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Some powerful Western nations are reportedly hesitant to apply another round of punitive sanctions on Moscow or expand much-needed military support for Ukraine’s defenders. The extraordinary day of summits comes as Ukrainian forces try to seize the military momentum by going on the offensive along Russia’s axes of invasion. The Ukrainians have already inflicted severe casualties on the invaders, confounding pre-war assumptions that they would be no match for a numerically superior enemy....

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Moscow was not interested in “the occupation of Ukraine” nor did it want to overthrow the government in Kyiv. Russian foreign ministry statements are taken with a grain of salt—Moscow did after all repeatedly deny it would ever invade Ukraine—but is Putin backpedaling? While she repeated the Kremlin tropes that the war was about the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine, Zakharova’s position was at odds with the invective Putin spat out in front of the cameras at the start of the war....

The ethnic Armenian team in the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh has the shirts and the shoes, and even practices five days each week on an artificial field a short distance from the center of Stepanakert, the territory’s capital. But that’s about as far as the team goes. “UEFA doesn’t let us participate anywhere,” said Artsakh defender Aram Kostandyan, who wishes he could inspire the younger generation of players and show them “why they are playing football....

England slumped to a 251-run defeat at Edgbaston, with spinner Moeen proving expensive with the ball – taking three wickets for 172 runs – while scoring just four with the bat. Somerset’s Leach – who scored 92 as nightwatchman in a warm-up Test against Ireland – has been drafted into the 12-man squad as Moeen’s replacement. Meanwhile, paceman Archer, who proved he had recovered from a side strain with a superb performance in a Sussex second XI match this week, is set to make his Test debut having replaced James Anderson, who has been ruled out with a calf injury....

The brilliant Smith quickly found the two runs he needed to reach three figures for the second time in the match, becoming just the third Australian to hit centuries in each innings of an away Ashes Test. A rare lapse of concentration in another sensational knock saw Smith edge Chris Woakes behind, but a 126-run stand with the equally terrific Matthew Wade (86 not out) – which followed a three-figure partnership with Travis Head in the morning session – meant Australia were 356-5 at tea and leading by an imposing 266....

Smith ended his exile from the international circuit at the World Cup, where Australia reached the semi-finals. However, the Ashes opener marked the first Test for Smith and David Warner, and the first international cricket of any kind for Cameron Bancroft, since the trio received bans for the ball-tampering scandal that marred their series with South Africa last year. Each of the trio received boos from a raucous Edgbaston crowd yet, while Warner and Bancroft each departed cheaply in a largely disappointing Australia innings, Smith produced one of his finest centuries....

Sri Lankan batsmen had a poor outing but the bowlers were brilliant and restricted Bangladesh to 261 on a belter of a track. There were some good performances in the game and we take a look at 3 of the star performers. #3 Mohammad Mithun After losing Tamim Iqbal, who left the game retired hurt due to a wrist injury and two early wickets, Bangladesh was reeling at 1-2. Mithun, who walked in at No....

Both teams will be up against each other after a gap one year as they last played at the finals of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 where Pakistan emerged victorious. But, as no match involving these two is a dead rubber, it will be a treat for the fans who are eagerly waiting for the clash. Pakistan won their last clash comfortably against Hong Kong to commence their tournament with a thumping victory....

The fourth and final day of the event began with the Discus Throw finals. Kamalpreet Kaur and Navjeet Dhillon competed in it. However, neither Dhillon nor Kamalpreet managed to register any medal wins and finished fourth and fifth respectively on the table. Dhillon threw her best of 57.47 meters while Kamal Preet could not get it past 55.59 meters. One of the star attractions of the day was definitely Dutee Chand....

With everything for the big event all prepared, we take a look at what our favourite players will wear when they chase their Asian dreams in UAE. Group A #1 UAE UAE will once again be wearing the white plain jerseys with red stripes along the shoulders. The presence of red colour amongst the full white makes the kit look decent. The hosts have also launched an away kit with a mixture of green and black....

