Mike Ditka, the fiery former NFL player and coach who led the Chicago Bears to their lone Super Bowl title and became one of the most recognizable figures in American sports, has died aged 86

• Mike Ditka, legendary Chicago Bears head coach, dies at 86

• Hall of Famer led 1985 Bears to Super Bowl title

• Coach was known for tough, gruff demeanor

• The Super Bowl Shuffle to SNL: a life in pictures

Mike Ditka, who won NFL titles as a player and coach with the Chicago Bears, has died at 86, his family announced Friday.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” the family said. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”

Russia's seaborne exports of refined oil products rose to a three-month high in September, but the growth came from cheaper fuel oil and naphtha as diesel shipments fell to their lowest in more than a decade, Bloomberg reported, citing Vortexa data. Russia kept diesel at home after Ukrainian refinery strikes and paid oil companies to supply its pumps, while high crude prices lifted its crude export earnings.

During the ongoing deep-strike campaign, Ukraine's long-range drones have knocked out more than half of Russia's oil refining capacity, Kyiv says, and Russia's budget oil revenues are falling even as it raises war spending. High global crude prices are softening that blow.

Cheaper fuel out

Total seaborne product exports reached about 1.17 million barrels a day in September. Fuel oil shipments rose 6% to about 613,000 barrels a day, the highest since April. Naphtha, a feedstock for petrochemicals, jumped 35% to 363,000 barrels a day. Exports of refinery feedstocks, including vacuum gasoil, rose to about 32,000 barrels a day, according to Bloomberg.

The trade has moved north. Almost 80% of fuel oil cargoes left from Baltic ports, and naphtha loadings there rose almost 50% as Ukrainian attacks disrupted Black Sea infrastructure. In September, Ukraine reported hitting an oil terminal in Novorossiysk, Russia's main Black Sea oil port—one in a string of attacks on Russia's Black Sea ports and oil sites.

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Diesel kept at home

Diesel and gasoil exports fell 28% to 144,000 barrels a day, the lowest monthly volume in Vortexa data going back more than a decade. Russia has restricted diesel exports to protect domestic supply after Ukrainian attacks on its refineries. Drones kept hitting them into October, from a Lukoil refinery in Volgograd to Gazprom's Salavat complex in Bashkortostan.

In September, Russia paid oil companies the biggest subsidy in more than four years to keep road fuel on the domestic market. It also imported about 350,000 tonnes of motor fuel by sea, mostly gasoline from India, Morocco, and Türkiye, Reuters calculations showed. Officials are considering letting some producers resume diesel exports in October to avoid overstocking, according to Interfax.

The diesel squeeze has reached the White House. US President Donald Trump stated on 30 September that diesel was hurt "not by the Middle East, but by what's going on in Russia, because those diesel refineries are being knocked out at a pretty alarming rate."

Crude carries the revenue

Russia's crude exports reached about 3.99 million barrels a day in the week to 27 September, and the estimated value of its seaborne crude shipments neared its highest since the full-scale invasion began, Bloomberg reported. Brent crude traded at about $102.60 a barrel on 9 October, according to Trading Economics data.

Crystal Palace’s American import had never lived anywhere but Utah before moving to London. Now, he’s aiming for more Premier League minutes

Much has changed in Zavier Gozo’s life since May.

Back then, Gozo was a day removed from learning he wasn’t among Mauricio Pochettino’s 26 selections for the World Cup, having just made what proved to be his third-to-last appearance with boyhood club Real Salt Lake.

• Irving rushes for career-high 165 yards and two TDs

• Rookie Daniels impresses in second NFL start

• Prescott throws two picks as Dallas fall to 2-3

Bucky Irving already had his first 100-yard game since his rookie year in 2024 when the Tampa Bay running back finished off the Dallas Cowboys with a run that gave him a career high.

Jalon Daniels, the undrafted rookie filling in for franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield, enjoyed the view while doing plenty himself to get the Buccaneers their first win of the season in just his second start.

