Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is on the verge of making a return to NBA action nine months after rupturing his right Achilles tendon injury during last seasons playoffs.Tatum was listed as questionable on the Celtics injury report on Thursday ahead of the teams home matchup with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.It is the first time this season he hasnt been listed as sidelined and undergoing rehabilitation for the injury he suffered during Game 4 of Bostons Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the New York Knicks last May.Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has said that Tatum wouldnt be cleared to return until he was ready to play both physically and mentally. That time may have arrived.Tatum also has previously indicated that his return to the court would be a home game. The Celtics (41-21) have 20 games remaining in the regular season, including 11 at TD Garden. Boston is currently in second place in the East standings.I didnt come back to be no role player, Doc, Tatum said weeks after the surgery to his physician during a checkup that was chronicled in the recently released documentary The Quiet Work, which followed his rehab process.When Tatum was injured last season, his thoughts quickly pivoted away from the devastation he felt for himself and what would soon be the end of his teams bid to repeat as NBA champions.He made the decision quickly to begin the process of turning the page and opted to have surgery the very next day.The typical rehabilitation window to return to basketball action following Achilles tendon surgery is between 9 and 12 months.If he indeed plays on Friday, the 28-year-old Tatum, who had surgery on May 13, will make his return to the court after 298 days.Thats not far beyond the recovery time it took for Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins to recover from his Achilles tendon rupture. Wilkins returned at age 33 after 283 days to play in the 1992-93 season. He went on to appear in 71 regular-season games that year, averaging 29.9 points per game and being named to the All-Star team.Tatums childhood idol, Kobe Bryant, made it back to the court after about eight months, but was hampered by subsequent injuries.Tatum is in the first season of the five-year, $314 million extension he signed in 2024. He celebrated his 28th birthday on Tuesday.While Tatum has been rehabbing six days per week since surgery, the decision of whether hed return this season hasnt been a foregone conclusion.Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton and Portland Trail Blazers player Damian Lillard were both ruled out for the entire 2025-26 NBA season after also suffering torn Achilles tendon injuries during the 2025 playoffs. Lillard, who was with the Milwaukee Bucks last season, went down in their first-round loss to Indiana. Haliburton was injured in Game 7 of Indianas NBA Finals loss to Oklahoma City.But Tatum has been on a steady ramp up since beginning his rehab and has had no known setbacks. Hes remained a fixture around the team and has been traveling on road trips while continuing his workouts.After going through a full practice with the Celtics G League team three weeks ago, Tatum said he hadnt yet made a decision of whether hed return.It doesnt mean that Im coming back or Im not, its just following the plan. So its just another step, Tatum said at the time. I dont know percentage. I just know I feel a little bit better everyday. I just try to focus on that.Tatum said in the same interview that he is also mindful of not wanting to disrupt the progress of a Celtics team that is in the mix to come out of the East this season.In particular, fellow All-Star Jaylen Brown has thrived in Tatums absence this season, averaging career highs in points (29.1), rebounds (7.1) and assists (4.9) while becoming one of the NBAs elite defenders as well. It has earned him strong consideration in league MVP discussions for the first time in his career.Its why Tatum said hed expressed some hesitation about possibly returning in a recent podcast appearance.Im just hyper aware of whats going on. I think it would just stem from that. Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team. But Im also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well, Tatum said. Not to say that I would mess it up or anything like that. It was just being kind of, being vulnerable, I guess, for a moment and talking from that perspective.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

The PM said the best way forward was a "negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambitions".

