Breauna Dorris believes her mother was attacked by the alligator while she was walking to her homeless camp in the dark

Argentina's first ever meeting with Chile in the Rugby World Cup on Saturday will be a "very tough, rough" match, the Pumas' forwards...

DJ Paul Gambaccini previously claimed that Lesley Douglas had an 'almost obsessive' commitment to Russell Brand and treated him as her 'pet'

By Sinead Cruise and Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON Goldman Sachs and HSBC are among a group of five banks

Much like most of the scenarios thrown up on his journey to the top echelons of motorsport, Oscar Piastri takes everything consummately in his stride. Strikingly level-headed and rational – notwithstanding an unflappable self-belief in his ability behind the wheel – a week which started with the 22-year-old signing a new contract with McLaren until the end of 2026 ended with his first podium in Formula 1 at Suzuka. It was quite a few days for the rookie Australian, whose meteoric rise through the ranks shows no signs of subsiding. What’s more, it was a weekend that fully justified Piastri’s bold a year ago, when the soap opera of his first forays into Formula 1 dominated the paddock. It was a storyline of dreams for Netflix’s Drive to Survive producers when Piastri, a test driver at Alpine, rebuked the Enstone-based team who’d announced his 2023 drive as a replacement for Fernando Alonso. We would later learn that the 2021 F2 champion had already penned a deal to join McLaren, with Zak Brown and the papaya targeting fresh blood following Daniel Ricciardo’s season of underachievement. It was a line of attack which carried much risk. Alpine beat McLaren to fourth in the constructors’ championship last year and many onlookers saw the switch as unwise from a competitive viewpoint. More pointedly, though, the impact it would have on Piastri’s moral standing in the sport was something emphasised by then Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer. The Renault-works outfit had invested millions of pounds into Piastri’s development, with countless test opportunities and financial backing through the junior series. But Piastri, managed by nine-time race winner and fellow Australian Mark Webber, was undeterred. He was set to be overlooked by Alpine for 2023 before Alonso’s surprise switch to Aston Martin and, feeling undervalued, he went on the search for other options fully aware he could ill-afford another season on the sidelines after not racing in 2022. A loan to Williams was on the table but McLaren, an eight-time constructors’ champion and giant of the sport despite their recent struggles, was his preference. The start was not smooth, though. McLaren acknowledged at the start of the year that they had not met their off-season development targets and the mood at the car launch at their impressive Woking HQ in February was decidedly pessimistic. Piastri’s F1 debut, in Bahrain, ended in retirement. But those early shortcomings were no fault of Piastri, despite a year on the sidelines. It is one of the more questionable rules of Formula 2 that the winner then cannot race in the series the next year, often leaving the champion in the wilderness. Brazilian racer Felipe Drugovich, last year’s champion, has acted as a reserve this year for Aston Martin and is struggling to find an F1 seat next year, though Williams has recently been mooted. This year’s F2 leader, Theo Pouchaire, is a test driver with Alfa Romeo but now looks set for a year without racing in 2024. It would make sense, it seems, to offer an exception should the champion not land a seat at the top table. Nonetheless, after scoring his first points following his home race at Albert Park, Piastri had to wait until Austria in July for a raft of game-changing upgrades which handed him and Lando Norris a shot at regular top-10 finishes. He has since scored in five of the last seven races, as well as a second-place finish in the sprint race in Belgium. Enough for McLaren to swiftly extend his deal. “It’s always nice to have a sense of security,” said Piastri. “It made sense from my point of view and from a team point of view. That longevity and continuation together – [it’s] nice confidence for us all.” It continues the Melbourne local’s meteoric ascent. He landed a junior role at Alpine, formerly Renault, by winning the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019. A year later, he won Formula 3 before his F2 victory in 2021. A decision at 15 years of age to relocate to the UK for his racing was reaping the rewards. Now, after a first podium following a front-row start at Suzuka, Piastri has emerged as genuine competition for Norris – long labelled the team’s No 1. “I think it exceeded most people’s expectations from what he’s been able to achieve already this season,” Norris said on Thursday, after Piastri penned his extension. “He’s pushed me a lot – it’s not a nice thing, it’s not what I want – but he’s done a very good job so congrats to him for [continuing for] another few years.” As the Brit hinted, the intra-team jousting is not something he has been used to in recent years. Crucially at this point, the pair get on well – both young, affable and with bundles of potential. But Piastri has emerged as a genuine rival to Norris at McLaren. The Brit’s regular links to the second seat at Red Bull, despite a contract at McLaren until the end of 2025, are likely to have accelerated Brown’s willingness to pin down Piastri. But should Norris stay, it is undoubtedly a driver pairing capable of race victories in the future, should they be given the tools to do so. In contrast to the start of 2023, it is now a time of much optimism for McLaren. The team signed ex-Red Bull chief Rob Marshall as their technical director in May. David Sanchez will join the engineering department in the new year from Ferrari. Andrea Stella, who replaced Andreas Seidl as team principal last year, works well in tandem with Brown. At this rate, they’re likely to haul in Aston Martin for fourth in the constructors’ championship too, with Alpine long left behind in sixth. “What!! So we are doing this for another 3 years???” comically tweeted Piastri’s mum, Nicole, after the new contract was announced last week. That looks set to be a minimum. Should Piastri’s progress continue at the current trajectory, the Australian will be in Formula 1 for a while longer yet. Read More Lando Norris claims McLaren on ‘an upward trend’ after double podium ‘Shocker of a race’: Christian Horner pulls apart Sergio Perez’s display in Japan Lewis Hamilton frustrated by Mercedes strategy in Japanese Grand Prix ‘Shocker of a race’: Christian Horner pulls apart Sergio Perez’s display in Japan Christian Horner reveals Max Verstappen ambition ahead of Japan victory F1 Japanese Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and results at Suzuka

