Manchester City says captain Vincent Kompany has signed a six-year contract extension with the Premier League champions.

The Belgium central defender guided Man City to its first league title in 44 years and has played 161 games for the club since joining from German side Hamburg in 2008.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati headed on Thursday to London to join the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games as 10 Lebanese athletes will participate in various games.

According to An Nahar newspaper, the premier will be accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami.

AC Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani has opened the door to a return for Rossoneri icon Kaka from Real Madrid.

Kaka's days at Madrid appear to be numbered, and the Brazil star was left behind for Tuesday's friendly win against Real Oviedo.

Real Madrid drubbed Spanish third-division side Real Oviedo 5-1 Tuesday in a pre-season warm-up match, despite Jose Mourinho fielding a second-string team.

Mourinho started just three members of his regular first-team squad: Alvaro Morata, Esteban Granero and 'keeper Antonio Adan.

The eight tons of gold, silver and copper unearthed from mines in Mongolia and Utah and now under guard at the Tower of London is the largest ever haul used to make Olympic medals.

"The medals arrived at the tower on July 2, and we will keep them under tight security" Tracey Sands, spokeswoman for Historic Royal Palaces, told AFP.

A second-half goal from Urby Emanuelson gave AC Milan a 1-0 friendly win over Schalke 04 on Tuesday in a pre-season warm-up match played in Gelsenkirchen.

The Italian visitors, who were missing several players who had been called up for Euro 2012, came closest to scoring in the first half through Stephan El Shaarawy, while Lewis Holtby threatened for the Germans.

More than half of Britain-based employees believe the London Olympics will have no effect on workforce morale as the country struggles to exit a deepening recession, a poll showed on Wednesday.

A survey by business performance consultants Lane4 -- a firm run by Olympic swimming gold medalist Adrian Moorhouse -- showed 58 percent of respondents thought the Games would have no effect on workforce morale.

Malaysian Islamic and Olympic officials said athletes from the predominantly Muslim country are excused from fasting for Ramadan while competing at the London Games.

The London Olympics which open Friday mark the first time the Games will be held during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan since the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper said.

Andre Villas-Boas has launched a fresh attack on Luka Modric after branding the Tottenham midfielder as unprofessional following his summer revolt.

Modric, a target for Real Madrid, is desperate to force through a summer move and has angered Spurs by going on strike.

British police on Monday rescued and arrested a man who dived off London's iconic Tower Bridge during a protest by taxi drivers against travel restrictions imposed by Olympic Games' organizers.

A statement issued by the city's Metropolitan Police force confirmed that officers from the marine policing unit pulled the man out of the River Thames at around 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT) before arresting him for a public order offense.