England have made six changes for Friday’s match against the USA in New Jersey, but Ellie Kildunne is again named among the replacements. Full-back Emma Sing keeps her starting place after Kildunne was left out of the side that lost 31–22 to Canada last Saturday.
Key Facts
Kildunne was dropped for England’s 31–22 defeat by Canada.
Head coach John Mitchell said after the Canada match that Kildunne needed to show greater consistency.
Emma Sing retains the starting full-back spot against the USA.
Four changes are in England’s backline: Tatyana Heard, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, Flo Robinson and Holly Aitchison will make their first starts of the tour.
Forwards Mackenzie Carson and Maud Muir replace Hannah Botterman and Sarah Bern in the starting side.
Mitchell said England are rotating positions to refresh the group, create opportunities and build squad depth.
Kildunne has 67 England caps and was named World Rugby’s player of the year in 2024.
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Welsh singer Jamie Miller says his life has changed since “Babydoll” reached number one on the UK singles chart last week. The viral TikTok hit followed a two-year break from music, and Miller is now planning a world tour that will include shows in Wales.
Key Facts
Miller, 29, grew up in Pontprennau, Cardiff.
“Babydoll” made Miller the first Welsh artist to top the UK singles chart in 15 years.
He is the first solo male Welsh artist to top the chart in 41 years.
The song gained attention on TikTok after actress Jennifer Love Hewitt posted videos featuring it.
Miller took two years off music after a difficult period in his personal life.
Miller and actor Antonio Cipriano performed “Babydoll” on Strictly Come Dancing.
Miller reached the final of The Voice UK in 2017.
He is planning a world tour and intends to perform in Wales.
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A study estimates that about 75% of former NFL players who died from 2008 through 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts. Researchers cautioned that signs of CTE in the brain do not necessarily lead to dementia or noticeable symptoms.
Key Facts
Researchers analyzed records for 2,362 deceased former NFL players, who spent an average of five years in the league.
About 400 players had donated their brains for examination; 93.5% of those samples showed evidence of CTE.
The study aimed to estimate CTE prevalence among all former NFL players who died during the 2008–2023 period, not only those whose brains were donated.
Fewer than 1% of samples from community-based brain banks contain evidence of CTE, according to the study authors.
Researchers estimated that about 27% of the former NFL players in the analysis had dementia.
CTE-related changes can affect brain tissue and involve tau protein, but they do not necessarily cause cognitive decline or noticeable symptoms.
Possible CTE symptoms include depression, memory problems, severe mood changes and other behavioral difficulties.
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Marnus Labuschagne was out for a duck in Cape Town, setting an Australian record by going 48 consecutive Test innings without a century. As Australia moved to 330-4 against South Africa, fifties from Matt Renshaw, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis helped put the team ahead by one run and raised questions about Australia’s batting lineup without Steve Smith.
Key Facts
South Africa made 329 in the third Test in Cape Town, with Tristan Stubbs scoring 95 and Mitchell Starc taking six wickets for 72 runs.
Australia reached 330-4 and led by one run at the end of day two.
Labuschagne scored no runs from five deliveries and has not made a Test century since 2023.
His 48 consecutive Test innings without a century set a record for an Australian top-order batter.
Steve Smith missed the decisive Test with a neck injury.
Matt Renshaw scored 74 after making a career-best 190 in Durban.
Cameron Green scored 65, while Josh Inglis was unbeaten on 85.
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Fleetwood Town, a League Two club, eliminated Premier League champions Arsenal from the Carabao Cup after drawing and winning a penalty shootout. The result brought crowds and extra business to the club and town, where supporters celebrated the upset.
Key Facts
Fleetwood and Arsenal played on Tuesday night in Fleetwood, on England’s north-west coast.
Fleetwood’s ground is called Highbury, named after the adjoining Highbury Avenue.
Fleetwood play in red shirts with white sleeves, a style associated with Arsenal’s classic kit.
Fleetwood staff said the club had hired floodlights for the match and packed them away the following morning.
