The Champions League has reached the moment when the most coveted title will be decided, with the gap between dream and reality narrowing in a final that holds the hope of a first title for Arsenal, or a second in a row for Paris Saint-Germain.

In London, Arsenal wrote a new chapter in their season after securing their place in the final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Atlético Madrid on a raucous night at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners’ return to the final comes for only the second time in their history, following their 2006 final defeat to Barcelona, but this time they look like a more mature side, and one even more hungry to lift the trophy.

In Munich, the action was no less thrilling. Paris Saint-Germain knew how to manage the game against Bayern Munich, settling for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena, capitalising on their mad 5-4 first-leg victory in Paris to book their place in the final.

And so, the two sides are set to meet on 30 May in a final with a different flavour, bringing together two projects seeking to establish themselves at the pinnacle of European football.

Reaching this stage is not merely a passing achievement; it is every player’s greatest dream, the match that etches names into the annals of history. Yet behind this night lie long journeys forged by names accustomed to appearing in the final time and again.

Players with the most Champions League final appearances

According to data from Transfermarkt, Germany’s Toni Kroos tops the list of players with the most final appearances since the 1992/1993 season, having reached the final seven times, winning the title on six occasions with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Close behind Kroos are four players who know the path to the trophy well, having played in six finals and won all six titles: Luka Modrić, Nacho Fernández, Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

As for Cristiano Ronaldo, the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer, he has reached the final six times, lifting the trophy on five occasions and losing once with Manchester United, leaving his mark as one of the most influential players in the competition’s history.

The list continues with names that have made European history: David Alaba (four titles from six finals), Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta (three titles each with Milan), alongside Real Madrid’s golden generation: Casemiro, Gareth Bale,

Karim Benzema, Marcelo and Isco, who have won 5 titles from 5 finals.

As for Argentine star Lionel Messi, he is one of eight players to have reached the final four times, winning all of them.

Featured image via EUFA

By Alaa Shamali

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Irish footballer James McLean has added his voice to the sporting and political calls to boycott Ireland’s matches against Israel in the UEFA Nations League.

According to a report published by The42ie, McLean, a Derry City player with 103 caps for the Republic of Ireland, criticised what he described as a lack of “courage” on the part of the Football Association of Ireland in dealing with the issue, arguing that the decision to play the match should not be left to the players.

McLean said in comments posted on his Instagram account that the players find themselves in a difficult position, given that representing the national team is an important opportunity for any player, but he stressed at the same time that:

the match should never have been played.

The Irish player added referring to the country’s political history and conflicts:

If there is one country that should understand the meaning of oppression and the suffering it causes, it is Ireland.

McLean’s comments come after the disclosure of an open letter sent by a group called “Stop The Game” to the Football Association of Ireland, calling on it to boycott the two matches against Israel in the UEFA Nations League.

Calls on Ireland to boycott the match with ‘Israel’

The Republic of Ireland and Israel are scheduled to meet twice in the 2026 UEFA Nations League, with the first fixture taking place on 27 September and the return leg on 4 October in the Irish capital, Dublin, amid growing political and sporting controversy in Ireland over calls to boycott the matches.

The list of signatories to the letter included a number of prominent figures in Irish football, amongst them Shamrock Rovers captain Roberto López, Bohemians player Dawson Devoy, St Patrick’s Athletic’s Joe Redmond, and Waterford’s Padraig Amond.

According to the report, the letter cited what it described as “ongoing violations” of European and international football regulations due to the participation of Israeli clubs on occupied Palestinian territory, as well as allegations of “apartheid and acts of genocide”.

In contrast, the Football Association of Ireland continues to reject calls for a boycott, justifying its position by citing its commitment to UEFA regulations and warning that failing to play the match could expose the national team to sporting sanctions, including relegation in the UEFA Nations League, as well as affecting its world ranking and chances of qualifying for future tournaments.

Sinn Fein complementary scarf

In a related development, Lynn Boylan, a Member of the European Parliament for the Sinn Féin, launched a special scarf for supporters of the Irish national team to express their opposition to the match against Israel.

Boylan presented the first scarf to Joanna Byrne, the former chair of Drogheda United, who was sacked from her post earlier this year after calling for a boycott of the match.

Boylan said that UEFA had previously taken the decision to ban Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, arguing that the time had come to take a similar stance towards Israel due to what she described as “the ongoing events in Gaza and the West Bank”.

Featured image via AlJazeera

By Alaa Shamali

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Esther Webber’s journalism is about making power comprehensible – digging into how decisions are made and explaining them clearly to people who are not in the room. As part of our Women in Westminster series, we sat down with Webber to learn more about the intersection between our national politics and the wider world

As a journalist specialising in foreign affairs and defence, Esther Webber understands the challenge of navigating hidden and often opaque worlds. When Women in Westminster sat down with the POLITICO journalist, she told us this was also a skill she had to draw upon when she first joined the Westminster Lobby.

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“There was definitely a slight feeling of you’re either in the know, or you’re not,” Webber tells us, reflecting on her early days in Westminster. “There were a lot of unwritten rules. They felt like they were designed to keep you out rather than to help you.”

Fortunately, the POLITICO correspondent thrives on understanding complexity. Just like the worlds she reports on, she understands Westminster as coded. It runs on relationships, conventions, and knowledge that often need to be painstakingly built by each new generation of MPs and journalists.  

