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  • AFL 2026: Patrick Dangerfield admits Geelong ‘buggered up’ Jake Kolodjashnij concussion waiver

    AFL 2026: Patrick Dangerfield admits Geelong ‘buggered up’ Jake Kolodjashnij concussion waiver

    A growing controversy over a contentious concussion-related waiver agreement involving Geelong Cats player Jake Kolodjashnij has prompted the club’s captain Patrick Dangerfield to publicly acknowledge the team made missteps in the process, while urging the public and football community to wait for full details before drawing final conclusions.

    The scandal first broke into public view last Thursday, when it was revealed that Geelong’s leadership and Kolodjashnij had reached an agreement that saw the defender waive his right to file future legal claims against the club if he develops long-term brain injuries linked to repeated on-field concussions. By Friday, the player himself went public to confirm his identity as the athlete at the center of the case, and Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking released a statement emphatically denying that Kolodjashnij had been pressured or coerced into signing the controversial document.

    Speaking to Fox Footy Monday morning while arriving for team training, Dangerfield offered the most candid comment from a club leader to date, admitting that portions of the process were handled poorly. “It’s not until you unpack all of the detail that you sort of find out what the whole process was,” Dangerfield said. “Why it was done the way that it was. Clearly, there’s some parts of it that we buggered it up and we can be better, but I still think there’s a bit to unpack yet.”

    Like most outside observers, Dangerfield said he first learned of the agreement via social media last Thursday morning, a reveal that came as a shock even to the team’s captain. He acknowledged that the topic of player brain health is deeply emotionally charged for football communities, making it difficult to wait for full context before reacting. “As an older player what I’ve learned over time is you’ve got to wait for the detail before the shock and awe kicks in,” he explained. “That’s a bit of a challenge with something like this that is very much emotive, and especially when it comes to players’ health and when it’s one of our own, one my players – that’s certainly concerning in that sense.”

    Dangerfield added that key contextual details about the agreement are still being assessed by the Australian Football League (AFL), with Geelong staff working over the past several days to compile and share full records. “But you’ve got to get the detail first. The nuance to that is the context of how it was done and clearly there has been more information needed from the AFL and that’s what the club has been doing over the past few days,” he said. “I think it’s not until we get all that information, that’s assessed, there will be a decision made around process and all that sort of stuff.”

    Beyond the procedural controversy, Dangerfield emphasized that the human impact on Kolodjashnij and his family has been largely overlooked amid intense media scrutiny. “I think that’s not a question that’s been asked a lot over the last little bit, that human element sometimes gets lost in the chase for a story,” he said. “That’s been, as players, the most important thing for us. And as leaders of the football club, it’s been a pretty difficult few days for Jake and his family for obvious reasons.”

  • ‘Brain explosion’: Corey Horsburgh charged by the MRC for sin bin slap as Sharks enforcer faces a ban

    ‘Brain explosion’: Corey Horsburgh charged by the MRC for sin bin slap as Sharks enforcer faces a ban

    The National Rugby League’s (NRL) match review committee has handed down controversial charges that have upended two clubs’ late-season campaigns, with Canberra Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh headlining the sanctions after a reckless act that ended his side’s shot at 2024 finals football.

    Horsburgh was charged with a Grade 1 contrary conduct offence following a unprovoked slap to Newcastle Knights winger Dane Gagai during Sunday’s crucial clash. The moment came at a pivotal juncture for the Raiders: with the team trailing by just two points, officials had just awarded Canberra a penalty within striking distance of the posts, only to reverse the decision after spotting Horsburgh’s slap. The forward was sin-binned for the infraction, a costly exclusion that ultimately derailed the Raiders’ comeback.

    If Horsburgh accepts the early guilty plea, he will only face an AU$1800 fine, avoiding a suspension that would have ended his season outright. But the damage to the club’s finals hopes, and to his standing with head coach Ricky Stuart, is already done. After the match, Stuart launched a scathing rebuke of his forward’s lapse in judgment, laying bare the cost of the mistake.

    “It should have been 28-all, and there’s a brain explosion when we got a penalty,” Stuart told reporters post-game. “It was a f–king brain explosion and we lost the opportunity. We lost the start of the season because we were self-entitled and undisciplined and we lost the opportunity to still then continue and try to make the semis. It wasn’t everybody’s fault. There are 16 other blokes there that made a lot of massive effort. There’s one sh*t bloody decision choice that has cost us.”

