United crush Athletic dreams in Bilbao on best night of Amorim’s reign

A few hundred metres from the Guggenheim Museum, Manchester United painted an unlikely, unforgettable picture of their own. It felt more surrealist than modern art but a team who had been failing and floundering at home, who risked being officially the worst United side in decades, entered one of the most intimidating atmospheres any of them will encounter, went 3-0 up in the first half of a European semi-final and dominated. Nothing, Ruben Amorim had said, could save their season, but that was before the finest night of his reign, before a return to the Champions League, which once looked a pipe dream, felt all too real. Before this. “Nobody expected this result,” said Amorim. It was, he willingly admitted, the best of his tenure.

It prompted the question of where this United had been all season but if the answer was in Bilbao, in the San Mames, that is fortuitous. United can plan for a return in the final, perhaps to face Tottenham, the Premier League’s two greatest underachievers duelling for European glory. For Athletic Bilbao, the incentive of a hometown final could turn into a first-hand illustration of what they could have won, their ambitions crushed in 16 minutes of cruelty as United scored three times. “One foot in the final,” said Harry Maguire, whose right foot had acquired magical properties.

An extraordinary, explosive first half had its heroes for United and a villain for Athletic, the referee Espen Eskas jeered off after sending off Dani Vivian. Yet United could marvel at what they had seen. A crucial goal-line clearance from Victor Lindelof at 0-0, perhaps a parting gift from a player who is set to leave in the summer. Two assists from Manuel Ugarte, one backheeled with an elan he has rarely demonstrated. A thunderbolt from Noussair Mazraoui that rattled the bar. Maguire doing his best impression of Stanley Matthews. “What a winger,” smiled Bruno Fernandes. “I don’t think he even knew he had that in his locker.”

If it all felt rather improbable, there was at least a hint of predictability in the identity of the two talismanic figures. Casemiro has been resurgent of late, offering a reminder why he has won the Champions League more often than United. Fernandes has been magnificent for much of a torrid season. He may end it lifting the Europa League, as both its top scorer and player of the tournament. A brace in Bilbao took his tally to seven, his composure under pressure apparent first from the penalty spot and then when through on goal.

It meant that United scored three goals in the first half of an away knockout game in Europe for the first time since 1966, since the days of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. Now they have more goals in the Europa League than the Premier League in 2025. Some 14 of them have come in their last four games, eight in the last two.

Casemiro has been a catalyst, the defensive midfielder who lends quality in attack. The quintuple Champions League winner had a part in all three late goals against Lyon. This was another colossal contribution towards getting a medal from the Europa League. But, as against Lyon, he had an accomplice. Then Maguire got the 121st-minute winner. This was still more unlikely, strapping centre-back doing his best impression of a tricky right winger, a mazy run taking him past Mikel Jaureguizar twice before his cross was flicked on by Ugarte and headed in by Casemiro. “It was nice to do a bit of dribbling,” said Maguire; not a sentence he has uttered often.

Then came a moment that, for a club with a lone trophy in four decades, may live long in Basque memories. Rasmus Hojlund was tugged back by Vivian, prevented from reaching Mazraoui’s cross. It happened in a blur. Referee Eskas missed it and was sent to the monitor. His eventual decision was doubly damaging for Athletic, with Vivian red-carded. Fernandes rolled in the spot kick. “It’s been too much of a punishment,” said manager Ernesto Valverde, further aggrieved by a belief Alejandro Garnacho had handled in the build-up.

But with Bilbao deprived of Vivian and after Valverde made a first-half double change, United had a third. Released in remarkable fashion by Ugarte, Fernandes placed his shot beyond Julen Aguirrzebala.

For United, who had squandered a 2-0 lead against Lyon, who had contrived to go behind to the 10 men of the French club, there were some similarities. But a third goal lent a difference, too. While Casemiro hit the post in the second half, a 180-minute tie felt decided in 45. Amorim nevertheless claimed: “This is not done and they can do the same at Old Trafford.”

His message was to remember Bilbao’s initial assault. “We have to think more about the first 20 minutes than the rest of the game,” he said. “We struggled a lot at the beginning and the sending off changed the game.” Slightly offside, Alejandro Garnacho had a goal chalked off but it was early evidence of United’s counterattacking intent and incision. Yet Inaki Williams ghosted in to head over, missing a golden chance. Lindelof needed to hack Alex Berenguer’s shot off the line. Had Luke Shaw or Matthijs de Ligt or Diogo Dalot been fit to start, Lindelof might not have done, but the understudy excelled. Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation was a benefit at the start, enabling United to pass the ball around at the back.

