Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho's lawyer denied on Thursday that he and his brother had used fake passports to enter Paraguay.
The World Cup winner and his brother were questioned for more than seven hours by the public prosecutor in Asuncion after allegedly entering Paraguay using forged documents.
Ronaldinho had been invited to the Paraguayan capital by a foundation for needy children, and to promote his new book.
The 39-year-old and his brother went to the prosecutor's office in the morning alongside Paraguayan lawyer Adolfo Marin.
"They decided voluntarily to stay and submit themselves to the public prosecutor's investigations," said Marin.
Ronaldinho "didn't need to use any other document than his own," Marin added.  According to the inspector leading the investigation Gilberto Fleitas, Ronaldinho was given his fake passport by Brazilian businessman Wilmondes Sousa Lira, who has been arrested.
Marin said Ronaldinho had told the public prosecutor that the documents in ...

Ronaldinho lawyer denies fake passport allegation

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Real Madrid star and Belgian international Eden Hazard has undergone successful surgery on his broken right foot, the Spanish La Liga leaders said Thursday.
"Eden Hazard has successfully undergone surgery today in Dallas on a fracture in the fibula of his right foot," Real said in a statement.
"The operation was supervised by Real Madrid Medical Services. Hazard will now remain under observation until he gets the all clear to being his rehabilitation process."
Hazard came off during Madrid's defeat by Levante on February 23 after making only his second start following almost three months out with a fracture in the same foot.
He joined Madrid for 100 million euros from Chelsea last summer but has endured a nightmare first year in Spain.
He sustained a thigh injury in training the day before the start of the season and after coming back in September, took time to regain form and fitness.
Hazard appeared to be finding his rhythm only to suffer his first fracture in November, before his ..

Hazard undergoes 'successful' surgery on broken foot

A goal nine minutes from time by defender Yuri Berchiche took Athletic Bilbao into an all-Basque Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad on Thursday when they edged Granada on away goals.
Athletic had led 1-0 from the first leg of the semi-final but fellow La Liga side Granada levelled the tie on the night through Carlos Fernandez in the 48th minute with a fine header from a cross by Venezuelan Darwin Machis.
Granada, in their first semi-final since 1969, then took a 2-1 overall lead thanks to a goal from German Sanchez after 76 minutes, again with Machis the provider from a corner.
However, their hopes of making the final were dashed when left-back Berchiche scored with a low drive in the 81st minute after being set up by Mikel Vesga to secure his team a spot in the April 18 finale in Seville.
With 23 titles, Athletic Bilbao are second on the all-time list of Copa del Rey winners behind Barcelona who have triumphed 30 times.
Real Sociedad ended the hopes of second division Mirandes .

Athletic Bilbao set up all-Basque Copa del Rey final against Sociedad

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has challenged Manchester United to compete on three fronts after they moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win at Wayne Rooney's Derby on Thursday.
Solskjaer's side were never in danger of a shock fifth round exit against the second tier Rams as Luke Shaw's opener and Odion Ighalo's double booked a quarter-final trip to Norwich.
Rooney, United's record goalscorer, is back in English football after moving to Derby from DC United in January and he was twice denied by Sergio Romero in his first meeting with his old club since 2018.
But United were always on top and extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games ahead of Sunday's derby showdown with Manchester City at Old Trafford.
They remain in the hunt for the FA Cup, the Europa League and still have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League via the Premier League.
United are fifth, three points behind Chelsea, and Solskjaer has urged his players to keep their foot on the gas as ...

Ighalo double denies Rooney as Man Utd move into FA Cup quarters

Travel restrictions around the world on arrivals from virus-hit South Korea are plunging its Olympic preparations into turmoil, with some athletes considering self-imposed exile and some at risk of missing the Games altogether.
South Korea is a country that takes the Olympics seriously, coming eighth in the medal table at Rio 2016 with nine golds, and fifth at London 2012 with 13.
But it also has the largest number of reported novel coronavirus cases in the world outside China, with the national total passing 6,000 on Thursday, less than five months before the Tokyo Olympics.
Scores of countries and regions have imposed travel restrictions and more than 20 -- including Olympic host Japan -- have ordered two weeks' quarantine on arrivals from South Korea. Around 40 others have barred foreigners who have recently been in the country.
Unless exemptions are granted, the measures make it impossible for South Koreans to take part in international competitions in those countries -- costing ..

'Near-isolation' - coronavirus throws S. Korea Olympic plans into chaos

A ceasefire in northern Syria agreed between Russia and Turkey came into force on Friday, aiming to halt intense fighting that has sparked a humanitarian disaster and raised fears of their armies clashing.
The deal struck between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes after an escalation of violence in Idlib, the northwestern province of Syria where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed government forces.
Nearly a million civilians have fled their homes due to the bloodshed and dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed.
Putin and Erdogan agreed on the ceasefire from midnight on Friday (2200 GMT) after more than six hours of talks in Moscow.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "hopes that this agreement will lead to an immediate and lasting cessation of hostilities that ensures the protection of civilians in northwest Syria", his spokesman said in a statement Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, which had reported ...

