Novak Djokovic has said he would be against a compulsory coronavirus vaccination if it became a requirement for tennis players to travel to tournaments.
"Personally I'm against vaccination. I wouldn't like that someone forces me to get a vaccine in order to be able to travel," the world number one said late Sunday.
The Serbian star was speaking from Spain, where he is in lockdown with his family, in a video conference held on his Facebook for Orthodox Easter.
"We (players) will have to travel. I think it will be the number one challenge," the 32-year said.
"If it (vaccination) will become compulsory what will happen? I will have to take a decision," on whether to get a vaccine or not, he said.
"This is my opinion at the moment. Whether it will change I don't know."
There is currently no vaccine for the virus that has claimed some 165,000 lives around the globe, though labs around the world are racing to develop a treatment.
Like the rest of the sporting world, tennis has been on pause 

Djokovic against compulsory coronavirus vaccination

PTI Automatic

Floriana Fanizza gazes desolately at her celery crop, lost to the coronavirus because it could not be harvested.
Italian farmers are being brought to their knees by a six-week lockdown aimed at stopping a deadly epidemic in its tracks. They are also suffering a drought caused by the driest spring in more than half a century.
Border blocks, restaurant closures and a lack of seasonal workers mean nearly four out of 10 businesses in the fruit and vegetable sector are struggling, according to Italy's biggest agricultural union Coldiretti.
On the Fanizza family farm in Fasano, a town near the Puglia coast in southern Italy, some pickers, fearful for their health, stayed at home as the country went into shutdown at the start of March.
That meant there were not enough hands to harvest the celery and turnip crops, which were ruined. The clock is now ticking on seeding vegetables for harvesting this summer.
"To sow properly, we need seven or eight people," 41-year-old Fanizza says.
"We hope ...

Crops rot as Italian farmers hit by virus, drought

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean striker Son Heung-min began his three-week military training at a marines boot camp on Monday, a report said, with the Premier League on hold over the coronavirus pandemic.
All able-bodied South Korean men are obliged to serve in the military for nearly two years, making up the bulk of Seoul's 600,000-strong forces -- who face off against North Korea's army of 1.3 million.
But Son was among the South Korean footballers who earned an exemption by winning gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
The 27-year-old's Premier League season ended even before the coronavirus outbreak spread to Europe when he broke his arm against Aston Villa on February 16, and Spurs said he returned to South Korea for "personal reasons".
Son reported to a marines camp on the southern island of Jeju for his three-week basic training, Yonhap news agency reported.
A Yonhap photo showed Son walking past a military truck and soldiers, wearing a green sweatshirt, a black cap and a 

Spurs' Son begins three-week military training: report

The wealthy owners of Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande will build two stadiums with capacities of 80,000 each, in addition to the club's new 100,000-seat home.
Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs are building or renovating a clutch of stadiums with the country set to host the newly expanded 2021 FIFA Club World Cup and AFC Asian Cup in 2023.
But the rush on new arenas will also heighten speculation that China is gearing up for a bid to host the World Cup, possibly in 2030.
Evergrande Group, a major property developer, has asked fans to pick their favourite designs for two more new stadiums.
"Evergrande plans to build two additional 80,000-seat football fields and invites everyone to recommend two of the six preliminary plans," Guangzhou Evergrande's owners said on social media.
The statement did not give any further information such as where in China or when the stadiums would be built.
CSL champions Guangzhou Evergrande, coached by Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, began ..

Evergrande to build two more 80,000-seat stadiums in China

Australia's John Millman has questioned a multi-million dollar plan floated by Novak Djokovic to help struggling tennis players during the coronavirus shutdown, asking why it hadn't been done before.
Novak Djokovic said on Saturday that the 'Big Three' -- himself, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- were organising aid for lower-ranked players who have no income while the sport is suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"The majority of the players who are ranked between 200, 250 in the world, and the 700th or 1,000th do not have federation support, do not have sponsors. They are completely independent and left alone," Djokovic said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka.
"Guys who are ranked between 200-250, especially to 700... are thinking of leaving tennis right now." But world number 43 Millman said lower-ranked players should have been paid better in the past.
"If the concern is to help players ranked 250-700 in the world why has it taken a global pandemic 

