Stressing the importance of spending targets being delivered in the face of the threat posed by Russia, he said: “Because in the end Putin is not afraid of commitments, he is afraid of (us) implementing those commitments, and that’s exactly what we are doing, Vladimir, we will defend ourselves.”

“No one should say goodbye alone”

A funeral director has called on the local community to attend a funeral service for a West Belfast man who died with no next of kin.

Patrick McNally died peacefully at the Northern Ireland Hospice earlier this week and will be remembered as a “loving son” and “beloved brother”.

Mallon Brothers Funeral Directors took to social media to share the details of Patrick’s celebration of life, asking anyone who may have known him to come and support his final journey.

With no contact with his only surviving sibling, he has no known family to attend his funeral. Patrick’s funeral will take place at St Teresa of Ávila Church, Glen Road on Wednesday, July 1 at 9.50am for Requiem Mass at 10am, followed by burial in Blaris Cemetery.

Mallon Brothers Funeral Directors said: “McNally Patrick, died peacefully at the N.I hospice 22nd June 2026, (late of 306 Glen Road).

“A loving son of the late Mary and John. A beloved brother to Gerard, the late John-Joseph and Bridget, Uncle, Cousin and friend, RIP. Funeral arrangements to follow. St Pio, pray for him.

“Sadly, Patrick leaves behind no close family. His only surviving brother has not been in contact with him for more than 50 years, and there is no known next of kin.

“As funeral directors, we believe every person deserves to be remembered and every life deserves to be honored.”

They have shared a “heartfelt invitation” to the people of Patrick’s native West Belfast to give him a “farewell he deserves”.

They continued: “If you knew Patrick at any stage of his life, were a neighbor, friend, colleague, acquaintance, or even if you simply wish to stand alongside others in an act of kindness and respect, we welcome you to join us.

“Your presence, no matter how brief, would help ensure Patrick is remembered and that his final journey is marked with dignity, companionship, and care.

“Together, we can give Patrick a fitting send-off and show that every life matters, and every person leaves a place in the world.

“No one should say goodbye alone.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

NEW YORK (AP) — David Clayton-Thomas, the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose husky, high-strung tenor on “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die” and other hits helped make the so-called brass rock band among the most popular acts of the late 1960s, has died at age 84.

Spokesperson Eric Alper said that Clayton-Thomas died “peacefully” Wednesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. Alper did not cite a specific cause.

Clayton-Thomas was a onetime street fighter and petty thief from Canada who briefly became a rock superstar, the front man of a nine-member group that sold millions of records and won two Grammys for “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” which beat out the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” for best album of 1969. Calling out amid a jazzy parade of horns, keyboards and percussion, Clayton-Thomas’ urgent shout was a signature voice of the era, preaching love on the Motown cover “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” a lasting legacy on Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die” and a cool head on his own “Spinning Wheel.” Meanwhile, Blood, Sweat & Tears helped inspire a wave of horn-led bands, among them Chicago, the Electric Flag and Ten Wheel Drive.

“A lot of the guys (in Blood, Sweat & Tears) would play a Broadway show matinee, then go up to Harlem and play Latin music or R&B and funk at night, or come down to the Village and play pure jazz the next night,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com in 2023. “I was just a blues player: give me three chords and I’ve got a song.”

At its peak, Blood, Sweat & Tears’ appeal was so broad it helped lead to the band’s downfall.

Hip enough to perform at the 1969 Woodstock festival, where they were among the highest paid acts, they also were known enough to the establishment to tour Eastern Europe the following year on behalf of the State Department. When Clayton-Thomas and other band members denounced the Communist regimes on the other side of the Cold War, Rolling Stone’s David Felton wrote that “the State Department got its money worth.” Yippies would turn up at a 1970 Blood, Sweat & Tears show at Madison Square Garden, carrying obscene banners outside and dumping manure by the front gate.

The band had practical reasons for going along with the government: Clayton-Thomas, who had allegedly wielded a gun at his girlfriend, had been denied a green card and faced deportation. But after topping the charts in 1970 with the album “Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,” their appeal soon faded. A burned out Clayton-Thomas left the group in 1972, and neither he nor the remaining musicians ever regained their old stature. Blood, Sweat & Tears would continue recording over the next few years, and even briefly reunited with Clayton-Thomas, who went on to release more than a dozen solo albums and tour on his own for decades.

Clayton-Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1996. “Spinning Wheel,” covered by everyone from James Brown to TV star Barbara Eden, was voted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame a decade later.

