But is the star of "The Lone Ranger" really preparing to be the one who buys the property where hundreds of Native Americans were killed? Or is it just the latest rumor in the contentious debate over the landmark's future?

Depp touched off the story when he told London's Daily Mail newspaper that he is working to buy a piece of the landmark on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to give back to the tribe because it's important to their culture. The site is where 300 Native American men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in 1890.

"I am doing my best to make that happen," he told the newspaper of a possible purchase. "It's land they were pushed on to and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me."

Landowner James Czywczynski, whose family has owned the property since 1968, is trying to sell the 40-acre fraction of the historic landmark and another 40-acre parcel for $4.9 million. The two parcels of land have been assessed for $14,000. The sale has sparked outrage among tribal members who feel Czywczynski is trying to profit from the killing of their ancestors.

Since the interview was published last week, Depp's been quiet, and there's been no record of an offer made for the land. Depp's publicist did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking comment, while Czywczynski, who has said his goal has always been to get the land back to the tribe, did not return calls.

Oglala Sioux President Bryan Brewer, whose tribe lives on Pine Ridge, said he has not been contacted by anyone in Depp's camp and was first notified of the actor's interest when someone from England called him for reaction. Brewer said he and a group of descendants of Wounded Knee survivors are hoping to meet with Czywczynski soon.

The possibility of the celebrity purchase is generating debate in Native American communities. Some question Depp's motives due to the timing of "The Lone Ranger" release, which debuted with a dismal $19.5 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend in early July. Depp, who plays the part of the Native American character Tonto in the film, has been accused of playing into stereotypes and misappropriating Native American culture. Tonto speaks broken English, wears a stuffed crow on his head and has a face painted with white and black stripes. Some Native Americans view the character as a parody.

Depp's also been criticized for saying that he does have Native American ancestry, but he's unsure if it's Cherokee or Creek.

"People I've talked to think he's in it for redemption because he's gotten bad reviews," said Oglala Sioux tribal member Dawn Moves Camp, 30.

Besides its proximity to the burial grounds, the land includes the site of a former trading post burned down during the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising, in which hundreds of American Indian Movement protesters occupied the town built at the massacre site. The 71-day standoff that left two tribal members dead and a federal agent seriously wounded is credited with raising awareness about Native American struggles and giving rise to a wider protest movement.

Depp's purchase of the land would be an easy answer for the tribe, Moves Camp said, but it would also be dehumanizing.

"It's also buying into the idea that our ancestry and history have a price tag on them," she said, later adding: "We have pride too. We'd rather it be done in an honorable way. I hope our tribe finds some way to buy the land back without outside help."

For some descendants of those killed in the massacre, how the tribe gets the land doesn't matter. What does is that the tribe gets it back, said Joseph Brings Plenty, a former chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who had several ancestors killed in the 1890 massacre.

Although the land sits on the Pine Ridge reservation, many of the descendants of the massacre victims and survivors are members of several different Lakota tribes.

"Honestly, I don't think it would be a bad thing if Johnny Depp would purchase it with the cooperation of the tribes," he said. What's most important, he said, is that the land is preserved and an accurate account of what happened is shared with visitors through a monument.

Tribal members have disagreed over the years about how to commemorate the lives lost at Wounded Knee. While there is a small monument listing some of the names of those killed in 1890, some tribal members think a larger statue or structure is needed to educate the public.

Sonny Skyhawk, a Sicangu Lakota actor and founder of American Indians in Film and Television, said although he was not a fan of Depp playing Tonto in "The Lone Ranger," purchasing the land would be a "great opportunity" for Depp to step forward and do something for Native Americans.

"If it's from the heart, we accept it. If it's not from the heart, we'll accept it anyways because it's such a meaningful undertaking when you look at the significance of what the sacred ground next to it is," he said.

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Associated Press reporters Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Susan Montoya Bryan Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this report.

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Follow Kristi Eaton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kristieaton

At the site of the graves in the town of Jaltipan, southeast of Veracruz, archaeologists also found clay figurines, jade beads, mirrors and animal remains, according to the National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH.

Researchers believe the settlement was occupied from around the first century A.D. until A.D. 600 or 700. Little is known about the people who lived there. The skeletons are set to be analyzed so that researchers can learn about how they were treated for burial. []

"All that is known so far is that of the 30 burials, two at least belong to infants," explained archaeologist Alfredo Delgado in a statement from INAH.

