The back of England rugby’s shirts will carry a sponsor’s name for the first time after Lloyds Bank struck a lucrative new partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU).

The multi-million pound per year deal will see the bank’s famous black horse logo and name emblazoned above the player names on the kits of England’s men and women, beginning with the Red Roses’ clash with Australia in Manchester this weekend.

The agreement will see Lloyds becomes one of the RFU’s leading partners, with significant investment expected into the community game, and is another significant boost to the union’s finances.

O2 have been England’s front-of-shirt sponsor for 30 years, while Allianz took the naming rights to Twickenham in 2024 in a 10-year sponsorship deal.

“This is a truly significant partnership for the RFU and marks an important moment for rugby in England. Lloyds is one of the country’s most recognised and proudly British brands, and their commitment extends far beyond visibility on the England shirt,” RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said.

“Together, we have a shared ambition to grow the game from the grass roots up, creating more opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to play, enjoy and be part of rugby. What makes this relationship particularly exciting is its potential to make a real difference across every level of the game, from local clubs to our England teams.

“Lloyds shares our belief in rugby’s power to bring communities together, and we are delighted to welcome them into the rugby family as we deliver our vision for the future together.”

Many other nations already have back-of-shirt sponsors, while Lloyds will also feature prominently on England’s anthem jackets and training bibs. As per long-term competition regulations, England’s match kit at next year’s World Cup will be shorn of sponsors.

In a further boost to the RFU’s coffers, all three of their warm-up games ahead of that tournament are expected to be held at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — On the eve of her wedding, Liudmyla Ryzhak pressed her delicately embroidered dress, laid out a full white tulle skirt and her husband’s traditionally patterned shirt, then hung them on the bedroom door.

After repeated delays caused by the war with Russia, she was only hours away from marrying her partner, a Ukrainian soldier, in a ceremony in the capital.

But as the couple slept, a Russian strike hit a warehouse across the street from their building, sending a blast wave through the apartment and threatening to stop the wedding scheduled for Tuesday morning.

The pair was soon digging their wedding clothes out of the rubble. Ryzhak had to pull her skirt from beneath the debris, shaking off pieces of broken glass.

Strike followed visit by US envoys

The strike came soon after U.S. envoys visited Ukraine on Sunday, a trip that brought a lull in Russian attacks. The assaults then resumed with drones and missiles. Explosions were heard in Kyiv for almost five hours overnight. Strikes continued during the day Tuesday.

Like many others in Kyiv, the couple decided the attacks would not derail their lives and forged ahead with the ceremony. It had taken a long time for her fiance, Leonid Ryzhak, to make it back from the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

“If God gave me a continuation of life, then why should I put it off?” the bride said. “For someone, it ended. And who can guarantee this won’t happen again tomorrow? That tomorrow won’t come for us? At least for now, I have the right to be happy. Both him and me.”

Liudmyla and Leonid awoke from the blast, which blew out the apartment’s windows and scattered its furniture. A burned curtain hung in shreds.

Their ears deafened by the explosion, the couple’s only immediate thought was the risk of a second strike. They fled to a shelter with Liudmyla’s 6-year-old daughter and two guinea pigs but without the cat, which had hidden in fright and could not be found.

They were lucky: By the time the second strike hit, they were already safe. The apartment was rendered uninhabitable until repairs are made.

A friendship deepened into love

The two met three years ago through mutual friends, coming together as adults who weren’t looking for anything serious. Both had children from previous marriages.

But the friendship deepened. She supported him through his deployments to the front, and slowly the relationship grew into love. Leonid Ryzhak, who serves as part of a team that deploys bomber drones in the Pokrovsk area, arrived in Kyiv for a long-awaited vacation a week and a half earlier, just as near-constant air-raid alerts and daytime attacks began disrupting life in the capital.

For six days straight, the couple went to the registry office but could not submit their documents because of constant air-raid sirens.

Eventually, ordinary life pulled her back in: The wedding was coming, and the children had to go to school.

More attacks hit as they wait at registry office

Eventually, the two put on their wedding clothes and headed to the registry office.

Leonid tried to keep their spirits up. What mattered most to him, he said, was for his bride to be smiling.

“It’s fine. We’ll get through it,” he said.

When they stepped outside their apartment, the courtyard looked almost apocalyptic, with a column of black smoke rising behind a brightly colored children’s playground. Neighbors clearing debris stopped to congratulate the couple.

“We should all be celebrated, that we survived,” Liudmyla replied.

The couple arrived at the registry office on time, at 10:40 a.m.

Leonid wore an embroidered vyshyvanka, a traditional Ukrainian shirt, with a pattern that matched the one on Liudmyla’s dress.

