nobody wants to buy their console and only a small percentage of their games are anything anyone cares about. I don’t know how you turn that size of a problem around quickly and I think the fact that you obviously can’t is what Asha Sharma has been trying to tell us this week.

I honestly don’t know if Xbox is going to last this generation and I wouldn’t be surprised if her report to her overlords was that she thought Xbox was beyond broken and might as well just be sold off for parts. And I’m not sure she’d be wrong.

By reader Ashton Marley

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

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In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.