At 2-0 down, England are desperate for a win in Adelaide But head coach says ‘kneejerk reactions’ are ‘not really our way’ The series is on the line and, in all likelihood, jobs with it. But for Brendon McCullum, the latter is irrelevant. The England head coach has instead backed an unchanged top seven to deliver a fightback in the third Ashes Test and flip a narrative that has already featured talk of a whitewash bubble up. At 2-0 down with three to play, all wriggle room has disappeared for England. But talk of Ollie Pope potentially being dropped, or even Ben Stokes moving to No 3, was shot down by McCullum as his players resumed training on Sunday afternoon. No going back now was the message. Continue reading...

Technology has improved since the 50s and in the last five or six years especially, there has been a lot of progress. But the world is still too often designed without wheelchair users in mind A lot has changed for people with disabilities since the 1950s, when the then seven-year-old Alice Moira was given her first wheelchair – not least the fact that it was made of wood and she couldn’t push it herself. Technology has come on in leaps and bounds, of course, as has society’s understanding of disability, while moves towards flexible working have, in some ways, made things easier. But wheelchair users still face challenges in a world that, so often, has been designed without them in mind. Recent plans to make cuts to disability benefits in the UK have raised concerns that disability rights might be retreating. Thirty years on from the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act becoming law, Moira, now 81, chats to 25-year-old Lochlann O’Higgins about what their experiences of using a wheelchair have had in common – and how they differ. Do you remember the first time you used a wheelchair? Lochlann O’Higgins: No, I was two. My parents told me about it, though. I have brittle bone disease, so I used to break my bones a lot and I couldn’t walk. In the hospital, the first time I got in a wheelchair, I apparently just jumped in it and started wheeling up and down the corridor, having the best time of my life because I was able to move around freely for the first time. The nurses and my mum were scared I was going to crash into a wall. Continue reading...

Festive theatrical feasts serve audiences a slap-up dinner with their entertainment. But is what’s on stage as appetising as what’s on your plate? In west London, a line of smartly dressed theatregoers on a street corner enter a building and walk back in time. We pass through tight lamp-lit corridors and arrive in a cavernous hall, with tables laid and lanterns dangling overhead. This is Charles Dickens’ parlour, where he has just finished writing A Christmas Carol, and it’s dinner time. The Great Christmas Feast is an immersive production in which a three-course meal is served while a quicksilver Dickens (David Alwyn) narrates his ghost story about the perils of penny-pinching in the season of goodwill. Immersive theatre has evidently concocted a tasty festive offshoot that might suit those tired of watching yet another straight-up adaptation of the classic tale. Continue reading...

White House official confirms Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Zelenskyy and European leaders this weekend. What we know on day 1,390 Donald Trump’s special envoy will meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Berlin this weekend, the White House said, as Washington presses for a plan to end the war. Germany said earlier on Saturday that it would host US and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire, before a summit involving European leaders and Zelenskyy in Berlin on Monday. Zelenskyy also confirmed that he will personally meet with Donald Trump’s Steve Witkoff in the series of meetings: “Most importantly, I will be meeting with envoys of President Trump, and there will also be meetings with our European partners, with many leaders, concerning the foundation of peace – a political agreement to end the war,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation late on Saturday. Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov reaffirmed Friday that Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraine’s forces have withdrawn from parts of the Donetsk region that they still control. Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guard troops would stay in parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas even if they become a demilitarised zone under a prospective peace plan – a demand likely to be rejected by Ukraine. Russia attacked five Ukrainian regions overnight, targeting the country’s energy and port infrastructure, according to Zelenskyy, who said the attacks involved more than 450 drones and 30 missiles. With temperatures hovering around freezing, Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said more than a million people were without electricity. An attack on Odesa caused grain silos to catch fire at the coastal city’s port, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and reconstruction minister Oleksiy Kuleba said. Two people were wounded in attacks on the wider region, according to regional head Oleh Kiper. Germany has said it will send a group of soldiers to Poland to help with a project to fortify the country’s eastern border as worries mount about the threat from Russia. Poland, a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Moscow, announced plans in May last year to bolster a long stretch of its border that includes Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The main task of the German soldiers in Poland will be “engineering activities,” a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said late Friday. About 480 people were evacuated Saturday from a train traveling between the Polish city of Przemysl and Kyiv after police received a call concerning a threat on the train, Karolina Kowalik, a spokesperson for the Przemysl police, said. Nobody was hurt and she didn’t elaborate on the threat. Polish authorities are on high alert since multiple attempts to disrupt trains on the line linking Warsaw to the Ukrainian border, including the use of explosives in November, with Polish authorities saying they have evidence Russia was behind it. Ukraine’s navy accused Russia of deliberately attacking a civilian Turkish vessel carrying sunflower oil to Egypt with a drone on Saturday, a day after Moscow hit two Ukrainian ports: “Russia delivered a targeted strike using a drone against the Turkish vessel ‘VIVA’, which was en route to Egypt carrying sunflower oil,” Ukraine’s navy said on social media. None of the 11 crew were wounded and the ship was able to continue its journey, it added. Ukraine received 114 prisoners released by Belarus on Saturday, Kyiv’s PoW coordination centre said. The centre’s statement said that the released captives would receive medical attention, and those Belarusian citizens who so wished would subsequently be transported to Poland or Lithuania. Continue reading...

