African Champions Ahly Stay Top After Draw in Algeria

Ahly's Egyptian midfielder Hussein el-Shahat (C) celebrates with the trophy after winning the CAF Champions League final football match between Morocco's Wydad AC and Egypt's Al Ahly in Casablanca on June 11, 2023. © Fadel Senna, AFP
Ahly's Egyptian midfielder Hussein el-Shahat (C) celebrates with the trophy after winning the CAF Champions League final football match between Morocco's Wydad AC and Egypt's Al Ahly in Casablanca on June 11, 2023. © Fadel Senna, AFP
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African Champions Ahly Stay Top After Draw in Algeria

Ahly's Egyptian midfielder Hussein el-Shahat (C) celebrates with the trophy after winning the CAF Champions League final football match between Morocco's Wydad AC and Egypt's Al Ahly in Casablanca on June 11, 2023. © Fadel Senna, AFP
Ahly's Egyptian midfielder Hussein el-Shahat (C) celebrates with the trophy after winning the CAF Champions League final football match between Morocco's Wydad AC and Egypt's Al Ahly in Casablanca on June 11, 2023. © Fadel Senna, AFP

Record 11-time title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt and Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria on Friday drew 0-0 for the second time in Group D of the CAF Champions League.

The first goalless stalemate was in Cairo last December and the return match in Algiers, scheduled for the same month, had to be postponed as Ahly were competing in the Club World Cup.

Defending champions Ahly remain top of the table with six points, Belouizdad and Young Africans of Tanzania have five each and Medeama of Ghana four after four rounds, AFP reported.

Each club has one home and one away fixture to come and the group winners and runners-up qualify for the quarter-finals.

Belouizdad full-back Houcine Benayada came closest to breaking the deadlock in the Algerian capital, hitting the post on 50 minutes with a free-kick that took a deflection.

Matchday five will be staged on February 23 and 24 with Ahly and Belouizdad away to Medeama and Young Africans respectively.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”