Clayton-Thomas is survived by his daughters, Ashleigh Clayton-Thomas and Christine Graham.

Up from the streets

Born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, and raised near Toronto and Ottawa, he was the son of a Canadian World War II veteran and of a pianist-entertainer who helped inspire her son’s interest in music. Thomsett was lucky to have the chance. He fought violently with his father, was living in the streets by his mid-teens and by age 20 was serving time in a reformatory for vagrancy, assault and other crimes.

An old guitar, left behind by a fellow inmate, changed his life. He taught himself to play and began spending extensive time in the early 1960s around Toronto’s Yonge Street music “strip,” where peers included the American rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, a mentor to Robbie Robertson and other future members of the Band and a guide for Thomsett early in his career.

Anxious to reinvent himself, he changed his last name to Clayton-Thomas while leading his own groups. In the mid-60s, he released such albums as “Sings Like It Is” and had a hit single with the anti-war rocker “Brainwashed.” He would also befriend a rising star, Joni Mitchell, whose childlike “Circle Game” helped inspire “Spinning Wheel,” and the venerable John Lee Hooker, who would indirectly contribute to Clayton-Thomas’ breakthrough in the U.S.

America beckons

Hooker had encouraged Clayton-Thomas to move to New York, where the American bluesman had an engagement at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village. When Hooker unexpectedly departed for a tour of Europe, club owner Howard Solomon needed a replacement and recruited Clayton-Thomas.

“So I played him a couple songs on the guitar,” Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. “He said, ‘Do you have a band?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and went out into Greenwich Village looking for anybody carrying a guitar case or even looking like a musician, and we put together a little band and we opened there that night. We ended up staying there for several months.”

Around the same time, session man-producer Al Kooper was looking to form a jazz-rock group and was joined by such musicians as guitarist Steve Katz, drummer Bobby Colomby and horn players Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss. They called themselves Blood, Sweat & Tears, releasing the debut album “Child Is Father to the Man” early in 1968. Although praised by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner as “a fine, exemplary group,” members were torn between those allied with Kooper and those who thought his vocals too weak to attract a substantial audience.

By the end of the year, Kooper and others had departed, and the band was seeking a new singer. After Judy Collins saw Clayton-Thomas perform, she recommended him to Colomby.

“I got home and just a couple of days later, Bobby Colomby called me up and said, ‘Hey, Kooper’s gone. We got four guys left out of the nine. And we still got a record contract with Columbia. Do you want to come down and try out for the band?”’ Clayton-Thomas told bestclassicbands.com. ”I said, ‘You’re damn right.’ I knew (bassist) Jim Fielder real well and I knew they were superb musicians. So I was on the next plane. We had a rehearsal that afternoon, an audition, and it was instant magic. We just knew right off the bat.”

Man City, who beat off competition from cross-town rivals Manchester United to sign Anderson, remain without a confirmed managerial appointment after Pep Guardiola’s departure, with pre-season due to get underway in the coming weeks. They are, however, expected to appoint ex-Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.

Sheryl Price, 45, was charged with 14 counts of ill-treating or wilfully neglecting an individual while a care worker at the Edenfield Centre, Prestwich, between May and June 2022.

Support worker Price was charged alongside nurse Sara Coleman, 43, from Stretford, as part of a police investigation into the Bury New Road-based mental health hospital.

Both women appeared before Judge Maurice Greene at Minshull Street Crown Court this week for a brief further case management hearing.

The two women appeared before Minshull Street Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

The hearing mainly discussed administrative matters which cannot be reported at this stage.

A spokesperson for the courts and tribunal service confirmed that Price, of Eldergreen Close, Daubhill, denied all charges against her and is set to face a trial.

Price was charged with committing the offences against four different people.

But Coleman, of Mitford Street, Stretford, confessed to four counts of ill-treatment or neglect, committed in May 2022.

Both women had been charged last November in connection with a police investigation into the Edenfield Centre.

They each made their first appearance at Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court in March of this year, during which no pleas were entered.

Judge Greene granted both women bail ahead of another further case management hearing on December 4 this year.

Coleman is expected to be sentenced after Price’s trial, which is expected to be set at a later date, concludes.

Speaking when the two women were charged, Detective Inspector Julie Adams from Greater Manchester Police’s Bury district said: “Since 2022, we have been actively investigating several allegations relating to the the Edenfield Centre, following a period of undercover filing at the mental health unit.

“We have now charged two suspects in relation to this, and they will appear at Court in the new year.

