Head coach Brendon McCullum says England are unlikely to make any changes to the batting line-up for the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, as England aim to keep the series alive with victory.
McCullum hints at unchanged batting line-up
The NHS manager preparing to take on Littler
Wales’ David Davies knows the first thing he has to do to prepare to face world champion Luke Littler – book time off work.
The NHS area manager from Denbigh delivered a straight sets win over Mario Vandenbogaerde in his World Darts Championship debut on Saturday.
The 40-year-old could not have wished for a better first game at Alexandra Palace, dropping just four legs on the way to a 3-0 win over ‘Super Mario’.
After a guaranteed £25,000 pay day for his first round success, he will now take on world number one Littler in the second round, but only after he swaps his day off.
Davies – whose only previous appearance at the finals was as a fan – will meet Littler on Sunday, 21 December.
The 18-year-old darts sensation has won the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open and Grand Slam in a remarkable 12 months which started with World Championship glory.
Davies says Littler is a “different breed” but is looking forward to the challenge in front of him.
“There’s no games easy here, we’re all here because we deserve to be,” said Davies.
“But Luke on the other hand, he’s a different breed, isn’t he? He’s blown the sport to a different dimension.
“I’m going to be the underdog in every single game I play. I haven’t got a tour card and people say this, that and the other, but I deserve to be here.
Time to become professional?
Davies qualified for the World Championship through the UK & Ireland qualifying tournament at the start of November.
Now, having pocketed the sizeable prize money for winning a first-round game at the World Championship, the temptation to go into the sport full-time grows.
But Davies says he will make a decision after the World Championships.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” said Davies.
“The money is obviously massive because I haven’t got any massive backing. I’ve got a full-time job… do I take the plunge and and go full-time in darts? I don’t know yet.
“I want to provide for people, that’s why I joined the NHS. So it’s a really difficult decision to make, but then it’s also about self-belief on how far I can go.
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Kast vs Jara: Chile votes in polarising presidential run-off
Chileans are set to vote in a closely watched presidential election run-off on Sunday, with pre-poll surveys showing far-right opposition candidate Jose Antonio Kast leading over his centre-left rival, Jeannette Jara.
Kast, who considers United States President Donald Trump a role model, has made crime and undocumented migration a centrepiece of his campaign. He has promised to launch mass deportations and initiate a sweeping law-and-order agenda as part of his rhetoric to “Make Chile Great Again”.
Jara, the candidate for the governing left-wing coalition, was narrowly ahead of Kast in the first round last month. The 51-year-old had garnered nearly 27 percent of the vote against Kast, in second place with 24 percent of the votes.
Kast, the 59-year-old Republican Party leader, has been able to mobilise the votes of the defeated opponents from the right-wing camp, making him the favourite going into Sunday’s run-off. Right-wing candidates had collectively secured about 70 percent of the votes in the November 16 polls.
Analysts fear Kast’s victory could change the country’s political course for the first time since a return to democracy 35 years ago. Chileans have long prided themselves on keeping far-right politics at bay after the end of the military government of Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and 80s. In his youth, Kast was a keen supporter of Pinochet.
Rollback of women’s rights
Yet frustration runs deep among voters, many of whom feel unrepresented by either finalist.
Many voters say they cannot bring themselves to vote for Jara, who is a member of Chile’s orthodox Communist Party.
Jara, who served as labour minister under incumbent President Gabriel Boric, helped pass flagship welfare reforms but has struggled to shift the debate. She now pledges tougher border controls and stronger policing. Still, analysts say her communist background limits her appeal.
Leonidas Monte of the Centre for Political Studies said Chileans judge candidates largely on rejection rates, adding that “somebody from the Communist Party will be with a 50 percent or above rejection”.
Jara says she will resign from the Communist Party if she wins, but that has not convinced some voters.
Questions also surround whether Kast could deliver on his most ambitious pledges.
He has promised to cut $6bn in public spending within 18 months without touching social benefits, deport more than 300,000 undocumented migrants and expand the army’s role in fighting organised crime – proposals that revive painful memories of Pinochet’s military rule.
Kast’s party lacks a congressional majority, forcing him to negotiate with more moderate right-wing allies. Any compromise could dilute his agenda, but failing to act swiftly may alienate supporters drawn to his uncompromising rhetoric.
Chilean Congresswoman Lorena Fries warned that Kast’s social conservatism could roll back women’s rights. He is running on “the traditional logic of traditional family dynamics. Obviously, women will be at a disadvantage compared to men in the public and especially the political arena,” she told Al Jazeera.
Crime and migration have eclipsed all other issues. Under President Boric, Chile recorded a homicide peak in 2022 as regional criminal groups exploited undocumented immigration routes, although killings have since fallen.
Kast, mindful of past defeats, has avoided incendiary topics such as his father’s Nazi past and his own nostalgia for Pinochet. Many supporters say concerns about human rights now rank below personal safety.
Reporting from Santiago, Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman said, “Many people are afraid of what will happen here if Kast wins the presidency, but many others tell us that they cannot bring themselves to vote for a communist, and that’s why we’re hearing that more Chileans than ever before are thinking of casting a blank ballot when they go in here to vote.”
“A vote that, if polls are right, will veer Chile in the same direction as many of its conservative neighbours,” Newman said.
Liverpool ‘united as one’ after Salah return – Van Dijk
Captain Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool “are absolutely united and go forward as one” after Mohamed Salah returned to the squad for Saturday’s win over Brighton.
Salah came off the bench for his first Liverpool appearance since claiming after last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Leeds that he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club.
The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan, but returned for the Brighton game following talks with manager Arne Slot – and claimed an assist in the 2-0 win.
