• Wakefield 26-16 Leigh

• Vagana and Faatili’s second-half tries seal victory

Wakefield Trinity survived the sending off of Emre Guler to progress to the semi-finals of the Super League playoffs for the first time after proving to be far too strong for Leigh Leopards.

Trinity, so long one of Super League’s perennial strugglers, have been revitalised under the ownership of Matt Ellis and the head coach Daryl Powell. In just three years, they have taken the club from the Championship to within 80 minutes of a first appearance in the Super League Grand Final.

Fish and Wildlife Service memo calls for change in what it means to ‘take’ an endangered species

More than 1,600 critically imperiled species protected under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) face losing further federal protections following a new reinterpretation of the 1973 law by the Donald Trump administration.

A September 14 memo distributed to Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) field offices by FWS director Brian Nesvik calls for a reinterpretation of what it means to “take” an endangered species. Under the ESA, “take” is defined as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct”.

For Aston Villa, an overdue drama-free outing as Unai Emery’s side cruised into the Carabao Cup fourth round courtesy of a Tammy Abraham double and a Ross Barkley header.

Unfortunately for Coventry, it was a sorry case of more of the same. Frank Lampard’s side have lost five of their six matches in all competitions and continue to leak soft goals. It was hard to know whether Abraham’s tap-in or Barkley’s free header, both from corners, was worse from a Coventry perspective. The sight of Lampard hunched in the dugout, hands clasped, has become a familiar sight.

Analysis of 29 studies highlights potentially heightened danger from small particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide

Air pollution is associated with an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, according to research.

Environmental pollution is known to be associated with poorer mental health but its role in suicide risk is less well understood. Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast examined whether air, noise, light, and water pollution could influence the risk of death by suicide and suicidal behaviours.

Trump’s EPA strips itself of regulation ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet polluters

On the heels of the hottest summer ever recorded in the US, the Trump administration has said it will erase any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants that are dangerously heating up our planet.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it will strip itself of its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming from power plants under the Clean Air Act, removing a key tool to address the climate crisis.

• Officiating body announces it will review the incident

• Unhappy Carrick says error was ‘as obvious as it gets’

Pro Ref admitted Erling Haaland’s winner in Sunday’s Manchester derby should not have been awarded, after the video assistant referee ruled Enzo Fernández was not interfering with play in the buildup. The elite officiating body will review the decision and has contacted Manchester United.

Haaland’s 60th minute strike for Manchester City at Old Trafford was initially ruled offside before the VAR’s intervention. It came after Josko Gvardiol’s cross hit Patrick Dorgu’s boot, passed Fernández and the United defender Lisandro Martínez, and was finished by the City No 9. VAR decided Fernández was not interfering despite Martínez marking the midfielder.

Alleged members of Black Axe criminal network that swindled US women out of $6m flown from South Africa

Six Nigerian nationals linked to an organized criminal network that allegedly swindled American women out of more than $6m through online romance scams were extradited to the United States on Friday.

South African police confirmed they were to be extradited earlier on Friday, while local news in Africa confirmed that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, facilitated their handover to officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service at Cape Town international airport, in collaboration with Interpol South Africa.

• Norwegian leaves rival Hocker trailing to claim $150,000

• Briton Jazmin Sawyers second in the women’s long jump

It is a scene that has become gloriously familiar down the years. Jakob Ingebrigtsen leaving the world’s best athletes gasping in his slipstream, holding one imperious finger in the air, revelling in his athletic genius. But this victory over 5,000m at the inaugural Ultimate Championships carried extra sweetness – and spice.

The sweetness? That came from winning a mammoth first prize of $150,000 after an achilles injury he feared might derail his career. And the spice? Well, that was provided by the way Ingebrigtsen utterly obliterated his great American rival Cole Hocker, a man he had branded a “coward” just a week ago.

It was a night for romance given the astonishing story that Sabah brought with them to Old Trafford for their Champions League debut. This is a club that did not even exist a decade ago and nobody saw their bolt to the title in Azerbaijan coming last season; in 2024-25, they had finished 41 points off the top. The job that their manager, Valdas Dambrauskas, has done since taking over in the summer of last year is extraordinary.

It was also a night for cold, hard reality. Manchester United were back in Europe’s elite competition after a two-year hiatus and in need of something to soothe them after the trauma of their last-gasp coughing up of two points in last Sunday’s Premier League draw at Everton. And before the extremely serious business of the derby here against Manchester City on Sunday. They got it on the back of a first-half performance that burned slowly before catching fire.

Exclusive: State government delayed releasing major report into the health of the koala population for more than 12 months

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The Victorian government sat on a report for more than 12 months that found the state’s koala population was in chronically poor health.

The review of the state’s koala populations, led by state science agency the Arthur Rylah Institute in conjunction with scientists from major universities, was completed for the Victorian government in June 2025.

As he prepares for the upcoming international window, the US head coach spoke about Folarin Balogun, the LA Olympics and dual national players

It’s been two months since the US men’s national team crashed out of the World Cup in disappointing fashion, and their head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, is back at work.

The former Tottenham and PSG manager was largely viewed as a short-term hire when he joined the US in 2024, brought on to help the team capitalize on their first home World Cup in more than three decades. Along the way, Pochettino and US Soccer warmed to the idea of a contract extension, one they finalized in August.

The US will play four friendlies in late September and early October against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada, but that stretch of games pales in comparison to the larger task at hand. Pochettino must guide the US to qualification for the 2030 World Cup, of course, but the Argentinian – and the federation – have more ambitious goals that involve reshaping the structure of soccer in the United States.

