CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — The first ever rugby tour by the British & Irish Lions Women's team will be preceded by a warmup match on home soil against France.
The game will take place in Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Aug. 27, ahead of the Lions squad making its historic trip to New Zealand for a three-test series.
There has been a men’s British and Irish Lions team since 1888, taking the best players from the national sides of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland for tours to New Zealand, South Africa or Australia every four years, on a rotation basis. The men's team has played “home” warmup games in 2005, 2021 and 2025.
“For our British & Irish Lions Women’s team to step onto the field for the first time, on home soil and in front of our fans, is going to be incredibly special,” said Lions head coach Jo Yapp.
The tour of New Zealand begins on Sept. 4 with a match against a Black Ferns XV in Whangārei. The first test against New Zealand will be in Auckland on Sept. 11.
There will be a midweek game against an Invitational XV in Hamilton on Sept. 14 before the final two tests, in Wellington and Christchurch.
See AP’s full rugby coverage here
FILE- Fans gather for the Oasis reunion concert at the Principality stadium on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Cardiff. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
Iran said Wednesday that a cargo ship has sunk after hitting a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, a hospital in Gaza said that a woman was killed in an Israeli strike. And Iran has executed a man accused of an “armed operation” against the theocracy in support of exiled former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Wednesday. Read our full coverage here.
A cargo ship has sunk after hitting a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps navy said. It was the first time Iran has reported a ship sinking after hitting a mine during the war.
There were few details, including about the fate of the crew. State television quoted a Guard statement saying the ship was traveling on what it called an illegal and dangerous route when it hit the mine Wednesday morning. The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the images.
The unidentified ship, which was shown tilted in the water and spewing a thick plume of smoke, was carrying 2,500 containers, the broadcast said.
Iran has repeatedly warned ships from trying to transit through the strait without its approval. The U.S. military has been guiding ships through the strait on a route nearer to Oman's coast.
The headquarters of the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco were hit in an overnight Houthi strike, two regional officials said, damaging the offices of the firm's chief executive and other top officials. It was the latest demonstration of the Iran-backed rebels’ ability to attack high-profile targets.
There were no casualties in the attack, which the officials said targeted the top three floors of a building used by top executives in the city of Dharan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
Earlier Wednesday, new explosions were heard in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, residents said, as blame again quickly fell on Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
The sight of smoke rising in recent days from some of Saudi Arabia’s most sensitive facilities has rattled the region and global oil markets while increasing questions for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he is evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis.
— By Samy Magdy in Cairo
An Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City killed one woman early Wednesday, according to officials at Shifa hospital.
Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas militant but was still assessing the strike's outcome, without elaborating.
Just over a year since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, Israel still launches near-daily deadly strikes on the Palestinian enclave.
More than 1,490 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn’t give a breakdown of civilians and militants, but says most of the dead are women and children.
Iran on Wednesday hanged a man accused of an “armed operation" against the theocracy in support of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah.
A report by Mizan, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Republic's judiciary, identified the man as Ali Sina Mostafavi and said that he opened fire earlier during the Iran war and wounded several people, including a child, in the southeastern city of Kerman.
Executions of people on similar charges have prompted an international outcry. U.N. experts this month called on Iran to halt all executions.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
Palestinians walk past buildings damaged during the Israel-Hamas war, in Gaza City Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A Palestinian man walks in a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Mikhmas, east of Ramallah, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Displaced Palestinians gather to fill containers with fresh water from a supplier in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
