Fabio Vieira’s season at Arsenal began promisingly, with the Portuguese midfielder delivering several impressive performances off the bench. His early form suggested he was on the verge of breaking into Mikel Arteta’s starting XI. However, an injury sidelined Vieira for several months, and during his absence, Arsenal continued to perform well, focusing on other players.

As the season progressed, fans grew concerned about Vieira’s limited appearances, and he ultimately finished the campaign without making a significant impact. Despite his early promise, Vieira struggled to regain his place in the team upon his return from injury.

According to a report from The Athletic, the primary reason for Vieira’s limited minutes was his underperformance in training. The coaches felt he did not provide enough evidence during training sessions to warrant his inclusion in matchday squads. This lack of impact in training meant Vieira became one of the few players who have struggled to thrive under Mikel Arteta’s management.

Vieira’s situation highlights the challenges players can face when returning from injury and the importance of consistently proving their worth to secure a spot in the team.

Just Arsenal Opinion

Arsenal is focused on bolstering their midfield in the upcoming transfer window and has been linked with two standout midfielders: Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United and Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad.

Mikel Arteta is keen to strengthen the team’s midfield options, and both players have impressed significantly at their respective clubs. Guimaraes has been a key figure for Newcastle, attracting interest not only from Arsenal but also from Manchester City. However, his high valuation makes a transfer to Arsenal challenging.

On the other hand, Zubimendi has been a pivotal player for Real Sociedad, and Arsenal has shown interest in him since last summer. His performances have continued to catch the eye, and he now seems poised for a move away from La Liga.

According to Ben Jacobs on Twitter, Arsenal is more likely to secure Zubimendi’s signature compared to Guimaraes. Jacobs suggests that while Guimaraes would be a costly acquisition, Zubimendi is seen as a more feasible and effective option for the Gunners.

Just Arsenal Opinion

Emile Smith Rowe is approaching a pivotal summer, with the possibility of leaving Arsenal during the upcoming transfer window.

Smith Rowe’s tenure with the Arsenal senior team has been marred by injuries, which have significantly impacted his role within the squad. During his frequent absences, Arsenal has bolstered their midfield options with the acquisitions of players like Declan Rice and the continued rise of Martin Ødegaard.

As a result, Smith Rowe now finds it challenging to secure regular playing time, with the team evolving and strengthening without his consistent presence.

The English midfielder seeks clarity regarding his future at the club as Arsenal edges closer to competing for major honours. According to Charles Watts in an exclusive update on the Daily Briefing, discussions have been scheduled between Arsenal and Smith Rowe’s representatives.

Smith Rowe wants to understand if he is still a part of Arsenal’s long-term plans and would need a new contract to affirm his place. If it becomes clear that he no longer fits into their future vision, he is prepared to leave the club in search of regular playing opportunities elsewhere.

Jason Cundy has discussed the current market value of William Saliba, noting his rise as one of the best defenders in the world.

The Frenchman has been a key player for Arsenal since the summer of 2022, and his impressive performances have made him indispensable to the team.

Saliba’s emergence as a top defender, following several loan spells, has drawn significant attention. Arsenal’s title challenge in the 2022/2023 season was severely impacted by his injury late in the campaign, highlighting his importance to the squad.

If he continues his rapid development, Saliba could play a crucial role in leading Arsenal to a Premier League title.

Discussing his value on Talk Sport, Cundy estimated Saliba to be worth around £130 million, reflecting his status as one of the most valuable players in the world.

Gabriel Magalhaes has spoken about Arsenal’s growth in the last few campaigns, insisting that it is not only the players who have made them a better team.

Arsenal has made significant progress over the last few seasons, with Mikel Arteta leading a complete overhaul of the group he inherited at the Emirates.

The manager is continuously improving his options and the overall quality of the team, taking them closer to winning a major trophy.

At the beginning of next season, Arsenal might be even better than they are at the moment, and Gabriel believes it goes beyond just the players.

He believes everyone at the club has contributed to their success and the progress the team has been making.

Douglas Luiz has become a tough player to sign for Arsenal after Aston Villa secured a place in next season’s Champions League.

