South Africa's director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Monday fly-half Handre Pollard will not feature against Ireland in their keenly-awaited Rugby World Cup...

US fourth seed Jessica Pegula outclassed Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the...

The United States needed an 88th-minute equalizer from substitute Brandon Vazquez to earn a 1-1 draw against Jamaica in the opening game of the...

Brazil’s environmental regulator has refused to grant a license for a controversial offshore oil drilling project near the mouth of the Amazon River, prompting celebration from environmentalists who had warned of its potential impact

Paris plans to make the Seine the centerpiece of the 2024 Olympic Games, with long-term efforts to clean up the river allowing swimming events to take place in its waters.

With her comeback gaining steam, US gymnastics great Simone Biles said Thursday she would "love" to chase more gold at...

Lewis Hamilton admits he is staggered by how far Mercedes are still behind the Red Bulls after Max Verstappen blew away the field to take pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen hit back in style after seeing his record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season ended in Singapore a week ago by finishing a massive 0.581 seconds clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Lando Norris was third in the second McLaren ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez. But Mercedes struggled again, with Hamilton qualifying seventh and George Russell eighth – the seven-time world champion over a second adrift of Verstappen’s pole lap. The Dutchman and Red Bull have dominated the sport over the last two seasons and Hamilton admits the gap that still exists between the two teams is a major concern. “We as a team really need to when we go back and do the debrief – I hope the team already realise – but a second gap is huge. And it is real,” Hamilton said. “To be two years in and still be a second down to the Red Bulls is not a good showing and we need to make sure we work hard over the winter to get back at least half that gap before next year. “We have a very peaky car. It is like trying to balance a knife on its tip. “It is never perfectly balanced, it is one way or the other. You try and get it as close as you can to the middle but it is very hard to do each weekend.” Verstappen topped every practice session but Norris and Piastri had closed the gap in P3 to hint at a fight for pole at Suzuka. But it never materialised thanks to Verstappen’s incredible pace on new tyres in the final session. To be two years in and still be a second down to the Red Bulls is not a good showing and we need to make sure we work hard over the winter to get back at least half that gap before next year Lewis Hamilton McLaren impressed again – especially Piastri who had never even been to Japan before this week. “It’s been a very good day for us. A P2 and a P3 – a great job by Oscar today and as usual, by Max – but a good day,” Norris said. “I was pretty happy with my laps. It’s a tricky circuit; not easy to put everything together but it’s so quick around here and the smallest mistake can take a big amount of lap time. “I’m happy. It’s been a good day and good positions for tomorrow.” Mercedes are unlikely to be in the fight with Red Bull or McLaren but are set for a scrap with Ferrari as they tussle over second position in the Constructors’ Championship – which Red Bull are almost certain to clinch on Sunday. Leclerc delivered a strong lap for the Scuderia to line up on the second row – although he does face an investigation for exceeding the maximum lap time – while Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz starts sixth. “I hope we can have a good battle with Ferrari tomorrow,” Hamilton said. “They had an upgrade this weekend so they are a little bit ahead of us and it is not an easy track to overtake. “But I am still going to give it everything and hope I can give them a run for their money tomorrow.” Yuki Tsunoda, who was confirmed to be driving for AlphaTauri next season alongside Daniel Ricciardo, delighted his home fans by qualifying ninth. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen pips Oscar Piastri to pole after tense qualifying for Japanese GP Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan Max Verstappen returns to form in Japanese Grand Prix practice

