White House hopeful Joe BidenJoe BidenSaagar Enjeti: Difficult to overstate the miserable state that Obama and Biden left this country in Trump singles in on ‘Sleepy Joe Biden’ at campaign rally Trump at rally says impeachment an ‘attack on democracy itself’ MORE in an interview released Friday accused President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump singles in on ‘Sleepy Joe Biden’ at campaign rally Trump at rally says impeachment an ‘attack on democracy itself’ GOP lawmaker says House impeachment rules vote ‘doesn’t change anything for me’ MORE of engaging in a cover-up regarding his July conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked him to investigate the former vice president on unfounded corruption charges.

“Yes,” Biden told PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff when asked if he thought Trump was involved in a cover-up of the dealings with Ukraine.

The question comes amid House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into the president, which is centered on a whistleblower’s complaint alleging that Trump sought foreign help in the 2020 election.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, reportedly testified to congressional investigators this week that the White House’s rough transcript of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky did not include key words and phrases. 

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Vindman reportedly said that among the omissions were Trump’s assertions that there were recordings of Biden discussing Ukrainian corruption and a reference by Zelensky to Burisma Holdings, the energy company on whose board Biden’s son sat. 

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman said in his testimony. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.” 

Democrats and officials have suggested that the president may have tied $400 million in military aid to Kiev to its compliance with Trump’s requests for an investigation into Biden.  

Trump has maintained there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine, but William Taylor, who serves as the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Kiev, testified last week that the aid was directly linked to a commitment from Zelensky to publicly announce investigations into Biden and 2016 election meddling.

“The idea that someone would invite a foreign power into our election and in the process withhold, apparently, the allegation of someone within the administration who heard the conversations, withhold vital aid, military aid voted for by the Congress while Ukrainians are dying … in order to take on Russians, who are there still killing them, killing these people, is just one of the things that no president that I’m aware of has ever thought of doing,” Biden said, referring to an ongoing conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Eastern Ukraine.

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A trio of Democratic senators is asking President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump singles in on ‘Sleepy Joe Biden’ at campaign rally Trump at rally says impeachment an ‘attack on democracy itself’ GOP lawmaker says House impeachment rules vote ‘doesn’t change anything for me’ MORE’s ambassador to the United Nations to recuse herself from dealing with the Paris climate accord as the White House prepares to formally withdraw from the landmark agreement.

A letter to Kelly Craft questions if she has too many conflicts of interest to be involved given her financial and personal ties to the industry.

Craft has $63 million invested in coal, oil and natural gas, according to the letter, and she’s the wife of Joe Craft, CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, one of the largest coal companies in the U.S.

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“Given your extensive family ties to the coal industry, and given that decisions about climate inherently involve decisions about the future of coal, we urge you to agree to recuse yourself from any actions to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement,” wrote Sens. Jeff MerkleyJeffrey (Jeff) Alan MerkleyOvernight Energy: Dems ask Trump UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings | Green group sues agencies for records on climate science | Dem wants answers on Keystone oil spill Trio of Dems ask Trump’s coal-linked UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings Hillicon Valley: Twitter to refuse all political ads | Trump camp blasts ‘very dumb’ decision | Ocasio-Cortez hails move | Zuckerberg doubles down on Facebook’s ad policies | GOP senator blocks sweeping election reform bill MORE (D-Ore.), Ed MarkeyEdward (Ed) John MarkeyOvernight Energy: Dems ask Trump UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings | Green group sues agencies for records on climate science | Dem wants answers on Keystone oil spill Trio of Dems ask Trump’s coal-linked UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings Ed Markey, John Rutherford among victors at charity pumpkin-carving contest MORE (D-Mass.) and Sheldon WhitehouseSheldon WhitehouseOvernight Energy: Dems ask Trump UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings | Green group sues agencies for records on climate science | Dem wants answers on Keystone oil spill Trio of Dems ask Trump’s coal-linked UN ambassador to recuse from Paris climate dealings Divisive docket to test Supreme Court ahead of 2020 MORE (D-R.I.).

The State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Trump has often bragged about withdrawing from the Paris accord, making an announcement in the Rose Garden in 2017 to say he intended to do so.

But the agreement doesn’t allow him to begin the formal yearlong withdrawal process until Monday. The U.S. would officially be out of the deal the same date in 2020 — just one day after the presidential elections.

