5 d. ago ‘Hating soccer is more American than apple pie’: the World Cup nobody wanted the US to host

Glitzy draws, OJ-era chaos, grass laid over AstroTurf and a host nation that barely cared – the 1994 World Cup arrived amid suspicion and slapstick. Yet it became a watershed that would alter US sport and global football politics alike“The United States was chosen,” the columnist George Vecsey wrote in the New York Times in 1994, “because of all the money to be made here, not because of any soccer prowess. Our country has been rented as a giant stadium and hotel and television studio.” Nobody could seriously doubt that. The USA had played in only two World Cups since the second world war and hadn’t had a national professional league for a decade. And that meant there was a great deal of skepticism from outsiders, even after Fifa made it clear there would be no wacky law changes to try to appeal to the domestic audience: Would anybody actually turn up to watch?But there was also hostility in the United States. A piece in USA Today on the day of the draw told Americans they were right...

Politics

2 w. ago Asylum seeker who entered illegally on small boat twice is hit with 7 word statement from judge

A asylum seeker has been jailed after crossing the channel on a small boat on two separate occasions

Events

3 w. ago Hundreds protest against plans to house 600 lone male asylum seekers in army barracks near their homes

Furious residents have taken to the streets once again in a major backlash against government plans to move hundreds of lone male asylum seekers into an army training camp on the edge of Crowborough.

Events

3 w. ago Angry neighbours of new camp for 600 lone male asylum seekers hit out at school for telling children to be 'kind and caring' to new arrivals

Crowborough's Army Training Camp in East Sussex is set to move in hundreds of lone male migrants by January - news locals only found out after it was leaked to a newspaper.

Events

3 w. ago I fear for Katie Price. I overdosed twice on cocaine. Now I'm an OnlyFans millionaire, my children go to private school: KERRY KATONA tells everything in the most jaw

What with the drugs and the bankruptcies and the gruesome surgeries and the toxic relationships (not least with herself), Jenny Johnston asks: how on earth is Kerry Katona still here?

Economics

3 w. ago Security ramps up in town awaiting arrival of 600 lone male asylum seekers as residents are told they'll only get '48 hours' notice' before migrants move onto army base

Residents are in revolt over the plans for Crowborough Army Training Camp in East Sussex, with thousands of people turning out every week for noisy protests.

Events

3 w. ago ‘No safe place to go’: people sent back to France under ‘one in, one out’ deal tell of desperation

In Paris, a group of those returned from UK as part of the immigration scheme say they feel frightened and hopelessAfran, an Iranian asylum seeker, sits forlornly across the road from a Paris shelter, hemmed in between vast slabs of concrete and thundering trains above. He has been here before – seven weeks ago, to be precise. The second time, he says, is as terrifying as his first.Afran – not his real name – hit the headlines when he became the first asylum seeker to return to the UK in a small boat after being removed to France under the controversial “one in, one out” scheme on 19 September. He was sent back to Paris for the second time on 5 November. Continue reading...

Economics

4 w. ago Workers begin converting army barracks into camp that will house 600 male migrants on edge of town

Residents are furious at the plans for Crowborough Army Training Camp in East Sussex, with 2,000 people flooding the streets for a noisy protest yesterday.

Events

4 w. ago Cries of 'Starmer out' as thousands protest against plans to house 600 lone male asylum seekers in an army camp on the edge of their town

The march in Crowborough, East Sussex, this morning followed an angry public meeting where local politicians were shouted at and chased out of the community centre hall.

Events