If Ashe can help 23-year-old Shelton earn his first career win over Alcaraz, there is guaranteed to be an American player in the final.

Home stars reaching the men’s semi-finals has not been uncommon this century, but only Taylor Fritz has reached the final – two years ago when he lost to Jannik Sinner – since Roddick was beaten by Roger Federer in the 2006 final.

Tiafoe, who is seeded 11th, lost to Fritz in another all-American semi-final and was also eliminated by Alcaraz at the same stage in 2022.

Now the 28-year-old is aiming for a third opportunity to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Tiafoe reached the Cincinnati final last month and, thriving off the energy of the New York crowd, has maintained his momentum.

On what it is like to receive such support, he said: “It’s an out-of-body experience, no question. No real explaining that type of feeling.

“It’s like you’re not even touching the ground at one point. Energy is so high, and it seems like the level of play matches that.”

While Tiafoe is one of the sport’s great entertainers, 22-year-old Michelsen is more understated.

The world number 46 admits he has been happy to fly “under the radar” at Flushing Meadows while the likes of Tiafoe, Shelton, Fritz and Tommy Paul soak up the attention.

But earning a place in a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time, and not dropping a set on his way, means Michelsen will find himself under the spotlight on Ashe.

“First, second, third rounds, all matches I’m feeling nerves. It’s a human experience,” he said.

“But it’s just about going out there and managing them to the best of my ability. I feel like I’ve done that very well.”

Over the years, I’ve accumulated various Carl Friedrik luggage items, including the carry-on hybrid in silver and tan, the Granville weekender in chestnut, and the compact weekender in nubuck. Durable, stylish and designed for ease while on the go, this trio has travelled with me around the world, from Marrakech to Vietnam and Australia.

Ioan Rhsy Jones general secretary of teaching union UCAC, said: “Whatever your views on Pisa as a way of assessing education, this year’s results are disappointing.

“However, it must be acknowledged that Pisa only provides a quick snapshot of the education system, across a limited range of skills. We must also remember that only a sample of schools participate in these tests every three years.

“Having said that, it is clear that there is a need to plan improvements, and attention should be accorded to basic skills across the country.

We can only hope that the Curriculum for Wales, once fully established, will provide

a solid foundation for learners and that the new Foundation Literacy and Numeracy

Framework will be a means to plan, benchmark, and ensure national improvement in

the years to come.

It is crucial that all improvement plans consider all aspects of education, including

the community and the home. We would welcome robust financial investment in our

schools, therefore leading ultimately to an improvement in standards. The education

workforce is currently working hard under challenging circumstances. Hopefully, we

will see the present government appreciating the importance of investing in

education, thus providing solid and strong foundations for our students, who are our

future.’

Scientists have launched an investigation after thousands of dead fish mysteriously washed up along beaches in South Africa.

Disturbing footage shows dead pilchards, which belong to the herring family and are generally slightly larger than sardines, covering large sections of Bloubergstrand Beach in Cape Town on Monday, August 17.

Several birds can also be seen nearby, with some appearing to be unwell.

The mass deaths have also been reported at Milnerton and Sunset Beach, with dead pilchards found on the shore along parts of the wider Cape Town coastline.

Scientists have detected genetic material from the virus pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) in samples taken from the dead fish.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said the virus was also found at lower levels in some apparently healthy sardines caught off the west coast.

However, officials have stated that this does not mean the virus caused the deaths.

DFFE spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said: ‘Sequencing has confirmed the presence of PHV genetic material but this alone does not prove that the virus caused the deaths.’

The virus is understood to affect the gills of fish, making infected sardines less able to breathe and more vulnerable to low oxygen levels or sudden changes in sea temperature.

Scientists are also investigating a number of other possible causes, including harmful algae, low oxygen levels, unusual ocean conditions and changes in water temperature.

The DFFE said PHV had never previously been recorded in South African sardines.

However, the virus has been linked to major sardine deaths in Australia and New Zealand back in the 1990s.

The disappearance of thousands of sardines has also sparked fears for South Africa’s critically endangered penguins which rely on sardines and anchovies for food.

Marine biologists said penguins at three local breeding colonies had already shown signs of weight loss.

Authorities have also urged members of the public not to collect or eat fish that have washed up dead.

The DFFE warned that dead marine animals can pose health risks because bacterial contamination can occur.

The warning does not, however, apply to commercially produced canned sardines.

MORE: Steven Bartlett’s £8,500,000 house causing uproar in Cape Town is ‘victim of his success’

Ellie Harrison, who is 17 and from York, has achieved 7 GCSE’s in Maths, English Language and English Literature, Combined Science, Food, and Religious Education from All Saints RC School in Mill Mount.