All signs indicate the White House is gearing up for a formal withdrawal.

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Facebook CEO Mark ZuckerbergMark Elliot ZuckerbergHillicon Valley: Twitter to refuse all political ads | Trump camp blasts ‘very dumb’ decision | Ocasio-Cortez hails move | Zuckerberg doubles down on Facebook’s ad policies | GOP senator blocks sweeping election reform bill Zuckerberg defends buying Instagram amid antitrust scrutiny Ocasio-Cortez lauds Twitter’s decision to refuse political ads MORE on Wednesday offered some of his first public comments on his company’s controversial decision to buy Instagram amid intensifying scrutiny over Facebook’s power and market dominance. 

During a quarterly call with investors, Zuckerberg said he believes many of the recently launched antitrust investigations into Facebook “are going to be about our acquisition of Instagram.”

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He spent several minutes laying out Facebook’s view on why it acquired Instagram, a popular image-sharing platform, in 2012.

“If it’s helpful, I’ll go back to what it was like at the time,” Zuckerberg said, responding to an investor’s question about government scrutiny of its market dominance. 

“In 2012, we didn’t think about Instagram as competing with our core service,” he said, referring to Instagram as a “complementary” service to Facebook’s main app. He said the company hoped at the time it would reach 100 million users.

Instagram reached 1 billion monthly active users in 2018. 

“I know it can be really hard, given how well things have gone, to look back and remember what the world was like when we made this acquisition,” Zuckerberg said. “We ultimately thought we were going to do better work if we were building with Instagram.”

Critics have accused Facebook of quashing an up-and-coming competitor with its decision to buy Instagram, a platform that is popular with young people. 

Zuckerberg’s remarks came as Facebook faces antitrust investigations from the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and a coalition of 47 state attorneys general. The House Judiciary Committee has also launched an investigation into competition in the digital marketplace, which has focused heavily on the dominant players — Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon. 

The government investigators are also likely to look into Facebook’s acquisition of popular messaging app WhatsApp and its digital advertising business practices. 

The former Aston Villa man made a move to the Tigers from Nottingham Forest on Friday

U.S. national team defender Eric Lichaj has completed a transfer to Hull City from Nottingham Forest. 

The 29-year-old, who has 15 caps with the USA to his name, made the jump from Championship side to Championship side on a two-year deal, with the club holding the option for a third year. 

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Lichaj established himself as a regular with Forest, having made 190 appearances for the club since joining in the summer of 2013 from Aston Villa. 

“I’m excited about playing here and I’m looking forward to getting started with pre-season next week,” he said in a club release. 

“It’s a fresh start for me and I want to repay Hull City for the faith that they have shown in me by bringing me here. I’ll be working my hardest, as I always do, every day in training and on matchdays.”

Lichaj was given his debut for the USA in 2010 but had his best year as an international in 2017, when he played in four matches and scored his first international goal in a 2-0 quarterfinal win over El Salvador in the Gold Cup. 

The defender also memorably scored a brace against Arsenal in a stunning 4-2 FA Cup win for Forest, earning himself a dog along the way. 

El Tri manager Juan Carlos Osorio is facing two big questions as he puts together his starting XI to make a historic quarterfinal

You can find Mexico’s confirmed starting XI vs Brazil right here!

It’s the biggest match of Juan Carlos Osorio’s career as an international manager. Mexico is once again on the verge of a World Cup quarterfinal – the quinto partido. Brazil, however, stands in the path.

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After a 3-0 defeat to Sweden in the final group match, Mexico has to get its mentality right. Osorio also noted, though, that he got his tactics wrong against Sweden. The smallest error from the manager Monday will mean El Tri once again fail to advance to the next round and fall short of the quarterfinals.

There are two big questions Osorio must answer:

As we do before every Mexico match, Goal has projected three possibilities with the answers to those questions.

With Brazil’s strong midfield and attacking power, Osorio may look to play a relatively flat midfield three in an attempt to protect a pair of center backs who could struggle against an attack led by Neymar and Philippe Coutinho.

Those center backs should be Carlos Salcedo, who moves over to left center back with Hugo Ayala returning to the starting XI after playing there in Mexico’s 1-0 victory against Germany to open the tournament.

