Training Camp

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a new blow to Al Qaeda, authorities in the United Arab Emirates captured a senior operative in Osama bin Laden's terrorist network who trained thousands of militants for combat, and turned him over to Pakistan, the information minister said yesterday. Qari Saifullah Akhtar was flown to the eastern city of Lahore, where he was being interrogated, a Pakistani intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. Pakistan, a key ally of Washington its war on terror, has arrested about 20 Al Qaeda suspects in less than a month -- including a top figure sought by the...

New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks is expected to be sidelined up to three months after breaking his right foot at a team organized activity early Thursday. Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot as he was running a route during individual drills in the Timex Performance Center field house, the team said in a release later in the afternoon. Nicks is scheduled to have surgery Friday to have a screw inserted into the broken bone. The procedure will be performed by foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. The expected recovery time for Nicks is...

FOXBOROUGH - The players and owners figured out how to split the NFL's $9 billion pot Monday, and the very next day, Tim Lewis called his friend Chris Barnes. All things football were about to be shifted into warp speed, including training camp, and Lewis wanted to see if Barnes would make the drive from Hampton, N.H., to Foxborough for the first day of Patriots training camp practices. There was just one hitch. "Chris didn't believe it until it was signed on the dotted line," Lewis said.

Texans star receiver Andre Johnson said Monday that he will be out for three to four weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. The 30-year-old Johnson sat out Houston's first organized team practice, two weeks after the procedure. "Right now, everything is just focusing on making sure everything is right before I get back out here," Johnson said. "Nothing to panic about. " The five-time Pro Bowl selection was inactive for nine regular-season games last year with injuries to both hamstrings.

The Patriots have finally announced tomorrow's training camp schedule: There is one session, and it is schedule to run from 8:30 to 11 a.m. It is expected that players will be in full pads for the first time (per the post-lockout transition rules), so it should be an entertaining - if early - practice.

Accused of shooting a Dominican farmer in October, Chicago White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe has received permission from a judge to attend spring training in Tucson. Under the judge's ruling, Uribe will no longer have to appear in court twice a month for the remainder of the case. Instead, he must put down a $15,400 deposit guaranteeing he will make his next scheduled court appearance, slated for March 17 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. "I am going to training tomorrow," Uribe said yesterday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A leading radical Islamic cleric whom the United States had pressed Indonesia to prosecute for the past decade was convicted yesterday after a four-month trial on terrorism charges. Abu Bakar Bashir, 72, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supporting a jihad training camp. Jeers could be heard from his supporters outside the courthouse when the district court judge announced the sentence. In recent days, authorities had been alerted to vague threats of a bombing campaign to coincide with the ruling, and thousands of extra police officers and hundreds...

Earning and keeping a job in the NFL is a year-round endeavor, but year to year, outside attention is most focused on the process after training camp begins. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has an idea of how he wants his team to look. But even he doesn't know what names will be on the roster he'll submit to the league Sept. 2. Five weeks, some 25 practices, 53 full-time jobs. With notable departures such as Adam Vinatieri, Willie McGinest, David Givens, Tom Ashworth, and Christian Fauria, who each posted double-digit starts last season, New England's 2006 entry will be...

By Gary Washburn, Globe staff The Celtics are looking for young big men to bolster their thin roster and have invited four free agents to training camp, three of those are centers who could potentially make the squad. In addition to former Pitt swing man Gilbert Brown, the Celtics have invited ex-Georgetown center Michael Sweetney, former Wisconsin and current Sioux Falls (NBADL) big man Greg Stiemsma and NBA journeyman Jamal Sampson to training camp that begins to tomorrow in Waltham, according to a club source.

Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora failed to report for the opening day of the New York Giants training camp and was placed on the reserve-did not report list. Umenyiora, who said during the recent lockout that general manager Jerry Reese failed to live up to a promise to renegotiate his contract, can be fined $30,000 a day. Umenyiora missed his physical, a team meeting and a conditioning session. "I am not taking any question about Osi," Reese said. "He is not here.

