The pregame entertainment is a bit like the dancing fountains at Bellagio, but with fire.
Now both teams are taking the field as the Guns and Roses classic Welcome to the Jungle plays. I think it’s an improvement over the Champions League theme, but tastes may differ.
Iceland will be leaving the party early but, following some initial wobbles, the hosts are still going strong.
After losing their tournament opener to Norway, Switzerland ultimately settled a nation’s nerves thanks to a combination of smart substitutions on Pia Sundhage’s part and some excellent play from Manchester City’s Iman Beney at right wing-back.
This fascinating portrait of a complex man’s attempt to solve an impossible problem is packed with amazing archive footage – from George Michael singing to Thatcher being berated
On the evening of 23 October 1984, Bob Geldof, singer with the waning pop act the Boomtown Rats, had a social engagement. He had been invited to Mayfair for the launch of a book by Peter York, profiler of London’s most privileged bons vivants. But before he left the house, Geldof watched the BBC television news and a report by Michael Buerk about a hellish famine in Ethiopia.
Among the many startling, blackly comic archive clips in Live Aid at 40: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took on the World is footage of Geldof at that glitzy party, reeling from what he had seen on TV and remarking to a fellow guest that it was “gross” for them to be enjoying champagne and canapes. That tension between glamour and guilt is at the heart of this three-part retrospective that doesn’t ignore the flaws in Geldof’s grand plan to use music to feed the world. It’s a fascinating portrait of a complex man’s imperfect attempt to solve an impossible problem.
Kevin Durant’s trade to the Houston Rockets is official and officially record-setting.
The deal got approved by the NBA on Sunday as part of a seven-team transaction, a record number of organizations to be part of a single deal, one in which a slew of other trade agreements got folded into one massive package.
Every point in tennis is worth the same as the next, but some are more valuable than others. At 3-3 in the third set here on Sunday, after two and a half sets of outrageous hitting, Carlos Alcaraz held a break point to finally move ahead in the match for the first time. He then produced the kind of athleticism and shot-making that make him such an incredible champion, going side to side, sliding across the court and ripping an unstoppable forehand past the onrushing Andrey Rublev.
Until that point, the Russian had played outstanding tennis, testing the Spaniard with big serving, huge ground strokes and staying calm, which has not always been the case. But Alcaraz, like all great champions, has an uncanny ability to turn it on when he needs to and from that point on, he pulled away for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory that takes his winning streak to 22 matches and secures a clash with Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Norris: ‘Being on top at your home race is very special’
Lando Norris said his maiden victory at the British Grand Prix was everything he had dreamed of and a special moment to savour at his home race. However, his furious McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, who finished second, was convinced he had been unfairly denied by a controversial stewards’ decision.
Norris, now in his sixth season in F1, took the victory after Piastri had been given a 10-second penalty while leading but the 25-year-old still produced an assured drive in treacherous wet conditions to become the 12th British driver to win their home race since it was first held in 1950.
British player wins 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3
Norrie to face Carlos Alcaraz in the last eight
Cameron Norrie was practically fighting for his tennis life by the final set of an agonising four-hour duel on his beloved No 1 Court. As he watched ace after ace fly past him from one of the most destructive servers in the world, Norrie’s momentum had disappeared along with his two-set lead and match point.
The Briton has been on an unforgettable journey over the past few years and, after enduring one of the most difficult periods of his career, he has rebounded with even greater courage and self-belief. He drew upon that conviction in the final moments as he continued his brilliant run at Wimbledon by bravely holding his nerve to close out a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over the qualifier Nicolás Jarry after four hours and 27 minutes.
Stokes ponders changes after team bowled 234 overs
‘It’s no secret that we have spent some time in the field’
England have called up Gus Atkinson for Thursday’s third Test against India as they seek to refresh a bowling group that toiled through 234 overs at Edgbaston in a losing cause.
