Grand

World number two Luke Humphries breezed into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix with a 3-0 victory over Niels Zonneveld.

The Englishman did not quite hit top gear against the Dutchman – averaging 85.91 and throwing four 180s – but was clinical at the key moments with a checkout success of 33.33%.

Humphries has yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament having whitewashed Dave Chisnall and Jermaine Wattimena in previous rounds.

The 31-year-old will face compatriot James Wade in the last four after he knocked out third seed Gian van Veen with a 3-0 win.

“The way I’m practising, I feel really good, it’s just not been coming out this week. Against James, I know I need it to come out, it’ll be a tough task,” said Humphries, who won the tournament in 2023.

“To make four World Grand Prix finals on the trot would be super special. There’s not many players that will ever do that and James will know he’s got a tough game as well.”

Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall produced a stellar performance at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena to secure his spot in the last four with a 3-0 victory over Ryan Joyce.

He will play Gerwyn Price in the semis after the Welshman’s superb 3-2 comeback success against his compatriot Jonny Clayton, who spurned a two-set lead and match darts in a thrilling tie.

World champion Luke Littler’s hopes of defending his World Grand Prix title were dashed as he fell to a shock first-round defeat by Luke Woodhouse in Leicester.

Littler, 19, had been looking to bounce back from his quarter-final exit to Jonny Clayton at the World Series of Darts Finals just over a week ago.

But despite taking the first set, he was distinctly below par throughout the best-of-three encounter, averaging just 82.41.

That allowed Woodhouse to level the match and deliver a checkout of 75 to win the deciding set 3-1 in legs.

Woodhouse will face 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall in the last 16, who edged past Dutch debutant Kevin Doets 2-1.

Earlier on Monday, six-time winner Michael van Gerwen lost five legs out of the last six as 2024 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce fought back to win 2-1.

England’s Joyce will play Dutchman Danny Noppert, who advanced past Germany’s Niko Springer by the same scoreline.

Elsewhere, Wales’ Gerwyn Price only lost a single leg as he comfortably beat Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki 2-0 to set up a meeting with England’s Ross Smith, who came from behind to triumph 2-1 against Scotland’s Cameron Menzies.

Welshman Clayton edged past Krzysztof Ratajski 2-1, and he will take on the Netherlands’ Wessel Nijman, who overcame 2018 world champion Rob Cross in straight sets.

World champion Lando Norris has called for Alpine’s Franco Colapinto to be banned for causing an accident at a restart at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris was taken out in a chain reaction when the Argentine locked up his brakes and slid into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who then hit Norris. All three cars retired as a result of the incident.

Norris told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Give him a ban. It’s quite simple.”

Colapinto said: “I can be sorry to everyone. It’s been a big mistake, of course. I just locked up and then I was very out of control.”

Briton Norris said he believed governing body the FIA should take such incidents more seriously because of the impact it has on other drivers who are blameless, and the cost in terms of damaged parts.

“The FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Norris said.

“It’s careless from people. It costs a lot of money. All my parts are in the bin now, so people should just get banned for this kind of driving. (They) don’t deserve to be in Formula 1.

“If you cause a crash on a restart like this, yeah, you should have at least a one-race ban.”

Russell appeared on course for a comfortable win as the race unfolded with few incidents of note in the opening stages.

Piastri moved up from third on the grid to second by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the start but the Australian lacked the pace to chase Russell, who edged away into a comfortable lead.

Behind, Piastri soon found himself holding off Hadjar, who won an early battle with McLaren’s Lando Norris and then passed Leclerc to challenge the McLaren.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was making his way up from eighth place after a qualifying session in which a cascade of problems had prevented him qualifying second to Russell.

By lap seven, he was past Hadjar into third place after the Frenchman did not fight him.

The three cars circulated together in a stalemate, with no-one able to pass and the teams all waiting for the expected accident that would lead to a safety car and a cheap pit stop.

That happened on lap 30, when Williams’ Alex Albon crashed at Turn Five.

On the restart, six laps later, Verstappen passed Piastri into Turn One to move into second place.

But the race was almost immediately put back under caution after a pile-up at the first corner caused by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who cannoned into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who in turn clattered into Norris.

Behind them, the two Racing Bulls also came together, Arvid Lindblad tipping Liam Lawson into a spin, leading to a sarcastic response from the New Zealander on the radio.

That put Verstappen on to Russell’s tail for another restart but the Briton handled the situation coolly, accelerating early and catching the Dutchman somewhat unawares.

He was unable to shake Verstappen, who was always about 0.5secs behind but never quite close enough to try a move into Turn One, the only significant overtaking place.

There was one last chance for Verstappen on the final lap.

Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac at Turn 15, and after backing off for the yellow flags, Russell lost his turbo which in turn cost him electrical boost.

Verstappen closed in on the run to the line and there was just 0.196secs between them as they crossed the line, the closest green-flag finish to a grand prix since the 2002 United States Grand Prix.

Russell has now finished on the podium in three of the four races since the summer break and asked what has changed for him since then, he said: “I think it’s just having more experience with this new driving style I’ve adopted and every race since the break I feel like I’ve gone from strength to strength. I feel more like myself again.”

Watch highlights as Warrington Wolves earn a thrilling narrow Super League semi-final win over Leeds Rhinos to reach their first Grand Final for eight years.

Pictures courtesy of SuperLeague+.

Available to UK users only.

