PARIS (AP) — Tadej Pogacar won a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Slovenian dominated this year’s race to join Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tours.

After finishing safely in Sunday’s 21st and final stage in Paris, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds over Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro, a 22-year-old Mexican making his Tour debut, was third at 9:42 back from Pogacar, who smiled and held up his hand to signify his wins. His teammates then joined him as they stood proudly on the Champs-Élysées.

Pogacar won five stages at this year’s race to take his impressive tally to 26 overall.

He tried to win on Sunday, too, but victory ultimately went to Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who just held off the chasing pack on the home straight for his second stage win at this year’s race and fourth overall.

Sunday’s 88.7-kilometer (55-mile) stage looped around Paris and was mostly processional, although less so than in previous years, which were usually entirely flat stages for sprinters and not for the rest of the peloton.

For the second straight year the stage featured the hugely popular uphill climb through the Montmartre district, a sharp 1-kilometer dash which riders tackled three times before finishing on the Champs-Élysées.

It proved even too much for Pogacar, who could not match Van der Poel’s raw power in the closing stages.

Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, Pogacar shook hands at the start line with Evenepoel and Ecuadorian veteran Ricardo Carapaz, wearing the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.

Van der Poel and Dane Mads Pedersen, the green jersey winner as best sprinter, were among the expected contenders for the stage win.

Crowds roared as the riders began the first climb up Rue Lepic in Montmartre, with the famed Sacré-Coeur basilica looming over them.

Pogacar moved ahead after the second ascension of Montmartre, with Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pedersen alongside him.

Van der Poel attacked on the third and final climb with Pogacar responding well, and the one-day classics rivals surged ahead.

But they were caught with 700 meters left and, after Pogacar faded, the 31-year-old Van der Poel still had work to do.

He got his bike just over the line ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen, his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate, and Pedersen. Pogacar eased up and finished 30th.

Cycling pedigree

Van der Poel is widely considered one of the best cyclists in the world. He has multiple victories in one-day classics and Cyclo-cross world championship titles, and is also a former world road race champion.

His maternal grandfather was French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who raced in the 1960s and ’70s, finishing second on the Tour three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” he was adored by French fans.

Women’s Tour

The nine-stage women’s Tour starts in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Aug. 1 and finishes in Nice on Aug 9.

Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won on debut last year. ___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The past few years, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid had drifted away from bringing rookies and quarterbacks into training camp a few days early, reasoning that such a veteran team coming off deep playoff runs could do without it.

After all, for a decade, the Chiefs had made at least the wild-card round. Many of those seasons ended in February.

But the Chiefs collapsed last season, finishing a dismal 6-11 while losing quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a major knee injury. There were significant roster issues on both sides of the ball, depth problems at important positions that became exacerbated when injuries happened to other players, and it all meant an end to the season far earlier than anyone in Kansas City had expected.

So, with the team in need of a reset — among other reasons — Reid opted to bring his quarterbacks and rookies, along with a few other players coming off injuries, back to Missouri Western State University for a few days of work before the full squad arrives.

“I didn’t like not doing it last year after I got done with it, to be honest with you,” Reid said of the three-day crash course, which continued through heat indexes topping triple digits Sunday. “It’s a good thing for the quarterbacks, good thing for the rookies coming in. We do have more numbers (of rookies) this year, so it allows us to get more reps.

“I think,” Reid added, “that will benefit us.”

It couldn’t hurt.

Start with the quarterbacks: Mahomes was cleared this past week to fully participate in training camp after undergoing surgery in December to repair torn knee ligaments. And while Reid insisted this week that the two-time MVP would have no limitations, there is nevertheless a certain comfort that comes with getting some reps without a full team flying around him.

“You just have to build that confidence back,” Mahomes said, “and I’m glad I get to do that from Day 1 of training camp. I didn’t want to have to get only a couple of weeks of practice in and then have to go play a game. I wanted to build it up, see how training camp goes as we gradually build, and so I think that’ll help me get back to where I need to be.”

For the next two QBs on the depth chart, there’s the matter of learning the offense.

The Chiefs swung a trade with the Jets to bring in Justin Fields as the veteran backup, in part to have someone capable of winning a couple of games should Mahomes be unable to start Week 1. Their young project QB is Garrett Nussmeier, the once-heralded college star from LSU who fell all the way to the 249th overall pick in the NFL draft last April.

Beyond the quarterbacks, though, is the chance to get some extra work for a rookie class — more than two dozen are in camp — that Kansas City will be leaning upon more heavily than perhaps any other point in Reid’s tenure.

Defensive back Mansoor Delane, the first cornerback taken in the draft, is expected to start Week 1, and he may not be the only first-year player on the field. The Chiefs’ other first-round pick, defensive tackle Peter Woods, could find himself playing alongside perennial Pro Bowl pick Chris Jones, while pass rusher R Mason Thomas will be counted upon to pressure the quarterback.