They showed a calmness on an occasion of rare intensity. The San Mames was drowning in noise. “The atmosphere was crazy,” said Fernandes. “I knew they were very passionate, but never knew it was like this.” The entire city felt dressed in red and white, an obsession apparent in crowded streets. But, come 21 May, it may be the red of United that fills them. “We want our fans to travel twice to Bilbao,” said Fernandes. They surely will.

Sycamore Gap suspect claims he was framed by person ‘stirring the pot’

A man accused of chopping down the Sycamore Gap tree told police he had been “fixed up” as officers searching his home discovered a phone with a video showing a wedge of wood in his car boot, a jury has heard.

Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, told officers he was being framed for the crime as part of a dispute with someone “stirring the pot”, Newcastle Crown Court heard on Thursday.

Speaking in his first police interview, Mr Graham denied cutting down the sycamore, claiming he was not trained to fell anything as large as the famous tree that stood beside Hadrian’s Wall.

Prosecutors told the jury photographs and two short videos found on Mr Graham’s phone on the day of his arrest showed a piece of wood next to a chainsaw in the boot of his Range Rover.

Earlier in the trial, prosecutor Richard Wright KC suggested that Mr Graham and his co-accused Adam Carruthers, 32, took a wedge of the Sycamore Gap tree “perhaps as some sort of trophy”.

Mr Graham, of Carlisle, and Mr Carruthers, a mechanic from Wigton, Cumbria, each deny two counts of causing criminal damage to both the tree and Hadrian’s Wall, which the sycamore hit as it came down on the night of 27 September 2023.

The prosecution said the pair travelled from Carlisle to the Northumberland landmark, where one used a chainsaw to fell the tree while the other filmed it on Mr Graham’s mobile phone.

Jurors on Thursday were told that forensic video analyst Emiliano Polito had “no doubt” the vehicle in the video showing a piece of wood and chainsaw in the boot – taken in the hours after the Sycamore Gap was felled – was Mr Graham’s Range Rover.

The video was on Mr Graham’s phone, the prosecution said, which was found inside a jacket pocket hanging in a caravan during a search of the suspect’s home following his arrest on 31 October 2023.

Two chainsaws were also seized from a work shed.

During police interview on the day of his arrest, Mr Graham told officers he thought he was being “fixed up” and mentioned a “fake profile” and a “p*key down the road” when asked with whom he was in dispute.

He told police there had been an altercation in which his friend Mr Carruthers was assaulted, and Facebook messages later appeared, accusing the pair of felling the Sycamore Gap tree.

“Someone stirring the pot,” Mr Graham told officers. When asked if the dispute had finished, he replied: “Obviously it’s not finished because I’m f****** in here.”

The jury also heard how Mr Graham had 11 vehicles connected to his business. He told police in an interview that he did not know if anyone had been using his Range Rover on the night the Sycamore Gap tree came down.

He also told police that he would lend his mobile phone to other people.

In a second interview, when asked if he filmed the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree on his mobile, and when questioned on the video and photograph showing a chunk of tree and chainsaw in the boot of a vehicle, he answered “no comment”.

The jury heard that Mr Carruthers was also first questioned by police on 31 October 2023.

He told police he did not remember what he had been doing on the night the Sycamore Gap tree had been felled, but he had probably been helping his partner look after their newborn baby.

Asked if he had felled a tree before, Mr Carruthers replied: “If someone said ‘there’s a tree and there’s a saw, cut that down,’ I’d have a go but I’ve never done it.” He added: “I wouldn’t be keen doing it, I wouldn’t jump at the chance if I’m honest, like. I wouldn’t fancy that – I’ll stick with spanners.”

Jurors heard that despite the police undertaking extensive searches, the chainsaw the two men allegedly used to cut down the tree and a wedge of the trunk prosecutors say they took were never found.

The trial continues.

Is Ed Miliband, Labour’s green conscience, about to be dumped?

If Tony Blair was trying to push Ed Miliband out of the government with his criticism of phasing out fossil fuels too quickly, it was political rather than personal.

