McIlroy’s 73 leaves him tied on 11 under after Young’s 65 Lowry, Rose and Scheffler among nine within five shots Rory McIlroy began this Masters in the company of Cameron Young and will finish it in the company of Cameron Young. McIlroy arrived at this tournament as the holder of the Green Jacket. By Sunday night he will …? Goodness only knows. Day three proved predictions are a fool’s errand at the Masters. Such drama played out at Augusta National on Saturday that by close of play it was extraordinary to see McIlroy’s name still atop the leaderboard, albeit now with Young for scoring company. Both are 11 under par. From holding a six-shot lead at the start of the round – and eight over Young – McIlroy inexplicably wobbled. His 73 was one involving intense struggle. “I knew today wouldn’t be easy,” said McIlroy. “I didn’t quite have it today. I’ll need to be better tomorrow.” Continue reading...

Study identified eight areas that can sustain a population and government has given £1m for recovery programme “The world is grown so bad that wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch.” So wrote Shakespeare in Richard III, in a line of social commentary that feels ever more relevant with age. A note of good news then, in a world of so much bad, that the eagles the Bard was probably referring to could finally be reintroduced to England after more than 150 years. Continue reading...

Suspect in 40s arrested after man apparently climbed on to USAF C130 Hercules transport plane on remote taxiway in County Clare A man has been arrested after entering an unauthorised area of an airport in the Republic of Ireland and allegedly causing damage to a US military aircraft, police have said. The suspect, aged in his 40s, was arrested for alleged criminal damage and remains in custody over the incident on Saturday at Shannon airport in County Clare. Continue reading...

Fury easily defeats Russian on unanimous points decision Joshua was ringside but declined to accept Fury’s challenge Tyson Fury completed the first stage of his latest comeback when he outclassed Arslanbek Makhmudov in an uninspiring near shutout over 12 rounds late on Saturday night. The former world heavyweight champion has retired on five previous occasions and, each time, he has been unable to resist the lure of a return to the ring. Now, even at the age of 37, time he was still too fast, fluid and accurate for the lumbering Makhmudov. The Russian from Dagestan hits hard and 17 of his previous 21 victories had featured successful stoppages within the first three rounds. But Makhmudov has never faced a heavyweight of Fury’s pedigree. The chasm between them was obvious from the second round and reflected in the scorecards as two judges had Fury winning each round, in a 120-108 victory, while the third scorecard recorded a 119-109 margin. Continue reading...

Empire Polo Club, Indio, California The English indie rock band’s first festival set in eight years hypnotized with their atmospheric dance sound When Jamie Smith, Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft took the Coachella main stage on Friday evening, you could be forgiven for forgetting the momentousness of the occasion. The trio known as the xx has not performed together in eight years, save for a couple of warm-up shows in Mexico City ahead of the California festival, though they’ve hardly been absent from the music scene. Smith, the renowned electronic producer known as Jamie xx, is now a festival mainstay, while Madley Croft and Sim have each built on the indie rock band’s signature haunted sound with their solo material, 2023’s clubby Mid Air and 2022’s horror-tinged Hideous Bastard, respectively. The three childhood friends still collaborate – Jamie produced Sim’s Hideous Bastard – and their long-awaited Coachella reunion, the first outing of a planned festival run and “new chapter”, felt more like peeking into an ongoing mind-meld than one of the buzziest sets of the festival. The group appeared in their signature all-black and launched into their 2009 debut single Crystalised as if no time had passed. Continue reading...

The physicist, BBC presenter and author on snowflakes, art v science and the time Paul McCartney quizzed him about one of Saturn’s moons What is the inspiration behind your latest live show, Emergence? It came from a book that I’ve loved for years: The Six-Cornered Snowflake by Johannes Kepler. Kepler is most famous for his laws of planetary motion in and around 1610, but he wrote this little book about New Year’s Eve in 1609, when he was walking across the Charles Bridge in Prague in a snowstorm. He was going to his benefactor’s house and he hadn’t bought him a present. So he writes this beautiful little book about looking at the snowflakes landing on his arm and thinking about the symmetry of them and asking, why are they six-sided? Continue reading...

Ukraine reports 469 violations of Putin’s 32-hour ceasefire, hours after deadly drone attacks on Odesa and Kherson Russia continued to strike Ukrainian positions with drones after a Kremlin-declared Easter ceasefire took effect on Saturday, a Ukrainian military officer said. “The ceasefire is not being observed by the Russian side,” said Serhii Kolesnychenko, a communications officer for the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade. Continue reading...

Goretzka hits leaders’ 102nd goal in 5-0 win at St Pauli Ferran Torres double helps Barcelona beat Espanyol 4-1 Bayern Munich crushed hosts St. Pauli 5-0 in the Bundesliga to set an all-time season scoring record while also extending their lead at the top to 12 points with five games left to play. The Bavarians, who host Real Madrid next week in their Champions League quarter-final second leg after their 2-1 win in Spain, are within touching distance of the league title on 76 points, with second-placed Borussia Dortmund stuck on 64 after their 1-0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Continue reading...

