Latest - US President Donald Trump has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to three golfing greats.
Annika Sorenstam Photo: Photosport
Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player were on hand to receive their medals, while Babe Didrikson Zaharias was awarded the medal, posthumously.
The presentation took place in the East Room at the White House.
Sorenstam and Player both played golf with President Trump in 2019.
Swede Sorenstam won 90 international tournaments, while South African Player won nine major tournaments.
Zaharias, who died in 1956, won two gold medals in athletics at the 1932 Olympic Games before taking up golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships.
The three join Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Charlie Sifford and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to receive the award.
-Golf Channel
Ganguly out of hospital
Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has been discharged from a Kolkata hospital where he underwent angioplasty over the weekend.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Ganguly, also the BCCI president, was hospitalised on Saturday after he complained of chest discomfort while exercising on a tread mill at his home gym.
"I thank the doctors at the hospital for the treatment," Ganguly said to his fans waiting outside the hospital.
"I am absolutely fine. Hopefully, I will be ready to fly soon."
Ganguly's return to activity may offer clarity following media reports that the Indian cricket team, currently in Australia, might refuse to play their final test in Brisbane if they were to be forced into strict quarantine there.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane sidestepped all questions about a potential Brisbane boycott on Wednesday and said such issues were for the "BCCI and the team management".
-Reuters
Man U pick up Ivorian winger
Manchester United have signed winger Amad Diallo from Italian side Atalanta, with the 18-year-old Ivorian putting pen to paper on a contract until June 2025.
Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed but British media reported United agreed to pay a base fee of $36 million with $34 million in add-ons.
United said an agreement had been reached between the clubs on the last day of the summer transfer window in October, with personal terms and his work permit now finalised for a visa application.
United are second in the league standings, level with leaders Liverpool on 33 points with a game in hand, and host Watford in the FA Cup this weekend.
-Reuters
Australian GP postponed according to team boss
The Australian Grand Prix will be postponed to the back end of the Formula One season with Bahrain replacing it as the opening race in March, Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll has said.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The move, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions, has been widely flagged in the media but is yet to be confirmed by Formula One or local organisers.
"Melbourne has been -- it's not officially announced but it will be -- not cancelled but postponed. We will go there sometime in the fall (autumn) and the first race will be Bahrain," said the Canadian billionaire.
He was speaking ahead of the announcement of a new team title sponsorship with IT company Cognizant.
Formula One teams agreed the change in a virtual meeting with Formula One's new chief executive Stefano Domenicali on Monday.
Sources said the same meeting also agreed for pre-season testing to move from Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya to Bahrain, without setting a date.
-Reuters
FA Cup games in doubt
Aston Villa's FA Cup third round match against Liverpool tomorrow is in doubt after Villa reported fresh Covid-19 cases in their first team squad.
Villa said they had closed their training ground and cancelled today's training session, as a number of players and staff went into isolation.
Earlier, the FA said Southampton's FA Cup third round match at home to Shrewsbury Town will not take place as scheduled on Saturday after the third-tier team reported several Covid-19 cases in their squad.
Championship (second-tier) side Middlesbrough also said that preparations for their third round match at Brentford had been affected after a number of their first team players and staff tested positive.
Covid-19 outbreaks have led to four Premier League matches being postponed and more than 50 games in the lower divisions of the Football League being called off this season.
Meanwhile Manchester City Women's Super League match against West Ham United and Arsenal's game versus Aston Villa, which were scheduled for this weekend, have been postponed because of Covid-19 cases at City and Arsenal.
-Reuters
Last two bowls titles up for grabs
Five Blackjack squad members are in contention for the remaining two titles at the National Bowls Champs in Auckland.
Tayla Bruce, Clare Hendra, Selina Smith and Val Smith are all through to the semi-finals of the women's pairs, while Andrew Kelly remains in the running to win back-to-back men's singles titles.
Meanwhile the Stoke, Paeroa and Burnside clubs have captured New Zealand titles on the penultimate day of the champs.
Steve Delaney (Stoke) has gone back-to-back in the B3/B4 singles for vision impaired players.
Delaney earlier had to settle for runner-up in the vision impaired (B1-B4) pairs, with James Dunn (Paeroa) skipping the winning combination 18-8 in the final.
Bruce Wakefield (Burnside) won the disabled (B5-B8) singles.
Mini driver extends lead
Stephane Peterhansel extended his Dakar Rally lead in Saudi Arabia in a fifth stage won by South African Giniel De Villiers.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The Frenchman, known as 'Mr Dakar' for his record 13 wins on two wheels and four, was third on the 456km stage from Riyadh to Al Qaisumah with closest rival Nasser Al-Attiyah fourth in a Toyota.
Peterhansel now leads the Qatari, a triple Dakar winner, by six minutes and 11 seconds.
Spain's defending champion Carlos Sainz, Peterhansel's Mini team mate, remained third overall but trailing the leader by 48 minutes after ending the stage ninth.
In the motorcycle category, Argentine Kevin Benavides won the stage and took the lead despite falling and suffering a suspected broken nose.
The Honda rider finished almost eight minutes ahead of overnight leader Xavier De Soultrait, on a Husqvarna, to lead by two minutes and 31 seconds overall.
Including the prologue, he was the sixth different leader of this year's event.
-Reuters
O'Connell takes on Ireland job
Former Ireland rugby captain Paul O'Connell has joined Andy Farrell's coaching team as forwards coach.
O'Connell, who was capped 108 times and captained Ireland to their 2014 Six Nations triumph, will take up the new role immediately, with Simon Easterby switching his focus to defence.
Since retiring as a player in 2015, the 41-year-old O'Connell has held coaching roles with Munster Academy, Ireland Under-20s and Top 14 side Stade Francais.
He joins Farrell's coaching staff exactly a month before Ireland kick off their 2021 Six Nations campaign against Wales in Cardiff.
-Reuters
Benzema to stand trial
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema will stand trial after being charged by prosecutors with being complicit in a conspiracy to blackmail his former France team mate Matthieu Valbuena in a case linked to a sex tape.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Investigators alleged that Benzema, who has not played for Les Bleus since October, 2015, encouraged Valbuena to pay blackmailers in order that the tape would not be made public.
Benzema has denied wrongdoing and a trial date has not yet been set.
Benzema, 33, has scored 261 goals in 533 games with Real Madrid and found the net 27 times in 81 games for France.
-Reuters
Inter Miami want Neville
The North American MLS football club Inter Miami has parted ways with head coach Diego Alonso.
The move comes on the heels of ESPN reporting Inter Miami's co-owner David Beckham talked with former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville about coaching the team.
Alonso guided Inter Miami to a 7-13-3 record in 23 matches and a 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference last season.
Inter Miami have undergone significant change of late. Paul McDonough stepped down from his role as chief operating officer and sporting director last month and decorated goalkeeper Luis Robles announced his retirement on Wednesday.
Phil Neville is currently manager of the England women's team.
-Reuters
Suzuki boss moving to F1?
Team boss Davide Brivio has announced his departure from MotoGP champions Suzuki amid speculation the Italian was heading for a new senior role at the Renault-owned Alpine Formula One team.
Brivio presided over a double title success last year, with Spaniard Joan Mir winning the MotoGP world championship in the absence of injured Honda rider Marc Marquez.
Media reports have indicated Renault are planning a management shake-up at their rebranded team with current principal Cyril Abiteboul set to take on a more senior role with the brand.
Renault finished fifth in the Constructors Championship in 2020 with Daniel Riciardo fifth and Esteban Ocon 12th, with neither driver scoring a win
Fernando Alonso and Ocon are the confirmed Alpine drivers for 2021.
-Reuters