Five tries from Danny McGuire saw the Super League champions, Leeds, avoid the ignominy of ending the Magic Weekend at the Etihad Stadium out of the play-off positions.

If some of the circumstances of her retirement seem fairly poignant, then at least Henrietta Knight has contrived a sequel that confounds convention in satisfyingly consistent fashion. For the trainer who won so many hearts in her oddball partnership with Terry Biddlecombe has arranged to transfer most of their horses to the care of another hobbling, plain-talking veteran of debilitating sporting triumph, in Mick Channon.

Warming climate may have enticed first pair of the Continental herons to mate in Britain

Residents of a quake-hit area of north-east Italy have woken in their cars, tents and in school gyms as aftershocks continued following a 6.0 magnitude earthquake that killed seven people and toppled centuries-old buildings.

As Jessica Ennis crossed the finish line on the specially constructed sprint strip stretching down Deansgate yesterday, she punched the air in celebration. Six days out from her meeting with her principal Olympic rivals in the Hypo Heptathlon at Götzis in Austria, the Sheffield woman had not only beaten two of the world's leading 100m hurdles specialists – the Olympic champion, Dawn Harper, and World Championship silver medallist, Danielle Carruthers – at their own game but she had done so in a personal best time.

Professional body piercer Dave Hurban is a man attached to his iPod. Literally.

Shoppers snapping up luxury looks while sitting on the sofa each evening have helped online fashion site Net-a-Porter match the sales growth of its stablemates like Cartier and Montblanc at designer brands giant Richemont.

Shoppers snapping up luxury looks while sitting on the sofa each evening have helped online fashion site Net-a-Porter match the sales growth of its stablemates like Cartier and Montblanc at designer brands giant Richemont.

If you ask me: We've included a list of the 100 sexiest women who wouldn't look at you twice

City manager 'feels 90' after seeing his side win title in most dramatic fashion

Harlequins 25 Northampton Saints 23

There’s a gathering of tribes in the city. “Our languages, our backgrounds, our cultures are different, but together we have been drawn to this place…” No, it’s not the Olympic village – we’re in Caledonian Park, and Babel isn’t part of any Olympic fandango (though it is brought about by World Stages, a project between eight theatres celebrating ‘London in the world’.)

'My husband encouraged me to be more myself – to be what I'm really like...'