Match of the Day said in a post on social media that an "incredible 52-year journey comes to an end". "Following extensive consideration, BBC Sport has made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Football Focus at the end of this season," the BBC said in a statement. Football Focus has been axed as "changing audience behaviours mean fans are now increasingly consuming football content in different ways, and we need to respond appropriately as we face difficult decisions around how the licence fee is spent", it added. It comes after the BBC announced last week that it needed to make £500m worth of savings over the next two years. Alex Kay-Jelski, head of BBC Sport, said: "Football Focus has been a hugely important programme in the history of BBC Sport, and has played a key role in telling the stories of the game for generations of viewers. "This decision was made before last week's wider BBC savings announcement, reflecting the continued shift in how audiences engage with football and our commitment to evolving how we deliver content to reach fans wherever they are." Alex Scott has presented the Saturday lunchtime programme, which was first broadcast in 1974, for the past five years. Mr Kay-Jelski said Scott "will remain at the heart of our sports output across both the Men's World Cup this year and the Women's World Cup in 2027, as well as continuing her lead role on the Women's Super League and BBC Sport Personality of the Year". Former England and Arsenal defender Scott said she was proud to have been associated with the show - but also revealed she had been due to leave the programme this year anyway. She wrote on Instagram: "52 years of an iconic football show. It's a show that I'll forever be honoured to be associated with and one that has made me grow as a presenter in a way I'll always look back on with pride. "Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey, from the bottom of my heart it means so much. Time to get excited for big summer of sport ahead." Scott added: "I always knew that this would be my last season on the show, which the BBC were aware of also. My intention was to move quietly into the next chapter, but here we are." Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker felt it was "disappointing" there was no longer to be a space in football's "constantly changing" landscape for a show which has "meant so much to so many people for so many years". Walker, who hosted the show for 12 years, wrote on X: "Really sad to hear about the end of Football Focus. I loved that show growing up. "I used to watch it every week with my dad and I remember how proud he was when I got the job. It was such a privilege to sit in the chair for 12 years, working with an amazing team on and off air and forming so many lasting friendships. "Saturdays were always special. The football landscape is constantly changing and it's disappointing that there isn't space for a show that has meant so much to so many people for so many years." Read more from Sky News:Mogul behind K-pop group faces arrestParamount's Warner Bros deal approved The BBC said The Football Interview would move into the Saturday 12.45pm slot from next season. This season, the programme has featured interviews with Bukayo Saka, Emma Hayes, Bernardo Silva, Hugo Ekitike and Michael Carrick.

The shareholders, who own Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), voted "overwhelmingly" to approve the adoption of the merger agreement with Paramount, WBD said. A merger of WBD and Paramount Skydance is one of the biggest media deals in history, with significant impacts on TV, filmmaking and the possible future of the cinema. Money blog: McDonald's to increase prices A Paramount-Warner combination encompasses two of Hollywood's five legacy studios. In total, the deal has been valued at $110bn (£81.4bn) - $31 per WBD share and additional fees. Thursday's vote was described as "another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction" by WBD. The deal, it said, "will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders" and will be completed between July and September this year, subject to regulatory approval. "We will continue to work with Paramount to complete the remaining steps in this process that will create a leading, next-generation media and entertainment company," the statement continued. While both Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns the merger could result in higher prices and fewer choices for customers, WBD on Thursday said the combined company will "expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community". Why does it matter? A combined Warner Bros and Paramount has huge potential to reshape Hollywood and change film and TV production. Paramount Skydance will now own CNN, as well as CBS News, sparking concern about concentrating news services within a small number of companies. The company is also headed by David Ellison, the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, who put up tens of billions of dollars to satisfy funding guarantees for the WBD bid. Cinema operators have also expressed concern that combining ​the large Hollywood studios could cost jobs and reduce the ​number ⁠of films released in theatres. Harry Potter, Superman and Barbie movies - as well as hit TV series like Succession - will join Paramount's content library. Paramount's line-up of titles include Top Gun and The Godfather as well as the Paramount+ streaming service.

