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FORMER Man United star Mason Greenwood is celebrating a brace after becoming a dad again for the second time.

The striker welcomed a second daughter with partner Harriet Robson earlier this week.

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The couple celebrated the birth of their first child Summer in July 2023.

A source said: “They are both delighted with the safe arrival of their second child. They are really enjoying living in France and are enjoying the simple things.

“Mason is performing well on the pitch and then he comes home to Harriet and his children. Life is simpler and they have less distractions, which is suiting the both of them.”

Yesterday Greenwood posted a picture of Harriet, 23, holding Summer – who were both wearing Marseille shirts with the name “Greenwood” on the back along with his Number 10 – on his instagram page.

He wrote: “Happy birthday to the best partner and mum we love you”.

To celebrate Summer’s first birthday, Harriet posted a video montage of him with his daughter.

After her birth, Greenwood had posted a picture of a tiny baby’s hand in his own, with the caption saying: “11.07.23”.

University student Harriet had enjoyed a baby shower where she showed off her blossoming bump.

The Sun reported the couple were expecting in October last year.

A source said at the time: “Mason has done a lot of growing up in the last couple of years, especially since he has become a father.

“He and Harriet are enjoying life out of the intense spotlight that comes with being a United player and is much more settled off the pitch, which means he can concentrate on his football.”

Greenwood, 23, signed a five-year deal with Marseille last July after the French club agreed a £26million fee with Manchester United.

Since the move to France, where he earns a reported £70,000-a-week, Greenwood’s form has attracted interest from Barcelona.

Before the move he was being watched by Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and at least two Premier League clubs.

The forward had spent the previous season on loan at Spanish side Getafe, where he scored 10 goals in 36 games.

Greenwood was suspended by United after his arrest for attempted rape, assault and coercive control in January 2022.

The charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in February 2023.

MUFC announced their academy player would not be returning to the club on August 21 that year in what was branded a “collaborative decision”.

He left on loan to Serie A club Getafe before moving to Marseille.

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Chinese footballer Guo Jiaxuan has been been diagnosed with ‘brain death’ following an accident at a training camp in Spain.

The 18-year-old was struck in the head by the knee of an opposition player while playing in a training match against Spanish side RC Alcobendas at a tournament organised by the Beijing Football Association.

Guo had become part of Bayern Munich’s World Squad, an international project by the German club aimed at developing promising players from across the globe.

The defender had also represented China at Under-17 level and looked set for a promising professional before tragedy struck.

Guo suffered subarachnoid haemorrhage which is an uncommon type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain.

He was rushed from the training match against RC Alcobendas – near Madrid, Spain – to a hospital.

His brother said: ‘I learned that the doctor at the hospital said my brother had too much bleeding in his head. And that there was little hope of survival.

‘The hospital was going to remove his tubes.’

A doctor delivered the family the crushing news that Guo no longer had any brain functions following the injury last Thursday.

After arriving in Spain on Saturday, his father was told that medics proposed switching off his life support.

All parties reportedly accepted this outcome unless he could be flown back to China by Wednesday (12 Feb) for further life support.

Guo played for the academy of Beijing Guoan, whose senior team came fourth in the Chinese Super League last season.

It’s reported that if Guo is repatriated, both the BFA and his family will have to cover his treatment costs, much to the latter’s frustration.

‘The commitment we signed said that they were only responsible for the cost of treatment in Spain and the transfer back to China,’ Guo’s father is quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

‘And [they] said that after we return to China, the cost of treatment should be paid by both [family and BFA].

‘They have a team of professional lawyers. We are just ordinary people, and you can see how difficult it will be to fight a legal battle.’

Donald Trump’s ‘direct’ approach with Vladimir Putin is a double blow, not only to Ukraine – but to the future of Europe, a Russian military expert in the UK has warned.

It is the moment that Europeans have been anticipating for months since the Republican promised to end Russia’s bloodshed in his first 24 hours in the White House – a ceasefire.

The US president spoke with both Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone last night, with all of them agreeing that they want to make a deal.

Yet, there is little faith that negotiations – led by the US – will end in lasting security guarantees and will not result in another war in Europe in the near future.

Keir Giles, a leading analyst on European defence and Russia at Chatham House in London, said that even before official talks have started, the US has been bowing down to Russia’s demands.

‘A promise by Trump of peace for our time, achieved through rewarding an aggressor, is worth little when held against Russia’s ongoing preparations for further war,’ he said.

Other experts assured Metro that the way this war is resolved will serve ‘as a litmus test for all would-be dictators and tyrants’.

What could a Ukraine-Russia peace deal look like?

Ukraine is definitely not getting what it wants – a Nato membership and the return of its borders from 2014, including the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. That is for sure.

Ivan Stupak, a military expert and ex-SBU officer, told Metro that Ukrainians are looking for an immediate ceasefire due to major losses in manpower and a strained economy.

‘We are realising that it is impossible to reach Ukrainian borders from 2022 and even 2022. A Nato membership is an illusion,’ he said.

Stupak speculated that a US-led plan would include freezing of the current frontline, establishing a demilitarized zone and possibly stationing UN peacekeepers there.

For Ukraine, it all comes down to making sure that Russia does not renew its invasion as soon as it sees an opportunity.

Zelensky has also stressed that any deal should involve Ukraine, rather than just an agreement between Trump and Putin.

