Osaka has to ‘scrap a little’ for season-opening win in Auckland on December 31, 2024Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka made a winning straight-sets start to her season Monday as she strives to rediscover the form that took her to world number one. The Japanese star has struggled for consistency since returning to the court a year ago after the birth of daughter Shai in July 2023. Now ranked […]
Record 373,691 spectators flock to Australia-India 4th Test on December 31, 2024The blockbuster clash against India on Monday became the best attended Test in Australia’s history as fans flocked to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the final day. Day five of the fourth Test attracted a bumper crowd of 74,362, swelling the total number of spectators since the start of the match on Boxing Day to […]
Defending champion Dimitrov eases into Brisbane second round on December 31, 2024Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov eased into round two of the Brisbane International with a hard-fought win over qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Monday, but Holger Rune crashed to defeat. Bulgaria’s second seed Dimitrov has a great track record in the city, winning the title twice, as well as making the final in 2013. His 7-6 (7/5), […]
AC Milan sack coach Fonseca after just six months on December 31, 2024AC Milan sacked coach Paulo Fonseca on Monday after just six months in charge with the Italian giants failing to mount a Serie A title challenge. The 51-year-old Portuguese handler had pre-empted the announcement by saying he had been fired as he left the San Siro following his press conference after the draw with AS […]
Duffy, Hay heroics secure T20 series for New Zealand over Sri Lanka on December 31, 2024Crucial wickets to Jacob Duffy and a rollicking cameo with the bat by Mitchell Hay saw New Zealand beat Sri Lanka to wrap up their Twenty20 series with a game to spare at Mount Maunganui on Monday. New Zealand made 186-5 in their 20 overs, with player-of-the-match Hay cracking an unbeaten 41 from 19 deliveries. […]
Former US president Jimmy Carter dies aged 100 on December 31, 2024Tributes poured in Monday for Jimmy Carter, the former US president and Nobel peace laureate who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to lead the nation and died aged 100. Carter had been in hospice care since mid-February 2023 at his home in Plains, Georgia — the same small town where he was born […]
Taliban leader bans windows overlooking women’s areas on December 31, 2024The Taliban’s supreme leader has issued an order banning the construction of windows in residential buildings that overlook areas used by Afghan women and saying that existing ones should be blocked. According to a statement released late Saturday by the Taliban government spokesman, new buildings should not have windows through which it is possible to […]
Indian workers replace Palestinians in Israel’s building sector on December 31, 2024Wearing a safety belt, helmet and work boots, Raju Nishad navigates the scaffolding, hammering blocks that will form part of a building in a new neighbourhood in central Israel’s town of Beer Yaakov. While he and other Indians working alongside him do not look out of place on the expansive construction site, they are relative […]
S Korea investigators seek arrest of impeached president over no-show on December 31, 2024Investigators probing South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law said Monday they had sought an arrest warrant for the suspended president after he failed to report for questioning. Yoon briefly suspended civilian rule this month, plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. He was stripped of presidential […]
Rabada unlikely batting star as South Africa edge Pakistan in thriller on December 30, 2024Kagiso Rabada turned batting hero as he and Marco Jansen took South Africa to a dramatic two-wicket win over Pakistan on the fourth day of the first Test at SuperSport Park on Sunday. Needing 148 to win, South Africa crashed to 99 for eight against superb bowling by Mohammad Abbas. The 34-year-old Abbas took a […]