A new-look England side slumped to a 28-run defeat by Australia in the first T20 international at Utilita Bowl.

Australia made a blistering start, with Travis Head smashing 59 from 23 balls as he and opening partner Matthew Short put on 86 in the first six overs.

But England, who handed T20 debuts to three players and were captained by Phil Salt for the first time, produced a superb fightback to bowl the tourists out for 179.

The spinners led the way, with Liam Livingstone taking 3-22 and Adil Rashid impressive for his 1-23, while seamers Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood claimed two wickets apiece.

However, England's chase was in trouble early as three wickets went down in the powerplay.

Livingstone and Sam Curran gave them hope with a 54-run stand for the fifth wicket but when they departed in quick succession, England's long tail was exposed and they were bowled out for 151 in the final over.

The teams will now head to Cardiff for the second T20 on Friday before the three-match series concludes at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Stockport assistant coach Andy Mangan has been denied a move to Real Madrid after his work permit was rejected.

The former Tranmere and Shrewsbury striker was on the verge of joining the La Liga champions to work under boss Carlo Ancelotti, with the switch subject to a work permit.

But the 38-year-old's application, which could have taken up to nine months to process, is understood to have been rejected by the Spanish government and the move is currently off.

Mangan had worked with Ancelotti's son, Davide, who is part of the staff at Madrid, while doing his Uefa coaching badges.

He joined Stockport in the summer after they won League Two under manager Dave Challinor. The Hatters are currently unbeaten and second in League One after four games.

Ex-forward Mangan spent his playing career in the lower leagues and featured for Tranmere, Forest Green and Accrington and won promotion from the National League three times.

He also worked with Joey Barton at Fleetwood and Bristol Rovers as first-team coach and was caretaker at Rovers after Barton's dismissal in 2023.

The Wallabies will offer serious competition to the British and Irish Lions next summer, says Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.

Australia suffered the heaviest defeat in their 125-year Test history on Saturday when they were swept aside 67-27 by Argentina.

It was their third defeat from four games in this year's Rugby Championship and follows a miserable pool-stage exit at last year's Rugby World Cup.

"You can see the progress is there," Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald, external when asked about the team's trajectory before the Lions' arrival Down Under in June.

"It is not nearly where we need it to be, but if we keep progressing at the speed with which we have moved things in the last six months, then there is plenty of time."

Waugh believes the headline-grabbing scoreline against the Pumas hid the improvements that have been made during new head coach Joe Schmidt's six months in charge.

Australia, who defeated Argentina the week before, led 20-3 in Santa Fe before capitulating in the second half.

They were also within two points of world champions South Africa at half-time of their August meeting before losing 30-12.

"It is a team that is, and I hate using the word 're-building', but it is a team that is re-setting, and it takes experiences in big moments to get better," Waugh added.

"Obviously the enormity of the scoreline in that second half [against Argentina] was disappointing.

"But there is context that is important... we are not the most experienced team in world rugby, and we are building that experience."

Australia will complete their Rugby Championship campaign with Tests against New Zealand on 21 and 28 September, before taking on England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in the autumn.

Big-money code-crossing import Joseph Suaalii is set to be among the Australia squad that travels to the northern hemisphere.

Donald Trump has announced that he will not participate in a second debate against Kamala Harris ahead of the November elections.

The former president claimed on Truth Social that polls showed he "clearly won" his first debate against Harris in Philadelphia earlier this week.

Trump added that Harris should "focus" on her job as vice-president.

At a rally in North Carolina, Harris said that the candidates "owe" voters another debate.

Polls show the two candidates in an extremely tight race with just two months to go before the election.

During the tense 90-minute debate on Tuesday, Harris frequently rattled Trump with a string of personal attacks that put him on the defensive, including comments about the size of his rally crowds and his conduct during the 6 January 2021 riots at the US Capitol.

A snap CNN poll of voters watching suggested that Harris performed better. Betting markets suggested the same.

Trump and his supporters claimed that the two ABC journalists moderating the debate were unfair and biased in favour of Harris.

