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Beach Boy Brian Wilson Dies At 82

Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys co-founder who masterminded the group’s wild success and soundtracked the California dream, has died, his family announced Wednesday. He was 82.

“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now,” read the statement published on Wilson’s social media accounts.

Evenepoel wins Dauphine stage four time trial to take lead

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Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel has taken the overall lead of the Criterium du Dauphine after victory in the time trial on stage 4.

The reigning Olympic and world time trial champion beat nearest rival Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike by 21 seconds on the 17.4km course.

Soudal-Quick Step’s Evenepoel, considered to be the world’s third best rider, will be competing against rivals Tadej Pogacar and Denmark’s Vingegaard at the Tour de France next month.

Reigning Tour champion Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was a surprising 49 seconds down on the day to Evenepoel in a discipline in which the Slovenian is often peerless.

Pogacar trails Evenepoel by 38 seconds in the general classification, with Vingegaard 16 seconds down in fifth place.

Germany’s Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is second in the GC, four seconds down.

“I’m very happy with this victory – the thousandth for the team,” said Evenepoel after completing the course in his special Olympic gold helmet. “This one is for Patrick [Lefevere, former boss] – for everything he did for the team.

“I think in terms of [my] weight, it’s already pretty good – much better than last year – I’ve been working super hard behind the scenes.”

The race, which takes place across the Dauphine region of south-east France, is the traditional warm-up for the Tour.

Only four times in the last 10 editions has the overall winner gone on to be victorious in the Tour.

Spaniard Ivan Romeo of Movistar lost the yellow jersey after victory on stage three, finishing one min 25 secs down to Evenepoel.

The eight-day stage race moves on to Saint Priest on Thursday for a hilly 183km test to Macon.

Stage four results

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) 20mins 51secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +21secs

3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Visma-Lease a Bike) +38secs

4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +49secs

5. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +57secs

6. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1mins 2secs

7. Remi Cavagna (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +1min 7secs

8. Eddie Dunbar (Irl/Jayco-AlUla) +1min 10secs

9. Tobias Foss (Nor/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 10secs

10. Paul Seixas (Fra/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +1min 12secs

General classification after stage four

1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) 14hrs 31mins 8secs

2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) +4secs

3. Ivan Romeo (Spa/Movistar) +9secs

4. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +14secs

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +16secs

6. Eddie Dunbar (Irl/Jayco-AlUla) +30secs

7. Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana) Same time

8. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +38secs

9. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Visma-Lease a Bike) +39secs

10. Louis Barre (Fra/Intermarche-Wanty) +1min 3secs

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NECA DG Urges Urgent, United Action To End Child Exploitation

Ahead of the 2025 World Day Against Child Labour, the Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, has called for urgent, sustained, and united efforts to eradicate child labour across Nigeria and the African continent.

In a statement issued to commemorate the global observance themed “Progress is clear, but there’s more to do: Let’s speed up efforts!”, Oyerinde stressed the need to move beyond commitments and accelerate concrete actions to protect vulnerable children from hazardous and exploitative labour conditions.

“Child labour not only robs children of their childhood, it erodes the foundation of national development. While we have made commendable progress, we must accelerate our efforts.

“We need to move from intention to action through stronger enforcement, greater investment in education, and robust support systems for vulnerable families,” he said.

Highlighting the significance of 12 June, the official date of the global event, Oyerinde described it as a critical picture of the millions of underaged children still trapped in dangerous forms of work, despite Nigeria’s ratification of key international conventions.

READ ALSO: Zulum Donates ₦300m To Mokwa Flood Victims

These, according to him, include the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age and Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

He identified poverty, weak enforcement of labour laws, and limited access to education as key drivers of child labour, stressing the need for holistic solutions and collaborative engagement.

Oyerinde pointed to the ACCEL Africa Project—a strategic partnership between NECA and the ILO—as a practical framework already delivering impact in tackling the root causes of child labour.

The initiative, he noted, is focused on promoting decent work, improving livelihoods, and empowering at-risk communities to break the cycle of poverty.