In place of black dress pants, he wore army trousers — he couldn’t dig his own out of the rubble — and black sneakers with fluorescent yellow soles and laces, for the same reason. Liudmyla’s white tulle overlay had tiny, barely visible holes that were torn as she pulled it out from the rubble and broken glass.

Shortly after they arrived, a siren sounded: Another attack had begun, and the registry office closed for safety. The couple waited in the courtyard, unsure how long it would last.

Explosions echoed nearby as strikes hit surrounding districts and fires broke out. Almost three hours passed before the alert finally ended, and the couple hurried back inside.

Against all odds, they became husband and wife

Just before entering the hall for the ceremony, they paused, trading nervous jokes.

“I didn’t even get to finish the repairs at home,” Leonid joked about their now-wrecked apartment.

“I’ve never had such a spectacular day,” his bride replied.

The ceremony went ahead as the officiant told them, “Love is when two people become a team.”

Moments later, the two were officially married.

“We’re gaining a new life, because we survived,” Liudmyla said. “You could probably call (it) a new life because it could have ended today, and none of this would happen.”

In a different scenario, “I wouldn’t be wearing this dress. Someone would be picking out something else for me instead, something darker.”

Sweden is imagined as the land of equality, modesty and Jantelagen – the unwritten rule that no one should think they are better than anyone else. But there has also been a fascination within Sweden with its billionaires, especially those who abide by these dominant cultural norms.

In the case of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of furniture giant IKEA, Swedes appreciated that he drove an old car (a Volvo, of course), engaged with employees working on the floor in his stores, and every year personally handed out Christmas gifts. His (some would say strategic) display of ordinariness made people overlook the fact that Kamprad was one of the world’s richest people and had moved to Switzerland to avoid Sweden’s high taxes.

But things have changed. The Wall Street Journal has written about Sweden’s surprising “capitalist makeover” and the Financial Times has reported on the idea the country is “overflowing with billionaires”. And in 2024 The BBC broadcast a documentary podcast called Super-rich Swedes. There are good reasons for their interest.

We think we know Sweden – a peaceful nation grounded in social democracy, natural beauty, IKEA and Abba. But in 2026, is this still the real Sweden? Ahead of the country’s general election on September 13, The Conversation UK has teamed up with its Swedish partner universities for a series of articles examining why this small nation remains so fascinating.

While for a long time Sweden was a country with some of the world’s highest taxes, this no longer applies to capital taxation. For instance, it no longer has a wealth tax, an inheritance tax or a property tax. The ideal of egalitarianism doesn’t seem to align with patterns of wealth accumulation, especially at the very top.

Forbes calculates more than 50 US-dollar billionaires in Sweden. This becomes even more extraordinary in a country of just 10.6 million people.

We used Forbes and UN data and found that in 2025 Sweden ranked fourth globally, with 4.7 dollar billionaires per million people. When excluding micro-states (fewer than one million people), Sweden is outnumbered only by Singapore (9.9), Hong Kong (9.1) and Cyprus (7.3), but before Switzerland (4.6) in fifth place. It ranks much higher than some of the world’s largest economies like the US (2.7), Germany (2.1), Canada (2.0) and the UK (0.8).

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‘We got lazy and complacent’: Swedish pensioners explain how abolishing the wealth tax changed their country

It is difficult to say for sure whether changes in regulation and wealth concentration have altered cultural norms, but there are clear indicators. Younger generations are now expressing strong materialistic values. When they rank what matters in life, earning money comes second to being with friends and far more important than being with family or getting an education.

Young Swedes and adults alike dream of building a “money machine” by investing in stocks so they can exit the labour market long before retirement. This might be surprising to some, since Sweden has long been shaped by a strong work ethic, both politically and culturally.

In research for a yet-to-be published paper, we found Swedish tabloids and business magazines show a remarkable rise in reporting about billionaires. This includes a fascination with their personal lives and framing them in positive terms such as “entrepreneurs”, “investors” and “philanthropists” (rather than “capitalists”, for example).

Awe and suspicion

This does not mean that wealth is no longer a sensitive topic in Sweden. When studying articles about billionaires in one of the country’s leading tabloids, we found an ambivalent form of “wealth porn”. In Sweden “wealth porn” tends to oscillate between celebrating it and questioning the luxurious lifestyles of billionaires.

The articles tempt readers with drone images and descriptions of lavish mansions – but they also repeatedly point out how reluctant the billionaires are to display and talk about their wealth. This frames the topic as socially sensitive and sometimes even dangerous to the billionaires’ personal safety. Readers are invited to fantasise about life as a billionaire – the transgressive act of breaking Jantelagen adds spice to the fantasy.