Turkey-Russia agreed ceasefire in Syria's Idlib comes into force

A lab-coated technician leans over a bioreactor at an Iranian pharmaceutical plant producing cancer drugs -- a tall order since equipment imports fell victim to US sanctions.
A huge corridor bathed in artificial light and smelling of disinfectant leads to the bioreactor room at the Actoverco factory, to which AFP was given rare access.
Six hundred people run production lines at the facility in an industrial district of Karaj, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Tehran.
Technicians wear scrubs, face masks, gloves and surgical caps as they work.
In the bioreactor, cells are multiplied then transferred to tanks for use as cultures to produce medication.
"Much of the equipment that we are using either in production or in laboratory, they are considered as dual-use and they are sanctioned," said plant manager Reza Mostofi.
"We have many issues at the moment. Because of the sanctions, usually we can't either transfer the money or the supplier is not willing to sell the machinery that 

Sanctions-hit Iran struggles to make cancer drugs

A "relative" calm was reported around the conflict-shattered Syrian region of Idlib soon after a ceasefire between Russia and Turkey came into force at midnight on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.
The Britain-based Observatory reported that Russian and Syrian air strikes had halted but said there was "artillery fire... by Syrian regime forces on the positions of insurgent groups" in areas controlled by jihadists in parts of Aleppo and Hama bordering Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

'Relative' calm in Idlib after Syria ceasefire takes effect: monitor

Brazil recalled its entire corps of diplomats and foreign service officials from Venezuela while ordering the government of Nicolas Maduro to reciprocate with its representatives in Brazil, a government source said on Thursday.
"No-one will remain in all of Venezuela," the source told AFP after the Official Journal revealed earlier on Thursday that four diplomats and 10 officials were ordered home from the Brazilian embassy and consulates in Venezuela.
It's the latest hardening of relations between Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and the government of radical leftist Maduro that he has branded a "dictatorship."
Maduro in return has called Bolsonaro a "fascist." Brazil is one of the more than 50 countries to have recognized the claim of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido to be his country's acting president. Guaido made the proclamation early last year following the opposition-controlled parliament's branding of Maduro as a usurper over his 2018 re-election in a poll 

Brazil recalls 'all' diplomats, officials in Venezuela

Disgraced former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was taken to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail on Thursday, ten days after he was convicted of rape and sexual assault.
The 67-year-old "Pulp Fiction" producer had been in a Manhattan hospital since his landmark conviction on February 24 after he complained of chest pains following the verdict.
Weinstein -- whose films won multiple Oscars -- was transferred to an infirmary ward at Rikers following an operation, his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, told AFP.
"He had a blockage removed," Engelmayer said. Multiple US media reported that Weinstein had had a stent installed.
Weinstein was found guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree following a high-profile trial that lasted several weeks.
The #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct hailed the verdict as historic but Weinstein's team say they plan to appeal.
A jury convicted him of forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi ...

Weinstein taken to New York's infamous Rikers jail

Next week's session of the European parliament will be moved from Strasbourg to Brussels due to "significantly higher health risks", the chamber's Speaker David Sassoli announced Thursday, as France reported more cases of the new coronavirus.
"The situation related to the spread of the infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has evolved over the last few days and hours. In particular, new infection clusters have been confirmed and case numbers are rising," Sassoli said in a statement.
"The necessary security conditions are not in place for the usual transfer of the European Parliament to Strasbourg for the plenary session next week," he added.
The European parliament has chambers both in Strasbourg, in eastern France, and Brussels.
The parliamentary session is due to be held between Monday and Thursday next week. Several political groups had expressed the wish to transfer the meeting to Brussels due to the rise in coronavirus cases in France.
The French health ...

EU parliament session moved from Strasbourg to Brussels over 'higher' virus risk

Russia is hoping to lure more people to live in the Arctic with promises of payouts and infrastructure development in the environmentally vulnerable territory, according to its 15-year strategy published Thursday.
The Kremlin document on the "foundations of state policy in the Arctic to 2035", signed by President Vladimir Putin, set out its policy plans for the energy rich region.
Russia's main goals are increasing the local population's quality of life and accelerating economic development, with better infrastructure and technology to help "settle the Arctic".
Economic measures include boosting private investment in key energy projects on the Arctic shelf, and paying Russians who want to relocate to the north.
Moscow is planning to develop huge new energy projects in its remote Arctic areas, creating tens of thousands of jobs and using the Northern Sea Route to export oil and gas to overseas markets as it becomes increasingly free of ice.
But with vast regions within the Arctic ...

Russia seeks to boost Arctic economy, population

Leticia Hidalgo smears her face with sunscreen and walks steadily across the weedy wasteland she has come to know as one of Mexico's killing fields.
Frustrated with a lack of response from authorities, retired school teacher Hidalgo has taken a years-long quest for her missing son into her own hands, learning to use a drone to search for traces of his body.
Mexico has been overwhelmed by an escalation of narco violence that has left more than 60,000 people missing since 2006.
Hidalgo's son Roy is one of them, and she believes he could well be here, somewhere beneath the scrubland at her feet, in what she calls a likely "place of extermination." Roy Rivera was kidnapped the morning of January 11, 2011, by armed men who came to the family home in the northeastern state of Nuevo Leon.
Some of them wore police uniforms. He and his brother tried to fend off the men with a knife while Hidalgo called for help from a balcony.
She sees that moment as the end of her innocence.
Now this ...