Russian crude oil supply surged 50 per cent this spring despite sanctions imposed by the G7 countries in the backdrop of continuing war in Ukraine, data from commodities tracker and analytics company Kpler showed. An analysis of shipping and insurance records from August showed almost three-quarters of all seaborne Russian crude flows travelled without any western insurance in August, reported the Financial Times. The move was a lever enacted by the G7 nations, the European Union and Australia which imposed a $60-a-barrel price cap last December as the coalition looked to restrict Russia’s ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine. The significant surge confirms Russia’s ability to dodge the cap imposed by Western nations and continue to sell more of its oil at prices competing with international market rates. Russia’s oil revenues are, however, likely to go up due to constant increases in crude prices and a reduction in the discount on its own oil, estimates by the Kyiv School of Economics showed. Russia cut its seaborne diesel and gasoil exports by nearly 30 per cent to about 1.7 million metric tons in the first 20 days of September from the same time in August. Russia’s temporary ban on exports of gasoline and diesel to most countries, announced last week, was expected to further tighten supplies. In April this year, Russian crude oil exports reached back above to levels seen before Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion, despite the ratcheting up of Western sanctions. India and China accounted for 90 per cent of Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, according to figures by Kpler. The Asian giants are each buying an average of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), absorbing the shortfall in exports to European nations that previously accounted for two-thirds of Russian crude. But in August, India’s import of Russian oil dipped to a seven-month low after steady purchase during the course of the war, amid lower discounts for Moscow’s grades and planned maintenance outages at some plants. Since Russia’s full scale war, India had steadily increased its purchases of discounted Russian oil. Indian imports of Russian oil hit a record high in October, with the country becoming India’s top oil supplier in terms of bpd. Despite Western sanctions designed to stop funds reaching Mr Putin’s war chest following his Ukraine invasion, Russia’s crude oil exports have actually risen from 3.35 million bpd in 2022 to 3.5 million bpd in the first quarter of 2023, Kpler said. After India and China, the two largest buyers of Russian crude are now Turkey and Bulgaria. Read More ‘Panic’ grips Putin’s military and milbloggers over Ukraine’s advances on battlefield Ukraine-Russia war – live: ‘Panic’ among Putin’s troops as they ‘face threat of encirclement’ in Verbove Russia strikes Odesa, damaging port, grain infrastructure and abandoned hotel Oil prices have risen. That's making gas more expensive for US drivers and helping Russia's war France's Macron to unveil latest plan for meeting climate-related commitments in the coming years

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NFL fans are set to feast again as there is another Monday Night Football doubleheader on tap in Week 3. What four teams will be playing under the Monday night lights?

By Alun John LONDON The pound dipped to its lowest in six months against the dollar and its