That makes every extra rep they can get before the veterans arrive invaluable.

“I’m super grateful for the three days (of rookie camp),” Woods said. “I told someone earlier that the veterans, they have a standard for what they want to see from us young guys. Just coming in and being able to have some days to prepare myself to be able to mesh well with the veterans, that means a lot to me. Not everyone gets a chance to do that.”

Not in Kansas City. Not the past few years.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Ant McPartlin showed off his tattooed physique as he enjoyed a family getaway in Portugal with his wife Anne-Marie Corbett on Saturday.

The presenter, 50, enjoyed a dip in the sea after heading to the beach, with his shirtless torso on full display.

Joined by close friend Jonathan Wilkes, Ant was in high spirits as he was seen laughing during his swim.

The Saturday Night Takeaway star previously shared he was enjoying some well-deserved downtime abroad, as he and longtime presenting partner Declan Donnelly recorded the latest episode of their podcast remotely.

Ant also recently shared that his holidays haven’t always been smooth sailing, as he was once caught naked by a masseuse while visiting a Thai parlour.

Speaking on their Hanging Out With Ant And Dec podcast, Ant said he’d been told about a ‘really good’ Thai massage parlour, that was close to where he and Anne-Marie were staying.

The presenter enjoyed a dip in the sea after heading to the beach, with his shirtless torso on full display

He said: ‘But a friend of ours said, ”Be careful, when you go there, they come in really quickly.”

‘So I go in and I’m getting changed. The middle door slides open. My wife’s in this one, I’m in this one.

‘She quickly whips the dress off, pops the paper knickers on, jumps on the bed.

‘I take my clothes off, I struggle to kind of get all the buttons done on my shirt.’

Ant then said he became ‘annoyed’ and just decided to pull the shirt over the top of his head, adding: ‘[I took] my strides off, my underpants off.

‘So I’m leaning over the bed to get the paper knickers and inadvertently flick the paper knickers off the bed to the other side of the bed.

‘And I’m naked and everything’s hanging out.’

Ant said he was hurried along by his wife Anne-Marie, but then struggled to get the ‘paper knickers’ out of their plastic container.

Joined by close friend Jonathan Wilkes, Ant was in high spirits as he was seen laughing during his swim

The Saturday Night Takeaway star previously shared he was enjoying some well-deserved downtime abroad, as he and Declan Donnelly recorded their podcast remotely

Ant was seen puffing on a vape as he enjoyed a day at the beach during his holiday

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Ant also recently shared that his holidays haven’t always been smooth sailing, as he was once caught naked by a masseuse while visiting a Thai parlour

Speaking on their Hanging Out With Ant And Dec podcast, Ant said he’d been told about a ‘really good’ Thai massage parlour, that was close to where he and Anne-Marie were staying

Ant and Anne-Marie tied the knot in 2021 and are parents to their son Wilder, two, and teenage daughters Poppy and Daisy from Anne-Marie’s previous marriage to Scott Corbett

These days, their daily routine is centred around walking the dogs, attending sporting events such as football matches and the tennis at Wimbledon, and holidays in Barbados

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Ant refers to Anne-Marie as his ‘rock and lifesaver’ and she took on the role of sober coach after he had a much publicised alcohol and prescription painkiller addiction

He claims he’s now the ‘happiest he’s ever been’ and that’s all thanks to the wholesome life they lead together

Ant first embraced the quiet life in 2018 while in recovery and he said she was ‘his rock’ during this time

Ant and Anne-Marie met back in 2017, when Anne-Marie began working with the TV host as his personal assistant in the TV world

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Ant has always maintained that their relationship began after they were both single saying Anne-Marie is ‘honest and good’

He told Dec: ‘They land on the ground. I’m standing like this to put my leg in, my leg’s up. As I’m doing that, the door opens and [the masseuse] comes in.

‘She can see everything and we just stare at each other for a bit too long. I went ”not yet!”

Ant said he did return to the massage parlour, but confessed he and the masseuse ‘couldn’t look each other in the eye.’

Ant and Anne-Marie tied the knot in 2021 and are parents to their son Wilder, two, and teenage daughters Poppy and Daisy from Anne-Marie’s previous marriage to Scott Corbett.

These days, their daily routine is centred around walking the dogs, attending sporting events such as football matches and the tennis at Wimbledon, and holidays in Barbados. 

Ant refers to Anne-Marie as his ‘rock and lifesaver’ and she took on the role of sober coach after he had a much-publicised alcohol and prescription painkiller addiction, which he has now overcome.

He claims he’s now the ‘happiest he’s ever been’ and that’s all thanks to the wholesome life they lead together.

Ant first embraced the quiet life in 2018 while in recovery and he said she was ‘his rock’ during this time.

