Vanessa Bryant celebrated the 19th anniversary of her wedding to her late husband Kobe Bryant on Saturday with a touching Instagram post.
"My king, my heart, my best friend. Happy 19th wedding anniversary. I miss you so much. I wish you were here to hold me in your arms. I love you," she wrote, posting a picture of the couple.
Five-time NBA champion Bryant and the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles on January 26.
Gianna, along with her basketball teammates Payton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli, who also died in the crash, were honored at Friday's WNBA draft as honorary selections.
Vanessa Bryant recorded an emotional message for the draft broadcast, saying being drafted into the women's league "would have been a dream come true" for Gianna.
After the conclusion of the draft on Friday night, the WNBA announced the creation of the Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award, given to "an individual or group who has made ...

Vanessa Bryant pays touching tribute to Kobe on wedding anniversary

PTI Automatic

Wuhan Zall, the Chinese Super League team from the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, made an emotional return to the city after more than three months torn from their families.
Zall endured a turbulent 104 days on the road, including being stranded in Spain, because Wuhan was sealed off in January when the virus killed and infected thousands there.
The city is now emerging from its weeks-long lockdown and hundreds of chanting fans met the Zall players when they arrived at Wuhan's train station late Saturday, state media said.
Wearing masks, the players had bouquets of flowers thrust into their hands while supporters clad in the team's orange colours held banners and sang.
"After more than three months of wandering, the homesick Wuhan Zall team members finally set foot in their hometown," the team said on the Twitter-like Weibo.
The squad, led by their Spanish coach Jose Gonzalez, will now spend a few days at home before resuming training on Wednesday.
"The local players will be ..

Wuhan football team make emotional return to virus ground zero

Nine people were killed by a landslide at an illegal gold mine in Sumatra, an Indonesian official said Sunday.
The accident happened Saturday in South Solok in West Sumatra province when a group of 12 people were digging for gold at an abandoned mine.
The area has several abandoned mines from the colonial era.
"Eight men and one woman went in to dig and were buried by a landslide. We evacuated their bodies early this morning," district spokesman Firdaus Firman told AFP.
Three people keeping watch reported the accident to local officials when the group failed to emerge from the mine.
The victims were local farmers digging the gold without proper equipment or protective gear.
The location and the rainy weather also hampered rescue efforts.
"All victims are accounted for and there's no more missing," Firman said, adding that police and the local disaster agency are investigating.
Illegal and unlicensed mines are prevalent across mineral-rich Indonesia and the scene of frequent ...

Nine killed in Indonesia mining accident

American families slammed by the coronavirus pandemic are turning more and more to food banks to get by, waiting hours for donations in lines of cars stretching as far as the eye can see.
And with 22 million people out of work seemingly overnight as business after business closes under the Great Lockdown, these charities feeding hungry and scared people fear the day will come when they cannot cope with the tsunami of demand.
On Tuesday, for instance, some 1,000 cars lined up at a distribution center set up in Pennsylvania by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Demand for its bags of food soared nearly 40 per cent in March.
At eight centers like that one, some 227 tonnes of food were placed in the trunks of cars of families suddenly unable to put meals on the table, said the organisation's vice president Brian Gulish.
"A lot of people are utilising our service for the first time. They've never turned to a food bank before," said Gulish. So they do not know there is a network of 

Hungry, jobless Americans turning to food banks to survive pandemic

Mali headed into the final round of legislative elections Sunday, aiming to revive public faith in its embattled institutions despite a bloody jihadist conflict and looming viral pandemic.
Voters in the nation of 19 million will cast their ballots in the runoff for 147 seats in the National Assembly.
The elections have been repeatedly delayed, eroding trust in institutions as the country struggles with an Islamist revolt that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
The first round on March 29 was disrupted by jihadist attacks and intimidation, including the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.
The turnout nationwide averaged 35.6 percent, but was just 12.9 per cent in the capital Bamako.
It is the country's first parliamentary poll since 2013 when President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's Rally for Mali party won a big majority.
The elections were meant to take place in late 2018 after Keita was returned to office but the poll was ...