“Since this incident was brought to our attention, we have been working with partner agencies to ensure that patients were safeguarded and to investigate criminality.

“Anyone who has concerns about care they or a loved one has received should contact us or Crimestoppers.”

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday asked the U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog to investigate a whistleblower’s claims that DEA agents permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico.

The request came days after an Associated Press investigation found agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — major shipments of the synthetic opioid in a bid to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.

In a letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Justice Department’s Inspector General, DEA administrator Terry Cole wrote that an internal probe was necessary because “the allegations have generated significant public attention and have raised questions regarding DEA’s operational decisions, supervisory oversight, and response to concerns.”

Cole wrote in a public statement that his request “should not be interpreted as reflecting any lack of confidence in the professionalism or integrity of DEA personnel or in the investigative decisions made during this matter.”

“If improvements are identified, DEA will implement them,” he added. “Strong institutions are sustained — not diminished — by objective oversight and a willingness to continuously assess and improve.”

Current and former DEA agents told the AP the investigative strategy — known as letting the counterfeit painkillers “walk” — amounted to a gamble with public safety in a state ravaged by the fentanyl epidemic and may have violated Justice Department rules intended to safeguard communities from a drug the White House last year designated as a “ weapon of mass destruction.”

The AP investigation cited three current and former agents and government records, including an internal report of a 2023 delivery of 74,000 pills the DEA watched happen at a mobile home park in Albuquerque. One of those agents, David Howell, first raised serious concerns about this strategy in a 2023 whistleblower complaint. He continued to raise his objections internally and spoke at length with the AP about what he described as a strategy that “poisoned our community to make cases.”

In an earlier statement to AP, a DEA spokesperson said “public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts.”

The DEA’s request for the watchdog investigation came just a day after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asked the state’s attorney general to examine whether the agency’s actions violated New Mexico law, an extraordinary challenge to a federal law enforcement agency at a time when fentanyl remains one of the country’s deadliest public health threats.

“There are no words to describe how reckless and dangerous these decisions were,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Make no mistake: the DEA knew people would die if these pills made it into New Mexico communities, and the agency let it happen anyway.”

The Justice Department said in a statement that it welcomes a partnership with New Mexico leaders to keep the state safe.

“Protecting the public requires more than addressing individual transactions as they occur,” the statement said. “It requires identifying the sources of supply, the individuals directing criminal activity and the organizations responsible for moving dangerous drugs into our communities.”

Democratic lawmakers in New Mexico, meanwhile, sent Cole a letter asking for a briefing on the DEA’s tactics in the state.

“New Mexicans are paying the price for a fentanyl epidemic that is tearing families apart and deserve answers,” U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said in a statement. “At a time when overdose deaths continue to devastate our state and communities, the DEA should be focused on stopping these drugs before they reach our streets — period.”

___

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

A significant police presence is in Syston, Leicestershire, today after a teenage boy is understood to have entered a lake

Emergency services have been dispatched to a lake in Syston, Leicestershire, following reports that a teenage boy entered the water. Three police cars were seen near Syston Sailing Club, with several officers stationed close to the club’s entrance.

Three search teams are understood to have been mobilised to the location, with police officers entering the water shortly after 6.15pm on Thursday (June 25).

Leicestershire Live has reported an ambulance was also present at the scene. The search is expected to continue “for some time” with police support teams now in attendance.

Images circulating online appear to show search and rescue personnel examining the perimeter of the lake. Officers can be observed using a pole from one of the boats to inspect the lake bed.

A Leicestershire Police spokesman said: “Emergency services are currently carrying out searches in Syston to locate a teenage boy who was reported to have entered a lake.”

“Police were called to Meynell Lake, in Fosse Way just after 1.30pm today (Thursday 25 June).

“Officers are currently in attendance with colleagues from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. Searches are being carried out to locate the boy and officers are in contact with his next of kin.”

This incident occurs as Syston faces an amber weather warning for extreme heat. The Met Office indicates temperatures are anticipated to surpass 30C across many locations, with the warmest areas potentially hitting 38C.

Met Éireann has issued a yellow weather warning for elevated temperatures across Ireland. Numerous counties are anticipated to hit peaks of 27C, while overnight temperatures are forecast to drop no lower than 15C.

The forecaster has even issued a rare red warning for parts of the Midlands and south of England. A spokesman said: “During the heatwave expected to affect a large part of England and Wales this week, the highlighted area now looks increasingly likely to see a two to three day period where maximum temperatures in the shade exceed 37 Celsius, perhaps rising to 38 to 40 Celsius in some places.