Ben Stokes admitted his side’s travails on the way to a humbling 336-run defeat had left them needing to repair both their bodies and their morale, with barely 72 hours in which to do it. “We’re disappointed, but we’ve got three days to turn around, so we need to get over this one just like we got over the enjoyment and the excitement of winning the first game – we need to flip our heads around,” the England captain said.
Scott Bessent suggests Musk focus on business a day after tech billionaire announced his new political party
Donald Trump called Elon Musk’s decision to start and bankroll a new US political party “ridiculous” on Sunday. “Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it but I think it’s ridiculous,” the president told reporters traveling with him back to the White House from his New Jersey golf club.
He then elaborated, at great length, in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks,” the president wrote. “He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States”.
Norway became the first team to reach the knockout stages of Women’s Euro 2025 after grinding out a 2-1 victory over a courageous Finland. Caroline Graham Hansen’s late winner in Sion broke Helmarit hearts after Oona Sevenius had cancelled out Eva Nyström’s unfortunate early own goal. Switzerland’s 2-0 win over Iceland in the late game sealed their passage into the quarter-finals.
It was Norway’s experience that eventually told when their decorated vice-captain struck in the 84th minute against the run of play.
Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Washington as momentum gathers in negotiations for a US-sponsored deal
Israeli warplanes launched a wave of strikes in Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 38 Palestinians, according to hospital officials, as talks over a ceasefire in the devastated territory reached a critical point.
Officials at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said 18 people were killed by strikes in al-Mawasi, a nearby coastal area that is crowded with tented encampments of those displaced by fighting elsewhere.
Footage shows animal leaping over wall in Lahore before attack that left victims with face and arm injuries
The owners of a pet lion that escaped from a farmhouse and injured a woman and her two children in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore have been arrested, authorities said on Sunday.
The arrest came after dramatic video footage emerged showing the lion leaping over a wall and attacking the victims in a residential area.
World No 1 forced to work hard for 6-4, 7-6 victory
Siegemund next up after win over Solana Sierra
Tennis players often say it’s hard to play against a friend, the killer instinct never quite as easy to call on as it might be against someone else. Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, has rarely had that problem, but she was pushed hard by her former doubles partner Elise Mertens before winning through 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the quarter-finals.
Mertens had won just two sets in their past nine matches but played as good a match as she has ever done at Wimbledon, and still came out on the wrong side. Sabalenka hit 36 winners and made just 18 unforced errors, coming from 3-1 down in the second set to set up a quarter-final against Laura Siegemund of Germany.
Mothers and partners will gain the legal right if they lose a baby before 24 weeks, in Labour workers’ rights reform
Parents in Britain will be granted the right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour’s changes to workers’ rights, it has been confirmed.
In a change to the law made via amendments to the employment rights bill, mothers and their partners will be given the legal right to at least one week’s bereavement leave if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation.
Lisa Nandy’s call for a modern Annan-style review offers a chance to renew the broadcaster for a fragmented digital age
The BBC will soon charge US users for full news access. In Britain, it may seem a distant prospect, but if universality can be dropped abroad, how long before it’s tested at home? With the BBC’s charter due for renewal in 2027, the funding debate is intensifying. What becomes of the licence fee will define the broadcaster’s future.
There is increased scrutiny of Auntie’s independence and impartiality after political pressure was applied through censure, funding freezes and contentious board appointments. What the BBC should look like in a fragmented media landscape is uncertain. A big question is whether the licence fee levied on households should be replaced by subscription, limited advertising or public funding. The last option is surely a non-starter, opening the door to more direct political control. Carrying adverts would force the BBC to compete with other broadcasters for cash, and destabilise existing providers. A subscription-style BBC, even if technical hurdles were overcome, wouldn’t be a national institution. Those most in need of public-service media – navigating disinformation, political alienation or regional marginalisation – would be left out. Once you charge, the question isn’t how to inform, educate and entertain the public; it’s who can afford to be included. Partial subscription might keep some core services – like news – free, while others are paywalled. This would entrench a two-tier public service.
