Bob Knight, tempestuous Hall of Fame basketball coach, dies aged 83

Bob Knight, the brilliant and combustible coach who won three NCAA titles at Indiana and for years was the scowling face of college basketball, has died. He was 83.

Knight’s family made the announcement on social media on Wednesday night.

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Mary Lou Retton released from hospital but has ‘long road ahead’ in recovery

  • Gymnast became hero of Team USA at 1984 Olympics
  • 55-year-old was seriously ill with pneumonia

Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton has returned home after a lengthy hospital stay because of pneumonia, her daughter said on Monday.

Shaley Kelley Schrepfer, the oldest of Retton’s four daughters, posted an update on Retton’s condition on Instagram nearly two weeks after the family disclosed that the former Olympic all-around champion was in intensive care.

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MSU did not seek permission before showing Hitler on videoboard before game

  • Creator of quiz says Michigan State did not contact him
  • University apologize after incident on Saturday

The creator and producer of The Quiz Channel on YouTube, which includes Adolf Hitler’s image as part of a quiz Michigan State used on its videoboards before a game against Michigan, said the school didn’t ask for permission to use his content or pay him for it.

“It’s an absolutely normal trivia question, shown in an inappropriate setting,” Floris van Pallandt wrote on Sunday on his YouTube page. “Ignoring the dark facets of history is by no means the answer, on the contrary.”

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Former NFL player Sergio Brown taken into custody after mother’s death

  • Sergio Brown was reportedly deported from Mexico
  • Myrtle Brown was found dead near home in Chicago

The former NFL player Sergio Brown has been taken into custody after the death of his mother in September.

Police in San Diego said he was held after entering the United States from Mexico on Tuesday. He is awaiting extradition to Maywood, Illinois, where the body of his mother, Myrtle, was found near her home last month. Police had issued a warrant for first-degree murder after her death was ruled a homicide.

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Mexico City Marathon expels 11,000 runners for cutting sections of course

  • Trackers suggest many participants did not run full course
  • Some athletes have said technology was not working properly

More than a third of runners at this year’s Mexico City Marathon have been expelled after organisers say they cut out sections of the 26.2 mile course.

An investigation was launched after complaints that runners had used cars, public transport and bikes to cheat during the race on 27 August. Tracking data then showed that thousands of participants had not passed some of the 5km checkpoints that monitor whether runners have completed the entire race.

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Carlsen and Niemann settle dispute over cheating claims that rocked chess

  • US player had filed lawsuit against former world champion
  • Parties agree to move forward after series of allegations

A dispute that caused scandal in the world of elite chess appears to have been settled after the players involved said they have moved on from their rift.

Hans Niemann, a rising star in the chess world, filed a $100m lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen, the website chess.com and chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura after allegations he had cheated.

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Donald Trump gloats about USA’s Women’s World Cup elimination

Ex-president’s open criticism of team started in 2019, when Megan Rapinoe said she wouldn’t visit White House after winning

Less than 24 hours after the US women’s national team suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of their longtime nemesis Sweden in the second round of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Donald Trump gloated about the team’s elimination on social media.

The former president, a longtime vocal critic of the team, specifically Megan Rapinoe, a blue-haired talisman and outspoken LGBTQ+ advocate who missed a crucial penalty during the final moments of the game, said that the team’s loss is “fully emblematic of what is happening to our great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden”.

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Latino Northwestern player says ‘Cinco de Mayo’ was shaved into his head

  • Ramon Diaz says he saw other incidents of racist abuse
  • University faces numerous lawsuits over culture of hazing

Ramon Diaz says he was just 17 when Northwestern University upperclassmen shaved “Cinco de Mayo” onto the back of his head as the entire football team watched.

“The holiday itself has a significant meaning to me and my family and then the Latino community at large,” Diaz told the Associated Press. “I was mocked and ridiculed.”

In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Saudi leader trying to avoid ‘pariah’ status with LIV-PGA merger, says rights group

Mohammed bin Salman said to look to repair his reputation after 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul

The proposed merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Tour and the American PGA Tour marks the latest maneuver by Riyadh in its campaign to repair its reputation and head off the sort of blacklisting that occurred after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent advocate for democracy in the Middle East told the Guardian.

“This is a merger in name only. This is really about the Saudi government throwing a premium at PGA Tour that they obviously found too overwhelmingly tempting to resist,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn).

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US Senate asks governor of Saudi wealth fund to testify over LIV-PGA merger

Invitation raises possibility Yasir al-Rumayyan could be questioned under oath about execution of Jamal Khashoggi

The powerful governor of Saudi Arabia’s state-backed investment fund has been invited to testify before a Senate committee in the wake of a proposed merger between the Saudi-backed LIV Tour and the PGA, raising the possibility the executive could be questioned under oath about issues ranging from the future of golf to the execution of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Yasir al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, was invited to testify on 11 July by the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, whose chairman, the Democratic senator Dick Blumenthal, is one of the toughest critics of Saudi Arabia on Capitol Hill.