MATCH REPORT: Warrington edge past Leeds to reach Grand Final

Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur said:

“I’ve not whinged or complained the whole time I’ve been here. I’m extremely proud of our team and our club and players.

“I don’t know what more we could have really done. We got a couple of bits and pieces wrong but so did they. It just would have been really nice if the game was decided by an individual or a piece of skill.

“We’re talking about a field goal or something like that rather than a soft penalty to decide such a big game. It is a soft penalty.

“Ned got escorted four or five times tonight on kicks and I wasn’t expecting penalties for them. But that’s a soft penalty to decide such a big game.”

Warrington Wolves captain George Williams told BBC Radio Merseyside:

“Nerve-wracking, mad game, just pleased we’ve came through the other side.

“Credit to Leeds, they gave it a good crack. They’ve been a great team all year but we rode the waves and the main thing is we’re through to the big dance next week.

“They were probably dominant for the first 20 [minutes], we came home strong in the back end [of the first half]. It’s no good for the nerves but sometimes it’s better when you’re out there, you can do something about it.”

[On earning the match-winning penalty] “People think it might be a bit controversial but I was chasing the ball and I got a little nudge. I was off balance and nowadays, with the escorts, they give them. Luckily, it went to us and that was the game.”

Leeds: F. McCormack; Lumb, N. McCormack, Newman, Hall; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O’Connor, Lodge, Watkins, McDonnell, Palasia.

Interchanges: Holroyd, Jenkins, Smith, Cassell.

Warrington: Josh Thewlis; Hopoate, Lindop, King, Ashton; Williams, Irwin; Byrne, Walker, Harrison, Bentley, Stone, Currie.

Interchanges: Yates, Powell, Philbin, Tanginoa.

Referee: Chris Kendall.

WASHINGTON — Expectations were low entering President Trump’s meetings with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, this week, after officials on both sides tempered hopes for a breakthrough. Yet the summit’s stark lack of substance surprised even the closest China watchers.

It was a visual affair designed to project a new phase of managed competition between a prevailing superpower and a rising one — a message that Washington and Beijing are ultimately capable of responsible leadership. But even a cursory look beneath the surface revealed the challenges ahead for the world’s most consequential bilateral relationship.

Industry pleas and bipartisan calls for Trump to negotiate a meaningful framework on artificial intelligence fell on deaf ears. A trade truce between the two sides was extended for a mere two months. And Trump again warned Xi not to assist Iran as the U.S. war there continues — a warning that, so far, has gone unheeded, with millions of dollars’ worth of crucial Chinese parts reportedly arriving in Tehran by the planeload.

“The U.S.-China relationship has settled into a managed stalemate. It has stabilized at the top without stabilizing underneath,” said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow on China at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The elaborate pageantry matters precisely because there is still relatively little substantive progress to showcase,” Singleton said. “Trump appears to value the personal relationship as an end in itself. Xi treats his relationship with Trump as a means to shape U.S. choices and forestall future competitive actions.”

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stand with Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan before Thursday night’s state dinner.

(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

The summit followed a playbook from Trump that has become familiar over the last decade, placing his direct relationships at the center of diplomacy and reducing the complexities of statecraft to blunt attempts at charm.

As he did during his lavish state visit to Beijing this spring, Trump repeatedly patted Xi on the back, a gesture considered highly inappropriate in Chinese political culture that nevertheless reflected Trump’s strategic focus on personal friendship.

He toured Xi around a series of controversial renovations to the White House, including the South Lawn — now paved over with a massive helipad designed as the presidential seal — and the Rose Garden, also paved over in order for Trump to host al fresco dinner parties.

Before entering a heavily gilded Oval Office, Trump walked Xi along a renovated colonnade now adorned with gold-framed portraits of U.S. presidents. He paused at one for his predecessor, President Biden, replaced with a mocking image of an autopen, suggesting the former president was incapable of signing documents himself.

Trump patted Xi on the back once more, and the two men laughed, in a moment that generated outrage online.

“Let’s be very clear on this one point,” John Delaney, a former Democratic member of Congress, wrote on social media. “The President mocking a former President in front of the communist leader of China is the most un-American thing an American president has ever done.”

Tim Cook, executive chairman of Apple Inc., during the state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

(Annabelle Gordon / Bloomberg / Getty Images)

Part of the state visit included a dinner at the White House that was attended by some of the country’s most prominent tech executives, such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. The tech giants’ presence at the event was notable given that there was heightened public interest in knowing how China and the United States are planning to regulate artificial intelligence.

During the visit, Xi called for artificial intelligence to remain “under human control” as the two countries race for technological advancement in the industry. Lawmakers and AI industry leaders have also called for guardrails on the nascent technology, which experts warn could soon surpass human understanding. Trump, however, has been reluctant to embrace limits on the industry, and it is unclear how much the topic was discussed while Xi was in Washington.

Xi Jinping’s remarks reflect growing concern within China over whether governments in Washington or Beijing will be able to contain a technology with potentially transformative capabilities, according to a U.S. official.

But the visit showed a surprising alignment of visions between the U.S. and Chinese presidents, embracing fierce competition that avoids miscalculation and conflict. Both stressed the importance of dialogue, with Xi invoking the concept of the Thucydides trap, a historical paradigm that holds that rising powers inevitably clash with established ones.

“I don’t think anyone will be surprised if there are no significant agreements,” said David Ochmanek, a senior researcher at Rand. “My sense is that Xi sees little reason to compromise with us on anything right now.”

