LONDON, April 27 — European champions Arsenal capitalised on two terrible defensive blunders by Lyon on Sunday to come from behind and win the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semi-final 2-1.

The French league leaders went ahead in the 18th minute at the Emirates Stadium when Jule Brand scored with the visitors’ only shot on target in the first half.

But the Gunners rallied afer the break and levelled courtesy of an own goal from Ingrid Engen after goalkeeper Christiane Endler failed to gather the ball.

They took the lead when Olivia Smith took advantage of another mix-up at the back late in the game.

The two sides met at the same stage of the competition last season, with Arsenal winning 5-3 on aggregate before going on to lift the trophy with victory over Barcelona in the final.

Lyon drew first blood on Sunday when Brand surged forward and cut inside before beating Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar with a confident finish.

The home side thought they had been offered a way back into the game when they were awarded a penalty five minutes into the second half but the decision was overturned after a VAR check.

However, Arsenal were level in the 58th minute when Mariona Caldentey’s low free-kick somehow made its way into the net.

Lyon’s Endler mishandled the ball as Arsenal forward Stina Blackstenius darted into the six-yard box and the unfortunate Engen touched it into her own goal.

Kadidiatou Diani rattled the crossbar as the French team threatened to re-take the lead but it was Arsenal who scored again.

Endler and Engen collided after a moment of miscommunication and Smith collected the loose ball to slot into an empty net in the 83rd minute.

Arsenal boss Renee Slegers warned her team still had work to do.

“It’s only half-time but if you look at the game, a lot of bits played out how we wanted it,” she told the BBC.

“There was a phase in the first half where we wanted more aggression in our press and I think we had some great solutions at half-time.”

Lyon forward Ada Hegerberg described the goals her team conceded as “brutal”.

“You know in sports you get punished, but we stick together,” she said. “We have to accept it but find ways to move on.

“It’s important to take a step back and keep perspective.”

The second leg takes place in Lyon next weekend.

Bayern and Barcelona drew 1-1 in the other semi-final on Saturday. — AFP

• Men’s and women’s-only world records fall

• Organisers hope record number will finish by midnight

The London Marathon’s organisers have hailed the “greatest day” in the event’s 45-year history after huge crowds watched Sabastian Sawe become the first man to shatter the two-hour barrier in an official race, and a world record tally of more than 60,000 runners started the event.

By 6.30pm on Sunday evening, organisers were also hopeful of breaking the record number of 59,226 finishers, set by the New York Marathon last year, although they said it could go right down to the deadline of 11:59pm.

Staff are handing over sandwiches from behind a theft-proof counter as the high street fights back

Greggs has axed self-service display cabinets in bakery stores that have been most severely hit by shoplifters.

The move is the latest aimed at combating a problem plaguing the high street. Last year official figures revealed annual shoplifting offences in England and Wales had passed half a million offences for the first time, and since then many retailers have reported high levels of crime in their shops.

LONDON, April 26 — Britain's parliament this week approved a bill to ban those aged 17 and under from ever legally buying tobacco products during their lifetime.

A first in Europe, the UK will be only the second country in the world to implement such a measure. Here are five things to know about the new landmark UK law.

What does it stipulate? 

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill legally bars anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 from buying cigarettes and other tobacco products in the UK, even after they become adults.

It hands the government new powers to restrict the flavours and packaging of vapes and bans vaping in places where smoking is already banned, which is extended to children's playgrounds and areas near schools.

Often containing nicotine, these products are popular among young people, partly due to the array of flavours and brightly coloured packaging on offer, according to critics.

The government last June banned the sale of disposable vapes, which were cheap and also similarly marketed, while the new bill bans the advertising and sponsorship of all vapes and other nicotine products.

Why make the changes? 

In 2024, the UK had around 5.3 million adult smokers, nearly 10 percent of the population, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Those aged 25-34 made up the highest proportion, the agency's figures showed.

Although the number of smokers is at its lowest level in more than a decade, the habit remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in Britain, with 80,000 annually according to the government.

A YouGov poll last year for the health charity Action on Smoking and Health found more than two-thirds of Britons support the so-called generational ban on tobacco sales.

The charity's chief executive Hazel Cheeseman called the move "really symbolically important" because it signals the aim "to phase out the legal sale of tobacco over the lifetime of somebody who's currently 17".

"And that's a kind of shift in mindset."

Cheeseman conceded it likely will not completely eliminate smoking among the cohort in the future, but expects it to "substantially decrease" rates.

When will it come into force? 

The law will apply once the bill agreed by parliament earlier this week gets royal assent imminently.

The new rules will then take effect on different dates, some of which are still subject to consultation.

The ban on sales to young people born after 2008 will begin on January 1, 2027, the year in which they turn 18 and become adults.

Thereafter, the legal minimum age to buy tobacco will be raised annually by one year, first to 19 years old, then 20 and so on.

Christine Methnani, 66, a nurse in northern England, welcomed the law.