This article was amended on 21 June 2023 to clarify that Yasir al-Rumayyan is the governor of Saudi Arabia’s state-backed investment fund, rather than the chairman.

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Oakland A’s fans stage ‘reverse boycott’ at plans to move team to Vegas

  • Crowds demand owner sells team rather than relocate
  • Fans chant and throw garbage on to field in protest

Furious Oakland Athletics fans came en masse with a single message to owner John Fisher. “Sell the team!” they chanted thousands of times during the A’s 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Friends Brian Guido and Scott Finney of Sacramento left work early on Tuesday because they did not want to miss the festivities a couple of hours away in Oakland.

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Jubilant Latvians given national holiday after shock ice hockey win over USA

  • Team won bronze at ice hockey world championship
  • Members of parliament pass bill to commemorate win

Latvians woke up to go to work Monday morning, only to find they didn’t have to. Their parliament had met at midnight to declare a holiday after the national ice hockey team chalked up its best result at the world championship.

Latvia, where hockey is hugely popular, co-hosted the men’s championship with Finland, and the country’s 4-3 overtime victory over the United States for the bronze medal on Sunday was greeted with jubilation.

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Police issue arrest warrant for Nate Diaz after New Orleans street brawl

  • Video emerged of weekend fight with YouTube personality
  • Police say former UFC star faces battery charge

Police in New Orleans have issued an arrest warrant for former UFC star Nate Diaz after a brawl in the city on Saturday night.

The 38-year-old faces a charge of of second-degree battery after video spread on social media of Diaz apparently choking YouTube personality Rodney Petersen unconscious during a fight in the city’s popular Bourbon Street.

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Angel Reese says LSU will not visit White House after Jill Biden comments

  • First lady appeared to extend invite to rivals Iowa
  • Reese says team wants to meet Obamas instead

College basketball star Angel Reese says she and her LSU teammates will not visit the White House in the aftermath of comments made by first lady Jill Biden.

LSU won their first-ever national title on Sunday with victory over Iowa. It is traditional for national champions in the US to meet the president, but on Monday Biden said she would be happy for Iowa to join LSU.

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White House appears to walk back Iowa’s ‘joke’ invitation after NCAA loss

  • Tradition is for national champions to visit with President
  • Iowa v LSU game has provoked debate on social media

Jill Biden’s press secretary has walked back comments the first lady made about inviting Iowa’s women’s basketball team to the White House after their loss in the NCAA championship game on Sunday.

Biden watched LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa from the stands at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday night. National champions often visit the White House after title victories, but Biden broke with tradition when she suggested Iowa could too.

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NHL’s Blackhawks will not wear Pride jerseys due to Russian anti-LGBTQ laws

  • Team says wearing jerseys could endanger Russian player
  • Pride jerseys have sparked debate among NHL teams

An NHL team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who have an additional two players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Vladimir Putin signed the law in December.

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Elena Rybakina overwhelms world No 1 Iga Swiatek to set up Indian Wells final with Aryna Sabalenka

  • Kazakhstan’s Rybakina beats Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 in semi-final
  • Belarusian Sabalenka cruises past Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3

Elena Rybakina has knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-2 semi-final victory at Indian Wells on Friday to set up a clash against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Two months after Rybakina knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the fourth round, the Wimbledon champion once again put in an impressive display against the world No 1.

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Puerto Rico 4-5 Mexico: World Baseball Classic quarter-finals – as it happened

  • Mexico defeat Puerto Rico to reach WBC semi-finals

Puerto Rico 0-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Lindor is in the box against Urías and takes ball one to start the game. Urías gets ahead of Lindor 1-2, Lindor fouls off a pitch and then strikes out. Urías begins his outing with a k.

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Joe Biden backs Ireland in Six Nations Grand Slam game against England

President introduces former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, a relative, at White House St Patrick’s Day event

Joe Biden has wished the Ireland rugby union team luck in their Grand Slam game against England in Dublin on Saturday.

On Friday, St Patrick’s Day, Biden welcomed the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to the White House for a traditional visit and talks.

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Vermont school that boycotted game with trans player banned from tournaments

  • Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited game on 21 February
  • Many conservatives have opposed trans athletes

A Vermont school that refused to play against an opposing basketball team with a trans player won’t be able to participate in future tournaments, the Vermont Principals’ Association announced on Monday.

Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited a game on 21 February in an out-of-state tournament against Long Trail school.

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