The midfielder was very close to moving to Arsenal in 2022, but Villa rejected the Gunners’ offers to keep their main man in their squad for another season.

He has remained an ever-present member of their team, and his performance contributed to their finishing inside the top four this season.

Villa is preparing to play in the Champions League next term, and they know they must keep their best players if they want to make an impression in the competition.

This makes it hard for clubs to sign their players, including Arsenal, which had been hopeful they would sign Luiz in the next transfer window.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking the federal judge overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents case to make clear that former President Donald Trump is prohibited from making false statements that endanger law enforcement officers. Trump and his campaign have recently made several false and inflammatory claims about the FBI that Smith says have put federal agents and officials at risk.

The request came late Friday in the federal case over Trump’s willful retention of classified documents and attempts to obstruct justice after leaving the White House.

In a fundraising email and social media posts earlier in the week, Trump claimed that, when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago to retrieve classified documents it believed Trump was illegally keeping there, the agents were empowered—and even wanted—to kill him. “BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME!” a fundraising email stated. “You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable … Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.”

This is untrue. The warrant included standard language about use of force that is in fact meant to avoid violence. Further, the FBI took significant steps to avoid a confrontation with Trump, including waiting for him to leave the state to conduct the raid when he and his family would not be on the premises.

Ben Jacobs has discussed Arsenal’s interest in Alexander Isak after his stunning season with Newcastle.

Isak has adapted brilliantly to the Premier League since he moved to the competition from La Liga.

He has been one of the best strikers in the English top flight and has been tipped to move to a bigger club.

Arsenal wants to win the race for his signature, considering him an upgrade to the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus.

Both stars have done their best, but it’s clearly not good enough to help Arsenal become English champions.

As any schoolkid might tell you, US elections are based on a bedrock principle: one person, one vote. Simple as that. Each vote carries the same weight. Yet for much of the country’s history, that hasn’t been the case. At various points, whole classes of people were shut out of voting: enslaved Black Americans, Native Americans, and poor white people. The first time women had the right to vote was in 1919. This week’s episode of Reveal is about a current version of this very old problem.

For this show, host Al Letson does a deep dive with Mother Jones national voting rights correspondent Ari Berman about his new book, Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It.

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They first discuss America’s early years and examine how the political institutions created by the Founding Fathers were meant to constrain democracy. This system is still alive in the modern era, Berman says, through institutions like the Electoral College and the US Senate, which were designed as checks against the power of the majority. What’s more, Berman argues that the Supreme Court is a product of these two skewed institutions. Then there are newer tactics—like voter suppression and gerrymandering—that are layered on top of this anti-democratic foundation to entrench the power of a conservative white minority.

Jason Cundy has argued that Eberechi Eze is a better player than Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.

The Crystal Palace star has been one of the most consistent attackers in the Premier League this season.

He is expected to leave his current team at the end of this campaign, and Arsenal should be in the running to sign him.

Eze’s form has been too good to ignore, and he could be named in the England squad for Euro 2024.

Arsenal is already looking at new stars to add to their group, and they should probably consider a move for Eze, whom they released as a teenager.

Arsenal is one of the clubs interested in a move for Michael Olise, who is set to leave Crystal Palace.

The Frenchman has been too brilliant to play for a team like Palace, and several top clubs want to include him in their squad.

Arsenal has been tracking him, and the Gunners consider him ideal competition for their current wingers.

Bukayo Saka was out of form for several weeks in the second half of the season and needed support.

If Arsenal had Olise, the Frenchman could have replaced the Englishman, keeping the right-wing position productive for the Gunners.

Louisiana enacted a first-of-its-kind law on Friday, classifying the two drugs used in medication abortions as controlled and dangerous substances. The law prohibits obtaining or possessing misoprostol and mifipristone without a prescription. The new classification will make obtaining a prescription more difficult.

Louisiana already bans abortion with few exceptions. The reclassification of the so-called abortion pills was first introduced as part of an effort to thwart coerced abortions. But this is a stand of anti-abortion misinformation that, as Mother Jones’ Julianne McShane has detailed, is not supported by the facts. Further, a coerced abortion would already be illegal in Louisiana.

