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Britain's King Charles III on Saturday attended his first annual Highland Games in Braemar as monarch, a traditional highlight of his late mother Queen Elizabeth...

Jimmy Buffett, the all-American musician turned mogul who spun his beach bum folk-rock hits into a prolific business

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz beat Max Verstappen to top spot in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix. Sainz’s lap in the closing moments of the one-hour running in Monza drew a huge roar from the tifosi, providing the Ferrari faithful with hope a scarlet car might secure pole position at the team’s home event. Sainz, who was also quickest in Friday’s second running, saw off Verstappen by 0.086 seconds. Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes. Charles Leclerc made a mistake on his speediest lap and had to settle for fourth, half-a-second slower than team-mate Sainz. Verstappen is bidding to become the first driver to win 10 consecutive races, but Ferrari appear to have a car capable of denying the Dutchman pole. For Hamilton, the seven-time world champion will be pleased to be back at the sharp end of the pack after he finished 17th in practice on Friday. However, the British driver was still 0.541 seconds back from Sainz, with team-mate George Russell sixth. Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin, with Sergio Perez 10th and McLaren’s Lando Norris 17th. Qualifying for the 14th round of the season takes place at 4pm (3pm BST). Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Chinese Catholics flocked to Mongolia's capital to see Pope Francis this weekend, getting a glimpse of grand public expressions of religious faith unthinkable back home, and visitors expressed hope that...

Max Verstappen is eyeing a record-breaking 10th F1 win in a row as the paddock rolls around to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. Verstappen, picking up where he left off before the summer break, won his home race in the Netherlands last week to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive grand prix triumphs. The Dutchman, who now has a mammoth 138-point lead in the championship over team-mate Sergio Perez, is the overwhelming favourite in Italy having also won in Monza last year. Mercedes endured a difficult weekend last time out in Zandvoort but will be buoyed by the news that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have signed contract extensions until the end of the 2025 season. As for Ferrari, they head into their home race short of form having not won a race since Austria last year but will be hoping for a strong performance in front of the home tifosi crowd. Fernando Alonso, too, will be looking to back up his podium in Zandvoort with another top-three showing at Monza. Follow live updates from the Italian Grand Prix with The Independent Read More Lewis Hamilton shows vital statement of intent with Max Verstappen dig Carlos Sainz fastest in second practice for Italian GP but Lewis Hamilton 17th Max Verstappen shrugs off criticism: ‘They cannot appreciate dominance’