Trump and Xi arrive for a state dinner in the East Room of the White House on Thursday night.

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images)

The two men are expected to meet twice more this year, alongside other world leaders, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, and the Group of 20 summit in Miami.

“We do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be a healthy one, and should be kept within bounds,” the Chinese president said Thursday from the Cross Hall of the White House. “It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which one either wins or loses. China and the United States must hold the line of no conflict, and no confrontation between us.

“Our two militaries should maintain regular dialogue, and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention,” he continued. “The Thucydides trap can be overcome.”

Russell also pointed out that this was the first significant mistake Antonelli had made in a competitive session all year.

Asked if he believed Antonelli’s mistake was a result of “title jitters”, Russell said: “When you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way.

“So, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn’t possible any more. But I don’t feel any pressure.

“I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.

“When that confidence starts to build, it’s just like this upward cycle.

“On the flip side, when you’re on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that’s when mistakes happen.

“But he’s been flawless this season. It’s the first mistake he’s made in a qualifying or race this whole year.”

Russell’s pole margin was a massive 0.837secs, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc second and Piastri third.

The Baku street circuit has a long straight that affords good overtaking possibilities and has a reputation for producing incident-packed races.

Leclerc was somewhat taken aback by Mercedes’ superiority, saying that the position was what he expected but the gap most definitely was not.

At the bottom of the top 10, there was finally some good news for Williams, for whom Carlos Sainz achieved the team’s first top 10 qualifying performance of the year.

Williams have introduced a new chassis this weekend which has brought them down to the weight limit for the first time this season, after being as much as 25kg over at the start of the year.

Along with some additional developments, it appears to have produced a big step forwards, although the caveat is that Baku is a track that suits the characteristics of the Williams car and does not expose its weaknesses.

Team-mate Alex Albon did not manage to secure a tow in the second part of qualifying, and was “anyway struggling with straight-line speed all session”, and was 13th, just under 0.4secs behind the Spaniard.

Antonelli’s error came on his second lap of the first session.

He turned into the first corner too early, and the left front wheel clouted the inside wall, breaking the suspension.

He initially tried to get the car back to the pits but was told by engineer Peter Bonnington to park up.

“Let me try,” Antonelli pleaded, before Bonnington told him that either the track rod or upright was broken and there was no way Mercedes could fix that in the time they had to turn the car around before the next session.

Antonelli had been on the back foot all Friday trying to catch up time lost to a hydraulic problem that had stopped his car on track halfway through first practice, and was not repaired until halfway into the second.

It was Antonelli’s first major mistake of the season since he crashed heavily in final practice at the first race of the season in Australia.

A couple on Grand Designs were transforming a London property into a “Cloud House”.

A clash on Grand Designs led to a builder being sacked from the project before completion.

Kevin McCloud’s architectural series has returned for a new season, with tonight’s episode (Wednesday, 23 September) set in London. Eccentric couple Emily and Peter had designed a truly one-of-a-kind house, a “cloud house” that had been split into two, with one half sold to another couple.

They told Kevin: “We’ve called it The Cloud House because it’s a beautiful, cloudy shaped building with lots of arches, and pink.” With bright pink walls, a scalloped rooftop garden, and turquoise windows, the building design screamed fun and happiness, however, that didn’t quite match the tension between architect Peter and his builder Bart.

After Peter found issues with minor measurements, and wanted things to be precise and exact, he clashed with Bart over measurements, insisting there was a difference of millimetres from his original plans.

Despite the house coming together, Peter made the difficult decision to dismiss Bart. Bart told the cameras: “We’ve just been asked by the client to leave the site, he wants us to terminate the contract. It’s very disappointing, we really truly did nothing wrong.

“If we screw something up, we fix it, that’s what we do. So now I’m facing losing my men.” Peter meanwhile said: “It really wasn’t working out. It was making the job a horrible job, it was very stressful, I like Bart and I think he’s a good builder but I just don’t think he’s the right builder for our project.”

The change in builders was only one of several issues Peter and Emily faced throughout the build. At one point, Peter admitted it had been a “tough” process, adding: “I would think long and hard about doing this again.”

Their biggest challenge came down to finances, especially as the couple had been working as freelancers, and Emily hadn’t found work in several months. However, after her parents downsized, they lent the pair money to finish working on the build.

The final result left Emily saying: “I just think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She added: “We’ve had people walking by and saying, ‘This is amazing’.”

Peter meanwhile broke down in tears as he spoke about how much the build meant to him. “It’s been an emotional ride, but to hear about how much Emily loves it, that brings me so much joy. It’s totally been worth it,” he tearfully said.

“It’s so enticing and unusual,” Kevin said, as he walked through the vibrant house. “You could look at this, the funky sitting area, Peter’s exuberant study, and think, all this is nuts! But it references musicals and Miami art-deco.”

Ahead of the episode airing, viewers had also shared their excitement for the build. One wrote: “Will look forward to this. I think Peter is one of the few architects out there leading design with joy and colour. The type of house I’d want to visit!”

Another said: “Wow really looking forward to this , we need more funky in the world.” A third echoed: “Now this is going to be good.” “So excited to see this!” yet another echoed.

Grand Designs is available to watch on Channel 4.

A HUGE estate with beautiful grounds, tea room and even a museum could be set to completely transform.

Waterperry Gardens in Oxford has submitted plans for a complete change-up including the building of a brand-new tea room additions to the courtyard.