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The American designer balances a homage to the past with a nod to his own fashion story
After a year of musical chairs in fashion, September is gearing up to be one of its biggest show months ever: with debut collections slated from new creative directors at brands including Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and ex-Balenciaga designer Demna at Gucci.
On Sunday in Paris, Michael Rider, who recently succeeded Hedi Slimane at Celine, decided to get a head start.
Detectorists and archaeologists sometimes clash, but the recent find of two Roman swords was the thrilling result of collaboration
The discovery of two swords at a dig in Gloucestershire has fuelled speculation that a Roman villa may once have stood there, at a period in the second or third century AD when Saxons were making inroads in the region. Experts think that the blades may even have been deliberately hidden – but not deep enough to conceal them from a novice metal detectorist, Glenn Manning. Next month, the public will get a chance to see the weapons when they go on display at the Corinium museum in Cirencester, to which they have been given.
The items join a growing list of striking finds by hobbyists. These include a gold nugget found in the Shropshire Hills by Richard Brock, who located it with the help of an old machine that was “only half working”. Another newcomer dug up a gold necklace bearing the initials of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, which is now in the British Museum.
Jamie Smith hits defiant 88 but Deep takes 6-99 and 10-187 overall
They came, they saw, they conquered. And how they conquered, India surging to a 336-run thumping of England on a giddy final day at Edgbaston to level this five-match series at one apiece. For Shubman Gill, who personally delivered 430 runs with the bat and banked his first victory as Test captain, it completed a week he will never forget.
And Ben Stokes? Gill’s opposite number will doubtless be keen to move on quickly, and in that respect, the fact the third Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday is something of a blessing. Even so, there is plenty for Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the head coach, to chew on over the next three days. Their side were outperformed in all departments and were eventually bowled out for 271 with 28 overs remaining after being set an improbable target of 608 to win.
McLaren seal one-two, with Piastri second after penalty
Torrential conditions contribute to dramatic battle
This year’s British Grand Prix already had a place in history as the 75th anniversary of Silverstone hosting the first Formula One race in 1950. Now it will be remembered as a milestone and career high for Lando Norris, a maiden win at his home race and the victory he has long coveted.
The British GP has thrown up swathes of superlative races in those 75 seasons and this year’s earned its place among them. Under gunmetal grey skies and lowering clouds an afternoon of incident and drama unfolded, of fortune and fury, and for one driver a moment of finally discharging a particularly unwanted monkey, as the old airfield once more proved a grand stage.
Mathieu van der Poel won stage two of the 2025 Tour de France into Boulogne-sur-Mer for Alpecin-Deceuninck, claiming the race lead from his teammate Jasper Philipsen after a quick succession of short climbs inside the final kilometres exploded the peloton on the approach to the Channel port.
The Dutchman thwarted Tadej Pogacar’s attempt to take the 100th win of his career, outsprinting the defending champion on the steady final climb of the Boulevard Auguste Mariette.
American actor best known for playing heavies, including the ‘psycho’ Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs
The actor Michael Madsen, who has died aged 67 of a cardiac arrest, saw himself as a “throwback” to the era of noir heavies such as Robert Mitchum and Lee Marvin. But plying his jocular menace in the modern Hollywood era gave the actor expanded possibilities for movie violence that elevated him, at certain moments, to a timeless screen presence.
When he severed a policeman’s ear in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs, after sadistically bopping to the sounds of Stealers Wheel’s pop hit Stuck in the Middle With You, it became Madsen’s calling-card scene. He had originally auditioned for the part of Mr Pink, the role eventually played by Steve Buscemi, before the director realised his imposing qualities were perfect for the loose-cannon psychopath, Mr Blonde. “Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?” Madsen taunts Harvey Keitel’s Mr White, sipping a soda.
Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in first half of 2025, only just below the effective 22% share needed to meet rules
Carmakers are on track to meet existing UK electric car sales targets despite having successfully lobbied the government to water them down.
Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in the first half of 2025, only marginally below the 22.06% share needed to meet existing rules once concessions are taken into account, according to an analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank.
I had my eldest child when I was 19, and being a young mum can be tricky – I was used to feeling judged by other people in public.
One evening, I was on a crowded train home in Melbourne at peak hour, which is also witching hour for toddlers. My two-year-old son just started losing it, so I was distracting him with silly noises and games. It was largely working and he was mostly laughing and squealing with delight. I registered that it was annoying some passengers, but the alternative would have been much louder and annoying for us all. Making matters worse, no one offered me a seat, so we were standing up and bumping into other people, who were getting pissed off.
About 1,000 swimmers a day will be allowed to use three bathing sites after €1.4bn clean-up programme
Parisians and tourists flocked to take a dip in the Seine River this weekend after city authorities gave the green light for it to be used for public swimming for the first time in more than a century.
The opening followed a comprehensive clean-up programme sped up by its use as a venue in last year’s Paris Olympics after people who regularly swam in it illegally lobbied for its transformation.
Caroline Graham Hansen scored a late goal to fire Norway to a 2-1 win over Finland, putting them within touching distance of the Euro 2025 quarter-finals
The teams are out. The national anthems are about to be sung. Kick-off is just a matter of minutes away!
Norway head coach Gemma Grainger tells BBC Sport: “It’s nice to be back here in Sion. Really looking forward to the second game. The key today is to focus on this game - it is not helpful to think ahead on what can happen. We are very focused on how we can be at our best today.
Officials have said waters in some parts of Texas are starting to recede to where they were before the storm.
The Guadalupe River near Kerrville – which surged by more than 20 feet within 90 minutes during the downpour — is, according to CNN, back down to just a foot or two higher than its level before the flood.
Lionesses facing must-win game against Netherlands
Hemp: ‘We’re going to make sure we’re back at our best’
Lauren Hemp said the Lionesses “thrive under pressure” after a 2-1 defeat by France plunged them into in effect a must-win game against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
England’s midfield collapse was concerning in their Euro 2025 opener, the team sloppy in possession and punished on the wings, but Hemp struck a defiant tone.
British No 3 loses in fourth round 7-6, 6-4 on Centre Court
Line-calling system malfunctions at key point in first set
Sonay Kartal took Wimbledon by storm as the last British player standing in the women’s singles, after Emma Raducanu’s exit. The Brighton native calmly went about her business in the first week, defeating the world No 21, Jelena Ostapenko, in the first round before dominant straight-set wins against Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry to reach the fourth round at a grand slam for the first time.
But the fairytale run came to a halt as the unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s greater experience told, the 34-year-old winning 7-6 (3), 6-4 to return to the Wimbledon quarter-finals after nine years.
Mood is tense and subdued after nearly 21 months of Israeli offensives that have displaced almost the entire population
In Gaza City on Sunday morning, there was only one topic of conversation: the possibility of peace. In the half-ruined town, as across the entire territory, few took their eyes off their phones, a television or better-informed relatives or friends for more than a few minutes.
Um Fadi Ma’rouf, from the now destroyed town of Beit Lahiya in the far north of Gaza, said she was encouraged by the positive response from Hamas to the most recent US-sponsored proposal of terms for a deal.
Musiala suffered fibula fracture and ankle dislocation
PSG’s Donnarumma criticised for ‘reckless’ collision
Bayern Munich have said Jamal Musiala faces a “lengthy” recovery from a leg fracture after his collision with Paris Saint-Germain’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Club World Cup.
Bayern said on Sunday that Musiala had flown back from Florida to Munich that morning for surgery on the injury the attacking midfielder picked up in Saturday’s loss to PSG in the quarter-finals.
Time has come for head coach to cease experimenting and get down to business as Lions need to go all out or go home
For some reason Dame Edna Everage sprang to mind in the wake of the British & Irish Lions’ less-than-marvellous display against the NSW Waratahs on Saturday. As Edna once waspishly told a fellow grand dame: “I’m trying to find a word to describe your outfit … affordable.” It was not dissimilar to the lacklustre Lions in Sydney: all dressed up and nowhere to hide.