This kind of “wealth porn” remains focused on the moral issues around conspicuous consumption. Even though Sweden has long been a model of social democracy, the processes through which billionaires accumulate fortunes, and the political influence such wealth can generate, largely escape scrutiny.

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Swedes’ ambivalence towards billionaires is also illustrated in a recent survey we conducted with a representative sample of the population. We asked people a set of questions about their views on money and wealth – it turned out that many find money a strong personal motivator. These people supported statements like “to have a lot of money is an important driver for me”. This suggests there is no social taboo around trying to get rich.

People also said money matters socially, as they largely supported statements like “money gives status and respect”. This indicates that hiding personal wealth may not be so important. In fact, displaying it might bring social benefits – being seen as a successful entrepreneur and someone to look up to, for example. We also asked about caps on wealth, but found strong support for statements like “one can never have too much money”.

While this indicates that Swedes value wealth, they still hold an ambiguous relationship with the super-rich. People reacted strongly against seeing the rich as “good role models for others”.

Striving to get rich seems to have become more socially acceptable in Sweden. Perhaps it always has been the way, but Swedes just never spoke about it (at least not in public). Actually being rich remains a contested topic. If Jantelagen still exerts any influence, it seems to be centred on shaping attitudes towards the wealthy themselves – rather than as a force to discourage the pursuit of wealth.

Just before 07:30 this morning, National Highways Traffic Officers were dispatched to assist Greater Manchester Police with a police-led incident on the M60.

The M60 clockwise is currently closed between J10 and J11 while police investigations and vehicle recovery are carried out.

At this stage, it is not known when the carriageway will reopen.

Diversion – follow the Solid Square (■) symbol

• Leave the M60 clockwise at J9.
• At the M60 J9/B5158 Lostock Circle Roundabout, take the third exit and follow the A5081 northbound for 1.8 km.
• At the A5081/B5214 Parkway Circle Roundabout, take the second exit and follow the A576 northbound for 0.8 km.
• At the A576/Moonings Road Tenax Circle Roundabout, take the first exit and follow the A576 westbound for 0.2 km.
• At the A576/Guinness Road Guinness Circle Roundabout, take the third exit and follow the A576 northbound for 0.6 km.
• At the A576/Coronet Way Centenary Circle Roundabout, take the first exit and follow the A576 westbound for 0.3 km.
• At the A576/Lankro Way Canal Circle Roundabout, take the second exit and follow the A576 northbound for 0.6 km.
• At the A576/M602 J2 Gilda Brook Roundabout, take the first exit and follow the M602 westbound for 2.7 km.
• Rejoin the M60 at J11.

If this closure impacts on your planned route, please allow extra journey time.

Plan ahead; you may wish to re-route or even delay your journey.

Further information is available from National Highways via our regional X (Twitter) feed. National Highways’ 24/7 contact centre team is also available to provide up-to-the-minute information on 0300 123 5000

ITV has reportedly found a replacement for Sir Tom Jones on The Voice UK, after he claimed he has been fired from the show.

The 86-year-old singer has served as an on-off coach since the show’s 2012 debut and has made it clear that he did not want to leave the programme, but the decision was made due to a ‘financial difficulty with insurance’.

Cheryl is said to be the famous face taking up Sir Tom’s spare seat on the show, in what would be her primetime TV return, after a long-running stint as a coach on The X Factor.

If the reports are true, the former Girls Aloud star will join rapper will.i.am and Kelly Rowland, as well as rapper Aitch, who is said to be replacing McFly duo Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher.

A source told The Sun: ‘Everyone loves Sir Tom but there was a feeling that the upcoming series needed a major refresh. With Aitch and Cheryl coming on board and Kelly returning with will.i.am, there just wasn’t a seat going.’

It would also be a huge milestone for the show, as the first time two women were on the judging panel at once.

Cheryl’s fans have been left ecstatic at the prospect of the 43-year-old’s return to TV, having most recently served as a coach on The Greatest Dancer in 2020. 

@cheryl_mixer wrote on X: ‘Okay but let’s talk about how iconic it is for Cheryl (Girls Aloud) & Kelly (Destiny’s Child) to be on The Voice together!! Girl band royalty right there!!’

Meanwhile, @CherylDaily wrote: ‘We are so excited about this news and cannot wait for her TV comeback…. CHEZZA IS BACK!!’

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Cheryl previously appeared on The Voice in 2012, when she performed Call My Name on stage and did a swan dive as part of the act – although she was also forced to fend off accusations of lip-syncing the track.