Waterperry Gardens is a popular spot thanks to its beautiful ornamental gardens, award-winning tea rooms, garden shop, gift barn, gallery and museum.

It even has an outdoor amphitheatre for opera, theatre and music with performances through the summer months.

It’s visited year-round thanks to its various flower and plant displays with lots saying it’s still worth a trip out of season in autumn.

One visitor said: “We have visited Waterperry several times and in the early autumn the aster borders are at their best.”

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Another added: “Lovely little place. Great gardens (even in late October there was still plenty of colour). Nice cafe. Good shop and gallery.”

A third wrote: “This is difficult to describe how wonderful these gardens are. Even at the beginning of September they were full of bloom.”

But the Waterperry Gardens could well transform as it submits plans to build a brand new home for its tea room – and reconfigure the site.

The plans say “there is an urgent need to replace the existing catering building with a new facility that serves both the current and future needs of the site“.

The building which houses the tearooms was a former laboratory which has “exceeded its lifespan.”

A new design by Cowper Griffith Architects revealed a much brighter building with large windows.

Other plans include relocating the car park to the west of the picnic lawn and seating on a courtyard between the museum and the new building.

These proposals are currently in its consultation period – so there’s plenty of time to see Waterperry Gardens as it is now.

Anyone visiting will definitely want to pop into its award-winning tea room.

Last year it won Afternoon Tea of the Year 2025 by the Garden Centre Catering Awards.

At lunchtimes it serves up jacket potatoes , soups, salads and homemade cakes.

It also has two afternoon tea options; Waterperry Tea or Celebration Tea.

Each comes with a selection of cakes, homemade jam, scones and clotted cream, sandwiches and mini vegetarian quiche tart, along with loose leaf tea, coffee or Prosecco.

Visitors can also pop into its on-site museum which reveals what rural life was like 100 years ago, and kids can enjoy the play outdoor play area too.

Former world number one doubles player and six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Joe Salisbury has retired from professional tennis.

Londoner Salisbury chose this month’s US Open as his final event and reached the semi-finals with his long-time partner Rajeev Ram, who had also decided to retire.

The venue was fitting, as in 2023 Salisbury and Ram became the first pair in history to win three consecutive US Open men’s doubles titles.

Salisbury is Britain’s most successful men’s doubles player of the Open era. He also won the 2020 Australian Open with Ram, and two mixed doubles titles with Desirae Krawczyk.

The 34-year-old says he has been thinking about his future for a while, and is now “very happy with the decision”.

“Tennis has been my life for as long as I can remember and I have been incredibly fortunate to have had all the opportunities, experiences and success that I have,” he posted on Instagram.

“To be able to travel the world and call playing tennis my job has been a dream come true and I never believed I could have lived the life and had the career that I have.

“I gave it my all and know I can be proud and look back with no regrets.”

Salisbury took a three-month break at the start of this year, having told BBC Sport about the anxiety which had been affecting him on tour.

While he did not think it affected his tennis very much, he said it left him with a “feeling of dread” which made life on the road far less enjoyable.

“I had some time off for a few months earlier on in the year – I wasn’t really enjoying being on tour for a few reasons,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I came back and I didn’t really have a successful year. Then I teamed back up with my partner, Rajeev Ram, who I had all my success in Grand Slam titles [with] so it was great playing with him again and he was retiring at the US Open this year.

“I thought I could go on [until the] end of this year, maybe next year but I felt like it was nice to finish my career playing with him at the US Open where we had our success, and we had a good run making the semi-finals to finish.”

Salisbury finishes his career with 17 tour level titles, including the season-ending ATP Finals of 2022 and 2023.

Kevin McCloud appeared on BBC’s The One Show to discuss the latest series of Grand Designs which will see the presenter revisit a project from the very first series

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has confessed there’s moments from the Channel 4 show which leaves him reaching for the remote control.

The 67-year-old designer and presenter returns to television screens on Wednesday (September 16) to front a brand new series of the beloved renovation programme.

He has hosted Grand Designs since it began 27 years ago back in 1999 and appeared on BBC’s The One Show tonight to chat to Alex Jones and JB Gill about the new episodes set to air which will see the presenter revisit a project from the very first series.

When discussing watching back old clips, Kevin joked: “Yeah that’s painful to watch for me! I have to skip through the fast forward button a lot through these early episodes but the house has not changed, everything is as it was, and when you make the stuff and you record a moment in time, you don’t know whether that idea, that style and approach, whether it will last and have value, and remarkably that house has remained the same and is almost a fantastic example of a mid-1990s building so sometimes it comes back to surprise you.”

Channel 4 announced earlier this month that Grand Designs and Grand Designs: House of the Year will be coming back this Autumn. The iconic and much-loved house building and design show returns with four extraordinary new builds and two long-awaited revisits, spanning across the United Kingdom.

According to bosses, the new series series embraces bold ideas and innovation, showcasing pioneering construction methods and ambitious architecture whilst never losing sight of the people behind them.

Kevin previously said: “It is always a joy to get a series of Grand Designs complete and ready for broadcast – especially when it can run alongside its sister series, House of the Year.

“Together they celebrate the very best in British architecture and remind me of the extraordinary imaginative and resilient potential of human beings. This year is no exception: there are some astonishing stories and homes to discover.”

When asked what he believes is the reason that Grand Designs keeps coming back, Kevin explained: “I think it is the unpredictability of it all. If we were restoring people’s homes for them, then we might have slipped into a predictable format but we haven’t.