    The incident has reignited off-season transfer speculation around Horsburgh, who has been heavily linked with a move to the Brisbane Broncos in recent weeks. Rugby league analysts are now waiting to see if Stuart’s anger over the blunder will accelerate the forward’s exit from the Canberra outfit ahead of the 2025 season.

    In a separate blow to another NRL side, Cronulla Sharks enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake has also been sanctioned for a dangerous play during the Sharks’ shock upset loss to St. George Illawarra Dragons. Fonua-Blake was charged with a Grade 2 careless high tackle for a hit on Dragons player Hamish Stewart, which also earned him a sin bin during the match. If he accepts the early guilty plea offer, the front-rower will serve a one-match suspension, forcing him to miss Cronulla’s upcoming clash against the Raiders this coming Saturday. The absence of their starting enforcer is a fresh setback for the Sharks, who are already fighting to secure their own place in the 2024 finals series.

  • Signings tracker: Brian To’o signs long-term deal to join the PNG Chiefs

    Signings tracker: Brian To’o signs long-term deal to join the PNG Chiefs

    The National Rugby League’s newest expansion franchise, the PNG Chiefs, has pulled off another high-profile recruitment coup, locking in Penrith Panthers premiership-winning winger Brian To’o on a three-year contract that will see him join the club at the beginning of the 2028 season. To’o, a four-time NRL premiership winner with the Panthers, will complete one final season with the Penrith-based side in 2027 before making the move north to link up with his close friend and former Panthers teammate Jarome Luai at the Papua New Guinea-based franchise, which is currently building its roster ahead of its inaugural entry into the NRL competition.

    In announcing the signing, PNG Chiefs chief executive Lorna McPherson emphasized that the addition of To’o extends far beyond the club’s on-field goals. “Brian is an exceptional rugby league player, but this signing is about much more than football,” McPherson said. “The PNG Chiefs will be a club proudly built in Papua New Guinea but with a strong Pacific identity. Across our region, family, culture, community, and rugby league are deeply connected, and Brian represents those values every time he takes the field.”

    To’o, who is fiercely proud of his Samoan heritage and known for his tight-knit family bonds, embodies the regional identity the PNG franchise is working to build, McPherson added. “He understands what it means to represent something bigger than yourself. That is exactly the kind of person we want wearing the Chiefs jersey. We want young people across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific to look at this team and see themselves in it. Brian choosing to become part of the Chiefs sends a powerful message about the club we are building and what this team can represent for our region, and we are incredibly proud to welcome him, his wife and children into the Chiefs family.”

    A Panthers junior product, To’o made his first-grade debut for the club in 2019, and has gone on to claim four NRL premiership titles across his tenure with the side. The 27-year-old has also earned representative honours, turning out for both New South Wales in State of Origin and Samoa internationally. A powerful, consistent performer on the flank, To’o has crossed for 99 tries across his 144 first-grade appearances for Penrith, and is widely regarded as one of the game’s best outside backs for his ability to generate valuable yardage from the backfield.

    Penrith head coach Ivan Cleary paid tribute to To’o’s contributions to the Panthers dynasty, praising both his on-field skill and off-field character. “Brian is an exceptional player, but he’s an even better person. He’s a great teammate, a devoted family man and someone who brings so much energy and positivity to our club every day,” Cleary said. “He’s been a huge part of what we’ve built here and we’re looking forward to sharing one more season with him before he begins his next chapter.”

    To’o is the latest high-profile name to commit to the PNG Chiefs, joining former Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai and ex-St George Illawarra centre Zac Lomax as the expansion side continues to assemble a competitive inaugural squad. The signing comes as Penrith faces a wave of upcoming player contract changes: three of the club’s star players, including head coach Ivan Cleary’s son Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin, are all set to become free agents when their current deals expire at the end of November 2027.

    Panthers chief executive Matt Cameron said the club respects the right of all its out-of-contract players to choose their next career step, including To’o. “The club has maintained a strong position that this cohort of players has absolutely earned the right to choose what is the next step in their rugby league journey,” Cameron said. “We are so proud of what Brian has been able to do for our community and fully respect the decision he has made. It’s an exciting period for the game as the NRL continues to grow, and we believe a strong competition is ultimately good for rugby league.”

