“I know you don’t like to admit it,” New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporters last month. “But I know you get on your knees and pray every night, ‘Thank God Eric is the mayor of our city.'” 

Chuckling with smug self-satisfaction, Adams delivered these remarks roughly two weeks before federal authorities raided the home of his chief fundraiser in an explosive investigation into whether his mayoral campaign accepted illegal donations from Turkey. The probe—which has since expanded to include the seizure of Adams’ personal phones—and mounting reports revealing Adams’ intensive ties and travel to Turkey, comes as the mayor proposes billions in cuts to city programs. Those cuts include slashing the NYPD, food and housing services, the sanitation department, library hours, and a litany of major cultural institutions. 

It’s against this gloomy backdrop that Adams’ standing with New Yorkers—or from his perspective, the supplicants who thank God every day for delivering him to Gracie Mansion—has nose-dived, according to a new Marist poll. With only 37 percent approving of his job performance, a staggering 72 percent of those polled believe Adams’ mayoral campaign is guilty of wrongdoing in its dealings with Turkey; New Yorkers appear split on whether such malfeasance was illegal or merely unethical. 

Perhaps the most prominent person watching this flood of bad news for the embattled mayor? Andrew Cuomo. The former New York governor, who resigned in 2021 over sexual harassment allegations, is reportedly considering a run to replace Adams in 2025 should a federal investigation effectively irreparably damage his political career. All of which is certain to put the ongoing effort among progressives to identify a formidable challenger into overdrive, should New Yorkers not have an appetite to watch a tortured battle between two ignominious men. 

As for the ongoing FBI investigation, when asked on Tuesday whether he’d be willing to disclose details of his personal trips to Turkey, Adams offered a one-word reply: “Maybe.”

Is İlkay Gündoğan turning into the German Roy Keane? Can anyone stop Jim from turning into the God of Football? And will Kevin Keegan EVER stop hosting industry conferences? A listener has a fresh update for us...

Marcus, Jim, Andy and Vish are here to look back on the final round of Euro 2024 qualifiers, where Wales fell short of automatic qualification and now face the play-offs. We wonder whether people potentially have unreasonable expectations for this current Wales squad.

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England completed a statement 8-1 aggregate victory over North Macedonia. Marcus and Jim are on hand to send that message to the rest of Europe. They also remind us that there are no rebounds in a penalty shootout.

Once that’s out of the way, the lads discuss if these two poor performances will have any effect on England going forward and whether Rico Lewis can make the squad for the Euros. Plus, would Harry Kane go to Oktoberfest by himself?

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Marcus, Jim, Vish and Pete are back to answer more of your burning questions, as we revel in football’s stupid stuff and a listener writes to us after attending that chaotic Norwegian promotion ding dong last week.

Plus, we look into how football can stop eating itself, deciding the only answer is to have more sex in Marvel films. Or bao buns.

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Is a draw in Tbilisi - thanks to a 92nd minute equaliser - enough to rid Scotland of their dreaded curse? Marcus, Pete, Jim and Vish call for any curse experts to help them solve that mystery.

They also speculate whether Gareth Southgate is cooking up any experiments in his lab ahead of England vs Malta and debate which of today’s Ramblers have the cutest dad… It’s The Preview Show!

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The all-important milestone is upon us: it’s 211 days until Euro 2024!

But seriously, the current England squad is full of ridiculous talents and a fair few figures who divide opinion – not least Gareth Southgate himself. So today, Marcus and Luke try and make sense of it all!

They pick their best England XI for next summer and answer your questions about the biggest challenges Southgate faces. Don’t miss it!

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The FA Cup first round reached its conclusion last night. So today, Pete decided to bring the magic of the cup into the studio, quite literally…

Donny’s joined on the show by Marcus, Luke and Jim who all have to listen to his travel advice for Malta and – erm – Horsham, before Marcus finally puts Pete in detention for slagging off Harry Maguire. Plus, Luke explains why John Stones could be one of England's best-ever defenders.

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Poch ’n Pep treated us to another classic! Marcus, Luke, Vish and Jim relive Chelsea 4-4 Manchester City – a glorious game full of good goals, controversial goals, and goals scored with ballsacks. Join us!

Elsewhere, Marcus tries to sign everyone up to the England national team, Jonathan Pearce shows off his rich knowledge of astronomy and John Hartson takes a trip to the Toby Calfery. Plus, a disastrous tifo mishap in Switzerland. Cone om!