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Clayton is still in top spot in the Premier League with four regular weeks remaining on 32 points, but Littler is now just three points behind on 29. Gerwyn Price sits in third spot on 19 points, with Michael van Gerwen in fourth on 18 points. Premier League darts: Latest schedule and results ✅Darts in 2026: Key dates, calendar, results 📅Got Sky? Watch on the Sky Sports app 📱Not got Sky? Get instant access with NOW 📺 Gian van Veen is then next in line on 14 points, while defending champion Luke Humphries is in sixth on 13 points, with the race for Finals Night really hitting crunch time. The win marks Littler's fifth nightly win of his campaign and the Manchester native spent his night defying the jeers of the partisan Liverpool audience who were on his opponent's side throughout the evening. However, Littler stayed strong throughout, especially on the doubles, and sealed a big win in his quest to go into Finals Night in top spot. "It was a good night. I'm very happy with myself," Littler told Sky Sports. "Usually the doubling is not there, but I'm very thankful it was tonight. A lot of crucial doubles at crucial times. "I'm very close to Jonny now, three points off. I'm going to go chasing - I want to finish top once again - and if it's not to be, it's not to be. But there's still four weeks to go." In the final against Clayton, Littler raced into a 5-0 lead as he denied the Welshman any opportunity to get into the contest. In the first three legs Clayton's only checkout chances came on bullseye. Clayton managed to stop the rot to ensure he did not suffer a whitewash defeat but that only delayed Littler's victory by one leg. More to follow... Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.

Odeh Awawdeh, 25, was killed in Deir Dibwan, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday evening. His daughters are said to be two months old. The region's health ministry said he was killed during a raid on the town by Israeli settlers, with witnesses saying he was shot in the back. UN officials said it came amid a "growing pattern of unchecked violence by a settler movement that is militarised and shielded by the state". They said the settlers "entered the village and clashed with residents, with an armed settler shooting and killing" Mr Awawdeh. The UN officials added: "Israeli security forces raided the town and closed its entrances during the incident, detaining 30 Palestinian men who were later released. "According to Israeli media reports, Israeli security forces also held several settlers for questioning." The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident. The Palestinian health ministry said at least 15 people had been killed by Israeli settlers so far this year. Ajith Sunghay, from the UN's human rights office in the region, described the situation as one of "non-stop horror" for Palestinians in the West Bank. He added: "The international community must insist on meaningful accountability for the perpetrators of all unlawful killings in the occupied Palestinian territory to stop the bloodshed." Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday. The Israeli military said a Palestinian threw stones towards its forces during an "operational activity" in the area, and it troops initiated "standard suspect apprehension procedures, which concluded with fire being directed at the suspect." Read more from Sky News:Israel accused of war crimes after killing of journalistItaly rules out replacing Iran at World CupFive critically injured in Danish train crash In Gaza, four Palestinians were also killed in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, according to health officials. One person was killed in southern Khan Younis, while several others were wounded. Israel's military said it had targeted militants transporting munitions. Three others, including a rescue worker, were killed in a separate strike in Maghazi, a Palestinian refugee camp in the Deir al Balah area in central Gaza, health officials said. Israel's military had no immediate comment on the strike.