The ability to identify the hidden structures that often sit behind the nation’s politics also informs Webber’s journalism. National security, foreign affairs, and intelligence are fields where decisions are often shaped behind closed doors. As POLITICO’s Senior Foreign and Defence Correspondent, her reporting routinely focuses on areas where information is difficult to access.

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Webber likes to peer behind those closed doors. Finding and verifying information that is hidden or obscured seems to be something she truly embraces.  

“I am definitely a nosy person,” she laughs. “I enjoy trying to get into those nooks and crannies that actually can tell you how things really work and where power really lies.”

The forensic attention that Webber pays to “where power lies” results in reporting that extends far beyond the visible facts of what happened. In everything she writes, she is relentlessly interested in not just the “what” but the “why”.

“It is not just about reporting what happened,” she explains. “But stepping back to say, ‘Here is the dynamic behind that.’”

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That deep curiosity is a cornerstone of Webber’s journalistic work. In the areas she covers, the surface facts rarely tell the full story. Reporting on national security brings particular constraints, with information tightly controlled and access depending on trusted relationships built over years, not months.

These are often hugely complex issues, but Webber remains aware that the audience she is speaking to extends far beyond SW1.  

“I often try to think, ‘how would I explain this story to a friend?’” she explains. “I’ve got a lot of friends who are politically engaged and want to know what’s happening, but they’re not in the minutiae of what happens every day in Westminster. They’re always really useful to tell me whether I’m making sense or whether I’ve gone down a really tedious rabbit hole.”

That clarity of explanation is something that Webber also admires in others, citing former Newsround presenter Julie Etchingham as a childhood influence. That sense of clarity informs Webber’s own writing, which always focuses on substance and precision rather than performance.

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That approach, she argues, is increasingly important in an environment where there is a growing breakdown of trust across society.

“I do think trust in politics is pretty low at the moment,” she explains. “But trust in journalism is also in a difficult place. We have to try and do everything we can to improve our relationship so that people do feel that we’re showing them stuff for a reason.”

Webber is candid in not dismissing trust as “someone else’s problem.” She recognises that journalism itself needs to work to rebuild connections to the public.

That wider sense of mission and purpose is evident in other areas, too. Webber has been actively involved in work within Parliament to address wider issues of inclusion, giving evidence to the Modernisation Committee.

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“I was talking specifically about accessing Parliament as a disabled person, which is a constant learning curve,” she tells us. “It’s always a good thing when people try to think about how Parliament works and could we do things differently, but in practice, it’s very, very hard to change.”

She is also clear that while some improvements are certainly overdue, wholesale change needs to be approached with caution. She explains that some older traditions have developed for specific reasons and removing them could have negative consequences. However, one area where she does believe there has been progress is in Westminster’s working culture.

“I think it has changed partly because there’s been a bit of a reckoning among MPs about their behaviour and their conduct,” she says. “And certain things have become less acceptable even in the time I’ve been there. So, I think it is changing.”

In part, she attributes this to the growing number of female journalists and MPs. However, she notes that in other areas progress has been slower.

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“I think there are other areas of representation where it’s proved more of a challenge,” she says, highlighting the very small proportion of members of the Lobby from Black and minority ethnic, working-class, or non-traditional backgrounds.

Shifting that, she believes, requires structural change combined with directness rather than deference.

“I used to worry more about annoying people or putting people off,” she recalls from her early career. “But actually, often you’re trying to get the attention of people who are just really busy. They may want to help you, but they’ve just got a lot of competing demands. Be more annoying.”

It is said lightly, but Webber’s point is a serious one. In a system where access is limited and attention is scarce, being heard requires effort and persistence. Those appear to be qualities that she herself has in abundance.

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On 9 May, we reported that little-known Labour MP Catherine West was threatening to challenge Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership. Since then, a lot of shit has hit a lot of different fans, with left-leaning politicians warning the proposal could lead to a coup for the Labour right. Among them is Richard Burgon, who has likened West’s plan to a “palace coup”:

Keir Starmer needs to go.

But not through a Cabinet stitch-up or palace coup.

And not through a snap leadership election run under rule changes designed by Morgan McSweeney/Labour Together in order to hand someone like Wes Streeting a coronation.

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My full interview on Sky. pic.twitter.com/qgrc8DrHhJ

— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) May 10, 2026

Go West

It was widely predicted that Starmer would face a leadership challenge if Labour performed badly in the local elections. When a challenge failed to materialise, West took matters into her own hands.

In a statement published to X/Twitter, West said:

Across the country yesterday, so many hard working Labour Councillors lost their seats through no fault of their own. I want to thank them for their service and dedication.

I was honoured to serve under Keir Starmer’s leadership, both in opposition and in Government. All of us in the Labour Party are thankful to Keir for the 2024 General Election and the good work since. I personally get on well with Keir.

But his approach is not cutting through, and the results over the past 48 hours are nothing short of disastrous. Unless things change, we risk Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister.

That’s why, with regret and significant sadness, I firmly believe that Keir should outline his intention to resign as Prime Minister and oversee an orderly transition.

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The Labour Party need the chance to have an honest conversation about how we deliver the change we promised in 2024, and that requires new leadership which understands the urgent and real concerns of people across the UK.