James Maddison has urged Tottenham to keep acting like a “top team” after they headed into the international break still unbeaten in the Premier League. Spurs have faced Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal during their first eight league fixtures under new boss Ange Postecoglou and collected 20 points out of a possible 24. It represents Tottenham’s best start to a league season since their 1960-61 double-winning campaign, but they were forced to produce a different type of display on Saturday in a hard-fought 1-0 win at Luton, where they played the whole of the second half with 10 men. “You get the same three points here as you do beating Liverpool and United at home,” Maddison said. “It’s just as important. I absolutely loved the character of the lads. “You have 38 games in a season and not every game is going pretty, scoring goals, free-flowing, ‘AngeBall’. “Sometimes you have to dig deep and show the grit and determination. People are always asking top teams, do they have that side to them? The top teams all do and we want to be a top team. I’m so happy we showed that.” Ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou has only worked with this group of players since July, but they have quickly taken to his front-foot, attacking philosophy. Spurs have scored 18 goals in the Premier League with summer recruit Maddison involved in seven and topping the assist charts with five so far after he set up Micky van de Ven’s winner on Saturday, but he insists they remain a work in progress. He added: “We’re so early into the manager’s reign. We’re at the start. Even in training, sometimes the messages he’s giving us, it’s still new, we’re still working on it. It’s not like we’re three years in. “When you’ve worked with a manager for a long time, like when I was at Leicester with Brendan (Rodgers), I had been there that long I knew what he wanted from me. “I’d realise who we were playing at the weekend and have an idea of what my role would be at the weekend before we’d even trained or worked on it. You get that partnership and relationship. “We’re so early, we’re still at the start of that. It’s not about getting carried away. “Of course, it’s better to be up that end than the other end. Believe me, I’ve done both! I just want to continue that, continue working and that will leave it us where it leaves us.” You have 38 games in a season and not every game is going pretty, scoring goals, free-flowing, ‘AngeBall’. James Maddison Tottenham went top of the table on Saturday but Maddison played down talk of a title tilt yet. “We’ve played Arsenal, we’ve played Liverpool, we’ve played United. Coming here, it’s just a different type of challenge but it’s still tough,” the England international said. “Just because you’re playing Luton, it doesn’t mean there is more time or more space. It’s just a different challenge. “I probably didn’t expect us to be top of the league, unbeaten, no. “Realistically you would never even guess that far ahead. You just want to start well and we’re looking to continue that.” Read More Nottingham Forest are ‘living in the moment’ says boss Steve Cooper I had to make crucial tackle after doing Alan Shearer celebration – Danny Care Sean McDermott hopes Bills return to London despite loss to Jaguars He will not make it – Mikel Arteta confirms Bukayo Saka is out of England squad How did the VAR system fare after a week under the spotlight? Gabriel Martinelli snatches last-gasp victory for Arsenal against Man City

By Blake Brittain Sony Music Entertainment has dropped a lawsuit against Triller over allegations the short-form video platform

An argument between the founder of Barstool Sports and American businessman, Dave Portnoy and the owner of the Dragon Pizza restaurant in Sommerville, Massachusettes has led to the pizzeria being flooded with reviews. In 2017 46-year-old Portnoy began an internet series called 'One Bite Pizza' where he does video reviews of pizza outlets throughout the United States. The popular series also has an app and its own frozen pizza range. Portnoy's series is usually well-received and has featured the odd celebrity guest and wholesome interactions with the public that have gone viral. However, his latest review has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. His review of Dragon Pizza took an unexpected turn when the owner of the restaurant, wearing a tight Star Wars t-shirt, stormed out onto the street where Portnoy was filming his review to berate the businessman. At this point, Portnoy was already a little disappointed with the food he had purchased giving it a medium rating of 6.4 but did concede that it could have been his fault for leaving it in the box too long. However, the mood soon changed when the owner confronted him. "Enjoy your pizza as any customer but I don’t appreciate what you do, coming in and judging a business with one bite," the owner yelled at Portnoy before telling him to move on. Portnoy argues back and forth with the owner, criticising his appearance and highlighting all the work and money he had raised to help and promote small businesses. Dragon Pizza has subsequently gone viral thanks to this interaction and flooded with negative reviews on Yelp which appear to have emerged since Portnoy shared his own review so it's hard to determine how genuine they are. Barstool Sports has since shared an article calling the owner 'one of the worst humans in history.' The owner previously responded to the argument a week ago (presumably when the review was filmed) with a stinging Instagram post where he wrote: "F@$K you and the Stool you came in on, Dave Douchebag. Your show sucks. You suck, and you truly are the classless tool I thought you are." In Portnoy's article he conceded that he wasn't everyone's "cup of tea" but questioned why the owner would pick a fight with him and "say that I'm bad for small business and bad for the pizza industry?" He added: "Like even my most ardent haters have to begrudgingly admit that I've done more for small business than 99.9 of private citizens in this country. It just shows how little this guy actually knows about me that he couldn't name 1 actual reason he really hated me besides "The New York Times." And that is why this guy is everything that is wrong with America right now." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Jude Bellingham and Micah Richards burst out laughing during an exchange after Real Madrid’s Champions League win against Napoli. The English midfielder starred for Los Blancos once again on Tuesday night, scoring his team’s second of the evening after a stunning solo run. At full-time, Bellingham was interviewed by CBS Sports, with reporter Guillem Balague comparing him to Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher, who were both listening in the studio. “Not Micah, no?” Bellingham responded, sending Richards wild. Both burst out laughing before Richards confessed his love for the midfielder and suggested he’ll be in the running for the Ballon d’Or. Read More Jurgen Klopp’s amusing reaction to watching Bellingham’s late winner for Real Madrid ‘No excuses’: Ten Hag vows Man United will fight on after Champions League defeat Asian Games official suffers horrific leg break after being hit during hammer throw

Fans rejoiced after Jesse Watters returned to 'The Five' and criticized President Joe Biden for maintaining silence on wildfires in Maui, Hawaii