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a warning of a "circulating poliovirus" in over 30 countries.The "Level 2: Practice Enhanced Precautions" alert was published earlier this week."Before any international travel, make sure you are up-to-date on your polio vaccines," the agency said.AMERICAN STUCK IN MIDDLE EAST ESCAPES IN RACE TO REACH CRITICALLY ILL HUSBAND IN CALIFORNIAThe announcement comes as Americans begin their spring break travels and countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany are among those listed in the warning.Travelers are told they can prevent the illness by making sure that both adults and children are up-to-date on their polio vaccines."Adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine," the CDC recommends.CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESThis applies to any Americans who are planning on traveling to the countries listed.The CDC warns that the disease is crippling and can be deadly impacting the nervous system.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER"Good handwashing practices can help prevent the spread of this disease," the CDC notes."Because the virus that causes polio lives in the feces (poop) of an infected person, people infected with the disease can spread it to others when they do not wash their hands well after defecating (pooping)," said the agency.Travelers are warned they can also be infected if they drink water or eat food contaminated with infected feces.Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital that the "polio vaccine provides lifetime immunity for the vast majority of people who take it. The Salk vaccine is used exclusively in the U.S.," he added, "and it protects against all clinical disease, though you can still carry and shed the virus in your GI tract it doesn't get you sick."He noted, "It makes sense to have a single booster before traveling to an area where there is polio one lifetime booster."The CDC warned that those infected with polio may not feel sick right away.They may also experience only minor symptoms, such as a "fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the arms and legs."TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZIn rare cases, the infection can be fatal if there is a permanent loss of muscle function, causing paralysis."Polio can be fatal if the muscles used for breathing are paralyzed or if there is an infection of the brain," the CDC added.

Le tirage au sort des demi-finales de la Coupe de France sera effectu ce jeudi soir, partir de 19h50, en amont du dernier quart de finale entre l'OL et Lens. Les trois clubs dj qualifis (Strasbourg, Nice et Toulouse) connatront leur adversaire pour une place en finale. Suivez ce tirage au sort en direct comment sur le site et l'application RMC Sport.

Young Geelong spearhead Shannon Neale opens up on his grand final heartbreak, a junior football injury that shaped his future, his carb-heavy pre-game routine and, of course, Bailey Smith.

