- 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
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- 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 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- 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
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- 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
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- 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
Tibetans protest 'Games of shame' at Olympic HQ
Around 500 Tibetans marched outside the International Olympic Committee headquarters on Thursday, led by an activist on skis dragging the Chinese flag behind him, to protest against Beijing hosting the Games.
Tibetan demonstrators from across Europe marched the three kilometres (two miles) from the IOC building in Lausanne to the Swiss city's Olympic Museum, a day before the 2022 Winter Games' opening ceremony in the Chinese capital.
Protesters, many carrying Tibetan flags, marched behind banners reading "Boycott Beijing Winter Olympics", "Stop human rights violations in Tibet" and "Games of shame".
Tibetan artist Loten Namling, who has lived in Switzerland for 32 years, led the procession on skis painted with the word "freedom".
"The reason why I'm dragging the Chinese flag is China destroyed my country. China destroyed my culture. Let them realise how painful it is for us," he said.
"Never, ever should they give the Olympics to mass murderers and dictators. It's time to say stop."
Demonstrators chanted "No rights, no Games" and "Beijing Olympics: genocide Games" as they marched past the Olympic rings.
Meanwhile student activists got on the roof of the IOC entrance to hold up a banner reading "No Beijing 2022".
- Spotlight on sponsors -
One placard displayed a skier in front of a tank with the Olympic rings for wheels, replicating the famous photograph of the lone protester blocking a column of tanks during Beijing's deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Another said: "Don't let Beijing 2022 become Berlin 1936".
The lead-up to the Winter Games has been overshadowed by human rights concerns, the Covid-19 pandemic and even fears about the Chinese government snooping on athletes.
Karma Choekyi, president of the Tibetan community in Switzerland, organised the Lausanne protest.
She claimed the Olympics and their financial backers had turned a blind eye to the civil liberties situation in China.
"The Chinese communist regime is empowered and they feel this kind of Games legitimises their right to crack down on the human rights of the people under them," she said.
"We condemn the IOC and the sponsors for making this happen."
Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which says it "peacefully liberated" the rugged plateau in 1951 and brought infrastructure and education to the previously underdeveloped region.
But many exiled Tibetans accuse the Chinese central government of religious repression, torture and eroding their culture.
- 'Inexplicable' hosting choice -
Wearing a Tibetan Buddhist monk's robes, Thupten Wangchen, a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, said they were not against the Olympics but against the choice of host.
"IOC: please, from now on, in future Olympics, choose a country which has human rights and freedom of religion," he said.
Karma Thinlay, president of the Tibetan Community France group, said it was "inexplicable" that Beijing had been awarded the Olympics for a second time, after the 2008 summer Games.
"The goal of the IOC is to build a better world through sport. Unfortunately it's not the case at all," he said.
Demonstrator Chime, 20, who described herself as stateless, said the Games holding their opening ceremony celebrations on Friday was "so sad".
"Is business, is the Olympics more important than people's lives? If we Tibetans are not human beings for you, then do it," she said.
P.Costa--AMWN