Getty Images6 June 2025Updated 1 minute agoLondon Pulse produced a determined display to move back to the top of the Netball Super League with a 58-48 win at Manchester Thunder.Pulse were 17-10 in front after the first quarter but the hosts reduced the deficit to three points as the visitors led 27-24 at half-time.However, Pulse stepped up their game and were 44-37 up at the end of the third quarter before going on to secure victory.Olivia Tchine scored a game-high 27 goals for Pulse, while Elmere van der Berg scored 23 for the Thunder, who remain third with one round of fixtures to go before the play-offs.”The second quarter, in particular, was a bit disappointing,” said London Pulse head coach Sam Bird.”We just took our foot off the pedal a little bit. We just lost a little bit of focus. That is certainly something I want to be improving on.”When they got their brains back together and they came out really hard I thought they did really well. “It’s a difficult place to come. It’s really good for the players to play that well away.”The three points meant Pulse are two points clear of second-placed Loughborough Lightning.Both teams are guaranteed a top two finish and will contest the major semi-final in the play-offs with the winner going through to the final.The loser will face the winner of the minor semi-final between third and fourth – which will be between Manchester Thunder and London Mavericks – to determine the other finalist. Loughborough Lightning had briefly gone top of the table with a dominant 79-58 win against London Mavericks on Friday.Lightning, who have won three of the previous four Grand Finals, were in control throughout and opened a 23-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.That set the tone for the contest, with Samantha Wallace-Joseph finishing with 24 goals for the victors, and Ella Clark and Berri Neil also impressing with 14 and 13 goals respectively.Emily Andrew contributed 24 goals for the fourth-placed Mavericks.Birmingham Panthers won 75-69 in the opening match of the round on Thursday.On Sunday, Georgia Rowe scored 43 goals to help bottom side Cardiff Dragons beat Leeds Rhinos 60-52 and move within a point of their opponents in the table. Related topicsNetball

Getty ImagesSimon StoneChief football news reporter16 minutes ago80 CommentsBorussia Dortmund have agreed a deal with Sunderland to sign Jobe Bellingham for an initial 32m euros (£26.96m) plus 5m euros (£4.2m) in add-ons.The 19-year-old midfielder had garnered interest from across Europe but it is Dortmund, former home of elder brother Jude, who are set to secure his signature.Bellingham has played for Sunderland since 2023 and helped them secure Premier League promotion this past season, making 43 appearances for the Black Cats and scoring four goals across all competitions.The England youth international started his career at Birmingham City, coming through the academy before playing two years of senior football for the club.Borussia Dortmund experienced an inconsistent season in 2024-25 but had a strong finish to the campaign winning their final five matches to finish fourth and secure Champions League football for next season.If the deal is completed by 10 June, Bellingham would be able to play in the upcoming Club World Cup.That tournament takes place in the United States from 14 June to 13 July.Bellingham has been named in the European Under-21 Championship, to be held in Slovakia from 11-28 June, but England boss Lee Carsley has said he will release players so they can compete in the Club World Cup.Mirroring his brotherIt is thought Bellingham is keen to follow in his brother’s footsteps.Jude, two years Jobe’s senior, also came through Birmingham City’s academy before moving to Dortmund in 2020 and then Real Madrid in 2023.Bellingham is already mirroring his brother’s career with the move to Dortmund and he was also named the Championship’s Young Player of the Year in May, five years after Jude won the same award.Related topicsBorussia DortmundSunderlandEuropean FootballFootball

Getty ImagesMantej MannBBC Sport Journalist47 minutes agoJai Opetaia produced a fifth-round stoppage to beat Claudio Squeo and retain his IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight world titles.The Australian dominated the bout on the Gold Coast and landed a firm uppercut in the third round before connecting with some damaging combinations.Opetaia, 29, then floored Italian Squeo in the fourth round with a punishing shot to the body.Victory was delivered in the next round after a fierce right hook to the jaw forced Squeo to hunch over and take a knee as the home favourite extended his unbeaten run to 28 fights.Following the bout, Opetaia once again voiced his desire for a unification bout with Mexico’s WBO and WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.”We did what we had to do,” said Opetaia. “I’m chasing this unification fight and it’s frustrating.”Gilberto Ramirez – next fight, let’s get it on. I’m chasing the belts. The fight is easy to be made. Let’s do it.”Meanwhile, Japan’s Junto Nakatani overcame compatriot Ryosuke Nishida, who retired with an eye injury in Tokyo, to add the IBF bantamweight title to his WBC belt.Nakatani remains the number one fighter in the division after firing several punches towards the right eye of Nishida, which prompted an inspection from the ringside doctor after the sixth round.Victory for the three-weight world champion extends his unbeaten record to 31 wins, including 24 knockouts.Another Japanese rival, Naoya Inoue, was watching on from the stands and could be in line for a highly anticipated meeting with the 27-year-old next year.A bout between Nakatani and the unbeaten Inoue, who has 27 knockouts in 30 wins, would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history.Related topicsBoxing

