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Brighton & Hove Albion trounced Manchester United 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, as Ralf Rangnick's side suffered a fifth straight away defeat with another woeful defensive display, Reuters reported.

The result was Brighton's first victory at home since December and they got it in style with the Seagulls thoroughly dominating, as Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard all found the net.

The defeat means it is now mathematically impossible for sixth-placed United to qualify for the Champions League, as they sit five points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal with one game left to play.

Brighton, who are bidding to finish in the top half of the Premier League for the first time, are ninth, five points off a Europa Conference League spot with two remaining matches.

"It is a special day. (United) are a top side and we've let our home fans down this season, so it was a nice moment," Brighton captain Lewis Dunk told Sky Sports.

Caicedo netted his first goal in a Brighton shirt in the 15th minute when he took advantage of the ball ricocheting off Alex Telles to tuck a low drive inside the post from outside of the box, according to Reuters.

Cucurella made it 2-0 after the break, firing into the roof of the net from close range.

Gross then steered a shot past David de Gea before Trossard added the fourth when Diogo Dalot's clearance bounced off his chest and into the United goal.

The hosts continued to pick holes in the United defence, going close when Dalot diverted a ball heading to Alexis Mac Allister onto the post, rather than to the Argentinian.

United attempted to fight back but a strong goalkeeping performance from Robert Sanchez kept them out.

The visitors did manage to put the ball in the back of the net, but Edinson Cavani was clearly offside when he poked home after Harry Maguire flashed a ball across the goalmouth, Reuters reported.

United have now conceded 56 goals in the Premier League this season, their worst defensive record in a single campaign in the competition.

"The result is what it is," United midfielder Bruno Fernandes said. "It is not good enough.

"They outplayed us. They always had a solution. Pressed us better and they deserved the result.

"A little bit of everything (went wrong). Quality. Mentality. They deserved to win and we deserve to be in the position we are in now."

Rajasthan Royals comfortably beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in their IPL match on Saturday, The Indian Express reported.

Batting first, Jonny Bairstow was back among runs with a fine half-century as Punjab Kings put up a challenging 189 for 5.

Bairstow scored 56 off 40 balls with eight fours and a six. Jitesh Sharma (38 not out off 18 balls) and Liam Livingstone (22 off 14 balls) also played nice little cameos at the back-end to spruce up the total, according to the Indian Express.

For the Royals, Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 28 in 4 overs.

In reply, the Royals scored the required runs in 19.4 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal making 68 off 41 balls.

Arshdeep Singh was the best bowler with 2/29 in 4 overs, Indian Express reported.

China's top leader Xi Jinping has issued the strongest warning yet against anyone who questions the country's zero-Covid policy, as stringent, frequent lockdowns fuel public discontent and deal a devastating blow to the Chinese economy, CNN reported.

At a meeting chaired by Xi on Thursday, the ruling Communist Party's supreme Politburo Standing Committee vowed to "unswervingly adhere to the general policy of 'dynamic zero-Covid,' and resolutely fight against any words and acts that distort, doubt or deny our country's epidemic prevention policies."

This is the first time Xi, who according to state media made an "important speech" at the meeting, has made public remarks about China's battle against Covid since public furor erupted over the harsh lockdown in Shanghai.

"Our prevention and control strategy is determined by the party's nature and mission, our policies can stand the test of history, our measures are scientific and effective," the seven-member committee said, according to government news agency Xinhua.

"We have won the battle to defend Wuhan, and we will certainly be able to win the battle to defend Shanghai," it said.

The Standing Committee also demanded cadres have a "profound, complete and comprehensive understanding" of the policies set by the party's central leadership, according to CNN.

"We should resolutely overcome the problems of inadequate awareness, inadequate preparation and insufficient work, and resolutely overcome contempt, indifference and self-righteousness in our thinking," it said.

To analysts who have long observed Chinese politics, the stern warning is a sign that there has been internal pushback against Xi's zero-Covid policy from within the party.

"This language should be read as a direct criticism of unspecified local CCP leaders who have questioned the policies at the center, or who have been insufficiently successful in applying them," wrote David Bandurski, co-director of the China Media Project.

"And it is difficult not to hear in this phrase about 'self-righteousness' condemnation of leaders in Shanghai in particular," Bandurski added.

Over the past five weeks, many Shanghai residents have taken to social media to call for help and vent their anger over severe food shortages and lack of access to medical care. Some protested from their windows, banging pots and pans and shouting in frustration, others even clashed with police and health workers in the streets -- a rare scene in a country where dissent is routinely suppressed.

The grave economic fallout has also drawn concerns from economists and business executives, especially given Shanghai's role as the country's leading financial center and a major manufacturing and shipping hub. In April, China's services sector, which accounts for more than half of the nation's GDP and over 40% of its employment, contracted at the second sharpest pace on record, while the manufacturing sector also shrunk, CNN reported.

And as Omicron spreads in other parts of China, more local governments are imposing swift lockdowns in response to just a handful of cases. In Beijing, where more than 500 cases have been reported since April 20, many fear for a Shanghai-style lockdown as authorities roll out increasingly restrictions.

