Football - US midfielder Bradley joins Roma from Chievo

Roma has completed the signing of United States midfielder Michael Bradley from Chievo Verona. The club confirmed the deal yesterday, and revealed it had paid Chievo 3.75 million euros plus a 50 percent share in Romanian youngster Adrian Stoian. Bradley has already joined his new teammates at their training camp in Riscone di Brunico. The 24-year-old American had an impressive season with Chievo last season after moving from Borussia Monchengladbach. He spent the first half of 2011 on loan at Aston Villa.

Cycling - Tacks on road cause about 30 punctures at Tour

Tour de France officials are asking police to investigate the presence of tacks on the route - causing around 30 riders to encounter punctures during the 14th stage. Speaking on French TV, race director Jean-Francois Pecheux has also credited the Sky Team - whose leader, Bradley Wiggins, is in the yellow jersey - for encouraging the pack to not speed ahead or take advantage of the mishaps of the affected riders, including defending champion Cadel Evans. Pecheux said the search for the culprit would be “difficult” because thousands of fans were on the roadside on the Mur de Peguere climb as the riders came by. He said about 30 riders picked up flats over about a one-kilometer stretch. Stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez and several other breakaway riders were many minutes ahead of the pack and appeared to be spared the sabotage during Sunday’s 191-kilometer stage between Limoux and Foix.

Football - Beckham, Keane each score twice to lead Galaxy

David Beckham and Robbie Keane scored two goals apiece to lead the Los Angeles Galaxy over the Portland Timbers 5-3 in Major League Soccer on Saturday. Landon Donovan also had a goal for the Galaxy, who are in fifth place in the Western Conference and back in the playoff race. Portland struggled in its first game since coach John Spencer was fired and Gavin Wilkinson took over the team. Kris Boyd scored two goals for the Timbers, who lost for only the third time in 10 games at home this season.

Football - FIFA President Blatter says Havelange must go

FIFA President Sepp Blatter says world football’s governing body should remove the honorary presidency it bestowed on its disgraced former boss Joao Havelange. Blatter told Swiss weekly Sonntags Blick in an interview published yesterday that Havelange “has to go.” In May at a FIFA congress in Budapest he had led a standing ovation for the ailing 96-year-old Havelange. Pressure on Blatter has grown after FIFA published a Swiss prosecutor’s report Wednesday confirming Havelange accepted kickbacks from marketing agency ISL in the 1990s, while Blatter was a senior FIFA official. Blatter acknowledges he knew about payments but insisted they were legal in Switzerland at the time. The 76-year-old Swiss took over from Havelange in 1998. He told Sonntags Blick he won’t rule out standing for another term in 2015.

Powerboats - British poweboating driver killed during Gabon GP

Eyewitnesses say a British powerboat driver has been killed in a crash during the Gabon Grand Prix race. William Nocker’s boat flipped and rolled on the water as Nocker and his Norwegian co-driver, Kurt Olsen, reached speeds of 193 kph (120 mph) during a race in the west African country. The 47-year-old Nocker was rushed to a military hospital in Gabon’s capital Libreville, but doctors were unable to revive him after the crash Friday. Olsen sustained severe injuries in the crash that occurred during the second round of the Class 1 world offshore championship. Olsen remains in hospital and is in critical condition. The race was suspended and its promoters, H20 Racing, said they were “extremely saddened by this tragic racing accident.” The sport’s governing body, International Poweboat Racing Club, is investigating the crash to determine what caused it, and plans to inspect the wreckage of the boat.

Olympics - Kuwait to compete under own flag at Olympics

The IOC lifted a ban on Kuwait’s Olympic Committee, allowing the athletes from the Gulf emirate to compete under their country’s flag at the London Games. The International Olympic Committee suspended Kuwait in 2010 because of political interference. The IOC said in May Kuwaiti athletes will be allowed to participate at the games despite the dispute, but would have to compete and march in the opening ceremony under the Olympic flag. Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC said Sunday the suspension had been lifted, adding that the Kuwaiti flag will be hoisted and the national anthem will be played at the Olympics. The Kuwait News Agency praised the decision that was announced a day after Kuwaiti officials met with the IOC President Jacques Rogge. The state-run news agency did not give details on the meeting. Kuwait is sending 11 athletes to the Olympics that start 27 July. They will compete in in shooting, table tennis, swimming and track-and-field.

Olympics - Daredevil dancers perform at London landmarks

Daredevil dancers have sky-walked, bungee-jumped, and tumbled across some of the British capital’s best-known landmarks ahead of the Olympic Games. The performance - called “Surprises: Streb” - saw red-suited acrobats bounce up and down like yo-yos from London’s futuristic Millennium Bridge, while others walked across the roof of London’s glass-domed city hall. At the 17th-century stone column known as The Monument, performers spun around in what appeared to be a giant hamster wheel. And at Trafalgar Square, a group of dancers wowed tourists with delicate maneuvers on a gently rotating ladder.