  • Households warned to brace for multiple rate hikes as RBA experiment ‘fails’

    Households warned to brace for multiple rate hikes as RBA experiment ‘fails’

    As Australia’s Reserve Bank (RBA) prepares for its August policy meeting, a leading independent economist has issued a stark warning that the central bank’s cautious approach to interest rate policy has sparked an ongoing inflation crisis, and failure to implement aggressive rate hikes now could lead to a catastrophic financial meltdown similar to the worst economic downturns of the past century.

    Market consensus overwhelmingly predicts the RBA will hold the official cash rate steady at 4.35% this week, a pause that would bring temporary relief to mortgage borrowers already reeling from three rate increases so far in 2026. But Warren Hogan, managing director of EQ Economics, argues this popular policy path is a dangerous mistake that will only deepen long-term economic pain.

    Hogan argues that the RBA’s years-long “economic experiment” of keeping interest rates far lower than most other developed economies has failed to bring inflation back to the central bank’s 2-3% target band. Australia’s trimmed mean inflation, the RBA’s preferred core measure that strips out volatile price swings, hit 3.6% in the 12 months to June 2026, well above the target range. To get inflation under control, Hogan says the cash rate needs to rise to at least 5.6% – matching the level reached by other major central banks in 2024 – and could even need to climb as high as 6% or 7% to fully tame persistent price pressures.

    “They’ve been too kind … pulling up stumps on the hiking cycle at 4.35 was a risky proposition and they needed to get up to 5 per cent if not a bit higher because they needed to kill this thing off when they could,” Hogan told NewsWire. “The problem the Reserve Bank has is the framework and thinking over the last few years has proven to be wrong. The reality is the interest rate is not out by one or two rate hikes, it is out by at least four. That is why they need to raise rates this week.”

    He argues that the RBA missed its window to crush inflation early, and delaying further hikes now will only force more severe action later, raising the risk of a full-blown financial crisis rather than a mild, short-lived downturn. While Hogan acknowledges that additional rate hikes will strain household budgets in the short term, he insists that inaction will lead to far worse outcomes, including a deep, prolonged recession.

    A key factor backing Hogan’s call for immediate action is surprisingly resilient household spending, which has remained far stronger than expected despite previous rate hikes and global energy market volatility stemming from the US-Iran conflict. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows household spending rose 0.8% in June 2026, bringing total spending growth for the 2026 financial year to 6%. Most of that growth has come from discretionary spending, indicating that consumers are still keeping demand high enough to sustain upward price pressure. To bring inflation under control, economic growth needs to slow to 2% or lower; any faster growth exceeds Australia’s “economic speed limit” and fuels further inflation.

    “Recent data is showing households might be feeling bad, but they have not stopped spending,” Hogan said. “We got the latest number earlier this week and they were nothing short of spectacular, after a strong May. Overall, an overall picture being painted by the numbers shows the consumer is hanging in there. We have this data saying Australian consumers hardly missed a beat.”

    Compounding inflation pressures, Hogan notes, is continued expansionary fiscal policy across Australia’s state and federal governments. Total government spending as a share of GDP has risen from pre-pandemic levels below 25% to around 27.3% today, adding extra demand to an already overheated economy and pushing prices higher. He argues that current economic conditions bear a striking resemblance to the 1970s, a decade marked by crippling stagflation that eroded living standards across the Western world. “Right now we are in about 1976 ready to have another ripping of inflation for the next couple of years,” he warned.

    Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has pushed back against this criticism, pointing to the federal government’s recent $63.8 billion package of net spending cuts and reprioritisations, which Chalmers calls the largest savings package in Australian history. The package includes $37.8 billion in savings to reform the National Disability Insurance Scheme to put it on a more sustainable long-term footing. Chalmers says these measures are already improving the budget position, which is $44.9 billion better off than projected in the mid-year economic update.

    Hogan says a coordinated approach between fiscal and monetary policy could limit the economic damage of bringing inflation under control. If federal and state governments agree to gradually reduce spending alongside gradual RBA rate hikes, Australia may only face a mild, short “garden variety” recession rather than a catastrophic financial crisis. But if governments continue to run large deficits and leave the RBA to do all the work to cool inflation, the central bank will be forced to implement far sharper rate hikes that raise the risk of systemic financial instability.

