Aberdeen will have to settle for the Europa Conference League group stage this season after a gut-wrenching defeat by Swedish champions BK Hacken in the Europa League play-offs.

The tie was perfectly poised after the Scottish Premiership side's commendable comeback from 2-0 down in Gothenburg last week.

But Ibrahim Sadiq, who confirmed post-match that he is moving to AZ Alkmaar, scored twice before the break to silence a boisterous Pittodrie.

Bojan Miovski's cool penalty, after Luis 'Duk' Lopes was tripped, sparked hope within the stands that the heroics of seven days ago could be emulated.

And they should have been, but the North Macedonia international squandered a glorious opportunity to take the tie to extra time, when he scooped an effort agonisingly wide.

The disappointment was then compounded when Amor Layouni buried a spot-kick - awarded after a VAR review - to ensure the Swedes claimed a spot in European football's second-tier competition.

Aberdeen, whose aspirations of a first Europa League group campaign in 16 years are over, will instead learn their Conference League opponents on Friday (13:30 BST).

Head coach Frankie McAvoy said Hearts "cannot dwell" on their early European exit as they were hammered by a rampant PAOK in a one-sided play-off second leg in Greece.

Any Hearts hopes of progressing to the Conference League group stage for a second successive season were extinguished early on after two quick goals from Taison and Brandon Thomas extended the Greeks' aggregate lead.

Giannis Konstantelias walked in a third before Taison strolled in for his second to emphasise the gulf between the two sides.

"The goals we conceded were pretty poor," McAvoy conceded. "It's difficult for me to stand here try and defend that because we didn't do well enough.

"It's a sore night for us. We need to put it to bed. It's gone now. That's down to failings from last season, not finishing third. We can't dwell on it.

"We've fallen short. We've got to concentrate on ourselves. We need to make Tynecastle a hard place for anyone to come, and try and pick up our form away from home - which hasn't been good enough, if I'm honest."

Hearts rarely troubled the PAOK goal throughout the night and must now watch on as Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers are left to fly the Scottish flag in Europe.

Aston Villa cruised past Hibernian at Villa Park to book their place in the Europa Conference League group stage.

Sealing their spot was little more than a formality for Villa, who led 5-0 on aggregate after thrashing Hibs in the first leg.

Jhon Duran set the tone for an easy night for the hosts with a 12th-minute opener.

Leon Bailey and Matty Cash extended the advantage for Unai Emery's men as Hibs crumbled under Villa's pressure.

Hibs, still searching for a manager after last weekend's sacking of Lee Johnson, rarely found a path through the hosts' back line.

Villa found themselves in near-total control of the ball and brushed past the visitors' defence with ease.

Bailey tucked home a powerful finish from close range before the break while Cash turned home when David Marshall failed to clear a Bailey free-kick in the second half.Emery's side's group-stage opponents will be revealed in Friday's draw, which takes place at 13.30 BST.

Rakow Czestochowa

Europa League group stage draw in full

Group A: WEST HAM, Olympiacos, Freiburg, TSC Backa Topola

Group B: Ajax, Marseille, BRIGHTON, AEK Athens

Group C: RANGERS, Real Betis, Sparta Prague, Aris Limassol

Group D: Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon, Sturm Graz, Rakow

Group E: LIVERPOOL, LASK, Union St-Gilloise, Toulouse

Group F: Villarreal, Rennes, Maccabi Haifa, Panathinaikos

Group G: Roma, Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol, Servette

Group H: Bayer Leverkusen, Qarabag, Molde, BK Hacken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQBZU0d9Gs8

Y r some team in CAPITALS?

Australia has launched an urgent operation to rescue a researcher with a "developing medical condition" from the remote Casey outpost in Antarctica.

The icebreaker RSV Nuyina left from Tasmania last week, the Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) said.

It is travelling thousands of miles to reach the station after an air rescue was ruled out due to harsh conditions.

The AAP said the researcher, an Australian, needs specialist treatment but did not name the condition.

The programme added that it had taken weeks to prepare the Nuyina for the mission, including equipping it with helicopters.

Casey research station is a journey of 2,139 miles (3,443km) from Hobart in Tasmania and one of three permanent Antarctic stations run by the AAP.

The Nuyina, which cost A$528m ($342m; £271m) to build, has a top speed of 16 knots, or around 18 miles an hour, meaning a journey of several days.

It is understood that an evacuation by air was not possible - the nearby Wilkins aerodrome near Casey has an ice runway and is often unusable during the harsh winter.

According to reports the runway would need weeks of preparation to use, and therefore it is far quicker to send the icebreaker.

Medical facilities are limited on the research station, and only about 20 people live there during winter when conditions are at their worst.

British ones, 4za

Hull City won at Leicester City to end the Foxes' 100% start to the new season.

Liam Delap put the Tigers in front in the 15th minute when he cut in from the right and found the bottom left-hand corner with a left-footed strike which took a deflection off defender Jannik Vestergaard.