He said: ‘I got out of hospital and I rented houses in the country and locked myself away and walked the dog. No TV or social media. I did nothing.

‘I barely watched the World Cup. I worked on myself and got well. For 16 years I’ve spent my birthday in Australia so I thought I’d spend it with Anne-Marie. It was gorgeous.’

Ant and Anne-Marie met back in 2017, when Anne-Marie began working with the TV host as his personal assistant in the TV world.

She was previously married to Scott, but the pair split in October 2017 – the year Ant also split from his first wife, Lisa Armstrong, who Anne-Marie also worked for and was friends with.

Ant has always maintained that their relationship began after they were both single saying Anne-Marie is ‘honest and good’.

The Lebanese-German ISIS terrorist who ploughed a vehicle into a Pride parade, killing one and injuring 29 has been shot and killed. 

Abdul Ballout rammed a van into a crowd at Berlin‘s annual Christopher Street Day Pride parade on Saturday. 

German media reported on Sunday that the 21-year-old had been shot and killed during a police operation at a garden complex in Spandau, west Berlin.

Police said it was believed he had ‘rushed towards our emergency forces with a stabbing weapon, after which police firearms were used by our SEK (Special Operations Command) Berlin’.

A spokesman added that ‘despite immediate resuscitation measures’ the suspect died at the scene.

The force said it is ‘not currently looking for others’ in connection with the attack.

Officials had launched a largescale manhunt for the terrorist, who had previously tried to join the Islamic State (IS) group. 

Police sources, quoted by German media, said Abdul B, a German citizen, had travelled to Lebanon in 2025 in an unsuccessful attempt to join the IS group.

Police officers with automatic weapons are seen in an allotment complex in the western Spandau district of Berlin on Sunday

German media reported on Sunday that the 21-year-old had been shot and killed during a police operation at the complex

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He had been in pre-trial detention until May 2026, and was ordered to take part in a de-radicalisation programme. 

In an update this afternoon, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed the number of people injured had risen from 16 to 29, three of whom have suffered life-threatening injuries.

He said ‘everything we are seeing here indicates that we have experienced an Islamist attack’.

Mr Dobrindt said the suspect ‘rammed into a crowd with a car’ and ‘then attacked the crowd with some type of blade, it might have been a machete, and also severely injured those people’.

The minister said: ‘We cannot rule out the possibility that further terrorist attacks might take place.’

Mr Dobrindt added that Abdul B was born in Germany in 2005 and has a Lebanese background. His mother became a naturalised German citizen in 2002. 

This May, he was convicted in Germany of ‘preparing a serious act of subversive violence,’ the papers report, but according to Spiegel news magazine, Abdul B received a suspended sentence.

According to Bild newspaper, he was arrested in Lebanon while attempting to join IS and sent back to Germany as he is a German citizen.

The Citroen Spacetourer used in the attack in Tiergarten park is removed from the crash scene by police

Berliners gather at Brandenburg Gate after a deadly incident in which a vehicle crashed into a crowd celebrating Pride 

People mourn together in front of a rainbow flag as they gather on July 26, 2026, at the Brandenburg Gate

A woman wipes away tears as she attends the memorial site commemorating the victims near the scene where a car rammed into a crowd

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Police form a perimeter around the vehicle which crashed into a crowd near Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride parade on Saturday

Police officers secure the area at an allotment garden complex in the Berlin suburb of Spandau

The force said it is ‘not currently looking for others’ in connection with the attack after Abdul Ballout was shot and killed

An emergency vehicle at the site of an allotment garden complex in the Berlin suburb of Spandau

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Spiegel reported that a few weeks ago there was a tip-off that Abdul B had posted a photo online posing with a weapon. 

However, a search of his apartment turned up only a toy replica. Police had been deployed to the suspect’s alleged address, around one kilometre south of the scene of the attack.

Following Saturday’s attack, Berlin’s mayor, Kai Wegner, said: ‘This was an attack on all of us. It was an attack on our way of life and coexistence… and our way of life. Ladies and gentlemen, this must end. We must be very clear about this.’

Police and prosecutors said the suspect was believed to have injured several people with a moving vehicle before one or more people left the van.

Several people were also apparently stabbed, they added.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the incident as ‘an attack on our society’.

‘What an abhorrent act in Berlin,’ Merz wrote in a post on X. He added that Germany loves freedom, ‘and we will preserve and defend that’.

The attack unfolded near the city’s annual Pride celebrations on Saturday evening, triggering a major emergency response and prompting authorities to launch a large-scale manhunt.

Police have not yet disclosed a motive but are investigating the incident as a suspected extremist attack.

According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10pm and hit several people before colliding with a tree.

The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was going on nearby at the time, following a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day.

Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ party earlier, said he had just wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that ‘something bad happened’.