    RBA Governor Michele Bullock has previously acknowledged that both rate hikes and inflation impose broad hardship on Australian households, but emphasizes that taming inflation is a necessary priority. “Higher inflation isn’t just a statistic. It strains household budgets, complicates business planning, and weighs on confidence,” Bullock said in a recent speech at the Anika Foundation. “Many Australians are again feeling this pressure; indeed, we recently published survey evidence showing that inflation is the single most pressing economic concern for Australians. Getting inflation back to target requires slowing demand to align with the growth of supply, which is exactly what interest rate hikes are designed to do.”

    Money markets currently assign just a 5% probability to a rate hike at this week’s meeting, with all four of Australia’s major banks predicting rates will remain on hold until at least 2027. Hogan warns that this widespread complacency about inflation puts Australia on track for an economic crisis not seen in 50 years, with destabilizing impacts on both the economy and the political environment that have stemmed from four years of unrelenting cost-of-living pressures.

  • Syria says reached deal with Moscow on fate of Russian bases

    Syria says reached deal with Moscow on fate of Russian bases

    In a pivotal shift that reshapes Russia’s long-standing military footprint in the Middle East following the 2024 ouster of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Syria announced Sunday that Damascus and Moscow have finalized a deal outlining the new status of Russia’s two military installations on Syrian soil.

    Russia emerged as Assad’s most critical military ally throughout Syria’s 13-year civil conflict, providing critical support that allowed the former president to retain power for over a decade. When Assad was forced from office last year, the development delivered a severe blow to Russia’s regional influence, leaving the future of Moscow’s only two official military bases outside the former Soviet Union in doubt. In the months that followed, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved quickly to build diplomatic ties with Syria’s new Islamist-led government in Damascus to protect Russia’s interests at the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base.

    According to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, the two bases will be reconfigured into joint training and capacity-building centers under a new framework designed to protect the mutual interests of both nations. The agreement, which comes after 18 months of back-and-forth negotiations, includes a mandate to complete the full transition process within a three-month timeline. In the first phase of the rollout, all civilian infrastructure located at both sites will immediately be transferred to Syrian government control.

    As of Monday, Moscow has not yet issued an official statement confirming or commenting on the new agreement. Both bases remained fully operational throughout the negotiation period, and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani completed an official inspection tour of the facilities on Sunday to review all sites and infrastructure covered by the new memorandum of understanding.

    Omar al-Hasri, director-general of Syria’s Civil Aviation Authority, announced Sunday that his agency has assumed full control of Latakia International Airport, a major civilian facility located adjacent to the Hmeimim airbase that has operated in close coordination with Russian forces for years. Hasri noted that specialized technical teams have already begun on-site assessments of the airport’s infrastructure, runways and operational systems to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation plan. He described the transfer as a critical milestone toward reviving Syria’s aviation sector and reintegrating all national airports into a unified civilian aviation network.

    In the months since taking power, Syria’s new administration under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has prioritized mending ties with Moscow, and al-Sharaa has traveled to Moscow twice for meetings with President Putin, most recently in January 2025. During that latest summit, Putin praised the progress made in restoring bilateral relations, and commended al-Sharaa’s ongoing work to reestablish full Syrian territorial control. Al-Sharaa, in turn, recognized Russia’s historical role in Syria and the broader region, though Damascus has continued to formally demand that Moscow extradite Assad, who has lived in Moscow with his family since fleeing Syria in 2024.

    The new agreement marks the latest adjustment to Russia’s military presence in Syria: earlier this year, Russian forces completed a full withdrawal from Qamishli Airport located in northeastern Syria, signaling a broader drawdown and restructuring of Moscow’s regional military posture.

  • Lionel Messi bids farewell to father who guided his glittering career

    Lionel Messi bids farewell to father who guided his glittering career

    The global football community is united in grief this week following the passing of Jorge Messi, the father, first coach, and long-time agent of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi, at the age of 68 after a private battle with cancer. Lionel Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, returned to his hometown region of Rosario, Argentina, over the weekend to lay his father to rest, arriving on a private jet from Miami on Saturday alongside his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their three children.