Match of the Day said in a post on social media that an "incredible 52-year journey comes to an end". "Following extensive consideration, BBC Sport has made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Football Focus at the end of this season," the BBC said in a statement. Football Focus has been axed as "changing audience behaviours mean fans are now increasingly consuming football content in different ways, and we need to respond appropriately as we face difficult decisions around how the licence fee is spent", it added. It comes after the BBC announced last week that it needed to make £500m worth of savings over the next two years. Alex Kay-Jelski, head of BBC Sport, said: "Football Focus has been a hugely important programme in the history of BBC Sport, and has played a key role in telling the stories of the game for generations of viewers. "This decision was made before last week's wider BBC savings announcement, reflecting the continued shift in how audiences engage with football and our commitment to evolving how we deliver content to reach fans wherever they are." Alex Scott has presented the Saturday lunchtime programme, which was first broadcast in 1974, for the past five years. Mr Kay-Jelski said Scott "will remain at the heart of our sports output across both the Men's World Cup this year and the Women's World Cup in 2027, as well as continuing her lead role on the Women's Super League and BBC Sport Personality of the Year". Former England and Arsenal defender Scott said she was proud to have been associated with the show - but also revealed she had been due to leave the programme this year anyway. She wrote on Instagram: "52 years of an iconic football show. It's a show that I'll forever be honoured to be associated with and one that has made me grow as a presenter in a way I'll always look back on with pride. "Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey, from the bottom of my heart it means so much. Time to get excited for big summer of sport ahead." Scott added: "I always knew that this would be my last season on the show, which the BBC were aware of also. My intention was to move quietly into the next chapter, but here we are." Former Football Focus presenter Dan Walker felt it was "disappointing" there was no longer to be a space in football's "constantly changing" landscape for a show which has "meant so much to so many people for so many years". Walker, who hosted the show for 12 years, wrote on X: "Really sad to hear about the end of Football Focus. I loved that show growing up. "I used to watch it every week with my dad and I remember how proud he was when I got the job. It was such a privilege to sit in the chair for 12 years, working with an amazing team on and off air and forming so many lasting friendships. "Saturdays were always special. The football landscape is constantly changing and it's disappointing that there isn't space for a show that has meant so much to so many people for so many years." Read more from Sky News:Mogul behind K-pop group faces arrestParamount's Warner Bros deal approved The BBC said The Football Interview would move into the Saturday 12.45pm slot from next season. This season, the programme has featured interviews with Bukayo Saka, Emma Hayes, Bernardo Silva, Hugo Ekitike and Michael Carrick.

The results of these elections could have a profound impact on all the main political parties, not just locally - but on a national scale too. The votes are being watched closely by MPs, many of whom see the results as being a test of their party's leadership in Westminster. Politics latest - follow live So, where are elections taking place, why do they matter and crucially - when we will know the results? Who is getting a vote this time around? There are elections for 136 local councils in England, with 5,014 seats up for grabs. This includes votes for every seat on all of London's 32 borough councils, as well as on more than a dozen borough councils, six unitary councils, six county councils, and three district councils. There are also a further 73 councils where elections are being held for half or one-third of the seats available. Read more:What's at stake for Wales in May's elections?Key challenges next Holyrood government will face But it's not just local councils that people can vote for come 7 May. Six areas in London are holding elections for directly elected local mayors. These are: Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Watford. Votes will also be taking place outside of England for devolved administrations, both in Cardiff and in Edinburgh. People will be able to vote for who they want to run the Senedd in Cardiff Bay and the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. When will we find out the results? The polls will be open between 7am and 10pm on 7 May. After that, the counting begins. But we will not have to wait long for the first results because, like a general election, a lot of the ballots will be totted up overnight. In fact, Sky News analysis suggests the results of almost 50 local council elections should be in by the time most people wake up at 7am on Friday morning. For those keen to stay up to watch the coverage, the first councils to declare are expected to do so at around 12.30am. Results will then begin to come in more routinely from around 3am. Those declaring overnight are expected to include Oxford - where both the Liberal Democrats and the Greens are chasing Labour's votes; Bexley - seen as Reform UK's best chance at gaining a London borough; and Hampshire - a Tory-run council expected to cede votes to the Lib Dems and Reform. Between lunchtime on Friday and the end of the day, a further 82 councils are expected to declare their results. But the final five are not expected to give a final verdict until Saturday afternoon. Those late finishes include Croydon and Tower Hamlets in London, as well as Hastings in Sussex. Separately, the mayoral elections only begin counting on Friday, with Hackney and Newham expected to declare at 1pm that day, followed by Watford at 2pm, Lewisham at 3pm, Croydon at 4pm, and Tomer Hamlets last, at around 6pm. Why do the local elections matter? Local elections typically have a lower voter turnout than general elections - in 2024 for example, the turnout in England was 30%, compared to 60% at the general election held the same year. But that does not mean they are unimportant. Local councils still have a lot of influence over voters' lives, and arguably more on a day-to-day basis than the government in Westminster. While Whitehall controls areas such as foreign policy and defence, councils control a range of local services, such as how frequently bins are collected, when potholes are repaired and which services should be prioritised for funding, be it parks, libraries or local facilities such as leisure centres. The devolved parliaments, in Cardiff Bay and Holyrood, also have many powers, too. Depending on the country, these have control over a range of measures, including rates of income tax, the NHS and social care, as well as education, among other topics. You can read exactly which issues are controlled by each parliament in our in-depth explainer here. But the local elections are considered to be important in Westminster too, where they are seen as a glimpse of how the public is feeling towards the government of the day - in this case, Labour - and the opposition parties. Any sizeable swings in either direction could lead to the parties in parliament deciding to do some reorganisation of who is in charge, or of their direction as a whole.