“It’s not that I don’t like Ed, because I do,” the former prime minister told students at King’s College London last month, when he explained that he thought the 2010 leadership election was “really significant”.

He said that “if Labour had chosen the other Miliband brother”, it would have been “a credible contender in the 2015 election”, but that Ed “was not in the right policy place to win”.

Blair evidently still thinks that, and believes that the energy secretary’s policies are a potential liability for Labour at the next election. He wrote in the foreword to his institute’s paper on climate change policy this week: “Voters feel they’re being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal.”

But does Keir Starmer agree with him?

He appeared not to. His spokesperson told journalists on Wednesday that the prime minister “absolutely” had confidence in Miliband as energy secretary. “He’s doing a fantastic job, winning the global race for the jobs of the future and securing people’s energy bills.”

The problem is that Starmer has often been absolutely, definitely and totally in favour of things that he later turned out not to be in favour of at all. In February last year, two days before he and Rachel Reeves dropped the plan to invest £28bn a year in green projects, he said it was “desperately needed”.

Last month, he told an international summit on energy security at Lancaster House that “the clean energy transition” was “in the DNA of my government”. So it cannot be long before the government’s unrealistic targets for the transition are revised.

But how long? And will the coming course correction cost Miliband his job?

My view is that Miliband will not resign voluntarily. He has shown that he is prepared to compromise for the sake of the greater good, which is that he should be in the cabinet as Labour’s green conscience. He accepted the ditching of the £28bn. More recently, he accepted a third runway for Heathrow. Longer ago, in Gordon Brown’s cabinet, he also accepted a third runway – it was only in the 14 years in between that he was opposed.

Other compromises will present themselves as the costs of the drive to net zero become explicit. Reeves has made it clear that they will not be borne by the Treasury, and Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, and Morgan McSweeney, the prime minister’s chief of staff, will not allow them to be passed to consumers. Miliband will have to act as the government’s green shield as it retreats from some of its more ambitious targets.

At some point, however, Starmer may decide that he agrees with Blair that Miliband’s approach is a vote-loser and therefore a bar to genuine green progress. When Starmer’s spokesperson was asked if Miliband enjoyed the same job security as Reeves and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, who Starmer has said will stay in post for the whole of this parliament, the question was dodged: “The PM absolutely backs the energy secretary, as I said.”

So Miliband could be moved in the next shuffle, either in the summer or at the end of the year. It may be that Starmer will thank him for his hard work on the government’s net zero strategy and at Cop30, the next global climate summit in Brazil in November, offer him a different job, which he would turn down.

Miliband remains extremely popular among Labour members, coming top of the cabinet favourability league table by some distance in the Survation poll for Labour List last month, ahead of Angela Rayner, Hilary Benn and Lisa Nandy. But – irony of ironies – he no longer holds the sway among the trade unions that he once did.

Sharon Graham, the leader of Unite, the union that delivered the Labour leadership to him in 2010 against the votes of party members for his brother, has come out this week in support of Blair on net zero.

Starmer has long been described as a friend of Miliband’s. As party leader, Miliband helped ensure that the former public prosecutor landed the safe seat of Holborn and St Pancras. But if Starmer has proved one thing since he arrived in parliament, it is that he is more ruthless than anyone thought possible.

If Starmer decides that Miliband is an electoral liability, therefore, he will go.

Harrods targeted by cyber hackers in latest attack on UK retailer

Harrods has been targeted by cyber hackers in the latest attempted cyber attack on major UK retailers.

The luxury London department store confirmed it has been fighting “attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems” after major brands Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group recently endured similar incidents.

The store said it had been forced to restrict internet access across its sites on Thursday as a precautionary measure, but reassured customers they can continue to shop on its sites.

It comes as a cybersecurity expert warned the flurry of high-profile hacks seen recently are only “the tip of an iceberg of attacks daily”.

In a statement issued on Thursday, a Harrods spokesperson told The Independent: “We recently experienced attempts to gain unauthorised access to some of our systems.

“Our seasoned IT security team immediately took proactive steps to keep systems safe and as a result we have restricted internet access at our sites today.

“Currently all sites including our Knightsbridge store, H beauty stores and airport stores remain open to welcome customers.”

They said customers could also continue to shop on the Harrods’ website.

“We are not asking our customers to do anything differently at this point and we will continue to provide updates as necessary,” they added.