    On Sunday, a small, private memorial service was held at El Prado Cemetery in Perez, a small town adjacent to Rosario, attended only by close family members and a handful of Messi’s current and former Argentina national team teammates. Even as the service remained closed to the public, hundreds of messages of support from fans across Argentina and around the world appeared on the cemetery’s gates: handwritten notes offering comfort to the Messi family, a large floral wreath, and signs reading “Stay strong, Leo, we love you” dotted the entrance. Fans traveled hundreds of kilometers to stand with the football star during his time of loss. Fifteen-year-old Lucas Blanco was among those gathered outside, noting that Messi had spent decades bringing joy to Argentine people, and this was a small chance to return that support. One couple drove 700 kilometers from Tres Arroyos, a town south of Buenos Aires, just to be present to offer their condolences.

    News of Jorge’s passing broke late Friday, when he died at a clinic in Rosario. Tributes began pouring in immediately from across the global football ecosystem. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced that all domestic matches across every age group would hold a minute of silence and require players to wear black armbands throughout the week. Clubs that Messi has represented throughout his iconic career—including FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and Inter Miami—along with governing bodies like the Spanish Football Federation, have all released statements of sympathy to the Messi family.

    Rodrigo de Paul, Messi’s close friend and current Inter Miami teammate, was among the first to pay public tribute. After scoring in Inter Miami’s 2-1 loss to Monterrey on Saturday, De Paul removed his match shirt to reveal a replica of Messi’s iconic number 10 Argentina jersey, honoring his friend’s loss. Leandro Paredes, a fellow Argentina international who plies his trade at Boca Juniors, told reporters after his club’s Saturday match that the national team’s players were rallying around their captain, saying “It will surely do him good for us to be there” as they planned their attendance at the service. De Paul had already traveled to Argentina to be with Messi before the service.

    Speculation over Jorge’s health had been circulating for months before his passing, after his conspicuous absence from Argentina’s campaign at the 2024 FIFA World Cup in June. During the tournament, Messi’s family publicly asked media to respect their privacy, asking for “humanity” amid ongoing rumors about Jorge’s condition. After scoring against Algeria during the group stage, a visibly emotional Messi broke down in tears, later acknowledging he was navigating “a situation outside of sports” that had left him with “a few difficult, complicated days.” He thanked his teammates and the Argentine delegation for standing by him through the turmoil, and returned to Rosario immediately after Argentina’s final loss to Spain to be with his family.

    Jorge Messi leaves behind a legacy as the foundational force behind one of the greatest football careers in history. A working-class metalworker from Rosario, Jorge also coached youth teams at local amateur club Grandoli, and introduced four-year-old Lionel to the game on the empty neighborhood lots where local children gathered to play. When 13-year-old Lionel was invited to join FC Barcelona’s youth academy in 2000—an opportunity that would allow him to access treatment for a growth hormone deficiency he had been diagnosed with as a child—Jorge made the life-altering decision to leave his job, his wife Celia, and his three other children behind in Argentina to relocate to Catalonia with his son.

    In later interviews, Messi recalled the quiet struggle the pair endured in those early, uncertain days in Spain: “When we arrived in Barcelona, I used to lock myself in my room to cry alone, and my father did the same — either without me seeing him or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both fine, but we were struggling.” As Lionel’s career exploded into global stardom, Jorge stepped into the role of his long-time agent, negotiating every major contract of his son’s career from his first deal with Barcelona through his moves to Paris Saint-Germain and most recently Inter Miami. For decades, he remained Lionel’s closest advisor and emotional anchor, through every trophy, every win, and every setback of a glittering, record-breaking career.

  • Bodies hanging from bridge revive violence in once-calm town in Mexico

    Bodies hanging from bridge revive violence in once-calm town in Mexico

    For years, the central Mexican state of Zacatecas was synonymous with brutal, narcotics-fueled bloodshed. Tucked between Mexico’s central interior and its northern and western borders, the region holds unrivaled strategic value for criminal cartels moving cocaine and other illicit substances north to the massive consumer market in the United States. Rival gangs fought endless territorial wars here, leaving bodies strewn across public spaces and communities terrorized by widespread disappearances, with killings reaching a peak of roughly 1,300 in 2022, according to official Mexican government data.