It lingered on, but the deal had been all but sealed for months. Lewis Hamilton was always extending his stay at Mercedes – where he has claimed six of his seven world titles – and George Russell has joined him in parallel. Particulars of salary and contract length, with Hamilton reportedly receiving a £10m increase to £50m a year, show the gargantuan regard in which he is still held. No barren year or two is going to change that. But Hamilton’s contract announcement came with a message. A series of them, in fact. A press release hammered home the same beat. “We have never been hungrier to win”; “we continue to chase our dreams”; “unfinished business.” Words with substance behind them not just for the fans, but for the Mercedes engineers and mechanics at Brackley and Brixworth. Frankly, it may as well have read: “Give me the car to win – and I’ll make it happen.” But it was a sharp prod in the direction of Max Verstappen, his 2021 nemesis and current runaway leader, which really rippled the currents ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Verstappen is chasing a record-breaking 10th win on the spin. “In my personal opinion, all my teammates have been stronger than the teammates Max has had,” Hamilton said, less an opinion and more a matter of fact. “Jenson, Fernando, George, Valtteri, Nico. Absolutely. Those guys were very strong and consistent. Max isn’t racing against anyone like that.” It is the sort of needle, a vital statement of intent, which has been missing from Hamilton’s repertoire since that infamous night in Abu Dhabi; the night a record-breaking crown was, in his words, “stolen” from his grasp. Mercedes’ hair-raising fall, coupled with Red Bull’s unrelenting ascendancy, has only exacerbated the sheer anger and exasperation which Hamilton must have experienced behind closed doors and, at times, in real time on team radio. Amid the 2022 season, it all inevitably raised bigger questions about his future. Will he retire? Is the fight still there? Can No 8 still be achieved? Throughout rumours which included a fairytale-esque switch to Ferrari, Hamilton’s response has been unequivocal. Despite the to-ing and fro-ing between representatives regarding his contract, his prophecy unmistakable. Mercedes is the place he wants to be – and he’s here to stay. The hard work for Toto Wolff – whose jadedness in the last 18 months has been obvious – and his team starts now. Wolff’s effective second in command Andrew Shovlin this week emphasised that they are targeting “challenging for a championship next year”. He added: “We’re optimistic we can do that… our entire focus is on making sure we can challenge them next year.” “Them” of course means Red Bull. A team – spearheaded by design guru Adrian Newey – who have maxed (no pun intended) out their potential during this ground-effect regulation era, creating the quickest car on the grid and one made in perfect harmony with their leading driver. A team which has won all 13 races – 16 including sprints – this season. A team which will take some catching. But in Formula One, a sport where every minute detail counts against the clock, a hefty deficit can gradually be eroded. Mercedes bungled their car philosophy last year with their unorthodox “no-sidepod” approach, before bungling once again by persevering with it at the start of this season. Only Monaco in May, race six of 2023, saw a more conventional car out on the tarmac. Yet despite brief flirtations with the top of the standings and Hamilton’s first podium in more than 18 months, their W14 remains some way off Red Bull’s RB19. This time, heading into 2024, there can be no excuses. A shift in the boardroom, with ex-Ferrari chief James Allison reverting to a more hands-on role, swapping with Mike Elliott who shifted back to base, is also an indicator of an evolving approach. For the next few months and the off-season, the priority is next year as opposed to short-term progress this season. Even then, 2024 may come too soon. Red Bull’s superiority – not just over Mercedes, but Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren too – is so vast that catching them will be unlikely. 2025, the last year of these current set of rules, may be a more realistic prospect. Building sustainable blocks, though, is paramount. No championships can come about without race-winning consistency first. It may explain why Hamilton, who will now race in Formula One to the eve of his 41st birthday, has once again committed to a two-year deal. The past 18 months have also shown that Russell is closely matched with his compatriot: in-house competition which should only help in the car development phase. But Hamilton has set his stall out. The 38-year-old goes by a fundamental motto: “Still we rise.” For every knockback comes a fresh challenge and opportunity to return better than ever before. Fernando Alonso’s renaissance this year, at 42, shows age is no obstacle either. His quest to be the statistical greatest of all time remains very much alive. But first, before any realistic title aspirations, Mercedes must give him the machinery to challenge. We now all wait to see how soon that could be. Read More Fernando Alonso makes Lewis Hamilton claim: ‘I’d stay with him until he’s 80 years old’ Max Verstappen shrugs off criticism: ‘They cannot appreciate dominance’ Lewis Hamilton signs new Mercedes contract Carlos Sainz fastest in second practice for Italian GP but Lewis Hamilton 17th Max Verstappen fastest in Italian GP first practice as he chases history ‘They cannot appreciate dominance’: Max Verstappen shrugs off criticism

Local faithful in Mongolia are hoping a historic visit by Pope Francis to the Buddhist minority nation this week will shine a light on the...

Pope Francis is due to meet the tiny but vibrant community of Catholics in Mongolia on Saturday, part of his first papal visit to the Buddhist-majority nation strategically...

Inmates in six Ecuadoran prisons have released the 50 guards and seven police officers who had been taken hostage in the country's latest spasm of narcotics-related mayhem...

