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Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni has received a provisional one-match suspension after Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr reported alleged racist abuse during last week's Champions League meeting. It means the Argentine winger is set to miss the second leg of the tie in Madrid on Wednesday (20:00 GMT). Uefa has imposed the ban on a provisional basis, pending the result of a full investigation by an ethics and disciplinary inspector. The European governing body said further punishment could be handed out once that investigation is completed. Vinicius told referee Francois Letexier that he had been racially abused by the Argentina winger during the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase play-off tie in Lisbon last Tuesday .  Prestianni has denied racially abusing the Brazilian, and Benfica said they would appeal against the decision despite the belief it is unlikely to have any "practical effect" before Wednesday's game. Last week's first leg was...

North Korea's ruling Workers' Party has again chosen Kim Jong Un to be its general secretary, state media report. The announcement, which was made at a rubber-stamp party congress in Pyongyang on Sunday, comes as little surprise given the Kim family has ruled by dictatorship since the late 1940s. State-run KCNA said that under Kim's leadership North Korea "radically improved" its "war deterrence", "with the nuclear forces as its pivot". Despite long-standing international sanctions, North Korea has continued to build its nuclear capabilities, regularly testing banned intercontinental missiles. But the secrecy of the regime makes it harder to evaluate how much progress the military has made. Kim, who took control of the regime after his father's death in 2011, has invested heavily in the nuclear weapons programme, turning Pyongyang into a far bigger challenge for the West, and especially the US. He is expected to announce the nex...

Former Vice President Mike Pence lauded the Supreme Court's decision  Friday to strike down many of the Trump administration’s tariffs. A 6-3 majority of the court’s justices ruled that President Trump  unlawfully used an emergency statute to impose far-reaching tariffs on American trading partners.  “In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, our Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the Constitution grants Congress – not the President – the power to tax,” Pence posted on the social platform X . “American families and American businesses pay American tariffs – not foreign countries. With this decision, American families and businesses can breathe a sigh of relief.” Following his departure from the White House, Pence has become a regular critic of the president and his economic policies.  Pence had previously warned of the risks these proposed policies could have on U.S. consumers and the economy. In an exclusive interview  with ...

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that the UK and its allies should deploy non-combat troops to Ukraine right now, to "flip a switch" in Russian President Vladimir Putin's head. Speaking exclusively to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg alongside the former head of the military, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, Johnson said troops should be sent to peaceful regions in non-fighting roles. He said: "If we can have a plan for boots on the ground after the war, after Putin has condescended to have a ceasefire, then why not do it now?" The UK government is currently working with its allies to plan a "coalition of the willing" to provide forces to preserve peace and stability in Ukraine, but only if there is a deal to end the war. Speaking just days before the fourth anniversary of the war, Johnson, who was prime minister at the time of the invasion, also said the conflict could have been prevented if Western allies had paid more attention to Putin's i...

Recently, rumors surrounding Taylor Swift  allegedly  getting arrested   on   weapons charges  have spread quickly. It has left many fans and media outlets concerned. While the reports paint a dramatic picture of a high-stakes situation involving federal agents and weapons, is it the actual truth? Without further delay, let’s delve into the details of Taylor Swift’s supposed arrest. Was Taylor Swift really arrested? The recent news claiming that Taylor Swift was arrested on weapons charges has quickly circulated. However, it is important to clarify that this story is not true. In fact, the report about the pop icon’s arrest is a satirical piece from The Onions News Network . The news parody YouTube channel  is known for its humorous and often absurd content. According to the fabricated story, federal agents from the DEA, DHS, and FBI allegedly raided Swift’s tour bus after a tense standoff. The video report even includes wild details o...

China  has overtaken the US  as Germany's most important trading partner  according to figures released by Germany's Federal Statistical Office on Friday. The sum of exports and imports between the two countries last year totaled €251.8 billion ($296.6 billion), a 2.1% increase, according to Destatis. China was Germany's most important trading partner from 2016 all the way through to 2023. In 2024, the US briefly held the title.  German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also set to visit China next week, where he is set to discuss trade and other topics. China replaces US as Germany's top trading partner Germany last year imported goods worth €170.6 billion from China, an 8.8% increase from the year earlier. Chinese imports to Germany were mainly data processing equipment, electrical equipment and machinery. Meanwhile, German exports to China last year totaled €81.3 billion, down 9.7% from the year ...

Even as technology companies are projected to spend more than $5 trillion globally on earth-based data centers by the end of the decade, Elon Musk is arguing the future of AI computing power lies in space—powered by solar energy—and that the economics and engineering to make it work could align within a few years. Over the past three weeks,  SpaceX  has filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission for what amounts to a million-satellite data-center network. Musk has also said he plans to merge his AI startup, xAI, with SpaceX to pursue orbital data centers. And at an all-hands meeting last week, he told xAI employees the company would ultimately need a factory on the moon to build AI satellites—along with a massive catapult to launch them into space. “The lowest-cost place to put AI will be in space, and that will be true within two years, maybe three at the latest,” Musk said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this January. Musk is not alone in...