    By 2025, however, a fragile calm took hold. Government figures showed homicides plummeted to just 144 that year, a drop officials credited to improved coordination between state and federal law enforcement agencies. For residents of small agricultural towns like Pozos de Gamboa—a tight-knit community of 5,000 people best known for its bean crop—this new quiet felt like a chance to return to normal life. That hope shattered abruptly on July 18, when locals woke to a horrific, familiar sight: five bodies, including those of a former mayor, local civil servants and out-of-state business owners, hanging from a highway bridge on the edge of town. Five additional bodies were discovered in other parts of Pozos de Gamboa the same day.

    The gruesome discovery has thrown the tiny town back into a state of paralyzing fear. Residents now lock their doors well before sunset, avoid public spaces after dark, and refuse to speak openly about the killings for fear of retaliation from cartel members. An anonymous local resident, speaking to Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity to protect his safety, described Pozos de Gamboa as a hollow ghost town. “Here, you always used to see people out and about,” he said. “But now, at 9 in the evening there is no one out on the street.” Like many in the town, he has already lost a family member to cartel violence, noting that gangs often kill over trivial disputes and go to great lengths to hide evidence of their crimes. “They kill over nothing at all,” he added.

    The bridge where the five bodies were displayed is no stranger to cartel intimidation tactics. Local residents confirmed it has been used for decades as a billboard for gangs to send violent messages to rivals and security forces. A street food vendor told AFP she spotted the hanging bodies as early as 4 a.m. that day, a sight that immediately brought back memories of the worst years of Mexico’s national drug war, which began in 2006 when the federal government deployed military forces to combat cartel activity. In that era, public displays of bodies like this were a common tactic to intimidate opponents and authorities.

    The killings have drawn swift intervention from Mexico’s federal government. Under President Claudia Sheinbaum, a leftist leader who has already deployed military troops to other violence-plagued states including Sinaloa and Michoacan, authorities have opened a full criminal investigation into the massacre and promised to arrest all those responsible. The state government of Zacatecas has requested additional support from the Mexican Army and National Guard to bolster security across the region, and has reaffirmed its commitment to reversing the recent gains cartels have made. Currently, only a small number of police patrols are visible along the highway connecting the state capital to Pozos de Gamboa, with no permanent roadblocks in place.

    The violence also comes amid ongoing international pressure on Sheinbaum’s administration from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded Mexico take more aggressive direct action against cartels to stem the flow of illicit drugs across the shared U.S.-Mexico border. The two largest Mexican cartels, Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa, have been locked in a bitter battle for control of Zacatecas’s smuggling routes for years, a conflict that drove the state’s original wave of bloodshed. For residents of Pozos de Gamboa, the bridge killings are a devastating confirmation that the cartel conflict never truly went away—it was only lying in wait.

  • Vollering wins Tour de France Femmes after war of nerves

    Vollering wins Tour de France Femmes after war of nerves

    The 2026 Tour de France Femmes concluded in dramatic fashion on Sunday, as Dutch cycling star Demi Vollering secured her second overall general classification title with a stunning solo victory on the hilly final stage outside Nice. The 29-year-old, who also won the race in 2023, cemented her legacy as one of the event’s greatest competitors by executing a perfectly timed nine-day campaign, capped by back-to-back solo stage wins on the weekend’s final two routes.

    Vollering’s path to the yellow jersey was anything but straightforward. After 2024 winner Kasia Niewiadoma of Poland seized the overall lead with a dominant victory on the iconic Mont Ventoux climb on Friday, the race was set for a tense, high-stakes showdown. Vollering clawed back into the top spot on Saturday, launching a late attack on a short climb to take an eight-second advantage over Niewiadoma heading into the final stage. The day’s racing was marred by minor controversy, however: Niewiadoma publicly accused one of Vollering’s teammates of blocking her at a critical moment in the stage, though race officials took no disciplinary action. Following the Sunday finish, Vollering revealed that her teammate Celia Gery, who was identified as the rider in question, had received death threats on social media in the 24 hours after the incident. Calling the experience a devastating one for Gery, Vollering noted that such tight-quarters incidents are an unavoidable part of mass cycling races, adding that her entire team approached the event with honesty and humility.

    The final stage, featuring four grueling ascents of Col d’Eze on the outskirts of Nice, set the stage for a dramatic conclusion. With the general classification still within Niewiadoma’s reach, Vollering bided her time through the first three climbs before striking near the summit of the fourth ascent. She quickly opened up a 20-second gap on the chasing pack and held her advantage all the way down the descent to the Nice finish line, securing both the stage win and the overall title.