Deer antlers and bones that may belong to dogs, coyotes, deer, fish and birds were buried with the bodies, perhaps as animal companions for the underworld, the researchers said. There's also evidence that the inhabitants of the site were fossil collectors; among the numerous prehistoric remains were the fossilized teeth of a long extinct -type shark.

The artifacts found at the site represent more than one culture. Some figurines and brickwork look Mayan, while there was also pottery that looks like it came from ancient city of , the researchers say.

"Analyses will enable us to see whether this site was multicultural, as is indicated by the materials found, or whether the inhabitants were all of the same genetic type," Delgado said.

Thefound on a hill near the burials is made of stone slabs and stretches 39 feet (12 meters) tall and looks Mayan or Tajin in style, the researchers believe. While pre-Columbian stone monuments have been found in Los Tuxtlas and the Sierra de Santa Marta, archaeologists say this type of ancient stone architecture has rarely been found in the southern part of the state of Veracruz.

The team says they also discovered bricks in Jaltipan resembling those found at Comacalco, a Mayan city 74 miles (120 kilometers) away in the Tabasco region.

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The plan to bring in Cuban doctors created a backlash because of questions about their qualifications. Brazilian medical associations argued that standards at Cuba's medical schools were lower than in Brazil and equivalent in some cases to a nursing education.

Brazil was rocked last month by massive protests fueled by frustration with a high cost of living and deplorable public transportation, education and health services, plus anger over the billions that will be spent to host the 2014 World Cup.

In response, President Dilma Rousseff is moving to expand public services, crack down on corruption and hold a non-binding national vote to see what other reforms Brazilians want. Her push to improve services comes even as the government tightens the reins on overall spending in an effort to preserve fiscal responsibility.

Later Monday, Rousseff is scheduled to announce a national health plan to hire 35,000 doctors through 2015 to practice in remote parts of the country and poor outskirts of Brazilian cities. The plan also will increase slots at medical schools and fund the building and upgrading of medical facilities.

In May, Brazil's government said it was in talks with Cuba to hire 6,000 Cuban doctors to serve in remote parts of the country where medical services are deficient or non-existent.

In the past decade Cuba's communist government has sent 30,000 doctors to work in poor neighborhoods of Venezuela, Havana's closest political ally. Under an agreement reached with the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Cuba sent doctors in exchange for cheap oil.

Instead of a contingent Cuban doctors, Brazil's Health Ministry will hire foreign doctors where needed on an individual basis. Each foreign doctor, a ministry official said, will individually apply for the work in Brazil.

"We never reached a deal with Cuba. Now the priority is Spain and Portugal," the official said.

Cuban doctors can apply, he said, but ads offering doctors work in Brazil will be posted in Spain and Portugal, not in Cuba.

Last week, Brazilian doctors staged demonstrations in several cities opposing the hiring of foreign medics. The government maintained that it will do so to fill gaps left by Brazilian doctors who prefer not to work in remote areas.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Paulo Prada)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cautious optimism over corporate earnings sent the stock market higher Monday.

U.S. companies start reporting their second-quarter results this week, led by aluminum producer Alcoa. Other major companies that will report include JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

Analysts predict that earnings growth for companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index will come in at 3 percent in the second quarter. While that rate would be down from 5 percent in the first quarter, earnings are still expected to reach record levels.

Investors and traders will search for evidence that companies are increasing revenues, not just cutting costs to boost profits. Sales growth is predicted to fall 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

"We'll be looking to see where revenue comes in," said Jim Dunigan, an executive vice president of investments at PNC.

The Dow rose 88.85 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 15,224.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 8.57 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 1,640.46.

Dell was among the big gainers in the S&P 500 index. An advisory firm recommended that company shareholders support a plan to take the computer company private. Founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners have offered to buy Dell for $24.4 billion, or $13.65 a share. Dell rose 41 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $13.44.

The Russell 2000 index, an index of small-company stocks, closed at an all-time high 1,009.25. The index past the 1,000 mark for the first time Friday and has gained 18.8 percent this year, a sign that investors are more willing to take on risk.

In other trading, the Nasdaq composite rose 5.45, or 0.2 percent, to 3,484.83, the smallest gain of the major indexes.