MADRID, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Spain's foreign minister urged the European Union on Friday to lift its sanctions on Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, after lawmakers in the South American country approved  a limited amnesty bill for certain prisoners. Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President  Nicolas Maduro , has bowed to Trump administration demands on oil sales and released hundreds of people who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalisation of relations between the countries. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the EU should "send a signal that (Venezuela) is heading down the right path in this new phase". "Sanctions are never an end in themselves. They are a means to achieve ends so that this broad, peaceful and democratic dialogue can take place," Albares told reporters in Barcelona. Later on Friday, EU Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni declined to d...

NAIROBI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight on Russia's side in the war in Ukraine , according to a Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers this week, five times more than authorities had previously estimated. The Russian Embassy in Nairobi denied on Thursday that Moscow was involved in illegally recruiting Kenyans to fight in Ukraine, though it said foreign citizens could voluntarily join its armed forces. Reading the report of Kenya's National Intelligence Service to lawmakers on Wednesday, Parliament Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah described a network of rogue state officials it said had colluded with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine. The recruiters targeted former soldiers and police officers, as well as unemployed people, with promises that they would earn some 350,000 shillings ($2,715) per month and get bonuses of up to 1.2 million shillings ($9,309). ...

A Japanese city has received a hefty donation to help fix its ageing water system: 21kg (46lb) in gold bars. The gold bars, worth an estimated 560 million yen ($3.6m; £2.7m), were given last November by a donor who wished to remain anonymous, Osaka Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama told a press conference on Thursday. Home to nearly three million people, Osaka is a commercial hub located in the Japan's Kansai region and the country's third-largest city. But like many Japanese cities, Osaka's water and sewage pipes are ageing - a growing cause for safety concern. Osaka recorded more than 90 cases of water pipe leaks under its roads in the 2024 fiscal year, according to the city's waterworks bureau. "Tackling ageing water pipes requires a huge investment. So I have nothing but appreciation," Yokoyama told reporters on Thursday, in response to a question about the huge gold donation. Yokoyama said the amount was "staggering" and he was "lost for ...

The US is preparing to largely withdraw its remaining troops from Syria over the next few months, a senior White House official has told the BBC. The official said the Syrian government had agreed to take the lead combatting terrorism within its borders and US military presence "at scale" was no longer required. American troops have been in Syria since 2015, as part of an anti-terrorism campaign to counter the influence of the Islamic State group (IS). The decision came as US President Donald Trump ramps up military presence in the Middle East while tensions mount with Iran. The official noted that the decision to remove the roughly 1,000 remaining troops from Syria is part of a conditions-based transition, and that the US remains ready to respond to any threats in the region. The news comes amid an increased presence of US troops in the region, specifically near Iran. BBC Verify has confirmed the location of aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln - equipped wit...

Real Madrid has sent UEFA, football’s governing body in Europe, “all available evidence” of an alleged racist insult against Vinicius Jr in a Champions League match against Benfica. “Our club has actively collaborated with the investigation opened by UEFA following the unacceptable episodes of racism experienced during that match,” the Spanish club said on Thursday without elaborating on the evidence. UEFA appointed a special investigator on Wednesday to gather evidence  about what happened in Lisbon on Tuesday in Madrid's 1-0 win  at Benfica in the first leg of the knockout round of the Champions League. Vinicius accused Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni of calling him “monkey” after the Brazilian scored the only goal. Prestianni was among the Benfica players upset with Vinícius after the forward celebrated by the Benfica corner flag. Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt when he allegedly spoke to the Brazilian player and denied racially abusing Vinicius, ...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg  said in a Wednesday court testimony that he reached out to Apple  CEO Tim Cook to discuss the “wellbeing of teens and kids.” The comments came after the defense lawyer Paul Schmidt pointed to an email exchange between Zuckerberg and Cook from February 2018. “I thought there were opportunities that our company and Apple could be doing and I wanted to talk to Tim about that,” Zuckerberg said. The email exchange was part of a broader portrayal by the defense attorney to show jury members that Zuckerberg was more proactive about the safety of young Instagram users than what was previously presented to court by the opposing counsel, going so far as to reach out to a corporate rival.   “I care about the wellbeing of teens and kids who are using our services,” Zuckerberg said when characterizing some of the content of the email. Zuckerberg testified during a landmark trial in Los Angeles Superior Court over the question of social media ...

The US presidential jet is getting a new paint design that will include one of President Donald Trump's preferred colour choices for the White House and his hotels, gold. Air Force One and other planes used by high level US officials, including First Lady Melania Trump, are being repainted gold, deep red and navy blue as they undergo scheduled repairs and maintenance, according to the US Air Force. The colours will also feature on a new luxury 747-8i Boeing plane donated to the presidential fleet by Qatar, an Air Force spokesperson told CBS. The white, blue and robin's egg blue associated with the presidential jet have been in use since the 1960s, when John F Kennedy was president. Trump has called for updates to the executive fleet since his first term. His successor, former President Joe Biden, cancelled a broad makeover Trump had initially planned. The new colours have already been spotted on model aircraft seen at the White House, where Trump is also making his ...