“Some of the projects on this series are fascinatingly unpredictable. For example, we see Seb in North-West London, building a house which was completed in 13 months and I was so shocked because O am used to things taking forever.

“We also have a project in Edinburgh, which has been going for over 10 years, and when you look at the date stamps as we go through the programme, you sort of appreciate how some people dedicate a lot of their lives to a building.”

He added: “I thought in series one we might run out of projects. We thought that we had done an eco-project, a modern white block, a glass house, we did the eccentric thing. We thought, will people still tune in if we do another glass box? But the answer is yes, because from the beginning we set ourselves the challenge that in every episode there has to be something new – there has to be some story, some angles, something, a hook.

“Luckily, since architecture is so much about place and response to a place and so much about people and response to people and because places are so infinitely diverse, people are infinitely diverse, this is what makes every project and what keeps me on my toes every time.

“If you look at this coming series, every single project has something unique about it and i find that so fascinating, all of the individual narratives are so different. The houses are all so unique architecturally and in the way they are built.”

The One Show airs weekdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7pm and Grand Designs returns to Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday, September 16

Alexander Zverev used his greater experience to beat home hope Ben Shelton in the US Open final and quiet a partisan crowd hoping to laud a rare American men’s champion.

German top seed Zverev lifted a heavy burden by winning his first major title at this year’s French Open and has quickly added another with a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-2 victory over Shelton in New York.

At the start of the season, there were question marks over whether 29-year-old Zverev would ever win one of the sport’s biggest prizes.

Now he is celebrating becoming a multiple Grand Slam singles champion, having seen the path to glory partially cleared by injuries to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Sinner and Alcaraz swept the board between them at the majors in 2024 and 2025 – and Zverev has taken full advantage against the rest of the field in their absences.

Big-hitting Shelton has long been identified as a player who can win the most prestigious titles, but ultimately came up short in his first Grand Slam final against a rejuvenated Zverev.

Eighth seed Shelton was aiming to become the first American man to win a major title since Andy Roddick in 2003, but losing serve in the first game of the match set the tone as Zverev controlled the opening two sets.

The momentum shifted in the third set, however, as Shelton finally started applying serious pressure on Zverev’s serve.

Taking his third break opportunity provided encouragement to the 24,000 home fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but Zverev quickly reasserted his authority early in the fourth to extinguish American dreams.

Zverev did not initially know he had secured victory when Shelton hit a return long on championship point, only breaking out into a broad and slightly surprised smile after his team pointed out the score to him.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli won the Spanish Grand Prix after McLaren’s Lando Norris lost out because of the bad timing of a virtual safety car.

Norris was leading comfortably from pole position when the VSC was called on lap 15. The timing was terrible for the world champion – he had already passed the pit exit when the VSC was called.

That meant Antonelli and Verstappen were able to pit under the VSC, saving time, while the caution period ended before Norris could make it around to the pits again.

He did then come in but, to make matters worse, the stop was slow and he rejoined in fifth place.

Norris was able to recover only to third around this track where overtaking is next to impossible.

Antonelli’s eighth win in 14 races this year puts an even tighter stranglehold on the championship for the Italian.

He is now 81 points ahead of team-mate George Russell, who finished fifth after a difficult race on a confusing strategy, and 101 clear of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who retired early on with brake failure.

The key stories of the maiden race on the new Madring were:

Norris knew that holding on to the lead would be tough from pole but he robustly defended from Antonelli into the first corner.

The Mercedes driver cut the chicanes at Turns One and Two, and again at Turns Five and Six, each time getting into the lead, each time having to give it back.

After that, Norris set about building a lead and looked to be in control of the race as he extended his lead progressively, moving 5.6 seconds clear 10 laps in, and 6.2 when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped at Turn 20 with brake failure.

The VSC was called, but Norris had already reached the pit straight, while Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had not and could come in.

Norris came in the next time around, but the VSC ended a couple of corners before he reached the entry to the pits, allowing the cars still on track to get back up to racing speed – a stop under a safety car saves a driver about 10 seconds over one under green-flag conditions.

To make matters worse, McLaren’s mechanics had trouble with both the right-hand side wheels, and the stop took seven seconds rather than the usual two.

Norris came out in fifth place, 6.3secs behind Russell, and his hopes of winning were gone.

More to follow

The world champion said: “I’m shocked. I’m a little bit surprised to be here. It was probably one of the best laps I’ve done ever in my career.

“One of those laps when everything came together. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do, it was whether it came together but my brain let me do it almost perfect. It’s one of those laps when you look at the time and go: ‘Oh, that was pretty good.”

The session had started with predictions of a crash-fest, after drivers had been warning about the high-risk nature of the new Madring street circuit, with tricky entries to corners and walls coming back at the drivers on the exits.

Two red flags during final practice had led some teams to have private sweepstakes as to how many stoppages there would be in qualifying, but the session ran cleanly, with no incidents.

Pole looked to be a battle between Antonelli and the Ferraris, with Verstappen perhaps in the mix.

In the end, the Ferraris faded, as they so often have this year when it really matters, and Norris rose to the front with a breathtaking performance.

“The adrenaline was high on the last lap,” he said. “You have to relax and let it all flow.

“It’s easy to get tense around here. There’s a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly. I have been feeling pretty good, I just wasn’t relaxed.