Keir has demonstrated significant leadership on the world stage and is well placed to represent the UK’s national interest while this process takes place and may even continue in an international role in the future but for now I know I speak for more Labour people than just myself in wanting him to step aside as our Leader.

West also threatened to put herself forwards as a ‘stalking horse’ candidate – i.e. a candidate who wants to kick off a leadership race but doesn’t want to become the leader themselves:

Unexpected stalking horse?

Labour MP Catherine West: “I don't have a candidate, and that's part of the problem. But I think there are several people who would like to do it who have been planning for months. But I'm very surprised that none of them has popped up today to say: "I… https://t.co/qdneGERGJw

— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 9, 2026

West would later suggest that maybe she could see herself becoming PM:

Catherine West’s interview round is going down extremely badly with some MPs across the factional divide

People are stunned by this quote: “You know what sometimes happens to stalking horses? They become the candidate”

Which seems to suggest she thinks she could really be PM

— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) May 9, 2026

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Starmer — The response

As Aubrey Allegretti reported, West’s intervention went down poorly with Starmer’s loyalists:

Bit of a row in the London PLP WhatsApp group chat, as anger builds over losses in the capital.

Catherine West – a former minister – writes: “I have asked Anna Turley as Chair of the Party for a reassurance that she has a plan for an orderly arrangement of change at the top of the party.”

Steve Reed replied, saying that doomscrolling through leaders would be “madness”.

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West wrote back: “It can be orderly or disorderly but it’s happening Steve.”

Steve Reed is the housing minister who Starmer deployed to smear the Greens as antisemites in the local election campaign:

Is Steve Reed implying Zack Polanski is an antisemite??? Really? Say it with your whole chest, coward.

2 years in govt & 6 years running Labour, this all they have. No track record, no ideas, no hope.

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The death throes of an unlawful, vile project; the muscle memory of punching… https://t.co/MKd10B4isc

— The Fraud (@StarmertheFraud) May 5, 2026

Reed’s campaign did not prove to be effective, but Reed is sticking to it, because the only thing the Labour right are good at is attacking the left:

Steve Reed told the BBC this morning that Labour needs to 're-adjust' after its humiliating local election drubbing, only to then keep smearing the Greens

by @skwawkbox https://t.co/HgbOw534hn

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 8, 2026

Steve Reed, a key figure in the political project that seized control of the Labour party & brought it to this point, says yesterdays results are what happens at this point in a 5 year parliamentary cycle.

They'd rather burn the party to the ground than change direction. pic.twitter.com/OiMaUYXIi3

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 8, 2026

Back to the West saga, her plan also proved unpopular with Andy Burnham and his backers. Everyone knows that Burnham wants to challenge Starmer to become PM, but he can’t right now because he isn’t an MP:

UPDATE: Andy Burnham's allies are "desperately trying" to convince Catherine West to abandon her leadership bid as he will not be able to run

[@Tony_Diver] https://t.co/vF6vhuGbwd

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) May 9, 2026

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West herself said:

I’m sorry for people who had a big plan about particular candidates who one day will be, you know, an MP and all that sort of thing… I really like Andy, but he’s not here on the spot, so he can’t really do it

Her point is undeniable. And although Burnham is reportedly scheming to return, we know Starmer would try to block him, just like he did last time. The question is if he could get away with it twice; especially as cabinet members are reportedly willing to use their position to secure the return of the king of the North:

On Andy Burnham:

* Allies say seat has "100%" been lined up

* Private polling they've conducted reassures them he will win any by-election

* Keir Starmer will be told to make statement he can run. If he refuses a leadership challenge, backed by Ministers, will be triggered

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 9, 2026

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Burnham also has support from left-wing Labour MPs like Clive Lewis:

"Keir Starmer is completely out of touch with reality"@labourlewis is backing Andy Burnham as the person to prevent a Reform govt. pic.twitter.com/b9vill7teh

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) May 10, 2026

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So, key Labour insiders clearly want Burnham as PM. The question is if the other challengers – Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner – can be held back until then.

Challengers approaching

Alex Wickham reported:

— As Bloomberg reported last night the Ed Miliband / Lou Haigh / Tribune faction wants “delay then Andy,” putting off a contest until Burnham is in Parliament. They favour him to Rayner.

— But the big flaw in this plan is it may incentivise Streeting and Rayner to move now before Burnham is in. All eyes are on whether Streeting and Rayner will go over the top in the coming days, perhaps after Keir Starmer’s Monday speech, which will surely never be able to meet the demands of Labour MPs.

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There is particular speculation that the Wes Streeting camp is happy to use West’s stalking horse challenge to get their man into the race:

Senior MP texts to tell me that “everyone sensible” is trying to get Catherine West to withdraw. “It’s completely irresponsible”. MP also says they think Streeting allies will lend votes to West to try trigger race

— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) May 9, 2026

The fact that West will reportedly have enough support to launch a leadership challenge does suggest that supporters of Streeting or Rayner are willing to get behind her. After all, there isn’t a contingent of West loyalists (not that we know of anyway):

Labour MP says he is "almost certain" Catherine West will have the 81 MPs she needs to trigger a leadership election on Monday. https://t.co/fMaH9km4WL

— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield) May 9, 2026

‘Frustrations’

Richard Burgon of the Labour left, meanwhile, had this to say:

I do understand Catherine West’s deep frustrations. They are shared by a large number of MPs and Labour members who feel we cannot go on like this and that Keir needs to go – as I have also called for.

