Sport

Track star Marion Jones, winner of 3 gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has tested positive for the performance enhancing drug, EPO. The hormone helps create extra red blood cells which allows the user's body to absorb extra oxygen. Jones was expected to compete in yesterday's Golden League meet in Zurich, Switzerland, but left early in the morning for "personal reasons." It was announced earlier today (UTC) that she had tested positive for EPO. Jones faces a two year ban if her B test sample comes back positive. Jones has a history o

A huge fire at a plastics recycling plant fire forced hundreds of residents in Amherstburg, a Southwestern Ontario town, to flee their homes. It started early yesterday afternoon. Smoke was 20 metres high over the area and grew to roughly the size of two football fields. Residents were evacuated from 360 nearby houses, but by 6:00 P.M. ET (UTC-5) were told it was safe to return after officials determined the smoke was not considered to be a health risk. Dave Fields, the fire chief from nearby Windsor, said "80 firefighters were called in fro

Former Australian cricketer, Dean Jones was sacked by Ten Sports after he called South African batsman Hashim Amla a "terrorist" on air. Jones, who was a commentator for Ten Sports said "The terrorist has got another wicket.", in reference to Amla (a practising Muslim who sports a long beard) when the latter dismissed Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara during yesterday's match at Colombo. Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa, said that Supersport as well as Cricket South Africa had received several angry calls in respon

It was announced at a press conference today that Fredrik Ljungberg will succeed Olof Mellberg as captain of Sweden's national football team, despite some speculation that Tobias Linderoth would be named as captain. Fredrik Ljungberg currently plays for the English football team, Arsenal. It was also announced that Mattias Jonson is retiring from international football.

A late try by the Australian Wallabies substitute, Mat Rogers caused the South African Springboks heartbreak in tonight's match at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. Australia won the match 20–18, their second in this year's Tri Nations. Australia led the Springboks 10 points to nil at half-time, which stretched Australia's hold over the Springboks to zero three halves of football, as the Wallabies had previously beaten South Africa 49 to nil in Brisbane. It was Mark Gerrard who scored Australia's first half try, along with a conversion and penalty goa

Around twelve people were killed in Iraq today while they were playing football on a makeshift pitch in a predominantly Shi'a area in west Baghdad. According to police, two bombs, which had been planted in the middle of the pitch, were detonated. It is thought most of the victims were children. Earlier today, Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani revealed Iraqi troops would take over safekeeping of the entire country from American troops by the end of 2006. He said the takeover would occur gradually but would be complete by the start of 2007. Yest

The results of the appeals in the massive Italian football match-fixing scandal have today been announced by the Italian federal court. All four clubs involved saw their original punishments reduced. Juventus originally were relegated to Serie B with a thirty-point deduction. Their appeal still sees them in Italian football's second division, but with their points deduction almost halved to seventeen. They will still have their last two Scudettos stripped off them and the 2005-06 title will not be assigned to anyone. They will also have to pla

Today has seen Britain's hottest recorded July day with temperatures hitting 36.5ºC (97.7ºF) in Wisley in Surrey. Warm air from the Gulf Stream is raising the temperature, and the hot weather is causing the asphalt on some public roads to melt, requiring gritting. Some schools stayed closed on Wednesday, while others shut at lunchtime. Many school sports days have also been cancelled. People have been advised to drink plenty of water, not go out in the midday sun and keep curtains closed to cool rooms. People have also been asked to check the

Italian soccer giants Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina have all been relegated from Serie A today as the result of the massive Italian football match-fixing scandal, while AC Milan have avoided relegation. The news came after revelations that Juventus general manager, Luciano Moggi, had telephone conversations with several important figures in Italian football, including Marcello Lippi, the head coach of the Italian national team, during the 2004-05 season which revealed illegal match-fixing, gambling and falsifying financial accounts. The teams

Israel has launched an incursion into southern Lebanon in what they claim is a search for two Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were taken Wednesday following an attack by Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia, that had made an incursion into Israel. Three Israeli soldiers died and eleven were wounded when army transports patrolling at the Israeli-Lebanese border were attacked on Wednesday morning, near the Israeli village of Zar'it. Hezbollah also fired mortars and long-range rockets at the Israeli town of Shlomi and nearby communities. Six Israeli civ

The retiring French football star Zinedine Zidane has been awarded the 2006 Fifa World Cup's Golden Ball award. Zidane secured 2,012 votes, narrowly beating Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro, who secured 1,977. When Zidane headbutted Materazzi in the final match, it was expected that Zidane would not win the award because of the shameful incident. German striker Miroslav Klose won the Golden Shoe award for the most goals. Klose scored five goals in the tournament, besting the second highest goal scorer by two goals. Klose's strike partner Luk

A German scientist has made the world’s smallest soccer pitch with nanotechnology. The pitch is so small that you could fit 20 000 on the tip of a human hair. The simulated soccer playing field measures 500 by 380 nanometres. It can only be seen under a special microscope. He spent a whole day engraving the lines with an electron beam. "I am really, really proud," said Stefan Trellenkamp, nanotechnology researcher from the University of Kaiserslautern. "The only problem is that I really don't know what to do with it. I can't put it on sho