The Cubs have a Cody Bellinger backup plan in sight, the Giants are willing to spend big, and the Rangers want to re-sign a key World Series champion.

Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his Hibernian counterpart Kevin Nisbet have both been included in the Scotland squad for the next month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Georgia. The Edinburgh-based pair take the places of Stoke’s Jacob Brown, who missed the end of the Championship season with a hamstring issue, and Southampton forward Che Adams, who recently suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained in Scotland’s win over Cyprus. Shankland, who previously made four appearances in 2019 and 2020, was called back into the fold for the Spain game in March and he has kept his place at the end of a season in which he has scored 28 goals for Hearts. Nisbet, who won all of his 10 caps in 2021, is recalled for the first time since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in February 2022. The 26-year-old has scored 12 goals for Hibs since returning to action in December. Rangers defender John Souttar is recalled after missing much of the season through injury. The 26-year-old, who has not played for the national team since last summer’s Nations League defeat in Ireland, takes the place of Norwich City centre-back Grant Hanley, who has been sidelined with an Achilles problem since early April. Blackburn centre-back Dom Hyam has retained his place after earning a late call-up for the last camp in March, while Steve Clarke has opted for consistency in the goalkeeping department with Angus Gunn, Zander Clark and Liam Kelly again called up in the absence of Craig Gordon, who remains sidelined as he tries to fight back from a double leg-break sustained on Christmas Eve. Scotland, who are top of Group A with two wins from their two games so far, face Norway in Oslo on Saturday, June 17 before welcoming Georgia to Hampden three days later. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

The Vegas Golden Knights have traded forward Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins for 2024 third-round pick

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandok escaped unharmed after his car burst into flames during a race at the Goodwood Revival event on Saturday. The former Formula 1 driver, now a regular on Sky at grand prix weekends, was driving a Ferrari 250 GTO in the Lavant Cup at the exhibition event. Yet as the 10th lap of the race drew to a close, Chandok put his foot on the throttle before the rear of the car burst into flames. The Indian driver quickly turned his car off track, onto the grass, before rapidly leaving the vehicle. Chandok later revealed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “lucky to get away with that with nothing more than a melted boot”, posted with a photo of his footwear. “Coming out of Lavant to the straight – I was in second and cruising – I heard a bang and the back wheels locked up,” Chandok said, reflecting on the incident a day later. “As I turned I saw flames, so I got right off the tracks safely to minimise oil going down and get out of the way. “Obviously I was shaken but the marshals, the owner, were all great. “The owner’s absolute first priority was that I was okay. He was extremely understanding.” There is not yet any clear explanation as to why the engine blew up in the dramatic manner it did. Read More F1 2023 season race schedule: When is the Singapore Grand Prix? Toto Wolff slams ‘moaning’ across F1 grid after Lewis Hamilton apology Alex Albon, James Vowles and the start of a Williams renaissance

