Rugby-Soccer crazy Ethiopians embrace the oval ball
ADDIS ABABA, March 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopians strolling on Addis Ababa's Jan Meda playing pitches have been shocked for the last few months by what many of them believe to be a group of foreign men locked in a violent brawl.
"'What kind of people are doing this?' I thought when I first saw it," said Dawit Tekle Beyene, a 31-year-old who works at a donkey sanctuary. "They are fighting each other." -- Summary
Eight dead as Sri Lankan cricket team ambushed in Pakistan
MASKED gunmen have opened fire on the Sri Lankan cricket team's bus in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, killing at least eight people and wounding six team members, police say.
The cricket tour was called off following Tuesday's attack and arrangements made to fly the visiting team straight home.
Six police officers and two civilians died in the attack, police said.
Star Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Samaraweera was injured and hospitalised while Captain Mahela Jayawardene and coach Australian Trevor Bayliss were among those who sustained minor injuries, officials said. -- Summary
Up to 200 elite European football matches, including three Champions League fixtures, are under investigation after police launched a series of raids in a mass match-fixing probe.
Police carried out 50 raids across Europe arresting 15 people in Germany and two in Switzerland.
Bochum state prosecutor Andreas Bachmann said at a news conference overnight initial estimates put the illegal gains at about 10 million euros ($14.85 million) but he added that the figure was just "the tip of the iceberg". -- Summary
World football's governing body FIFA has suspended the Iraqi Football Association (IFA) until further notice "because of government interference".
"In accordance with FIFA statutes, the clubs and representative teams of Iraq are no longer permitted to take part in international matches, whether friendly or competitive," read a statement on the FIFA website.
"Furthermore, the IFA is deprived of its right to vote at any congresses held by international bodies and is no longer entitled to receive financial assistance."
Despite FIFA's decision, Iraq's women's under-16 team will be allowed to compete in a youth tournament organised by the Norwegian football federation that is due to take place in Jordan from November 22-29.
On Tuesday, FIFA gave the authorities in Baghdad a 72-hour ultimatum to reinstate the IFA or risk suspension from international football. -- Summary
Skateistan is the subject of a new documentary feature film. The film will follow the Skateistan team as they provide opportunities and improve the lives of kids in Afghanistan through skateboarding.
The film crew is currently looking for volunteers fluent in English or German or Dari with exceptional typing skills to help them with transcriptions for the film. Volunteers can be located anywhere in the world and need only internet access. -- Summary
I'll belt Hopkins for every Australian - Danny Green
DANNY Green has spent the past fortnight ignoring all the taunts, tirades and trash talk from brash American legend Bernard Hopkins - but not any more.
The Daily Telegraph can today reveal the open letter Green has penned to the boxing icon - offering to punch him in the face "on behalf of all Australians".
It comes in response to Hopkins' criticism of both Australia and the IBO cruiserweight champion, who stitches "Lest We Forget" on training singlets and enters the ring to Land Down Under.
Hopkins continued to inflame the situation yesterday, beating Mexican light heavyweight Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia before suggesting the referee had stopped Green's bout with Roy Jones Jr prematurely. "That's the whole thing when you go to [Australia]," Hopkins said. "He [Jones] went out on his feet, not on his back." -- Summary