"When a prize fighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are 'I want a rematch'," Trump wrote.

"Polls clearly show that I won the debate against comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats' radical left candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a second debate," he added.

Plans to build the UK's first deep coal mine in more than 30 years have been quashed.

Two campaign groups had brought a legal action over the previous government's decision to grant planning permission for the site near Whitehaven in Cumbria.

At the High Court, judge Justice Holgate said the assumption the mine would not increase greenhouse gas emissions was "legally flawed".

Victoria Marson from Friends of the Earth said campaigners had won "a massive victory". West Cumbria Mining (WCM) said it would "consider the implications" of the judgement before commenting further.

Challenges to the decision to approve the mine, in 2022, were submitted by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).

They claimed the government did not take into consideration the environmental impact of burning the coal extracted, rather it focussed only on running the facility.

Lawyers for WCM said there had been "repeated mischaracterisation" of the plans and the development would have a "broadly neutral effect on the global release of greenhouse gas".

In his judgement, Mr Justice Holgate said: "The assumption that the proposed mine would not produce a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, or would be a net zero mine, is legally flawed."

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Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 2006, when they defeated Stalybridge Celtic in the final. They have also reached the FA Cup Second Round on at least three occasions.

The club's ground was for many years in the centre of the town, just behind the library. In 1989, they moved a couple of miles to Chapel Street in nearby Wincham. Sainsbury's Supermarket now occupies the old Central Ground site.

Witton's current home, U Lock It Stadium (Wincham Park), holds in excess of 4,500 and is equipped with floodlights, segregation, a club shop and a museum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqBs6kkzHE

The chances of Northern Ireland hosting matches at the Euro 2028 football tournament appear to have gone.

The UK government announced on Friday night that the estimated cost of rebuilding Casement Park stadium in Belfast has "risen dramatically" to more than £400m.

The government said it will not be providing funding to redevelop the stadium in time for the tournament.

It said there was a "significant risk" that the stadium would not be built in time.

In a statement, the Ulster GAA called the announcement “bitterly disappointing,” adding that it would provide a more detailed response in the coming days.

A spokesperson for the Irish FA said it will "consider the implications of this with our bid partners and UEFA.”

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been laid to rest, with David Beckham among 600 mourners to attend his funeral in Torsby, Sweden.

In January, Eriksson said he had "at best" a year to live after being diagnosed with cancer and his family announced he had died, aged 76, on 26 August.

Eriksson's coffin arrived at Fryksande church at about 07:00 local time.

The service was delivered in both Swedish and English, with hundreds of mourners gathering on the lawn outside the church to watch the service on a large screen.

During the eulogy there was reference to the final months of Eriksson's life, when he realised his dream of managing Liverpool during a charity match in March.

A guard of honour formed as his coffin was placed into a hearse before being taken to Kollsbergs hembygdsgard.

Among the guests were former England manager Roy Hodgson and members of the Swedish royal family.

Beckham, who captained the Three Lions during Eriksson's tenure, was also in attendance.

Eriksson was the first non-British manager of the England team, leading them to the quarter-finals at three major tournaments during a five-year spell at the helm.

His father, Sven, aged 95, greeted mourners alongside Eriksson's children, Lina and Johan.

Eriksson managed 12 clubs, including Manchester City, Leicester, Roma and Lazio, winning 18 trophies.

The Swede also had spells in charge of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines.

After retiring as a player at the age of 27, he began his managerial career with Degerfors in 1977 before joining fellow Swedish side Gothenburg, where he won the league title, two domestic cups and the 1982 Uefa Cup.

He then went on to enjoy two spells with Portuguese giants Benfica, as well as managing Italian sides Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio - where he won seven trophies including the Serie A title, two Italian Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Sven-Göran Eriksson

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A video game trafficking ring has been smashed by police in Italy, after fake vintage consoles and games worth almost €50m ($55.5m) were seized.

Among the counterfeit games were popular titles from the 1980s and 90s, including Mario Bros., Street Fighter and Star Wars.