The index was weighed down by a slump in Intel. The chipmaker fell after a Citigroup analyst wrote that weak PC sales and waning demand for smartphones would stunt the company's growth. Intel, which makes up 2.2 percent of the Nasdaq, fell 88 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $23.18.

Other chipmakers also declined. Qualcomm dropped 96 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $59.99.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year government note pulled back from a two-year high of 2.74 Friday. It fell to 2.64 percent on Monday.

The yield had jumped after the government reported strong U.S. hiring for June on Friday. Investors believe that the improving jobs market will prompt the Federal Reserve to ease back on its bond-buying program. The Fed is buying $85 billion in bonds each month to keep interest rates low and spur borrowing and investing.

For the first five months of the year stocks moved higher, supported by the backdrop of low interest rates, a recovering housing market and increased hiring. The S&P 500 index gained 17 percent by May 21 and stood at a record 1,669.

But the stock market pulled back when Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank might consider easing its stimulus.

The S&P 500 dropped as low as 1,573 on June 24, about 5.7 percent below its record close.

Since then stocks have gradually recouped losses as investors appear to be getting more comfortable with higher interest rates. The S&P 500 is now 2.2 percent below its May record.

"Interest rates, even though they've risen, are still incredibly low," said Brent Schutte, a market strategist at BMO Private Bank. "Right now, increases in rates are a good thing because it means the economy is doing a little bit better."

The rising rates are still making bond investors nervous though.

Investors pulled a net $900 million from U.S. stock funds for the week ending June 26, but they withdrew $28.1 billion from bond funds over the same period, according to data from the Investment Company Institute.

That sell-off may boost stocks as investors look to reinvest their proceeds from bonds.

In commodities trading, the price of oil was little changed at $103.14 a barrel. The price of gold rose $22.20, or 1.8 percent, to $1,234.90 an ounce.

After the market closed Monday, Alcoa reported a wider second-quarter loss due to weak aluminum prices.

Alcoa lost $119 million, or 11 cents per share, in the April-through-June quarter. That compared with a loss of $2 million, or break-even on a per-share basis, a year earlier.

Alcoa fell 5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.87 in after-hours trading.

Among other stocks making big moves:

Priceline rose $33.47, or 3.9 percent, to $888.60 after investment bank Morgan Stanley raised its price target for the online bookings company. Analysts at the bank believe that Priceline can climb as high as $1,010 as it continues to grow internationally and worries about shrinking profits dissipate.

Astronomers using the planet-huntinghave found two planets circling different stars in the violent environment of an ancient open star cluster called NGC 6811 located about 3,300 light-years from Earth. Until now, four of the more than 850 planets known outside the solar system were spotted in clusters.

The planets Kepler-66b and Kepler-67b are both smaller than the planets previously found in clusters. They are slightly smaller than Neptune, but larger than the Earth and circle sunlike stars. []

"We don't have any planet that falls in that size bin or that mass bin between the Earth and Neptune, so we have to try to speculate about how they might be, structurally speaking," lead study author Soren Meibom, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said. "It's unlikely that they're completely solid like the Earth because there is no precedence for that. If you have a planet this size, three-quarters the , about three Earth radii, it's very likely to have a gaseous envelope, so it's kind of in between a rocky planet like a Neptune but we don't have any analogue in the solar system, so we're left guessing a little bit."

The new research is detailed in the June 27 issue of the journal Nature.

Forming in a cluster

Some scientists thought that it would be more difficult forto survive in star clusters because of the turbulent environment that surrounds them. Supernova explosions and the movements of other stars in the cluster can change the orbits of planets that formed around relatively stable stars. []

The orbits of Kepler-66b and Kepler-67b, however, do not seem to have been disturbed since their formation one billion years ago, Meibom said.

These planets are also unique because they are the first cluster-based planets to be discovered by transiting passing between their star and the Earth. This allowed Meibom to measure their relatively small size.

"Big planets are easier to find, but if they are less common than small ones, we may not find them," William Welsh, an astronomer at San Diego State University who is unaffiliated with the research, said. "Previousin clusters didn't find any planets, but it's not because planets are rare. It's because 1) planets as small as the ones in this paper are extremely hard, if not impossible, to detect using a ground-based telescope; and (2) the large Jupiter-size planets that could have been found are less common than the harder-to-see and more common small planets."

Just as common

Meibom and his team used data they collected from 377 stars in the cluster to understand the frequency of finding cluster-based planets versus planets circling stars in the open field. They found that astronomers can expect to detect a similar number of mini-Neptunes in both the field and in clusters.