"Teenagers will never start to smoke" after facing peer pressure, she told AFP.

"I see a lot of people who come into the surgery trying to give up smoking, but it's because they've been pressured into it as young teenagers."

How will it be enforced? 

Smokers themselves will not be penalised. But any retailer who sells tobacco or related products, such as rolling papers, to a person born after 2008 will be liable for a fixed fine of £200 (RM1,073).

Some opponents of the law have warned it risks creating a black market.

"Similar claims were made about previous tobacco control measures and were proven wrong," countered Alizee Froguel, policy manager at Cancer Research UK.

"It's a common argument by the industry, but time and time again, that hasn't happened," she told AFP.

But Froguel acknowledged it was "likely" the industry would mount a legal challenge, noting it has "done that for the previous landmark laws on smoking in the past".

What about globally? 

According to the British government, the UK will be the second country in the world to implement a generational ban, after the Maldives.

The archipelago of 500,000 inhabitants in November banned the sale of tobacco to young people born after January 1, 2007.

In France, Green lawmaker Nicolas Thierry has introduced a cross?party bill to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2014.

Similar proposals have been put forward in the US states of Hawaii and Indiana.

New Zealand had been a pioneer, adopting plans for a ban for anyone born after 2008, but the centre-right National Party dropped the measure when it took power in 2023, before the ban had been implemented. — AFP

LONDON, April 26 — Tottenham Hotspur will assess the fitness of Dominic Solanke ‌and Xavi Simons after both were forced off in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, a ‌blow for manager Roberto De Zerbi as his side battle relegation.

Solanke was substituted in the 40th minute with a muscular problem, while Simons was replaced in the 63rd minute after suffering a knee issue. Despite the setbacks, the 82nd-minute winner from Joao Palhinha secured Tottenham’s first league victory in 16 matches at ‌Molineux. Spurs remained 18th in the standings ⁠with 34 points from ⁠34 games, two points from ⁠safety.

“Solanke has a muscular ⁠injury. I ⁠don’t know what level of injury, and for Xavi it’s a problem of the ⁠knee, and we’re going to see in the next days, Monday or Tuesday,” De Zerbi told reporters.

“For Solanke, it’s not a big problem. I don’t know how many games ⁠we lose him, but I would like to know the real situation of Xavi, because ⁠the knee is always different than the muscular ⁠injury.”

Tottenham, ⁠who are facing the prospect of their first relegation from top-flight football since 1977, have four games ‌remaining and next travel to Aston Villa on Sunday. — Reuters

Pair, believed to be mother and son, recovered from water but died at scene in Elthorne Park, Ealing

A woman and her young child have died after getting into “difficulty” in the water at a park in west London, police said.

Officers were called to Elthorne Park in Ealing just before 4.30pm on Saturday, where a woman and her son were recovered from the water, the Metropolitan police said.

Exclusive: Owner says private members venue is changing policy after revolt over division of pre-Christmas money

The restaurant tycoon Richard Caring has admitted his private members club Annabel’s made a “dumb mistake” after staff revolted over the use of more than £70,000 of their pre-Christmas service charge takings to pay managers’ bonuses.

Just one table of diners at the exclusive Mayfair venue, which has hosted celebrities, financiers and aristocrats ranging from Kate Moss and Harry Styles to the late queen, can spend more than £10,000 in an evening, according to workers.

Seven-day-old Poppy Hope Lomas died after complications during home birth encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital

A mother who lost her baby a week after an “unsafe” home birth that went against medical advice was failed by the NHS, an inquest has found.

Poppy Hope Lomas was seven days old when she died at University College hospital in London on 26 October 2022 after complications during a home birth that, according to her mother, was encouraged by midwives at Barnet hospital.

Michelle Sadio, 44, was killed outside wake in Willesden in 2024, and two other people were injured

Two men have been found guilty of murdering an innocent woman and injuring two more people in a drive-by shooting outside a wake.

Michelle Sadio, a mother of two, was shot outside the River of Life Pentecostal church in Willesden, north London on 14 December 2024. She had been among about 100 mourners, including children as young as five, at the wake for 80-year-old Dianne Boatong.

Criminals paid on behalf of Iran are believed to be behind attacks against Jewish targets, say detectives

Detectives are investigating whether the series of arson attacks in London was planned for weeks with suspects carrying out reconnaissance on the Jewish targets to be firebombed.

The series of attacks against synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as one premises linked to Iranian dissidents, are believed to be carried out by criminals paid on behalf of Iran, police said.

Gabrielle Carrington, 29, faces charges after incident on Argyll Street in the early hours of Sunday morning

A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a car hit pedestrians in central London in the early hours of Sunday.

A woman in her 30s remains in a life-threatening condition and a man in his 50s suffered life-changing injuries after they were hit by a car in Argyll Street, Westminster, at approximately 4.30am on Sunday, the Metropolitan police said. A second woman in her 30s suffered minor injuries, the force added.