Inter centre-back Milan Skriniar and AC Milan winger Rafael Leao are each preparing to sign new contracts at their San Siro clubs, dealing major transfer blows to Chelsea and Manchester United, according to reports.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England, said crews have been badly impacted by the spread of the Omicron variant and called for workers be prioritised for Covid tests.

Chelmsford City Council confirmed 23 members of staff were absent and cancelled three days' worth of food waste collections, best homework service while North Somerset Council said they had been unable to pick up 1,000 recycling bins on New Year's Eve as crews remain 'stretched due to staff sickness'.

Councils across the UK are having to redistribute staff between essential services to keep everything running, and the public sector has been asked to prepare for a worst-case scenario of up to a quarter of staff off work.

World Cup holders France have a long list of injuries that coach Didier Deschamps must take into consideration over the next few days although the preliminary list is long enough to include players in a race against time to be fit for Qatar.

Sportsmail reported on Tuesday that Manchester United were plotting a £60million swoop for the Portuguese winger next summer, and that the club's scouts had watched Chelsea's clash with AC Milan last week in a bid to keep tabs on the winger.

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Father and husband Leo Dee, 51, who quit his job as a City investment banker to become a rabbi and move to Israel, believes that the killers will be 'brought to justice' as he prepares for his daughters' funeral today in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, where the family are based.

FIFA said in June the decision to expand squads was made "given the need to retain additional flexibility due to the unique timing" of this year's competition, which will interrupt the European club season.

Paying tribute to the sisters on Twitter, Chief Rabbi Mervis said: 'No words can describe the depth of our shock and sadness at the heart-breaking news of the murder by terrorists in Israel of Maya & Rina Dee, daughters of Rebbetzen Lucy, who is in a critical condition & Rabbi Leo Dee, my dear colleagues.

The sports marketing film, which made its world premiere at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas in March, tells the story of how Nike, a fledgling athletic shoe company in the early 1980s, was able to pull off a Michael Jordan endorsement deal.

Matt Damon has had his hands full in recent weeks shooting his latest film, The Instigators, while promoting the biographical sports drama Air, that was directed and co-stars his old buddy Ben Affleck.

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World football´s governing body will not publish the preliminary lists but some countries might choose to do so, signaling their intentions and potentially putting to bed some of the early debate about team selection.

Speaking from his wife's hospital bedside, Rabbi Dee told The Mail on Sunday that he was travelling with other family members in a car some distance ahead when a relative called to ask if he knew 'about the shooting and if the family was OK'.

The Slovakian defender attracted plenty of interest last summer from a handful of top flight European clubs including PSG and Chelsea, who ultimately opted to sign Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana at centre-half.

Heads fear up to a quarter of their staff could be struck down in January and have been told to merge classes where necessary but teaching unions insist a return to online teaching at home will be inevitable for some this term despite Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi insisting face-to-face teaching will be the norm.

Caroline Derbyshire, head of Saffron Walden County High School in Essex, said: 'Staff shortages will be a factor and there will be schools in particular parts of the country where rates have been extremely high.

Masks have been reintroduced in secondary school classrooms, while all secondaries have been asked to provide on-site testing for students ahead of their return. They can stagger starting days but all pupils should be back by Monday next week.

Children all over the country are returning to school today and risk being turned away at the gates if they or their teachers test positive for the virus as commuters returned for the first time since Christmas.

Gloucester meanwhile has been hit with 'terrible problems' as bin collectors work in close-knit teams and quickly pass the virus onto one another, multiplying the number of staff off sick at one time, Liberal Democrat councillor Declan Wilson said.