I have returned once again, and I was taken aback at how dramatically conditions have further disintegrated under Donald Trump's oil blockade in such a short space of time. There's a lot of talk of possible US military action, like we saw in Venezuela at the beginning of the year when President Nicholas Maduro was snatched from the country, or maybe even an invasion. But the way things are currently going, President Trump may not need to do much more to ensure the collapse of the state of Cuba. The spectre of social and political collapse under a strict US oil embargo that's been in place since January is very real. The government says it has now completely run out of fuel. That means power blackouts are now longer, rubbish piles on streets are bigger, and there are fewer cars on the road. Every facet of life appears to be crumbling. The primary purpose of our recent visit was to look at the condition of the health service, which we found is no different to other sectors - it's in serious trouble. Once the envy of the Caribbean, a source of national pride, and internationally recognised for its excellence in the medical sector, Cuba's healthcare system is now functioning almost entirely on the dedication and determination of medical staff, and the hands-to-the-pump attitude of civilians who privately supply hospitals and clinics with the medicine and equipment needed to treat their friends and family in hospital. Under this kind of pressure, what will happen to Cuba next? The Cuban diaspora in the United States wants an overthrow of the entire communist party, its government, and the end of the Castro family's influence in the country. Mr Trump and his Cuban-American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, want regime change - though perhaps they will settle for regime compliance. But the sense my team and I have is that Cubans themselves are less clear-cut in their attitude towards the future. Certainly, some we met would like to see the current government out, but the majority we spoke to seem to favour a relaxing of endless state-imposed economic rules, and a growth in private enterprise (all but banned under the current rules), more access to affordable food and power, and a rethink about the way the country is run. Few Cubans seem to support any notion of a complete "Trumpification" of Cuba supported by a military presence or invasion, or the imposition of unbridled capitalism. The sense I got is that their natural instinct and desire for the future is a social-based democracy with strong healthcare and labour guarantees, that exists alongside a vibrant private sector. After well over six decades of communism, and almost the same length of time of US sanctions, it won't be easy to achieve that - and certainly not with Mr Trump breathing down their necks. Read more from Stuart Ramsay:Cuba is on its knees - and 'next' on Trump's listHow are Cubans surviving the US blockade? If Cuba collapses and chaos takes over, the US will be forced to deal with the consequences of its own actions. And if that is their intention, does the Trump administration have a plan in place for the day after? On my first visit to Cuba in March, people told me this type of economic warfare is no different from a war with bombs and bullets. And if what we've witnessed there is anything to go by, the effects on society appear just as destructive.

The US rapper had been due to perform in the city of Reggio Emilia this summer. But local official ‌Salvatore Angieri ordered its cancellation because of concerns over the potential for protests, with West, known as Ye, having faced a wave of cancellations following years of antisemitic remarks. The northern city has also banned a concert from Travis Scott, another American rapper. Scott has faced scrutiny over safety at his concerts since ​a 2021 crowd crush at the Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas, that killed 10 people and injured hundreds. He had been due to perform at the Pulse ​of Gaia Festival on 17 July at the 103,000-capacity ⁠RCF Arena, with West scheduled to appear ⁠the following day. Angieri said the decision was taken following requests from a consumer group and the Jewish community ‌in Modena and Reggio Emilia, which had raised concerns about West. Italian authorities cited the close timing of the two shows and the high influx of ‌spectators expected within 24 hours as factors behind the ban. They also pointed to the cancellation of other West concerts in Europe, and the "concrete risk" of protests. This year's Wireless Festival was cancelled in April after West was blocked from coming to the UK. The ban was announced as his presence would "not be conducive to public good" after a backlash over West being booked to headline all three nights of the London event. In response, West offered to meet members of the British Jewish community. Read more from Sky News:Trump hits out at Kennedy Center ruling'Redaction errors' in Epstein files release Later that ​month, a concert in Poland was cancelled, and he also postponed a Marseille show after reports that the ​French government had sought to block it. West has apologised for his past remarks, saying they were linked to untreated bipolar disorder. He said in January: "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people". West is set ​to hold concerts in the Netherlands next month after its migration ​minister said there were no legal grounds to deny him entry. Dutch politicians had urged the ​government to bar West, citing his past remarks and expressions of admiration for Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Scott and West have been contacted for comment.