But I can’t support the proposals she explained on TV this morning.

Catherine’s stated preference is for a Cabinet stitch-up – a kind of palace coup.

That would mean the very people who sat back and allowed terrible decisions like the winter fuel and disability cuts to happen end up deciding the future of the party. That will not be seen by the public as a clean break.

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Catherine says that if there isn’t a Cabinet deal, she will trigger an immediate leadership election. I fear there’s a real danger that, whatever her good intentions, her move will be exploited by people on the right of the party who want a coronation and not a proper democratic contest in the party.

It may even be that those people help secure the 81 nominations needed to kickstart any leadership race.

What we need instead is for Keir to set a date for his departure, followed by a full and proper democratic contest that can look at what went wrong and how we change course to win back trust and support, with a broad range of candidates and viewpoints represented.

And that process has to involve all MPs, not just the Cabinet, as well as trade unions and party members, all of whom must have a democratic voice in choosing Labour’s future direction.

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Keir Starmer Drama

At this point, it seems like anything could happen. Well, anything besides Keir Starmer staying in power, obviously.

As limp as this current incarnation of Labour is, even they can’t be weak enough to allow Starmer to slowly destroy the party – if only because Catherine West won’t let them.

Featured image via Parliament

By Willem Moore

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Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK has appointed the first woman to sit in a cabinet position, as Ella Worthington takes responsibility for ‘civic pride’ on Lancashire County Council.

However, critics have pointed out how there is very little known about the responsibilities of this newly created cabinet role. As a result, people have looked at the billionaire-funded party’s misogynistic and patriarchal rhetoric and raised concerns that this is merely smoke and mirrors.

Former Labour councillor-turned-independent Azhar Ali, and leader of the opposition on the county council told the BBC:

I think this is just a tokenistic gesture, no one knows what the role is or what the job entails.

Worthington won the election last year in the county elections and has since faced criticism for her posts that many have described as hateful and derogatory towards the UK’s Muslim population.

In particular, she slammed news of the first Mosque in the Lake District and implied it was being forced through:

will turn a natural, beautiful place into something it’s not.

Local Election Results 2026 – Old Skelmersdale

Ella Worthington has been elected.

Reform UK gain. #WestLancsElects #LocalElections pic.twitter.com/oUU0d7NtNZ

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— West Lancashire Borough Council (@Westlancsbc) May 8, 2026

Reform — 33% turnout

Worthington won the local election on May 7, which saw a 33% turnout and just shy of 43% of the votes going to this Reform councillor. Reform UK has typically framed this as a gain, unsurprisingly, and some argue that point may carry weight, given that Reform councillors often defect, face suspension, or come under investigation for various forms of misconduct. Few of its councillors secure re-election.

Possibly a perk of being a misogynised woman, and not a misogynistic man with a shady and abusive past like David Barker.

Nevertheless, this councillor has been more than comfortable to inflame divisions pushing racial abuse through her social media.

For instance, she attempted to whip up hate — and succeeded as this Mosque has faced attacks from the far-right meant to intimidate Muslims — with this post on X last year:

Reform UK Lancashire County Councillor and Scrutiny Deputy Chair Ella Worthington sharing an old post by the Leader of UKIP.

The mosque site in question has been target by the far right because of posts like this.@LancashireCC, this is one to investigate. @reformparty_uk do… pic.twitter.com/VamJS1ZQ0m

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— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) August 13, 2025

Now she is responsible for ‘civic pride’, it isn’t hard to recognise whose ‘pride’ this position is there to represent – that of racist white supremacists. As a result, it is essential that this councillor face scrutiny herself – something she should hardly oppose given her prior role as deputy chair for scrutiny of the county council.

Worthington defended the new role, telling the BBC:

It’s all about civic pride across Lancashire, giving people a voice, giving them pride in where they live, helping institutions and business move forward, giving people civic pride and the love of the area that they live in.

It’s not about religion, it’s about white supremacy

However, Muslim people and other minoritised groups also live within the ward, raising questions over whether this will lead to an increase in race-baiting in the northwest ward. In regard to the population breakdown, migrants from the EU far outnumber any other group with only 118 living in the area with a religion other than Christianity.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Christianity and the teachings of Jesus tend to talk about welcoming strangers and being kind to our neighbours, as opposed to setting out to increase local divisions.

But let’s not pretend that Britain’s ‘Christian values’ have anything to do with Reform UK, as this post underscores:

Reform has no answers over Farage photo with church attackershttps://t.co/ZH9vkbn4Hs

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) May 7, 2026

Reform’s Worthington has the ‘right skills’ for what exactly?

Reform UK took control of the council last year, and many expressed surprise at the complete lack of female representation on its cabinet. At the time, leader of the council Stephen Atkinson said:

I’m sure that some of the ladies of the group will be useful in the future at the cabinet level, but when the skills are the right skills.