Getty ImagesMandeep SangheraBBC Sport journalist21 minutes ago55 CommentsEngland captain Harry Kane says his side “got away with it” in their 1-0 win against Andorra in a performance that “wasn’t good enough”.In a disappointing display against a team ranked 173rd in the world, England won courtesy of a solitary Kane goal after 50 minutes in Barcelona.England were booed by some of their fans at half-time and full-time, while manager Thomas Tuchel said his side “lacked the seriousness and the urgency that is needed in a World Cup qualifier”.”It wasn’t our greatest performance,” said Kane, whose goal took his tally to 72 for England. “I don’t think it’s one many people are going to remember, that’s for sure, but it’s three points in the bag.”But, yeah, for sure we know we can play better in all aspects, both with and without the ball.”It’s down to us now to analyse it, look back and try and learn from it because condition-wise it’s going to be very similar to next summer – dry pitch, warm weather, humid.”He added: “It [the goal] was probably our best move and we just didn’t have enough of that, both with probably the runs and also the quality – a lot of balls kind of overhit, out of play, and it just kind of killed our momentum, especially there in the second half.”The 2026 World Cup will be held across Canada, Mexico and the United States.England beat Latvia and Albania in their first two World Cup qualifiers in March before the win against Andorra.They are top of Group K, with Albania second on four points, Latvia third with three points after two games, Serbia fourth with one point from one game and Andorra bottom.Kane added: “We were just lacking quality [against Andorra], looked a bit fatigued both physically and mentally and, yeah, we got away with it because we’re a good team and they had a couple of half-chances where we didn’t get punished. But ultimately, it wasn’t good enough.”England’s next game is a friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on Tuesday (19:45 BST).Related topicsFootballEngland Men’s Football Team

Getty Images31 minutes agoUFC president Dana White says he cannot stop Jon Jones from retiring, despite the American having “agreed” to fight Tom Aspinall.White was responding to the social media activity of the UFC heavyweight champion, who suggested he was retired before calling out ex-UFC fighter Francis Ngannou.Speaking at the UFC 316 post-fight news conference, White said 37-year-old Jones had said nothing about retiring to him and that he was only interested in matching him with Aspinall.”Tom Aspinall is the guy. If the guy wants to retire and doesn’t want to fight, there’s nothing you can do,” White said.”I didn’t want Khabib [Nurmagomedov] to retire, I thought [Daniel Cormier] should’ve stayed in it longer, so it’s none of my business.”I’ll do what I can to make the fight, if we can, if he’s talking that crazy, I didn’t realise that.”With Ngannou fuelling speculation he might be open to a return to the UFC, White played down the chances even if it was to fight Jones.”It’s Aspinall’s fight,” White said.Aspinall, 32, has been the interim champion for 18 months and has publicly said he believes Jones is retired.White has been insisting since last November, when Jones last fought, the bout with Aspinall would happen next and clarified that – while Jones had agreed to the fight – he had not signed a contract.”John agreed to fight Tom,” he said.”Jon Jones agreed to do the fight. Jon Jones was offered the deal and accepted the deal.”What information do we collect from this quiz?Related topicsMixed Martial Arts

Lorena Wiebes wins the fourth and final stage of the Women’s Tour of Britain in Glasgow, with Ally Wollaston sealing overall victory by finishing third and taking bonus seconds to push overnight leader Britain’s Cat Ferguson into second place.WATCH MORE: Ferguson takes Tour of Britain lead with brilliant stage winAvailable to UK users only.