Sydney FC has received an instant boost from its signing of Italian football great Alessandro Del Piero, with huge numbers of fans logging on to its ticketing websites and fan forums on Thursday.

The interest was so high that the A-League club extended its deadline for club membership renewals by 48 hours, hoping to cash in on the arrival of the former Italy and Juventus forward and recoup some of the reported $4 million it will pay the 37-year-old over two seasons.

On an emotion-filled afternoon that morphed into a shocker of an evening, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer both bid farewell to Flushing Meadows.

Roddick is leaving for good, a moment he knew would come this week.

Alberto Contador held on to his advantage after making an audacious break to win the 17th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Wednesday and take the overall lead from Joaquin Rodriguez.

The two-time Tour de France champion drew on his experience by making a gutsy dash more than 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the finish and nothing but mountain to climb to the finish atop the Fuente De.

About 300 angry fans stormed the headquarters of Egypt's Football Association in Cairo on Wednesday, protesting a decision to resume league games next month before bringing to justice perpetrators of a deadly stadium riot.

The February 1 riot, in which 74 people were killed, erupted in the city of Port Said on the Mediterranean, where Al-Ahly, Egypt's most popular team, played the home team Al-Masry in a league game. Al-Masry won, 3-1.

President Vladimir Putin has piloted a motorized hang glider to lead a flock of young Siberian white cranes in flight.

Dressed in a white costume meant to imitate an adult crane, Putin took part in a project to teach the endangered birds who were raised in captivity to follow the aircraft on their migration to Central Asia.

As Formula One prepares to race in Ferrari's home grand prix at Monza this weekend, safety still dominates discussion.

Championship leader and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso nearly had his head clipped when Romain Grosjean's Lotus flew over him in a wild multi-car accident at the start of last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Former Italy and Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero is joining Sydney FC in a deal that will make him the highest-profile player in the A-League.

"I'm happy to announce that a few hours ago I signed a deal with the Sydney Football Club," Del Piero said on Wednesday. "So for the next two years I suppose I can say that I'll be Australian. I'm starting a splendid and fantastic adventure. I couldn't have chosen a better situation or a better place."

Keira Knightley and Jude Law swept along a red carpet, complete with chandeliers, at the world premiere of their new movie "Anna Karenina."

The London event Tuesday was slightly less theatrical than the film itself — an interpretation of Leo Tolstoy's epic love story, set in 19th century Russia.

Steve Wynn and porn producer Joe Francis faced off before jurors Tuesday, with the casino mogul denying that he threatened to kill the "Girls Gone Wild" founder and saying the accusation is threatening his upscale casinos.

Jurors listened to wildly varying accounts of whether Wynn threatened to hit Francis over the head with a shovel and have him buried in the desert, with the soft-porn producer insisting he heard about the threats from record executive Quincy Jones. Francis testified that Jones told him Wynn made the threats in conversations and emails, but Wynn denies it.

More A-listers have signed on to support the third Stand Up to Cancer telethon.

Organizers say Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Vergara, and Olympic gold medalists Gabrielle Douglas and Missy Franklin will participate in the hour-long TV special. It is set to air Friday on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and more than a dozen cable channels.