“I was pretty much perfect apart from the last corner, where I thought I was in the wall. Everything I wanted to achieve I achieved and it’s one of those moments when I was in that flow state.”

Hamilton, who had crashed at the final corner in practice and missed the final half of the session, did improve on his last lap, but only by 0.06secs and it was not enough to prevent him falling backwards.

He edged Leclerc by just 0.006secs as Ferrari rued yet another tantalising chance slipping through their fingers.

Hamilton said: “I felt pretty awesome in Q3 run one, and then just didn’t have any more grip or power in the last one.”

F1 faces a fresh challenge this weekend at the first Spanish Grand at the new Madring, a hybrid street circuit built on the Ifema complex near the city’s international airport.

Hamilton said: “It’s a massively challenging circuit. Of all the new tracks that I’ve gone to, this one, maybe Saudi, are the two closest in terms of how difficult it was to get on top of the car and find the right lines and such.”

Mercedes driver George Russell said: “It’s a crazy circuit, I would put it. Arguably one of the most risky circuits of the whole calendar.

“Because you have real high-speed corners, sort of Jeddah-esque, the walls are very close, so there’s no margin for error, but then you have other corners… where you’re coming from a high speed into a slow braking zone, you’re braking and turning at the same time, so locking tyres are going to be easy and if you lock up you’ll be straight in the wall.

“So, excited to try that out, I think it’s going to be really challenging for us as drivers, the race is going to be challenging to overtake, so on the whole it’s not an easy one.”

Russell heads into the race 66 points behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli after the Italian’s landmark victory in Monza from 19th on the grid.

The Briton acknowledged that his title hopes with nine or 10 races left, amid uncertainty about the end of the season, were fading fast.

“I would definitely need some luck and I need some good performances,” Russell said. “It’s not really something I’m thinking about, because he’s performing better than me, so he deserves to be leading the championship.

“There’s still a long way to go, but he’s yet to have a bad weekend in terms of performance.

“So he’s performing exceptionally well, my performances are better, but if I want to win this championship, I’m going to need some luck on the way. But it’s not something I’m focused on. I’m focused on driving faster and just finding more performance.”

Antonelli said: “I don’t really want to try thinking about the championship. I think Monza was the proof that I wasn’t driving thinking about, or worrying about the championship. I was just driving to win, to do my best. So that’s the mindset.”

The Italian said his win in Monza was “so far the best day of my life and definitely one I will remember forever”.

He said a day karting with Mercedes on Monday helped him move on from the excitement of the day before.

“After Monza, that night, that day overall, I was very excited. But then going karting on Monday helped me to go back to earth, just go back to the ground.

“It was a good day, good fun day with the team. It was also a way to remind myself where I came from, all the journey that was done.

“And then about pressure, I try to embrace it as much as possible. And I try to see it as a positive thing and try to see it as an opportunity too. That’s also what is helping me to stay calm under difficult situations.”

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is demanding testimony before a Florida grand jury in an investigation aiming to establish an intelligence community conspiracy against President Trump, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

New subpoenas being issued to former government officials represent an escalation in the yearlong investigation as the Justice Department pursues a loosely defined theory that members of the intelligence community who scrutinized Trump over the last decade, including over Russian interference in the 2016 election, conspired against him and violated his rights.

Investigators in recent days contacted some defense lawyers for witnesses advising them of forthcoming grand jury subpoenas. It was not clear how many, as of Tuesday, had received a subpoena or were still waiting to receive one, and the identities of the witnesses receiving subpoenas were also not immediately clear. The people who confirmed the subpoenas spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secretive grand jury investigation.

The investigation has focused in large part on the Trump-Russia probe

The contours of the conspiracy investigation aren’t fully known, but agents and prosecutors over the last several months have focused intensely on one of Trump’s chief grievances: the U.S. government response to Russian interference in 2016 and an intelligence community assessment that Moscow meddled on Trump’s behalf at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump, who spent much of his first term shadowed by an investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to sway the outcome of the election, has for years lashed out at the intelligence community finding and cast it as a “deep state” conspiracy to undermine the legitimacy of his win.

Investigators searching for potential crimes in connection with the intelligence community response have conducted numerous voluntary interviews, but the subpoenas prepared for witnesses in recent days represent an apparent effort to lock down sworn testimony before a grand jury.

It remains unclear whether anyone will be charged or for what offense, though lawyers for former CIA Director John Brennan have said they have been informed that he is a target as investigators examine whether he falsely testified to Congress — something he has repeatedly denied. The Justice Department last spring subpoenaed witnesses before a Washington grand jury as part of an investigation into Brennan but swiftly withdrew the subpoenas in favor of voluntary interviews.

The investigation is being run out of Florida, with the Justice Department in April bringing back into government service a top prosecutor from the Reagan administration, Joe diGenova, to serve as a counselor to the attorney general and help lead a team of agents and prosecutors.

DiGenova, who had previously asked then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to appoint him to the job and has openly and repeatedly claimed Trump was the victim of an intelligence community conspiracy, declined to comment Wednesday when reached by the Associated Press.

In an indication of the wide-ranging nature of the investigation, the AP reported last month that DiGenova’s team has sought interviews with law enforcement officials involved in the 2022 FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., which recovered a trove of classified documents.

Concerns from defense lawyers about a ‘favored’ judge

Investigators have set up shop in Fort Pierce, Fla., the home court of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed jurist who repeatedly appeared skeptical of the classified documents case against him and ultimately dismissed it after concluding that the prosecutor who filed the charges was illegally appointed.

