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Ruba Jasem, Kyiv (2026)

20/08/2024

For generations, this teardrop-shaped isle has been known as a cool summer escape for Greek families from the mainland.

This summer, as Greece endured deadly heatwaves, tourists and locals alike have been looking for relief. Yet, one Cycladic island has long been known as something of a breezy oasis where mainlanders have long fled to escape the scorching Greek heat: the teardrop-shape isle of Kea, or "Tzia" as it's called by locals.

13/08/2024

In a summer of overtourism, a viral Oslo travel advert with nearly 20 million views is turning the tables on what travellers want.

It's hardly a traditional start to a tourism advertisement: "I wouldn't come here to be honest," says an unimpressed resident of Oslo.
The narrator, a 31-year-old man named Halfdan, then introduces viewers to Norway's capital, and complains about its lack of pretension, its easily accessible art like Edvard Munch's The Scream ("Not exactly the Mona Lisa," he notes) and its accessibility. All the while, he strolls through a tranquil cityscape with no queues, crowds or selfie-snappers in sight.

20/07/2024

Rafael Nadal's preparations for the Olympics continued with an impressive straight-set win over Britain's Cameron Norrie in the second round of the Swedish Open.

Nadal, 38, overcame the fifth seed in Bastad 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter-final with Argentine Mariono Navone.

The Spaniard decided to miss Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics in Paris this summer - where he will play singles and doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.

Nadal, who is set to play in the doubles semi-final with Casper Ruud on Saturday, broke Norrie once in the first set to claim the lead.

After receiving medical treatment on his arm because of a heavy fall at the start of the second set, Nadal was broken by an improving Norrie.

20/07/2024

Wimbledon singles champion Alfie Hewett will go for gold in Paris after being selected in a six-player wheelchair tennis ParalympicsGB squad for the 2024 Games.

Hewett, 26, is a three-time Paralympics silver medallist, having been a runner-up in men's singles and doubles at Rio 2016 and in doubles at Tokyo in 2021.

It is the only major title he is yet to win.

Gordon Reid, who has won 21 Grand Slams as Hewett's doubles partner, will join Hewett, Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward in the men's singles and doubles at Roland Garros.

Hewett will head to France on a high after landing a first Wimbledon singles title, completing a career Grand Slam, while he and Reid lifted the doubles trophy at SW19 for the sixth time.

20/07/2024

The Spaniard is also due to play with Casper Ruud in the doubles semi-finals against Brazil's Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos as he prepares to partner Carlos Alcaraz at the Olympics in Paris.

Some brilliant tennis between the two forced a first-set tie-break, where the Argentine powered his way into the lead.

After breaking twice in the second set to lead 3-0, Nadal then lost four games in a row as his level dropped dramatically.

Nadal broke again to make it 6-5 and was then able to hold his nerve to level the match.

29/03/2024

Xabi Alonso says "everything is clear" now after confirming he will stay as Bayer Leverkusen manager amid interest from Liverpool as well as Bayern Munich.

Alonso had been heavily linked with succeeding Jurgen Klopp at the club he represented for five years as a player when the German departs this summer.

The 42-year-old has guided Leverkusen to 10 points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich with eight games to play as well as a Europa League quarter-final with West Ham.

"It's been a season where we have had a lot of speculation regarding my future," he said. "Until now, we have had so many games, been pretty busy and focused, and I wanted to reflect during the international break and take a decision.

"Last week, I had a very good meeting when I informed them [Leverkusen's directors] of my decision to continue being coach. You need to analyse all decisions well and I try to take the right ones, I try to take them in a natural way.

"At the moment, this is the right place for me to develop. I am a young coach. Right now, this is the right place. The club had been supportive and I feel respected by all departments.

"The fans have shown great support and they have reasons to believe and dream we will have a great season. I have a great staff to help me work day by day, and so for sure the players.

"Last week was my deadline for sure. All my cards on the table. Once I took the decision I felt I needed to share it with everyone. It is a sign of respect. I informed the players at a team talk this morning.

"It was important it wasn't affecting the team and the mentality of the team was good. Everything is clear."

15/03/2024

Relationships between team-mates can be "challenging but not inappropriate," says ex-England defender Anita Asante.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said on Thursday that player-coach relationships and player-to-player relationships are inappropriate.

Hayes also said relationships between team-mates can be hard for a coach to navigate.

"I just don't think it [player-to-player relationships] has any relevance to this issue at hand," Asante said.

Leicester City boss Willie Kirk is being investigated by the club following an allegation of a player-coach relationship.

It is understood a complaint has been lodged with the club about an alleged current relationship between Kirk and a player. BBC Sport has approached Kirk for comment regarding the allegation.

Hayes said on Thursday that "player-coach relationships are inappropriate, player-to-player relationships are inappropriate".

"We have to look it at in the context of where the game has come from," Hayes said.

"We're in a professional era now where the expectation in place for players and coaches is such that all of our focus and attention has got to be on having the top standards."

Asante, 38, played at the top of the women's game for 19 years before announcing her retirement at the end of the 2021-22 season.

"I can imagine in terms of the context she [Hayes] is saying, yes those relationships can be challenging but they are not inappropriate, they are just challenging," Asante, who is a coach with England women's Under-23 team, told BBC 5 Live.

"But of course that's a conversation probably to be had at some point because of course it can be challenging."