The match drew local supporters and visitors, and Fleetwood’s shop sold souvenir programmes and half-and-half scarves.
Fleetwood staff said local bars and pubs stayed open late after the win.
Fleetwood’s nicknames include the Cod Army, the Fishermen, the Cods and the Trawlermen, reflecting the town’s fishing industry.
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Sergio Perez has signed a multi-year extension with Cadillac that keeps him with the Formula One team until 2029. He joined Cadillac ahead of its debut season and says he is committed to its development, despite the team and both drivers still seeking their first points in 2026.
Key Facts
Perez is 36 and is set to make his 300th Grand Prix start at the Mexico City race this weekend.
He made his Formula One debut in 2011 and has won six grands prix.
Perez won five races with Red Bull from 2021 to 2024 and one with Racing Point in 2020.
He finished third in the 2022 drivers’ championship and second in 2023, behind teammate Max Verstappen.
Red Bull dropped Perez at the end of the 2024 season, despite two years remaining on his contract.
Perez joined Cadillac before the team’s first Formula One season and races alongside Valtteri Bottas.
Perez is at the bottom of the 2026 standings; his best results so far are three 14th-place finishes, and neither Cadillac driver has scored a point.
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Kylian Mbappe faced backlash in China after a video appeared to show him joking about a meme that placed his face on Mao Zedong. The controversy reportedly affected commercial deals and prompted Chinese state television to cancel La Liga broadcasts, while Mbappe’s Chinese social media accounts faced restrictions.
Key Facts
A video filmed in April circulated online on Monday and showed Mbappe describing a meme of his face as a Chinese dictator.
Mbappe did not name Mao Zedong in the video, but the article says the remark was understood in China as referring to him.
The video was shared by French football podcast The Bridge and has since been taken down.
Mbappe apologized, but criticism continued on Chinese social media.
His accounts on Weibo and Xiaohongshu were restricted from gaining new followers.
The article reports that the backlash cost Mbappe several commercial deals.
Chinese state television scrapped La Liga broadcasts following the controversy.
The article says jokes about Mao, who ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976, remain socially taboo in China.
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Scottish fifth-tier club Johnstone Burgh faces two cup ties on Saturday, 21 November, with kick-offs just 30 minutes apart. The club says it tried several ways to rearrange the matches but could not agree on a change with the other clubs involved.
Key Facts
Burgh is due to play Tayport away in the Scottish Communities Cup at 14:30 GMT.
Burgh is scheduled to face Dunipace away in the Lowland League Cup at 15:00 GMT, about 65 miles from Tayport.
Both matches are set for Saturday, 21 November.
Burgh said it proposed moving league and cup fixtures, playing Tayport on a weekday or Sunday, and holding the tie before or after the Dunipace match.
The club also offered to give up its share of gate receipts to help cover costs linked to changing a fixture.
Burgh was promoted from the West of Scotland League Premier Division and currently sits eighth in the Lowland League West.
Burgh won the Scottish Communities Cup, then called the Scottish Junior Cup, two seasons ago.
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New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler discussed his career and what it meant to receive a 2026 MLB Players Choice Award in an interview with CBS Mornings. The article does not provide details about the award or his comments.
Key Facts
Cam Schlittler is a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees.
Schlittler appeared on CBS Mornings for an interview.
The interview covered his career so far.
Schlittler discussed receiving a 2026 MLB Players Choice Award.
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Actor Justin Hartley joined "CBS Mornings" to discuss the fourth season of the television series "Tracker." He also talked about working with his wife.
Key Facts
Justin Hartley appeared on "CBS Mornings."
The interview focused on Season 4 of "Tracker."
Hartley discussed working with his wife.
The video segment runs 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
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A Boston University-led study estimates that 74.5% of former NFL players who died from 2008 to 2023 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts. Researchers adjusted their estimate to account for brain donors’ greater likelihood of having symptoms; the study does not estimate how many living or active players have CTE.
