WORLD

KARIM BENZEMA has reportedly had enough of being made the scapegoat for Real Madrid’s troubles in the league this season. The France international once again fired blanks in Real’s 0-0 draw with arch-rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday. He has scored just two goals in 13 games in all competitions this season so far with pressure building on the striker. Real ...

GERMANY is in turmoil after coalition talks to form the next Government collapsed following the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) walking out of negotiations. Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), the pro-business FDP and the Green party have been holding coalition talks. A failure from the political leader to form a ...

Rafa Benitez couldn’t resist taking a sly dig at his old foe Jose Mourinho after Manchester United secured victory over his Newcastle side. The pair have had a stormy relationship dating back to Mourinho’s first spell as Chelsea manager while Benitez was in charge at Liverpool. They went toe-to-toe again at Old Trafford as the Red Devils came from behind ...

Cristiano Ronaldo says he wants to have seven children and win the same number of Ballons d’Or. The Real Madrid star recently had his fourth child, and is expected to win his fifth Ballon d’Or when the award is announced next month. But the 32-year-old has still come in for recent criticism, as his return of one goal in seven ...

HAWTHORNE, Calif. (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) upstaged its own debut of an electric heavy duty truck on Thursday when a red Roadster pulled out of the big rig’s trailer and Chief Executive Elon Musk said the new $200,000 sports car would be the fastest production car ever. The showmanship wowed the crowd although some analysts’ heads started throbbing at ...

Harare – A senior Zimbabwean war veteran has given President Robert Mugabe an ultimatum that he must resign by Saturday. “Between now and tomorrow (on Saturday), we are giving a very strong warning to Mugabe and his wife… He won’t be allowed to continue,” said Christopher Mutsvangwa, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association. Mutsvangwa was speaking ...

MANCHESTER UNITED are reportedly keeping tabs on West Ham’s Domingos Quina. The 17-year-old midfielder was watched by United scouts while scoring for Portugal under-19s against Spain this week. Quina spent three years in the Chelsea academy after moving from Benfica. But he was released last summer and picked up by the Hammers. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are also keeping a ...

Actor Sylvester Stallone has denied reports that he and a bodyguard sexually assaulted a 16-year-old fan in Las Vegas in the 1980s. The Mail Online has published what it says is a police report dating from 1986, which detailed the allegations. The young woman did not press charges, the report said, because she was “humiliated and ashamed”, as well as ...

A North Korean soldier who was shot while fleeing across the border has an extremely high level of parasites in his intestines, his doctors say. The defector crossed the demilitarised zone on Monday, but was shot several times by North Korean border guards. Doctors say the patient is stable – but “an enormous number” of worms in his body are ...

JOSE MOURINHO has played down suggestions there is any lingering bad blood between him and Rafa Benitez. The two managers clashed several times when Mourinho was in his first spell as Chelsea boss and Benitez was in charge of Liverpool. Chelsea beat the Merseyside club in the League Cup final of 2005 but Benitez got his revenge by knocking the ...