“The heat will be accompanied by high humidity, exacerbating the potential for discomfort and health impacts, with very warm and humid night times also reducing the ability for people to recover overnight.”

Ensure our latest stories always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

The Friday letters page is still upset that GTA 6 doesn’t have a proper physical edition, as a reader names Metaphor: ReFantazio as his favourite JRPG ever.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Price shock
So Rockstar Games has officially confirmed that GTA 6 will be digital-only and there will be no physical copy. Adding to this we have learned that certain businesses and an apartment will only be available in the Ultimate Edition, meaning that if you wish to enjoy owning those you will have to pay extra from the standard version to get these.

That’s bad news for GTA fans and quite frustrating and disappointing. Regardless, GTA 6 should be one hell of a game. I will be buying GTA 6, of course, but the price for the Ultimate Edition from the Standard Edition might shock fans.
gaz be rotten (gamertag)

GC: Will it? Earlier in the week people were bracing themselves for the standard version costing £100. Not even the Ultimate Edition is that much.

Not over the moon
Well, I’ve pre-ordered GTA 6: Ultimate Edition and I know I’m getting it and I don’t think both prices are bad. I went for the £89.99 one because how often does GTA come out? About every 13 years, so though I’d loosen the wallet a bit the only thing that worries me is in the details.

It says single-player only and I’m just hoping that doesn’t mean online is another charge. After all, this is Rockstar Games. If online is included I’ll be over the moon. At the moment, I’m just excited. Well, I was till I saw it is 147 days till download day.
David

Breaking the interweb
Why is no one talking about the fact that GTA 6 is potentially going to be really hard or impossible to download for a large proportion of people? Due to the ridiculously high demand everything is going to crash or slow down to a crawl. I don’t really know how it all works on a technical level, but this is going to be a huge (200GB+ ?) download which millions of people are going to simultaneously be trying to complete.

This problem will be exacerbated now that we know there’s no physical copy to get a few GB off a disc, to reduce the amount needed from download. Pessimistically I’m not expecting to be able to easily download and play this game until the new year at the earliest. I realise I’ve said ‘download’ a lot in this message. I’m really looking forward to playing GTA 6, but I just think it’s going to be a real struggle.
Alex

GC: We talked about it today, but you’re right. And 200GB is probably a conservative estimate, even without including the online stuff.

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Downloads in disguise
I bought the disc drive version of the PlayStation 5 specifically to avoid massive downloads, so the news that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be download-only is annoying, but I won’t boycott it. One major concern lurks in the back of my mind. Can the servers handle the traffic when millions of people try to download such a highly anticipated game at the same time?

Apparently, this isn’t much of an issue these days, due to various strategic measures, put in place for big game releases, but with the internet connection that I presently have downloading the game might take ages.

The price of the standard edition isn’t so bad, but I do think having a physical edition that’s just an empty box with a code inside it is fundamentally rubbish. This option feels like an insult to customers who prefer physical media. Better not to even offer a boxed edition if it’s just a download in disguise, if you ask me.
Michael Veal (@msv858)

World’s worst console
I’ve been watching a few Atari Jaguar software and hardware videos on YouTube recently and goodness gracious me, no wonder the console failed so miserably. Pretty much every game I saw footage of looked absolutely atrocious. Even the supposedly good-at-the-time Alien Vs Predator appeared to have a frame rate which made N64 GoldenEye 007 look like 60fps.

Some beat ‘em-up called Ultra Vortex had to take the crown as the worst game though, it looked absolutely bloody atrocious. I’d be interested to know if any older GC viewers purchased a Jaguar back in the day and what their general impressions were and if they ended up selling the console on the cheap once the game releases dried up… which didn’t take long!
Arteta6Legend

GC: Tempest 2000 was great but yeah, it was pretty terrible otherwise.

Game of the times
I don’t write in as much anymore but as always thanks for all your great coverage and reviews. I just spent the last three months plus playing Metaphor: ReFantazio and I think it’s the best Japanese role-player ever! The story is absolutely superb and really meaningful, both for me personally and for the state of the world. Overcoming our anxieties and daring to dream of a better future is something we should all be striving for.