Like many, we are a bit unsure what skills women lack to be able to work in a cabinet in local council — especially when every other party has had no trouble in putting women in these positions in the past and currently. This surely can only highlight what we have all been saying — or shouting into an apparent void — that Reform are just the amalgamation of toxic masculinity, patriarchy and frankly, a bunch of women-hating men often found to have pretty abusive histories. 

Atkinson has spoken since her appointment, saying:

I’m delighted to have Ella on board to deliver this initiative, she works incredibly hard and is passionate about delivering for our communities across Lancashire.

Given Worthington’s clear Islamophobic tendencies, it isn’t hard to identify the skills which have ‘qualified’ her for a cabinet position:

Reform MP openly downplays racist colleague's comments pic.twitter.com/9fRfR2gTIl

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 10, 2026

Racists are ripping off councils — first flags, now ‘civic pride’

Funnily enough, cabinet posts add a tidy £23,597 over and above the basic councillor allowance of £14,301. However, this ‘civic pride’ role is brand new and precious little is known about what it is intended to do.

According to the BBC, opposition leader Ali would have preferred that money go to people who actually do ‘proper jobs’ and finally address significant issues in their community affecting people’s quality of life:

It’s all smoke and mirrors, what we need is real people doing some proper jobs and making sure roads are fit for a purpose, weeding, gullies emptied and the basic things that residents want.

Therefore, is this not simply another example of Reform wasting public money as it conducts an inciteful and incendiary campaign that blames ordinary people for the public’s woes, instead of the super-rich who fleece them every day and now lead political parties to preserve the status quo?

Once again, ordinary people will face higher costs at a local level while a small minority of millionaires and billionaires benefit, leaving everyone else with harder lives and, potentially, more divided and violent communities.

Featured image via Facebook

By Maddison Wheeldon

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Sunday evening marked the most prestigious night in British telly, as some of the biggest performers from the UK and beyond gathered for the annual TV Baftas.

Hosted for the first time by comedian Greg Davies, the night recognised achievement in drama, comedy, reality TV and more, as awards were handed out for the biggest shows of the last 12 months.

With so many A-listers gathered under one roof, you can imagine that it was quite a jam-packed evening, with more going on than most of us could keep up with.

So, in that spirit, we’ve rounded up 17 must-see moments from the 2026 TV Baftas…

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Let’s start with the red carpet, shall we? Adolescence stars Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper were reunited on their way into the TV Baftas, and it’s fair to say the height difference between them has become a bit more stark in the year since the show’s Netflix premiere

Stuart C. Wilson via Getty Images

Speaking of on-screen fathers-and-sons, Matt Smith and Rafael Mathé also posed together on their way into the event

Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock

Real-life dad-and-daughter Danny and Dani Dyer also attended the 2026 TV Baftas together

NEIL HALLNEIL HALL/EPA/Shutterstock

Claudia Winkleman took a break from shooting Celebrity Traitors to bring back pedal-pushers on the red carpet

Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock

Reigning Traitors champions Rachel and Stephen had their own low-key reunion on the red carpet…

Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock

Alan West/Hogan Media/Shutterstock

David Fisher/Shutterstock

During the main event, Seth Rogen beat some stiff competition in the Best International Programme category, and dedicated his win to his The Studio co-star Catherine O’Hara

Alan West/Hogan Media/Shutterstock

After winning the Memorable Moment prize for his Celebrity Traitors win, Alan Carr shouted out his ‘thick’ co-stars, ribbed Celia Imrie for the fart heard around the nation and once again bigged up Paloma Faith, who he infamously ‘murdered’ on their first night in the castle

The creators of Gaza: Doctors Under Attack had a defiant message to the BBC during their acceptance speech, expressing solidarity with Palestine after calling out the broadcaster for axing their documentary (leading to it being picked up by Channel 4), finally asking: ’Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the Bafta screening later tonight?

Aurora delivered a beautiful performance during the In Memoriam tributes section

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As he made his way onto the stage to collect his Special Award, Martin Lewis was met with a standing ovation

He then delivered a stirring acceptance speech, dedicating his win to his late mother

Alan West/Hogan Media/Shutterstock

Mary Berry received this year’s Bafta fellowship and made it clear she’s still looking to the future

Elsewhere, after an awards season that’s largely celebrated Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham (who, of course, also picked up awards during the TV Baftas), it was amazing to see Adolescence’s Christine Tremarco get her moment to shine too

Unsurprisingly, Adolescence was the night’s top winner – setting a new record for the most TV Baftas received by a single show in the space of one night

David Fisher/Shutterstock

And finally, we can’t stop watching this red carpet montage of Alan Carr before the ceremony

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The Iranian Football Federation has confirmed that the Iranian national team will participate in the 2026 World Cup finals, despite political tensions and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, whilst stressing the need for the tournament’s host nations — the United States, Canada and Mexico — to take “Tehran’s concerns” into account.

The Iranian Federation’s stance came after Canadian authorities refused last month to grant Federation President Mehdi Taj a visa to attend the FIFA Congress, on the grounds that he has links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Ottawa has classified as a “terrorist organisation” since 2024.

In a statement published on its official website, the Iranian Football Federation confirmed that the national team would “definitely” participate in the 2026 World Cup, but called on the host nations to take Iran’s concerns into account and ensure respect for the “beliefs, culture and convictions” of the Iranian delegation during the tournament.

