AFP - Reigning champions Italy were knocked out of the World Cup on Thursday as they slumped to a sensational 3-2 defeat to unheralded Slovakia in an Ellis Park thriller.

Reuters - France’s team returned to Paris under heavy police protection on Thursday after their humiliating first-round exit from the World Cup.

Reuters - Holders Italy were dumped out of the World Cup at the group stage on Thursday, joining the humiliation of fellow European power France.

The Newsroom - A scandalous French revolution, the first elimination of the hosts in the group stage since the World Cup began, a drubbing for European aristocrats — the tournament so far has certainly not been dull.

AP - Manny Ramirez hit a pair of RBI singles and the Los Angeles Dodgers scored five runs in the fourth inning despite another mental mistake on the bases, beating the Los Angeles Angels 10-6 Thursday night to avoid a six-game season sweep by their Southern California rivals.

AP - Brett Favre says he can still play at a “high level” if he returns to the Vikings for a 20th NFL season.

AP - The King of Clay passed up a chance to meet the Queen of England.

AP - When The Match That Would Not End finally did, at 70-68 in the fifth set, after a record 11 hours, 5 minutes spread over three days, the customary handshake between opponents simply would not suffice.

AP - John Wall is heading to Washington, and a record number of Kentucky teammates are following him to the NBA.

AP - Working into early Friday, lawmakers drafting an overhaul of bank regulations softened a contentious Wall Street restriction that would force large bank holding companies to spin off their lucrative derivatives business.