- Sunday, 22 February 2026
BBC
Atletico say they have avoided stadium closure
April 13: Atletico Madrid said that they will not have to close part of their stadium for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg with Manchester City.On Monday, Uefa ordered Atletico to close at least 5,000 seats at the 68,456-capacity Wanda Metropolitano.That was in response to "discriminatory behaviour" by Atletico fans during last week's first leg in Manchester.But Atletico said that punishment has been suspended after a request to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).In a statement, the club said "all members and fans with a season ticket or seat" could attend the game.Atletico was also told by Uefa to display a Uefa banner reading '#NoToRacism', although the club have not said whether that has also been overturned.City takes a 1-0 lead into Wednesday's game thanks to Kevin de Bruyne's goal at Etihad Stadium last week.
Andrew McDonald named coach of Australia's men's cricket team
April 13: Andrew McDonald has been appointed head coach of Australia's men's team.McDonald, who has been part of Australia's coaching team since 2019, has signed a four-year contract with Cricket Australia.The former Test all-rounder replaces Justin Langer, who left the role in February after rejecting a short-term contract extension."I am honoured to be given this incredible opportunity for what is an exciting period ahead," McDonald said.McDonald took interim charge of Australia's Test and limited-overs teams on the recent tour of Pakistan.Australia won the two-match Test series 1-0, lost the one-day series 2-1 and won the sole T20."The journey so far has been particularly pleasing," McDonald said."My plan is to build on the growth, depth and experience of the squad while working collectively with the group and across the game."McDonald previously led Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades to all three domestic titles during the 2018-19 season and coached Leicestershire in county cricket.He played four Tests for his country and had a 13-year first-class career with his home state Victoria and Leicestershire in England.Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley described McDonald as the "clear choice" for the role."Andrew has already shown he is an outstanding head coach and the vision he outlined for the roles was both impressive and exciting," he said."We are proud of the way the team played and the respect shown throughout the tour of Pakistan under the leadership of Andrew, Pat [Cummins] and Aaron [Finch]."Former coach Langer led Australia to the Men's T20 World Cup title during his four-year tenure.He oversaw the 4-0 Ashes victory over England on home soil earlier this year but it was widely reported the players were increasingly unhappy with his leadership style.
Djokovic beaten in Monte Carlo second round
April 13: World number one Novak Djokovic went down to a shock defeat by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on his return to the ATP Tour at the Monte Carlo Masters.Djokovic was playing in his first tournament since February after missing the US hard court swing because of restrictions over his Covid-19 vaccination status.Davidovich Fokina won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 to reach the third round.Djokovic had his serve broken nine times by his Spanish opponent.It is the first time the 34-year-old Serb - whose last match was a quarter-final defeat in Dubai - has lost an opener at a tournament since 2018."This win is so special to me because I grew up watching Nole [Djokovic] and I'm a big fan of his," said world number 46 Davidovich Fokina."I knew Nole didn't have the confidence because he didn't play a lot this season. I had my chances in the beginning of the match and I took them."When he won the second set it was tough mentally, but I work hard to be focused. I had to be prepared for the war."Earlier, Britain's Dan Evans cruised past Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets to reach the second round in Monte Carlo.The British number two was dominant in the first set but the second was more open, Bonzi taking a 4-1 lead before Evans rallied to win 6-0 7-6 (7-4).Evans, a semi-finalist last year, will face David Goffin in the next round after he defeated Jiri Lehecka in straight sets.
Victoria awarded 2026 Commonwealth Games
April 13: The 2026 Commonwealth Games have been officially awarded to the Australian state of Victoria.It will mark the sixth time the Games have been hosted by Australia, but it is the first time a state or region has been awarded the multi-sport event.The 2026 Commonwealths will be staged across several cities, including Melbourne, which hosted the 2006 Games.Sixteen sports have been confirmed on the initial programme, with up to seven more sets to be added.The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) entered an 'exclusive dialogue' period with Victoria's authorities in February."The Commonwealth Games Federation is absolutely delighted to award the 2026 Commonwealth Games to Victoria," said CGF president Dame Louise Martin."Commonwealth Games Australia and the Victorian Government have set out a bold and innovative vision that provides an exciting new blueprint for hosting our major multi-sport event."Australia's Gold Coast hosted the last edition of the Games in 2018. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will take place in Birmingham from 28 July-8 August.
Psychedelic frees up depressed brain, study shows
By Philippa Roxby, April 13: Psilocybin, a drug found in magic mushrooms, appears to free up the brains of people with severe depression in a way that other antidepressants do not, a study has found.The results, based on brain scans of 60 people, mean the drug could treat depression in a unique way, the researchers say.Psychedelics are being studied to treat a range of mental health disorders.Patients with depression are warned not to take psilocybin on their own.A synthetic form of the drug is tested on people in trials under strict medical conditions, with psychological support from experts provided before, during and after it is taken.Prof David Nutt, study author and head of the Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic Research, said the latest findings on psilocybin were "exciting" and "important".With depression, the brain can get stuck in a rut and locked into a particularly negative way of thinking, he said.But when given psilocybin, people's brains opened up and became "more flexible and fluid" up to three weeks later.This could be seen in increased connections between regions of the brain when patients were scanned. These patients were more likely to experience an improvement in mood months later.Similar changes were not seen in the brains of people treated with a standard antidepressant."This supports our initial predictions, and confirms psilocybin could be a real alternative approach to depression treatments," Prof Nutt said.Brain activityPsychedelics are a type of hallucinogenic substance which affects all the senses, altering a person's thinking, sense of time and emotions.While regular antidepressants are taken every day, psilocybin may only need to be taken once or twice to produce the same effect - but further research on more patients for longer is needed to confirm that.The results, published in Nature Medicine, are taken from two studies. In the first, everyone received psilocybin; and in the second - a randomised controlled trial - some were given the drug while others were given a different antidepressant.All participants also received talking therapies with registered mental health professionals. Brain scans were taken before, and then one day or three weeks after taking the therapy.Prof Robin Carhart-Harris, the senior study author, said: "We don't yet know how long the changes in brain activity seen with psilocybin therapy last, and we need to do more research to understand this."We do know that some people relapse, and it may be that after a while their brains revert to the rigid patterns of activity we see in depression."Earlier findings from the studies showed a reduction in symptoms of depression with the psilocybin therapy - but the researchers were not sure how and why it worked.Now they want to test their theory of changes in brain connectivity on other mental health illnesses, such as anorexia.
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