Former striker scored a hat-trick in 1979 derby Rowell had been diagnosed with leukaemia The former Sunderland striker Gary Rowell has died at the age of 68, the Black Cats have announced. He was being treated for leukaemia. The Seaham-born Rowell, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 Division Two win over Newcastle at St James’ Park in February 1979, died on Saturday. His death comes 50 years to the day since he made his Sunderland debut and just a day before the Black Cats host the Magpies in the first Premier League derby between the clubs since March 2016, at which the hosts will mark Rowell’s death. Continue reading...

Suspect or suspects at large as Ivy League university tells students to take shelter during second day of final exams Multiple people shot at Brown University in Rhode Island, police say US president Donald Trump said the “FBI is on the scene” of the shooting at Brown University. He wrote on Truth Social: “I have been briefed on the shooting that took place at Brown University in Rhode Island. Continue reading...

Officials initially said a suspect was in custody, before retracting and saying search is on for a suspect or suspects Police responded to a shooting Saturday on campus at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, according to the school’s alert system. Officials initially said a suspect was in custody, before saying that was not in fact the case and police were still searching for a suspect or suspects. Continue reading...

Specialist teams will deal with offences such as rape and stalking as part of VAWG strategy, home secretary says All police forces in England and Wales will have dedicated rape and sexual offences teams by 2029, the government has said. The plans are being unveiled as the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, prepares to outline a delayed strategy on violence against women and girls (VAWG) next week. Continue reading...

No easy games? Surely this one would be for Arsenal. Never before in English football history had a team endured a worse league record after 15 matches than Wolves. In any of the professional divisions. Their haul of a meagre two points gave an outline of the grimness, although by no means all of the detail. Before kick-off, the bookmakers had Wolves at 28-1 to win; it was 8-1 for the draw. And you just had to hand it to the club’s 3,000 travelling fans who took up their full ticket allocation. There were no trains back to Wolverhampton after the game, obviously. It was a weekend. Mission impossible? This felt like the definition of it. Continue reading...

A letter to the king has added a royal flourish to life at Rothera Research Station, where mail remains a vital link to the world It might be traditional to write to Father Christmas with a gift list, but when Kirsten Shaw wanted a new postbox for staff at the UK’s Rothera Research Station in Antarctica, she wrote to the king. The request has resulted in a special delivery for Shaw – a station support assistant who, among myriad other tasks, runs the British Antarctic Territory post office at the station. Continue reading...

UN secretary general António Guterres says ‘unjustifiable’ attack on base in city of Kadugli ‘could be war crime’ A drone strike hit a United Nations facility in war-torn Sudan on Saturday, killing six peacekeepers, the UN secretary general António Guterres has said. The strike hit the peacekeeping logistics base in the city of Kadugli, in the central region of Kordofan, Guterres said in a statement. Continue reading...