The ghost of Peter Mandelson returns as more than 1,000 documents, emails and WhatsApp's messages are due to be released - but how damaging will it be for the government? With ministers, officials and advisors braced for impact, Sam and Anne assess what could be in the files, whether the most sensitive material has been withheld and what the disclosures reveal about government communications in the age of disappearing messages. Plus, with the Makerfield by-election fast approaching, the duo examines mounting speculation over Labour's future leadership. As names continue to circulate around Westminster, is the party already preparing for a post-Starmer era and will it be a slow or fast transition?

The head coach has told Sky Sports News that the recent conversations he has had with his players have left him convinced about their readiness to compete in the latter stages of the tournament, and the widespread unity in the squad. Both factors, he believes, are vital if they are to put a second star on the England shirt. The majority of Tuchel's men will fly to Miami on Monday evening to begin a 10-day hot weather acclimatisation camp to prepare them for what is to come. World Cup 2026 fixture schedule and UK kick-off timesEngland's fixtures and routes to 2026 World Cup finalWorld Cup kits revealed! "When I reconnected with the games and built our training sessions and meetings to reconnect the team in Florida with what we have built already, I saw a lot of quality," Tuchel told Sky Sports News, before flying out to the US. "That instantly gave me the full belief and excitement that we can go a long way. "Then things like the difficult phone calls, big phone calls, positive phone calls and the reaction of the players, it tells you that we have a connection already. "It tells me the players care and they care so much. We had beautiful, touching reactions, even from players who were not called up and they were wishing us all the best. The way they reacted tells me we are on the right way and that gets me personally excited to be close. "I can't wait to get on the plane, look over my shoulder, finally have a team behind me and arrive in Florida and do what I love the most, which is be a coach." Tuchel: Heat a factor but not an excuse Twenty-one of the 26-man squad will join up from a variety of locations, meeting in West Palm Beach to begin their pre-tournament training camp. A number of those players have been holidaying in the US and Caribbean since the end of the Premier League season, with Tuchel's recommendations ringing in their ears about the importance of acclimatising quickly to the temperatures and the different time zones. England's coaching staff, together with the FA's sports scientists, have been planning for more than 12 months for the gruelling conditions that the players will have to deal with in North America, and possibly Mexico too in the knockout stages. In Barcelona last June, the FA built specialist heat chambers to replicate what lies ahead, where temperatures are expected to reach the high-30s Celsius at times, with a stifling humidity of around 75 per cent. While in Spain, the players were asked to swallow biometric tablets so that the FA specialists could monitor their internal temperatures and other key data as they exercised almost to the point of exhaustion. Every player was then ranked in terms of their ability to recover quickly. The FA has also sought advice from a variety of other British sports teams, who have encountered similarly brutal conditions during international competitions. Tuchel has acknowledged that the heat will be a major challenge for England, but is refusing to allow that to become an excuse. 'Conditions are an obstacle to overcome' "The conditions are not our biggest enemy but it is not to our advantage after a long and very demanding season for our players," Tuchel said. "We are not used to being in this kind of heat and humidity, and even altitude if we play in Mexico. "There will be a lot of challenges in this World Cup. The heat is one of them but we are prepared already. "We know the individual reaction of the players to the heat and we have cooling strategies in place. "We've had help from Team GB and specialists all over the world to come up with solutions that help the players to adapt. "We know exactly the amount of time we want to expose them in pre-camp, the ideal amount of time that you should train in the sun and that we also don't do too much. "Then the reality is that the first game [against Croatia on June 17) is indoors and the air conditioning is on, so it should not be a problem. From there, we have to adapt. "It is a factor but it should not come across that we are already making excuses. It's just not in our favour and it is an obstacle to overcome." Arsenal players given more time off after CL final defeat The four Arsenal players involved in Saturday's Champions League final will not join up with their England team-mates for several more days. Tuchel has decided that Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Ebere Eze should be given some extra time off to recover. Expect those players - along with Dean Henderson who featured in Crystal Palace's Europa Conference League triumph - to miss Saturday's friendly match against New Zealand in Tampa, but to be fully in the fold in time for the final friendly against Costa Rica four days later in Orlando. In the meantime Alex Scott, Ethan Nwaneri, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King and goalkeeper Luke Steele will train with the wider squad to give Tuchel and his coaching staff a full complement of players on the training field. 'Preparations set to begin after isjointed start for England' Sky Sports News' Rob Dorsett in Miami: And so it begins! England fly to Miami on Monday evening to begin their quest to win the 2026 World Cup. It will be something of a disjointed start but Tuchel fully expected that. There will be 21 of the 26 players in his squad meeting up on the US south-east coast. Many of those have been holidaying in and around the area after the head coach himself encouraged them to do so to acclimatise quicker. The four Arsenal players who took part in the Champions League final will not be here. They will fly in towards the end of the week and will not be involved against New Zealand at the end of the week. It's the same with goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who has also been given extra time off after Crystal Palace's Conference League win. Only then, where they are all part of the group, will the England squad be whole, so don't expect any images of the squad on the airplane steps any time soon. That will come later. But England will begin their preparations in the blistering heat with the FA sports scientists watching them. Temperatures in this part of America at this time of year are often in the high 30s and there is 75 per cent humidity. Even in the dark and the rain at night, we are experiencing temperatures of 29 degrees celsius.

