- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
Ukraine Paralympic chief fears disabled sport 'will die'
Ukraine's top Paralympic official fears that the country's programme for disabled athletes is on the cusp of collapse after Russia's invasion and is warning of dire consequences.
The eastern European country has 2.7 million people living with disabilities and has traditionally punched above its weight at both Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
But 10 weeks into a conflict that has killed thousands of people, the Ukrainian government has been forced to channel all resources into the war effort and can no longer fund its Paralympic programme.
The National Sports Committee for the Disabled of Ukraine needs an urgent injection of funds and is seeking international donations.
"We are leaders in the Paralympic movement and Deaflympics," Ukraine Paralympic committee president Valeriy Sushkevych told AFP by telephone from Brazil.
"Today I am afraid that sports for disabled in Ukraine will die."
Sushkevych is in Brazil overseeing Ukraine's Deaflympics squad, who currently top the medal table with 46 medals including 24 gold, more than double the number of podium finishes compared to the United States in second.
Ukraine recorded their best-ever result at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing in March, coming second with 29 medals including 11 gold, a source of national pride during a time of great turmoil.
Stellar performances in cross-country skiing and biathlon showed Ukrainian athletes' extraordinary resilience given the immense stress and fears for family back home.
One athlete learnt her house had been bombed in an air strike but won gold days later.
The winter sport training centre in the country's west has now become a makeshift refugee camp for more than 300 people including a 94-year-old grandmother and children as young as three months old.
"We can't say no, we are only sports," Sushkevych said, adding that many athletes and their families were also staying there, along with a coach who lost his home in heavily bombed Kharkiv.
Others are hiding in basements with their families, unable to go outside freely, let alone resume training.
"The best athletes in the world in Paralympic sport don't know if they can continue their sports," Sushkevych said.
Ukraine's efforts in Brazil and China has boosted morale among Ukraine citizens grappling with the horrors of war, he said.
"It's a very strong spirit... they say on social media that 'you are necessary for us'," Sushkevych said.
He hopes the country's disabled sports programme can survive, especially for the wellbeing of Ukrainians who are injured during the war and become amputees.
"It will be very difficult to restore the Paralympic movement if it dies," he added.
J.V.Jacinto--PC