Australia said Friday it would spend Aus$7.0 billion (US$4.8 billion) on venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, including a new 17,000-seat arena and a revamp of the Gabba stadium.

Following Manchester City's 3-1 win over Arsenal on Wednesday, the Football Association (FA) has launched an investigation into an incident involving Kevin de Bruyne.

The midfielder was targeted with objects thrown at him while he was walking around the pitch after being substituted late on.

Referee Anthony Taylor is believed to have mentioned the incident in his match report.

De Bruyne, who scored and set up a goal in the match, later posted pictures of himself at Emirates Stadium on social media. One picture had the caption "beer anyone?" while another showed him with a cup in the air and the caption "thanks!"

The incident has been widely condemned by fans and pundits alike. It is unclear at this stage what action if any, the FA will take as a result of their investigation.

The safety and well-being of players are of the utmost importance, and incidents such as this should not be tolerated in any form of professional sports.

Tottenham's head coach, Antonio Conte, will miss the upcoming Premier League game against West Ham as he continues to recover from surgery to remove his gallbladder.

Despite returning to work last week, Conte missed the post-match media duties following the team's 4-1 defeat at Leicester. The 53-year-old underwent the operation in Italy two weeks ago and has remained there for his post-operation check following Tottenham's 1-0 defeat at AC Milan in the Champions League.

In a statement released on Thursday, Tottenham emphasized the importance of Conte's health, stating that he will remain at his family home in Italy to recover from the surgery.

The club also expressed their well-wishes to the coach, and assistant Cristian Stellini will take on the first-team duties in Conte's absence.

This is not the first time Stellini has filled in for Conte; he previously oversaw Tottenham's 1-0 win over Manchester City on February 5th when Conte was absent. While Tottenham has not given a timeline for Conte's return, the club's priority is for him to focus on his recovery.

Despite his absence, Conte remains optimistic about the team's performance, stating that he is confident Tottenham will overcome Milan in the second leg of the Champions League, thanks to the support of their fans.

The club's main focus, however, is on ensuring Conte's full and speedy recovery, as health is the most important consideration.

Mercedes returns to black livery for the 2023 Formula One season, aiming to reclaim the top spot in Grand Prix racing.

At the launch on Wednesday at Silverstone circuit in central England, Lewis Hamilton and driver George Russell unveiled the new car.

In the previous year, the team had a difficult season, with Hamilton finishing in sixth place, his lowest position at the end of a Formula One championship, due to challenges with new regulations.

Mercedes hopes that the black livery, the same colors that helped Hamilton earn a record-equalling seventh title in 2020, will bring a change in fortune.

Hamilton, one of the few leading people of colour in motorsport, encouraged Mercedes to paint their car black for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as part of an anti-racism campaign.

Mercedes’ traditional racing colour has been silver, hence the Germany-founded marque’s nickname of the “Silver Arrows”.

And team principal Toto Wolff said there was a performance reason behind this year’s change of colours.

“We were overweight last year,” said Wolff. “This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. So now history repeats itself.

“The car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black.

“Of course when we changed the livery in 2020, the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart.

“The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.”

Hamilton saw his record of winning at least one race in every season of his career — a run extending back to his debut campaign for McLaren in 2007 — end last year when he finished a huge 214 points adrift of champion Max Verstappen and even behind Mercedes team-mate Russell, who came fourth.

Hamilton, entering the final year of his current £40 million-a-season deal, will hope Mercedes have now given him a machine to challenge rival Verstappen and Red Bull.

“I have been here a long time,” Hamilton said ahead of his 11th season with Mercedes and his 17th in all in Formula One.

“I continue to love racing and that is never ever going to change. It is part of my DNA and I always believe I can get better.

“I love the challenge of the mental and the physical elements, of having to deep dive, and see how I can extract more performance from me, the people around me, and the car that is constantly evolving.

“There is always a new logbook and new tools that you have to get used to, and I love that so I am planning to stay a little bit longer.”

Hamilton and Russell — who claimed his first victory and Mercedes’ sole win of 2022 during the penultimate round in Brazil — will get their first run-out with this year’s car during three days of testing in Bahrain next week before the curtain-raiser, also in the Gulf Kingdom, on March 5.

Russell, 25, said he knew what was expected as he prepared for his second season with Mercedes.

“We are all here to win,” he said. “It is as simple as that.

“We need to go out there and see the challenges we are faced with, but the team has put so much hard work into this car.”

AFP