In this projection, Layun goes in at right back in place of 20-year-old Edson Alvarez. That means Jonathan dos Santos makes his World Cup debut starting next to Hector Herrera and Andres Guardado. Instead of playing behind Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Carlos Vela moves out to the right wing where he can cut inside on the left but also track back to help Jona and Layun. When Layun is able to get forward after a transition, he and Vela can combine to take advantage of Brazil down a left side where Marcelo is unlikely to feature.

This lineup may be uncomfortably close to the one Mexico used against both Korea and Sweden – resulting in a 3-0 defeat in the latter contest. At the same time, Mexico players continue to make the point that it will be a very different game than the one against Sweden with Brazil ready to come out and play in contrast to the defensive style on display by the European side.

With that, the team would stay mostly the same with Alvarez back at right back after his rough day against Sweden. Layun would stay on the right side where he’s been playing on the wing with Vela in the middle and Hirving Lozano on the other side. Chicharito goes up top looking to take sole possession of first place on Mexico’s World Cup goalscoring chart.

Osorio said Sunday that he was considering going with three center backs, but this would be a risky lineup against a team with as much firepower as Brazil. Still, the manager loves to find width, and this could give them a bit of wide play while still having protection for the back line. 

When Mexico plays with three center backs – in this case Salcedo, Ayala and Alvarez – there’s a defensive midfielder in front of them protecting. Herrera’s talents going forward may be wasted, but he’d have to stay disciplined against Brazil.

Layun and Guardado would also be tasked to stay at home but exploit the space when Brazil’s fullbacks push forward. Vela again would be tasked with creating attacks for a forward line with Jesus “Tecatito” Corona adding speed to the El Tri attack.

The Paris Saint-Germain ace has now found the net six times in finals tournaments, doing so quicker than either of the game’s leading lights

Brazil star Neymar put another feather in his cap during his country’s World Cup last-16 encounter against Mexico.

By opening the scoring against Mexico, he took his tally of goals in World Cup finals to six – reaching the milestone in quicker time than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

While the Argentine and the Portuguese have dominated the game over the course of the last decade, winning 10 Ballons d’Or between them, neither has enjoyed particularly great success on such a stage.

Indeed, despite their string of honours, neither Messi nor Ronaldo has tallied a World Cup knockout goal in their careers.

Neymar, however, stretched to turn home a driven Willian centre early in the second half of Monday’s encounter in Samara.

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It was only his 38th shot in World Cup tournaments and, while both Messi and Ronaldo have both reached this goal tally, it took the superstar duo 67 and 74 efforts respectively to get there.

Indeed, Neymar has found the net six times in almost half the number of shots it took the Portuguese. 

Brazil, meanwhile, have made their way through into the quarter-finals of Russia 2018 thanks to a 2-0 win, with the Paris Saint-Germain striker setting up Roberto Firmino for a second late on. 

A man chasing down World Cup glory with England acknowledges that he needs to remain “patient” for club and country as he seeks more minutes

Marcus Rashford admits a lack of regular starts for Manchester United is “frustrating” but insists his development has not been stunted as a result.

Having burst onto the scene at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal in 2016, the highly-rated forward has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of club and international football.

He is now an England star chasing down World Cup glory and an important part of Jose Mourinho’s plans at United, but he is also just 20 years of age and still learning his trade.

Rashford acknowledges as much, with it his opinion that he has continued to progress as a player as part of a star-studded United squad which presents him with fierce competition for places.

He told reporters on his domestic battles as his prepares for another international outing with England against Colombia at the last 16 stage of Russia 2018: “Every player will tell you it’s always frustrating when you don’t start. You have to look at the positives – you get two extra days’ training.

“It’s not stopped me developing. If it had stopped me developing then it’s more of a problem.

“He [Mourinho] has 20-25 players. Everyone has different attributes and suits different styles so finding the right balance is a tough job for a manager.

“He got it right most of the time last season but we need a bit extra to push for the title.”

Rashford was involved in 53 games for United last season, recording a career-best 13 goals and providing nine assists, but he started only 26 of those fixtures.

It has been suggested that he could be on the move this summer, as he seeks to avoid further bench duty, but he has offered no indication that is the case.

Instead, a man who also faces a fight with Raheem Sterling for a starting berth in England’s attacking unit has vowed to continue biding his time and working hard to impress Mourinho and Gareth Southgate.

Rashford added: “You’ve got to be patient.

“You have to have an open mind because there are a lot of top players that all bring different qualities to the game.