She also achieved a level 2 in the Kings Trust Extended Certificate. 

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This comes as part of a strong set of results for the school, where there has been ‘excellent outcomes across a wide range of subjects, contributing to an overall improvement in attainment’.

Proud mum Rachel Harrison praised the school for the support that they’d given her daughter, adding that Ellie was ‘really pleased’ and delighted with her results – with plans made to go onto York College in the September.

She said: “The school have just been so supportive of Ellie since she started, especially from the school support team who have had such high aspirations for Ellie and they’ve supported her to achieve it.

“From the world go, they’ve said let’s aim for GCSEs for Ellie and they’ve been so supportive of her doing that.

“The school journey can be a difficult one, but the school have been so great and they’ve made it as easy as it can be for us as parents with their pupil centric approach.”

Rachel added that Ellie’s time at All Saints was particularly special as she was able to spend much of her time in secondary school with her sister – who graduated as head girl and is currently studying at Oxford University.

She said: “It’ll be bittersweet to say goodbye to All Saints after all these years – both of my daughter’s have been here and it’s where I went growing up – but it’s been so nice that the girls were able to go to school together.”

Ellie celebrated her results by going out with the family for her favourite meal – fish and chips – before spending the afternoon crafting with friends.

Head teacher Sharon Keelan-Beardsley said that the community at All Saints were ‘so so proud of Ellie and what she has contributed to our school’.

She said: “She has been involved in the wider life of the school, including choir and reading in services. She is very popular and came to prom. She undertook work experience at cafe West and did very well.

“She is going to be working there a day a week next year, alongside her college course.”

Debbie Plaxton, a member of staff who has worked closely with Ellie, over her time at All Saints described her as ‘joyful’ and said that she always has a smile on her face.

She said: “She is friendly with everyone and works hard. Ellie is a real team player and achieved her gold sports tie.

“We will miss Ellie next year, but feel privileged to have been a part of the development of the lovely young woman that she has become.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have released two United Nations staff members who they detained more than a week ago, the U.N. said Thursday, adding that the reason for the two men’s detention remains unclear.

The arrests were the latest in a series of detentions by Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities. Last week, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said six staff members of a local organization working on women’s and children’s rights had been “forcibly disappeared” for more than a month.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said its two employees, who were detained in the western city of Herat on Aug. 9, were released Thursday morning and appeared to be in good health.

“UNAMA has not been formally notified of the reasons for their arrest and detention and continues to follow up with the de facto authorities,” the U.N. said in a statement, adding that it understood that the charges against the two had been dropped.

It said the organization was also following up “to ensure respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, as well as the safety, security, and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel throughout the country.”

Afghan authorities did not immediately comment on the U.N. staff members’ release.

The U.N. mission’s mandate from the U.N. Security Council includes promoting and supporting humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, promoting human rights, equality for women and girls, inclusive governance and economic stability.

On Aug. 12, Human Rights Watch said six senior members from the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation were detained on July 18 after they were told to come to their office to retrieve laptops and phones confiscated during a raid on the organization’s offices about a month earlier.

It said authorities had not provided any information on the staffers’ whereabouts, and called for them to be allowed visits by family members and lawyers.

The six were still in custody on Thursday, HRW said.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country after two decades of war.

Shortly after, they barred girls from education beyond primary school and banned women from nearly all employment, effectively excluding women and girls from public life. They have also effectively condoned child marriage and have made domestic violence punishable only in cases in which a woman has suffered visible injuries or broken bones.

In June, at least 30 women were arrested in Herat for alleged infringements of the country’s draconian dress code for women, sparking a rare protest in the city which Taliban police violently suppressed, leaving at least one person dead.

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace published a 15-point roadmap for Gaza in late July in which Hamas would hand its weapons to a committee of Palestinian technocrats, certified by an international verification body, and Israel would withdraw from the strip in phases. After Israel officially rejected the plan on August 9, US envoy Jared Kushner flew to the Egyptian coast to meet Hamas representatives.

From there, he travelled to Jerusalem where it was proposed the weapons would instead be handed over under the supervision of an American general. This change to the disarmament process is a clear illustration of what has gone wrong with each agreement reached over Gaza since January 2025: none have established, in advance, who certifies compliance.

The University of Edinburgh’s Peace Agreement Database and Dataset recorded four agreements related to the Gaza ceasefire process in 2025. They include a ceasefire agreement in January, a run of ceasefire and related agreements in October and a UN resolution in November.

These agreements addressed things such as the exchange of hostages and prisoners, and created a transitional authority for the Gaza Strip. But they did not build the machinery that decides what counts as a breach, who adjudicates in case of disputes and how the process resumes once a breach has been found.