Lawyers for Brennan last year asked the chief judge of the federal court in Florida to prevent the investigation from being steered to Cannon, whom they described as a “favored” Trump judge. They have since sued the Trump administration, demanding a court order requiring prosecutors to preserve records from the investigation so that Brennan could challenge any potential prosecution of him as vindictive.

Trump came to office in 2017 under scrutiny from the intelligence and law enforcement community about whether his successful campaign had colluded with Russia, which stole politically damaging Democratic emails and orchestrated their release through WikiLeaks as part of a wide-ranging interference scheme.

The FBI and Justice Department investigated but found insufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign, though investigators did find the campaign eagerly hoped to benefit from Moscow’s help.

Subsequent investigations by an inspector general and Justice Department prosecutors identified errors by agents who conducted the Russia probe but found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by senior law enforcement officials or an anti-Trump conspiracy like what prosecutors are now hoping to prove.

Deeply frustrated by those outcomes, Trump has amplified his demands for retribution, which the Justice Department heeded last year by directing that prosecutors utilize a grand jury. Last year, Bondi directed prosecutors to put evidence before a grand jury after the release of documents aimed at calling into question the legitimacy of the Trump-Russia inquiry.

Tucker writes for the Associated Press.

The NFL mountaintop this season sits 10 stories underground.

That’s the subterranean field at SoFi Stadium, playing host on Feb. 14, 2027 to its second Super Bowl. The first came five years earlier when the Rams beat Cincinnati on their home field.

It will mark the ninth Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area across three venues: the Coliseum (two), Rose Bowl (five) and SoFi (two). But in some ways, all those previous games were a drumroll leading up to this one — Super Bowl LXI, in a futuristic $5-billion stadium, absent the lingering restrictions of a pandemic.

“Super Bowl LVI was an amazing experience, but it was still on that tail end of COVID, and it was not everything that this Super Bowl LXI could be,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events.

“We didn’t do a Super Bowl Opening Night — it was virtual — and there were a lot of things we were still adjusting. … It was absolutely spectacular during the weekend and on game day, but I do think this Super Bowl gives us all the chance to do it full-on, in the way an L.A. Super Bowl can and should be.”

In the weeks leading up to the first Super Bowl at SoFi, there were misguided rumblings that the game might be moved to Dallas, because the NFL had secured that city as a backup. But those type of contingency plans are in place for every Super Bowl, and the game was not in serious peril of being moved. Still, there was a cloud of public doubt lingering over the event.

“Those rumors created a lot of havoc and uncertainty in our market,” said Kathy Schloessman, chief executive of the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee for both games. “It was hard to get the excitement going because people didn’t know if the city was open or closed. I almost hate to say it because I don’t want to jinx anything, but this is our first normal Super Bowl planning.”

Super Bowls can take over a city. Look at the games played in New Orleans, Indianapolis or Houston. Seemingly every resident was aware the game was happening. But in some of the bigger cities — New York, Los Angeles, Miami — there aren’t reminders everywhere you turn.

Something that might offset that this season is ESPN is broadcasting the game for the first time, and has been hyping it ever since the most recent Super Bowl ended.

“It’s a year of the Super Bowl for them that ends in Los Angeles,” O’Reilly said. “That feels natural and poetic. I can’t say enough good things about the way they’ve embraced it.”

South side view of the field at SoFi Stadium.

(Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)

Disney is the parent company of ESPN, and likewise has embraced the game, which feels like a true confluence of the sports and entertainment industries.

“When I think about L.A. and brands coming together — Disney, SoFi Stadium, the Rams — I think it takes advantage of what the NFL had always hoped when bringing a Los Angeles team back,” Rams president Kevin Demoff said. “SoFi Stadium is that marriage of the NFL and entertainment.”

Whether they play in the game or not, the Rams are intimately connected to this Super Bowl, as they are the host team. That means they have a degree of financial responsibility to make good on the commitments made to the NFL when Los Angeles was awarded the game. They also are allotted more tickets to the game than the other franchises not hosting (or playing in) the event.

Although the Chargers were co-hosts for the first Super Bowl at SoFi, they opted not to host this one. According to a Chargers spokesman, they chose to cede the stage to Rams owner Stan Kroenke, whose vision they credit for the stadium and Hollywood Park development, but will make a “significant seven-figure financial commitment” to the host committee in the run-up to the game.

Part of Kroenke’s vision in moving the Rams and building the stadium and surrounding campus was to shift the center of gravity of the sporting world to Los Angeles. It’s worth noting that SoFi was a central location of the World Cup — the first U.S. goal was scored there — and will play host to swimming events in the 2028 Olympic Games.

“[SoFi] is now established as one of the world’s greatest sporting stages, which the Super Bowl helped put on the map the first time,” Demoff said. “But now it’s in the middle of this global run.”

It isn’t just the Super Bowl. SoFi will also play host to the NFL’s first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game — Rams versus Green Bay Packers — on Netflix.

“If you’re looking at the arc — not as a Super Bowl but how the NFL wanted to come back to Los Angeles — you have Disney, a longstanding, old-school entertainment partner,” Demoff said. “And then you have this element of streaming and new media and where the NFL is heading. It’s a really interesting juxtaposition.”

For once, the 20,000-odd fans on a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium sat quietly engrossed during points.

The sight of the Williams sisters back on court together at the US Open – possibly for the final time – commanded ultimate respect from a chatty crowd known to let their attention wander.