Number is stark contrast with estimated 110,000 who turned up to far-right activist’s ‘unite the kingdom’ rally in September The far-right activist Tommy Robinson led a carol concert to “put the Christ back into Christmas” on Saturday in an event that had a huge drop-off in attendance from his last rally in London. The Metropolitan police said about 1,000 people attended the event at its peak, in stark contrast to the estimated 110,000 who turned up to Robinson’s “unite the kingdom” rally in September. Continue reading...

The Manchester City midfielder is in sparkling club form but that doesn’t mean he is the right fit for Tuchel’s England By the time the World Cup comes around, nine years will have passed since Phil Foden won the Golden Ball as England lifted the Under-17 World Cup. That tournament can be seen in hindsight as a watershed for the English game, the first indication that the elite player performance plan (EPPP) and the England DNA project – taking youth football seriously – might be beginning to pay off. Youth football is notoriously unpredictable and England’s record in the Under-17 World Cup since shows a failure to qualify and a pair of last-16 exits, but following that 2017 success, England’s senior side have reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final, while the under-21s have won two European titles. Two previous Golden Ball winners from Under-17 World Cups – Cesc Fàbregas and Toni Kroos – have gone on to win the senior World Cup. Some, such as Landon Donovan, Anderson and Kelechi Iheanacho have had perfectly decent careers. And others have vanished almost entirely: Sani Emmanuel of Nigeria, for instance, won in 2009 then made just 16 senior appearances, 10 of them in the Swiss second tier with Biel-Bienne; while another Nigerian, Kelechi Nwakali, winner in 2015, joined Arsenal but, after a series of loan moves and stints in the lower reaches of the Spanish and Portuguese systems, was kicked out of Barnsley this past summer after returning late for pre-season. Continue reading...

Kevin Rodriguez Zavala died from blunt-impact trauma on ride at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park A Florida sheriff’s office has concluded that the death of a 32-year-old man while riding a high-speed roller coaster at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park was accidental. According to a report released Friday by the local medical examiner, Kevin Rodriguez Zavala suffered a deep cut on the left side of his forehead, a fracture to the bone ridge above his eye and bleeding above his skull. Additional injuries included bruises on his arms and abdomen, a broken nose and a fractured right thigh bone. Continue reading...

Harry Wilson scored one and set up two more as Fulham piled more pressure on their former manager Scott Parker by inflicting a seventh straight defeat on beleaguered Burnley. Although Lesley Ugochukwu cancelled out Emile Smith Rowe’s early goal, Calvin Bassey had the visitors back in front before half-time and Wilson’s eighth goal of the season put Fulham clear. Continue reading...

Former champion shows mettle in win over Adam Hunt Gilding, Woodhouse and Davies victorious in first round The thought of playing in a “new” arena is keeping Gary Anderson going at the PDC World Darts Championship. The two-time champion edged through his first-round clash at Alexandra Palace, getting the better of Adam Hunt 3-2. Anderson is a threat to the favourites this year and, with the tournament moving to a new, bigger stage at the same venue as part of a new deal in the future, he wants to remain in the mix. This story will be updated Continue reading...

Liverpool manager: ‘There’s nothing for me to talk about’ Slot refuses to divulge details of talks with Salah Arne Slot claimed he had no outstanding issues with Mohamed Salah and would see the Egypt international after the Africa Cup of Nations following the forward’s positive return for Liverpool against Brighton. Salah was reintroduced to the Liverpool side as a 26th minute substitute having been omitted from the Champions League win at Inter over the incendiary interview he gave at Elland Road last Saturday. Slot refused to divulge details of the conversation that saw Salah restored to the squad on Friday but insisted that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was resolved. Talks are expected, however, between the Liverpool hierarchy and Salah’s representative while the forward is away on Afcon duty. Continue reading...