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Arsenal is monitoring Girona defender Miguel Gutierrez as they seek to strengthen their squad.

The Gunners boast some of the finest players in the Premier League and are committed to enhancing their options.

While Oleksandr Zinchenko holds the primary position at left-back, Arsenal has also utilised players such as Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior, and Jurrien Timber in that role.

Despite having Kieran Tierney, who is currently on loan at Real Sociedad this season, Arsenal is in pursuit of a new player for that position.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners are closely tracking Girona’s Miguel Gutiérrez, who has been making a notable impact in the Spanish top flight.

A top Ukrainian military officer working under the command of the head of Ukraine’s top general played a central role in the undersea bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, the Washington Post and Der Spiegel jointly reported on Saturday.

The two publications said that unnamed officials in the US and Europe had identified Roman Chervinsky, a 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, as “coordinator” of the September 26, 2022 Nord Stream bombing in which three explosions ruptured two pipelines that transport gas from under the Baltic Sea Russia to Germany. The reports say that Chervinsky “took orders from more senior Ukrainian officials, who ultimately reported to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer.”

The initially mysterious 2022 explosions created an international whodunnit. Many initially blamed Russia. In February, the investigative reporter Seymour Hersh published a report claiming the United States was behind the blasts. Russia has echoed that claim.

But the Post’s report is the latest information to emerge suggesting Ukraine was responsible. Ukraine benefited from the Nord Stream disabling—even before the war, its citizens were vocal critics of the pipelines, which bypassed the country and cost Kiev revenue it had previously received from transporting Russian gas toward Western Europe. As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine in 2022, Germany, under US pressure, shut down the pipeline. But the prospect of its resumed operation, which would earn Moscow revenue it could use to wage war, gave Ukraine a motive.

Chervinsky denied playing any part in the sabotage. “All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” he said in a statement to news outlets.

If Donald Trump wins back the presidency, he plans to quickly detain millions of undocumented immigrants in vast camps in Texas, try to end birthright citizenship, renew a version of his effort to ban Muslims from entering the United States, and deny visas to foreigners whose politics his advisers don’t like, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The draconian measures are part of a “blitz” described by far-right Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller—as an effort to execute an array of problematic, and in some cases clearly illegal, steps to restrict legal immigration and deport millions before immigration-rights lawyers and federal courts can catch up.

Trump’s anti-immigrant plan is the latest detailed authoritarian blueprint to emerge from within the indicted former president’s brain trust. Trump, if elected, also reportedly plans to immediately invoke the Insurrection Act to “ allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations,” end civil service protections so he can fire large swaths of the federal workforce, and use the Justice Department to prosecute critics and political enemies.

It may not be news that Trump wants to do such things. But the specificity and resolve with which his advisers are preparing to implement his wishes is a major departure from Trump’s frenetic past attempts. Throughout his first term in office, Trump’s malicious intentions were often thwarted by his administration’s inexperience, incompetence, and advisers who tried to instill some presidential norms and prevent their boss from violating the law. Trump and his remaining loyalists, the Times notes, believe they will face no such restraints in a second term.

Here are further details of the measures Trump is planning, according to the Times:

Fabio Vieira received a quick red card after being subbed on for Arsenal against Burnley today.

The Gunners won the game 3-1 and had a 2-1 lead when Vieira entered the game to make an impact.

They eventually scored another goal through Oleksandr Zinchenko, but Vieira was sent off with a straight red card nine minutes later for a high-foot challenge.

The midfielder appeared shocked; although his high foot did not seem malicious, it was deemed dangerous.

Former Manchester City player Nedum Onuoha was on punditry duty during the game and explained why the foul warranted a sending-off.

Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has praised Mikel Arteta’s work after Arsenal defeated his team 3-1 today.

The Clarets were eager to secure a Premier League win against a top side like Arsenal, which would have provided a morale boost.

They began the fixture well defensively, and it appeared they might earn a point, but Arsenal opened the scoring late in the first half.

This setback affected Burnley, and they went on to lose the match despite equalising after halftime.

Mikel Arteta’s men were the superior team, and Kompany acknowledges that his side faced a formidable opponent who is much better than them.

Among the thousands of people who should have spent more time thinking before posting about Israel and Hamas, Sen. Tom Cotton may have just taken the prize.

