Leif Ames

The new season kicks off on Wednesday night. Our writers have their say on the MVP, rookies to watch and the disasters waiting to happen

Quarterbacks living under center. The NFL has developed into a shotgun league, where most quarterbacks take the majority of their snaps three to seven yards away from the center. But the increase in efficiency when it comes to snaps taken right behind the center should have coaches directing their quarterbacks to do more of it. Matthew Stafford, Caleb Williams, and Sam Darnold led the way in 2025, and others will follow. DF

• Winner claims 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) victory

• Epic quarter-final ends after 3.30am in New York

As the official 10th day of play in New York moved deeper into the remote hours of the new morning, every passing game imbued Carlos Alcaraz with greater despair. From his focused start, Alcaraz’s intensity had flatlined and he could barely put a ball in court. Alcaraz lost nine consecutive games against Ben Shelton and seemed to have nothing left.

Instead, the contest would develop into one of the most remarkable matches of the year as Alcaraz dragged himself into a fifth set and came so close to orchestrating another seemingly impossible comeback. This time, he was denied by a brave, defiant Shelton, who refused to be shaken by the status of his rival or the prospect of securing the greatest win of career after four hours and 29 minutes on court. At 3.33am, the sun not long from rising over Flushing Meadows yet a half-full Arthur Ashe Stadium still hollering until the end, Shelton closed out with a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7) win over Alcaraz to reach the semi-finals of the US Open.

• Shelton sees off Alcaraz in latest ever US Open finish

• Tiafoe breaks Michelsen’s heart with epic comeback

First set: Shelton 3-2 Alcaraz* (*denotes next server)

An even breezier service game from Shelton, who holds to love. During the changeover, the cameras pan to a few of the celebrities in the audience. There’s Kevin Hart taking it in from a suite. And, of course, there’s USA and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, Shelton’s girlfriend, watching from his player box. We’ve also heard Simone Biles is in the building somewhere.

A year since his assassination, the movement Kirk started is reckoning with the void he left behind - and a revolution that eats its own

As Charlie Kirk’s family, friends, and colleagues barreled through the sky to Utah, one staffer kept throwing up in her mouth. Each time she quietly swallowed. She did not want to add to the distress of the others sitting in deathly silence on the jet – especially Kirk’s 36-year-old wife, Erika. She was already a widow.

Those who work at Turning Point USA – the ultraconservative activist organization based in Phoenix, Arizona, that Charlie Kirk founded – believe deeply in a Christian God. Many also believe that Satan and his deputies vie for influence on Earth. Earlier that day, on 10 September 2025, those forces had seemingly persuaded an angry young man to hide on a roof at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was speaking to 3,000 people, with a loaded rifle.

Brent crude rises by more than 2% after latest fire between US and Iran in Gulf and Houthi attacks on Saudi cities

• Business live – latest updates

The price of oil has risen above $100 a barrel for the first time since July as the escalating conflict in the Middle East threatens further disruption to global supplies.

Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose 2.1% past the milestone after tensions stepped up in the Gulf amid the latest tit-for-tat exchange of fire between the US and Iran.

• Tiafoe breaks Michelsen’s heart with epic comeback

• Reach out to Bryan on Bluesky or by email

First set: Shelton 3-2 Alcaraz* (*denotes next server)

An even breezier service game from Shelton, who holds to love. During the changeover, the cameras pan to a few of the celebrities in the audience. There’s Kevin Hart taking it in from a suite. And, of course, there’s USA and Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, Shelton’s girlfriend, watching from his player box. We’ve also heard Simone Biles is in the building somewhere.

Research finds temperature and amount of hot drinks consumed heightens possibility of developing disease

Drinking very hot tea and coffee triples the risk of developing cancer of the gullet, the world’s largest study of the link between them has found.

The findings show that people should let very hot cups of tea and coffee cool down until they are comfortable to drink, in order to reduce their risk of the disease, cancer experts said.

Company behind ChatGPT says 10,000 of its AI systems cracked the Navier-Stokes problem in 88 hours

OpenAI claims to have solved a major mathematics problem that has stumped humans for nearly a century after spending millions of dollars on the artificial intelligence-led endeavour.

The company behind ChatGPT said it had cracked the Navier-Stokes problem, one of seven Millennium Prize Problems published by the Clay Mathematics Institute to highlight some of the biggest unsolved puzzles in the field.