• Condition is prevalent in rugby and American football

• Scientists are optimistic of significant breakthrough

Scientists have moved a step closer to diagnosing the degenerative brain condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy in living people, after a study found a blood biomarker that identifies an advanced form of the disease.

As things stand CTE, which is caused by repeated trauma to the head and is especially prevalent in collision and contact sports such as American football, rugby and football, can be diagnosed only after death by examining brain tissue.

Sport has long been regarded as great unifier but there is evidence that this era of hyper-partisanship may change that

Over the weekend, President Trump floated his latest wild idea: that the man behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Power Slap, the ethically dubious “sport” where competitors take turns smacking each other with an open palm, could be his new White House press secretary.

Trump’s post on Truth Social was about as subtle as a slap to the face. He Trump wanted the UFC chief executive, Dana White, whom he hailed as a “violent Fighter and Warrior”, to take the job. And for six of his fighters to join him “to defend us against the Lunatic Left”. But it also carried a certain logic. The UFC is Maga’s sport of choice. Why couldn’t it also be its praetorian guard?