Key Facts
Researchers found CTE in 362 of 387 deceased former NFL players whose brains were examined.
The observed rate among those brain donors was about 94%; researchers adjusted it to an estimated 74.5% across the study group.
The study appeared in JAMA Network Open and was led by Boston University researchers.
CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after death.
Researchers accounted for evidence that former players with cognitive symptoms were five times more likely to donate their brains to science.
The authors said the findings cover deceased players and do not predict CTE rates among living former or active players.
The NFL cited equipment and rule changes intended to reduce concussions and head impacts; the NFL Players Association said it supports research and access to care.
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Amanda Serrano plans to retire after defending her unified featherweight titles against Australia’s Skye Falzon in San Juan on January 9. The fight, promoted as “The Last Walk,” will take place at Coliseo de Puerto Rico.
Key Facts
Serrano holds a 50-4-1 record, with 32 knockouts.
She will defend her WBO and WBA featherweight titles against Falzon.
Falzon, 38, has a 12-2 record with seven knockouts.
Serrano, 38, is a seven-division world champion and holds a Guinness World Record for winning titles across seven weight divisions.
She shares the all-time women’s knockout record with American Christy Martin and is seeking to break it.
Serrano and Katie Taylor became the first women boxers to headline Madison Square Garden in 2022.
Taylor won all three fights in their rivalry, including the 2025 bout by majority decision.
In 2023, Serrano fought in the first women’s unified world championship bout scheduled for 12 three-minute rounds.
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Bangladesh reached 213-3 on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies in Mirpur. Shadman Islam remained unbeaten on 99 when bad light ended play after 74 overs.
Key Facts
Shadman faced 219 balls and hit 10 fours.
Towhid Hridoy made 42 before retiring hurt with cramps.
Shadman and Hridoy added 88 runs for the fourth wicket.
West Indies captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was out for 19, while Mominul Haque made 28.
Jomel Warrican took 2 wickets for 33 runs and was West Indies’ leading bowler.
Litton Das was unbeaten on 10 at the close.
The match is the first of a two-Test series.
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The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly signing kicker Justin Tucker to their practice squad as Harrison Butker struggles this season. Tucker, released by the Baltimore Ravens in 2025, served a 10-game NFL suspension after the league found he violated its personal conduct policy; he denied allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior.
Key Facts
The Chiefs are reportedly adding Tucker to their practice squad.
Butker has made 11 of 16 field-goal attempts this season.
The Ravens released Tucker in May 2025, citing a football decision.
More than a dozen massage therapists accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior; he denied the allegations and faced no criminal charges.
The NFL suspended Tucker for 10 games for violating its personal conduct policy.
Tucker has not played in the NFL since the Ravens released him.
Tucker made seven Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with Baltimore.
Tucker made 73.3% of his field-goal attempts in his final Ravens season; his career rate is 89.1%.
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Spain’s national football federation postponed all 24 Copa del Rey games scheduled for Wednesday after a train crash in central Spain killed at least 30 people and injured about 80. The federation said it acted in solidarity with victims and will announce a revised schedule; Thursday’s first-round games remain scheduled.
Key Facts
At least 30 people died in the train crash, and about 80 were injured, authorities said.
A high-speed train struck the rear of another train that had stopped on the track.
The death toll could rise, authorities said.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation postponed all 24 Copa del Rey games scheduled for Wednesday.
The federation said it would later provide a revised tournament schedule.
Thursday’s first-round games were not postponed, and the Spanish league had not announced weekend postponements.
Barcelona and Real Madrid issued messages of condolence and support for those affected.
Sevilla held a moment of silence before training and cancelled manager Luis Garcia Plaza’s press conference.
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Qwan’tez Stiggers left college after his father died and worked delivery and truck-washing jobs while helping support his family. After his mother found him a chance to play in Fan Controlled Football, he moved to the Canadian Football League, earned rookie honors and was drafted by the New York Jets in 2024.
Key Facts
Stiggers quit college after his father died and returned home to support his mother and 12 siblings.