Kear, who was 71, was a former England, Wales and two-time Challenge Cup-winning coach. The Rugby Football League (RFL) said in a statement that Kear "died suddenly on Sunday afternoon returning north from Wembley, having been part of the BBC's commentary team for the Betfred Challenge Cup Finals the previous day". "Our thoughts and condolences are with John's wife Dawn, his family and friends," the RFL added. Kear worked for nine different clubs during his career, which lasted more than 700 matches and included the national teams for England, Wales and France. He won the Challenge Cup twice as a coach, firstly with Sheffield Eagles against Wigan in 1998 in perhaps the greatest shock in the 130-year history of the competition. Kear was England head coach during the 2000 World Cup, leading them to the semi-finals, before heading to Hull FC, where he won his second Challenge Cup trophy against Leeds Rhinos in Cardiff in 2005. He then spent five years in charge of Wakefield, most famously helping them avoid relegation and condemning his hometown club Castleford to the Championship. In 2011, Kear took over at Batley and, after six seasons in charge, moved to coach Bradford Bulls after they were relegated to the Championship and remained there until 2022. Kear also had a long tenure in charge of Wales from 2014 until 2025, coaching them in 15 matches which saw them pick up seven wins, seven losses, and a draw. Kear, who played for a decade as an outside back at Castleford before his long spell as a coach, returned to Batley for a short stint in 2025 before retiring. Nigel Wood, chair of the RFL said: "On behalf of the whole sport, our thoughts and condolences are with John's wife Dawn, his family and with those who played or worked alongside him over the last 50 years. "Having had a 10-year career at Castleford, he found his passion for coaching which saw him oversee more than 700 games across a career which included coaching England in the 2000 World Cup, Wales in the 2017 and 2021 World Cup, oversaw Challenge Cup victories at Sheffield Eagles and Hull FC, and most recently took Batley Bulldogs to the Championship Grand Final. "But John was also an excellent broadcast summariser with a great turn of phrase and an undiluted love and positivity for the sport. "It was always a pleasure to see John, at Wakefield Trinity games most recently, as he was full of energy and enthusiasm for the game he clearly loved and had given him so much, in the same way he had given back." This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

The summer shows in Washington DC were planned as part of The Great American State Fair, which is being staged to commemorate the country's 250th anniversary. However, a number of artists, including Martina McBride, Bret Michaels and the Commodores, have dropped out of the celebrations, which are being organised by the Freedom 250 group. It is described as a "non-partisan" organisation, but was launched last year by Mr Trump and is headed by Keith Krach, a first-term Trump appointee for the State Department. 👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 On Friday, ​Michaels, the lead singer of the rock band Poison, ⁠became the fifth performer to withdraw ⁠from the concerts. In an Instagram post, Michaels wrote that he had thought his show would be a chance to "honour our veterans, active military, first responders, teachers and hardworking Americans from all walks of life". But he concluded that the event had "evolved into something much more divisive". The withdrawals have seemingly prompted a rethink, and on Saturday Mr Trump floated the idea of an "America is back rally" in a post on Truth Social, suggesting that he is a bigger draw than the late Elvis Presley "in his prime". Trump wrote: "I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate 'Artists,' and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!" He added: "I am ordering my Representatives to look at the feasibility of doing an AMERICA IS BACK Rally on Wednesday, Washington, D.C., same time, same location. "Only Great Patriots invited - It will be a Wild and Beautiful Celebration of America!" Read more from Sky News:US treasury prepares Trump $250 bill'Errors' made in Epstein files release Mr Trump also lashed out after a federal judge who ordered the removal of his name from the Kennedy Center in Washington. He branded US District Judge Christopher Cooper an "an anti Trump Hater" - and predicted that the performing arts venue he wanted to close for a two-year overhaul would "soon" shut, "probably never to open again".