The voice acting is brilliant, with Heismay and the Liverpudlian Basilio particular standouts, offering some wonderful delivery. The fighting system never got old either, with quick satisfying combat which always challenged you without forcing you to grind. I actually prefer the game to Persona 5 and loved the fact that everything was achievable in one playthrough. Thanks very much to Studio Zero for making such a delightful experience!
Ryan O’D

Bottom 200
Just checking the top 200 USA N64 games list; couldn’t see Space Station Silicon Valley or Rocket: Robot On Wheels. Were they not released in the USA?

Maybe they are there and I’m not seeing them.
Tony Welch

GC: They were both released in the US but neither of them sold very well.

Progress barred
RE: GTA 6. I’ll be honest and say I’m not overly interested in the game, but it is one of those things where closer to the time I would probably be swept up in the hype and might pick it up. The fact it is download-only means I won’t bother now.

My internet isn’t overly fast, so the thought of downloading a 100+ GB game (I hate to think how big it will be) means I’ll never bother. I like buying physical so that I actually own the things I buy. Unfortunately, GTA 6 will be a massive hit, so will make the transition to digital only happen even faster and as others have said, I doubt the PlayStation 6 will even have a disc drive.

I have enough games in my backlog that I could never buy a new game again and I’d be fine, but I will miss the excitement of looking forward to a new release. Progress always means a more rubbish experience for normal people and more money for corporations.
Simon

Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source

As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.

Click the button below and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

Add us as a Preferred Source

Advertisement

GTA Online too
Not overly disappointed about the GTA 6 news, not because I only care about single-player, but because it’s going exactly as expected, and the disappointment has long passed.

I feel like all the clues and info we have had previously alludes to the single-player mode or ‘experience’. There’s been no mention at all about online, or even co-op, which is surely a missed opportunity for a two-protagonist game.

It’s looking more and more like it will follow and play similarly to Red Dead Redemption 2. A very linear game, disguised as open world, the mention of ‘chapter timed content’ confirms the chapter sequences, similar to Red Dead. But also from the trailer there is a lot of running involved, so fully expecting a similar story too, in terms of running from one side of the map on the lam for the majority of the story.

None of this has come from leaks, as I’ve stayed well clear of those and just purely a prediction. I loved Red Dead Redemption 1, but felt 2 was a slog and bore to finish. Hopefully I’m wrong on GTA as it’s my favourite franchise, but my expectations remain low and anything extra is a bonus.

Which brings me on to GTA Online. I played GTA 5 online quite a lot when it was new, but over time stopped. Early doors they hinted at Liberty City being an additional map, which never came through, which makes me think GTA Online will remain as it is and Vice City may become a downloadable map expansion. Possibly free or discounted for owners of GTA 6 (may also be why there’s no disc version, so they can see easily who still owns the game) and likely chargeable to non-GTA 6 owners.

How it runs, is anyone’s guess. Will vehicles and money transfer from map to map or will it be a fresh start when you go to Vice City, but having the option to seamlessly load into Los Santos with your existing assets? I’d guess the latter, I mean they’re not gonna fully ignore the map for online usage, right?
Beems

GC: There haven’t really been any substantial leaks about the gameplay or story.

Inbox also-rans
I was wondering if it would be ok to add this link to the Games Inbox for the Kickstarter I’m involved in? As we’re close to the end of our campaign, I was hoping it could be worth asking for a final boost.
Jamie

Is GTA 6 going to be released in disc version and if so, when?
Coinslot-

GC: There’s a rumour it will in December, but it is only a rumour.

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will you boycott GTA 6 for being digital-only?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Sonic the Hedgehog cooler than Super Mario?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is the Valve Steam Machine worth it?

The DWP is sending debt recovery letters this week to former benefit claimants, as new enforcement powers come into force including the potential suspension of driving licences for those who owe at least £1,000 and refuse to repay.

The Department for Work and Pensions has been granted fresh powers to impose sanctions on individuals who have ceased claiming benefits but remain in debt to the department. From now on, the DWP will be authorised to recover funds directly from bank accounts and, in severe instances, can request a court to revoke offenders’ driving licences.

The updated regulations are designed to target fraudsters and debtors who “refuse to pay” their outstanding debts to the DWP. Individuals who may be impacted by these measures should begin receiving correspondence this week, urging them to “get in touch and pay up”.

Work and Pensions Minister for Transformation Andrew Western said: “Hardworking taxpayers deserve a system that pursues those who deliberately dodge their debts, and that is exactly what these new powers deliver. To anyone with an outstanding debt – our door is open and DWP will always work with you to find an affordable way to repay.

“But for those who can pay and won’t – we’re going further than ever before to claw back cash and crack down on fraud.”