The hosts were wayward with their shooting but rallied after the break as debutant Abdul Fatawu rattled the foot of a post, fellow substitute Cesare Casadei fired wide and Jamie Vardy headed off target.

A first defeat for Leicester since Enzo Maresca took charge this summer following relegation from the Premier League saw them drop off the top of the Championship table and down to third, while Hull climb to sixth after extending their unbeaten run to four league games.

Seagulls well and truly stuffed the magpies

Homeowner renovating basement knocked down a wall & discovered a 1,200-year-old CAVE CITY once home to 20,000 people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv49bC5xGVY

Banjo-Tooie is a platform video game developed by Rare and originally released for the Nintendo 64 console in 2000. It is the second game in the Banjo-Kazooie series and the sequel to Banjo-Kazooie. The game follows the returning protagonists Banjo and Kazooie as they attempt to stop the plans of the witch Gruntilda and two of her sisters, who intend to vaporise the inhabitants of the game's island setting. The game features worlds significantly larger than those of its predecessor, requiring the player to complete challenges such as solving puzzles, jumping over obstacles, collecting items, and defeating opponents. It also includes a multiplayer mode in which up to four players can compete in several minigames repurposed from the main campaign.

Development of the game started in June 1998, directly after the release of its predecessor. Several new features were cut from the game due to time constraints and limitations of the Nintendo 64 hardware. Upon release, Banjo-Tooie received critical acclaim from video game critics, who praised its graphics and the size of its worlds. However, the game's inconsistent frame rate was criticized. In 2009, Banjo-Tooie was re-released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360. The game was also included in the Rare Replay video game compilation, released for the Xbox One in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2taOmvsDag

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu is available again after suspension.

Arteta: "We know the history between the two clubs and the games that we had in the past. They were a really good example so it’s going to be a really competitive match and a big battle on Sunday. Obviously we want to come away from that with three points.

The McDonald's Deluxe line was a series of sandwiches introduced in the early to mid 1990s and marketed by McDonald's with the intent of capturing the adult fast food consumer market, presented as a more sophisticated burger for adult tastes. The sandwiches sold poorly and the entire line was discontinued on August 18, 2000. The Deluxe series was a marketing disaster and is now considered to be one of the most expensive flops in McDonald's history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjup9SXhm0Q

Record sightings of Asian hornets are raising fears of catastrophic consequences for the UK's bee populations for years to come.

The invasive hornets are wreaking havoc in mainland Europe and threaten to get a foothold in the UK, with nests found in East Sussex, Kent, Devon and Dorset.

The insects feed on native bees and wasps, damaging biodiversity.

The warning comes as leading scientists release a global report into the threats caused by invasive species.

They say the alien invaders play a role in 60% of animal and plant extinctions.

And the economic costs have risen to more than £300bn ($380bn) a year across the world.

Barbie has officially become the year's biggest box office hit, after the doll's big-screen earnings overtook the Super Mario Bros Movie's total.

The Barbie movie, which sees Margot Robbie's titular toy swap her pink fantasy home for the real world, has now made $1.38bn (£1.1bn) globally.

That has taken it past the $1.36bn taken by the Super Mario Bros Movie.

Barbie has also helped the US summer box office reach the $4bn (£3.2bn) mark for the first time since the pandemic.

Analysts did not expect cinemas to reach that milestone, but the success of Barbenheimer - Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, which were released on the same day in July - propelled takings past last year's total of $3.4bn (£2.7bn).

comment by BraveheartTyke (U6173)
posted 7 minutes ago
Record sightings of Asian hornets are raising fears of catastrophic consequences for the UK's bee populations for years to come.

The invasive hornets are wreaking havoc in mainland Europe and threaten to get a foothold in the UK, with nests found in East Sussex, Kent, Devon and Dorset.

The insects feed on native bees and wasps, damaging biodiversity.

The warning comes as leading scientists release a global report into the threats caused by invasive species.

They say the alien invaders play a role in 60% of animal and plant extinctions.

And the economic costs have risen to more than £300bn ($380bn) a year across the world.
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Murder Hornets?

Rice Bossed Casemiro! (Lee Judges)

A heat-health alert has been issued for most parts of England as temperatures could reach 32C (89.6F) midweek.

The UK Health Security Agency's yellow warning is in place across seven regions until 21:00 BST on Sunday.

It means that the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions should take extra care.

The hot conditions will be also be felt in Wales, while parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland could see "unseasonably high temperatures".

Regions included in the warning are: London, the South East, the South West, the East and West Midlands, the East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber.

Temperatures reached 30C on Monday in southern England and south-east Wales, according to the Met Office.

The hot weather comes after what has generally been regarded as a summer of poor weather for much of the UK.

While July in particular was wetter and cooler than average with the maximum temperature failing to regularly reach 20C, the previous month was the UK's hottest June on record.

The warm conditions will continue through Tuesday with highs of 31C expected.