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The weather gods did their best on the coast of the North Sea. Twice in fact: once at the start, once at the end. But as has been the case in Formula 1 in the last 18 months, Max Verstappen and his imperious Red Bull team had all the answers again. The inevitability of the Dutch national anthem being bellowed out on the podium – this time in front of 100,000 drenched home supporters – has become as customary as the podium ceremony itself. However, unlike many of this year’s processions for the three-time champion-in-waiting this year, this race was enthralling from start-to-finish. Unusually, team Verstappen were a step behind Sergio Perez’s strategists in the pit stop stakes early on, as rain forced a rethink for the whole pack. Once Red Bull, seemingly aware of the post-mortem should the Dutchman not win in his homeland, undercut Perez for their championship leader, the rest seemed entirely predictable. Until another heavy downpour – and Zhou Guanyu’s hefty shunt – forced a red flag eight laps from the end. Yet upon the race resumption, 45 minutes later, Verstappen maintained his lead from Fernando Alonso, who recorded an impressive finish in second for Aston Martin. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished third, after Perez was penalised with five seconds for inexplicably speeding in the pit lane. The Mexican ended up fourth. It is a ninth consecutive victory for Verstappen; his 11th this season and 46th grand prix win overall. A third-straight victory at Zandvoort, too, basking to the tune of the orange-clad contingent in the stands. A victory next week at Monza will see him overtake fellow record-holder Vettel, becoming the first man to reach double figures in consecutive wins. On this trajectory, who would possibly bet against him? Carlos Sainz came home fifth but it was a tumultuous afternoon for Mercedes. George Russell, who started in third, retired late on after a tangle with Lando Norris for seventh, while Lewis Hamilton could only manage sixth. Norris will be disappointed with P7, having started the race on the front row alongside Verstappen. What will hurt more is that the leading contenders had glimmers of hop here, straight off the bat. Just as Verstappen rolled his Red Bull into his grid box after the formation lap, flickers of rain were visible and the drama began. Whilst the hometown hero kept the lead from Lando Norris at the start – unlike at Silverstone last month – a miscalculation in the forecast set him back. But for Perez, with little to lose starting in seventh, it was a route to the front. The Mexican pitted straight away onto the intermediate tyre; a decision which proved inspired. By the time the rest of the pack, amidst pit-lane carnage in the first few laps, realised a change was a necessity Perez had an 11-second lead out in front. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou and Alpine’s Gasly, who also boldly dived into the pits after lap one, completed a helter-skelter top-three early on. Verstappen, to the bemusement of the Dutchies in the stands, had dropped down to eighth. But his ascent was inevitably rapid, passing Zhou within five laps and soon on the cusp of his team-mate. Perez had sparred with Verstappen in the early races of the season before losing his way, impressive staving off the challenge in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. Could he follow suit here? He was given no choice in the matter. By lap 11, it was time to switch back to slick tyres. The track dried out quickly and Red Bull, in full control of their bullets, opted to pit Verstappen first. By the time Perez was out of the pits himself a lap later, the Dutchman was back ahead. Normal order restored. TOP-10 - DUTCH GRAND PRIX 1. Max Verstappen 2. Fernando Alonso 3. Pierre Gasly 4. Sergio Perez 5. Carlos Sainz 6. Lewis Hamilton 7. Lando Norris 8. Alex Albon 9. Oscar Piastri 10. Esteban Ocon “Did Max undercut us?” Perez asked. “Yes, he undercut us,” came the response. You can imagine the look on the Mexican’s red-hot face underneath his helmet. The early shenanigans moved the British contingent out of contention, too. Badly timed pit stops saw Norris drop from second to outside the top-10, while an aghast Russell slumped from third to third-last. “I was forecast for a podium… f***, how did we mess this up?!” he questioned. Hamilton fared little better; a weekend to forget for the Silver Arrows. But within a matter of minutes, light rain had returned. It was too much for Williams rookie Logan Sargeant to handle, dumping his car into the wall to bring out a safety car on lap 17. The order bunched. The race then set forth a familiar tone: Verstappen gradually extended his lead, while those who’d benefited from the early downpour were slowly caught by their superior rivals. Charles Leclerc retired on lap 42; his season with Ferrari going from bad to worse. By the time heavy downpours returned with 12 laps to go, Red Bull had had their dress rehearsal. No panic stations this time – or so they thought. Perez’s spin at turn 1 in the wet allowed Alonso to take second, before Zhou’s crash triggered a red flag. Order reset in the pits, a rolling start plateaued any potential of a late shakeup right at the front. Come the chequered flag, bobbing heads in the crowd showed they were undeterred by the conditions. A victory for their man once more; no rain will stop their celebrations long into the night. Read More F1 Dutch Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and times as Max Verstappen reclaims lead F1 returns with the now inevitable question: can anyone beat Max Verstappen? Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix F1 Dutch Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and times from Zandvoort Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix F1 returns with the now inevitable question: can anyone beat Max Verstappen?

Pablo López pitched his first career shutout, a four-hitter complete with a career-high 12 strikeouts, in the Minnesota Twins’ 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night

The United States beat Germany 99-91 thanks to 34 points from Anthony Edwards and finished 5-0 in FIBA World Cup warm-up matches. But their flaws were still apparent as ever in Sunday's game."That fear factor is gone," said Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton following the Unit...

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American billionaire Shahid Khan withdrew his offer to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association on this day in 2018. The proposed deal was worth £900million and the FA was planning to spend the money on transforming grassroots facilities across the country over the next 20 years but the idea of selling the stadium, which cost £757million to build, proved to be controversial with many in the game. The owner of Fulham and NFL side the Jacksonville Jaguars felt his offer to buy Wembley proved more divisive than initially anticipated and decided to pull out. In a statement, FA chief executive Martin Glenn said: “Shahid Khan has informed us today that he will be withdrawing his offer to buy the stadium – and we fully respect his decision. “At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to us that, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is being seen as more divisive than it was anticipated to be and has decided to withdraw his proposal.” The proposed deal had the support of the FA’s senior leadership, including Glenn himself, and was also backed by the government but there were significant doubts elsewhere, most notably at the grassroots level itself. Khan’s intention was to eventually use Wembley as a home for his relocated Jaguars but was also willing to agree on several highly restrictive conditions on how he would run the national stadium, one of them being to keep the venue for all of English football’s biggest games. However, wider concerns about whether the FA was selling the family silver too cheaply, its ability to spend the money wisely and Khan’s long-term plans for the stadium all led to the downfall of the sale. In a statement, Khan, 68, said: “I’ve been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximise the benefits to the FA and game of football. “At this moment, following last week’s FA Council hearing, it appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA chairman has required. “The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divide them. “Unfortunately, given where we are today, I’ve concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favoured by the FA chairman to sell Wembley Stadium. “I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium.” Read More Dallas Cowboys bounce back to edge past Los Angeles Chargers Eddie Jones commits his coaching future to Australia Stephen Kenny focused on fixtures instead of future after Ireland beat Gibraltar David Brooks looks to impress for Wales at a major tournament Northern Ireland U21s lose late on against Serbia I quite like the noise – Ellis Genge ‘fuelled’ by England’s critics