These types of planets could be just as commonly found orbiting stars in clusters as they are around other kinds of stars.

"The two planets we found are going around their stars over a time of 15 and 17 days respectively and that is also a very typical orbital period for planets found outside of clusters," Meibom said. "Both the frequency and the properties in terms of size and orbital period are consistent with what we see outside of clusters."

This finding might also help scientists understand whethercould form in clusters, however, it is still unclear whether life could exist while a young star remains within a cluster.

"The sun was once part of a cluster, and our solar system planets formed while part of the cluster," Welsh wrote in an email to SPACE.com. "Life probably did not emerge while the sun was part of the cluster, though that depends on how long it took for the cluster to dissolve. But the reason for that may be more due to the bombardment of the very young Earth by proto-planetary debris than anything to do with the cluster environment Life probably did not get a permanent foot-hold on Earth while we were part of a cluster, if the cluster dispersed in less than 700 million years."

Future missions

It could also be possible to search for planets in closer star clusters like the Pleiades or the Hyades, but it might not happen for a while, Meibom said. Kepler cannot hunt for planets in those closer clusters because it is focused on only one part of the distant sky, and ground-based methods have not been powerful enough to detect any small planets as of yet.

Future missions, however, could help scientists investigate these closer clusters, Meibom said. NASA's planned Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, launching in 2017, will search for planets transiting in front of smaller and cooler stars the most common in the galaxy.

This is the second bit of surprising exoplanet news in as many days. Scientists recently foundof a star 22 light-years from Earth.

Follow Miriam Kramer onand . Follow us on , and . Original article on .

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TENNIS

Wimbledon (to 7)

Djokovic and Murray set for battle royal

LONDON - Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the world's top two players, will slug it out in the final. The Serb is bidding for his seventh grand slam title while his opponent seeks to end Britain's 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men's singles champion. (TENNIS-WIMBLEDON/ (PIX), expect by 1600 GMT/12 PM ET, by Martyn Herman and Pritha Sarkar, 600 words)

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MOTOR RACING

Formula One: German Grand Prix, Nuerburgring

Hamilton on pole ahead of Vettel

NUERBURGRING, Germany - Lewis Hamilton is on pole for Mercedes but has Sebastian Vettel alongside him as the champion bids for his first home victory. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/ (PIX), expect by 1900 GMT/3 PM ET, by Mark Meadows, 600 words)

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RUGBY

British and Irish Lions tour

SYDNEY - The British and Irish Lions must be allowed more preparation time if they are to build on the success of their 2-1 series win over the Wallabies in New Zealand in 2017, coach Warren Gatland said on Sunday. (RUGBY-LIONS/ (PIX, TV), expect by 0700 GMT/3 AM ET, by Nick Mulvenney, 700 words)

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CYCLING

Tour de France (to 21)

Stage nine represents time to make amends

BAGNERES DE BIGORRE, France - The ninth stage is an opportunity for the riders who lost out on Saturday to make amends. Four first-category climbs are on the cards for the second Pyrenean stage. (CYCLING-TOUR/ (PIX), expect by 1530 GMT/11:30 AM ET, by Julien Prtot, 600 words)

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GOLF

PGA Tour: Greenbrier Classic, West Virginia

Wagner takes two-shot lead after third round

American Johnson Wagner moved a step closer to winning his fourth PGA Tour title by seizing a two-shot lead after the third round. (GOLF-PGA/, moved, 400 words)

- -

European Tour: French Open, Paris

McDowell and Sterne lead way

PARIS - World number nine Graeme McDowell and South African Richard Sterne share the lead going into the final round at Le Golf National. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/, expect by 1700 GMT/1 PM ET, 300 words)

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BASEBALL

Castro celebrates All Star pick with three-run homer

Houston catcher Jason Castro celebrated his first All Star selection by hitting a three-run homer to give the visiting Astros a 9-5 win over the Texas Rangers. (BASEBALL-ROUNDUP/, moved, 400 words)

- - - - (Duty editor: Peter Rutherford)

The win put the home side top of the table on 63 points, two more than New Zealand's Waikato Chiefs who lost on Friday.

"My nerves were shot at the end. Games between the Bulls and Sharks always seem to come down to one point," home captain Dewald Potgieter told reporters after a bruising encounter.