“As employers, we have a responsibility to ensure that our operations, policies, and supply chains are free from child exploitation. We must integrate child protection into business practices and actively contribute to the broader goal of youth empowerment and national development,” he said.

He urged all stakeholders—governments at all levels, the private sector, organised labour, and civil society organisations—to strengthen collaboration and enforcement mechanisms, including the swift passage of revised labour legislation aimed at regulating the participation of children in the workforce.

Mum thinks Bellingham can be repulsive but I see special boy – Tuchel

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England manager Thomas Tuchel says his mother views some of Jude Bellingham’s on-field behaviour as “repulsive” – but he believes any critics of the Real Madrid midfielder do not know the “special boy” he does.

Bellingham, 21, was angered by a VAR decision to rule out his second-half goal in Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal, when England were 2-1 down.

England eventually lost 3-1 at the City Ground, which was Tuchel’s first defeat in charge of the national team.

In an interview with Talksport, Tuchel said Bellingham’s “fire” is something he does not want to “dim down” but does need to be “channelled” in the right direction.

“It needs to be channelled towards the opponent and towards our goal, not to intimidate team-mates or be over-aggressive towards team-mates and officials, but always towards the solution, towards winning.

“He has the fire and I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, but the fire comes with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a team-mate.

“You sometimes see the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game. If he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him with this, then for sure he has the something we need and a certain edge that is hard to find.

“He’s a nice kid, very open, very intelligent and he’s been very easy [to manage] so far.”

It was put to Tuchel that there may be some fans who feel England would be better without Bellingham in the team, to which he replied: “I struggle to see that and I think it has to be the other way around – how we can have the best version of him, that people understand what he brings to us and he’s bringing a certain edge.

“I see it can bring mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice, well-educated, well-behaved guy that I see.

“If he smiles, he wins everyone. But sometimes you see the rage, the hunger and the fire and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive, for example, for my mother when she sits in front of the TV. I see that but, in general, we are very happy to have him. He’s a special boy.”

BBC Sport has been told there is no unease from the Football Association about the interview.

The governing body believes Tuchel’s intention was to portray just how special Bellingham is – something they feel the head coach has achieved.

Players ‘lacking enthusiasm and joy’

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Against Senegal, Tuchel made 10 changes to his starting line-up from Saturday’s World Cup qualifying victory against Andorra, with only captain Harry Kane keeping his place.

Asked about trying to get the best of the talent available to him and whether individual players may have to adapt for the betterment of the team, Tuchel said: “Gareth [Southgate] and Lee [Carsley] tried it, to bring as many of these highly talented players together.

“I am trying now at the moment and still we feel we are lacking the enthusiasm and the joy consistently on the international level.

“I can just underline that the individual has to take a step back for the greater good. It’s on us to find the right mixture, the right team, the right chemistry and the right connections in the team that they enjoy to play with each other. We haven’t done this yet.

“The first camp was a step in the right direction, the second camp was a bit of a mixture. We come to September, October and November, where by nature it gets more competitive and more straightforward in selection and the tone because we enter a World Cup year.”

England’s next two matches are in September, with World Cup qualifiers scheduled against Andorra and Serbia.

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  • Football
  • England Men’s Football Team

‘Bellingham attitude repulsive? I see a special boy’ – Tuchel

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England manager Thomas Tuchel says that while some fans – including the German’s mother – may view some of Jude Bellingham’s on-field behaviour as “repulsive”, any critics of the Real Madrid midfielder do not know the “special boy” he does.

Bellingham, 21, was angered by a VAR decision to rule out his second-half goal in Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal, when England were 2-1 down.

England eventually lost 3-1 at the City Ground, which was Tuchel’s first defeat in charge of the national team.

In an interview with Talksport, Tuchel said Bellingham’s “fire” is something he does not want to “dim down” but does need to be “channelled” in the right direction.

“It needs to be channelled towards the opponent and towards our goal, not to intimidate team-mates or be over-aggressive towards team-mates and officials, but always towards the solution, towards winning.

“He has the fire and I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, but the fire comes with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a team-mate.