The participation of Iran in the World Cup, scheduled to take place between 11 June and 19 July 2026, has been the subject of speculation since the outbreak of war following the US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February.

Iran’s conditions for participating in the 2026 World Cup

Iran’s demands included the granting of visas to all national team players and coaching staff without any obstacles or exceptions, as well as ensuring that the delegation is not subjected to any interrogations or exceptional procedures after the visas have been issued.

Iran also demanded that entry be facilitated for Iranian journalists and fans into the host countries, and that the Iranian flag be respected inside stadiums during tournament matches, in addition to ensuring that the national anthem is played in full and without interruption.

The conditions also included providing a high level of security protection for the national team’s delegation at airports, hotels and stadiums, and ensuring the team’s transport between their accommodation and the match venues in an organised and safe manner.

Tehran also emphasised the need to respect the national team’s technical and administrative staff during the tournament, and to limit questions at press conferences to technical matters only, without delving into political issues.

The demands concluded by emphasising that there should be no discrimination against any member of the Iranian delegation, including players who have completed their military service in official capacities, with a strong emphasis on ensuring they are treated normally throughout the tournament.

Iran is expected to base its training camp in Tucson during the tournament, where it will compete in Group G alongside Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand, kicking off its campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on 15 June.

Featured image via LeMonde

By Alaa Shamali

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When you have a baby, everyone and their mom (literally) has an opinion on how you raise them. From screen time to feedings to sleeping habits, new parents hear it all, such as, “Wake them up from their nap, they won’t sleep tonight” – or the opposing, “Don’t wake them up from their nap!”

It’s hard to know what you should do when it comes to caring for a tiny human, and it’s common for new parents to reach out to their parents for support, guidance and for some much-needed grandparent babysitting breaks. And while both parents and grandparents want what’s best for the baby, their views on what exactly is best can really differ.

Parenting guidance and baby safety regulations are continually changing to account for new research and innovation, but it can be hard for grandparents to let go of how they raised their own kids decades ago for many reasons.

“We all, as humans, have some degree of survivorship bias and perhaps some defensiveness related to making specific parenting choices that we now recommend against,” Dr. Krupa Playforth, a paediatrician, founder of The Paediatrician Mom and author of Eyes, Knees, Boundaries, Please!, told HuffPost via email. “I think that all of us are sensitive to the idea of our parenting choices being judged, and there’s an implicit judgment when grandparents are told that the way they did things is now considered unsafe.”

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Even still, some of what was done in 1990 and even 2000 is now not the safest way to care for a baby. Below, doctors and paediatricians correct the incorrect baby health beliefs they hear over and over from now-grandparents:

Babies should not sleep on their stomachs

Years ago, it was thought that putting a baby on their stomach to sleep was healthiest and safest, but research now shows that this kind of sleeping actually raises the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS, said Dr. Beth Oller, a family medicine physician in Kansas.

“That kind of prompted the ‘Back to Sleep campaign,’” said Dr. Michael Glazier, the chief medical officer for Bluebird Kids Health. The Back to Sleep campaign promoted back sleeping as the safest way for babies to sleep.

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“The Back To Sleep campaign, first released in 1994, reduced the risk of SIDS in infants by 50% in just the first few years,” Dr. Lauren Hughes, a paediatrician, owner of Bloom Paediatrics in Kansas, US, and a medical communicator on social media, told HuffPost via email. “All paediatricians recommend infants be put on their back to sleep because it’s safer.”

It’s also common for the grandparent generation to put items in the crib (stuffed animals, bumpers, a pillow) with the baby, “and our recommendations now, on the safety front is, please don’t overcrowd that crib,” said Glazier. “They just need a firm mattress, and that’s it.”

Kids are resilient and learn to sleep on their backs, Glazier noted.

Rice cereal does not need to go in the baby’s bottle

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It’s also common for grandparents to encourage new parents to add rice cereal to the baby’s bottle, according to Oller. This was a common practice when the now-grandparents were raising their own kids decades ago, but is no longer recommended.

Many grandparents think this will help the baby sleep better, but Oller said that isn’t true. “What drives babies in those first especially four to six months to wake up at night is their need for calories,” Oller said.

Babies wake up in the middle of the night because they’re hungry and craving calories, but there are virtually no calories in rice cereal, Oller said. “So it’s not going to keep them sleeping longer.”

“The other thing is, when you’re doing rice cereal, if you’re doing that in a formula, you’re having to use a bottle that has a much bigger hole in the nipple,” Oller explained.

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This will lead to a faster flow and could be a potential choking hazard. “So not only does it not keep them full or help them sleep through the night, but it also can be a negative thing,” said Oller.

Tony Anderson via Getty Images

Babies also don’t need fever-reducing medication before vaccine appointments

Parents used to be told to give babies fever-reducing medication like Tylenol before bringing them in for their vaccine appointments as a way to keep kids from feeling lousy after shots, but that is no longer the recommended guidance, said Dr. Leslie Treece, a paediatrician in Tennessee.

New research emerged that found that giving a baby fever-reducers before vaccines can actually blunt the immune response to the shot, “meaning, [the shots] might not work as well,” Oller explained.

