Racist abuse in European football is nothing new, although most high-profile cases have involved abusive chants from supporters toward opposing players _ not on-field incidents.

Ben Stokes offered England’s only resistance, hitting 31 off 23 balls, while the hosts contributed to their own downfall by having four of their last five batsmen run out.

The fourth test takes place at The Oval, a heavy scoring ground, and if India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni can lift morale he has enough world-class batsmen to restore pride to his deposed team.

Two weeks until the Prince William and Kate Middleton get married at London’s Westminster Abbey

Australia leads 3-1 in the series ahead of the fifth match in Brisbane on Sunday.

Will Middleton carve out her own path in the royal drama or _ like Diana _ be crushed by the loneliness and pressure of being a real-life princess?

England, which last hosted the World Cup in 1966, has pledged to match FIFA’s $120 million annual investment in grass roots football around the world each year by 2018.

The 35-year-old says he is “80 to 85 percent” fit after tearing his left Achilles’ tendon while on loan in March. He was sidelined for six months and missed the World Cup in South Africa.

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has said repeatedly that he wouldn’t retire from England duty while still playing football.

Giancarlo Abete blamed Europe’s big clubs, awash with money from lucrative broadcast contracts, for failing to develop young players good enough for international football.

The last Jamaican man to play at Wimbledon was Richard Russell in 1970. He failed to qualify in 1972. Russell was also the last Jamaican man to appear in a Grand Slam tournament, losing in the second round in the French Open in 1974.

Soccer isn’t in the same league as the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball, not yet. But its time is coming. Slowly, but surely. It’s an evolution, not a revolution, and people who run the sport in the United States are ready for that, with the 2010 World Cup another milestone along the way.

Flights into Rome, Athens and Madrid became the new hot ticket at many international airports Sunday _ but after three days of travel disruptions, the backlog of passengers meant many faced waiting lists of days, even weeks.

Next June, get set for the rematch, the Americans against the English.

England coach Fabio Capello intends to bring David Beckham to the World Cup if the midfielder plays regularly in his second sojourn at AC Milan. In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday, Capello was asked if he would bring the 34-year-old former England captain to South Africa. The coach replied, “Of course [...]