Geno Auriemma knows that the U.S. Olympic women's basketball team is a work in progress. After all, they've only been together for 24 hours. Tamika Catchings scored 19 points and Maya Moore added 15 to help the United States rout China 100-62 on Saturday night in an exhibition game. "When you only had one practice with the team and it's our first game, we talked this morning it's not going to look great. After only going for an 1 ½ hours last night and an hour this morning, the things we wanted to get accomplished, which was setting a tone for how this U.S. team will play — we...

It was a whirlwind few days for Geno Auriemma and the U.S. women's Olympic basketball team. Now they'll go their separate ways until reconvening July 14 to start training again for the London Games. "It went by fast," Auriemma said. "Hopefully coming out of this weekend the players have a better expectation of what I'm looking for from them. Now we'll see how much they improve over the next two months while they are playing in the WNBA and then we'll really get started in July.

FOXBOROUGH - Over the last several years, as his young assistants have risen through the ranks of the coaching staff, Bill Belichick has effectively made some of them prove that they have what it takes to receive the title of coordinator. He did it with Josh McDaniels , who called the plays for a couple of years before officially being named offensive coordinator. And when McDaniels left for Denver, Belichick did the same thing with Bill O'Brien . Matt Patricia is the latest such assistant.

WASHINGTON - Jerry York was traveling home from the American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Naples, Fla., and he picked up a newspaper at the airport in Fort Myers so he would have something to read on the flight. The veteran Boston College hockey coach chose the New York Daily News and was greeted by a full color photo of Chris Kreider on the back page. Kreider, who won his second NCAA championship under York on April 7, jumped from college after his junior year to sign with the New York Rangers and made an instant impact.

No sense fooling around with a talent like Robert Griffin III. Barely a week after the draft, the Washington Redskins are already proclaiming the Heisman Trophy winner their No. 1 quarterback. Saying that Griffin has the ability to do things no one else has done in the NFL, coach Mike Shanahan wrapped up a rookie minicamp Sunday by putting RGIII squarely atop the depth chart. "He's the starter. Period," Shanahan said. Shanahan said Griffin will begin working with the first-teamers when the veterans reconvene for offseason workouts later this month.

FOXBOROUGH - From the time Revolution coach Jay Heaps first saw Saer Sene in training camp, he knew the 6-foot-3-inch striker would have no issues fitting in. Sene was sneaky fast, versatile, and, above all else, deadly in the box. He's a scorer with a deft left foot, and for a team coming off a season in which scoring was a struggle, he was the kind of player the Revolution were looking for. Seven games into the season, Sene leads...

If you are a Boston College fan and you are looking for No. 7 (Chase Rettig) as your quarterback, you will have to look again. As the Eagles went through their first workouts of training camp this morning and this afternoon, Rettig, who was named as the starter in the third game of last season, trotted out wearing No. 11. ""My number in high school," said Rettig when asked about "Last year as a freshman, I just took what they gave me. But this...

Today's morning session was again a relatively brief walkthrough, as it was yesterday, and the highlight was the presence of Chad Ochocinco. Though Bill Belichick said in his pre-practice press conference that the deals for Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth weren't done yet, the receiver was on the field in a skin-tight navy blue long-sleeve shirt and sweat pants with the Patriots logo on one thigh. As soon as the fans spotted him, he got a huge cheer. Ochocinco spent much of the session talking to Brady and Deion Branch, and also spent a bit of time chatting with...

BASEBALL The Rays placed third baseman Evan Longoria, who is hitting .329 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs, on the 15-day disabled list with a partially torn left hamstring that is expected to sideline him four to eight weeks. He was injured in Monday's game with the Mariners while attempting to steal second base . . . Rays prospect Tim Beckham, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, was suspended 50 games after a second violation of the minor league drug program. The 22-year-old shortstop was hitting .204 in 13 games for Triple A Durham before landing on the disabled list with a sprained left wrist . . ....

STOCKHOLM - Alexander Dale Oen, 26, a world champion swimmer who was one of Norway's top medal hopes for the London Olympics, died of cardiac arrest after collapsing in his bathroom during a training camp in Flagstaff, Ariz. Per Rune Eknes, president of the Norwegian swimming federation, confirmed the death Tuesday. He said it was still unclear what led to the cardiac arrest. In a statement, the federation said the 100-meter breaststroke world champion was found collapsed on the floor of his bathroom late Monday.