Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas insists he is ready to play through the pain barrier to help the Gunners end their long wait for silverware. Fabregas has struggled with hamstring injuries this season and was ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League win over Porto as a result of his latest setback sustained against Burnley last weekend.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is set to miss Saturday's Premier League clash at Hull with a hamstring injury. Fabregas suffered the injury in the first half of last weekend's victory over Burnley and was ruled out of the midweek Champions League victory over Porto as a result. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had rated the Spain midfielder's chances of facing Hull as 50-50, but his creative talisman looks certain to absent from the trip to the KC Stadium.

All schools across the busy midwestern US city of Minneapolis were put on lockdown early Wednesday after a vague threat was posted on two social networking sites, a spokeswoman said. The lockdown, which affected around 50 schools in the Minneapolis public school district, meant children were told to remain in their classrooms while access to outside visitors was strictly limited.

A vague threat apparently posted by an Australian on two social networking sites led to the lockdown on Wednesday of all schools in the busy midwestern US city of Minneapolis, officials said. City officials received a phone call early Wednesday alerting them that a young man planned to "shoot up" an unspecified school and then kill himself, police said.

Barcelona's Argentine winger Lionel Messi has been appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Spanish club said on Tuesday. "Messi will work to highlight challenges faced by especially vulnerable children. The player will be involved, together with UNICEF, in a series of activities to support the rights of children," Barcelona said in a statement.

The US soft drinks industry said Monday it had slashed the amount of high-calorie sodas sold in schools as part of a broader attempt to combat raging obesity. Leading companies, including Coca-cola and PepsiCo, joined former president Bill Clinton in an initiative that has reduced by 88 percent the number of drinks calories in schools across the country since 2004.

Austrian and French student networks called Monday for a strike in European universities this week, when ministers from 44 countries will gather to discuss higher education reforms. Reseau Europe, the network that launched the initiative, criticised the "creeping privatisation" of universities through the so-called Bologna Process on reforms.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League tie against Porto at the Emirates Stadium with a hamstring injury, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger said on Monday. "We cannot even take a gamble, so he is not available," Wenger said. Spain midfield star Fabregas missed training on Monday after suffering a right hamstring injury that saw him limp off after scoring in the 3-1 Premier League victory over Burnley on Saturday.

A German bishop gave new details of a sex-abuse scandal at a famous boys' choir in southern Germany once headed by Pope Benedict XVI's brother, in remarks published Saturday. Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, bishop of Regensburg, where the Domspatzen (Cathedral Sparrows) choir is based, also confirmed previous reports that Benedict's 86-year-old brother did not head the choir at the time.

The University of Cambridge is opening the doors of its historic buildings for tourists who want to stay the night, the prestigious British institution said. Visitors can stay in the colleges overnight while the students are away on holidays, with the buildings that housed famous figures such as Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and William Wordsworth being opened to the public.