The attempted hack comes after Marks & Spencer confirmed on Thursday that it is unable to hire new workers as the retail giant continues to battle disruption to its operations from a damaging cyber attack.

It is now more than a week since the company’s IT systems were first hit by a major ransomware attack, which the Metropolitan Police confirmed the force is investigating.

The retailer is still not taking online orders and availability of some products in its stores was impacted after it took some of its systems offline in response.

M&S first reported issues over the Easter weekend, when it stopped taking click-and-collect orders and saw contactless payments impacted by the “cyber incident”. It has since restarted contactless payments.

In a separate incident, rival retailer The Co-op shut off parts of its IT systems on Wednesday after an attempted hack.

It said some of its back office and call centre services have been affected but that all stores, including grocery and funeral homes, are trading as usual.

The BBC reported on Thursday that staff at the business are being ordered to keep cameras on and verify identities on all remote work meetings as a result.

Speaking to The Independent earlier this week, Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at the University of Surrey, said the major incidents were among daily attacks perpetrated by criminals against UK businesses.

“These are high-profile names so make the headlines, but they are the tip of an iceberg of attacks daily,” he said.

Urgent help from Europe on way as Israel blaze burns 5,000 acres

Israel’s allies in Europe are sending over aid in the coming hours to tackle blazing wildfires after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the situation a national emergency, pleading for international aid.

Wildfires raging outside of Jerusalem have reportedly destroyed almost 5,000 acres of land, including 3,000 acres of forest, according to Fire and Rescue Services.

Firefighter planes from Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Italy will arrive to tackle the blaze in the coming hours, with reports that Ukraine, Spain, France and more have also committed to sending aid.

The cause of the flames remain unclear, although Mr Netanyahu said that 18 people had been arrested on suspicion of igniting the wildfires.

At least a dozen people have been hospitalised and 10 have been treated in the field by medical professionals.

“This is perhaps the largest fire ever in the country,” Jerusalem’s district fire department commander Shmulik Friedman told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

He warned that winds of 60 miles an hour were making the situation challenging and could dramatically increasing the risk of the fires “in the near future”.

“It will continue for a very long time. We are far from having control.”

How online schools can help children form friendships as they learn

When thinking about the best education for your child, it’s naturally not just academic success that comes to mind. A good quality school experience is made up of many parts and one key element is the socialising opportunities that school can provide. Socialisation is crucial for building social skills, growing emotional intelligence and helping children form their own individual identity, as well as giving them an additional incentive to attend a place where they have fun and feel part of a community.

While it might be assumed that the social options are reduced when children attend online school, this is not the case. In fact, there are a number of advantages in terms of the structures, support and diverse social opportunities offered to children who join online schools.

Online schools give students the opportunity to form connections with a much more diverse community of students. The online model allows schools to welcome young people from around the world and this gives pupils a chance to make friends with students from differing backgrounds and cultures. Furthermore, this means they can meet more like-minded individuals and form stronger bonds and more meaningful friendships. This access to such a big and vibrant community also ensures that students can really find ‘their people’ and avoids situations where students are stuck in small circles or forced to engage with classmates that don’t share the same interests or passions.

This is something that Grace, who is now in year 13, has experienced since moving to online school. At her previous school, she was struggling with socialisation and felt that she didn’t really have a self-identity. At an online school, she has found she can be more herself. “A lot of people think that online school is about being alone, but I’ve found that without the physical element, I can express myself better,” Grace explains.  Subsequently, the majority of her closest friends are from her online school and many she has met offline too. “I feel like I’ve met my people,” she says.

Isabella, who is in year 10, has also found that her experience of socialising at an online school has suited her much more than previous bricks and mortar schools. With her father’s job meaning the family moves country every three years, she has always previously struggled forming new friendships at the schools she joins. “I’m always the ‘new’ student, and it’s tough,” she says. After experiences with bullying, she found that online school is an environment she can thrive in. “You don’t have to turn on your camera or use your microphones if you’re not feeling comfortable. I’m not really a ‘social’ person, but I have made some friends here because we have these breakout rooms where we can talk to each other,” she adds.