The Arkansas Republican on Thursday jumped on what he called “reports” that freelance photographers who documented Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israelis “almost certainly knew about the attack in advance” and “even participated” in the plot. He fired off a letter demanding that the Justice Department “immediately open a national security investigation” into four media outlets that employed the journalists: CNN, the Associated Press, Reuters, and the New York Times—the latter of which Cotton has, infamously, written for.

Hours later, the head of an Israeli media watchdog organization whose speculation had sparked these accusations against the journalists admitted he had no evidence for it. Gil Hoffman, who runs “HonestReporting”—a website that says it aims to combat media disinformation about Israel—said he was just “raising questions” when he suggested in a widely circulated online post Wednesday that the freelancers who took photographs of Hamas invaders during their attack must have known it was coming: “Is it conceivable to assume that ‘journalists’ just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists?” the site asked. “Or were they part of the plan?”

Hoffman told the AP on Thursday that those were “legitimate questions” but also said he accepted the subsequent explanations from some of the freelancers he impugned that they had not, in fact, conspired with the terrorists to commit mass murder. Hoffman also said: “We don’t claim to be a news organization.”

The real news organizations that Hoffman was questioning have responded to his post by stating that they did not have advance knowledge of the attack and that they have no indication the freelance journalists they paid did either. The earliest photo at issue, published by Reuters, was taken 45 minutes after Hamas gunmen entered Israel, the outlet said. All available evidence suggests that Palestinian reporters, who live in the geographically tiny Gaza strip, rushed to the scene of major news event, “doing what photojournalists always do during major news events,” as the Times said.

Leandro Trossard was inspirational as Arsenal defeated Burnley 3-1 in the Premier League this afternoon.

The Gunners needed to win after losing their last league game to Newcastle United and were winless in two domestic matches. Burnley proved to be a tough opponent in the first half as Arsenal probed their tough defence relentlessly.

Vincent Kompany’s men looked solid and nearly took the lead against the run of play. However, it was mostly Arsenal in the first half and it was fully deserved when Trossard opened the scoring by putting his body on the line to get to a cross from Saka at the back post.

Burnley hit back in the 54th minute through Josh Brownhill, thanks to a wicked deflection and it looked like it could be one of those days for the lads. However, Arsenal restored their lead three minutes later through William Saliba thanks to a wicked corner by Trossard.

Oleksandr Zinchenko extended Arsenal’s lead in the 74th minute after Burnley failed to clear another Trossard corner properly. Burnley worked hard and wanted to get back in the game, but Arsenal was the better side.

Arsenal need to beat Burnley today to maintain pressure on Man City at the top, and this is the side that Mikel Arteta has just announced to complete that task.

𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎

Tomiyasu at the back
Jorginho captains the side
Saka starts in attack

Let's do this, Gunners pic.twitter.com/lylNtKmmVl

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 11, 2023

Arsenal Women began their Continental Cup defense with a 3-1 victory over Bristol City on Thursday night, 9th November. Frida Maanum opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and Lotte Wubben Moy extended the lead nine minutes later. Bristol City attempted a comeback, with Sille Struck scoring in the 70th minute, but the recovery was foiled when Stina Blackstenius scored Arsenal’s third in the fifth minute of added time.

Michelle Maxwell

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Mikel Arteta believes Aaron Ramsdale would be unwise to leave Arsenal during the winter transfer window. The Englishman is without a doubt Arsenal’s second-choice goalkeeper, having only appeared twice in the last 13 Arsenal games, both of which were in the Carabao League Cup. He hasn’t appeared in the league or the Champions League since the September international break.

With the Euros slated for next summer, Ramsdale needs to play more in the next few months. Gareth Southgate cautioned Ramsdale that he needs to play more, because he can’t promise he’ll be in his team when the next international break arrives if he hasn’t been playing frequently.

“We’ll just have to see how things go. I had that conversation with him in the last camp,” Southgate said via Sky Sports. “He’s still fighting for the No. 1 spot at Arsenal, and his profile and the way he can use the ball with his feet is something we like and think is important.”

“But there is a reality as a keeper. if we get to March and he’s six months without playing regularly, then I’m never going to promise things that I couldn’t guarantee delivering. So he knows that; he’s perfectly realistic about that.”

While Southgate warns Ramsdale, Mikel Arteta has intimated that Ramsdale might still get plenty of time to play. The Spaniard says Ramsdale, who he thinks is still vital to his squad, will still play a significant role for Arsenal this season. That is why he does not want him to make a hasty choice about his Arsenal future during the winter transfer window.