The mascot of the Seattle Kraken, Buoy, has narrowly escaped an encounter with a bear while on a fishing trip in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

The Kraken are a relatively new team in North America’s professional ice hockey league, the NHL. And they easily have the best name.

71
The number of weeks that American golfer Nelly Korda was ranked number one in the world. After the weekend, where Korda finished tied for 36th at the Women’s Open, she was overtaken by Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul. Korda’s 71-week reign at the top is the fifth-longest streak in LPGA history. Last year, the 27-year-old won seven events on tour, but this year she has not won a single title.

"At the end of the day, with all the noise that's been going on with the Melbourne Football Club and how public the expectations have been, I'm not surprised. Am I surprised it's happened today? Yes. But overall, given everything, I don't think anyone can be completely surprised.”
Former AFL coach Paul Roos speaking to ABC Sport regarding the sacking of Melbourne Demons coach Simon Goodwin. Roos was the coach of the Demons before Goodwin took over the role in 2017.

The City2Surf, an annual 14km fun run held in Sydney, started in 1971 with just 1500 participants. In 2024, nearly 80,000 people finished the run. But the real fun fact is that the TDA team will be running it together this Sunday, and yours truly is the Team Captain. I will be pushing them up Heartbreak Hill, don't worry. 

Former football player Jorge Costa has died aged 53. Costa famously captained Portuguese club Porto to its second and most recent Champions League title in 2004. He also represented Portugal on the international stage 50 times. Costa, who was the director of football at Porto at the time of his death, died following a cardiac arrest at the club’s facilities.

Australian cricketer Grace Harris scored 89 runs off 42 balls in her first innings for the London Spirit, leading her side to a 17-run victory over the Oval Invincibles. The match between the Spirit and the Invincibles was the season opener for The Hundred, England’s domestic short-form cricket competition. The format differs slightly from T20 in that each side faces one hundred balls in ‘sets’ of five. In T20, both teams face 20 overs, which consist of six balls.

Hawthorn’s Grace Baba has made history as the first AFLW player to be suspended before her official debut in the league. The 18-year-old was suspended for one match for striking Richmond’s Laura McClelland off the ball in a pre-season match between Hawthorn and the Tigers on Sunday. The ban will see Baba miss the Hawks' season opener against the Brisbane Lions on August 17. The AFLW season begins on 14 August, when Carlton plays Collingwood. 

When the cold kicks in, your skin can take a hit

Lacklustre hair, skin and nails... sound familiar? The Blackmores Nails, Hair & Skin Rapi-Melt is your new low-effort beauty ritual, packed with nutrients like biotin, vitamin C, B3 and silica to support your skin, scalp, and nail health from the inside out.

And the best bit? It’s a delicious berry melt - no pills, no water. Just pop it on your tongue and go.

Glow-up goals, minus the extra effort.

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. 

The Boomers, Australia’s men’s basketball team, begin their campaign to win a third straight Asia Cup tonight. The tournament is being hosted by Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Jeddah. Here’s what you need to know.

The Boomers tournament begins tonight when they take on world number 53, South Korea, in a pool stage match.

The tournament features 16 teams divided into four groups of four. After playing every other country in their group once, the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals. 

Apart from South Korea, the other two teams in Australia’s group are world number 29 Lebanon and world number 87 Qatar. The Boomers match against Lebanon on Saturday (AEST) will be a rematch of the 2022 Asia Cup final, which Australia won 75-73. 

Australia was only added to the FIBA Asia Cup in 2017, where the Boomers won the tournament on debut. After winning their second consecutive Asian Cup title at the 2021 edition, Australia are on the verge of a three-peat. Ranked number seven in the world, the Boomers are the hot favourites to win.

You can watch the FIBA Asia Cup on Kayo and Foxtel.

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The National Football League (NFL) has banned its players from using smelling salts during matches. The ban was revealed on live TV by San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle, who said he was distraught about a league-wide memo the players had received. 

Smelling salts are chemical compounds, typically containing ammonia, that release a strong odour to stimulate breathing and increase alertness. In the past, they have been used in a medical setting to revive people who have fainted. 

Now, they are commonly used by athletes to give them a physical jolt before performance.

The NFL’s memo cited concerns about the safety of players using ammonia inhalants. It pointed to a 2024 warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which suggested that the products have the potential to mask symptoms of concussion. 

It also said there was a lack of evidence for the efficacy of the product in increasing mental alertness. 

As a result, all NFL club personnel are now prohibited from providing smelling salts or any ammonia-related products on match day. 

Kittle’s teammate, linebacker Fred Warner, was being interviewed by the NFL Network at the team’s pre-season training camp before Kittle interrupted the interview. 

The tight end said: “I honestly just came up here to air a grievance. Our team got a memo today that smelling salts and ammonia packets were made illegal in the NFL, and I’ve been distraught all day.”

Kittle said that he had previously used smelling salts before every play during a match. 

Head injury assessment has become a focal point for contact sports all over the world, especially the NFL. The league has said that in the last decade it has paid out over $US1.2 billion ($AU1.85 billion) in head-injury-related settlements to former players.