At a press conference for international media, Dr. Sheng said that more than 100 cultural, sports and tourism activities would be lined up throughout next year. These range from shows of traditional Chinese and aboriginal folk art, international golf and baseball tournaments, and a home stay program for youths from 100 countries.

For most Qataris, the world's most watched sporting event represents a chance to offer a new image of their homeland and the wider Middle East. "This is not just for Qatar, but for the whole region," Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife of the country's ruler, told Reuters in an interview.

Every town in every country in Africa is home to at least one makeshift soccer field, the game is more than just a sport, it is part of daily life. In the lead up to the World Cup, photographers traveled from Egypt to Kenya, Nigeria to Ghana, capturing soccer lovers around the continent.

Madonna, always the tough girl, did not let the news of drug-fueled beheadings and butchering in Mexico scare her off. The pop queen inaugurated her Hard Candy Fitness gym in a posh Mexico City neighborhood on Monday night, with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard in the crowd.

For the second time in six months England have been left crushed by the World Cup. After the humiliation of this summer's 4-1 defeat to Germany in South Africa came another resounding rejection for football's mother country.

“We want to give these aspiring children boys and girls—wealthy and poor—the opportunity to learn and develop their skills in baseball,” [US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry] Thomas said, citing the case of Filipino-American Tim Lincecum...

Many believe that America's greatest export is its culture; from blockbuster Hollywood films and TV series to jeans and iPods, there is little doubt that American cultural products have profound dissemination and market consumption around the globe. But few would have imagined that one day Turkish citizens would be cheering on pro-wrestlers in Istanbul.

In previous editions, the Asian Games have provided fertile ground for the two Koreas to engage in sports diplomacy as they seek to repair ties 60 years after war broke out between north and south.