    Niewiadoma held on to second place overall after the tense final battle, while Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini moved up to third after Swiss rider Marlen Reusser crashed on a downhill descent and lost a two-minute buffer that had secured her place on the provisional podium. Additional classification honors went to Dutch riders across the board: sprinter Lorena Wiebes claimed the green points jersey, thanks to back-to-back wins on the opening two stages held in Switzerland, while Puck Pieterse secured the polka dot jersey for best climber ahead of the final stage. Germany’s Antonia Niedermaier took home the best young rider jersey and finished fourth overall in the general classification.

    Vollering, who has now finished on the Tour de France Femmes podium five times since the event was relaunched in 2022—including three second-place finishes—expressed overwhelming gratitude for the win at the finish line. “It’s a dream to live this life,” she told reporters after lifting her bike overhead in celebration. “I knew my level and even when Kasia won on Mont Ventoux I was still confident.”

    Her team, FDJ-United Suez, made history as the first French-registered squad to win the overall title at the modern Tour de France Femmes, drawing high praise from team principal Stephen Delcourt. Delcourt described Vollering as a transformative figure for the sport, highlighting her off-the-bike impact as much as her race results. “Through her high standards, sensitivity, authenticity, and the way she brings others along with her, she is redefining what it means to be a modern leader,” he said. “She inspires her teammates, she inspires the fans, she inspires an entire generation … She doesn’t just win races; she shows the way forward.”

  • Netanyahu rejects Gaza plan in new break from Trump

    Netanyahu rejects Gaza plan in new break from Trump

    In a move that opens a clear rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, Netanyahu has formally rejected a 15-point U.S.-led Gaza peace plan that had already secured endorsement from Hamas, a decision driven by domestic political pressures ahead of Israel’s upcoming national elections on October 27. The first national election held since the devastating October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the ongoing Gaza war, the upcoming vote has left Netanyahu fighting to hold his position, with recent polls showing him neck-and-neck or trailing his competitors, and his right-wing political base uniformly opposed to the proposed framework. After more than a week of incremental public criticism of the plan, and even after U.S. negotiators offered assurances that Israel would not be required to begin an immediate military withdrawal from Gaza, Netanyahu bowed to pressure from his far-right coalition allies and announced his outright opposition to the deal during a Sunday cabinet meeting. “Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu stated, referencing the proposal Hamas agreed to in late July. He added that the Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed, and will continue to thwart threats against our forces and our citizens.” While Netanyahu was careful to frame Trump, who has praised the deal as a landmark breakthrough for Middle Eastern peace, as “our greatest friend in the White House,” he made clear he had no intention of backing down from his opposition, noting that Israeli officials were formally presenting their objections to Washington. “They have ideas; some of them are acceptable to us and some are not, and we know how to stand our ground on these matters,” he said. The plan, overseen by the U.S.-created Board of Peace, is designed to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack by establishing a phased process that begins with Hamas fully disarming, followed by an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Nickolay Mladenov, the Board’s high representative for Gaza, defended the framework in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, calling it the only viable path forward to long-term stability. “The option we are offering today is the only way forward that ensures this tragedy does not happen again,” Mladenov said. He added that the current phase of the agreement only binds the United States, Hamas, and the Board of Peace — with Israel not required to take on any obligations until Hamas surrenders all weapons, including small arms like Kalashnikov rifles — though an eventual Israeli pullout is a core requirement of the final deal. Mladenov said he remained hopeful that productive follow-up talks with Israeli officials would yield a positive outcome. The plan won Hamas’ endorsement just days after the group selected Khalil al-Hayya as its new leader, and Hamas officials are now calling on the U.S. to pressure Netanyahu to drop his opposition. “We expect the mediators and the American guarantor to pressure Netanyahu and his government to adhere to the roadmap, and not obstruct the process for internal political and electoral reasons,” Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told AFP. In an official statement, Hamas reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to the terms of the plan. The rejection marks the latest in a growing series of disagreements between Netanyahu and Trump, who has long positioned himself as the most pro-Israel U.S. president in history, including taking the unprecedented step of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The two leaders jointly launched a military campaign against Iran in late February, but their alliance has frayed in recent months: as the conflict dragged on, dragging down Trump’s domestic approval ratings and pushing global oil prices sharply higher, Trump pushed for a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement, a position Netanyahu has resisted. Last week, just as U.S.-mediated ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon got underway, Netanyahu ordered new airstrikes on Lebanon in response to what Israel called a ceasefire violation by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The Gaza proposal is the next step in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal announced in October that has reduced the scale of Israeli military operations in Gaza but failed to end them entirely. Even with Netanyahu’s formal rejection, Israeli operations have continued at a reduced pace since the plan was announced. On the same day Netanyahu announced his opposition, Israeli gunfire wounded multiple people in Khan Yunis, including a child who was evacuated to a local hospital, according to Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense. Since the October ceasefire took effect, Israeli operations in Gaza have killed 1,258 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — a body administered by Hamas whose casualty figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza during the same period, according to Israeli military records. On the broader issue of Iran’s nuclear program, which Netanyahu has long framed as an existential threat to Israel, the prime minister reaffirmed his hardline stance Sunday, telling his cabinet that “with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”