Mali set for election runoff, despite virus and jihadist threats

Australia on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the global response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the World Health Organization's handling of the crisis.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the country would "insist" on a review that would probe, in part, China's early response to the outbreak in Wuhan, the city where COVID-19 emerged late last year.
"We need to know the sorts of details that an independent review would identify for us about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it (and) addressing the openness with which information was shared," she told public broadcaster ABC.
Payne said Australia shared similar concerns to the United States, whose President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of "mismanaging" the crisis and covering up the seriousness of China's outbreak before it spread.
Trump has also announced that Washington will halt payments to the UN body that amounted to USD 400 million last year.
"I'm not sure that you can ...

Australia calls for independent probe into global virus response

Brighton owner Tony Bloom believes that relegation should be scrapped if the Premier League season cannot be completed, claiming it would be "unfathomable" that a club could be doomed by "0.2 points".
The Premier League, in common with leagues throughout Europe and beyond, has been suspended for over a month due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Most teams in the top flight still have nine games to play while June 30 has been mentioned as a potential cut-off date for the season to end.
"I don't foresee a situation, if the season's not played out, that teams will get relegated on a points-per-game basis," Bloom said.
"I just don't think it's fathomable that a team which is not allowed to play out the season may lose out on 0.2 points based on this system, and also it does not take into account the strength of the team you have not played."
If the season ended early, Brighton would stay up as they sit two points above the drop zone.
Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich were in the relegation 

Brighton chief wants relegation scrapped if season not finished

Rafael Nadal celebrates the 15th anniversary of his first Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday, a victory which sparked a breakthrough season, a maiden Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros and set the Spaniard on the road to becoming one of the sport's greatest players.
Nadal was just 18 when he beat Guillermo Coria in the 2005 Monte Carlo final.  Two years earlier, he had offered tennis a glimpse of the future when, at 16, he stunned French Open champion Albert Costa on the famous red clay on the shores of the Mediterranean.
His 2005 triumph was one of 11 titles Nadal captured that year -- eight of them on clay at Costa do Sauipe, Acapulco, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, the French Open, Bastad and Stuttgart.
He also proved he was no slow-court bully, ending the year with hard court victories in Canada, Beijing and Madrid.
That success was also reflected in the rankings.
At the end of 2004, he was at 51; fast forward 12 months and he was the world number two.
Among his 85-trophy career .

Fifteen years on, how maiden Monte Carlo win sparked Nadal breakthrough

Move over, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. There is a new feisty super senior in Washington who is captivating American hearts.
Anthony Fauci is everywhere these days -- not just as the straight-talking coronavirus point man at President Donald Trump's daily pandemic briefings but on T-shirts, coffee mugs and, yes, even donuts.
Indeed, for many, the diminutive 79-year-old epidemiologist with a heavy Brooklyn accent is the country's new hero -- a no-nonsense scientist speaking truth to a terrified nation led by a president who sometimes has a loose grasp of the facts.
Nick Semeraro, owner of Donuts Delite in Rochester, New York, is just one of the business owners paying tribute to the doctor -- and simultaneously cashing in on Fauci-mania.
Semeraro is churning out donuts that feature a picture of Fauci on edible paper where the hole should be -- his way of honoring the government's top infectious disease expert.
"I've never met a guy so admired by so many people. I have never heard one negative ..

America's love affair with an elderly epidemiologist

Turkmenistan is rebooting its football season on Sunday, with fans flocking back to stadiums in one of the few countries yet to declare a case of coronavirus.
The reclusive Central Asian state followed other countries around the world when it suspended its eight-team league in March just three games into the season.
The national football federation cited recommendations by the health ministry and the World Health Organisation for preventing the spread of the illness.
A month later, and despite international concerns that Turkmen authorities are underplaying the threat of the virus, football is returning, with supporters only too happy to follow the action from the stands.
"Joy boosts our immunity," joked Ashir Yusupov, a 34-year-old entrepreneur.
He said he would be watching reigning champions Altyn Asyr take on early table-toppers Kopetdag in the capital Ashgabat on Sunday.
Yusupov said he had no fear of crowded places, despite being aware of bans on sports events in other ...