Over the past 24 hours, the hashtag #BanTheADL has been trending on X, the platform

Shaquille O’Neal has spoken candidly about his fitness and health goals while opening up about his 55-pound weight loss. The former NBA star, 51, discussed his recent weight loss, and his “crazy goals” for himself, during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, where he revealed that he decided to change his lifestyle after realising he couldn’t “walk up the stairs”. “I was getting chubby and couldn’t even walk up the stairs. I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror,” he explained. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna lose 20’ and then I was trying to lose 20.” According to O’Neal, who weighed 406 pounds at the start of his journey, he began by exercising, with the Los Angeles Lakers legend then changing his eating habits as well. He told the outlet that his goal is now to be “between 315 and 330 [pounds],” which he said is what he weighed when he helped lead the Miami Heat to their first NBA title in franchise history in 2006. In addition to losing more weight, the basketball star, who is 7ft 1in, also wants to achieve an “eight pack,” although he joked that he’s halfway to his goal. “I’ve got a five-pack now so I’ve got seven more packs to go because I want to take my shirt off on Instagram,” he said. This is not the first time that O’Neal has opened up about his fitness transformation, as he told the outlet in December that he was inspired to get healthy after a friend called him “fat”. “I got a couple people involved - it’s all about eating right. I got some blood work done, a friend of mine called me and said: ‘You’re fat,’ and she gave me this guy’s name, and he did some blood work, and you know, ‘cause I was the athlete - I wasn’t a salad eater. I won’t pay attention to any of that. I don’t care about none of that,” he recalled at the time. According to O’Neal, he also hadn’t known the difference between “a carb and a protein”. “At 50 years old I never knew. So, he was saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that, more vegetables, my iron’s low. And once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped,” he said. Read More Shaquille O’Neal says he follows ‘respectable nepotism’ philosophy when it comes to his children Shaquille O’Neal surprises family by paying for their washer and dryer at Home Depot

Lewis Hamilton finished only 17th in practice for the Italian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez crashed out. Carlos Sainz provided Ferrari’s home fans with reason for cheer by posting the fastest time at the Italian team’s home track in Monza. The Spaniard, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday, edged out McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.019 seconds with championship leader Max Verstappen in fifth place, two tenths back. But seven-time world champion Hamilton, who signed a new £50million-a-year contract with Mercedes earlier this week, ended up only 17th of the 19 drivers who set a time after bemoaning the lack of straight-line speed. Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell finished ninth, 0.821sec slower than Sainz. While Verstappen has romped to 11 wins from 13 this season – and could become the first driver in history to seal 10 consecutive victories on Sunday – his team-mate Perez has endured a turbulent campaign. And the Mexican faced more misery here after he lost control of his Red Bull machine through the high-speed Parabolica. Perez ran on to the gravel on the exit of the corner leading into the main straight and skidded across the sandtrap before nudging the wall. Perez was able to limp back to the pits but team principal Christian Horner was left grimacing on the Red Bull pit wall. Before his spin, Perez had displayed encouraging pace – finishing third, 0.185 behind Sainz – and unusually ahead of Verstappen. Verstappen, 138 points clear in the world standings on his unstoppable march towards a hat-trick of titles, ended the opening running at the top of the time charts. But his best effort in the day’s concluding running was scuppered by traffic. The 25-year-old wanted to go for another timed lap, only for his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to tell him “it isn’t qualifying”. The Dutch driver was also fined 500 euros (£428) for breaking the 50mph pit-lane speed limit by 3mph. However, given his crushing dominance this year, he will head into the remainder of the weekend as the favourite to land another win and better the record he shares with Sebastian Vettel. McLaren have bounced back from a poor start to the year following an upgrade at June’s Austrian Grand Prix. Behind Norris in second place, Oscar Piastri finished fourth. Elsewhere, Charles Leclerc, who won here to the delight of the Tifosi in 2019, was sixth, one place ahead of the ever-impressive Alex Albon in his Williams, with Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin. Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll failed to set a lap after he broke down with a fuel system failure in the opening moments. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How Max Verstappen equalled Sebastien Vettel’s record for consecutive race wins Max Verstappen reveals Sebastian Vettel prediction as he closes on GP record run Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in F1 history – Lando Norris