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Christians make up roughly 31 percent of the global population. Still, approximately 45 percent engage in some sort of Christmas activity. Some Orthodox Christian countries including Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan use the Julian calendar and therefore celebrate Christmas on December 7. Similarly, 30 million Coptic Christians in countries Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Lebanon also use the Julian calendar. With so many different countries and cultures celebrating the same holiday, there are bound to be some fascinating and inspiring traditions from around the globe that you may even want to incorporate into your own festivities....

Just before a production truck power outage caused Fox Sports to lose its broadcast feed, cameras caught Royals catcher Salvador Perez with what appeared be a suspicious substance on his right shin guard. MORE: Worst World Series winners of all time Don’t get too carried away about the pine tar-looking patch; position players are allowed to use pine tar or rosin to help them grip the ball. Perez could require extra grip for his throws, especially on a wet evening, as was the case in Kansas City on Tuesday....

Harvey had pitched eight shutout innings before he returned to the mound in the ninth at Citi Field in the Mets’ 7-2 World Series loss on Sunday. MORE: Best World Series photos | Five takeaways from Royals’ championship Collins said he had planned to replace Harvey before their discussion in the dugout. “Well, I told him that we were going, that was enough,” Collins said. “And he just came over and said, ‘I want this game....

By the time the second goal was scored, Mexico was in danger of missing the Round of 16 despite winning its first two games. All Germany had to do to was break a 0-0 deadlock with South Korea that had lasted more than 90 minutes to secure a place in the knockout stage. SCENARIOS: Who could England, Brazil, Mexico, others face in knockout round? The script seemed prewritten for the Germans....

The final act proved to be England’s comfortable 2-0 quarter-final win over Sweden, which set up a trip to Moscow and a last-four meeting with Croatia. That triumph proved a fine way for Omnisport to sign off from its stay in the city, at the end of a third and final week which featured Neymar, a (not so, as it turns out) psychic goat, and Harry Maguire’s head. Enjoy our recap of the last seven days in Samara, with our Twitter moment below:...

This World Cup was no different in this respect. We were lucky to witness some great young players announce their arrival on the world stage, with one particular 19 year old being one of the best players in the tournament regardless of age (no prizes for guessing). So how would an XI of the best 23 or under players look? Goalkeeper and Defenders Goalkeeper: Francis Uzoho As a 19 year old, Uzoho is a rarity for an international goalkeeper....

Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first. However, that proved to be a disastrous decision as England picked up 2 early wickets to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 3 for 2. Avishka Fernando came to the crease and played with positive intent, putting pressure on the England bowlers. At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka crawled to 48 for 2. After the power play, Fernando continued to play with positive intent and looked to take the England bowlers on....

Australia are one of the most lethal sides in this edition of the World Cup, owing to their balanced squad. In their opening game, Australia registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win against Afghanistan. Chasing 207, David Warner played the anchor role to take his team over the line. The reigning champions would be hoping for another clinical performance against the Windies at Trent Bridge. With match winners such as Warner, Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc in their ranks, Australian have the potential to go all the way in this tournament....

Batting first, England posted a mammoth 397/6 on the board courtesy of Eoin Morgan’s record-breaking 71-ball 148 and half-centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root. Afghanistan did manage to play out their entire quota of fifty overs as a gritty 100-ball 76 from Hashmatullah Shahidi led the way for his team. Yet, despite Shahidi’s half-century and 40s from Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan finished off with just 247 runs from 50 overs and ended a whopping 150 runs short....

On the other hand, Virat Kohli & Co will seek this as an opportunity to spoil England’s party and maintain their winning streak in the tournament. If they get another win under their belt, India would become the second team to make it into the semis after Australia. The fans are in for a treat as both these giants will likely bring out their best in Birmingham tomorrow. It’s going to be a fascinating contest as the tournament favorites fight for survival while the only unbeaten team look to maintain their dominance....

South Africa lost their first match of the tournament to England. Subsequent losses against Bangladesh and India have put them in a difficult spot. The Proteas desperately need some wins on the board to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive. West Indies were fantastic in their first match of the tournament against Pakistan. In the second match, they had Australia on the mat but they failed to grab their chance....

Both teams are yet to taste defeat in this World Cup, with New Zealand having beaten Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in their first three games, while India have registered victories over South Africa and defending champions Australia. Given that New Zealand had defeated India in the warm-up game and also in all their previous three World Cup meetings in England, the Black Caps would love to maintain their good record against the Asian outfit....

Their next opponent happen to be the unbeaten New Zealand side, who are flying high with three wins in four. The other game, against India, was washed out due to rain. Looking back at the last time New Zealand and South Africa met in a World Cup encounter, the former battered the Proteas in the 2015 semi-final. Once again, should they defeat South Africa, it will be all but over for Faf du Plessis and co....

India might rethink about it’s playing combination and make one change in the playing XI against Bangladesh. Ravindra Jadeja in place of Kedar Jadhav Kedar Jadhav hasn’t had many opportunities in the World Cup, but in the few that he has had, he has failed to impress. He scored a sluggish fifty against Afghanistan and was criticised for the lack of intent. Even though the asking rate was well above 13 at the time he walked in against England, Jadhav had given hopes and nudged the ball around for singles....

In case you didn’t know… The two sets of fans had earlier clashed before the match outside the stadium. While the situation was resolved, there was a lot of tension between the two fanbases throughout the match. Heart of the matter The match between Pakistan and Afghanistan was a great advertisement for the game of cricket. It was a thrilling encounter which went down to the last over, where Pakistan held their nerves against their less fancied opponents....

Chasing a target of 238, Pakistan found themselves wanting as they lost both of their openers early. While the game was still not out of their grasp, the men in green needed a solid partnership. Mohammad Hafeez and Babar Azam did just that as the duo put up a partnership of 66 runs. After Hafeez’s dismissal, Azam embarked on his mission with Haris Sohail as his partner. Sohail, who has been in good form recently, was equal to the task, scoring 68 runs from just 76 deliveries....

In case you didn’t know Virat has redefined modern day batting with unparalleled levels of excellence and consistency, setting the benchmark for other batsmen. His mind boggling ability to read the situation, constant rotation of strike, giving respect to the good bowlers and punishing the bad ones with boundaries are the qualities that make him the best batsman in the world at the moment. The Indian captain has been on a record breaking spree, tumbling a host of milestones in the recent years....

Despite this, we have had some riveting cricketing action over the past week with the rain not having too much impact over the game. So, as the games keep rolling on, the official Fantasy game for the World Cup enters Round 7 with the round kicking off with the game between Bangladesh and Afghanistan on June 24th. With not much time for the tournament to end, the right transfers have to be made in order to close in on rivals or go higher up in the rankings....

Epic Games has been making the most of its game’s hit status in the soccer community by continuously partnering with some of the sport’s biggest superstars on a variety of Fortnite soccer skins and in-game challenges. And while not all the players who licensed their likeness to the game are avid fans, the list of those that previously admitted to playing Fortnite on a regular basis includes Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Antoine Griezmann, Neymar Jr....

Yellow cards can be given out for bad fouls, consistent fouling from one player, dissent or time wasting. They serve as a warning to the player to change their behaviour on the pitch, as if they don’t they could receive a second yellow card that results in them being expelled for the rest of the game and the next match. However, players can also miss matches if they receive too many yellow cards in a row....