• James scores 10 points in 18-minute Sixers debut

• Jaylen Brown leads Philadelphia with 18 points

• Nets pull away in third quarter for 114-108 victory

NBA superstar LeBron James delivered a solid first-half performance in his first pre-season game for Philadelphia on Thursday, but the new-look 76ers fell 114-108 to the Brooklyn Nets.

James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, announced in July that he had signed a two-year, $8m deal with the 76ers, ending weeks of speculation over where the four-time NBA champion would land as a free agent after eight seasons and one title with the Los Angeles Lakers.

How will the Buccaneers and Cowboys fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options

The bad news for the Buccaneers: Their 0-4 start has been an unmitigated disaster that, in normal circumstances, would have already evaporated their playoff chances. The good news for Tampa Bay, however, is that they play in the NFC South, meaning they’re still just two games out of a tie for the lead in what is often the worst division in the NFL. All is not quite lost yet.

If the Bucs want to join the 1992 Chargers and become the second team to make the postseason after an 0-4 opening, they’ll need to stop the bleeding on Thursday night in north Texas. They’ll have to do it without Baker Mayfield, who continues to nurse an injury to his throwing thumb.

• Aminata Seck released on $2,500 bond after two months

• Chinese player Qingfang Pang detained since September

• Mississippi Valley State express concern for player

A Kentucky State University women’s basketball player from Senegal who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been released after spending two months in custody.

At a hearing on Tuesday, a judge granted Aminata Seck a $2,500 bond, which was posted on Wednesday after ICE declined to appeal, according to Hishem Alsalman, managing attorney of Alsalman Law Office.

• Confederation president clarifies his intentions to staff

• Canadian was eyed as potential rival to Gianni Infantino

Victor Montagliani has told Concacaf staff he intends to stand for re-election as the confederation’s presidentnext year, which will rule him out of going up against Gianni Infantino for the top job at Fifa.

The Canadian businessman is understood to have relayed the message to most of the 41 members of Concacaf, the North and Central American and Caribbean confederation.

The US have been defined for so long by the next singular player. This past perfect window shows that era may be over

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In 1990, then-United States men’s national team manager Bob Gansler made a critical and somewhat controversial choice. He left three of the program’s laureled veterans at home and brought a young and little-tested team to the World Cup in Italy, the USA’s first in 40 years.

As Gansler recalled later: “I was thinking not only for ’90, but I was thinking about the 90s.”

Some of the biggest names in European football will bid for a franchise in ESL-style league, now due to launch in 2028

The launch of NBA Europe will be delayed 12 months until 2028, with a pre-qualifying competition planned for next year to find four temporary members to join the 16-team league’s inaugural season alongside 12 permanent franchises.

The NBA is planning to invest about $10bn (£7.6bn) over 10 years in what sources have described as the sporting world’s biggest-ever startup competition. It is understood to have received multiple offers for the 12 franchises that exceed their targets, with prices expected to range from $500m to more than $1bn for the London franchise.

Teams have always symbolized division within America. And the Fever have come to prominence during a time of dark political intensity

It’s over for now, but no professional sports team spent more time receiving and drawing attention to itself than did the Indiana Fever this season. The Fever has broken, the team eliminated by the defending champion Las Vegas Aces for the second straight season, but Indiana succeeded in being the WNBA’s canary in the coal mine, embodying both the obvious and unintended consequences of rapid growth, while also allowing themselves to be a season-long distraction: part-time professional basketball team, part-time right-wing culture war centerpiece. Less than a decade ago, Atlanta and Minneapolis were praised for their unified political stances. Today, Trumpism has replaced social justice as the defining characteristic of the league – and as the curtain closed on the 2026 WNBA regular season, Indiana stood at its epicenter.

The Fever were the most polarizing team in professional sports, known less for their basketball than their culpability in pulling the league from its old cultural identity as a Black/queer league into its current climate of political divisiveness – a calculated and dangerous path to popularity. This season, there was the basketball of the WNBA, and then there was the Indiana Fever, the league’s Maga-friendly option.