“You sometimes see the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game. If he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him with this, then for sure he has the something we need and a certain edge that is hard to find.

“He’s a nice kid, very open, very intelligent and he’s been very easy [to manage] so far.”

It was put to Tuchel that there may be some fans who feel England would be better without Bellingham in the team, to which he replied: “I struggle to see that and I think it has to be the other way around – how we can have the best version of him, that people understand what he brings to us and he’s bringing a certain edge.

“I see it can bring mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice, well-educated, well-behaved guy that I see.

Players ‘lacking enthusiasm and joy’

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Against Senegal, Tuchel made 10 changes to his starting line-up from Saturday’s World Cup qualifying victory against Andorra, with only captain Harry Kane keeping his place.

Asked about trying to get the best of the talent available to him and whether individual players may have to adapt for the betterment of the team, Tuchel said: “Gareth [Southgate] and Lee [Carsley] tried it, to bring as many of these highly talented players together.

“I am trying now at the moment and still we feel we are lacking the enthusiasm and the joy consistently on the international level.

“I can just underline that the individual has to take a step back for the greater good. It’s on us to find the right mixture, the right team, the right chemistry and the right connections in the team that they enjoy to play with each other. We haven’t done this yet.

“The first camp was a step in the right direction, the second camp was a bit of a mixture. We come to September, October and November, where by nature it gets more competitive and more straightforward in selection and the tone because we enter a World Cup year.”

England’s next two matches are in September, with World Cup qualifiers scheduled against Andorra and Serbia.

Related topics

  • Football
  • England Men’s Football Team

‘Bellingham attitude repulsive? I see a special boy’ – Tuchel

Getty Images

England manager Thomas Tuchel says that while some fans – including the German’s mother – may view some of Jude Bellingham’s on-field behaviour as “repulsive”, any critics of the Real Madrid midfielder do not know the “special boy” he does.

Bellingham, 21, was angered by a VAR decision to rule out his second-half goal in Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal, when England were 2-1 down.

England eventually lost 3-1 at the City Ground, which was Tuchel’s first defeat in charge of the national team.

In an interview with Talksport, Tuchel said Bellingham’s “fire” is something he does not want to “dim down” but does need to be “channelled” in the right direction.

“It needs to be channelled towards the opponent and towards our goal, not to intimidate team-mates or be over-aggressive towards team-mates and officials, but always towards the solution, towards winning.

“He has the fire and I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, but the fire comes with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a team-mate.

“You sometimes see the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game. If he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him with this, then for sure he has the something we need and a certain edge that is hard to find.

“He’s a nice kid, very open, very intelligent and he’s been very easy [to manage] so far.”

It was put to Tuchel that there may be some fans who feel England would be better without Bellingham in the team, to which he replied: “I struggle to see that and I think it has to be the other way around – how we can have the best version of him, that people understand what he brings to us and he’s bringing a certain edge.

“I see it can bring mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice, well-educated, well-behaved guy that I see.

Players ‘lacking enthusiasm and joy’

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Against Senegal, Tuchel made 10 changes to his starting line-up from Saturday’s World Cup qualifying victory against Andorra, with only captain Harry Kane keeping his place.

Asked about trying to get the best of the talent available to him and whether individual players may have to adapt for the betterment of the team, Tuchel said: “Gareth [Southgate] and Lee [Carsley] tried it, to bring as many of these highly talented players together.

“I am trying now at the moment and still we feel we are lacking the enthusiasm and the joy consistently on the international level.

“I can just underline that the individual has to take a step back for the greater good. It’s on us to find the right mixture, the right team, the right chemistry and the right connections in the team that they enjoy to play with each other. We haven’t done this yet.

“The first camp was a step in the right direction, the second camp was a bit of a mixture. We come to September, October and November, where by nature it gets more competitive and more straightforward in selection and the tone because we enter a World Cup year.”

England’s next two matches are in September, with World Cup qualifiers scheduled against Andorra and Serbia.

Related topics

  • Football
  • England Men’s Football Team