Trump pardons trail runner convicted after taking shortcut during record run

Donald Trump has pardoned a trail runner who briefly took a closed trail on his way to a record time on the tallest peak in the Teton Range of western Wyoming.The pardon for Michelino Sunseri, unlike recent ones for Trump allies, appeared apolitical.“Michelino is pleased, of course, but nobody expects a pardon,” Sunseri’s attorney, Michael Poon, told Outside. “He shouldn’t have had to go through this ordeal to begin with. It’s not a case that should have ever been brought to trial

Ollie Pope poised to stay at No 3 as England focus on continuity for Ashes

England may stand accused of not taking their Ashes preparations seriously but with only three days against the Lions to hone their players’ cutting edge they have promised to approach the solitary game of their pared‑down warm-up with as much intensity as they can muster.The assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said the focus would be on making the game “as competitive as we can”, as they prepare to effectively unveil their first-choice Ashes XI.While every member of the Ashes squad will be involved in the match, with some turning out for the Lions against their own teammates, the England side is expected to be at full strength. Every player trained in an intensive session on Tuesday – Ben Stokes doing one session in the nets against spin, one against seam, and another bowling – with no fitness issues reported.This means that while the debate about England’s preparation will rumble on, the one over the identity of their first-choice No 3 may soon be settled, with Trescothick strongly hinting that Ollie Pope has seen off the challenge of Jacob Bethell to keep his place, where he has batted in 32 of England’s 35 innings since the start of 2024

Advantage England? Emma Raducanu gives tips to squad for All Blacks clash

England’s preparations for their clash with the All Blacks on Saturday have been boosted by some words of wisdom from the former US Open tennis champion Emma Raducanu, who visited their Bagshot training base on Tuesday.Raducanu took to the training field with Steve Borthwick’s squad, taking part in lineout practice and kicking drills with Marcus Smith before sharing insights with the captain, Maro Itoje. Borthwick also invited the Brighton manager, Fabian Hürzeler, to address the squad this week.Eddie Jones was vilified in 2021 when he appeared to criticise the British No 1 women’s tennis player, using the 22-year-old to illustrate the pitfalls of off-field distractions when saying: “There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards.” As revealed by the Guardian, Raducanu then skipped an invitation from the Rugby Football Union to attend a match at Twickenham later that autumn

England play Generation Game against All Blacks with overhaul of traditional order of selection | Robert Kitson

Selecting your best XV to start a big rugby match feels increasingly quaint these days, as redolent of a different era as the Generation Game or Starsky & Hutch. To the point where you half expect to find the home teamsheet to face New Zealand this weekend has D‑N‑A‑L‑G‑N‑E printed at the top of it. Even with the All Blacks in town, the traditional order of selection no longer applies.Instead it is all about the endgame. On this occasion Steve Borthwick has picked six British & Irish Lions on his bench compared with only four in his starting lineup

Steve Borthwick warns England to prepare for pain in All Blacks clash

Steve Borthwick has called on his side to prepare for “pain and suffering” if they are to end their losing run against the All Blacks, demanding the most selfless England team in history in the showdown on Saturday.Predicting an aerial bombardment from New Zealand, Borthwick has recalled George Ford, insisting his fly‑half general “will be an England coach in the future”, and again loaded his bench with the “Pom Squad”, including six British & Irish Lions among his replacements.Freddie Steward returns at full‑back and Borthwick has stacked his bench with Ellis Genge – who was captain last week –Luke Cowan‑Dickie, Will Stuart, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock and Marcus Smith; all of whom toured Australia with the Lions during the summer.England have not beaten New Zealand since the 2019 World Cup semi-final and lost three narrow encounters against them last year. The All Blacks are unbeaten in five Twickenham games, a run dating back to 2012

Judy Bell obituary

In 1996, Judy Bell, who has died aged 89, was made the first female president of the United States Golf Association. It had taken 102 years before the USGA could bring itself to appoint a woman to their top job, but when it did so, it got it right.Bell was a good golfer, an even better administrator and diplomat, and someone with whom it was always a delight to talk about the game. She was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of her sport and it was characteristic that she spent much of her time as president, until 1999, encouraging its spread in areas from which it had been excluded, including the inner cities.Right from the time she joined the USGA executive committee in 1987 she had travelled thousands of miles per year to encourage the creation of reasonably priced public facilities in the cities