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American Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher has signed for Bristol Bears for the rest of the Premiership Women's Rugby season.

Maher is the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media, with 4.5 million Instagram followers and 3.2 million on TikTok.

Bears head coach Dave Ward said Maher's arrival is a "huge coup" for the club.

"Ilona is one of the biggest names in women's sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will add real value to our programme on and off the field," said Ward.

Wales could be about to make footballing history over the next two games.

Wales need to come out on top against the Republic of Ireland across the two games to ensure qualification for their first major tournament.

A record number of tickets have been sold for the first leg, at Cardiff City Stadium on Friday evening.

Rhian Wilkinson's side will be hoping the crowd of more than 16,000 will help them secure a victory to put them in the best possible situation for the second leg in Dublin on 3 December.

The prize? A spot at Euro 2025.

[Update 29/11] Wales and Republic of Ireland settled for a 1-1 draw in the Welsh capital that leaves both nations still dreaming of a place at Euro 2025.

The two nations will now meet in Dublin at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, 3 December with all still to play for after a cagey and absorbing contest in Cardiff.

Typhoo Tea has been rescued by vape maker Supreme in a £10m deal which it said would keep the brand "in British hands".

The 120-year-old teamaker fell in to administration in November as its sales slumped and debts rose.

Manchester-based Supreme makes the e-cigarette brand 88Vape and distributes nicotine and home products to supermarkets.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has thrown its weight behind American rugby star Ilona Maher, supporting her visa application to play in this season’s Premiership Women’s Rugby.

Former England and Harlequins prop Joe Marler has announced his retirement from professional rugby at the age of 34.

Marler earned 95 international caps across 12 years with the national team, winning three Six Nations Championships.

He has played his entire club career at Harlequins, winning two Premiership titles and the European Challenge Cup and making 204 appearances in the famous quarters.

His last professional match will be Harlequins' Premiership fixture against Bristol Bears at The Stoop on Friday.

When Newbury Football Club returned to Faraday Road on November 9, many saw it as the end of a six-year nightmare.

But the club’s exile now seems set to continue.

The Thames Valley Premier League has refused to approve the facilities, declaring the changing rooms to be too small and not up to league standards.

The club immediately appealed the decision, but the league has reaffirmed its stance.

The ground, rumoured to have cost around £400,000 of public money, is now unable to be used for league football by the town’s top club.

This means that West Berkshire Council will now have to alter the facilities just two weeks after they were opened.

In response to this news first being reported, West Berkshire Council issued the following statement:

“Earlier this month we were delighted to welcome Newbury FC back to play their first game at Faraday Road after several years. We’ve worked hard over the past 18 months to get things in place for the community and organised football.

“We have been made aware by the Football League that the changing rooms need to be slightly larger for Newbury FC to play there in the league and we are making adjustments to the internal layouts to increase their size which will resolve this issue. It is our intention to have these changes made by 7th December and the team playing there again.

“The Newbury Community Football Group (NCFG) and Newbury FC remain delighted with the new facilities and the Ground and look forward to their first League match back at the Ground.”

Councillors Billy Drummond, Nigel Foot and Vaughan Miller stood alongside Newbury MP Lee Dillon and mayor Andy Moore at the ground’s reopening.

Mr Moore declared it “a great delight”, explaining how “it’s been part of our strategy since 2019 to return football to this pitch”.

Mr Dillon was keen to point out how “when councils listen to what communities need, we can deliver what you want”.

But now all eyes are back on councillors, with Newbury FC forced to return to Henwick Playing Fields in Thatcham on Saturday.

The news comes at what seems to be a difficult time for the council, with more than £1.2m of cuts being planned, including fewer roads being gritted over winter and turning off street lights.

The club was originally exiled in 2018, before a suspected arson attack saw the clubhouse burned to the ground in 2021.

A key pledge from Liberal Democrat councillors in recent years involved a complete refurbishment of the ground.

The pitch itself was reconditioned by professionals, before changing rooms for players and officials were purchased, installed and plumbed in.

A stand was also purchased, delivered just in time for the official reopening earlier this month.

All at Newbury FC were delighted to finally return to Faraday Road, but their homecoming now seems to have been short lived.

Good news! Following up from this https://feddit.uk/post/18671151

The men's World Conker Championships winner has been cleared of cheating after a steel chestnut was found in his pocket.

Getting excited for the World Cup next summer!

Metal replica conker found in pocket of David Jakins AKA King Conker, first-time winner after competing since 1977

I was looking at a potential new job until it occurred to me to ask about dealing with "on-call" support.

As I work in tech, there is usually an expectation that some level of support is handled off hours in case systems go down. However this position didn't have any compensation for making yourself available and generally only 15 mins from a phone or computer to support the systems. The best they could offer was "time in-lieu" if you get called, which is basically saying they'll let you work your contracted maximum hours despite it being unsociable hours.

Fuck that.

After seeing elsewhere someone commenting that they would refuse to on-call if there was also a "return to office", because if they had to go to the office to work, then how could they possibly support it from home, it made me wonder what other things should I remember to enquire about when interviewing and asking the hiring company?

I'm replacing the light at my front door, and I dont seem to be able to find what I want.

My current light is solar powered, light and motion sensitive so it only comes on at night and dims when there is no movement. However during winter there isn't enough light during the day to charge it so that it lasts longer than a couple of hours.

I would like to replace it with a mains powered one, but keeping the only on at night, and dims when there is no movement so that it illuminates the house number. Everything I see appears to only have one or the other (unless they actually have both but the listing details are terrible), does anyone know the terminology I need to use?

Currently, landlords that have HMOs with four people or less occupying them do not need a licence.

Reading Borough Council wants to extend licensing to all HMOs across the borough for those with three to four occupants.