Before returning to football, he worked as a delivery driver and washed trucks.
His mother found Fan Controlled Football, a professional seven-on-seven indoor league, and helped him get a tryout.
Stiggers made the Fan Controlled Football team after attending one tryout.
A Toronto Argonauts scout invited him to try out, and Stiggers later played 16 games for the team.
He was named the Canadian Football League’s outstanding rookie, becoming the first defensive back to win the honor in 25 years.
The New York Jets selected Stiggers in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft.
The article says Stiggers played in 29 games during his first two NFL seasons, contributing especially on special teams.
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Real Madrid apologized to the Chinese public after Kylian Mbappe described Mao Zedong as a “dictator” while discussing a meme. The comments prompted commercial and broadcast repercussions in China, and La Liga is seeking to limit possible damage to its business there.
Key Facts
Real Madrid said it regretted any discomfort caused by Mbappe’s remarks and expressed respect for China and its people.
Mbappe and La Liga had apologized before Real Madrid issued its statement, but criticism in China continued.
China’s state-owned broadcaster Migu is not scheduled to show Real Madrid’s La Liga match against Racing Santander on Sunday.
Chinese companies Mengniu, Shanghai Milkground Food Tech and Eastroc Beverage ended their cooperation with Mbappe.
La Liga President Javier Tebas formed a crisis unit and met with Chinese ambassador Yao Jing.
La Liga is concerned the controversy could reduce its revenue in China and is considering stronger engagement with Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said authorities took seriously the apology Mbappe had made.
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Lothar Matthaus said Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or win could help Bayern Munich persuade the striker to sign a new contract. Kane joined Bayern in 2023, and the club is in talks with him over an extension.
Key Facts
Kane became the first Englishman to win the Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001.
Kane scored 61 goals in 51 games for Bayern last season as the club won the German league and cup.
Kane also scored six goals for England at the World Cup, where the team reached the semifinals.
Kane joined Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 in a transfer reported at 100 million euros.
Matthaus won the Ballon d’Or in 1990 after leading West Germany to World Cup victory.
Matthaus said Kane has found the right club and teammates in Munich and predicted he would sign a new deal for two or three years.
Bayern, top of the Bundesliga standings, were due to play Magdeburg in the German Cup second round on Wednesday.
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The ICC reprimanded Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf and fined him 20 percent of his match fee for conduct during an ODI against England. England were fined 15 percent of their players’ match fees for bowling three overs short of the required rate.
Key Facts
Rauf breached Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during Sunday’s ODI tri-series match against England.
The ICC said Rauf argued with England all-rounder Will Jacks, raised his bat and brushed past umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid.
The incident happened at the end of the 46th over of Pakistan’s innings.
The ICC added one demerit point to Rauf’s record, bringing his total to five.
England were three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into account.
Rauf and England captain Harry Brook admitted their respective offences and accepted the proposed sanctions, so no formal hearings were held.
Pakistan won the match by one wicket and advanced to the final.
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The Atlanta Dream said their concerns about a scheduling conflict for the WNBA Finals were not addressed, as they prepare to host the Golden State Valkyries in Game 6 at 12:30 p.m. EDT Thursday. Golden State leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, and the game will start at 9:30 a.m. in California because the Atlanta Hawks play at State Farm Arena Thursday night.
Key Facts
The Dream usually play at Gateway Center Arena, which holds about 3,500 people.
The Dream moved their two home Finals games so far to State Farm Arena, which seats more than 17,000.
The Dream said they raised concerns about the potential conflict with NBA games months ago and repeated them during the playoffs.
The team did not specify who received its concerns or what exact solutions it proposed.
The WNBA, NBA, Dream, Valkyries, and broadcast partners discussed the venue problem over the weekend.
The Dream said an afternoon start was the best option available.
Golden State players Kiah Stokes and Veronica Burton encouraged fans to take time off work to watch the game.
Atlanta's Allisha Gray said the team was focused on winning regardless of the start time.
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