But the latest statement from the country's top leaders has made it clear that the Chinese government is doubling down on its approach of relying on swift lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine to squash the highly transmissible Omicron variant for the foreseeable future.

Wu Qiang, a political analyst in Beijing, said since April, the question over how the government should deal with the country's worst outbreak since Wuhan has evolved into a "path struggle" within the party, according to CNN.

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday, after prolonged protests and a general strike shuttered schools, businesses, and transport services, CNN reported.

The state of emergency will allow for the arrest of protesters blocking roads. The measure must be approved by Sri Lanka's parliament within 14 days.

The country has been rocked by civil unrest since March, with protests at times turning violent as anger builds over the government's apparent mishandling of the country's economic crisis.

On Friday, police fired tear gas at protesters near the country's parliament in the national capital of Colombo, according to CNN.

The state of emergency drew criticism from some, with opposition leader Sajith Premadasa saying the measure "runs counter to seeking any solution to the crisis."

Rajapaksa previously declared a state of emergency on April 1, but rolled it back after five days.

Protesters have demanded Rajapaksa's resignation, frustrated by skyrocketing prices for food, fuel and other necessities as the government runs out of money. Many have been forced to spend hours in the searing heat to fill their tanks at gas stations, or to receive supplies of food and medicine. 

This week Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Ali Sabry admitted the country's financial reserves are close to empty. The country has appealed to the International Monetary Fund for emergency financing, CNN reported.

Liverpool drew with Tottenham 1-1 and went to the top of the English Premier League on Saturday but handed Manchester City a chance to pull three points clear, Associated Press reported.

The end of a 12-match league winning run at Anfield dampened Liverpool’s bid for a quadruple of trophies.

City was at home to Newcastle on Sunday when the defending champion can regain first place and go three points ahead.

Son Heung-min’s close-range finish from Ryan Sessegnon’s pass put Tottenham ahead in the 56th minute, according to the Associated Press.

Tottenham’s resolute defense was repelling Liverpool attacks until a shot from Luis Díaz outside the penalty area deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Despite Tottenham holding Liverpool for a second time this season, the point hurt its attempt to overhaul Arsenal in fourth place with three games to go.

Ahead of Thursday’s north London derby, Arsenal was a point ahead of Tottenham, and plays Leeds on Sunday, Associated Press.

Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, hoping to complete their conquest of the port in time for Victory Day celebrations, Associated Press reported.

Officials announced that the last women, children and older adults had been evacuated from the mill, but Ukrainian fighters remained trapped. 

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine’s military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war’s first days and has become a symbol of resistance. 

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities. Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Russia’s holiday on Monday celebrating Nazi Germany’s defeat 77 years ago, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged people to heed air raid warnings, according to the Associated Press.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people “embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War.” He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying “to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.” 

“As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions,” Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorated the Allied victory in Europe.

The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow’s offensive there has focused on the Donbas, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014.

The governor of the Luhansk region, one of two that make up the Donbas, said a Russian strike destroyed a school in the village of Bilogorivka where 90 people were seeking safety in the basement. Gov. Serhiy Haidai, who posted pictures of the burning rubble on Telegram, said 30 people were rescued. The emergency services later reported that two bodies had been found and more could still be buried under the rubble. Rescue work was suspended overnight but was to resume on Sunday.

Haidai also said two boys aged 11 and 14 were killed by Russian shelling in the town of Pryvillia, while two girls aged 8 and 12 and a 69-year-old woman were wounded.

Moscow also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives, Associated Press reported.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit Odesa, where a curfew is in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over the Black Sea port city as sirens wailed.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where the runway had already been taken out in a previous Russian attack. 

Air raid sirens sounded several times early Sunday, the city council said.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russia’s efforts to control the Black Sea. An image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed that most of the island’s buildings had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the island’s northern beach.

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language. 

In Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand against a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important city, which would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion, according to the Associated Press.

A 52-year-old Indian climber died while ascending the peak of Mt Kanchenjunga in Nepal, according to the organiser of the expedition, PTI reports. 

Narayanan Iyer, a resident of Maharashtra, died on Thursday at 8,200 meters altitude of the world’s third-highest mountain peak lying at the India-Nepal border, Nivesh Karki, executive director of the Pioneer Adventure, the organizer of the expedition, told PTI. 

According to the preliminary report, the Indian climber died due to high altitude sickness, some 386 metres below the 8,586-metre high peak. The climber refused to descend when the organisers “asked him to descend when he fell sick” while scaling the mountain, which led to his death, Karki told PTI.

Nepal has made substantial progress in the status of press freedom. According to a report prepared by Reporters Without Borders Nepal has climbed up by 30 points in the global ranking at 76th position. \

Last year, Nepal had been placed at 106th position, Pakistan at 145th, Sri Lanka 127th, Bangladesh 152nd, and Myanmar at 140th position in the index.

The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos – the effects of a globalized and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda.

Within democratic societies, divisions are growing as a result of the spread of opinion media following the “Fox News model” and the spread of disinformation circuits that are amplified by the way social media functions. At the international level, democracies are being weakened by the asymmetry between open societies and despotic regimes that control their media and online platforms while waging propaganda wars against democracies. Polarisation on these two levels is fuelling increased tension, the report says.