Southgate has hint that Ben Gibson could make his England debut against Lithuania

UK PM condemns racist abuse of England soccer team

England supporters who gathered in London to watch the Euro 2020 final say they're "gutted" about the team's defeat to Italy on penalties, but "proud of them" for getting so far in the tournament.

Lithuania has seen a sharp rise of migrants entering its territory, with most of them originally coming from Africa and the Middle East. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is suspected of causing the surge.

Gareth Southgate condemns the "unforgivable" racist abuse aimed at the three England players who missed penalties in Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat against Italy. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were the victims of sickening social media taunts in the aftermath of the 3-2 penalty shoot-out loss at Wembley.

Rashford missed a penalty along with teammates Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka in the 3-2 shoutout. Rashford responded in a lengthy statement on social media in which he apologised for his penalty miss in the shoot out. The forward wrote: "All I can say is sorry. I wish it had of gone differently." He also said messages of support daubed on a defaced mural of his face left him "on the verge of tears".

A mural commissioned by London's City Hall celebrates England's football team, who reached the finals of the Euro 2020 championship, showing Gareth Southgate, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling next to the slogan 'You did us proud'. One of the artists who created the piece, street artist 'Mr Meana' of the MurWalls collective, says the work highlights 'the importance of getting racism out of football' in the wake of racist comments about the team online.

With the Metropolitan Police investigating racist abuse directed at three of England's black football players after the team's loss last Sunday in the Euro 2020 finals against Italy, AFP takes a look at racism in football and what can be done to tackle the abuse off the pitch.

The decision to ditch most coronavirus restrictions is being strongly criticized by some medical professionals who have been at the forefront in the fight against COVID.

The changes apply to those with a vaccine approved by the US or in Europe. Arrivals will still need to test negative before departing for England.

A growing number of African and Middle Eastern migrants have been illegally entering Lithuania from Belarus. The country says it is finding it hard to cope. Alexandra von Nahmen reports from the Lithuanian border.

Illegal migration to Lithuania has increased hugely in 2021, with Lithuania blaming Belarusian strongman President Alexander Lukashenko's regime for encouraging the migrants to cross as retaliation against EU sanctions, calling it "hybrid aggression". Lukashenko has denied the allegations, insisting instead that Lithuania triggered the migrant influx itself after Vilnius announced in July it would cut the asylum request process to 10 days.

Lured to Belarus with promises of easy EU immigration, Iraqis, Syrians and Afghans are now trapped in Lithuania. Abbas al-Khashali and Hamza al-Shawabkeh met them there.