Olympics: France go for gold in rugby sevens against powerful Fiji

George Russell held off Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to take a stunning victory from sixth on the grid in an engrossing Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell put in an extraordinary drive to run an unusual one-stop strategy in a race that featured battles throughout the leading places.

He had to fend off a seven-time champion on tyres that were 15 laps fresher for five laps at the end off the race but pulled it off in impressive style, having called the strategy himself from the car.

Hamilton was closing in at nearly a second a lap in the final laps but, as so many other drivers found, overtaking was harder than expected and he could never quite get close enough to challenge.

As Russell clung on in the final two or three laps, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri closed in on Hamilton to set up a grandstand finish, and the three cars crossed the line nose to tail.

Janet Andrewartha, who played Lyn Scully in Neighbours, has died at the age of 72.

The actress joined the long-running Australian soap in 1999 as the Scully family matriarch.

She left the show in 2006 but returned multiple times, last appearing in Erinsborough in 2019.

The soap's official Instagram account paid tribute to the star, with a post reading: "Everyone at Neighbours is deeply saddened by the passing of Janet Andrewartha.

"Beloved by viewers for her role as Ramsay Street's Lyn Scully, Janet will be remembered for her wide body of work, which includes her memorable turn as Reb Keane in Prisoner."

Jackie Woodburne who played Susan Kennedy on the soap called Andrewartha "One of the finest actors of her generation and an extraordinary woman.

"Passionate, political, curious, delightfully eccentric, generous and fun. To me she was a steadfast friend for over 45 years. I will miss her every day."

Stefan Dennis, best known for playing businessman Paul Robinson on Neighbours, said he was: "So very upset to lose the lovely Janet.

"She truly was an exceptional actress who was a pleasure work with and to be around. We will all miss you dear girl."

Janet Andrewartha was also known for her roles in other Australian hits including A Country Practice and Blue Heelers.

She also had a successful theatrical career, starring in Othello, Jerusalem and All My Sons.

Neighbours was cancelled in 2022 but was revived the following year.

Neighbours launched in 1985 and ran until 2022, when it was cancelled after UK broadcaster Channel 5 decided to drop the show from its schedules.

Unable to find alternative funding, producers announced they had "no option but to rest the show".

At that point, the series had run for 37 years and broadcast more than 9,000 episodes.

However, just four months after its finale was broadcast, Amazon announced it had picked up the show for its streaming service Freevee, and the show was relaunched in September 2023.

Neighbours enjoyed a golden era in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time it developed a cult following, particularly among students, as it was screened on BBC One twice a day (including a repeat).

Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Guy Pearce, Natalie Imbruglia and Holly Vallance are among the stars who appeared in Neighbours early in their careers.

Lewis Hamilton inherited victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified two and a half hours after taking an unlikely win on the track.

Russell pulled off an unusual one-stop strategy and held off Hamilton’s attack in the closing laps.

But after the race his car was found to be 1.5kg underweight, with his team admitting to "a genuine error".

That saw Hamilton promoted to a victory that had looked likely for much of the race - after he took the lead from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the second lap.

Oscar Piastri is moved up to second, with Leclerc third and Max Verstappen fourth.

Russell's car was initially weighed at 798kg, which is exactly on the minimum weight limit for car and driver combined.

But stewards found the car had not been fully drained of fuel and when it was, its weight was just 796.5kg.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: “We have to take our disqualification on the chin.

"We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure that we learn from it. To lose a one-two finish is frustrating and we can only apologise to George who drove such a strong race.

"Lewis was the fastest guy on the two-stop strategy and is a deserving winner."

A tearful Adam Peaty had to settle for Olympic silver as Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi snatched a stunning gold in the 100m breaststroke final in Paris.

Peaty, 29, was well placed with 25m to go but was pipped by 0.02 seconds and finished in a tie for second with American Nic Fink.

The Briton was bidding to become only the second man, after the great American Michael Phelps, to win the same swimming event at three consecutive Olympics.

Silver still caps a remarkable achievement for Peaty who took a break from the sport after issues with alcohol and his mental health since his last gold in Tokyo.

"I am not crying because I have come second. I am crying because of how much it took to get here," Peaty told the BBC.

"In my heart I have won. These are happy tears."

The medal takes Peaty's Olympic tally to six medals – three golds and three silvers.

After Kimberley Woods' kayaking bronze earlier on Sunday, Team GB now have two silvers and two bronze medals after two days of these Olympics.

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Peaty

Security forces in Venezuela have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at people protesting Sunday’s disputed election result.

Thousands of people descended on central Caracas on Monday evening, some walking for miles from slums on the mountains surrounding the city, towards the presidential palace.

Protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital the day after President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory.

The opposition has disputed Mr Maduro's declaration as fraudulent, saying that after reviewing 73.2% of the voting tallies, it was clear that its candidate, Edmundo González, had won convincingly.

Opinion polls ahead of the election suggested a clear victory for the challenger.

Opposition parties had united behind Mr González in an attempt to unseat President Maduro after 11 years in power, amid widespread discontent over the country's economic crisis.

A heavy military and police presence was on the streets of Caracas with the aim of trying to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.

Crowds of people chanted “freedom, freedom!” and called for the government to fall.

Footage showed tyres burning on highways and large numbers of people on the streets, with police on motorbikes firing tear gas.

Matthew Mott has stepped down as white-ball head coach after England failed to defend either of the limited-overs World Cups.

Jos Buttler is to remain as captain, with assistant coach Marcus Trescothick put in temporary charge for the series against Australia in September.