Instead of protecting women, the new law is likely to worsen care. Misoprostol has other important uses outside of abortion care, including for treating miscarriages, ulcers, and inducing labor. “Unfortunately, I think the biggest impact of this law will be on miscarriage care,” Greer Donley, an expert on abortion law at the University of Pittsburgh, posted on X. “Docs aren’t prescribing these meds in LA for abortion b/c of bans, and patients are exempt from prosecution. Docs ARE prescribing miso for miscarriage, and this law will likely chill that care.”

The law will make it harder to prescribe these drugs by requiring doctors to have a special license, and they must now be stored in special facilities that might make them harder for people to obtain, especially in rural areas.

Dani Olmo is one of the players that Arsenal has targeted to add to their squad this summer.

The Spaniard has been proving his worth at RB Leipzig for several seasons, and it is just a matter of time before he moves to a bigger European side.

That could happen this summer, with Arsenal likely to launch an approach for his signature before the transfer window closes.

The Gunners have some of the finest attackers in their squad, but Olmo’s profile is still an exciting one to add.

The Spaniard could bet on himself to break into the team despite the competition for places he will encounter at the Emirates.

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Eight young people are suing the government of Alaska—the nation’s fastest-warming state—claiming a major new fossil fuel project violates their state constitutional rights.

The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation has proposed a $38.7 billion gas export project that would roughly triple the state’s greenhouse gas emissions for decades, the lawsuit says. Scientists have long warned that fossil fuel extraction must be swiftly curbed to secure a livable future.

The Alaska LNG Project would involve the construction of a gas treatment plant on the state’s North Slope, an 800-mile pipeline and liquefaction plant on the Kenai Peninsula which would prepare the gas for export to Asia.

Bayern want the Burnley manager, while Chelsea want the Ipswich, Brentford and Leicester managers. So, where did all the established ‘super coaches’ go? Or are the super clubs just in a right old s**t state and no one wants to be Louis van Gaaled?

Marcus, Jim and Vish offer their theories on today’s Mailbag. Plus, daft suggestions for a fourth domestic cup competition and a listener asks us for our extremely niche football awards. Most Crimson Red Card of the Season, anyone? Come join us!

We're back on stage and tickets are out NOW! Join us at London Palladium on Friday September 20th 2024 for 'Football Ramble: Time Tunnel', a journey through football history like no other. Expect loads of laughs, all your Ramble favourites, and absolutely everything on Pete's USB stick. Get your tickets at footballramblelive.com!

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In 2017, the exiled Chinese mogul Guo Wengui began to remake himself in America as a dissident celebrity. In media appearances, tweets, and lengthy YouTube videos, Guo launched tirades against Chinese Communist Party corruption. They made him famous among extremely online Chinese emigres and won him prominence as an ally of Steve Bannon and other Trumpworld luminaries.

Guo sold a brand: A mega-rich, Brioni-clad, rule-breaking Bannon buddy leading a “whistleblower movement” with an audacious goal to “take down the CCP” and install his own supposed government-in-waiting in Beijing.

But the truth of Guo’s story is now at issue in the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where he stands trial for fraud and money laundering. In an opening statement Friday, Assistant US Attorney Micah Fergenson previewed evidence he said shows that Guo—who has also used the names Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo—stole more than $1 billion from his own ardent fans who invested in scam financial ventures Gou launched in 2020 and 2021.

“Miles Guo ran a simple con on a grand scale,” Fergenson said. “He lived a billionaire’s lifestyle using money he stole from people he tricked and cheated.”

Just a few years ago, maternal mortality was the rare reproductive justice issue that seemed to transcend partisan politics. In late 2018, Republicans and Democrats in Congress even came together to approve $60 million for state maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) to study why so many American women die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Donald Trump—not exactly famous for his respect toward pregnant women and new mothers in his personal life—signed the bill.

But some Republicans’ enthusiasm for these committees began to wane at around the same time abortion rights advocates began warning that draconian restrictions on reproductive care would only push the shamefully high US maternal mortality rate—the worst among affluent countries—even higher. Nor did conservatives, like Idaho lawmakers, appreciate the policy recommendations that came out of many MMRCs.