“And at the level we’re playing at here, being in an England camp or whether it is at the club, you have to really understand that.”

United have Rashford tied to a contract until 2020, so are under no pressure to part with his services, with Mourinho having already stated that he expects the youngster to stay as he “doesn’t need to leave to play”.

The central defender has penned fresh terms with the Gunners, and will continue his club career under Unai Emery

Calum Chambers has signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal, the club have confirmed.

Chambers moved to Emirates Stadium from Southampton in 2014, and has since made over 80 appearances for the Gunners.

Signed by Arsene Wenger, Chambers will now continue his career at the club under the management of new boss Unai Emery, who succeeded the Frenchman earlier this summer.

“I’m delighted Calum has extended his stay with us,” Emery told the club’s official website.

“He played an important role last season and will be part of my plans this season.”

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The news comes off the back of the club’s purchase of Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund, with Chambers set to play alongside the Greece international, instead of being replaced by him.

Chambers has won three senior England caps, and also spent the 2016-17 campaign on loan at Middlesbrough.

The defender saw his 2017-18 season disrupted by injury, however, and made just 12 Premier League appearances.

The Italian club’ stocks closed a whopping 11 per cent up after news broke that the striker has agreed personal terms to move to Turin

News that Cristiano Ronaldo is close to a sensational move to Juventus sent share prices at the Italian club through the roof on Thursday.

Goal  understands that the Real Madrid star has agreed a lucrative four-year contract with the Serie A champions , although the two clubs are still to strike a deal over a transfer. 

The move would see the 33-year-old pocket €30 million (£26.5m/$35m) per season until 2022, when he would be 37. 

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And the reports had an immediate effect on the Italian stock market, where Juve shares received a healthy bounce. 

The publicly traded stocks opened with a 7 per cent jump on the back of the transfer rumours, and only strengthened over the course of the day as the news gathered momentum. 

By the end of trading those shares closed 11.19% up at €0.82 a share, pushing the club’s total value up to €825m. 

If Ronaldo finally signs with the Old Lady, the striker will be closing the door on almost two months of intense speculation over his future. 

The Portugal international refused to confirm his continuity after lifting the Champions League trophy in Kiev against Liverpool , referring to his Madrid career in the past tense. 

He would also be joining the club he almost signed for as a teenager, before negotiations between Juventus and Sporting collapsed. 

Ronaldo had then been signalled as part of a deal that would have taken Chile idol Marcelo Salas to Portugal, only for the striker to eventually choose former club River Plate of Argentina. 

The youngster went on to choose Manchester United, where he became a superstar and lifted the Champions League in 2007-8 prior to joining Madrid in the summer of 2009. 

He would bow out of the Bernabeu as the club’s highest scorer of all time, having smashed an incredible 450 goals in 438 games for the Merengue.

Three Lions supporter Dan Welch has stuck to his word and gotten every squad member of the quarter-finalists inked on his body

Many football fans make bold claims about their football teams, stating that they will do some random forfeit if their team actually succeeds in the unthinkable.

When Leicester City were topping the Premier League in 2015-16, former Foxes forward Gary Lineker tweeted that if they won the title, he would present Match of the Day in his underpants.

True to his word, the ex-England striker did exactly that, wearing only a pair of Leicester shorts as he introduced the first episode of the highlights show for the 2016-17 season.

On Twitter, some fans talk about similar exploits in order to get attention, knowing there is no way South Korea will win the World Cup, ensuring they gain extra followers but do not have to seek out edible hats.

However, one England fan lived up to his promise after suggesting that the Three Lions might struggle to make the quarter-finals with the squad Gareth Southgate picked.

Dan Welch tweeted on May 16, a month before the tournament kicked off: “Putting my neck on the line, but if England get to the quarter finals with that squad, I will get the 23 man squad names tattooed on me.”

Despite his belief that the 23 players chosen by Southgate would not be able to make it to that stage of the tournament, England are just three games from winning the whole tournament and face Sweden on Saturday with the winner advancing to the semi-final.

England’s progress at the tournament has pleased fans at home , but also ensured Welch now has some new ink on his body, proudly displaying the names of all the players in alphabetical order from Trent Alexander-Arnold to Ashley Young, with Southgate’s name taking pride of place at the very top.

Welch has not said what he might do if England make the final, or even win the World Cup!

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