Australian Mott, 50, was appointed when England split the head coach roles in 2022 and later that year presided over the triumph at the T20 World Cup in his home country.

But England, champions in 2019, endured a calamitous 50-over World Cup in India last year, winning only three of their nine matches.

And they surrendered the T20 title in the Caribbean and United States in June, beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champions India.

A run to the last four seemed like a minimum requirement for Mott to keep his job, though England managed to win just one of the four games they played against other Test-playing sides.

Immediately after the T20 World Cup, England managing director Rob Key offered no assurances that Mott or Buttler would stay in their roles.

Key has reviewed the tournament and held talks with both men. Buttler is to stay on and Mott exits two years into a four-year contract.

England will now look for a head coach to build towards the next major tournament, the Champions Trophy in Pakistan early next year.

1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.

1980 – Vanuatu gains independence.

2003 – Three years after the death the last Pyrenean ibex, Celia, a clone of her is born only to subsequently die from lung defects. Within minutes, the Pyrenean ibex becomes the first and so-far only species to have ever gone de-extinct as well as go extinct twice.

2006 – The world's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.

2012 – A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India.

A lavish lobster dinner for King Charles III cost the French president's office €475,000 (£400,000), according to the country's audit office.

President Emmanuel Macron pulled out all the stops for the monarch's visit in September - with guests being treated to blue lobster, crab and an assortment of cheeses.

But in its annual report of the presidential accounts, the Cour des Comptes warned that higher spending on state receptions had contributed to leaving their budget €8.3m in the red.

And it says the Elysée now needs to make "significant efforts... to restore and sustain the financial balance of the financial balance of the presidency".

Of the money spent on the dinner, over €165,000 was on catering, with another €40,000 on drinks.

Guests at the star-studded banquet - which included actor Hugh Grant, football manager Arsene Wenger and Rolling Stone Mick Jagger - were treated to a menu of blue lobster and crab followed by Bresse poultry and mushroom gratin.

There was also a course of cheeses - including French Comté and British Stichelton blue.

And for dessert they were served a rose macaroon cookie, composed of rose petal cream, raspberries and lychees.

The extravagant banquet at the Palace of Versailles was part of King Charles' three-day state visit to France, aimed at reinforcing a key alliance between the two countries.

It had been originally scheduled for March, but was postponed after widespread protests over pension reform hit major cities.

The King's visit is not the only one cited in the report, with a July 2023 banquet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Louvre - which cost the presidential office €412,000 - also mentioned.

As a result of higher spending, including on these state receptions, expenditure increased by 14% on the previous year, the audit office said.

That compared to only a 6.5% gain in revenue earned by the presidency.

Tinder's parent company, Match Group Inc, plans to cut 6% of its global workforce amid a continued slump in users paying for its most popular dating app.

The dating app giant, which also owns Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OKCupid, has revealed an 8% fall in the number of paying Tinder users.

It said job cuts would largely stem from shutting down its live-streaming app Hakuna and removing live-streaming features available in some of its dating apps.

Match has now reported declines in Tinder subscriber numbers for several consecutive quarters - though it remains the world's most popular dating app, and the latest dip was less than some investors, external anticipated.

The company said in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday that its latest fall in subscribers was an "improvement" on a 9% dip in the previous quarter.

Tinder is increasingly being challenged by rival dating apps such as Bumble, which reported an increase in its number of paying users last quarter.

“Despite owning some of the best-known brands in the dating market, Match Group has been struggling with intense competition," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"A lack of innovation seems to be a key bugbear and activists are putting pressure on the company to come up with some new ideas to drive up user numbers."

GB's men in gymnastics all-round final after Franklin misses canoe medal

A leopard attacked two men at a South African air force base that borders the world-famous Kruger National Park.

One of the men, a uniformed air force member, was attacked while out for a run. The other, a civilian working at the base, encountered the leopard while on a walk, an air force spokesman said.

The two individuals were admitted to hospital with scratches but no major injuries, Brig Gen Donavan Chetty told the BBC.

One has since been discharged and the other is due to leave on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the leopard was captured and relocated to a sanctuary around 100km (62 miles) from the Hoedspruit air force base, following last week's attacks.

Gen Chetty said that encounters with leopards are common, but not usually dangerous, for those living and working near the park.

The park, a tourist magnet famed for its rich wildlife, is largely fenced off.

However, Gen Chetty said it was impossible to contain leopards, which are known for their agility, with fences.

"[The leopards] are basically in and amongst the human population," he said, adding that around 150 of them are known to be living in the area.

Leopards are nocturnal animals that hunt a variety of prey, including wildebeest, antelope and fish, the Kruger National Park website says.

In 2017, three lions were killed after escaping from the park.

Yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms have been issued for much of England and Wales amid a heatwave gripping large parts of the UK.

Heavy showers, lightning, and thunder are forecast on Wednesday night and into Thursday, with travel disruption and power cuts possible.

Flood alerts are also in place in parts of the Midlands.

The warm temperatures of recent days are set to continue into Friday, with peaks of 28C expected in southern England.

The yellow warnings affect central, northern, southern, and south-eastern England, as well as central and eastern Wales.

The Met Office said some areas could see difficult driving conditions and road closures, as well as delays and cancellations to train and bus services.

It also warned there could be damage to buildings from fast-flowing water, lightning strikes, hail, or strong winds, and that the flooding could pose a danger to life.

Homes and business could see power cuts and losses of other services, the organisation added.

Dan Holley, a deputy chief forecaster at the Met Office, said the thunderstorm warning had been issued for a broad area but that not all of it would be affected.

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