Nigerian Amos Adamu, who was kicked off Fifa's executive committee for his part in the World Cup bribery scandal, has lost his appeal against a three-year ban from the sport.

The Belgian mezzo Rita Gorr, whose operatic career lasted an astonishing 58 years, was one of the great singers of the second half of the 20th century.

The tidy Swiss want to clean up space. Scientists from the Alpine nation said yesterday they plan to launch a "janitor satellite" designed to get rid of orbiting debris known as space junk.

Manchester United have raided local rivals Manchester City to bring teenage defender Frederic Veseli to Old Trafford.

Baltimore Museum of Art

From drugs busts to the NBA season being delayed to sexual abuse accusations in college sport, 2011 in the US has been all about the off-field drama, writes Robin Scott-Elliot

French luxury goods firm Lacoste last night dramatically terminated its sponsorship of a £21,000 photography prize after it was accused of attempting to censor the work of a London-based Palestinian artist.

The British Olympic Association will call on the services of Adam Lewis, the QC who helped Wayne Rooney secure a reduction in his England ban, in an attempt to win its campaign to bar British athletes who have served a drugs ban, such as Dwain Chambers, from taking part in next summer's London Games.

Great Britain's much-fancied line-up lived up to their billing by taking gold at the Team Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne.

The Blade Runner is finally going to take on the world.

Few churchmen become the subjects of doctoral theses. The life and influence of John Stott, Chaplain to the Queen, university missioner on six continents, and statesman theologian, has attracted original research in 10 universities. His name appeared in Time magazine in April 2005 in the company of Condoleezza Rice and Oprah Winfrey as "one of the 100 most influential figures in the world". A New York Times op ed that year declared that if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott would be that man.

Phillips Idowu will still have to hop, step and jump for gold, but the Briton's prospects of successfully defending his triple jump crown at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, next month brightened considerably yesterday afternoon with the news that Teddy Tamgho will be out of commission.

Another day, another update of the record books by a British athlete. Last weekend it was Holly Bleasdale with a British pole vault record in Mannheim. On Friday it was Chris Tomlinson with a new national mark for the long jump. On Saturday it was Lawrence Okoye – the former rugby-playing "schoolboy Lomu", a try scorer at Twickenham last year – with a whopping great world class British discus record in sun-baked Hendon.

The European 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene believes this weekend's Diamond League meeting at Birmingham will act as a "dress rehearsal" for the Olympics in London.