30 h. ago Lautaro Martínez continues to do the most difficult thing in firing Inter back on top | Nicky Bandini

The Argentinian captain has his critics but is the leader and inspiration behind a team finding their feet againLeave it to a 20-year-old, with three Serie A starts under his belt, to provide a most perceptive analysis of the Italian top flight as we head into a new year. “The most difficult thing to do in this game,” said Francesco Pio Esposito on Sunday night, “is to stick the ball in the net.”He was speaking in praise of his Inter teammate, Lautaro Martínez, whom he set up for the decisive goal in a 1-0 win away to Atalanta. Pio Esposito had barely entered as a second-half substitute when he was gifted possession by an opponent, Berat Djimsiti. Instead of taking the chance on himself, he froze the last defender and released Lautaro to score with a side-footed through-ball. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump loomed over sport like never before in 2025. Next year he will take even more

From the Super Bowl to UFC cards to the US Open to the Ryder Cup, the US president has turned sport into his own personal stage. There’s more to comeConsidering he’s the self-declared hardest working president to ever hold the office, Donald Trump has spent a remarkable amount of the past year on down time. In 2025, he loomed over sports like no American politician before him, his visits to stadiums and arenas and golf courses and race tracks so frequent they began to feel like part of the job. But if Trump’s presence on the sporting scene has seemed hard to escape, gird yourselves for 2026, when the American presidency no longer merely intersects with sport but threatens to subsume it. The World Cup is on the way, the Olympics are right behind it, a UFC card is coming to the White House lawn (not a joke) and the commander-in-chief’s well-documented fondness for jumbotrons is becoming less of a habit than a dependency.Trump’s grand tour sportif began less than three weeks after his ...

Politics

2 w. ago AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Tramell Tillman, the 'Severance' star who is very much connecting

Tramell Tillman has had a remarkable 2025, becoming a force in the entertainment world and winning a spot as one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2025

Politics

3 w. ago Michael van Gerwen: ‘Of course I love darts, but I love my kids much more’

The former world No 1 shares how a traumatic year has shaped him as a darts player and a father and insists he can recapture his glory days at the world championship“I can be a miserable bastard sometimes,” Michael van Gerwen says with a grin and a shrug as he tries to explain his new burst of optimism after a horribly testing year. “But I can also be quite positive. If you asked me this question a month ago, and we did this interview then, you would find me a bit different to today. But I feel good now even if, 100%, this has been a very tough year for me both on and off the oche.”Rather than being miserable, the 36-year-old is amiable company – which seems remarkable as in 2025 he has been through a divorce after 17 years with his wife, Daphne, witnessed the devastating effect of cancer on his father, endured intense scrutiny in the Dutch media, and struggled to regain his once imperious form with the arrows. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Spalletti splits Napoli and Højlund downs Juve: welcome to Serie A Bizarro World | Nicky Bandini

Club legends in opposing dugouts, Turin giants as underdogs against the juggernaut Partenopei it was a weird night at the MaradonaThe man with the Napoli tattoo was met with hostile whistles on his return to the Stadio Maradona. Luciano Spalletti had the club’s emblem inked on to his arm, together with a Scudetto badge, after leading the Partenopei to their third Serie A title in 2023. The design made it appear as though someone had torn into his flesh, revealing his true essence, a connection more than just skin deep.But then he accepted the manager’s job at Juventus. For many Napoli supporters this was the ultimate sin, joining the club they hate the most. From others there was a measure of understanding. Spalletti had been out of work for four months after being sacked by the Italian national team in the middle of an ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. The opportunity to succeed Igor Tudor in Turin at the end of October was a chance to get his career back on track. Continue rea...

Culture

3 w. ago How to watch the Ashes: Start times, TV channel, live stream and second Test highlights

After a remarkable first Test, the 2025/26 series heads to the Gabba

Politics

3 w. ago Reform council leader accused of racism after alleged remarks about Sadiq Khan

Ian Cooper allegedly called Khan ‘narcissistic Pakistani’ and made comments about lawyer Shola Mos-ShogbamimuA Reform UK council leader has been accused of racism after allegedly describing Sadiq Khan as a “narcissistic Pakistani” and saying a black British lawyer should have “F’d off back to Nigeria”.Ian Cooper, the leader of Staffordshire county council, is also said to have attacked the justice secretary, David Lammy, in a social media post that said: “No foreign national or first generation migrant should be allowed to sit in parliament.” Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Roma still dare to dream after remarkable 2025 despite Napoli setback | Nicky Bandini

No team in Serie A have collected more points this year, so the Giallorossi remain upbeat in a stacked title battleGian Piero Gasperini was a victim of mistaken identity last week, after an Italian news story about a man who allegedly impersonated his dead mother to collect her pension was picked up by media outlets around the world. Roma’s manager has no connection to any of this, yet one Argentinian broadcaster included an old photo of him in their coverage.The segment for Telefe Noticias showed Gasperini’s face between those of the accused and the deceased. A silly meme, circulated by football fans on social media to imply some (dubious) resemblance, had been confused as being authentic. The online version of the video was quickly taken down from YouTube, but not before it created a fresh set of headlines back in Italy. Continue reading...

Politics

last month Duplantis wins top award and takes aim at Grand Slam Track’s exclusion of field events

Duplantis named World Athletics’ male athlete of yearSydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins top female awardArmand Duplantis has capped a remarkable 2025, in which he broke four world records and won another world title, by being named World Athletics’ male athlete of the year.Immediately after picking up the award, the Swedish pole vaulter took aim at Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track, which collapsed in the summer and is still yet to pay athletes their full prize money. Continue reading...

Events