The pirated consoles were imitations of the iconic devices produced by Nintendo, Sega and Atari and did not meet strict safety standards.

New versions of video games and gaming consoles that were released decades ago have recently soared in popularity and command high prices, in a cultural trend known as "retrogaming".

McLaren’s Lando Norris says he is “still hopeful” of a good result in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite starting the race in 16th place.

The Briton will start 10 places behind title rival Max Verstappen’s Red Bull after coming across yellow flags at the wrong moment in qualifying, which meant he did not progress beyond the first session.

Norris, who qualified 17th but gained a place when Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was disqualified for a technical infringement, is trying to close a 62-point gap to Verstappen over the remaining eight races of the season.

"It is what it is but there is a long race ahead,” Norris said. “We have got some good tyres in the bank, so yeah, try and be hopeful and see what we can do.”

But Norris acknowledged that making progress would depend on strategy choices in the race, because overtaking is difficult on the Baku street track despite the two-kilometre pit straight.

He said the fact that the slower cars in front of him had chosen to run low downforce to boost their speed on the straight would make it even more difficult.

Norris said he was “disappointed and frustrated” with the result of qualifying but insisted that there was “nothing I could change”.

“Everything is going to have to be done with strategy because you can’t overtake,” Norris said. “There are a plenty of cars at the back who have taken the wing off and hope for the best.

“That makes it impossible for a lot of cars to overtake them.

“The car is quick and we hope that will come into our hands and at some point I can get clean air.

“But on a street circuit everything gets backed up and you kind of get forced into a position and you can’t do a lot at times.

“We will hope for the best but I don’t expect anything much at all unless strategy comes into play.”

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England and Australia's T20 series ended in a draw after the third match at Old Trafford was washed out.

Heavy rain throughout the day in Manchester prevented any play and the series ends 1-1.

Australia won the first T20 comfortably in Southampton, with Travis Head hitting a rapid half-century.

Liam Livingstone's superb knock of 87 then took England to victory in the second match in Cardiff.

But the weather ensured there would be no chance of a decider with the umpires officially abandoning the match at 16:15 BST.

The teams will now head to Nottingham for the start of the five-match one-day international series, which begins on Thursday, 19 September.

England will again be without Jos Buttler for the ODIs. The white-ball skipper is still recovering from a right calf injury that ruled him out of the T20s and The Hundred.

USA beat Europe 15½-12½ to win Solheim Cup

The Scottish government is on the verge of agreeing a deal for Glasgow to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026.

BBC Scotland News understands Health Secretary Neil Gray will hold talks with Commonwealth Games Australia on Monday morning.

The Australian state of Victoria withdrew as 2026 hosts due to rising costs.

It comes after Australian authorities promised "a multi-million pound investment" to help finalise Glasgow's offer to rescue the multi-sport event.

Glasgow, which hosted the games in 2014, is now close to confirming a scaled down event featuring fewer sports.

A source close to the talks said: "In recent weeks, the Scottish government has probed and tested what it would look like for Scotland to host a scaled back Commonwealth Games.

"That has seen real progress. If we remain satisfied that the public purse won't have to be opened to pay for these games, the confidence is rising that Monday will bring good news."

In another key development, the UK government last week assured the Scottish government that no public money would be required to stage the games.

A woman is bracing for the "toughest" challenge in memory of her friend who was killed while riding her bike.

Louise Wright was 29 when she was hit by a lorry in 2014 in Nottingham as she cycled to work, with the driver given a suspended sentence.

A fundraiser in her name, which marks 10 years since her death, had so far raised almost £2,500.

Coleen Coxon, Ms Wright's friend, says she is due to complete two marathons in two days in the Sahara desert next month.

Ms Wright was crossing the junction of Lower Parliament Street and Pennyfoot Street on her bike when a lorry driver turned left without indicating, dragging her under the wheels.

A decade on, Ms Coxon, said she wanted to pay tribute to her friend by fundraising for the charity Brake.

"I think it's important to raise awareness of what happened to Louise because it was one careless accident which could have been avoided and I want other people not to have to suffer in the same way," she said.