It has been an awkward few days all round, with increasing amounts of potential comedic ammunition available to Aussie hecklers. “Mr Farrell, welcome to our hotel, we’ve held the family suite for you.” “Mate, was the pitch really damp on Saturday or were you blokes just wallowing in your own mediocrity?” It is reaching the point where the Lions need to start delivering a few short sharp punchlines of their own.
There are just two days of talks left before the US president’s potentially swingeing tariffs are restored
The EU is entering a crunch week with only two days of talks left to secure a trade deal with Washinton to avert Donald Trump’s threatened 50% tariff on its imports into the US.
According to the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, on Friday, the negotiations – which continued over the weekend – are focussed on 15 to 18 agreements with important partners, while Trump warned of import tax rates of up to 70% on others.
Oh, and Vin Diesel was there, too, as the former Quentin Cook signs off with a version of the Stones’ Satisfaction.
Tony Hawk - skateboarder not member of Morris Minor and The Majors - is here. He has his board with him. Tom Holland – actor not popular historian - is also there. “I am going to try and catch Lewis. I am always wary not to be a distraction,” he tells Martin Brundle. Damson Idris – of the Brad film – will be waving the chequered flag. “I’m so glad everyone has supported the movie.” It stops raining. Nigel Mansell – from the Isle of Mad – is there with Jackie Stewart. “Lewis has an outside chance,” says Nige. Sebastian Coe is cheering for “anyone who can master the circumstances. Clarkson’s here, Clarksoning along. “There’s 20 drivers, and 17 I like them.” Someone called Kaleb – a Clarkson acolyte? – is there with Jezza. Sam Ryder – the world’s most excitable man – gives Brundle a hug. Hannah Waddingham dishes out the hugs and the luvviedom to Brunds, too. She wants to see Hamilton and Verstappen “going at it in the wet”. The drivers rush to the track. Fernando Alonso gives the thumbs up. Ian Wright is “buzzing, bro”, and now Idris Elba is as hyped as Wrighty and Ryder – he’s “Team Lewis”. And here’s the National Anthem with clouds deep above the track…Becky Hill gives it the discursive, big flourish at the end on “k-i-n-g”. Let’s get racing!
Older gen Zers, with memories of the 2009-10 financial crisis, are saving more, but experts say employers should help
Research published at the end of last year by the Investment Company Institute with help from the University of Chicago found that gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – are “outpacing” earlier generations in contributing to retirement, having more than three times more assets in their 401(k) retirement savings accounts than gen X households had at the same time in 1989, adjusted for inflation.
Not only is nuclear essential if we want to reach net zero – it’s the key to tackling poverty, too
Money can buy comfort, but energy makes comfort possible in the first place. Energy is the great enabler of the modern world. It connects the globe by moving people and hauling goods. It loosens the grip of the weather by warming our homes in winter and cooling them in summer. It forges the steel that raises our cities and synthesises the fertilisers that keep half the world’s population from starvation. It increasingly empowers us by electrifying the technologies we rely on daily.
It is also the great enabler of socioeconomic development. Monetary wealth and energy abundance move in lockstep: plot a graph of GDP per capita against energy consumption per capita, and you’ll draw a straight line. Low-energy, high-income nations do not exist. Prosperity and energy are inseparable; you cannot have one without the other.
The rules of the institutions that define our lives bend like reeds when it comes to Israel – so much that the whole global order is on the verge of collapse
Sereen Haddad is a bright young woman. At 20 years old, she just finished a four-year degree in psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in only three years, earning the highest honors along the way. Yet, despite her accomplishments, she still can’t graduate. Her diploma is being withheld by the university, “not because I didn’t complete the requirements”, she told me, “but because I stood up for Palestinian life.”
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