Let us look at the schedule of Indian athletes on Day 2 of the event. All timings are according to the Indian Standard time (IST). BADMINTON Women’s Team Semi-Final Match 2 Players participating – Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Ashwini Ponnappa, Pradnya Gadre, Sikki Reddy – 2:30 P.M BASKETBALL Men’s qualification round Group B - India vs Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- 12:45 P.M CYCLING Women’s Team Keirin Qualifying – Heat 1/Heat 2 – 12:30 P....

Meanwhile in the earlier shooting event, Indian shooters Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma failed to qualify for the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Finals. Manu Bhaker, aged 16, became the youngest Indian shooter to have bagged a Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games in April. Manu achieved this feat in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in women’s 10m Air Pistol event. She is also the youngest Indian shooter to win two Gold medals at 2018 ISSF World Cup....

Unhappy with the team selection, Paes pulled out of the event last-minute throwing captain and coach Zeeshan Ali’s plans haywire. The singles entries were already decided and so was the doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan. The other doubles and mixed doubles combinations were finalized after an intense training session yesterday evening. The two events have always been crucial for India at the Games where the country collected five medals four years ago including a mixed doubles gold, a silver, and bronze in the men’s doubles besides a women’s doubles bronze....

On Monday, the OCA’s anti-doping council raided the Athlete’s Village on the lookout for a few relay runners whose samples they needed. The relay members were away at practice then some 25 km away from the Village venue. However, the anti-doping officials took samples of star athlete Hima Das and Nirmala Seorang on Tuesday. In case you didn’t know… The wound inflicted on India’s image at the world stage during the 21st edition of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games must have a deep one for the doping council has laid strict eyes on the Indian contingent....

India were more methodical rather than explosive as they kept putting up points, opening up a comfortable lead early. They led by nine at the half and eventually won by 19 points, but the margin of victory doesn’t quite encapsulate the story of the match. The Thais came back strong in the second half and posed some problems for the Indians who had to be alert to avert any unexpected setbacks....

In case you didn’t know… The native of Ponmalai in Trichy, Manimaran was employed as a driver in the forest department in 2009 through the sports quota. He had a gold streak from 2000 to 2007 in the all-India Forest meet, helping him get noticed. He developed an interest in weightlifting after his class 12 exams and since then, regularly won medals in the All-India university tournaments in the category. The win in Udaipur is Manimaran’s first international medal....

The New York Times recently reported about a new front in what feels increasingly like a political war: high schoolers creating social media accounts to call out classmates for alleged “racist” speech. Students post screenshots of comments, videos and posts they deem to be hateful, identify the authors through crowdsourcing, and then mercilessly “cancel” them online—sometimes with assistance from social media personalities with millions of followers. Obviously, no effort is made to examine context, understand the commenter’s mindset or offer an alternative point of view; the point, after all, is to ruin someone’s life for an indiscretion....

Come July 19, PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to check out five games from Ubisoft’s critically-acclaimed Assassin’s Creed series. This includes Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection, itself a compilation of three games, meaning that, technically, there will be seven Assassin’s Creed games added to PS Plus Extra on July 19. RELATED: PS Plus Glitch Shows Upside Down Text in PlayStation Store Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection is a remastered collection of the AC games starring fan favorite character Ezio as the main protagonist....

Democratic Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has said she will not vote in support of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion infrastructure plan. The plan is considered an important part of Biden’s and congressional Democrats’ agenda leading into the 2022 midterm elections. “While I support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion,” Sinema said. Her statement could indicate her flexibility over its final proposals or spending limits. She has not yet indicated which she might be willing to support though....

For Reinsdorf, that bit of Steinbrenner-ism was an enormous aberration. He hired White Sox scout Jerry Krause to replace Thorn, and Krause stayed on the job until he retired in 2003. Bulls guard John Paxson took over for Krause, and Paxson had been on the job since then. So Reinsdorf fired a GM in his first month running the Bulls, 31 years ago, and has not fired one since....