He said he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that something like this could have happened at Berlin’s Pride celebrations. ‘It’s a dark day for the community,’ he added.

The Pride event next to the Brandenburg Gate was called off around 10:15pm and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted.

Organisers of the Christopher Street Day pride celebrations in Berlin have cancelled a further two events following the attack.

Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to be at one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations on Saturday, although it is unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening.

The word ‘Evacuation’ was displayed in bright colours on a large screen near the Brandenburg Gate, as people were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the Tiergarten park, with an Instagram post instructing them to leave in an ‘orderly manner’.

‘Please avoid the Victory Column and the Tiergarten. Leave the area in the direction of the main train station,’ the post read.

Have you got what it takes to win the £5k prize?

Have you got what it takes to cross The Finish Line?

The popular BBC quiz is racing back to screens this year and are looking for contestants from Northern Ireland to take on the track and possibly win £5000.

The Finish Line sees contestants put through their paces in a race format, hosted by Roman Kemp and Sarah Greene.

Filming will commence later this year in Belfast and tests quizzing credentials as they literally race down the track on moving podiums.

A description of the show reads: “In each episode, players compete across a series of qualifiers and head-to-head races for the chance to win a cash prize.

“The aim of the game is simple – answer them fast and don’t come last, and make it to the finish line before your rivals.

“Knowledge and speed combine for gripping racing action with nail-biting finishes and plenty of tension.”

Roman Kemp said: “Belfast is calling once again, and we can’t wait to meet this season’s contestants. The Finish Line is back and better than ever.”

Sarah Greene added: “I’m thrilled to be coming back for series FIVE, with even more episodes.

“When you get so many Finish Line viewers asking if and how they can take part, the answer is ‘Apply right now!’ Roman and I can’t wait to welcome you to our beautiful Belfast studio as we say, ‘let’s race!’”

If you think you have what it takes, you can apply ay https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/take-part/the-finish-line

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What’s On newsletter

Emergency services were called just after 3pm today (Sunday, July 26), to reports of a child coming off a scooter and landing in the road outside Firthmoor Community Centre on Burnside Road.

The child was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital by land ambulance.

An air ambulance was called after a child suffered head and facial injuries in a scooter crash on Burnside Road in Darlington. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

A spokesperson for North East Ambulance Service said: “We were called just after 3pm today to an incident outside the Firthmoor Community Centre on Burnside Road in Darlington, following reports of a child coming off a scooter and landing in the road.

“We dispatched two ambulance crews, a clinical team leader and a doctor in a rapid response car, who treated the patient with head and facial injuries before conveying to hospital with the doctor in a land ambulance.”

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SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday that it recalled its ambassador to Argentina after President Javier Milei insulted Brazilian officials while in their country.

The decision comes a day after Milei was in Sao Paulo participating in an event where Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, was confirmed as the presidential candidate of his father’s party.

During his speech at Saturday’s event, Milei accused Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of being a “thief” and a “delinquent,” among other things. Milei also accused Supreme Federal Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes of being “trash” after he denied the Argentine president a visit to Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest serving a 27-year sentence over a coup attempt.

The president of the Supreme Federal Court, Minister Edson Fachin, said Milei’s comments were a “disrespectful reference to a magistrate of the highest court in the country, made on Brazilian soil.”

A spokesperson for Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry said Ambassador Julio Bitelli was recalled for consultations following Milei’s statements.

Lula has not publicly addressed Milei’s remarks, but in an opinion piece published Sunday by The Washington Post in which he called U.S. tariffs against Brazil “a strategic mistake,” he asserted that “Brazil’s destiny is determined only by Brazilians without external interference, without subservience.”

Those comments come a day after Brazil’s Foreign Ministry denied visas to two U.S. State Department officials who sought to travel to the South American nation next week. The ministry did not offer an explanation.

Lula is seeking reelection and will run against Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose family has many ties with the Trump administration.

The suspect has been named by police as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese background.

He was known to police and has committed a number of crimes, officials said. He had previously been sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison, but the sentence was commuted to parole.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect had been radicalised.

German media outlets are reporting he is a supporter of Islamic State group (IS), and tried in the past – unsuccessfully – to join the organisation.

He attempted to travel to Mauritania via Turkey in May 2025 but failed, later travelling to Lebanon via Turkey with intention of heading to Syria and joining IS, according to the public prosecutor’s office.

While in Lebanon, he is alleged to have made contact with individuals he believed were IS members, and was later arrested in Lebanon in July 2025, where he spent three months in prison.

After his release, he returned to Berlin in November 2025, where he was arrested at the airport and held in pre-trial detention until May 2026 and had been ordered to take part in a de-radicalisation programme.

He is believed to be connected to the rented vehicle found abandoned in the park.

The police statement added that several people are reported to have been injured with stabbing weapons in the attack.