Texas, whose record on maternal mortality (and maternal health more broadly) has been an embarrassment since long before Dobbs, has a history of controversial attempts to play down potentially unwelcome findings from its MMRC. After the Dobbs decision, when the state committee was working on its report examining maternal deaths in 2019, Texas officials decided to slow-roll its release until mid-2023—too late for lawmakers to act on its recommendations. “When we bury data, we are dishonorably burying each and every woman that we lost,” one furious committee member told the Texas Tribune. Ultimately, officials released the report three months late, in December 2022. Soon afterward, the Legislature reconfigured the MMRC, increasing its size—but also ejected one of its most outspoken members. 

Now Texas officials have stirred up the biggest furor yet, appointing a leading anti-abortion activist to the panel. Dr. Ingrid Skop, an OB-GYN who practiced in San Antonio for 25 years, will join the MMRC as a community member representing rural areas (even though she is from the seventh-largest city in the US). But she also represents a largely overlooked segment of the anti-abortion movement: researchers who seek to discredit the idea that abortion restrictions are putting women’s lives in danger. To the contrary, Skop and her allies argue that abortions are the real, hidden cause of many maternal deaths—and that abortion restrictions actually save mothers’ lives.

Editor’s note: The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Our Land here.

Sometimes I’d rather not be right. In January, reacting to Donald Trump affectionately referring to the trio of tyrants Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un as “very fine people,” I wrote that two constants in the Trump Era are his affection for murderous authoritarians and Russian efforts to screw with American politics. The former is well-known, the latter, less recognized. Moscow mounted information warfare operations to boost Trump during both the 2016 election—most notably, the hack-and-leak attack in which Russian cyber-operatives swiped Democratic emails and documents and WikiLeaks released them—and the 2020 election, when Russian intelligence operatives spread disinformation about Joe and Hunter Biden and Ukraine. The first op helped the Putin-friendly Trump reach the White House; the second failed to keep him in office, but it had the side-benefit of fueling the House Republicans’ baseless (and now fizzling) impeachment crusade against President Biden. Putin went one for two.

I noted in that Our Land issue: “[I]t’s a good bet that Putin this year will try once again to mess in an American election…[As Putin] continues to commit horrendous war crimes in Ukraine, he has even more reason to clandestinely boost Trump and win the rubber match.” At long last, official warnings have arrived.

Two weeks ago, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia remains “the most active foreign threat to our elections.” She noted that the Kremlin’s “goals in such influence operations tend to include eroding trust in US democratic institutions, exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the United States, and degrading Western support to Ukraine.” All of this, obviously, would be to Trump’s benefit. She pointed out that artificial intelligence and deepfakes will presumably be deployed in this effort, and she cited China and Iran as other threats.

What will it take for Man United to beat Man City in this weekend’s FA Cup final? Computer hacking? Marcus, Vish, Jim and Pete genuinely have no answers on today's Ramble. Poor Vish.

Elsewhere, the lads hail future pub quiz answer Ademola Lookman and Jim makes the case for Steve Bruce taking the Man United job while Pete backs him to go on I’m a Celebrity instead. Vish also argues that pub Sunday roasts are overrated... outrageous! 

We're back on stage and tickets are out NOW! Join us at London Palladium on Friday September 20th 2024 for 'Football Ramble: Time Tunnel', a journey through football history like no other. Expect loads of laughs, all your Ramble favourites, and absolutely everything on Pete's USB stick. Get your tickets at footballramblelive.com!

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: patreon.com/footballramble.

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Donald Trump was continuing to ask fossil-fuel executives to fund his presidential campaign on Wednesday, despite scrutiny of his relationship with the industry.

The former president attended a fundraising luncheon at Houston’s Post Oak hotel hosted by three Big Oil executives.

The invitation-only meeting comes a day after the defense rested its case in Trump’s criminal hush-money trial, and a week after Houston was battered by deadly storms. The climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, has created the conditions for more frequent and severe rainfall and flooding, including in Texas.