It had been reported by The Sun that ITV was ‘plotting’ a way for Sir Tom to be involved in the programme regardless, but in an explosive statement posted to X, he appeared to throw cold water on the plans. 

Sir Tom said he was ‘not thrilled’ about what ITV offered him instead of being a coach, writing: ‘They now say in the press they wanted to “refresh” the show, and with a new coaching line-up, there wouldn’t be a chair for me.

‘They are offering a much-reduced role where I would make an appearance but without being actually involved from the start, and I’m not thrilled about that.

‘So the only thing I know right now is that there’s never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who’s still pretty good at his job.’

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Metro contacted ITV and Cheryl for comment on this story.

MORE: ITV’s savage sacking of Sir Tom Jones won’t save The Voice UK

MORE: Coronation Street and Emmerdale pulled from schedules tonight – and football isn’t to blame

MORE: I’m A Celebrity camp in ‘lockdown’ after bear attack on hiker

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The Freedom of South Ayrshire is the highest civic distinction the council can bestow.

Ayr Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets have been awarded the Freedom of South Ayrshire at a special ceremony.

The Freedom of South Ayrshire is the highest civic distinction the council can bestow, and it’s only been granted on four other occasions since 2009.

This is the first time the honour has been awarded to a cadet organisation, recognising the outstanding contribution the unit has made to generations of young people and for their service to the wider community.

Around 70 cadets took part in a parade to mark the occasion on Saturday, August 29. The unit also received a new military colour to mark their 85th year.

This is highly significant and involves the handing over of a consecrated flag — representing the honour, identity, and loyalty of the unit.

Founded in 1941, Ayr Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets have provided opportunities for young people across Ayr and the surrounding area since their inception.

Cadets take part in activities such as sailing, powerboating, paddlesports, camping, while also gaining nationally recognised qualifications and practical life skills.

The unit also plays an active role within the local community, supporting remembrance events, civic occasions, charitable activities and volunteering initiatives throughout the year.

Over the last five years, the unit has worked tirelessly to transform the Foresters Hall in Ayr – contributing around 1,800 hours of volunteer labour to turn the building into welcoming hub for the community.

Provost of South Ayrshire, Iain Campbell, said: “It is a tremendous honour to present the Freedom of South Ayrshire to Ayr Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets during their 85th anniversary year. This award recognises not only the proud history of the unit, but also the remarkable contribution it continues to make to the lives of young people across our communities.

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“The commitment shown by volunteers in rebuilding the unit, securing a permanent home for future generations and creating a facility that also serves the wider community demonstrates exactly the kind of civic contribution this honour is intended to recognise.”

Iona McDonald OBE, Lord-Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran, said: “As His Majesty The King’s representative in Ayrshire and Arran, I am delighted to see the Ayr Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets awarded the Freedom of South Ayrshire. This prestigious civic honour is a fitting tribute to the dedication, resilience, and service displayed by both the cadets and the incredible adult volunteers who support them.

“For 85 years, the unit has played a vital role in nurturing leadership, confidence, and community spirit in young people across our region. The dedication shown in restoring Foresters Hall into a vibrant community space demonstrates their profound commitment to South Ayrshire. I offer my warmest congratulations to everyone involved in reaching this historic milestone.”

Commanding Officer, Lieutenant (SCC) Duncan McKechnie RNR, said: “The Freedom of South Ayrshire is a huge honour and recognises our significant contribution to the community, particularly over the last five years.

“We have worked incredibly hard to rebuild the unit following Covid. We are now giving young people even more opportunities.

“One of our biggest achievements has been taking on Foresters Hall and, through the commitment of our volunteers and the support of the local community, transforming it from a largely disused building into a thriving community facility.

“To receive the Freedom in our 85th year makes it even more special. It recognises our long history, but also the significant amount that our cadets and volunteers have achieved in recent years. We are incredibly proud to be part of Ayr and South Ayrshire.”

However, Jones, who played a key role in Eliud Kipchoge’s sub two-hour marathon challenge in 2019, is keen to point out that the science in this area is “behind”.

“There isn’t as much hard evidence as there would be for shorter distances, which have been studied for a long time in quite some detail,” he adds.

That is a view shared by Dr Richard Burden, co-lead of female athlete health and performance at the UK Sports Institute, who feels a lot more information needs to be gathered before conclusions can be made.

“At the moment we are speculating … there are definitely some physiological adaptations that you see more in women than men that are favourable for ultra-type events. But those need to be better established and more studies would need to be done.”

Physiology, however, only gets you so far. The realities of ultra-endurance exercise – multi-day events, sleep deprivation, extreme terrain and conditions, to name but a few – mean the journey to the finish line is as much mental as it is physical.