Manchester City can brush off Rodri’s comments but Chelsea’s existential angst helps explain suspension of midfielder Enzo Fernández and Rodri would quite like to move to Madrid; many people would. They both said as much in the international break, those special parts of the season when players join up with their national teams and give interviews while apparently unaware that media are global these days: a whisper on Luzo TV can soon become a hurricane in London. But Rodri will line up for Manchester City at Chelsea on Sunday, while Fernández will not, suspended by the club for “crossing a line”. It’s worth, perhaps, looking at exactly what was said. Fernández expressed disappointment at Enzo Maresca’s departure on New Year’s Day. “It … hurt a lot,” he told Luzo, “because we had a lot of identity, he gave us order, but it’s the way that football is, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. But we always had a clear identity when it came to training, playing and obviously his departure hurt us especially in the middle of the season – it cuts everything short.” Sadness that a manager has gone surely isn’t a crime; it could even be supportive of Liam Rosenior and the difficulty of taking over a club mid-season. Continue reading...

Leinster 43-13 Sale Leinster host Toulon at Aviva Stadium on 2/3 May Semi-final number 17 beckons for Leinster. The one-time serial champions of this competition will take another, against Toulon, back at the Aviva in a couple of weeks’ time. Sounds epic. Probably will be. But Leinster are still not quite convincing. This was a Sale team missing a host of their best players. No one gave them a chance, but they made a real nuisance of themselves for a good 50 minutes before yielding to the inevitable. Four Leinster tries in the last half-hour put them away, but after the home team’s struggle to do the same here against Edinburgh last week Toulon, who are hardly a study in eloquence themselves at the moment, will fancy their chances. Continue reading...

At the end of a stormy week for Arne Slot there was respite in the form of a morale-boosting display from Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool’s 17-year-old winger marked only his second start in the Premier League with a goal and a key part in the second for Mohamed Salah as the faltering champions recorded a first league win since February. Liverpool appeared vulnerable after painful cup quarter-final defeats at Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain but Fulham never put that theory to the test. Marco Silva’s side were passive throughout as Liverpool, re-energised by Ngumoha, found the energy and finishing to reach the landmark of 1,500 league wins at Anfield. It was only their second win in six league games after a Champions League away fixture this season and should repair confidence ahead of a daunting assignment against PSG on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Conor Benn v Regis Prograis also at Tottenham Stadium Makhmudov on Russia’s grizzlies, God and Tyson Fury Send thoughts to Alex on email | Sign up for The Recap Welcome to Tyson Fury’s return to the ring after a 16-month absence, officially ending retirement number 1,247 (OK, it’s number five, but close enough). His opponent? The fearsome-looking Russian Arslanbek Makhmudov, although you suspect the real prize for Fury is victory setting up a long-awaited megafight with Anthony Joshua. Not that victory is guaranteed at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fury turns 38 in August, hasn’t won a fight since October 2023 and – while there’s no shame in two competitive points losses to Oleksandr Usyk – he’s probably no longer at the peak of his considerable powers. There’s always a danger with his age, wear and tear, and a previously less-than-spartan lifestyle outside of the ring that Fury might just turn up and discover he no longer has it. Continue reading...

Police rescued boy after neighbour reported sounds of a child coming from vehicle in Hagenbach in eastern France A malnourished nine-year-old boy was rescued after being locked in his father’s van since 2024 in eastern France, a prosecutor said. A neighbour alerted police to “sounds of a child” coming from a vehicle in the village of Hagenbach, near the borders of Switzerland and Germany. Continue reading...

Outstanding trainer of his generation makes history with fourth victory in Aintree spectacular via I Am Maximus Remember what Gary Lineker said about football being a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and the Germans win on penalties? The Grand National now has its equivalent. Tipping the winner of the most fiendish handicap in racing really is a simple game. Forget spending weeks assessing the form, the weights, the trends and the attributes of the 34 runners. Just trust in Willie. And let history do the rest. Continue reading...

Late double sees Hearts win 3-1, Celtic beat St Mirren 1-0 Aberdeen end winless run by beating Hibernian 2-0 Celtic leapfrogged rivals Rangers to move second in the Premiership with a narrow 1-0 win over St Mirren but Hearts stayed clear at the top as two late goals saw them past Motherwell 3-1. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first-half strike was enough at Celtic Park, while Rangers head to Falkirk on Sunday and can reduce Hearts’ lead to one point again with victory. This story will be updated Continue reading...