This article originally appeared on Howard Bryant’s Substack. You can subscribe here.

• Rays sweep Yankees 3-0 after fan interference call

• Dodgers eliminate Braves to keep three-peat bid alive

• Ramírez leads Guardians past Sox to avoid sweep

Anthony Volpe rounded the bases, touched home plate and then waited out the uncertainty like everyone else.

“Just hoping for the best,” the New York Yankees infielder said. “Crazy.”

Jorge Messi wanted his country to fall in love with his son. That ambition was fulfilled during a brilliant international career that ended this week

“What Argentina is doing in this World Cup is of a sacred order,” Brazilian writer Milly Lacombe posted at the height of the tide of anti-Argentinian sentiment during this year’s tournament. She was exploring the contradiction she felt around her support of Lionel Messi: “a player who is a God and a man who shakes Trump’s hand”.

Lacombe highlighted the importance of acknowledging the complexities around Messi and the Argentinian team. How is it possible that Messi was not speaking out against the racist incidents we all saw around the Argentina team, she asked. “That’s why it hurts so much to see someone with Messi’s power choosing to make himself small,” she wrote.

More than 50 Russian companies could default on their bonds this year, the most since 2009, a rating-agency analyst told Russian newspaper Izvestia, which reported it on 6 October.

Russia's wartime economy is straining under high interest rates, and the budget is too: the 2026 deficit has nearly doubled from the earlier forecast to a record $88 billion, with more deficits planned for the next three years as Moscow raises taxes to fund the war and plans its biggest defense budget since the full-scale invasion began.

A default is a situation in which a company cannot make promised interest payments to investors on time or repay borrowed money. If a payment is not made by the agreed deadline, the company becomes delinquent, which under certain conditions is recognized as a default.

So far this year, 20 companies have defaulted for the first time, compared with 24 in all of 2025, said Mikhail Nikonov of the Expert RA rating agency. Most of the companies that missed payments are small issuers of high-yield bonds, Izvestia reported.

In 2026, Russian companies have missed payments totaling 41 billion rubles (about $490 million), compared with 34 billion rubles (about $410 million) the previous year, according to investment bank Sinara.

Russia faces a new wave of corporate defaults

By the end of 2026, the number of Russian companies unable to service their ruble-denominated debt on time could reach 40–50, the highest level since 2010, said Pavel Zholobov, junior managing director at the NRA rating agency.

The number of bond defaults in 2026 has already reached its highest level in a decade, Zholobov said. Similar figures were recorded in the mid-2010s: in 2014, 35 companies missed payments; in 2015, 52 did so; and in 2016, there were 44 issuers. This occurred in part after Western sanctions were imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and its war in Donbas, as well as amid a halving of oil prices and a sharp weakening of the ruble.

There were more defaults only in 2009. At the time, amid the fallout from the global financial crisis, more than 100 issuers faced payment problems, while the volume of distressed debt reached nearly 200 billion rubles, Zholobov noted.

High interest rates put pressure on companies

This time, the main reason for companies' difficulties in making bond payments has been the prolonged period of high interest rates, which has continued since 2023. Companies are raising financing at high interest rates but are unable to refinance their debt on more favorable terms, explained Ekaterina Sidorova, head of the Foreign Exchange, Commodities and Debt Markets Department at SberCIB Investment Research.

At the same time, the situation does not yet resemble a systemic debt crisis: defaults are primarily being recorded among companies with low credit ratings and high debt burdens, Sidorova said.

If a company fails to repay bond debt, it is given 10 business days to meet its obligations. If it fails to do so, the company may offer investors a restructuring—for example, by postponing payments in exchange for a higher interest rate.

The number of defaults will remain high in 2027, Sidorova believes.

High interest rates were a response to accelerating inflation in Russia. Domestic demand was outpacing production, Russia's Central Bank said in October 2023. Sanctions over the war and rising defense spending had also hit the economy and the ruble, which had lost about 25% against the dollar that year. The bank raised its key rate from 7.5% in the first half of 2023 to 15% by the fall.

