Spain has begun three days of mourning after at least 69 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in a crash between two high-speed trains. The town of Urda has become the site of a major operation, as emergency services continue to search through the wreckage and relatives wait for news of their loved ones. There is growing public anger over the incident, which is the second fatal train collision in Spain in less than a year. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent, Sam Jones
4 min: City have the first real chance as they try and find Shaw in the box but Karchaoui marshals the threat well. The hosts come again with Fujino finding the Jamaica international but she can’t connect with the cross.
2 min: Can you believe this is the first time these two clubs have met? That fun fact blew my mind a bit. Both teams starting slowly, trying to figure the other out.
The Atlanta Dream had no intention of letting a matinee become their curtain call.
Facing elimination at a lunchtime tipoff, the Dream overwhelmed the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 on Thursday afternoon to force a decisive seventh game in the WNBA finals, rediscovering their offensive touch just as their title hopes were threatening to slip away.
Challenger’s identity could be approved by next week
Arsène Wenger not thought to have entered reckoning
Uefa and its allies are close to identifying a candidate to run against Gianni Infantino in the Fifa election and could select the challenger as early as next week.
The clock is ticking on efforts to oppose Infantino in March, with candidates required to confirm they are standing by 18 November, but there is growing confidence those attempts are nearing a successful resolution. Discussions with potential nominees have gained momentum despite recent setbacks that included a U-turn by the Asian Football Confederation president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, who surprisingly endorsed Infantino’s push for a fourth term.
South Africa lead Australia by 40 runs with six wickets remaining
Ackerman out for 62 as Bavuma dismissed on 35 in Cape Town
If Temba Bavuma was decisive for South Africa as he batted through day after day in Gqeberha, his fall in the shadow of stumps on the third day might prove as decisive at Cape Town. Bowled by a Nathan Lyon classic with eight balls to go, he saw his team reach stumps at 140 for 4, with a lead of just 40 to build on. Australia had started the day at 330 for 4, their lead exactly 100 by the time they were bowled out for 429.
It was Josh Inglis and Alex Carey resuming a partnership at 145, calmly adding another 40 while sleepy South Africans gave up boundaries with misfields. A peaceable surface and a sunny morning had the Australian pair set to go large, especially with Kagiso Rabada not allowed to bowl for seven overs due to time spent off the field.
Duckett hits superb 167 as England make 386 in Lahore
Dawson takes four wickets to deny Sri Lankan chase
Not this time. Sri Lanka threatened a repeat of Rawalpindi last week, and a target of 387 in Lahore was within reach. Pavan Rathnayake was the thorn again with another century, but Ben Duckett’s epic was not in vain. The left-hander struck 167 before Liam Dawson took four wickets, setting up a consolation victory for England in this tri-series.
Sri Lanka had already booked their place in Saturday’s final against Pakistan but looked on course to take this dead rubber, too. With 87 runs required from the last 10 overs, and Rathnayake on track for his third ODI hundred against England, the game looked theirs. But England’s attack kept calm and Dawson nabbed Rathnayake for 118, the last five wickets falling in the space of three overs.
Football Daily isn’t suggesting standards at Chelsea have slipped in recent years, but the quality of their players who miss penalties in shootouts against Liverpool certainly appears to be on the slide. Before last night, footballing royalty such as Arjen Robben, Geremi, Tammy Abraham, César Azpilicueta, Mason Mount and even goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had all missed from the spot in four consecutive post-match deciders against Liverpool across 19 years and four different competitions. On Wednesday, a flame-haired Argentinian irritant, a striker we’d never previously heard of before yesterday and a defensive liability whose boots increasingly look to have been welded on to the wrong feet each added their names to the roll of shame. Valentín Barco, Emanuel Emegha and Wesley Fofana, take a collective bow.
The reaction when Fleetwood made the final penalty was the best example I’ve ever seen of pandemonium! – Jim Geissman
A few random thoughts from one of the Wednesday fans who saw Harry Kane’s first goal at Orient (Tuesday’s Football Daily). Main after match conversation topics were how we’d shipped four goals in the second half, our new signing Gary Madine, and those people on the balconies of the new flats who watched the game for free. Without cameras I’d have no recall of Harry Kane’s goal but funnily enough I do genuinely remember Dean Cox having a very good game. We’ve talked about it loads since, but I don’t think any of us at the time thought Kane stood out in that game. Which just goes to show. A thoroughly deserved award for a career of consistent & often under-appreciated excellence. And what a superb motto: “Work in silence. Let success be your voice” – Alan.
Both trains had been brought to a halt earlier when the signalling system failed. The driver of the state-owned Spanish train, a Renfe AVE service, was told by controllers to restart the journey, but crashed into the train in front, run by the private operator Iryo. The front carriages of the AVE train and rear of the Iryo train were destroyed and others derailed.
Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton scored the game’s first points with a floater jumper, but Allisha Gray and Naz Hillmon punched back quickly with a pair of threes for Atlanta. The Dream needed to start this game on a fast note, and they have. The home crowd is loving it in Atlanta.
Chicago are chasing first Super Bowl title since 1985
The Chicago Bears have acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons in a blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Thursday.