But Russia is definitely getting more than it deserves, experts have warned.

Putin may claim that he is ready for talks but Russian officials continue to refer to a proposal from June 2024.

Under that plan Russia would get to keep all the Ukrainian territory it has seized, plus some more land still under Ukrainian control.

Ukraine would not be allowed to join Nato and western sanctions against Russia would be scrapped.

What are the implications for Europe?

Experts have warned that appeasing the Russian dictator could result in history repeating itself and only embolden his imperialistic desires to take over more land on the continent.

Wayne Jordash KC, president of Global Rights Compliance stressed that the war is not just about Ukraine’s independence, but also ‘a battle for the democratic principles and values of the civilised world.’

Keir Giles also said: ‘With acceptance that Russia can retain the territory it has seized in exchange for a plea for peace, the parallels with 1938 could only be clearer if Trump had held up a note and said Putin had assured him that he had no further territorial ambitions in Europe.

‘Credible security guarantees for Ukraine from the US and Nato have been explicitly ruled out by Hegseth.

‘But there are few doubts among the most reliably accurate observers of Moscow that in their absence, any ceasefire will be brief and give Russia a welcome breathing space to rebuild its land forces faster without Ukraine inconveniently destroying them at the same time.’

How is Trump’s relationship with Putin impacting the deal?

Trump has a history of positive and admiring comments about Putin that have long prompted criticism that he is ‘soft on Russia’.

During this first term in the White House, he described the war leader as ‘strong’ and ‘smart’ and later said he ‘got along great’ with him.

And Putin said last month he had always had ‘pragmatic and trusting’ relations with the US president.

Reflecting the nature of their relationship, Russian state-controlled media painted their call as a major success for the Kremlin.

News agency RIA Novosti said in an opinion column: ‘The US finally hurt Zelensky for real,’ adding that Trump had found ‘common ground’ with Putin.

‘This means that the formula “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” – a sacred cow for Zelensky, the EU and the previous US administration – no longer exists.

‘Moreover, the opinion of Kyiv and Brussels (the EU) is of no interest to Trump at all,’ it added.

Russian popular pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda went even further and published a column stating in the headline that ‘Trump signed Zelensky’s death sentence’.

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Rachel Reeves has been accused of using company money to purchase birthday gifts for her colleagues before she became an MP.

The Chancellor is claimed to have used a company card to purchase wine, perfume and paying for a lavish leaving do for a co-worker – as well as claiming expenses on a gift of earrings for her PA – while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

A spokesperson for Reeves said all expenses during her time at the firm were ‘submitted and signed off in the proper way’.

Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer backed the Chancellor, stating that Reeves has integrity and he has no concerns about her conduct.

According to BBC News, the bank’s Internal Audit department launched an investigation following a complaint from a whistleblower.

A ‘senior source’ told the broadcaster that evidence of wrongdoing by Reeves and two other senior managers was found, but the inquiry did not go further and it appears a formal conclusion was never reached.

The woman who now serves as the UK’s first female Chancellor worked at HBOS for around three years between March 2006 and April 2009 – a tumultuous time in financial history.

As part of her managerial role, she had access to a ‘Motivation’ card, which could be used to buy rewards for workers who had gone the extra mile.

It was this card that Reeves is reported to have used to buy birthday gifts for her colleagues.

BBC News cited 11 ex-employees who said they had believed it was against the rules to buy such items with the card – though a memo instructing how to use the card mentioned no such restrictions.

Another staff member named Jane Wayper told the broadcaster ‘birthday gifts and Christmas presents could be purchased using Motivation cards’, adding ‘staff were encouraged to do so for their teams’.

The story was published alongside an investigation into the Chancellor’s CV on professional networking site LinkedIn, which accused her of exaggerating the length of time she spent working at the Bank of England.

After the article was published, the dates of her career moves were altered on the site with her spokesperson blaming an administrative error for the discrepancy.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch suggested the Chancellor still needs to ‘come clean’ about certain aspects of the story.

In a post on X, she said: ‘The BBC’s investigation raises serious questions for Rachel Reeves.

‘Keir Starmer said “restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era”. Until she comes clean – not just about her CV but about the circumstances in which she left HBOS, no one will take him seriously.’

Asked whether the Prime Minister still thought Reeves had integrity after the edits to her LinkedIn page, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘Yes.

‘The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are working hand in hand to deliver on the priorities, the plan for change, and to deliver the higher growth and the improvements in living standards that the country needs.’

The Number 10 official added he could not answer questions about time spent by Cabinet ministers in previous jobs prior to Government.

He said that the Chancellor had gone through the ‘ministerial declaration process’ which all members of Cabinet go through when asked if she disclosed that there had been an investigation into her expenses before she was an MP.

‘Obviously the Chancellor, like every Cabinet member, has been through that process. The process is governed by the independent adviser. Obviously I can’t get into detail,’ the spokesman said.

A spokesperson for Rachel Reeves said: ‘Rachel is proud of the work she did at HBOS and the teams that she led, it is 16 years since she left the bank and the first time she was made aware of these claims was when approached by journalists.

‘She was not aware of an investigation nor was she interviewed, and she did not face any disciplinary action on this or any other matters. All expenses were submitted and signed off in the proper way.

‘Several former colleagues from her time at the bank, including HBOS’ former HR business partner, have corroborated this account.

‘Rachel left HBOS in 2009 on good terms.’

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