Ukraine targets Russia's oil industry to weaken its war economy

Ukraine is also seeking to weaken Russia's economy as part of efforts to reduce its ability to finance the war. In particular, Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said strikes on oil refineries are aimed at "bleeding the Russian war machine" and destroying its military and economic potential. According to the ministry, the attacks have knocked out more than 51% of Russia's oil refining capacity.

In the first half of July, Russian oil refineries processed about 3.9 million barrels of oil per day—the lowest level since March 2005. Due to the production cuts, Moscow was also forced to restrict fuel exports.

Ukrainian drugmakers could lose the certificates that let them sell in Uzbekistan, their most important export market, Ukrainian business outlet Ekonomichna Pravda reported on 7 October. Uzbekistan is ending remote factory inspections next year, and industry sources say its inspectors are wary of traveling to a country at war.

Russia's war keeps reshaping Central Asia's trade with both warring countries: Ukrainian refinery strikes pushed Russian fuel shortages into the region, and Kazakhstan gained leverage over a Russian retail giant.

A market worth a third of export earnings

Uzbekistan brings in about 30% of the Ukrainian drug industry's foreign-currency earnings, and one in 10 medicine packs sold there is Ukrainian, Ekonomichna Pravda wrote. By the outlet's count, at least three of Ukraine's five biggest drugmakers by revenue rank it as their top foreign market.

The currency from Uzbekistan lets manufacturers keep prices low in Ukraine and absorb losses from Russian strikes, three industry sources told Ekonomichna Pravda. Losing the market would force producers to raise domestic prices or pull low-margin medicines, which "will hit the Ukrainian patient," said Hennadii Vovk, former deputy head of Ukraine's State Service on Medicines and Drug Control.

Exports reached $114 million in January–June 2026, more than in all of 2021, said Yevheniia Piddubna, government relations head at Farmak, Ukraine's largest drugmaker. She said Uzbekistan takes 35% of Farmak's exports.

Data from the YouControl business registry, cited by the outlet, complicates that picture. In 2022, 30–35% of Farmak's products went to Uzbekistan. In 2025, Uzbekistan was not among its direct buyers. Farmak explained that wartime currency rules cap payment terms at 180 days, while foreign buyers often demand longer. So part of its trade runs through the group's Polish company.

Remote checks end, and inspectors hesitate to travel

Uzbekistan grants three-year certificates of good manufacturing practice (GMP) after inspecting the factory. Since the pandemic, it has allowed remote checks. That suited Ukraine, where Uzbek experts avoided traveling because of Russia's invasion, industry sources told the outlet. Remote inspections end on 1 January 2027.

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Ukraine funds its war from wages, and a 1971 law keeps millions of women from earning them

Most Ukrainian certificates expire within a year. Farmak's runs out in November 2026, and the company may not manage to renew it in time. Three producers renewed under the old rules until 2029: Darnytsia, the Borshchahivskyi Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant, and Farmex Group. According to Piddubna, Uzbekistan's regulator has drafted rules for remote inspections in force-majeure cases, but nothing has been put into practice. Industry sources said the Uzbek Presidential Administration must sign off.

Producers have asked the Office of the President, the Foreign Ministry, and the Health Ministry to raise the issue with Uzbekistan's government, but no Ukrainian experts have been sent there yet, the outlet reported. Russia, whose share of the Uzbek drug market is almost the same as Ukraine's, is ready to take Ukraine's place, its sources said.

The United States winning four of four benefits many that were involved, and may hurt those who were left behind

Cavan Sullivan

• American involved in disputed point during tournament

• Gauff called out ‘insane’ amount of abuse online

Coco Gauff said she had been left drained by the racist abuse she experienced during the China Open after losing in the last 16 to Elise Mertens.

The American was dismayed earlier this week after an incident during her match against Chinese teenager Sun Xinran. The 16-year-old thought she had hit a winner late in the first set but Gauff had raised her hand to stop the point because she was distracted by flickering lights on the stadium’s advertising hoardings. The move prompted some boos from the crowd. The umpire agreed to have the point replayed, and Gauff went on to win 7-5, 6-1.

