James Taylor century helps England beat Australia in third ODI

James Taylor's maiden one-day international century helped England keep the series alive as they beat Australia by 93 runs at Old Trafford.

Jason Roy made 63 before Taylor anchored the England innings with 101, adding 119 with captain Eoin Morgan (62) as they posted 300-8.

After Aaron Finch fell for 53, Australia were bowled out for 207 in 44 overs as off-spinner Moeen Ali took 3-32 and leg-spinner Adil Rashid 2-41.

Australia lead the series 2-1.

Taylor, who scored 42 before he hit his first boundary and struck only five in his innings, reached three figures in the penultimate over and fell with four balls remaining.

It would have been the highest successful ODI run chase at Old Trafford if Australia had made it - but the hosts looked in control as soon as leg-spinner Rashid took the crucial wickets of Finch and captain Steve Smith.

The James Taylor rollercoaster

Taylor's stop-start ODI career took another turn with a deserved maiden hundred - but it will be interesting to see where he fits into the England side in the long term.

Having played in under-strength England sides sent to Ireland for one-off games and captaining one such team this year after being shunted up and down the order during England's calamitous World Cup campaign, Taylor has had to wait patiently for his chance.

After he carried the drinks against New Zealand earlier in the summer,the decision to rest Joe Root for this series opened the door for Taylor again - and he has wedged his foot into that door with scores of 49, 43 and 101 at first wicket down.

Despite that long wait for a boundary, the Nottinghamshire right-hander paced his innings well, running hard between the wickets for 40 overs without appearing to tire, and, though he needed to rebuild twice after losing Roy and Morgan, Taylor was never panicked into playing a false shot.

But when Root returns, England face a battle to squeeze 12 players into 11 unless they drop an all-rounder - so Taylor's uneven ride may not have finished just yet.

Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley.

England captain Rooney equalled Charlton's tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer.

And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday's match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years.

It looked like Rooney might be made to wait until England's meeting with Estonia at Wembley next month as Switzerland frustrated Roy Hodgson's side until their resistance was eventually broken.

England substitute Harry Kane pierced the deadlock with a crisp finish after 67 minutes and Rooney rewrote the record books with a thunderous penalty six minutes from time, earning a standing ovation from the Wembley gallery.

It ensured his side completed eight wins out of eight, securing top spot in Group E.

Rooney's moment of glory

A roar of anticipation swept around Wembley as soon as Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi pointed to the spot after Raheem Sterling had been fouled.

Rooney picked up the ball with the weight of expectation and history on his shoulders, but responded with an emphatic right-footed penalty that gave Swiss keeper Yann Sommer no chance, even though he got a hand to it.

As he celebrated the crowd of 75,751 inside Wembley - joined by manager Hodgson and his backroom team - rose to acclaim the 29-year-old as he was engulfed by team-mates. Even the travelling Swiss fans generously recognised the significance of the moment. History had been made.

US Open: Serena Williams beats sister Venus to reach semi-finals

Serena Williams overcame her sister Venus at the US Open to move within two victories of her first calendar Grand Slam.

The world number one held her nerve to win 6-2 1-6 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in New York.

Serena, 33, will play unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in the last four on Thursday.

The American could become the first player to win all four majors in the same year since Steffi Graf in 1988.

Venus, 35, was playing in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2010, but threatened to derail her sister's grand ambitions.

The 23rd seed battled back to force a final set, only to see younger sister Serena capitalise on an early service break and claim her 33rd straight win at the Slams.

Sisters take centre stage

The Williams sisters had played each other 26 times on the professional circuit, but their 27th contest was as highly anticipated as any.

Serena might already hold all four Slam titles, but her bid to win them all in the same year has elevated tennis in the US sporting headlines.

A lengthy preceding match meant Tuesday's night session was delayed, and expectancy rose outside Arthur Ashe Stadium as 23,000 spectators waited to take their seats for the night session.

The early excitement was tempered by Serena's excellent start, but Venus gave a reminder of why she is a seven-time major champion by taking it to a final set.

"She's the toughest player I've ever played in my life and the best person," said Serena.

"It's going against your best friend and the greatest competitor, for me, in women's tennis, so it was really difficult for me today."

Venus said: "Losing isn't fun, but probably the most gratifying part is I'm still very excited to see Serena have an opportunity to win the four majors."

Screaming Serena clinical in decider

The six-time champion began and ended the match in clinical fashion, dropping to her knees and screaming "Come on!" as she earned a match point and moments later firing down an ace.

After the first 33 minutes, Serena had succeeded in bringing a hush over the huge stadium as she began to dismantle her sister's game.

Venus came out swinging but her younger sister made the breakthrough at 3-2, and would hit 15 winners and just two errors in a high-class opening set.

Pope Francis pops out of Vatican to buy new glasses

Pope Francis drew crowds for an unusual reason on Thursday - after slipping out of the Vatican to visit an optician.

While the optician normally delivers new glasses to the Vatican, Pope Francis insisted on travelling to the shop in central Rome this time.

Large crowds gathered outside the shop as he spent an hour inside, at the end of which he insisted on paying.

Pope Francis has reportedly expressed regret at not being able to walk freely on Rome's streets.

The Pope was accompanied by an assistant, a bodyguard and several police officers on his visit.

A German tourist, Daniel Soehe, said he had failed to see Pope Francis in the Vatican earlier in the day, but then spotted him in the optician's shop.

"I told my father, 'Hey, that was better than going to St Peter's dome: Seeing the Pope in a shop trying on new glasses'," he told the Associated Press news agency.

While archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was often seen travelling on public transport or walking through the city.

In a profile in National Geographic magazine this month, Pope Francis is quoted as saying: "You know how often I've wanted to go walking through the streets of Rome - because in Buenos Aires, I liked to go for a walk in the city.

"I really liked to do that. In this sense, I feel a little penned in."

The 21-year-old building India's largest hotel network

One night, 18-year-old Ritesh Agarwal was locked out of his apartment in Delhi. It was an unfortunate minor incident that was to change his life.

Forced to check into a hotel he found himself in a situation he had already experienced several times while travelling in India.

"The receptionist was sleeping," he says.

"Sockets did not work in the room, mattresses were torn apart, the bathroom was leaking, and at the end they wouldn't let me pay by card."

"I felt if this was my problem, this had to be a problem for many travellers. Why can't India have a good standard of hotel rooms at a reasonable price?''

Four years later, at the age of 21, Mr Agarwal is now the founder and chief executive of Oyo Rooms - a network of 2,200 hotels operating in 100 cities across India - with monthly revenues of $3.5m (£2.3m) and 1,500 employees.

The firm works with unbranded hotels to improve their facilities and train staff, rebrands them with its own name, and from then on takes a percentage of the hotel's revenues.

The owner of the hotel benefits from a higher occupancy rate, thanks to Oyo's branding.

And as part of the business, Mr Agarwal has also developed an app, which guests can use to book rooms, get directions to the hotel, and once they have arrived, to use the hotels amenities, for example to order room service.

Tough journey

Despite such rapid growth, he says the early days were "extremely difficult".

"No one would believe that this could be a technology business in the future," he says.

But some people did believe in him. A similar idea - which eventually evolved into Oyo Rooms - won him a coveted Thiel Fellowship - a programme sponsored by PayPal co-creator and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel - which pays for 20 teenagers each year to stop studying and try to set up a business instead.

He used the funding from the fellowship to start the business.

Why does Gaelic make people so angry?

What's it called - Cumbernauld? OK, but what does it mean?

The standard definition comes from the Gaelic "Comar nan Allt" - "the coming together of the waters".

A 32ft Andy Scott sculpture of a woman framed by arcs of water even brings the meaning to life every day for drivers on the M80.

Simple enough you might think, but how about putting the Gaelic on the signpost? Now that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Or should that be mermaids? Or indeed maighdeanan mhara? But why do people get so angry about Gaelic?

Mostly it seems to be a question of money and relevance. A lot of people see Gaelic as not just a minority language but an irrelevant remnant of Scottish history.

Unless of course you're a hillwalker, where the mountains of Scotland are literally alive to the sound of Gaelic place names.

Census figures from 2011 put the actual number of speakers at 58,000, with 87,000 people claiming to have some knowledge of the language.

And on the benefits side, Highlands and Islands Enterprise research suggests the use of Gaelic has the potential to generate up to £148.5m a year for the economy and tourism.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government also reports an increase in children entering Gaelic medium education.

But it's this disparity between the comparative low level of understanding and the very visible presence on some rail, road and official signage that gets people going.

The signpost debate erupts online in various forms from time to time and the question of the cost and benefits comes up again and again.

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw recently tweeted his ire over the investment in signs. Indeed the inconsistency over which towns and stations may get a Gaelic translation can be baffling.

The Scottish government sets out plans to promote respect for thevisibility of and recognition of Gaelic.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "We do not recognise these figures. The Scottish government spent £28.48m on Gaelic in 2014-15 - this includes £6.53m for education and £4m on school infrastructure projects.

"Transport Scotland invested over £2m between 2003 and 2010 (around £285,000 annually) introducing bilingual signs on roads leading to west coast ferry ports and through Gaelic speaking communities. This compares to £4.8bn invested through local authorities to deliver Scottish education in 2013-14."

Meanwhile, the debate rages - and will rage on:

Queen Street or Sràid na Banrighinn?

An Gearasdan or Fort William?

Dingwall or Inbhirpheofharain?

A-mach or Exit?

Pollokshields West or Pollokshields an Iar?

Whichever way, I guess every cause needs a celebrity backer, and Gaelic TV station BBC Alba may have found one in Stan Collymore, albeit he is speaking the universal language of football.

Russia: Government mobile app to help alcoholics

The Russian government is trying to tackle the country's notoriously high alcoholism rate with the launch of a free mobile app.

The app will provide information for "people battling addictions that are very hard to fight" in order to help them to stay clean, says Yevgeny Bryun, the health ministry's leading narcotics official. He tells the M24 news website that it will offer details of nearby support meetings for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, medical advice on keeping the problem under control, and access to online radio programmes run by Alcoholics Anonymous.

The app should be up and running next year, but Mr Bryun says other resources are already being made available, including a new radio network for rehabilitation clinics, where "specialists and alcoholics will talk about recovering".

Experts are lining up in support of the plan, which they see as a serious attempt to tackle what Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called Russia's drinking-culture "national disaster". "Information technology can play a very important role here, as you can't change these patients with pills," Dr Oleg Zykov, a leading Moscow drugs specialist, tells M24.

Russian men are estimated to drink about 70% more pure alcoholthan their American counterparts, and United Nations figures suggest alcohol was the main culprit in 30% of all deaths in Russia in 2012. Government incentives, penalties and price hikes seem to be making little difference. But the ideas keep on coming. In Moscow, a pilot scheme will see the city's health department issue certificates to people who stay clean, and the head of Russia's anti-drugs service has evensuggested devoting a television channel to helping people beat their addictions.