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South Africa underlined their status as the world's leading side as they beat France 32-17 on Saturday in Paris despite lock Lood de Jager's first-half red card. The Springboks played 40 minutes down a man after De Jager's shoulder charge on Bleus full-back Thomas Ramos but secured victory thanks to second-half tries from replacements Andre Esterhuizen and Grant Williams and starting fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. "The guys who started softened up the opposition and the bench finished it off," South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said after his team won a re-match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final won by the Boks on their way to a fourth Webb Ellis trophy. "I think everyone had a good impact," he added. Home winger Damian Penaud had s...

Olympique Lyonnais v Paris Saint-Germain, João Neves celebrates after a third goal at Groupama Stadium, Lyon, France on November 9, 2025. MANON CRUZ / REUTERS João Neves' late winner returned Paris Saint-Germain to the top of Ligue 1 as they beat Lyon 3-2 on Sunday, November 9, while Emanuel Emegha netted a brace as Strasbourg beat Lille. PSG had gone into the weekend's action in top spot, but were knocked off by archrivals Marseille who beat Brest 3-0 on Saturday to edge ahead by a point. The chance to restore their lead seemed to have slipped by Luis Enrique's side until Neves' 95th-minute header at the Groupama Stadium. Reigning champions PSG now sit two points clear of second-placed Marseille. Late defeat condemned Lyon to seventh spot, se...

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, left, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama center, battle for the ball on Sunday, Nov 2, 2025, in Phoenix. MIKE CHRISTY / AP Victor Wembanyama looked like an MVP candidate and his San Antonio Spurs appeared unstoppable through the first five games of the season. Then came Sunday's reality check. The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama had a rare off night in San Antonio's 130-118 loss to the Phoenix Suns, on Sunday, November 2, finishing with nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and six turnovers. It was the first time he was held to fewer than 10 points since October 30, 2024, when he had six against Oklahoma City. "They were expecting everything that we did," Wembanyama said. "That makes every...

Basketball from Macao at the Wilson booth in the NBA House, ahead of the NBA preseason game between the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets, at the Venetian Arena in Macao, October 12, 2025. EDUARDO LEAL / AFP With wacky filters and comical dance routines, the antics of American basketball players Chet Holmgren, Tyrese Haliburton and Jared McCain – crafted by marketing agencies – have recently spread across Chinese social media. This is yet another sign that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has regained its footing with Chinese fans since preseason games returned to Macao on October 10 and 12, after a six-year break. By welcoming back the NBA, China is signaling a return to normalcy at a time of trade and tech war between the world's two largest eco...

Charles Coste at his home in Bois-Colombes, France, on January 30, 2024. JOEL SAGET/AFP Charles Coste said he experienced "one of the most beautiful moments of his long life" when, on July 26, 2024, in the Jardin des Tuileries, he passed the Olympic torch to Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec and watched the Olympic flame rise into the rainy Paris sky. "I never thought I would receive such an honor," remarked the centenarian, after Tony Estanguet, the head of the organizing committee, had quietly called him a month before the ceremony to inform him he would be one of the last torchbearers. Perhaps Coste thought back 76 years, to when he and his teammates from the France team pursuit squad became Olympic champions in London,...

Members of the JOP 2030 citizens' collective, protesting to demand the withdrawal of France's bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, in front of the International Olympic Committee headquarters, in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 19, 2024. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP This marks a world first: A group of citizens will be heard by a United Nations oversight body on the subject of the Olympic Games. On Monday, October 20, the JOP 2030 citizens' collective learned that it would be heard in Geneva, at the UN's Palace of Nations, by the compliance committee tasked with the Aarhus Convention on "environmental democracy," in a preliminary admissibility hearing scheduled for November 18. This is only the fourth time in history that a case involving France has been examined in depth. ...

Tour de France General Director Christian Prudhomme in Paris on October 23, 2025. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP From Montjuic in Barcelona to Montmartre in Paris, the 2026 Tour de France presents champion Tadej Pogacar and his rivals with a plethora of mountain passes and peaks, including two stages tackling the revered Alpe d'Huez. Read more Subscribers only Tadej Pogacar, a Tour de France champion weary of his own dominance The 21-day race will start in Barcelona on July 4 and cover 3,333 kilometers before finishing beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on July 26, organizers revealed during an unveiling ceremony on Thursday, October 23. This itinerary offers Pogacar's chief riv...

Italy's Jannik Sinner during his round of 16 match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo at the ATP 1000 Masters, Paris Masters, in Nanterre, France, on October 30, 2025. SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS Jannik Sinner eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters on Thursday, October 30, to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital will return Sinner to number one in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain's Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament...

RC Toulon rugby player André Herrero holds the trophy and celebrates with supporters their victory over SU Agen at the Challenge Yves du Manoir, on May 24, 1970 in Colombes. - / AFP Ex-France rugby international André Herrero has died aged 87, his former club Toulon announced on Friday, October 24. Nicknamed "The Great," Herrero played 22 times for Les Bleus between 1963 and 1971, winning the Five Nations title in his final year of Test rugby. Herrero, who could cover second-row and back-row, spent 16 years at Toulon as a player before stints as a coach and president before being inducted into the club's hall of fame, alongside England icon Jonny Wilkinson in 2023. "It's with immense sadness that Toulon learnt of the death of André Herre...

French biathlon champion Julia Simon, who was found guilty of credit card fraud, at a courthouse in the French Alps, on October 24, 2025. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP French biathlon star Julia Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud by a French court and handed a three-month suspended prison sentence on Friday, October 24, a decision that raises questions over her participation at next year's Winter Olympics. Simon was accused of repeatedly using a bank card belonging to her teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, as well as that of a French team staff member, to make online purchases totaling more than €2,000 ($2,300). Simon has previously claimed 10 world titles and won an Olympic silver medal for France in the mixed relay at the 202...