The White Sox were one of the worst teams in MLB history. Now they are just five wins from a place in the World Series

The postgame celebration songs pounded through the Bluetooth speakers in the Chicago White Sox clubhouse on Monday night, minutes after the team’s playoff victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

The White Sox, who lost 121 games two seasons ago, have made a remarkable turnaround. A team who were once so abject that they stopped tweeting out their results are now just five wins from the World Series. They can seal their progress to the American League Championship Series on Wednesday if they beat the Guardians in Chicago.

A chippy and at times ugly friendly nonetheless gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side four wins out of four, with another young player making the difference.

Before 1878, a referee trying to get players’ attention was left to waive a white handkerchief in the air. It was an imperfect practice, asking an infractor to be self-aware enough to look for a doffed doily after hard contact. The game forever changed when Joseph Hudson, a Birmingham-bred tool maker who founded Acme Whistles, showed up to an FA Cup match in 1878 with his signature product in tow.

On Tuesday, nearly 150 years after Hudson’s innovation, referee Steven Madrigal paid the architect a hearty tribute.

Justin Ellis scored in the first half to cap a perfect elongated international window for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Jeff is at the game.

Meanwhile, Pablo Maurer is following the Messi farewell:

Goalkeeper feels like a re-opened competition after shaky halves from World Cup incumbents Matt Freese and Chris Brady, while Diego Kochen shone bright in his first start against Mexico. Brian Schwake will try to make his case from the opening whistle, looking to carry his fine form with Nashville into his second appearance.

I was hoping to see Auston Trusty partner with Chris Richards, as he seems like the best partner in a post-Tim Ream US side, but he looks set to deploy at left-back. That said, Alex Freeman will likely advance further up the right, and Trusty could deputize as a wide center-back in build-up phases.

Mathis Albert may not yet be a regular with Dortmund’s B-team, much less the senior side, but his dynamism throughout this camp earned him a surprise start over the more polished and proven Zavier Gozo. A fascinating chance to get a long look at another star of the program’s future.

The 2022 World Cup champion was given a raucous sendoff with plenty of pomp and circumstance. Read Pablo Iglesias Maurer’s minute-by-minute report.

Guardian reader Paul reached out via email and is apparently deep in the comments section of a 20-year-old Messi article we published here at the Guardian. I can only hope Guardian reader “snafuclarke” has fully recovered from such a scorchingly terrible take:

don’t kid yourselves. messi is currently hugely overrated. the amount of hype this lad gets has never matched his performances on the pitch the last game aside.

• Two-time All-Pro won two Super Bowls with Eagles

• Johnson says family priorities have changed

• 36-year-old started 171 games for Philadelphia

Lane Johnson, the Philadelphia Eagles’ decorated right tackle and a cornerstone of the franchise for nearly a decade and a half, announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday after 14 seasons.

The 36-year-old, a two-time first-team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl selection, said in a statement on social media that he had hoped to play one final season but had decided to step away to prioritize his mental health and spend more time with his family.

How will the USA and Canada fare today? Here is what to know, including kick-off time, TV channels and live stream options

Basking in the glow of a 3-0 win over Mexico on Saturday, the US men’s national team are in a good place right now. A fourth straight win would make this window a resounding success for Mauricio Pochettino and his players.

Canada, however, have won their last two encounters with the USMNT, and are fresh from back-to-back victories over Chile and Peru. Jesse Marsch’s side have good reason to believe they can leave Minnesota with a third successive win.

Germany is expanding drone detection at its airports with a new system operated by German air traffic control provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), the German Federal Ministry for Transport (BMV) announced on 5 October.

Germany has accused Russia of attempting a hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport near a Ukrainian An-124 aircraft using a drone carrying explosives. Earlier, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Europe must be prepared for “continued hybrid and sabotage attacks” by Russia, adding that Russia seeks to sow panic through such actions.