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“It’s not like, if you did [give your baby a fever-reducing medication], we cannot vaccinate or shouldn’t vaccinate your kids today, that’s not it at all,” said Oller. “But it used to just go without saying that if your kiddo was going to a vaccine appointment, you pre-medicated them so that they didn’t have any side effects afterward.”

“It’s not current guidance anymore, and it was when this generation of adults were children, and so grandparents often tell them, ‘Give [babies] Tylenol before their shots,’” Treece said, stressing that it’s best not to.

Toddlers don’t need shoes to learn to walk

“I think the one that always is first and foremost for me that grandparents bring up is the idea that toddlers need shoes to learn how to walk,” Glazier said. “Once upon a time, I think, driven by the shoe industry, primarily, there was this conception that they need a shoe that provides structure to be able to help kids learn to walk. … Kids in all walks of life in all countries across the world learn to walk, regardless of shoes or not.”

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Shoes are an accessory for kids when they’re learning to walk, not a necessity. Glazier said he tends to only recommend certain shoes for certain situations, such as soft-soled shoes or socks when kids are learning to walk, and are outside or at a playground where they could step on a sharp stick or rock.

“But inside at home, barefoot’s great,” Glazier noted.

You can’t ‘spoil’ a baby by holding them ‘too much’

“I think another one you hear is, ‘Don’t pick your baby up all the time. Don’t hold them all the time. You’re going to spoil them,’” Oller said. “There’s no such thing as spoiling a baby with too much love or attention,.”

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Crying is the only way babies can communicate with people, “and they need emotional security. They need the trust,” Oller said. “But I think the thought used to be a baby is going to be ‘more demanding’ if you respond to its needs immediately, and if you pick a baby up — but so, so not true.”

Babies less than 12 months old should not have honey as a cough medicine

It’s common and recommended for parents to give children 1 and older honey as a cough medication, but this isn’t true for younger babies.

“The truth is, honey for older age kids is a good cough medicine, but we don’t recommend honey in the first 12 months of life because there is a fear that honey can have botulism spores in it, and since infant immune systems are still developing, they are more susceptible to that than older kids who are easily able to fight it off,” Glazier explained.

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These spores can grow in a baby’s digestive system and lead to infant botulism, which causes weakness, constipation, choking and, in rare cases, death.

They also should not wear jackets in car seats

The grandparent generation commonly leaves a baby’s coat on when putting them in their car seat, but newer guidance shows that it’s safer to take off a baby’s coat before putting them in their car seat, Treece said.

“Coats compress,” Treece explained. While the car seat straps may seem tight enough over a jacket, if the coat compresses, it leaves room for the baby to move around in the car seat and even slip out from the straps if there is a car crash.

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“It just creates an unsafe experience because they need for those straps to be well-fitted,” Treece added.

It’s a better idea to put a blanket on top of the car seats straps once the baby is buckled in.

If you need help, your paediatrician can help you establish boundaries with grandparents

Grandparents who repeatedly tell you to let your baby sleep with their favourite stuffy or that you’re “spoiling” them by holding them too much aren’t trying to do harm. They also want to raise a happy, healthy child – but sometimes, it’s necessary to set boundaries to ensure your child is safe.

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“Remember that you are the parent, and at the end of the day, your role is to advocate for your kid,” Playforth said. “It’s OK to push back against what the grandparents are saying, and you may have to let go of having their approval.”

Approaching these tough conversations from a compassionate standpoint, and recognising that everyone caring for the baby wants to raise a thriving and healthy child is a more helpful than being combative, she said.

If your parent just won’t listen and insists on putting your baby in their car seat with their winter jacket, for example, lean on the pros and tell them your paediatrician said it’s unsafe.

“Let your paediatrician be the bad guy if you need to,” Playforth said. “We don’t mind. If you’re getting a lot of push back from grandparents around boundaries guidelines ― especially safety-related guidelines ― you can always say, ‘This is what the paediatrician recommended, and we trust them. This is the way we are doing things.’”

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Raising a healthy and happy kid, and a responsible and caring adult isn’t about obsessing over the latest fad on social media or comparing your newborn’s growth compared to your neighbour’s baby, but is instead about all of the emotional and physical health basics that doctors recommend.

“For physical health, it’s the boring unsexy basics: eating a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep, washing your hands, moving your body daily, and staying up-to-date on routine checkups and vaccines,” Hughes said.

“For emotional and mental health, the biggest and best predictor is having a parent who is themselves emotionally and mentally healthy. So, taking care of yourself as a parent is one of the best things you can do for your child,” added Hughes.

And, let your kids be kids, Hughes said. Meaning, let them play, explore and get dirty.

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Hezbollah’s cheap First-Person View (FPV) drones are penetrating Israel’s billion-dollar Iron Dome system.

BIG: Hezbollah FPV drone strikes target Israeli Iron Dome launchers and its crews at the Jal al-Allam site on the border area. pic.twitter.com/VLbTGxLq3a

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 10, 2026

The drones, guided by a physical fibre optic cable, are immune to electronic jamming and pretty much invisible to radar systems, meaning Israel has no effective defence against them.

According to Al Jazeera:

Unlike traditional drones that rely on radio frequencies or satellite signals, these modified aircraft are tethered directly to the operator’s control station by a fibre optic thread. The cable can extend between 10–30km [6.2 to 18.6 miles], allowing the drone to reach distant targets.