Why wait for a pandemic? - Djokovic plan for low-ranked players queried

The head of Australia's National Rugby League stepped down with immediate effect Monday, as the top-level competition continues to reel from the COVID-19 crisis.
The NRL said "it has been mutually agreed" that chief executive officer Todd Greenberg would step down Monday "after reflecting on the needs of the game".
The cash-strapped league, which pitches itself as part of Australia's social fabric, has floated a series of unsuccessful schemes to get play restarted quickly -- including isolating players on an island.
After vowing to play on through the crisis, rhe season was suspended on March 24 after just two rounds as the government shut down all non-essential gatherings in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus.
That has caused TV revenues to dry up and could threaten the existence of several teams and the financial viability of the league.
The NRL is planning to resume on May 28 but it is far from clear if that will be possible, with the government warning that travel ...

Australia rugby league chief quits as virus crisis deepens

Displaced women and girls are facing a heightened risk of gender-based violence during the coronavirus crisis, the UN Refugee Agency said Monday.
The UNHCR said they may be forced into "survival sex" or child marriages.  Lockdowns imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 have restricted movement and led to the closure of services.
"We need to pay urgent attention to the protection of refugee, displaced and stateless women and girls at the time of this pandemic," said Gillian Triggs, the UNHCR assistant high commissioner for protection.
"They are among those most at-risk. Doors should not be left open for abusers and no help spared for women surviving abuse and violence." She said displaced women could end up confined with their abusers, while others, having lost their precarious livelihoods, "may be forced into survival sex, or child marriages by their families", said Triggs.
The restrictions imposed in many countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic mean limited access to ...

Refugee women facing greater violence risk during crisis: UNHCR

Oil prices collapsed to more than two-decade lows Monday as traders grow concerned that storage facilities are reaching their limits, while equities were mixed, with some support coming from signs that the coronavirus may have peaked in Europe and the United States.
US crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate briefly plunged almost 20 percent to below $15 -- its lowest since 1999 --  as stockpiles continue to build owing to a crash in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts said this month's agreement between top producers to slash output by 10 million barrels a day was having little impact on the oil crisis because of lockdowns and travel restrictions that are keeping billions of people at home.
WTI was hit particularly hard as its main US storage facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma, were filling up.
ANZ said "crude oil prices remained under pressure, as projections of weaker demand weigh on sentiment".
"Despite the OPEC+ alliance agreeing to an unprecedented cut in output, the ..

Oil prices collapse on storage fears, Asia equities mixed

This week's NFL Draft may be a long-distance affair thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the league is still keeping an eye on all the details.
Pro Football Talk reported Sunday that it had obtained a memo outlining what the prospective draftees can and cannot wear when they appear on camera during the three-day intake of new talent, which starts on Thursday.
Logos of companies that aren't NFL partners -- Nike, Adidas, UnderArmour and New Era -- are banned, as are logos of non-NFL teams or leagues.
Clothing must not display explicit language, racial, ethnic or religious slurs or anything of a violent or sexual nature.
Libel and hate speech, political statements and references to drugs, alcohol and gambling are also on the prohibited list.
Typically the newest NFL players wear suits as they cross a stage to shake hands with commissioner Roger Goodell upon being selected by a team.
This year that ceremony, along with other public events planned around the draft, has been cancelled with .

NFL tells draft prospects what not to wear

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown urged people to "come together" amid the coronavirus pandemic, even as he used an essay in The Guardian to point out that the virus has highlighted inequality in America.
Noting that more than 30,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States -- it was 40,000 by Sunday afternoon -- the Georgia native added that of "those heart-wrenching numbers, the percentage of African Americans and people of color is both alarming and disproportionate.
"Our healthcare system could be potentially highlighting injustices this beautiful nation has composed and suppressed since its establishment," he wrote.
Data on COVID-19 cases by race show a pattern of over-representation by black Americans in states or jurisdictions that are sharing the numbers.
When it was shown in early April that 68 percent of coronavirus deaths in Chicago had been among African Americans, who make up just 30 percent of the city's population, mayor Lori Lightfoot said the numbers "take your ...