On Monday, two more sites were added—Stuttgart and Hamburg. As of Monday, seven of Germany’s eight largest airports were equipped with the new drone detection system in their approach and departure areas.

Germany seeks responses to new hybrid threats

The Federal Ministry cited the reason for the new measure: drones near airports can affect air traffic very quickly.

Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger and Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister Nicole Razavi were briefed on the new system at Stuttgart Airport, where it is being put into operation, the ministry said. The system creates “an important technical basis for detecting potential threats at an early stage and quickly informing the competent authorities,” Bilger said.

“With today’s commissioning of the drone detection system at Stuttgart Airport, the federal government is fulfilling a key promise: it is not only talking about the dangers posed by unmanned aircraft, but is also following through with very concrete action. Protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring the safety of passengers at Stuttgart Airport require continuous adaptation to a changing security situation,” Razavi said, according to the ministry.

The new DFS system allows drones near airports to be detected at an early stage and information about possible threats to air traffic to be passed more quickly to the relevant authorities. This helps them assess risks and respond to them more quickly, the statement said.

DFS is responsible for detecting drones in approach and departure areas, while the Federal Police and other security services are responsible for preventing threats and defending against drones. The BMV, Federal Ministry of the Interior, DFS, Federal Police and airports coordinate their work to exchange information quickly and maintain a shared picture of the situation.

No further details about how the system operates have been disclosed.

The first stage of the expansion at Germany’s eight major commercial airports will be fully implemented this week, with the systems in Stuttgart and Hamburg being put into operation, the statement said.

Explore further

A drone came down beside a Bundeswehr air base, weeks after Berlin blamed Moscow for the Leipzig airport attack

The system will also be installed at the airport where a bomb-laden drone was found

The system will also be put into operation at Leipzig/Halle Airport this week, meaning that the first stage will be fully implemented at all eight of Germany’s largest commercial airports, according to the press release.

A quadcopter drone carrying a Semtex explosive flew directly toward a parked Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft and struck its wing at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany on the evening of 4 August, Die Zeit reported on 10 August. The drone hit the aircraft at around 19:30 local time, bounced off the wing, and fell to the ground without detonating, according to the media outlet.

Germany has accused Russia of attempting the drone attack and announced further sanctions against Russian citizens and institutions, Tagesschau reported on 1 September.

At the crime scene, investigators found the drone configuration, explosives and detonation technology that had already appeared in other Russian hybrid operations and in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said during a joint press conference with Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the media outlet reported.

The German government assumes that Germany has been and will be a target of further such Russian attacks. Germany is not at war with Russia but is a “target of war,” Foreign Minister Wadephul said, according to the outlet.

Drones sank two merchant ships and set a third on fire in the Black Sea economic zones of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria on 5 and 6 October, killing at least two seafarers, Romanian and Bulgarian authorities reported. Ukraine blamed Russia for the first attack. Neither Bucharest nor Sofia has said who launched the drones.

Russia has spent months striking ships bound to and from Ukrainian ports while denying responsibility or staying silent. Now merchant vessels are sinking inside NATO members' economic zones without either government naming the attacker, so Moscow pays no political price for hitting allied waters.

Grain ship sinks off Romania

The Royad Mammadov, a Turkish-owned ship carrying grain from Ukraine's port of Izmail to Italy, sank on 5 October near Romania's Pescăruș offshore platform, 20 nautical miles from the Romanian coast, Digi24 reported. The Romanian Naval Authority described the incident as a fire on board. Romania's Interior Ministry said 11 crew members were rescued and two people died.

Three injured sailors aged 22 to 50 were taken to the Constanța county hospital, conscious and stable, with multiple injuries. Adrian Mihălcioiu, the leader of Romania's Free Seafarers' Union, said the ship was attacked by Russian sea and aerial drones in waters Romanians consider safe.