Salah joins up with the Egypt national team for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Monday and could miss up to eight Liverpool games if his country go all the way to the final on 18 January.
“We showed this week that we are absolutely united. We go forward as one,” said Van Dijk, who made his 250th Premier League appearance for Liverpool on Saturday.
“Mo is going to Afcon and we all hope that he’ll be successful there and he’ll come back and be important for us for the rest of the season.
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Van Dijk also praised Slot for how he handled the events of recent days, with Liverpool now unbeaten in five games since losing to PSV at Anfield in the Champions League.
“I think he has handled the situation very well – calm in his own way and it’s a very tricky situation,” said the Netherlands defender.
“There’s a lot of noise and pressure from the outside world and rightly so because we’ve not been up to the standard we’ve shown in the last few seasons.
“We’ve just got to keep going. He’s at a club which is very together and that’s how it has been before our time at the club, and that’s something we have to keep going.
Mo Salah: Never Give Up
Watch on iPlayer
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Zoe Ball reunites with ex Fatboy Slim after Radio 2 bombshell
Popular presenter, Zoe Ball, who shares two kids with her ex, Norman Cook – also known as DJ Fatboy Slim – stunned fans when she quit her Radio 2 show live on air on Saturday
Zoe Ball has reunited with her ex, Norman Cook, after leaving fans gobsmacked when she quit her Radio 2 role live on air.
The mum-of-two, 55, who shares son, Woody, 24, and daughter, Nelly, 16 with the Fatboy Slim star, 62, returned to the station in May after stepping down from her breakfast show. However, she has now announced she will be leaving her Saturday afternoon show too after just seven months.
As the dust settles on her latest decision, Zoe took her her mind off work this weekend as she reunited with her ex-husband to celebrate Nelly’s 16th birthday. Sharing a video of the birthday girl, standing proudly behind a DJ booth with her famous family, alongside a silver disco ball, Zoe showed off the personalised balloons for her daughter as a well as a huge sign, which read: ‘Holy s**t! You’re 16!’
READ MORE: Zoe Ball’s famous dad Johnny speaks out on ‘wrong decision’ to quit BBC Radio 2READ MORE: Zoe Ball quits BBC Radio 2 role as she reveals Emma Willis as replacement
In one snap, Nelly, sporting long dark hair, white vest and a mini skirt grins alongside her brother, who rocks a patterned shirt and sizeable moustache.
And on the topic of shirts, Fatboy Slim can be seen sporting a fabulous creation, which is covered in adorable prints of his daughter when she was little.
Zoe and Norman were together for 18 years before splitting in 2016. It was a rocky road at times for the pair and they briefly split in 2003 after Zoe had an affair with DJ Dan Peppe.
However, now they are good pals and are often seen together, supporting their children. Last year, Zoe’s father Johnny Ball, who has spoken out on her decision to quit her Radio 2 role, revealed their relationship was better now than it had been when they were married.
He told Boom Radio: “They’re very good friends today, you know. They’re great friends. They’re divorced, but they’re better….If you like, they’re closer today than they were when they were married. And that’s a lovely thing. It’s a lovely thing.”
On Saturday, Zoe stunned fans when she announced she was quitting her Radio 2 gig – again – and will be replaced by Emma Willis.
Confirming the news, she told listeners: “I have loved being betwixt my dear friends Romesh (Ranganathan) and Rylan (Clark), and you know, I love you all to bits, but I’m not disappearing completely.
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“Obviously, it’ll be Christmas Crooners, and I’m doing an eras show in the new year, more on that later. But I am thrilled to tell you that you will be in the safest of hands, because there is a superwoman who is no stranger to you all, but this does mean that she will officially become a member of the Radio 2 family.
“You’ll have loved her on The Voice, The Circle, Big Brother, Cooking With The Stars, Love Is blind, and delivering babies, she’s a gorgeous lass, so welcome to the BBC Radio 2 family and Saturday afternoons, Emma Willis.”
Jeremy Clarkson slams Liam Gallagher’s ‘stupid’ accent as he issues verdict on Manchester
Jeremy Clarkson has used Liam Gallagher as an example of something he hates about Mancunians.
Jeremy Clarkson has taken a blunt swipe at Manchester accents, singling out Liam Gallagher in the process.
Writing for The Sunday Times, the former Top Gear host reflected on his long-running role as host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, revealing that his excitement about landing the job was initially tempered when he learned where it would be filmed.
“When I was offered the chance to host Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, I immediately signed the contract and then ran around in little circles, grabbing my tinkle and squeaking,” Clarkson wrote.
“I love quiz shows, and Millionaire is the biggest and the best of them all, so I was very happy. And I continued to be very happy until I found out that it would be filmed in Manchester.”
Jeremy went on to describe his feelings about the northern city—though he admits they have softened over time. Originally from Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, he claimed there is a natural rivalry between those on opposite sides of the Pennines.
“It’s true, of course, that no one is born racist,” he wrote, adding that “people from Yorkshire, like me, are born with an instinctive dislike of people from the other side of the Pennines. The wet side. The gloomy side. The miserable side.”
His next swipe was aimed at Mancunian accents, which he described as the worst of northern ones.
“The side where everyone speaks with that stupid accent. If you’re going to sound northern, have the decency to talk like Sean Bean or Mark Knopfler, not Liam bloody Gallagher.”
Despite his initial scepticism, Clarkson admits his feelings about Manchester have evolved after years of travelling there to film the quiz show.
“However, I’ve been going to Manchester for eight years now, to record the show, and I must admit, it’s been steadily growing on me,” he wrote. “I came to not mind it, and then I started to like it, and now—drum roll, please—I think it might be better than London.”
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