Celtics' Brown pens message of unity amid COVID-19 crisis

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed a second victory in the Formula One Esports Virtual Grand Prix championship, marking his Shanghai win by cooking pasta.
Leclerc started on pole on Sunday and finished ahead of Red Bull's Alex Albon and Guanyu Zhou, who races in Formula 2.
"I'm actually enjoying very much playing, and streaming. And I enjoy it even more when I win," tweeted 22-year-old Leclerc who also has two wins in the real F1 world championship.
"But the post-race celebrations are somehow feeling a bit different.
"Switching off the computer and go cook white pasta is a bit less glamour than spraying champagne on the podium."
The Formula One world championship has yet to get underway this season due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Nine of the scheduled 22 races have either been cancelled or postponed.

Leclerc wins virtual China race, celebrates with pasta not champagne

British Grand Prix organisers said they could host two consecutive races if required in an effort to help salvage the coronavirus-hit world championship.
So far nine of the 22 races have either been cancelled or postponed with the French and Belgian races tipped to join the abandoned list.
That would leave the Austrian Grand Prix on July 5 as the delayed season-opener with the British Grand Prix scheduled to follow two weeks later.
Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko told Austrian public broadcaster ORF on Sunday that the Spielberg track too could host back-to-back races with the second a two-day race during the week.
He said the track manager had already proposed to the government to allow a Grand Prix without fans with chances of its approval "very high".  Sports Minister Werner Kogler announced this week he was not opposed to the Spielberg race being held without a crowd.
Marko, whose team is based in Austria, said F1 organisers were working on a concept of reducing the number of ...

Silverstone and Austria's Spielberg could hold back-to-back F1 races

From cancelled iftar feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramzan fasting as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers.
Ramzan is a period for both self-reflection and socialising. Believers fast from dawn to dusk and then gather around a family or community meal each evening of Islam's holiest month, which begins later this week and ends with Eid al-Fitr festivities.
But this year, the fast-spreading novel coronavirus threatens to dampen Ramzan like never before, with millions locked down across the Middle East -- from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon to the battle zones of Libya, Iraq and Yemen.
More dispiriting for many devout Muslims is that congregational worship -- including taraweeh night prayers -- is prohibited in mosques across the region, with many closed in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Several countries' religious authorities, including Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, have ruled that prayers .

Middle East braces for bleak Ramzan as virus threat lingers

The financial squeeze put on Premier League clubs by the coronavirus crisis could be felt across the continent in the coming months as the well to fund massive transfer fees runs dry.
For each of the past four summers, Premier League clubs have flexed their financial muscle to splurge over 1 billion pound (USD 1.3 billion) on transfers.
That has helped spread the wealth of television contracts worth billions across Europe and crucially down the divisions to cash-strapped clubs in England.  Now even the world's richest league is facing economic meltdown.
Premier League matches have been suspended indefinitely with no return expected before mid-June at the earliest.
Broadcasters could be due a rebate worth a reported ?762 million if the season is not completed and, even when the games do recommence, they are likely to be behind closed doors, quashing income from gate receipts.
Moreover, a number of major sponsors such as airlines and gambling companies have been just as badly hit by the 

Premier League's transfer market bubble set to burst

A Japanese expert who has criticised the country's response to the coronavirus warned Monday that he is "pessimistic" that the postponed Olympics can be held even in 2021.
"To be honest with you I don't think the Olympics is likely to be held next year," said Kentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious diseases at Kobe University.
Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed last month to delay the Tokyo 2020 Games until July 2021, after pressure from athletes and sports federations.
But in recent days, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread worldwide, there have been questions about whether even a year-long delay will be sufficient.
"Holding (the) Olympics needs two conditions, one: controlling COVID-19 in Japan and (two) controlling COVID-19 everywhere, because you have to invite the athletes and the audience from all over the world," Iwata told journalists at a press briefing.
"Japan might be able to control this disease by next summer, I wish we could, but I ...