'We have no coronavirus': Turkmenistan football season restarts with crowds

Former US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in March, said that he has now tested negative for the virus.
"All right everyone, great news for me and my wife, Melissa, we both tested negative for COVID-19," McEnroe said in a video posted on Twitter.
"We just got the tests back this morning."
The 53-year-old younger brother of seven-time Grand Slam singles champion John McEnroe, said he was tested at the same drive-up facility in suburban Westchester County, New York, where he obtained his initial test.
He said the procedure was even more efficient, with more technicians testing six lines of patients instead of two.
"I know we're talking a lot about testing on TV, we need more of them, we all know that. It was great to see this going so well for us and for New York state in general," said McEnroe, who quarantined at home during his illness.
New York state has seen more than 12,000 deaths from COVID-19, although the state reported its lowest one-day death 

Former US Davis Cup captain Pat McEnroe says virus is behind him

Both Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou announced plans to stage matches at their tennis academies.
With top-level professional tennis shut down until at least July 13, both academies said they were examining the possibility of staging and broadcasting matches so fans could watch remotely.
While the Rafael Nadal academy, based on the Spanish island of Mallorca, said on its website that it was in talks with the ATP on how to proceed, Mouratoglou released a statement unveiling a planned "league" of 50 matches at his academy near Nice in the south of France and talking of "millions of US dollars in prize money".
The Nadal Academy said it was considering becoming "a campus where elite players can reside, train and compete between themselves in matches that will be televised so that fans around the world can enjoy them."
It said Nadal had originated the idea and that the academy had been in taks with ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
"Right now tennis takes a back seat 

Serena Williams' coach and Nadal planning matches at academies

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the prospect of losing a struggling team from the Formula One grid would be such an "enormous blow" that the sport's owners would have to launch a financial bailout.
The world championship has not yet got underway due to the coronavirus pandemic with nine races either cancelled or postponed.
The French Grand Prix scheduled for June 28 is also in doubt as is the Belgian Grand Prix, set for August 30.
With TV and advertising revenue drying up, there are fears that the weakest among the 10 teams could go to the wall.
However, Horner believes that F1's owners, Liberty Media, would be forced to act.
"It could be an enormous blow and at that point the promoter has to decide," Horner told The Guardian on Saturday.
"It is their business, they have to decide how do they keep these teams alive because they need teams to go racing.
"The Liberty guys would do whatever they can to ensure that 10 teams are on the grid and competing next year.
"In ...

Red Bull's Horner says F1 owners would bail out struggling teams

Novak Djokovic has said that he, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are organising aid for players struggling with the paralysis of the game due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I spoke to Roger and Rafa a few days ago," Djokovic, the world number one, said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka on Saturday.
"We had a long conversation about the near future of tennis, what is going to happen, how we can contribute and how we can help especially lower-ranked players, who are obviously struggling the most."
"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," he said "Guys who are ranked between 200-250, especially to 700...are thinking of leaving tennis right now."
He said players, the ATP and the four Grand Slams "would all get together and will contribute to a player relief fund that ATP will distribute." "It looks, ...

Djokovic says tennis 'big three' plan to help lowest-ranked players

The African Champions League and African Confederation Cup finals, due to take place in May, were postponed because of the spread of the coronavirus, officials announced.
"The finals of the Confederation Cup and Champions League 2019/20 have been put on hold until further notice," said a statement from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Saturday.
The Cameroonian port city of Douala had been chosen to stage the Champions League final on Friday May 29 at the recently built 50,000-seat Japoma Stadium.
The Confederation Cup final was to have been played at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Moroccan capital Rabat on  Sunday May 24.
"The new schedule will be communicated in due time after consultation with the various stakeholders," added the statement by CAF, which had already postponed the semi-finals.
"CAF is monitoring the situation closely and working with the relevant authorities including the Wealth Health Organization (WHO) on the impact of the virus on the ...

