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Nuno set to take over at West Ham after Potter sacking

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Matt DavisBBC Sport senior journalist and Sami MokbelSenior football correspondent

West Ham are set to appoint former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo after sacking head coach Graham Potter.

Portuguese Nuno is expected to be in place before Monday’s match against Everton, saying he has had positive talks with the West Ham board.

Potter was dismissed on Saturday morning after just eight months, with the club struggling in 19th place in the Premier League.

The Hammers picked up only three points from their opening five Premier League games this season under the Englishman.

The east London club said they “believe that a change is necessary in order to help improve the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible”.

They added: “Results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of the 2025-26 season have not matched expectations.”

Potter, 50, had been preparing for Monday night’s game at Everton and fulfilled his media duties on Friday, saying he believed he had the board’s backing after “positive talks”.

After last Saturday’s home defeat by Crystal Palace, BBC Sport reported the club were considering managerial alternatives and discussions with Nuno have accelerated over the past 72 hours.

Nuno, 51, was sacked after 21 months in charge at Forest – and just three games into this season.

Last term he guided the club to seventh in the Premier League – their highest finish since 1994-95 – as they qualified for Europe for the first time in three decades.

Potter took charge of 25 matches after being appointed in January – winning just six times – while they finished last season in 14th place in the league.

“The board would like to thank Graham and his coaching staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers and wish them every success for the future,” the club added.

“The process of appointing a replacement is under way. The club will be making no further comment at this time.”

What went wrong for Potter?

Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace was West Ham’s fifth in six league and cup games this season.

Potter replaced Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked in January after six months in charge, with the Hammers 14th in the table.

“It’s a proud day to be head coach of this amazing club, big tradition, big history, big expectations, big challenge,” Potter said when he was appointed on 9 January 2025.

But the former Chelsea and Brighton boss found wins difficult to come by.

West Ham, who sold Ghana forward Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham for £55m in July, spent £126m on eight new arrivals in the summer transfer window, including the £38m purchase of Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes from Southampton in August.

But losses to Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham and Palace have left the club in the bottom three. They also went out of the Carabao Cup in the second round with a 3-2 defeat against fellow strugglers Wolves.

That led to West Ham issuing a statement acknowledging “results and performances on the pitch over the past two seasons have not met the standards we set for ourselves”.

However, disgruntled fans staged a demonstration against the club’s board before the Palace match and now the owners have reacted by dismissing Potter.

Poor results on the pitch led to Potter becoming a viral trend on social media, with people using AI technology to swap his face on to other celebrities, including Barbie, Donald Trump and the Chuckle Brothers.

Speaking on Friday, Potter said he had not been taking it too seriously.

“It made my 15-year-old son laugh a lot so you have to accept what comes with it [the job],” he said.

“At times [that is] ridicule but that is just the environment we are in and it is what it is.”

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Drones seen over Danish military bases in latest air disruption

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Ian Aikman

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Drones have been seen near military facilities including Denmark’s largest, following a series of incidents that caused air disruption earlier this week.

The devices were observed above Karup airbase, among others, forcing it to briefly close its airspace to commercial traffic. Possible sightings were also reported in Germany, Norway and Lithuania.

It is the latest in a string of suspicious drone activity in Denmark, raising concerns about the nation’s vulnerability to aerial attack and sparking fears of potential Russian involvement.

Danish authorities said Thursday’s incursions appeared to be a “hybrid attack”, but cautioned that they had no evidence to suggest Moscow was behind it.

Friday’s incident took place around 20:15 local time (18:15 GMT) and lasted several hours, duty officer Simon Skelsjaer told news agency AFP.

He said police could not comment on where the drones had come from as they had not shot them down, adding that police were co-operating with the Danish military in their investigation.

Though civil airspace above the base was briefly closed, it had no impact because no commercial flights were scheduled in the area at the time, Skelsjaer said.

The Danish Defence Ministry confirmed that drones were sighted near multiple military installations overnight, but did not specify which ones. It said it would not comment further.

The other military installations have not been named by Danish state media.

Some 3,500 people work at Karup airbase, which is home to all of the Danish Armed Forces’ helicopters, airspace surveillance and parts of the Danish Defence Command.

The incursions come just days after drones over Danish airports – some of which also housed military facilities – forced airports to shut down and close their airspace.

On Monday, Copenhagen airport closed for several hours after a number of drones were spotted, while possible drone sightings also temporarily shuttered Oslo airport in Norway.

Denmark’s Aalborg and Billund airports closed due to drones above the airport on Wednesday night, while three smaller airports reported drone activity but were able to continue operating.

Suspicious drones have also been seen recently over Germany and Sweden.

There are suspicions that the wave of drone incursions may be part of a Russian strategy of indirect aggression towards Nato states supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia – though this connection has not been proven.

The Russian embassy in Copenhagen has denied “absurd speculations” of its involvement in what it described as “staged provocations”.

Denmark’s defence minister said the “hybrid attack” was the work of a “professional actor” but appeared to have been launched locally.

A hybrid attack uses a mix of military and non-military tactics and is designed to interfere with a nation’s infrastructure or institutions.

Russia has been accused of conducting hybrid attacks in the past, and Europe has been on high alert after several Nato member states reported Russian incursions in their airspaces.

Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members last week, after around 20 Russian drones crossed into Poland and Russian MiG31 jets entered Estonian airspace in separate incidents.

Romania, another Nato member, also said a Russian drone had breached its airspace.

Russia did not comment on the incident in Romania, but it denied violating Estonia’s airspace and it said the Polish incursion was not deliberate.

After Monday’s incident in Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Russian involvement could not be ruled out.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the allegations “unfounded”.

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At least 38 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight

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27 September 2025

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ISRAELI STRIKES HAVE killed at least 38 people across Gaza overnight, health officials said.

The onslaught continues despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, with Israel’s leader remaining defiant about the country’s ongoing offensive. 

Strikes in central and northern Gaza killed people in their homes in the early hours of this morning, including nine from the same family in a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to staff at the Al-Awda hospital where the bodies were brought.

The strikes demolished a house in Gaza City’s Tufah area, killing at least 11 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the Al-Ahly Hospital.

Four other people were killed when an air strike hit their homes in the Shati refugee camp, according to Shifa hospital.

Six other Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid in southern and central Gaza, according to Nasser and Al Awda hospitals where the bodies were brought.

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Hospitals and health clinics in Gaza City are on the brink of collapse. Nearly two weeks into Israel’s offensive there, two clinics have been destroyed by air strikes, two hospitals shut down after being damaged and others are barely functioning, with medicine, equipment, food and fuel in short supply.

Many patients and staff have been forced to flee hospitals, leaving behind only a few doctors and nurses to tend to children in incubators or other patients too ill to move.

On Friday, aid group Doctors Without Borders said it was forced to suspend activities in Gaza City amid the intensified Israeli offensive.

The group said Israeli tanks were less than half a mile from its health care facilities and the escalating attacks have created an “unacceptable level of risk” for its staff.

Meanwhile, the food situation in the north has also worsened, as Israel has halted aid deliveries through its crossing into northern Gaza since 12 September and has increasingly rejected UN requests to bring supplies from southern Gaza into the north, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people and wounded more than 167,000 others, according to the Palestinian health ministry. UN agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

A recent UN investigation team was the latest body to conclude that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. 

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry which does not speak on behalf of the world body, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza” and that “the responsibility lies with the State of Israel”.

Of the 251 people seized by Hamas militants during their attack on Israel in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

International pressure on Israel to end its offensive is increasing, as is Israel’s isolation, with a growing list of countries deciding recently to recognise Palestinian statehood – something Israel rejects.

Countries have been lobbying US President Donald Trump to press Israel for a ceasefire. On Friday, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he believes the US is close to achieving a deal on easing fighting in Gaza that “will get the hostages back” and “end the war”.

Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet on Monday. 

Trump said on social media on Friday that “very inspired and productive discussions” and “intense negotiations” about Gaza are ongoing with countries in the region.

However, Israel is pressing ahead with another major ground operation in Gaza City, which experts say is experiencing famine. More than 300,000 people have fled, but up to 700,000 are still there, many because they cannot afford to relocate.

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Reeves pushes for EU youth migration scheme ahead of Budget

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27 September 2025

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Rachel Reeves has pushed for an “ambitious” youth migration deal with the EU in a bid to improve the outlook of the public finances ahead of the autumn Budget.

The chancellor told the Times an exchange scheme for young workers would be “good for the economy, good for growth and good for business”.

The UK agreed to work towards a “youth experience visa” with the EU in May this year but the specifics of the scheme are still being negotiated.

Reeves also called for the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) to factor the potential economic impact of such a scheme into its forecasts ahead of the Budget, which she hopes will reduce the need for spending cuts or tax rises.

The proposal has previously been criticised by the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have said it amounts to a partial return to freedom of movement, which ended when the UK left the EU.

Such a scheme could mean those aged 18-30 could stay for two or three years, but the details are to be negotiated.

In an interview with the Times ahead of the Labour Party’s conference in Liverpool this week, the chancellor declined to specify how many visas could be issued annually under the scheme.

The UK already has similar schemes with 11 countries including Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with people able to stay for up to three years depending on where they apply from.

Under those agreements, the UK issued just over 24,000 youth mobility visas in 2024.

The OBR has previously scored UK growth down by 4% due to the original Brexit deal.

The chancellor believes that has set a precedent and that the OBR should include the projected economic upsides of a youth mobility scheme into its upcoming forecast.

Referencing the agreement between London and Brussels earlier this year, Reeves told the Times: “As a result of that reset in May, we think the economy will be stronger. We also want the OBR to score that.”

The OBR will send its first economic forecast to the treasury on Friday, which will include the gap the chancellor will need to make up in her 26 November Budget.

Much is depending on the OBR’s expected downgrade to the underlying long-term performance of the economy, or productivity. The gap could be £20 or £30 billion per year.

In response, the chancellor has stressed a series of measures aimed to help the economy grow faster, including further trade deals.

If accepted by the independent forecasters, the inclusion of the proposed EU youth mobility scheme into its calculations could theoretically limit the extent of any new tax rises.

The OBR has scored policy moves on house building and childcare as helpful to the economy in recent years.

Speculation has been rife that the chancellor will be forced to raise taxes or cut spending in order to fill the fiscal hole, despite Labour’s election promise not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT for working people.

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