City are among a number of big clubs that want to sign him - including Manchester United and Arsenal - and well-placed sources increasingly believe he is destined for the Etihad. The England international, 23, has been interesting a number of Premier League rivals since joining Forest from Newcastle United in July 2024 for a fee of £35m. Burnley 0-1 Man City: Match report and reactionLive Premier League table | Watch FREE PL highlightsGot Sky? Watch Premier League games LIVE on your phone📱Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW 📺 It remains to be seen whether a deal can be agreed before or after the World Cup, where Anderson is expected to play a prominent role for Thomas Tuchel and England. Anderson's contract at the City Ground runs until June 2029, and his value is expected to be considerable as he is part of a group of elite central midfielders set to be on the market in the next window, which includes Sandro Tonali, Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba and potentially Aurelian Tchouameni. City admire how Anderson has developed since joining Forest from Newcastle and relations between the two clubs are thought to be excellent. There may be changes in City's midfield this summer, with uncertainty around the futures of Mateo Kovacic and Nico Gonzalez, while it's already been confirmed Bernardo Silva will leave when his contract expires in June. Real Madrid are also interested in Rodri - but City want him to stay and sign a new contract, with his existing deal expiring in 2027. City eyeing attacking additions this summer The club are also looking at other positions, including forwards, and Sky Sports News can reveal two more names on their list of potential new recruits - RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande and Bournemouth striker Eli Junior Kroupi. Diomande is one of the hottest prodigies on the market this summer, and is high on the lists at Liverpool and Bayern Munich among others. Kroupi is an excellent young prospect who has impressed since moving to Bournemouth last summer, scoring 11 goals in 29 Premier League appearances. City are currently well-stocked across the forward line however, with Savinho supporting Jeremy Doku on the left-wing and Omar Marmoush the backup centre-forward to Erling Haaland. Right-back is also an area City are looking at and Sky Sports News has already reported they are tracking the progress of young Feyenoord defender Givairo Read among others. Analysis: Anderson or Rodri? Why not both Sky Sports' Laura Hunter: There will be a natural compulsion to compare Elliot Anderson directly to Rodri as Man City try to fend off competition from across the Premier League to sign the Nottingham Forest midfielder this summer. But admiring their compatibility is equally interesting. Of course there are similarities to like. Both are the profile of midfielder you anchor a side around; they run hard and are formidable at breaking up play. But their functions quite obviously differ because of the teams they play for. Anderson is needed as a tough tackler, the third-most prolific in this category in the division, while Rodri is much more passive in this area given Man City spend the majority of time in possession of the ball. Anderson has also won 270 duels, a league high, more than double that of the Spaniard (106). But Rodri is elite at distributing under pressure, boasting an incredibly high retention rate, with few in Europe matching his ability to recycle possession and punch through the thirds. Since his ACL injury last season, though, he is much less inclined to carry the ball - something Anderson is superb at. Availability is also a strength of the 23-year-old, six years Rodri's junior. There is certainly a world, then, where a Rodri-Anderson partnership would serve City well, used together or in rotation. Anderson would of course need to guard against the fate of other high profile midfielders that have travelled to the Etihad with high promise and flopped. Kalvin Phillips is the best example of that. But take Matheus Nunes as another instance of a midfielder whose function had to change to full-back in order to avoid being cut adrift of Pep Guardiola's plans. He is a demanding man to work for, and this is not a role he likes to mess with.