04/03/2024

Barcelona failed to capitalise on results elsewhere in La Liga after a goalless draw at Athletic Bilbao which means they stay third in the table.

The Basque side dug in from the outset with a well-organised defensive unit, looking to play on the counter.

Joao Cancelo went closest to scoring for Barca but his 40-yard effort was cleared off the line by Yeray Alvarez.

With second-placed Girona losing at Mallorca, a win for Barcelona would have seen them move up to second.

Athletic's gameplan worked to a point, denying Barcelona clear openings, but they were unable to pose any serious threat when they did get the opportunity to break.

Portugal full-back Cancelo was inches away from putting the visitors in front midway through the first half when he met Unai Simon's clearance first time from just inside the hosts' half.

The goalkeeper managed to backtrack to get a hand on the effort and Alvarez then desperately hooked the ball off the line.

The pattern of play remained the same in the second half with both teams building neatly up the field but struggling to execute the right pass in the final third.

With the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to come against Napoli on 12 March, Barcelona boss Xavi will not have been pleased to have seen Frenkie de Jong and Pedri both leave the field with injuries, the latter reduced to tears when he took his place on the bench.

Real Madrid's 2-2 draw at Valencia on Saturday offered Barcelona hope of cutting the gap at the top to just six points.

The draw does no favours for either side with Barcelona staying third and eight adrift of Real. Fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao have dropped further off the pace of the top four as they sit five points behind Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Betis 2-1 earlier in the day.

21/02/2024

Manager Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season.

The 50-year-old replaced Julian Nagelsmann at the German champions in March 2023 on a deal until June 2025.

But the former Chelsea boss will depart a year earlier than planned as part of "a sporting realignment" at Bayern.

He led Bayern to last season's Bundesliga title after taking over in the spring but they now sit eight points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen after back-to-back league defeats.

One of those was an emphatic 3-0 loss to Leverkusen - and they were also beaten 1-0 by Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said both parties agreed to "mutually end our collaboration" following "an open, good conversation".

"Our goal is to carry out a sporting realignment with a new coach for the 2024-25 season," he added.

"Until then, every individual in the club is expressly challenged to achieve the maximum possible in the Champions League and the Bundesliga.

"I also explicitly hold the team responsible. Especially in the Champions League, we are convinced after the defeat at Lazio we will advance to the quarter-finals with our fans behind us."

21/02/2024

Sir Jim Ratcliffe says Manchester United must "walk to the right solution, not run to the wrong one" after he bought a 27.7% stake in the club.

The 71-year-old billionaire told BBC Sport "something is wrong with the environment" at United, who won the most recent of their 20 English titles in 2013.

And he called for patience from supporters as he aims to restore his childhood club to its former glory.

Ratcliffe, who is also chairman of petrochemicals company Ineos, was speaking to BBC sports editor Dan Roan hours after his £1.25bn investment was completed.

In a wide-ranging interview, he discussed his preference to build a new stadium which would "serve the north of England", working with the Glazer family and trying to emulate rivals Manchester City.

"In the north west, we have two neighbours who are really impressive football clubs. I want to knock them all off their perch," he said.

13/02/2024

Kylian Mbappe is set to return for Paris St-Germain for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at home to Real Sociedad on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old France striker was an unused substitute for PSG's 3-1 league win against Lille on Saturday.

PSG boss Luis Enrique chose to rest Mbappe for the game after he picked up an ankle injury in a French Cup win over Brest.

"Kylian Mbappe is available, just like the other players," said Luis Enrique.

"When a team has a player like Kylian Mbappe, of course we know that the more he plays the better, because we all benefit from that.

"There is no doubt about it. He could have played [on Saturday] if it had been a final, but it wasn't, it was not worth the risk."

Mbappe has scored 20 league goals and three in the Champions League this season.

PSG go into the game against Sociedad with an 11 point lead in Ligue 1, while the Spanish side are seventh in La Liga.

However, PSG finished as runners-up in their Champions League group to reach the knockout stage, while Sociedad finished top of a group which included Inter Milan.

"Real Sociedad have a tight defence in the Champions League, they don't give the ball away easily. We have to press them aggressively," said Luis Enrique.

09/02/2024

Vincent Kompany is looking forward to the challenge of facing the league leaders on Saturday as he takes Burnley to Liverpool.

The Clarets boss had many tasty battles with the Reds while he was Manchester City captain and he believes Jurgen Klopp's current side are almost on a par with their past great teams.

"If I compare the Liverpool teams I played against and the Liverpool team we're seeing now they are there or thereabouts again," Kompany said. "It's not to do with the results. It's how the team moves, the confidence they have when pressing on the front foot.

"The players are still getting integrated, [but you see] how quickly they have assimilated the ideas of the better Liverpool teams of recent times.

Kompany never tasted victory against Klopp as a player at Anfield but insists he is hopeful of finding success on Merseyside as a manager.

When asked about the impact of Klopp announcing his decision to depart at the end of the season, Kompany could not commit to an opinion.

"It happened to me a couple of times but it's different everywhere so it's difficult to say," he said. "I can't go and make any statements on how they're going to finish the season. We'll find out when we find out.

"But also it's not much my concern. I wish him and them, after our game, as much good fortune as they need."

Ruba Jasem

20/08/2024

13/08/2024

20/07/2024

20/07/2024

20/07/2024

29/03/2024

15/03/2024

04/03/2024

21/02/2024

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