The Grand Designs presenter and co-host of Tim & Kev’s Big Design Adventure on living with bats, the most important room in a house and eating fermented shark Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email There’s an aphorism that Australians only want to talk about two things – sport and real estate. Do you think we talk too much about real estate? In my experience, Australians never talk about real estate but the Australian media talks about it all the time. It’s a little bit like politics in the UK, where the right wing occupy a tiny minority and yet they’re all over the BBC. The media will always pick up on something they think should be the topic of national conversation because it sells newspapers. But in my dealings with Australians, I find I talk about pretty well every other subject. There is something very exciting about Australia’s can-do attitude. The British national default is to say, “Maybe, I don’t know – ask me in six months”. We’re very good at circumlocuting an issue. But the moment I get off the plane in Australia, it is, “What can we do?” I love the optimism of Australia. Continue reading...

Ash Jacks McCready had low expectations for her first date with Tom, but after an awkward start, their relationship moved fast and wild Find more stories from the moment I knew series In high school I was in an all-consuming relationship with one thing: dance. Any free time I had was spent on working towards a coveted spot at a performance company. As soon as I graduated school in Brisbane, I left to begin my career as a performer. Continue reading...

Forward made an emotional lap of honour at Anfield after a week that put his future at the club in doubt Mohamed Salah and Liverpool have put politics to shame by showing what a long week truly looks like. It ended with the Egyptian doing a one-man lap of honour at Anfield, an attempt to rebuild trust with the supporters after creating a ceasefire, if not a complete truce, with Arne Slot. Over the past seven days a lot has changed, but one thing remained the same, Salah started a Premier League game on the bench, not that he needed to wait long for a chance to do his talking on the pitch. He would finish with an assist after playing 75 minutes against Brighton in a game in which he desperately wanted to score. Maybe his parade was the beginning of the end, but it felt more like the start of the apology that should continue after the Africa Cup of Nations, giving both parties space to breathe. Continue reading...

The end is nigh as the ballroom extravaganza reaches its penultimate weekend. Expect songs from Michael Bublé, RAYE and Gloria Estefan as things get serious with our semi-finalists tackling two routines apiece Tommy Bosh! Ross King! Rugby Chris! Other people we’d kind of forgotten were ever in the contest! Roll moody black-and-white VT to crank up the jeopardy. Nobody wants to fall agonisingly short of the final, naturally. Continue reading...

⚽ Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Table | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Scott Good evening! And I mean, c’mon … … yet while this will be the 42nd time the Premier League leaders have played the side propping up the entire table - winning 30 out of 41, with seven draws – who are responsible for two of the four historical shocks? Why, Wolverhampton Wanderers, that’s who! Click below to reminisce, my old MBM pals. So while Mikel Arteta will surely be anticipating another three points, Rob Edwards must know that long shots sometimes find the target, and you never know. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on! Continue reading...

Pool 1: Sharks 28-23 Saracens Much-changed Sarries beaten in tough conditions It is a long way to go for just a point, but Saracens all but took the maximum against Sharks in biblical weather in Durban. Now that South Africa has been incorporated into the Champions Cup, these long trips are part and parcel. It meant Saracens changing 10 of their starting lineup. It meant Sharks changing 14 – and a head coach to boot. JP Pietersen stepped up to fill his new role this week, after John Plumtree resigned. One match, one win, his record now reads. For Sharks this was only a second win of the season. They were just about worth it, but still they must despair at finding any rhythm among a squad packed with Springboks. Four tries against Saracens is not to be sniffed at, even if the visitors travelled short of a few stars of their own, but only a stolen lineout at the death denied the visitors a fourth try of their own and the win. Andy Onyeama-Christie could not quite gather James Hadfield’s throw-in at a five-metre lineout, the clock in the red. In the slippery chaos that followed, Ethan Hooker belted the ball into the stand in relief. Continue reading...

US Central Command reports an ambush on Saturday, the first attack to inflict casualties since fall of Bashar al-Assad Two US service members and one American civilian have been killed and several other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by the Islamic State group in central Syria, the US Central Command said. The attack on US troops is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of the former Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, a year ago. Continue reading...

Greene, 60, praised for the various villains he played during his career but manager says he also had ‘heart as big as gold’ Peter Greene, the actor known for his roles in Pulp Fiction and The Mask, has died at the age of 60. He was found dead at his New York City apartment on Friday, his manager said, and the cause of death has not been disclosed. Continue reading...