It sounded like the muffled popping of champagne corks in rapid succession, but no one opens bottles that fast.They reverberated from the hotel foyer and through the open main door into the Washington Hilton ballroom, where I was sitting at one of the tables closest to the entrance.With my dinner companions, I was in the middle of starting a sweepstake on how long President Trump would speak for and guessing which news outlet he would roast the most.‘I think he’s going to speak for…’ someone said, trailing off as the shots…

On the weekend of the London Marathon, Arsenal’s title crawl continued, with all the fluency of a fridge-carrying charity runner. The closing laps of this race really are going to be a slog.What would have been a procession had they taken just four more points from draws against Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Wolves, or the defeat by Bournemouth this month, now feels like a stagger for the line.The good news for Mikel Arteta is that there are only four league games to play, not 14. It is a small enough number to negotiate…

Madness frontman Graham 'Suggs' McPherson last night sung at a vigil attended by hundreds of people for a 21-year-old filmmaking student who was stabbed to death in Primrose Hill.Suggs sang It Must Be Love as balloons were released into the sky in memory of Finbar Sullivan, who was stabbed at the beauty spot in the early evening of April 7.Famous faces turned out along with friends and family at the viewing point on Primrose Hill on Sunday evening.They included The Jam's Paul Weller, Dexys Midnight Runners frontman Kevin…

A sexual abuse charity has accused London's mayor of failing to protect children from naked cyclists in the capital.Sir Sadiq Khan 'could do so much more than he does' to protect children from exposure to nudity during London's naked bike ride, according to a campaigner.The annual event sees adults cycle naked through the capital - which would usually lead to their arrest - in a protest against car culture and oil dependency.But critics of the ride have said a lack of participant registration, marshalling on the route and…