Defence leaders from the US, Britain and Australia met in Singapore on Saturday to discuss plans to "step on the accelerator" and progress the development of cutting-edge military technologies. The security pact will see Australia acquire a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to patrol the Pacific Ocean in a bid to counter China's expansion in the region. Under "pillar two" of the agreement, the countries will collaborate to develop advanced defence technology, including quantum ‌computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology. AUKUS, which was formed by the three countries in 2021, is part of their efforts to push back against China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific ‌region. China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race. Standing beside UK Defence Secretary John Healey and Australian defence minister Richard Marles on the sidelines of the Shangri-La conference, Mr Hegseth said the new unmanned vessels would boost the pact's power. "The signature project will deliver ​a suite of highly adaptable multi-mission UUV (uncrewed underwater vehicle) payloads designed to support undersea operations and maintain our collective ​advantage in the maritime domain," Mr Hegseth said. Mr Healey said the UUVs would strengthen all three countries' ability to respond to threats, including adversaries targeting underwater cables and pipelines. "This will rapidly give our forces the very most advanced battlefield technologies as together we produce a range of cutting-edge sensors and weapons ⁠systems for undersea drones," he said. He added: "For too long in AUKUS, we talked too much and delivered too little." The event marked Mr Hegseth's second time addressing the forum, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. His address last year drew criticism from Beijing after he warned of the threat posed by China, particularly its stance towards Taiwan. Read more from Sky News:Four trapped in flooded cave in Laos pulled to safetyCanadian who admitted aiding ‌suicide won't face UK justice In his speech at this year's conference, Mr Hegseth said China could not be allowed to dominate the region. "There is rightful alarm regarding China's historic military build up and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond," he said. "We share a clear-eyed assessment of that security environment and a mutual understanding that a Pacific dominated by any hegemon would unravel the regional balance of power and undermine the equilibrium we all seek to preserve." Addressing the forum after Mr Hegseth, Mr Marles said that while the international rules-based order is not perfect, the "task before us, all of us, including the great powers, is the renovation of that order, not its dismemberment". "When the rules apply, smaller states have agency," he said. "When the rules yield to power, sovereignty becomes, as others have put it, the purview of the powerful, and no state in this room today, whatever its size, is well served by that outcome."

Milner, who has spent the last three years at Brighton, began his career at boyhood club Leeds, where he made his Premier League debut as a 16-year-old in 2002 He also played for Newcastle, Aston Villa, Man City and Liverpool. Window opens June 15 - follow Transfer Centre LIVE!World Cup match schedule and kick-off timesPremier League 26/27 dates - when are fixtures released? Milner played 24 seasons in the top-flight and broke the record for the most Premier League appearances while playing for Brighton against Brentford in February, and ends his career with a total of 658. He said: "After 24 seasons in the Premier League, it feels like the the right time to bring an end to my playing career. "From making my debut for Leeds United, who I supported growing up, at the age of 16 and becoming the Premier League's youngest scorer, I could never have dreamed of the journey I've been on, right through to not being able to lift my foot last year and then coming back to be part of Brighton qualifying for Europe for the second time in their history at the age of 40. "To have gone on to represent Newcastle, Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Brighton and not forgetting a memorable month at Swindon, has been a huge privilege "I've been fortunate enough to experience some unforgettable moments, from fighting for survival to winning trophies, playing in Europe, and representing my country. But more than anything, it is the people and friendships I've made throughout my time in the game I will cherish forever. "To my family, thank you for every sacrifice, every mile travelled and every moment of encouragement. None of this would have been possible without you. "I leave the game with immense pride, gratitude and memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Football has given me far more than I could have ever imagined, and I will always be thankful for the opportunities it provided." More to follow.