Substitute scrumhalf Jano Vermaak scored a try six minutes from the end and Morne Steyn's conversion saw the Bulls triumph after trailing 19-13.

Vermaak's quick break came after a period of pressure from the Bulls who suddenly broke free after the Sharks had pinned them back for most of the second half.

Pat Lambie put the Durban-based franchise ahead after a break by winger Lwazi Mvovo in the eighth minute.

Bulls got their first try in the 25th minute after a clever crossfield chip by Steyn sent winger Bjorn Basson over.

Two penalties from Lambie after the break put the Sharks ahead by one point six minutes into the second half before Butch James's chip and a perfect bounce sent Odwa Ndungane over for a second Sharks try.

Lambie missed two penalties and a conversion that would have given the Sharks a more comfortable lead and in the final minute Riaan Viljoen missed a penalty.

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien has reached a deal with Al Jazeera America in which she will contribute short segments and her production company, Starfish Media Group, will produce hour-long documentary specials.

O'Brien will serve as special correspondent to Al Jazeera America's primetime current affairs magazine program "America Tonight." Until February, she hosted CNN's "Starting Point." The network has since replaced the show with "New Day."

"O'Brien's career producing and reporting on the human side of many of the most important stories of the past decade will fit in perfectly with what Al Jazeera America will be covering every day," said Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director of Al Jazeera's international operations and the senior executive developing the new channel. "Her dedication to that type of journalism is what makes it so exciting to announce that she and her production company are joining the Al Jazeera America team."

"I look forward to beginning a relationship with Al Jazeera America, which has made a commitment to producing quality programming and pursuing underreported stories," O'Brien said. "I am thrilled to be back in business with Kim Bondy, who is a long-time friend and among the finest journalists in the broadcast news business today. With this agreement, Starfish continues its expansion as a cross-platform media company dedicated to compelling storytelling and enterprise journalism."

"Soledad and I have worked together since 1997, so I know she cares deeply about covering the human side of a story based solely on the facts," said Bondy, senior executive producer of "America Tonight."

TV Newser tweeted last week that O'Brien was in negotiations with Al Jazeera, which is launching in August.

Before hosting "Starting Point," O'Brien co-anchored "American Morning" for CNN. She came to CNN from NBC News, where she anchored "Weekend Today."

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - By last Friday morning in Canada's oil capital, the scope of the disaster facing Calgary was becoming clear, and the reputation of the city's first-term mayor was rising along with the floodwaters.

As the two rivers in the city of 1.1 million reached new heights in the worst flooding the province of Alberta has ever seen, a growing list of neighborhoods were evacuated and the downtown home to Canada's largest oil companies was shut down as electrical substations failed.

In the chaos, Naheed Nenshi, the first Muslim elected to the office in a major North American city, was a ubiquitous presence - at media briefings, on Twitter, updating the status of city services, reminding Calgarians to stay safe and praising emergency workers. His well-timed jokes lightened the mood.

It was disaster management reminiscent, albeit on a smaller scale, of other North American politicians like New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the September 11 attacks and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the wake of Hurricane Sandy whose images were burnished by their performances in crises.

"As mayor (in these floods) I have three jobs," the 41-year-old Nenshi told Reuters in an interview sandwiched between media briefings, tours of damaged neighborhoods and visits to thank the city's thousands of volunteers.

"No. 1 is to make sure citizens have a lot of information on how to keep themselves safe. No. 2 is provide encouragement and resources to the real heroes. And No. 3 is to get out of the way and let people do their work. That's what I have been trying to do since the whole thing started."

The economic cost of the floods will likely reach into the billions. But Nenshi's response has won him the sort of national acclaim that eludes other big-city Canadian mayors these days.

Toronto's Rob Ford is under fire after two media outlets said they had seen a video that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine (he says he does not smoke crack), while Montreal's Michael Applebaum has stepped down to fight charges of corruption.

"Mr. Nenshi has been such a superbly effective leader during the flood that has devastated his city and other Alberta communities that he appears on his way to folk-hero status," the Globe and Mail newspaper said in an editorial on Monday.

'I MUST LOOK TERRIBLE'

Even as the floodwaters rose, Nenshi maintained the Twitter presence that helped the left-leaning candidate win a surprise 2010 election victory in a city best known for sending conservatives to provincial and federal office. He is running for re-election this year, with little serious opposition.