"It is a commercial ship, a ship that is not part of the war… people who have nothing to do with the war, it is not their war," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed the attack on "two Russian drones" and said the ship was in neutral waters carrying corn. Citizens of Azerbaijan and India were on board, and the captain was killed, he said. Romanian authorities have not attributed the sinking to Russia.

Two more ships hit in Bulgaria's zone

A day later, drones struck two merchant ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone east of the town of Byala, the first known attack on ships there, Maritime.bg reported. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan, sailing from Al-Arish, Egypt, to Sulina, Romania, suffered critical hull damage and sank, Militarnyi said. The Bulgarian ferry Dioscuria found only an overturned lifeboat and life jackets at the scene, and the search for the crew continues, Euronews reported.

The Palau-flagged Able, sailing from Galați, Romania, to Istanbul, caught fire, and the Dioscuria rescued its 18 crew members. Both ships are Turkish-owned, Türkiye Today reported. Two sailors with severe injuries were flown to a hospital in Varna, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said, according to AP. Sea and aerial drones hit the ships at about 3 a.m., he said, calling the attack "a blatant violation of international law and maritime law."

Explore further

Ten dead as Russia strikes a Turkish-owned bulk carrier off Odesa

Radev called an emergency meeting of four ministries, the presidency, and the security services. No one from the Alfa Watan has been found, he said, warning that if the war is not ended in time, it "will continue to expand its spatial scope." The origin of the drones is still being clarified, Maritime.bg said. Several Bulgarian media outlets cited sources as saying the drones were Russian, Sofia Globe reported.

Russia's war on Black Sea shipping

Russia had already killed the captain of a Tanzanian-flagged ship in September, and days later it struck another civilian vessel, killing its captain too. Ukraine says that route carries 90% of its farm exports.

Romania has destroyed a sea drone near its Neptun Deep gas project and found Russian drones floating in its economic zone. In September, ISW linked drone crashes in Romania and Moldova to a wider Russian pattern of pressure on NATO.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for a moratorium on Black Sea attacks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara was stepping up diplomacy to restore grain exports. Türkiye and the UN are organizing new Black Sea truce talks between Russia and Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing a diplomat. Russia earlier dismissed Kyiv's offer of a Black Sea ceasefire.

The Hall of Famer says his successful college career helped him and his family thrive. Now he appears to be backing legislation that would help others

Last week, journalist Rob Parker called Deion Sanders a “sellout” for taking part in an advert promoting the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA). The “sellout” label is harsh, but reflects how disappointing it is for many people to see Sanders stumping for a bill that will hurt athletes.

The major points of contention around the PCSA, which the Senate passed last week and now awaits approval from the House, are a ceiling of around $49m that schools can direct to athletes, as well as a new transfer rule that would, except in a few specific circumstances, restrict players to one “free” transfer (if they move schools again, they’d have to wait a year to play for their next team). Former NFL player Domonique Foxworth has said that “the core of [the PCSA] is about reestablishing the power the NCAA had in the past – that the court system determined was illegal”.

The Mohegan Tribe made the Sun the first Native American-owned franchise in pro sports. Fans say the team’s move to Houston echoes centuries of erasure and displacement

When the Connecticut Sun played their final WNBA game last month, fans at Mohegan Sun Arena came together in an act of collective celebration and grief. The beloved franchise was leaving after 24 seasons, sold to a new ownership group in Houston, in a process so controversial that the state of Connecticut is considering legal action. The end of the Sun is a loss for the entire New England region, which is now without a WNBA team.

The Sun entered the league in 2003 and brought professional women’s basketball to Connecticut, which is considered the “Basketball Capital of the World” – at least, according to signs along the state’s highways. The Sun were the first independently owned WNBA team, and the first Native American-owned pro sports franchise.

From ‘the new Toni Kroos’ to the US’ next big hope, Cavan Sullivan, we select some of the most talented players born in 2009. Check the progress of our classes of 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 … back to 2014. Here’s our Premier League class of 2026

• Falcons ease to 45-24 win and silence Superdome crowd

• Match marked two decades since return post-Katrina

The New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was “embarrassed”. The second-year coach Kellen Moore was “disappointed” and “frustrated”. And a day of festivities commemorating one of the most triumphant moments in the New Orleans Saints’ history ended with boos and early exits.

