• Sport
    AFP News

    Rocket man Messi ready to fire MLS lift-off

    Argentine superstar Lionel Messi's impending move to Inter Miami is set to be the biggest deal in the history of Major League Soccer and turbo-charges the league's aim to enter the American mainstream.While Pele's years in the old North American Soccer League (NASL) were only seen by fans at the stadium and on the occasional live broadcast, Messi's matches in the pink shirt of Inter Miami will be available worldwide.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    McIlroy: Saudi, PGA Tour deal 'good for professional golf'

    Rory McIlroy on Wednesday welcomed the PGA Tour's shock merger with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf but said rebel players who joined the upstart circuit should not be granted an automatic return to the sport.However McIlroy is adamant that there should be no automatic pathway back into the sport for the players who switched to LIV last year. 

  • Lifestyle
    AFP News

    Courtney Dauwalter: No loneliness for the long-distance runner

    Some time during a 200-mile race, maybe when she has been awake all night, ultra runner Courtney Dauwalter will probably start hallucinating.Dauwalter sits at the apex of an elite group of ultra runners -- people who run 50, 100 or 200 miles (322 kilometers) in one go.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Alcaraz books Djokovic French Open clash as Sabalenka condemns Ukraine war

    Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will square off in a blockbuster French Open semi-final, while Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka condemned outright her country's role in the Ukraine war on Tuesday after reaching the last four at Roland Garros.The 36-year-old Serb is in his 12th Roland Garros semi-final -- his 45th at the majors -- and faces Alcaraz for a place in the final after the world number one thrashed 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

  • News
    AFP News

    'Shattered': Singapore to end 180 years of horse racing

    Singapore's horse racing community spoke of its anger and heartbreak Tuesday with the city-state's only racecourse set to close, signalling the end of the sport there after more than 180 years.180 years of tradition just gone like that?

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Football's future? Man City eye first Champions League win for state-backed club

    Saturday's Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan in Istanbul could mark a definitive turning point in European football.Beaten by Real Madrid in the semi-finals last year, City exacted revenge on the great aristocrats of European football in this season's semi-finals.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Heat surge past Nuggets 111-108, level NBA Finals at 1-1

    The Miami Heat handed the Denver Nuggets their first home defeat of the playoffs Sunday, surging in the fourth quarter for a 111-108 victory that leveled the NBA Finals at one game apiece.Miami, who were dominated in a game one defeat, vowed to step it up and they started strong, leading by 11 with less than five minutes to play in the first quarter.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    French Open day 9: Three matches to watch

    Iga Swiatek targets a place in the French Open quarter-finals on Monday as she closes in on becoming the first woman in 16 years to win back-to-back titles at Roland Garros.Until this year, he had never passed the second round at Roland Garros while last year he managed just four games in an opening rout at the hands of Novak Djokovic when he was ranked a lowly 99.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Attacking icon Ibrahimovic says goodbye to football

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic brought the curtain down on a long, trophy-packed career on Sunday when he unexpectedly announced his retirement from football.Over the course of his career Ibrahimovic won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, although his only major European trophy was the 2017 Europa League with Manchester United.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Djokovic, Alcaraz into French Open quarters as showdown looms

    Novak Djokovic swept into the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th straight year on Sunday as world number one Carlos Alcaraz breezed past Lorenzo Musetti to stay on a collision course with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.Alcaraz looked every part the tournament favourite as he dismantled the talented Musetti in straight sets to return to the French Open last eight.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Djokovic takes on French Open outsider as Alcaraz faces Musetti

    Novak Djokovic steps up his bid Sunday for a record 23rd men's Grand Slam singles title against Peruvian outsider Juan Pablo Varillas at the French Open, while world number one Carlos Alcaraz faces a tricky test in Lorenzo Musetti.Musetti, the 17th seed, beat Djokovic en route to the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals earlier this year and is one of four men left yet to drop a set at the French Open.

  • Sport
    AFP News

    Real Madrid great Benzema agrees to leave club

    Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has agreed a deal to end his glittering era at the club, the Spanish giants said Sunday."Real Madrid and our captain Karim Benzema have agreed to put an end to his brilliant and unforgettable era as a player at our club," said Los Blancos in a statement.

  • News
    AFP News

    Nepali guide rescues climber from Everest death zone

    A Nepali guide abandoned his client's Everest summit bid to rescue a Malaysian climber in a deadly mountaineering season that has seen at least twelve deaths.Nepal issued a record 478 permits for Everest to foreign climbers this season and about 600 climbers and guides reached the top.