Chelsea and Ivory Coast idol Didier Drogba Wednesday said he had signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, where he will join former teammate Nicolas Anelka.

The announcement ends months of speculation about the big-money move, in which the striker will become China's best paid player with wages of 200,000 pounds ($314,000) a week, according to local reports.

A limping, grimacing LeBron James shook off the pain of leg cramps to hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer and the Miami Heat held on to edge the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 on Tuesday, taking a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals.

No team has ever blown a 3-1 lead in the finals, so James' resilient basket with 2:51 remaining looks likely to be the moment that clinches the title for the Heat.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin says he plans to come to London Olympics in private capacity and watch the judo competition.

Putin said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will lead the Russian official delegation at the games.

After the humiliation of the 2010 World Cup, France took another significant step on the road to recovery on Tuesday by qualifying for the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

Before leaving for Ukraine, France's mission was to rediscover their status as one of European football's major powers and win back the fans left disgusted by the conduct of their players in South Africa two years ago.

England scraped into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 in Ukraine Tuesday after a goal-line refereeing blunder helped them to a 1-0 win over Ukraine which sent the co-hosts crashing out.

A 48th-minute header from returning talisman Wayne Rooney was enough to see England finish top of Group D and send them into a quarter-final in Kiev on Sunday against Italy.

A member of the Palestinian national soccer team, imprisoned by Israel for nearly three years, agreed Monday to end a hunger strike of more than three months in exchange for his release July 10, his lawyer said.

The deal to free Mahmoud Sarsak would end the longest hunger strike ever launched by a Palestinian prisoner held by Israel. In a symbolic act, Sarsak, who has shed nearly half his normal weight, ate a small piece of chocolate on Monday evening to show the strike was over.

A questionable substitution by the coach, more foul trouble for the superstar, and bad free throw shooting by just about everybody ruined Oklahoma City's chances in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

All that didn't wreck the Thunder's hopes of winning the series.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque admitted the defending champions were not at their best despite beating Croatia 1-0 in Gdansk to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 on Monday as Group C winners.

"The team played well, even though things didn't go according to plan," said Del Bosque, who started but then took off Fernando Torres for Jesus Navas of Seville, who promptly bundled in the only goal of a somewhat shapeless match which could have gone either way.

Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli scored the goals as Italy beat 10-man Ireland 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium on Monday to reach the Euro 2012 quarter-finals.

Spain's 1-0 win over Croatia meant Italy finished second in Group C and will play the Group D winners in the last eight while Ireland finish bottom with three defeats.

Webb Simpson of the United States came from four shots back to win the U.S. Open at San Francisco's Olympic Club, overtaking a bunch of big names to win his first major title.

The 26-year-old from North Carolina, in just his second U.S. Open, battled back from two early bogeys to grab four birdies in five holes from the sixth and then parred his way down the rest of the back nine for a gripping win.