Photographer Max Dupain’s diverse and creative output helped shape Australia’s visual identity in the mid- to late 20th century. A major retrospective, Definitive Dupain, runs at the State Library of NSW until July 2027

• Sponsorship agreement is largest in women’s game

• Exceeds some men’s Premier League clubs’ shirt deals

The Women’s Super League club London City Lionesses’ new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Nike is the largest in the women’s game, according to their American owner, Michele Kang.

The length and value of the deal has not been disclosed but sources close to the WSL club are hailing it as a gamechanging moment and Kang claims that it even exceeds some men’s Premier League clubs’ shirt deals.

President’s order strips nearly 3m acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, sacred tribal sites, of safeguards

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has joined a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s decision to significantly reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, removing protections from nearly 3m acres.

In July, the president approved the reduction of the sites by 90%, clearing the way to open the land to oil and gas companies. He argued in his proclamations that doing so would allow lands to be “put to a higher-priority use” and that they contained critical minerals important to “ resource independence …[and] national security”.

It was a match between two disjointed sides, two sides trying to carve out new identities following the drop into the Championship. West Ham won thanks to a bit of luck, a degree of resolve and, crucially, a sharpness in front of goal that took them away from Wolves and reduced the pressure on Nuno Espírito Santo, for a few days at least.

First-half goals from Divine Mukasa and Jarrod Bowen, from the penalty spot, were complemented by two more after the interval, as Mukasa secured his second alongside a goal for Konstantinos Mavropanos. The defender doubled up, too, albeit by scoring at his own end, as Wolves tried to claw their way back into contention, and the visitors could also claim a decent goal from Marshall Munetsi. For all their obvious technical ability, however, César Peixoto’s side lacked the hosts’ sang froid at the crucial moments and that proved the decisive factor.

Two icons share cake and take us on a touching trip down memory lane. Dench is mesmerising, and McKellen is such a devilish guest that he’ll make you weep and giggle too

I am writing this in the wake of Dolly Parton’s death, so I am very much in the mood for the gentle celebration of ageing icons while we still have them. An hour of 91-year-old Judi Dench having tea with 87-year-old Ian McKellen? Sign me right up and I will not so much as breathe heavily in their direction lest anything go wrong.

McKellen – Sir Ian, “Serena” to his friends – navigates the “treacherous” pavement leading to Dame Judi’s fairytale 15th-century home in Surrey, which is as cosy and sparkling as its owner (if anyone is listening, I will take an hour of just Dench, taking us around the house and garden, like the world’s most mesmerising estate agent), and unwraps two lumps of parkin cake to go with their tea. One from Yorkshire, where Dench is from, and one from Lancashire because McKellen was – is – a Burnley (then Wigan, then Bolton) boy.

• Los Angeles were already Super Bowl favorites

• Defensive tackle was 10-time Pro Bowler with Rams

• 35-year-old aiming to win second Super Bowl in LA

Aaron Donald, one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history, is coming out of retirement to rejoin his only professional team, the Los Angeles Rams.

During a 10-season career with the Rams, who drafted him with the 13th overall pick in 2014, Donald was a three-time defensive player of the year and an eight-time first team All-Pro. He won a Super Bowl with the Rams at the end of the 2021 season before announcing his retirement in March 2024 at the age of 32.

It might be too early to push the panic button but Roberto De Zerbi faces a huge task if he is to turn Spurs around

Time for Tottenham to start panicking? This is, of course, a subtle trick question. Tottenham is one of those clubs that never actually stops panicking. They panic when they concede and they panic when they score. They panic when they have the ball and they panic when someone else does. They have a coach in Roberto De Zerbi whose face evokes a state of permanent alarm, the expression of a man perpetually having a toilet door opened on him. One year they even managed to panic their way to the Europa League. For the ever-rattled Spurs fan, this club is less a treasured devotion and more a lifelong haunting, broken up by occasional panic substitutions.

You could intuit that sense of encrusted resignation pretty much from the moment Anthony Elanga’s improvised shot kissed the post and trickled over the line to give Newcastle the lead. Since beating Aston Villa 4-1 in late 2024, Tottenham have gone behind 44 times in all competitions and come back to win precisely zero of them. There is something innate and endemic here, a chronic case of Long Tottenham for which – despite the new coach, the new leadership structure and more than a third of a billion pounds in transfer fees – there remains no proven cure. Yoane Wissa’s clincher was of zero surprise to anyone.

• Super League: Wigan Warriors 46-0 Hull KR

• Liam Marshall bags hat-trick of tries in rout

On the night when Wigan Warriors celebrated one of their greatest entertainers, perhaps it was fitting that Matt Peet’s class of 2026 produced a performance Sir Billy Boston would have been proud of on their charge, potentially, towards another Super League title.

There are some nights where the result is dwarfed by the occasion. Where sport, in truth, comes second. This was undoubtedly one of those, as what felt like the entirety of this town where rugby league is more akin to a religion than it is a pastime came together in grief to remember the life and career of their most cherished adopted son.

Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at the Bernabéu on Wednesday ⁠in their first home match since the return of José Mourinho as head coach.

Mbappé put Madrid ahead in the 40th minute before Luka Sucic levelled four minutes later, but the ⁠France forward restored the ⁠hosts’ lead on ​the hour. Vinícius Júnior added a third in the 68th minute before Mbappé completed his treble 10 minutes from time.