The siblings changed the face of the sport when they emerged as precocious teenagers in the 1990s, going on to dominate the sport with a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 doubles victories as a pair.

Three decades later, the sport remains captivated by them.

Serena, a 23-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion, coming out of retirement this summer sparked excitement among those who saw her in their prime and those too young to have witnessed it.

Seven-time major winner Venus has never “evolved away” from the sport – the words chosen by her younger sister when she last played in 2022 – but instead continued her career with the help of sporadic wildcards.

While that has proved controversial in some quarters, there were few objections about the sisters being invited to play once again at Flushing Meadows.

Their planned return at Wimbledon was scuppered by the knee injury which Serena suffered in her singles match there – ironically a defeat by 20-year-old Joint – before they finally reunited at the WTA event in Cincinnati.

The comeback ended in a match tie-break defeat by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and her American partner Peyton Stearns, with the same fate befalling them in New York.

When the Williams sisters last played on Ashe four years ago, they suffered a straight-set defeat by Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round.

It looked like being a similar outcome as they meekly surrendered the first set against Chan and Joint, then batted off four break points in the fifth and seventh games of the second set.

But once Serena upped her level to match her impressive sister, they managed to switch the momentum back in their favour and level the match.

An absorbing contest featuring some sensational points saw the Americans fight back again in the decider, only to falter from a commanding lead in the tie-break.

Overall it was a more than credible performance from the veteran pair. Their solid groundstrokes, sharp movement and never-say-die attitude caused problems for their opponents, who deserve huge credit for staying focused in a partisan environment.

“The atmosphere was surreal,” said Joint.

“It was something we’ve never experienced before, and to play against such legends of the game was super special.”

Antonelli’s penalty is caused by using too many engine components this season after reliability problems earlier in the year. Russell will take one at a subsequent race, most likely the Azerbaijan Grand Prix later this month.

Mercedes have chosen this race because they hope the long straights will give him a decent chance of recovering a strong result.

And the Italian, who leads Hamilton and Russell in the championship by 59 points, was the quickest on the race-simulation runs towards the end of the session.

The race runs were inconclusive as Mercedes used the hard compound tyres, Ferrari the softs and Verstappen the mediums.

Antonelli was more than 0.2secs quicker than Russell on average. Norris, also on the hard tyre, was just under 0.2secs slower than Russell.

Meanwhile, F1 has announced that it will host a three-day event for fans before next season in Milan on 18-20 February.

A successor to the F1 Live event in London’s O2 Arena in 2025, it will feature all 11 teams and their drivers as well as music and entertainment.

Viewers tuning in to the new series of The Grand Tour have been left curious about the title card

The Grand Tour fans have been left intrigued by a title card featured in one episode.

The six-part series premiered on Prime Video today (September 4) with a fresh set of hosts: Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland. The trio replace veteran stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, who gladly handed over the baton to the newbies.

The new series of The Grand Tour even saw the former Top Gear trio make appearances throughout the episodes. Jeremy appeared in the opening episode as he gave some blunt advice to the newbies, while Richard helped to judge a competition to find the toughest car, and James hosted the line-up in his pub.

Episode five of The Grand Tour featured an exciting race between Thomas in a hypercar against Francis and James on a train as they tried to get from the UK to the Belgian Grand Prix. The instalment titled A Relaxing Spa Weekend also featured James delving into the incredible history of the BMW Isetta and its Cold War history.

The episode ended with a title card which featured two images of Klaus-Günter Jacobi, who built the smallest-ever escape car used to cross the border between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Many are curious about the figure mentioned in the title card. Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Klaus-Gunter Jacobi?

Klaus-Günter Jacobi was a mechanic who helped his best friend escape from East Berlin into West Berlin, crossing the heavily guarded border crossing of Checkpoint Charlie. He hid his best friend Manfred Koster in a tiny and concealed compartment in the BMW Isetta.

Manfred was trying to escape East Germany as he was set to be drafted into the army. Thankfully, his friend Klaus came up with the cunning plan.

Klaus-Günter modified the Isetta, reduced the fuel tank to a bare minimum and managed to build in the hiding space. He had also removed other unnecessary components and provided heat protection.

However, they only had an hour to cross the border before it closed for the night. The men were delayed and almost didn’t make it, with sniffer dogs checking for anything suspicious.

If they had been caught, the pair might have paid with their lives for trying to leave. The guards inspected the vehicle thoroughly and let Klaus through without suspecting what he was carrying.

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Klaus’ story was immortalised in the mini-film The Small Escape, which was produced by the BMW Group. After word spread of the escape, the Isetta was used by other defectors to escape East Berlin.

The BMW Isetta was conceived post-WWII by Italian refridgerator company boss Renzo Rivolta and his company Iso Spa. The car essentially had the engine of a scooter, the door of a fridge and seating for two people. BMW was on the verge of bankruptcy when they licensed the design from Iso Spa and set about making it more into one of their cars, thus saving the firm from ruin.

After sharing the unbelievable true story, James then asked Thomas to try and get into a similar-sized space. Despite his best efforts to assume a foetal position, Thomas was unable to get into the space and this illustrated just how tiny this compartment was.

Later in the episode, the two men stopped at a pedestrian crossing as Klaus walked across and waved at them. He now serves as a tourist guide at the Berlin Wall Museum in Friedrichstrasse.

The Grand Tour is streaming on Prime Video now