Three plays into Monday night’s game against Atlanta, the Falcons running back Bijan Robinson silenced an electric Superdome crowd with a 59-yard touchdown run. The Saints’ performance in a 45-24 loss to the Falcons bore no resemblance to their landmark 23-3 victory against the same team 20 years ago, when the venue finally reopened after being damaged by Hurricane Katrina. On that made-for-TV night, Steve Gleason blocked a punt on the Falcons’ opening possession and Curtis Deloatch recovered it for a touchdown, sending the Saints on their way.

• Incident came after tight end appealed non-call

• Second official suspended for actions in Minnesota game

The NFL has suspended a line judge two games for swearing at Arizona tight end Trey McBride.

Line judge Jeff Seeman was caught on camera cursing at McBride during the Cardinals’ loss at the New York Giants on Sunday. The incident drew the ire of union leader JC Tretter.

• Russian led Capitals to their first-ever Stanley Cup win

• Ovechkin turned 41 in September

Alex Ovechkin said on Monday that his 22nd season in the NHL will be his last, beginning the farewell tour for the longtime Washington Capitals captain who holds the league’s career goalscoring record.

Ovechkin told his teammates of his decision before the Capitals posted a message from the Russian star on social media.

The post-World Cup youth movement has paid off with historic plays that, for the moment, feel natural, sustainable and needed

From the outside, a moment like the one Cavan Sullivan produced Saturday seemed to be pulled directly from dreamland. Turns out, it pretty much was.

“I was amazed. I was excited,” the 17-year-old said of learning he’d start for the US men’s national team against Mexico, in what would become a 3-0 win. “I texted my family right after, and after lunch, I took a nap. Before I go to sleep, I visualize and try to manifest good things for the night. Some things come to fruition, some don’t.”

Kansas City beat the surprisingly feisty Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. They already look like a very real contender after a lost season in 2025

The rivalry between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders goes back to the formation of the American Football League in 1960, when the Chiefs were the Dallas Texans, and the Raiders resided in Oakland. At no time in that rivalry had both teams faced each other with a record of 3-0 or better until Sunday’s game at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium. An unbeaten record wasn’t entirely surprising for the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, but the Raiders? The team won only three games in the whole of last season, but this new Raiders team under Klint Kubiak presents all kinds of challenges for opponents.

At first, it appeared that the Raiders might go on to their first 4-0 start to a season since 2002, when they made it all the way to the Super Bowl, where they were vivisected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their former head coach, Jon Gruden. Kubiak’s team held a 13-10 halftime lead on Sunday, and Kubiak told CBS’s Tracy Wolfson at the half that his team was going to win the game.

• Incident came after tight end appealed non-call

• Players’ union says incident was unacceptable

The NFL is looking into the circumstances of an official swearing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride during the team’s loss to the New York Giants on Sunday, league spokesperson Brian McCarthy told the Associated Press.

Line judge Jeff Seeman was caught on camera cursing at McBride, who appeared to laugh when he realized a camera had caught the incident. The interaction drew the ire of NFL Players Association executive director JC Tretter, a retired offensive lineman who played eight seasons in the league.

• Indiana GM said team’s fans were unfairly attacked

• Former player Brianna Turner says fans are an issue

• Kelsey Mitchell says some fans do not like her

Indiana Fever players past and present have pushed back on an assertion that the team’s fans are not an issue.

On Saturday the Fever’s general manager, Amber Cox, defended Indiana’s fanbase after a series of criticisms over their conduct this season.

Kenneth Walker’s 177 yards and two scores led the Chiefs to a 30-27 win over the Raiders while the 49ers beat the Broncos 24-14 at home

TOUCHDOWN! Chargers 3-7 Seahawks 9:55, 1st quarter

S Darnold to E Wilson for 23 yards

K Cousins to I Thomas for 27 yards