Japan virus expert 'pessimistic' Olympics can be held in 2021

The coronavirus-delayed Chinese Super League (CSL) season is scheduled to begin in late June or early July, a club chairman says.
Suspended leagues across the world, including in Europe, will be watching the CSL with interest as an indicator of the challenges they face in relaunching their own competitions.
The campaign was supposed to start on February 22 but was indefinitely postponed by the pandemic, which emerged in China in December before spreading worldwide.
"Based on the assessment of the current situation, the new season will start at the end of June or beginning of July," said Guangzhou R&F chairman Huang Shenghua, according to state media.
Huang said that the season will be able to take place in full with each team playing the alloted 30 matches.
The media reports did not indicate whether a formal announcement was expected from the Chinese Football Association.
China says that it has curbed coronavirus at home but is now concerned about a second wave of imported ...

Chinese Super League to start by July: club chairman

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan blacklisted four major British tabloids on Sunday, accusing them of publishing stories that were "distorted, false and invasive beyond reason", UK media reported.
In a scathing letter to the editors of the Sun, Daily Mail, Mirror and Express, the couple, who have formally stepped down as senior members of the British Royal family, said there would be "no corroboration and zero engagement" with the newspapers, the Guardian said.
"This policy is not about avoiding criticism. It's not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting," according to a purported copy of the letter shared by Financial Times media reporter Mark Di Stefano on Twitter.
But they did not want to be used as "currency for an economy of clickbait and distortion".
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know -- as well as complete strangers -- have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip .

Harry and Meghan blacklist UK tabloids over 'distorted' stories

US crude crashed to below $15 a barrel on Monday, its lowest level for over two decades, as concerns about a virus-triggered demand shock and lack of storage eclipsed an output cut deal.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, fell more than 19 percent to $14.73 a barrel in early Asian trade, before markets steadied and it clawed back some ground to $15.78 a barrel.
International benchmark Brent dropped 4.1 percent to $26.93 a barrel, before rising and stabilising at $28.11.
Oil markets have plunged in recent weeks as lockdowns and travel restrictions to fight the coronavirus around the world batter demand for the commodity.
The crisis was compounded after Saudi Arabia, kingpin of exporting group OPEC, launched a price war with non-OPEC member Russia.
Riyadh and Moscow drew a line under their dispute earlier this month when they and other countries agreed to cut output by almost 10 million barrels a day to boost virus-hit markets.
But prices have continued to fall heavily, ...

US crude falls below $15 a barrel as virus throttles demand

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan early on Monday, according to the US Geological Survey, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The epicentre of the earthquake was 41.7 kilometres beneath the Pacific seabed, less than 50 kilometres off the coast of Miyagi prefecture, the USGS said on its website, rating the risk of casualties and damage as low.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) put the quake at a magnitude of 6.1 and a depth of 50 kilometres.
Japan's Kyodo News Agency said no tsunami warning had been issued after the tremor, which hit just after 5.30 am (2030 GMT).
Japan sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In 2011, a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck roughly 130 kilometres east of Miyagi prefecture, unleashing an enormous tsunami, triggering the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown and killing nearly 16,000 people.

6.4 magnitude quake strikes off Japan coast: USGS

Bandits killed 47 people in coordinated attacks against several farming villages in Katsina State, northern Nigeria, the president's office and local police said on Sunday.
Men on motorbikes carried out "organised and simultaneous attacks", on the villages, Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isah said in a statement.
The predawn raids on Saturday targeted villages in the Dutsenma, Danmusa and Safana districts, he added.
A spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, confirmed the attack in a statement condemning the gunmen as "bandits".
Isah said members of the security forces, including soldiers and policemen, had deployed to the area on Sunday.

Bandits kill 47 people in north of Nigeria: police

Acts of intimidation marred the final round of legislative elections in Mali on Sunday that aim to revive confidence in its embattled institutions despite a bloody jihadist conflict and a virus pandemic.
In central Mali, the president of a voting station was forcibly removed and representatives of the electoral commission "chased away by armed men", one of the representatives told AFP.
Military sources confirmed the incident.
Elsewhere, voting was cancelled after jihadists threatened to attack voters, witnesses said.
Already on Saturday, unknown assailants had destroyed voting equipment in northern Mali.
Polling stations in Bamako began to shut gradually after 1800 GMT, the official closing time, with the first provisional results to be announced at the start of the week.
The election had been repeatedly delayed, and the first round on March 29 was disrupted by jihadist attacks as well as the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.
"I voted. It is important despite the ...

AFP

AFP

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