While young people might not be meeting their fellow students physically every day, online schools put in place extensive measures to ensure that socialising is available for those who want to. This can be seen clearly at King’s InterHigh, the UK’s leading global online school which welcomes children aged 7 to 19 from across the world. Here, students join a warm and welcoming community with a huge range of opportunities for socialising. There’s dozens of clubs and societies for students across all year groups, representing a vast range of interests from chess to technology, sculpture to debate. Throughout the yearly student calendar, there are a number of events, showcases, and competitions of all kinds that provide a chance to socialise in different settings. Some happen internally, like the King’s InterHigh Arts Festival, while others allow students to interact with peers from outside their school when attending events like the International Robotics Competition.

Assemblies bring students together on a weekly basis and give them the chance to celebrate each other’s achievements, hear from their Student Council representatives, and find out what’s coming up at school. Each student is also assigned to one of the school’s eight houses and these smaller, tight-knit communities bring students a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Additionally, inter-house competitions are a fun and friendly way for students to engage and bond.

Although much socialising can come as a result of activities organised by the school, students at King’s InterHigh who are aged over 13 can continue building these relationships in a more informal setting thanks to the in-house, monitored, social media platform. Restricted solely to school students, the platform is safe, secure, and monitored to ensure a positive socialising environment for all those who choose to use it.

Online schools don’t just offer opportunities to socialise online but also offer ample opportunities to cement these connections in offline settings. At King’s InterHigh, there are global meet-ups throughout the year which bring together families allowing both children and parents and guardians to connect in real life. Regular educational school trips, from Geography excursions to science practical exams at other Inspired schools (the group of premium schools of which King’s InterHigh is part of) also allow children to socialise and have fun together in different settings.

Meanwhile, the annual summer camps, themed around a variety of interests and passions, including adventure sports, fashion, football, and tennis, are open to students across all Inspired schools and are held at spectacular Inspired campuses worldwide. Furthermore, the Inspired Global Exchange Programme offers a range of school exchange opportunities, lasting from one week to a full academic year.

Choosing where to educate your children is a big decision for any parent or guardian that involves many factors. However, when it comes to the social benefits, for the right child, online schools offer something truly transformative. To find out more about King’s InterHigh and whether it might be the right learning choice for your family, visit King’s InterHigh

How long will UK’s spring mini heatwave last?

The UK has basked in the warmest start to May on record as temperatures continued to soar during a mini heatwave this week.

Kew Gardens, in south-west London, registered 29.3C on Thursday afternoon, the Met Office said, taking it past the previous 1 May record high temperature of 27.4C at Lossiemouth in Moray in 1990 – and more than 10C above average.

Thursday was also the warmest day of the year so far beating the previous high of 26.7C reached in Wisley, Surrey, on Wednesday, the agency said.

Firefighters were battling wildfires and warnings were issued over the “hidden dangers” of open water swimming after the recovery of a 16-year-old boy’s body from a lake in Nottingham.

However, the unusually hot weather is still likely to fall just outside of official Met Office heatwave thresholds, according to the forecaster’s deputy chief meteorologist David Oliver. To officially qualify as a heatwave, temperatures must hit a certain temperature – of 25C across much of Britain, rising to 28C in London – for three consecutive days.

Thursday is set to mark the peak of the heat, according to Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell, with temperatures expected to dip over the weekend and much of the UK feeling noticeably cooler than in recent days.

Temperatures should start to ease on Friday, with Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon saying on Thursday afternoon: “Temperatures tomorrow will be slightly reduced from what we’ve seen today, possibly 26 or 27 degrees in the far south-east of England through the day tomorrow.”

The Met Office warned of a low risk of some heavy showers or thunderstorms developing later on Thursday and into Friday, although most areas should remain largely dry.

In its forecast for later on Thursday, the agency said: “Any showers or thunderstorms easing, though one or two showers perhaps persisting in the south. Clearer and colder in the northwest with a patchy frost, and a few coastal showers.”

The Met Office then predicted Friday will bring “some showery rain across central areas at first, though dying out during the morning. Cooler with variable cloud and scattered showers in the north, whilst remaining warmer in the south.”

Cooler conditions are expected over the weekend, with Saturday set to bring temperatures of 14C to 18C across the UK.

Over the weekend, the forecaster predicted: “Scattered showers in the south at times, and a few further north, though a lot of dry weather for many with some sunshine. Temperatures dropping, becoming rather cool in places.”

The weather is likely to become more changeable next week as dry, settled periods are interspersed with spells of wetter weather and temperatures closer to the monthly average for May.