NBA club owners and players made progress toward a new contract after a negotiating session of more than 15 hours ended early Thursday morning with positive talk about playing a full season.

As the lockout over money issues stretched into a 119th day, the second marathon session in as many weeks was the second-longest since the shutdown began on July 1 after the old deal between players and team owners expired.

QPR officials on Thursday denied reports that three players had given evidence against John Terry in the FA's investigation into allegations of racist abuse involving the Chelsea and England star.

The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Rangers trio Paddy Kenny, Clint Hill and Shaun Derry had all spoken to FA investigators probing claims that Terry racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

Maria Sharapova’s season ended in disappointment on Wednesday as she saw her hopes of regaining the title at the WTA Championships after a seven year gap and of dethroning Caroline Wozniacki as world number one dashed because she is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury.

The former Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion from Russia announced that she was withdrawing from the women’s tour’s flagship event after losing 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to Li Na, the French Open champion from China.

Maria Sharapova's season ended in disappointment on Wednesday as she saw her hopes of regaining the title at the WTA Championships after a seven year gap and of dethroning Caroline Wozniacki as world number one dashed because she is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury.

The former Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian Open champion from Russia announced that she was withdrawing from the women’s tour’s flagship event after losing 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to Li Na, the French Open champion from China.

Arsenal says defender Thomas Vermaelen is fit for his first Premier League match for more than two months at Chelsea on Saturday.

The Belgium international missed 33 Premier League matches last season because of an Achilles injury and has sat out another seven already this season after sustaining a similar injury in August.

Thousands of fans are lining up in the rain to pay their final respects to MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli during a public viewing in the city theater of his hometown.

Simoncelli died of chest, head and neck injuries after he lost control of his Honda during Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix and swerved across the track, straight into the path of American rider Colin Edwards and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy.

Barcelona says further medical scans have ruled forward Pedro Rodriguez out for up to three weeks.

The Spain international twisted awkwardly on his left leg in Tuesday's 1-0 win at Granada and immediately came off with an ankle injury.

Formula One will boast two U.S. races from 2013 when the Grand Prix of America will debut in New Jersey, governor Chris Christie announced on Tuesday.

"I'm pleased that New Jersey will play host to Formula One beginning 2013, bringing one of the world's most popular and exciting sports right to our backyard," said Christie, who added that talks over "a number of months" had yielded a deal to hold the event for a decade.

Italian champion AC Milan has reportedly increased coach Massimiliano Allegri's salary by €500,000 ($700,000), but will wait until the end of the season before deciding on a possible renewal.

The Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Milan vice president Adriano Galliani called Allegri in for a meeting last week and raised the manager's salary from €1.5 million ($2.1 million) to €2 million ($2.8 million) per year.

Police say 15 people were arrested and several injured in clashes between officers and Dynamo Dresden supporters at a German Cup match at Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund won Tuesday's match 2-0 and advanced to the third round. Dresden's supporters clashed with police before, during and after the match. Two officers were among the injured.