Because there is no wireless signal to intercept, the drones are immune to Israel’s sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) jamming systems. Furthermore, the aircraft are constructed from lightweight fibreglass, meaning they emit almost no thermal or radar signature.

This means that Hezbollah can manually steer the drones toward specific targets, such as tanks, aided by high-resolution optical cameras that transmit uncompressed video via the cable.

This video shared recently by Hezbollah shows how relaxed the operator is while choosing the target and monitoring the scene for a second attack pic.twitter.com/DfrdUivFAY

— Ali Rida Sbeity (@AliRida_SB) May 3, 2026

Israel has admitted that there is not much it can do about the FPV drones, except “shoot at them”.

FPV bypassing the Iron Dome

Israel first deployed the Iron Dome in 2011. It is supposedly:

one of the most effective, battle-tested air defence systems in service today.

Except when it comes to Hezbollah’s drones.

CCTV in northern Israel captured a Hezbollah fibre-optic FPV drone flying past a building. Marks the first known use of FPV drones on targets outside IDF-occupied southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/gTIQ92izg8

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 10, 2026

The system is expensive, so it must be heartbreaking for Israel that cheap FPV drones can bypass it.

According to RMZ:

a complete system, including the radar, computer and three to four launchers – each containing up to 20 interceptors – costs around US$100 million to produce.

Israel has 10 such systems in operation, taking the estimated cost to $1bn.

Armed resistance

A United Nations General Assembly resolution states:

The General Assembly,

Reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle;

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Hezbollah’s resistance to Israeli occupation was instrumental in the IOF leaving Lebanon in 2000, after 18 years.

Since then, Israel has continued to illegally occupy both Gaza and the Syrian Golan Heights. Here’s what the UN says about it. Recently, Israel has also invaded Lebanon once again.

Of course, Israel and the West have labelled Hezbollah as a ‘terrorist group’ and called for their disarmament, when they’re only defending the land they are native to.

The West only proscribed Hezbollah because of intense pressure from the Israel Lobby.

The entire Jewish supremacist ethnostate literally runs and was founded on terrorism, yet we will never find any of its blood-thirsty components proscribed — not the IOF, not the Mossad, none of the trigger-happy, child-killing, rapist colonisers will be labeled as terrorists.

The IOF booby-trapped pagers, killing 42 and injuring thousands. If that isn’t an act of ‘terrorism’, I don’t know what is. On the contrary, we shield them and enable their crimes by proscribing everyone resisting them as terrorists.

Was it not us who gave Palestinian land to “zionist aspirations”?

Fuck around and find out.

So if Israel is going to keep fucking around, it’s going to keep finding out.

Hezbollah has published footage of multiple FPV strikes on the Iron Dome battery and its crew. https://t.co/wE6ukXbnPx pic.twitter.com/8ZOKmYrFik

— barry with the NED (@bonzerbarry) May 10, 2026

Hezbollah even managed to transform one drone into a suppository for one IOF soldier.

Hezbollah continues hunting down Israeli troops with its simple FPV drones.

Although the soldiers run away from them, the drones precisely hit them.

Just remembered when they were having fun sniping and hunting terrified, emaciated Gaza’s children. pic.twitter.com/IHnsD3zG6D

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— Abubaker Abed (@AbubakerAbedW) May 9, 2026

At the end of the day, you can’t run from what was promised to you 3,000 years ago. And just maybe, that was a drone up the ass.

Feature image via X

By The Canary

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Right before calling Iran’s response to the White House’s latest peace proposal “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” President Donald Trump lashed out at his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, for settling the tab for a Carter-era arms deal with the nation that fell through decades ago.

Taking to Truth Social on Sunday afternoon, the commander in chief fumed that “Iran has been playing games with the United States, and the rest of the World” since the fall of American-aligned Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979.

“DELAY, DELAY, DELAY!” he described Iran’s strategy with the US, while also claiming Tehran will be “laughing no longer” if his administration has the final word.

In his post, the president said Iran “finally hit ‘pay dirt’” with Obama, who negotiated the now-defunct Iran Nuclear Deal alongside China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union in 2015.

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MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images

“He was not only good to them, he was great, actually going to their side, jettisoning Israel, and all other Allies, and giving Iran a major and very powerful new lease on life,” Trump wrote.

The president falsely claimed the Obama administration forked over billions of dollars “in green cash” to Tehran on a “silver platter” back in 2016, referring to a massive transfer of funds which was part settlement for a $400 million arms deal halted by the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s and partially the release of Iranian-owned funds which were frozen due to international sanctions.

President Trump called the amounts so substantial “Iranian Thugs had no idea what to do with it” when it was offloaded from planes in “suitcases and satchels.”

Continuing to rail against Obama, he said Iran had “finally found the greatest SUCKER of them all, in the form of a weak and stupid American President.”

“He was a disaster as our ‘Leader,’ but not as bad as Sleepy Joe Biden!” Trump went on to add.

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In his post, the president accused Iranian leaders of stringing the U.S. along for decades, “keeping us waiting, killing our people with their roadside bombs, destroying protests,” as well as “wiping out 42,000 innocent, unarmed protestors, and laughing at our now GREAT AGAIN Country.”

“They will be laughing no longer!” Trump concluded.

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