But Nenshi says Calgary voters are not interested in ideology.

"We are a true meritocracy. Nobody in Calgary cares who your daddy was, what you look like or where you went to school," he said. "They only care about what you bring to the table and how hard you work. This boring characterization of black, white, red, blue - I don't think it has any bearing on people's choices. People just want folks who do a good job."

Before he was elected, Nenshi was a civic activist and business professor at Mount Royal University, known for being a frequent critic of Calgary's fractious City Council. Born in Toronto, he was raised in Calgary by parents who emigrated from Tanzania. As mayor, he earns about C$200,000 and donates 10 percent of it to charity.

He was a dark-horse challenger in the 2010 race for Calgary mayor - experts thought a long-serving councilor with conservative leanings had the election locked up.

Nenshi ran a grassroots campaign on a limited budget that harnessed Twitter and other social media. Starting out as an outsider, his support surged in the final weeks of the campaign.

Even before the crisis, ThinkHQ opinion research firm put Nenshi's approval ratings at 73 percent, down from an almost 88 percent as the city debated what to do with a tax refund from the provincial government.

It is the sort of number that often tempts local politicians to aim for higher office. But Nenshi said he had no ambitions to vie for another job.

"I have the best job in Canada, plus I can never remember what it is the federal government does," he said. "Or I should say they send in the army to help when you have flooding, for which we are very grateful."

His relentless pace and increasingly haggard appearance after round-the-clock briefings spawned the Twitter tag #nap4nenshi, which includes pictures of "Supernenshi", with his chubby face Photoshopped onto a picture of Superman.

"Everybody asks me the question about how much sleep I have had, which means I must look terrible," Nenshi said.

(Editing by Janet Guttsman, Mary Milliken and Leslie Gevirtz)

LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC faced mounting pressure on Sunday to take action against one its most high-profile sports presenters for criticising the appearance of France's Marion Bartoli who won this year's Wimbledon women's singles title.

John Inverdale incensed radio listeners before Bartoli beat German Sabine Lisicki when he asked if people thought her father told her when little that she was never going to be "a looker" like Maria Sharapova so would have to fight harder for success.

The BBC, Britain's publicly funded broadcaster, apologised for the comments after a storm of protests on Twitter, admitting the remark was "insensitive".

Inverdale said on Sunday he had written to apologise to Bartoli and told listeners ahead of Sunday' men's final that he used "a clumsy phrase" about Bartoli in trying to make a point that not all players need to be "6 ft fall Amazonian athletes".

But the apology from the 55-year-old, who has presented BBC shows since the 1980s, failed to calm the fury about his remark made 24 hours earlier and the lack of action taken by the BBC.

"This is appalling. Tennis is one of the worst offenders in sport in terms of the focus on women athletes' looks and the BBC needs to take action," Sue Tibbals, chief executive of the Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation, told Reuters.

"I thought Bartoli was an absolute inspiration, so spirited and gutsy, and she does not deserve these outrageous remarks. This is not a one-off event from this presenter."

The BBC was not immediately able to comment on whether any action would be taken against Inverdale or an inquiry held.

Bartoli, 28, won the admiration of Centre Court on Saturday when she won her first grand slam title in a straight-sets victory over 23-year-old Lisicki that earned her 1.6 million pounds ($2.4 million) in prize money.

The Frenchwoman, celebrating her success in becoming the first Frenchwoman in seven years to win the coveted Wimbledon women's title, shrugged off Inverdale's comments.

"It doesn't matter, honestly. I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact," Bartoli said in a press briefing late on Saturday.

"Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I'm sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes."

Twitter users praised Bartoli's dignity as they called on the BBC to act against Inverdale.

Many of the Tweets included the hashtag "Everyday Sexism", which has gathered a large following as people tweet examples of causal sexism in the workplace and public life.

"Isn't it time the BBC woke up to the sexism at the heart of its sport broadcasting?" tweeted feminist blogger Leopard.

"#BBC apology over sexism comments not good enough. suspend #Inverdale & hold enquiry. Sexism is on par with racism," tweeted yvonneridley.

The incident came after the BBC has this year faced one of the biggest crises in its 90-year history.

A sex scandal involving the late TV presenter Jimmy Savile threw the broadcaster into turmoil and raised questions about the organisation's ethics, leading to the appointment of a new head, Tony Hall.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)