Series of deals

The January 2025 deal contained the most detailed provisions of the four agreements. Its published text named the number of hostages and prisoners for exchange, the corridors through which Israeli troops would leave Gaza and the sequence in which displaced families could return home. What it did not do is say what holding the parties to it would involve.

The guarantors – the US, Egypt and Qatar – were asked only to work towards continued negotiation. A follow-up mechanism was announced by Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, alongside the deal rather than written into it. Guarantors were given the ability to log issues, but not enforce the agreement.

This gap showed when the first phase of the deal ended on March 1 with the second phase in limbo and, on March 18, Israel resumed its bombing campaign.

The two October 2025 agreements sought to get the process back on track under renegotiated terms. The October 10 agreement looked to address the lack of an enforcement mechanism in the January deal.

A centre run from Israel by US Central Command, the arm of the American military responsible for the Middle East, was created to coordinate aid and monitor the ceasefire. But little changed after two months. Aid workers and UN staff complained of continued aid restrictions and a lack of discussion over who would govern and secure Gaza.

The so-called Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity was signed on October 13 by the leaders of the US, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey. This agreement committed signatories to a broad set of principles around religious tolerance, human rights, security and dialogue across the region.

Neither Israel nor Hamas signed it. That is not unusual as guarantors often sign what warring parties will not. But four governments cannot promise tolerance and human rights on behalf of two parties that did not sign, and nothing in the text says what they will do to make them.

The UN’s November resolution was the most institutionally significant agreement. It officially endorsed Trump’s Gaza peace plan, called the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, and established the Board of Peace as the head of a new transitional body overseeing political transition in Gaza.

It said nothing about who sits on the body, including women, who appear in the agreement only in relation to prisoners and hostages.

The resolution did, however, build the machinery for the economic reconstruction of Gaza. It also included a provision around the “self-determination and statehood” of the Palestinian people. But the resolution carries the same defect as the ceasefires.

Under the UN resolution, statehood becomes possible once reform of the Palestinian Authority, which was created in 1994 as an interim administration for Gaza and the West Bank, is “faithfully carried out” and redevelopment in Gaza “has advanced”. Nobody was appointed to judge when either has happened.

This brings us back to the 15-point roadmap, which was an attempt to address some of the lack of detail in previous agreements. The plan contains an international verification committee that would certify that both parties have completed each phase before the next one begins.

However, the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops the roadmap had promised has now been reversed. On August 17, the Board of Peace assured the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Israeli forces would not move out of Gaza until disarmament of Hamas was complete. Verification of this disarmament has also shifted from a multilateral committee to an American general.

Any workable version of this agreement needs an arbiter both sides can live with, agreed before the steps begin, with a stated procedure for breaches. It needs the regional guarantors who made these deals possible in the first place to be inside that mechanism.

And beyond this, there needs to be a governing arrangement that Palestinians in Gaza have some say in and that provides them with a political horizon to aim for and some means of addressing the trauma of war. Without this, even if the disarmament row is settled, the same absence will produce the same deadlock.

Sharples School has recorded its highest-ever GCSE results, with 73.5 per cent achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths.

The Bolton secondary school achieved record-breaking results in 2026, with 87 per cent of pupils gaining grade 4 or above in both core subjects.

One student achieved 11 grade 9s, while many others gained the grades needed to move on to college courses, sixth-form studies and apprenticeships.

(Image: Sharples School)

Headteacher Caroline Molyneux said: “We are delighted at Sharples that the class of 2026 have achieved record-breaking results, the best ever in the history of the school.

“73.5 per cent of students achieved Grade 5+ in both English and maths. 87 per cent achieved Grade 4+ in both subjects.

“It is a testament to the hard work that students and staff have put in over their five years with us, and we would also like to thank all our parents for their support.

“Our top-performing student achieved 11 straight grade 9s in GCSE subjects.

“There are also many students who achieved the vital grades they needed to go onto their chosen pathway at college and to do apprenticeships.

(Image: Sharples School)

“We are very proud of all of our students.”

She said the figures reflected the work of pupils and staff, while parents were also thanked for their support.

The results place Sharples above national figures. Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, around 22 per cent of GCSE entries achieved grade 7 or above in 2026.

More than two-thirds of entries secured at least a grade 4 pass. National results were broadly similar to last year, with a small rise in top grades.

(Image: Sharples School)

Sharples School, on Hill Cot Road serves more than 1,200 students; the school has previously submitted plans for extra classrooms at its Hill Cot Road base.

The school has a focus on academic achievement and STEM education. Its motto, “Learn. Dream. Achieve.”, supports its approach inside and outside the classroom.

Facilities include a health hub with a swimming pool, an observatory and grounds covering more than 30 acres. The 2026 results mark another milestone in the school’s history, following the launch of a new observatory project.