And for Sophie Woods, this is where women have the edge.

“It’s not necessarily about being the fastest person at the start,” she says. “It is about preparation, it is about mental strength and being able to continue to persevere when things go wrong.”

During the New Zealand runner’s record-breaking run of the Via Alpina, she was forced to expect the unexpected – from disruption caused by wildfires that made her route longer and more dangerous to swarms of horseflies.

“I was so tired and there were so many of them and I wanted to have a complete meltdown and just cry, but I couldn’t because if I stopped moving, they started biting me,” she says.

“I think women are really good at adapting and continuing and just knowing that once we start something, you’ve just got to keep moving until you get to the finish.”

That view is echoed by Yngvild Kaspersen, who last month became the first woman to win the prestigious Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc CCC race in the Alps twice. She credits her victory to the “mental game” she puts herself through in training.

The Norwegian, who balances life as a professional runner with her job as a GP, also believes female ultra-runners are so strong because camaraderie in the community is unrivalled.

“We’re competitors but we’re also motivating each other, inspiring each other, pushing each other to do better in the races,” she says. “If you see the podiums for the women this year [at UTMB], how close we are and how we’re running together out there – that’s very special and I’m very proud to be a part of that community and that group of women.”

So can we explain why women might be more resilient?

Sports dietitian Renee McGregor, who specialises in athlete nutrition and hormonal health, believes the answer comes from the female body itself.

“The moment women step into puberty, we are dealing with a fluctuating hormonal system,” she says. “We never ever give ourselves credit for that, it’s just an accepted part of being female. But actually, it is an endurance in itself and I think that’s probably where a big part of our resilience comes from.”

McGregor, an ultra-runner herself, points to research that suggests female runners display more disciplined and even pacing strategies than men in distance races, maximising on what she terms the female “brain bank”.

“I don’t think women go into these races without a lot of thought and contingency planning,” McGregor adds.

“For example, if you’ve been through a pregnancy and you’ve dealt with nausea, if you’ve had a baby and dealt with the lack of sleep or if you’ve gone through fertility treatment, you have to go through so much discomfort, but you know you can get through it. And I think it’s that knowledge of ‘I can get through this, I can find a solution’.”

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Athletes who’ve arrived early for the Asian Games were unharmed by extensive flooding that hit the central Japanese city of Nagoya, Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa said Wednesday.

“We are not worried about the conditions of the venues and we believe there is no problem holding the Asian Games as planned,” Hirosawa told reporters.

The Asian Games, an event with more athletes than the Summer Olympics, open Sept. 19 in Nagoya and surrounding areas and run through Oct. 4.

More than 11,000 athletes are signed up from 45 countries and regions in Asia. By comparison, about 10,700 athletes participated in the Summer Olympics in 2024 in Paris.

The previous edition of the Asian Games was held three years ago in Hangzhou, China.

Hirosawa said about 400 athletes and staff who are staying in converted shipping containers — remodeled to serve as temporary housing units for the Asian Games — were briefly evacuated to higher ground during the heavy rain.

He said there were a number of leaking roofs but nothing more serious around the dozens of Games venues.

Record rain fell in parts of the city on Tuesday, flooding dozens of roads and homes, and stranding pedestrians and vehicles. City bus and subway operations were temporarily suspended, the mayor said.

Reports said about 3,500 people took shelter at emergency evacuation centers.

___

See full AP coverage of Asian sports here

The funeral of one of the two police officers killed in a wrong-way crash is to take place later.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died when a Volkswagen Passat collided with their marked armed response car on the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, on 22 August. Five young men were also killed.

Road closures will be in place in Hartlepool for PC Blades’ funeral from 07:30 BST to allow for a full police ceremonial funeral.

Speaking on behalf of his family, Cleveland Police Federation chair Lauren Somerville said “life feels unbearably quiet” without the father-of-two’s “silly jokes” and laughter.

Somerville said flowers had been delivered to the force’s stations and people from Australia, France and America had been in touch.

“The support has been overwhelming, and it’s been comforting,” she said.

Somerville added even small acknowledgements of respect from the public, such as a nod or a thank you when they see police out and about, had brought officers “so much strength”.

Officers had been pursuing the Passat for almost seven minutes after it was connected to earlier alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the crash when it turned onto the dual carriageway, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

PC Blades and PC Clough were in a vehicle looking for the Passat after its cloned registration plates triggered an automated number plate recognition camera, although they were not involved in the pursuit, according to the IOPC.

Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, both 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Cahill and Jakub Matusiak also died in the crash.