African club finals postponed due to coronavirus

Tennis players, like athletes everywhere, are finding inventive ways to train with courts closed and contact banned, but two youngsters in Italy have taken it to a higher level: the roof.
When the tennis club in Finale Ligure, a small town in northern Italy, closed at the beginning of March, as part of Italy's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, its coaches challenged their young players to find inventive ways to keep training and to film themselves doing it.
The result is a series of videos posted on the Tennisclub Finale Facebook page.
They showed youngsters practising their strokes with or without rackets or, in one case, with a long handled broom.
Several show players hitting balls against walls in the street or in parking lots or even in their bedroom or the family living room, with the wide-screen television positioned ominously close to the apex of the forehand swing.
The videos resembled many others being posted on social media under the #tennisathome hashtag, but one ...

Italian tennis youngsters happy to hit the roof during virus

The US Anti-Doping Agency has come up with a novel random testing program to cope with the unique circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
With the United States, like much of the world, under lockdown as authorities try to slow the spread of the virus, USADA has launched a program in which athletes collect blood and urine samples from themselves at home, while being monitored remotely on Zoom or FaceTime by testing personnel.
The test kits were sent to athletes, who must produce samples when they receive an unannounced call from a doping control officer.
The officer watches the blood sample being taken, but urine samples are provided in private.
The samples are sealed under the eye of the doping control officer and sent to an accredited lab for testing.
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart told the New York Times that plenty of top US Olympic hopes were eager to sign up for the pilot project.
Freestyle swimming great Katie Ledecky and athletes Noah Lyles and Allyson Felix were among 

USADA tries 'virtual' testing amid COVID-19 pandemic

President Donald Trump has said he hopes US Muslims will be held to the same social distancing standards during Ramzan as Christians at Easter, when a number of faithful chafed against coronavirus-related restrictions on large gatherings.
The US president made the comments after being asked to defend a retweet of a conservative commentator who seemed to question whether Muslims would be treated with the same severity as Christians who broke social distancing rules.
"I would say that there could be a difference," Trump said during his daily coronavirus press conference. "And we'll have to see what will happen. Because I've seen a great disparity in this country." "They go after Christian churches but they don't tend to go after mosques," he said on Saturday.
Ramzan, which begins at sunset on Thursday, falls a week and a half after Easter, when some Christians bucked public health regulations to attend illicit services.
Asked whether he thought imams would refuse to follow social ...

Social distancing rules should be same for Ramzan, Easter: Trump

A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram, arrested during a recent operation against the jihadist group, have been found dead in the prison where they were being held, Chad's chief prosecutor announced Saturday.
Speaking on national television, Youssouf Tom said the 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell on Thursday.  They were part of a group of 58 suspects jailed during a recent army operation in the Lake Chad zone.

44 jihadists found dead in Chad prison: prosecutor

Hundreds of people demonstrated Saturday in cities across America against coronavirus-related stay-at-home rules -- with the explicit encouragement of President Donald Trump -- as resentment against prolonged confinement grew.
An estimated 400 people gathered under a cold rain in Concord, New Hampshire -- many on foot while others remained in their cars -- to send a message that extended quarantines were not necessary in a state with relatively few confirmed cases of COVID-19, an AFP photographer reported.
A similar rally outside Maryland's colonial-era statehouse in Annapolis drew around 200 protesters. And more than 250 people showed up in the Texas capital of Austin, as such protests continued to spread.
They drew encouragement in certain Democratic-led states from tweets by Trump -- who has said he favors a quick return to normal practices -- though protests have also taken place in Republican-led states like New Hampshire.
In Concord, demonstrators carried signs with slogans like 

Hundreds protest against US virus rules amid spreading resentment

Spain, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, is to extend its nationwide lockdown until May 9, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced Saturday.
Restrictions on movements would be loosened slightly however to allow children time outside, from April 27, he added.
Spain, which has been under lockdown since March 14, has recorded 20,043 deaths from the virus, according to the latest official figures released earlier Saturday.

AFP

AFP

Page 31 - Afp/pti