  • AFL 2026: Ross Lyon describes Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera injury as ‘arrow through the heart’

    AFL 2026: Ross Lyon describes Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera injury as ‘arrow through the heart’

    A devastating hamstring injury to St Kilda AFL star Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera has thrown the club’s wildcard finals hopes into serious jeopardy, coming just eight minutes into a lopsided 44-point defeat to Carlton on Sunday night. For Saints head coach Ross Lyon, the early exit of one of the club’s most talented young players hit harder than any on-field blow.

    Describing the moment the star utility limped off the field, Lyon called the injury an “arrow through the heart” for the entire club. The injury blow capped off a catastrophic night for St Kilda, who entered the clash as a critical fixture in their push to secure a top-10 ladder position and a spot in the expanded wildcard finals series. Compounding their misery, the Saints also lost key forward Mason Wood to a calf injury during the match, while Tom De Koning, Brad Hill and Liam Ryan all played through painful shoulder and knee niggles that limited their on-field impact.

    Lyon, who typically keeps injury details close to his chest in post-match press conferences, openly acknowledged the severity of Wanganeen-Milera’s injury Sunday. Even in the best-case scenario, the 22-year-old star will be sidelined for a minimum of three weeks, ruling him out of any potential wildcard final if St Kilda somehow manages to cling to their spot in the top 10.

    “ I’m not sure what worst case is, but I would think what I saw – and I don’t know much about hamstrings – minimum three weeks,” Lyon told reporters post-game. “At halftime he just gave me a bit of a hug, really, so he’s a positive person, but hopefully it turns out not too significant. It’s weird … it’s not like we worked them (at training), so we’re scratching our heads a little bit on the soft tissue injury.”

    The Saints now face an uphill battle to secure a finals berth, needing to win both of their remaining regular-season matches against Richmond and Gold Coast without their star utility. The club’s current position on the brink of elimination is a particularly bitter disappointment for fans and management, after St Kilda invested a multi-million dollar sum in high-profile recruiting during the 2023 off-season to build a team capable of competing for finals. Lyon took full responsibility for the team’s underperformance this season, saying the failure to deliver on pre-season expectations sits with him.

    “That sits with me. I’ve got to wear it. I’m fine. I’m a big boy. I’m happy to take what comes,” Lyon said. “Leaders shepherd, protect and nurture and challenge their people under pressure and that’s my job and I’ll continue to do it until I’m either tapped or I tap myself. I hate losing. It’s a winning business … when you’re playing good footy you’ve got to win. When you’re playing good footy and you can get across the line and you don’t because these nights are coming. You’ve got to take your moments.”

    With the team’s poor form on full display against Carlton, Lyon confirmed that the club plans to make significant changes to their starting line-up for their remaining matches, calling up in-form players from the club’s VFL affiliate to add intensity and hunger to the side. “People have been knocking on the door,” Lyon said. “You know what? System is not being delivered on, we’ll bring the hardness and the hunger and the enthusiasm in because if you’re not getting it done, in the end, that’s what we’ve really done over the last few years. The feedback is: you need to develop from within more. We’ve got to set some standards and not accept some stuff, so we’ll look to bring some in.”

    St Kilda’s finals hopes now rely not just on two straight wins to close the season, but also on favorable results from other competing clubs around the league, leaving one of the league’s most improved recent sides on the brink of missing out on September action.