️ Latest updates from Moving Day at Augusta National ️ Official leaderboard | Follow us on Bluesky | Mail Scott It’s Moving Day! Here’s what the top of the leaderboard looked like after 36 holes … -12: McIlroy -6: Burns, Reed -5: Rose, Lowry, Fleetwood -4: Clark, Hatton, Li, Reitan, Day, Young -3: Gotterup, Koepka, Griffin -2: Homa, Knapp, Schauffele, Matsuyama -1: Brennan, Taylor, Fitzpatrick, Morikawa E: Campbell, Åberg, Scheffler, English, Gerard, D Johnson, Henley, Cantlay Continue reading...

An even game, shared points and a collective dream of Europe that remains alive after this draw. Igor Thiago’s double seemed to have given Brentford a victory that would have moved them up to sixth, only for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to lash home an injury-time equaliser and ensure Everton departed with something to show for their efforts. It was little more than they deserved in a match that ebbed and flowed without either side edging further than a neck in front. Continue reading...

Scott Parker has spent much of the season bemoaning the “fine margins” of the Premier League and after witnessing Burnley lose to Brighton and having two of their own disallowed for paper-thin offsides, he might be looking forward to the prospect of the Championship. The assistants called the offsides after Jaidon Anthony and Bashir Humphreys netted but lengthy video assistant referee delays offered hope and the technology had to work hard to spot the illegalities. Ultimately, it was Mats Wieffer’s two strikes that settled the match, tripling his tally for the club, to boost Brighton’s European hopes and leave Burnley 12 points from safety with six to play. Continue reading...

Mikel Arteta urged fans to bring ‘your lunch, bring your dinner’ but when the set pieces fail to fire his side are short of a full plate It was another one of those games where Arsenal had found it necessary to rouse the troops beforehand. Mikel Arteta, in his occasional, unusual jokey mode, had urged Arsenal fans to “bring your lunch, bring your dinner” and make this 12.30 kick-off an occasion. The players, meanwhile, had been training under the eye of a big screen broadcasting footage of Arsenal in happy, successful moments, presumably to encourage the creation of more. “Every game, we have to be there,” Arteta said. So were they? Continue reading...

Her death led to landmark ruling that sustained domestic violence can make an abuser criminally responsible for their victim’s suicide On the night of 27 July 2023, Kimberly Milne jumped to her death from a road bridge. Her suicide came after months of mental health crises, compounded by a campaign of domestic abuse at the hands of her former partner. In this regard, to the officers who attended the scene, Kimberly’s was a depressingly familiar story. Continue reading...

Arsenal manager says players must show character Iraola hails statement victory after run of draws Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth was “a big punch in the face” and said his players must show more character if they are going to end their 22-year wait to be crowned Premier League champions. Alex Scott struck the winning goal 16 minutes from time after Viktor Gyökeres had equalised from the spot for a nervy Arsenal after Eli Junior Kroupi’s opener. It means Manchester City now have a chance to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table to six points with a game still in hand when they face Chelsea on Sunday, with Arsenal travelling to the Etihad Stadium next Sunday. Continue reading...

England 33-12 Ireland Victory marred by injuries to Talling and Hunt If people in Edinburgh see glasses of water shaking, trees being shoved to the floor and massive footprints on the ground next week do not be alarmed, it is just the Women’s Six Nations giants of England coming to town. While the Red Roses continued their dominance, Ireland showed they had narrowed the gap as they cut England’s winning margin to 21 points from 44 in last year’s tournament. England were dealt two blows mid-match, with the experienced scrum-half Natasha Hunt injured and, more significant, the talismanic lock Morwenna Talling carried off. The extent of the injuries is yet to be confirmed, but if Talling is ruled out for the rest of the competition the England head coach, John Mitchell, could start having a selection headache, with five forwards already missing because of injury and pregnancy. Continue reading...

Aintree great first since Red Rum to regain great prize Well-backed favourite wins incident-packed race I Am Maximus made history when becoming the first horse to regain the Grand National since the Aintree legend Red Rum in the 1970s. The top-weight, who was backed into favouritism late in the day, was victorious in an incident-packed race, winning again after a memorable victory in 2024. Continue reading...

Witness described at least one person slashed with large knife and police with guns drawn A shooting and stabbing has left at least two people critically injured at New York City’s Grand Central subway station, according to reports. Citing information from New York’s fire department, the local news outlet WPIX reported two people were brought to a hospital in critical condition after a shooting and stabbing at about 9.50am at the subway station on the corner of East 42nd Street and Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Continue reading...

⚽️ Premier League updates, 5.30pm BST kick-off at Anfield ⚽️ Live scores | Latest table | And follow us on Bluesky Arne Slot has said last season’s title triumph “postponed” the end of an era at Liverpool but that the club were under no illusions a rebuild was required when appointing him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor. Two more links to the Klopp era will be removed this summer when Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah leave on free transfers. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Joe Gomez, the remaining players from the squad that delivered Premier League and Champions League success to Anfield under Klopp, will then enter the final years of their contracts. Continue reading...