The DWP’s complete range of new powers will be progressively introduced from October, allowing those who owe the Department merely four months to settle their debts or establish an affordable repayment arrangement before this cut-off point. Anyone receiving these letters is strongly advised to respond without delay, with official guidance indicating that individuals can prevent the full implementation of these new powers by simply contacting the DWP, reports the Mirror.

The department also notes that staff are able to signpost people to free debt support services where necessary. Those who owe money to the DWP and currently receive benefits will typically repay these debts via deductions from their future payments.

However, when individuals continue repaying these debts but cease claiming benefits, it becomes increasingly difficult for the DWP to recoup the outstanding funds. The driving ban can only be imposed on those who owe the DWP a minimum of £1,000 and have no essential requirement for their licence — for instance, if they rely on their vehicle for work as a courier.

Those facing a ban will initially have their licence suspended only for as long as repayment terms are kept to. Cabinet Office Minister Satvir Kaur said: “Fraud against the public sector and unrecovered debt deny our vital frontline services of the funding they deserve.

“Under these new powers in the PAFER Act, this Government will deliver on its promise to protect hardworking taxpayers and clamp down on those who try to cheat the system.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — A little flick of Gonzalo Plata’s big toe helped Ecuador make a great escape.

Plata poked the ball past Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute and lifted Ecuador to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Germany on Thursday and into the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time since 2006.

“Life is different now. We suffered a lot,” said Plata, a 25-year-old winger who scored his ninth international goal. “We suffered too much in the first two matches. We would have liked to secure qualification much earlier, but now we’re going forward more hungry, knowing we have to give it our all.”

Ecuador, which has lost only one of its last 22 games, finished third in Group E with four points and advanced past the group stage for the second time, headed to a possible matchup with Mexico on Tuesday in Mexico City.

A four-time champion already assured of advancement by winning its first two games, Germany will play its round of 32 game Monday at Foxborough, Massachusetts, most likely against Paraguay, Australia or Sweden.

“On Monday it’s important that we start well,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said through a translator.

Germany’s winning streak was stopped at 11 games, one shy of the team record set in 1979-80.

“The difference was today that the opponent wanted to win more than us, and you could really feel it, especially in the second half,” Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich said.

Germany went ahead on Leroy Sané’s second-minute goal. Aleksandar Pavlović chested the ball and ended up kicking Pedro Vite in the head following Nathaniel Brown’s throw-in, but American referee Tori Penso didn’t whistle a foul. Pavlović passed to Florian Wirtz, who centered to Sané just inside the penalty area to beat goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez.

Nilson Angulo equalized in the ninth minute with Ecuador’s first goal of the tournament following a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast and a 0-0 draw with Curaçao. Felix Nmecha lost the ball in midfield to Vite. The midfielder passed to Angulo, who dribbled toward goal and beat Neuer to the far post from just outside the area.

Penso originally awarded Germany a penalty kick less than 30 seconds into the second half after Joel Ordóñez took down Kai Havertz, but a video review ruled Sané had first fouled Vite.

With the crowd tensing as time ran down, Plata scored after Vite’s corner kick was nodded on by Kevin Rodríguez, who was 6 yards out at the near post. Neuer, the 40-year-old Germany goalkeeper who ended two years of international retirement for the World Cup, was about to grasp the ball when Plata raised his left foot and stabbed it into the net.

Sebastián Beccacece, an Argentine who has coached Ecuador for two years, sprinted to the front of the stands, his shoulder-length blond hair flowing, to hug his wife, Patricia Persson. He had been pilloried after the poor start and paraphrased a lyric from Argentine rock band Los Redondos.

“In loneliness you cannot always listen to what you hear. You just keep pushing forward. You ignite your fire and you continue,” he said.

A crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium was mostly in Ecuador’s yellow. FIFA said it boosted attendance to a record 3,587,539 in the 56th game of the expanded World Cup, one more than the 52 matches for the 1994 tournament in the U.S.

“We felt at home in all these stadiums,” Rodríguez said.

Ecuador had prepared to return to its training camp in Columbus, Ohio, rather than head home to South America.

“They told us: `You will be back here,’” he said. “The staff in the kitchen, in the spa, even the drivers.”

Ecuador isn’t sure of its next opponent or even where the match will be played, so fans can’t lock in travel just yet.

“I hope they brought plenty of clothes in their luggage,” Plata said.

___

This story corrects the name of the Argentine rock band to Los Redondos.

___

AP Sports Writers Eric Núñez and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here