You know all about the Power 5 conferences in college basketball. You hear about those more than any other, and those groups often dominate the March Madness conversation. There are 26 other conferences out there, however, and our goal is to get you up to speed on the teams, players and fights in the standings to know before the conference tournaments, Selection Sunday and the official start of March Madness. Its time for you to get to know a mid-major: this time, its theSouthern Conference. The Southern Conference is an old one, forming all the way back in 1921. It remains entirely in the southern United States, with schools in Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. There are 10 teams in the conference 11 in the 2026-2027 academic year and all 10 of them will make the mens and womens basketball conference tournaments. Fun Southern Conference fact: it was the first conference to implement the 3-point line and shot in college basketball, all the way back in 1980. And another fun Southern Conference fact: there are 365 mens college basketball teams in Division I, and just 363 womens programs. The missing two are both thanks to SoCon: The Citadel and VMI do not sponsor womens basketball, and both only began to admit women students in the 1990s. And a final fact: the automatic bid is the only way that a mens or womens team from SoCon is going to participate in March Madness, as none of the teams are anywhere near the bubble. Southern Mens College Basketball Leaders: The field is already set for the mens Southern tournament. The top six seeds get a bye to the quarterfinals, while the bottom four have a play-in first round. What this means is that the top two seeds, East Tennessee and Wofford, are waiting for the winners of Chattanooga vs. The Citadel and UNC Greensboro vs. VMI, while Samford (3) takes on Furman (6), and Mercer (4) faces off against Western Carolina (5). ETSU is not just the 1-seed, but is also SoCons top team in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. That amounts to the 126th ranking, however its not close to being on the bubble. Mercer is next up, at 170, then Furman at 198 wraps up the top-200 teams. Samford (212), Western Carolina (234), Wofford (239), Chattanooga (282) and UNC Greensboro (298) are it for those within the top 300, while The Citadel and VMI are two of the bottom-15 teams in Division I. That ETSU is the top team in SoCon should not be a surprise, given it has four of the conferences top-20 players in Player Efficiency Rating. Senior forward and UMass Lowell transfer Cam Morris III is second in SoCon with a 26.2 PER. Sophomore forward Blake Barkley is seventh, at 22.4. Leading scorer Brian Taylor, a senior guard, ranks 15th at 17.5. And sophomore forward Jordan McCallum is right there with him, rounding up to 17.5 in 16th. Furman is the only other team with four players in the top 20, but its representatives are all between 13th and 20th. East Tennessee has the top defense in the conference by points allowed, giving up 69.9 per game in SoCon play. For the season overall, its 57th in Division I. The issue is that the offense is nowhere near as good, which makes ETSU vulnerable. It did lose five games in conference play and all. Thats just kind of how it goes in Southern, however. Mercer, which finished in a three-way tie for second at 11-7 in SoCon play, leads in points scored at 82.5 per game, but gives up 76.9 per game. Those figures rank first and fifth in the conference, and an impressive 43rd in D-I canceled out by 232nd overall for the latter. Everyone is vulnerable and able to be exploited, basically, even the good ones. Southern -Womens College Basketball Leaders: There are just eight womens basketball teams in Southern, as The Citadel and VMI do not sponsor the sport. What that means is that there are no byes at all, and no play-in round: the first round is a quarterfinal, the second the semis and then its championship time. Instead, the matchups are standard top seed vs. bottom seed, and so on down the line. Top-seed Chattanooga will face 8-seed Western Carolina, 2-seed East Tennessee goes up against 7-seed UNC Greensboro, 3-seed Wofford takes on 6-seed Samford and 4-seed Furman matches up against 5-seed Mercer. The winner of the first game faces the winner of the fourth game in the semis, to continue to give the top seed if still there as much of an edge as possible as a reward. Like with the mens side, none of these teams are near the bubble. And in fact, the womens teams are even further away. Chattanooga is the top team in NET, but comes in at 208 of 363. Wofford is next at 226, ETSU at 247, Furman 251. Mercer (258), UNC Greensboro (274) and Samford (295) are the rest of the bunch within the top 300; Western Carolina trails, way back, at 352, just outside of the bottom-10 in Division I womens basketball. It didnt win a single game against fellow Division I schools, going 0-25 in those games and 3-0 against non-D-I teams. The lesson to take from this Western Carolina aside isnt that this conference struggles with womens basketball, but to recognize that these teams are all tightly packed together in terms of ability. Just about anything could go down in the SoCon tournament because of it. Caia Elisaldez might be leading both Chattanooga and the Southern Conference in scoring, but shes not the top player on her team per PER. That spot belongs to Chattanoogas sophomore forward Gianna Corbitt, at 31.7 shes the only player in the conference over 30. Corbitt has the top Plus/Minus and Offensive Rating in SoCon, but shes also first in the conference in Defensive Rating. Elisaldez is fifth in PER, too the two make quite the duo, and are why Chattanooga is tops in the conference even if it isnt a powerhouse outside of it. The Mocs are also here because they are the most balanced team in the Southern Conference: they rank second in both points allowed per game and points scored during conference play, 54.6 and 62.1. Those figures should also serve as a reminder of what you already read above, however: that is not a significant gap between scoring and opponent scoring. If Chattanooga is the best that SoCon got, the tournament is wide open.

After posting a 254-run target, India restricted England to 246/7 to clinch a seven-run win and seal a spot in Sunday's summit clash, where they'll now face New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The Friars have been one of the more disappointing teams in the country after entering the 2025-26 campaign with NCAA Tournament expectations

Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston has reportedly been ruled out of competing in the 2026 FIBA Womens World Cup Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from March 11-17. USA Basketball announced on Thursday that Boston and Washington Mystics' Sonia Citron would be replaced on the FIBA roster by Golden State Valkyries Monique Billings and Los Angeles Sparks Rae Burrell, following recent injuries.The 24-year-old suffered a lower-extremity injury during the Phantom's regular-season finale in Unrivaled, just before the start of the postseason. In that game, Boston scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in 12.5 minutes prior to leaving due to the injury.[Watch Yahoo Sports Network]Due to her injury in the regular-season finale, Boston missed the postseason, where the Phantom lost to the Mist in the championship. She was named Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year after a dominant season that led to the Phantom's top seed.Boston, a former No. 1 WNBA Draft pick and Rookie of the Year, averaged a career-high 15 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game last season with the Indiana Fever. She helped lead the team on a surprising run to the 2025 semifinals alongside Kelsey Mitchell, with Caitlin Clark missing most of the season due to injury. Boston has never averaged under 14 points and 8 rebounds, and has never missed a game in her three WNBA seasons.

Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is expected to make his 2025-26 NBA season debut against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at TD Garden, sources told ESPN.