The Bears sent their first-round picks in 2027 and 2028, along with a fourth-rounder in next year’s draft, to the Titans for Simmons and a fifth-round selection in 2028.
Carrick says he is not surprised to still be head coach
He describes Fernandes as ‘important’ for the squad
Michael Carrick has said he will not strip Bruno Fernandes of the Manchester United captaincy after dropping him for the defeat by Bournemouth and that he is not surprised to have kept his job as the head coach.
Carrick and Fernandes held talks this week after the Portuguese criticised the tactics in the loss to Como, resulting in the midfielder being an unused substitute on Sunday. Harry Maguire took the armband but will not retain it for Saturday’s game at Chelsea, with Carrick saying “there is no decision to be made” and praising Fernandes.
Both trains had been brought to a halt earlier when the signalling system failed. The driver of the state-owned Spanish train, a Renfe AVE service, was told by controllers to restart the journey, but crashed into the train in front, run by the private operator Iryo. The front carriages of the AVE train and rear of the Iryo train were destroyed and others derailed.
Supporters in western Sydney are adding colour and community to the tournament as their home nations compete on the global stage
At Harold Wood Uniting Church in Auburn, Viliame and Talita Latu are the centre of attention. The local Tongan congregation, which revitalised the 116-year-old church building in 1997, is celebrating the couple’s first Sunday church service as husband and wife.
But the number of Tongan flags fluttering from cars outside show the pair aren’t the only thing on people’s minds this week. Tonga’s representative rugby league team, Mate Ma’a Tonga, handily beat Lebanon’s Cedars in front of more than 25,000 fans at Commbank Stadium in Parramatta the Friday before in the Rugby League World Cup. In a case of terrible timing, the match clashed with the couple’s wedding day.
Milwaukee’s first World Series championship is a rebuke to baseball’s oligarch class, whose insistence that small-market teams cannot compete has been laid bare as fiction
For the entirety of the 2026 baseball season, the overlords of the game have stood on the single position that what has now happened could not happen, and the result was a year that has been treated like an appetizer for the main course of the offseason: the shutting down of the game until the players, after 40 years of resistance, finally agree to a salary cap. The insistence that the game had been predetermined undermined the Milwaukee Brewers, who spent 149 days this season atop the standings.
Baseball dismissed Milwaukee’s 22-0 demolition of Seattle on 18 August, the 20-0 waxing of Cincinnati a month later, and the comprehensive dusting of their division – their fourth consecutive National League Central title and fifth in six years – by 14 games. Baseball’s owners, at their persuasive best, would have their paying customers believe that the Brewers’ franchise-record 103 regular-season wins also were an illusion, or worse, the dreaded outlier, even though Milwaukee have won 770 games since 2018, the fourth-most in all of baseball. Even when Milwaukee exhaled and made the Dodgers look old in a stirring four-game sweep, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the owners’ position remained unchanged.
Home crowds have plummeted amid a dispute with the owner, but 10,000 travelled 300km to see Tuesday’s 6-2 win
Serie A had its second scoreless draw of the season on Wednesday evening. Parma and Udinese were the culprits, though perhaps they can be allowed some grace. The game was not short on incident, Maduka Okoye saving a penalty for the Friulians, who had been on a six-game losing streak, midway through the second half. Mariano Troilo made a goalline clearance for Parma soon after.
An open, end-to-end game was made to look drab in the context of this bonkers campaign. While Parma and Udinese stymied one another at the Tardini, Milan came from behind to lead Bologna at San Siro. And then collapsing to a 4-2 defeat.
Gone are the eight criteria to be a High Impact Player so clubs can spend their money on whomever they want – and the solution makes sense
When Washington plays Chicago this Sunday in DC, “Rowdy Audi” will probably be full. It will also be full when the post-season starts, should they lock up their top-four position with a positive result on Decision Day. Equipped with an accessible stadium in a big city, a proud fanbase and a formidable roster rife with players qualifying for the High Impact Player (HIP) rule’s initial criteria (including Trinity Rodman, who gave the rule its moniker), the Spirit hold sway in the attendance charts.
But starting next season, everyone on the Spirit will qualify for the “Rodman Rule”. So will every player in NWSL. Announced Friday, NWSL settled a grievance with the league’s Players Association, who argued that the initial criteria violated federal labor law.
Ivan Toney has in effect been ruled out of Euro 2028 after his trial for assault occasioning actual bodily harm was scheduled for 12 June 2028.
Toney appeared at Southwark crown court and stood in the dock to confirm a not guilty plea. The striker is accused of head-butting and punching Saber Da Silva at a Soho nightclub on 6 December last year.
Games would be first held in Africa if bid successful
East-coast city preferred to Johannesburg and Cape Town
South Africa on Thursday announced the east coast city of Durban as its preferred candidate to host the first Olympics in Africa.
South Africa is bidding to host the 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city for 2036 in mid-2029.
Quarterbacks in 2026 have a series of dazzling weapons at their disposal. We rank the best of the receivers in the NFL at the moment
NB: We have restricted the list below to players in their prime years, so excellent, older receivers such as Mike Evans and Davante Adams have been left out.
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