Woman uses drone to look for son's body in Mexico's killing fields

A British United Nations employee is one of the four people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Senegal, the organisation said Thursday, confirming it was the UN's first case worldwide.
Senegal announced two new cases on Wednesday, one of which was a 33-year-old English woman who returned from a trip to London to the capital Dakar on February 24.
The UN said on Thursday that the woman was one of its employees.
"The emergency protocol was activated, and the patient is in a hospital in the capital," the UN said in a statement.
"In line with confidentiality requirements with respect to the patient's condition, no further information will be given.
"An investigation by epidemiologists from the ministry of health is currently under way to test people recently in contact with the patient." A UN spokeswoman in Dakar confirmed to AFP that the woman was the organisation's first employee worldwide to test positive to the deadly virus.
The other case announced on Wednesday was .

UN's first employee with coronavirus among Senegal infections

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the world rose to 97,510, including 3,345 deaths, across 85 countries and territories by 1700 GMT Thursday, according to a report compiled by AFP from official sources.
Since 1700 GMT Wednesday, 2,699 new contaminations and 100 new deaths were identified.
China -- excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macau -- where the epidemic emerged at the end of December, had 80,409 cases, of which 3,012 were fatal. There were 139 new infections and 31 deaths there between 1700 GMT Wednesday and 1700 GMT Thursday.
Outside China, a total of 17,101 cases have been recorded around the world since the epidemic began, including 333 deaths.
There have been 2,560 new cases and 69 new deaths outside China since Wednesday at 1700 GMT.
The most affected countries after China are: South Korea (6,088 cases, 35 deaths, 467 new cases), Italy (3,858 cases, 148 deaths, 769 new cases), Iran (3,513 cases, 107 deaths, 591 new cases) and France (377 cases, 6 deaths, 120 .

Coronavirus toll at 1700 GMT Thursday

Turkey and Russia announced a ceasefire in northern Syria on Thursday, agreeing to end weeks of heavy fighting that sparked a humanitarian disaster and raised fears of their armies clashing.
After more than six hours of talks in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on the ceasefire to take effect from midnight on Friday.
The agreement will also create a security corridor along the key M4 highway in northern Syria, where Turkish and Russian forces will launch joint patrols from March 15.
The deal aims to put a stop to intense fighting in Idlib, the northwestern province of Syria where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed government forces.
Nearly a million of civilians have fled their homes due to the violence and dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed.
Putin told a joint press conference after the talks that the agreement would "serve as a good basis for ending fighting" in Idlib and for "stopping the suffering of the civilian ..

Turkey, Russia agree ceasefire in Syria's Idlib

Egyptian authorities reopened the 4,700-year-old step pyramid of Djoser to the public on Thursday, after years of renovation.
The roughly 60-metre-high (almost 200 feet) pyramid dominates the vast Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, and is part of the ancient capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
"We completed the restoration ... of the first and oldest pyramid in Egypt, that of King Djoser, the founder of the Old Kingdom," Antiquities and Tourism Minister Khaled el-Enany said on Thursday at the site.
It is "the first building in the world made entirely of stone", Enany added.  The Old Kingdom is known as the age of pyramid builders.
Dating to 2,680 BC, the Djoser pyramid was built under the direction of architect Imhotep.
A 1992 earthquake caused considerable damage to the monument's interior.  Renovations started in 2006 but were interrupted in 2011 and 2012 for "security reasons", before resuming in 2013, said Ayman Gamal Eddine, project manager at the antiquities ...

Egypt reopens ancient step pyramid after renovations

Britain has recorded its first death in the new coronavirus outbreak, England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty said on Thursday.
"I am very sorry to report a patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died," he said in a statement, adding the patient at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, west of London, was elderly and had "underlying health conditions".

First UK death in coronavirus outbreak: health authorities

Italy's foreign minister accused CNN on Thursday of "distorting reality" by appearing to suggest in a map that much of the world was catching the new coronavirus from his Mediterranean country.
Luigi Di Maio posted a screen grab from the US television news network with the offending image on his Facebook page.
The map showed more than a dozen red arrows shooting from Italy to other parts of the world.
"Coronavirus cases linked to Italy," the accompanying caption said.
Di Maio said the map made it looks like "Italy seems to the origin of the outbreak".
"This is a distorted view of the reality," he wrote.
"But the point in not CNN, this is just one example, because there are also (other) international media painting Italy in the wrong way." CNN issued no immediate comment.
The Atlanta-based network occasionally comes under fire from world leaders at times of crisis.
It notably was accused of bias by both Russia and Ukraine during its coverage of Moscow's annexation of Crimea in ...

Italy foreign ministry blasts CNN for virus map

Amazon pledged Thursday to take steps to fight price gouging after a US senator complained of "unjustifiably high prices" on hand sanitizers and surgical masks to protect against coronavirus infections.
The US retail giant responded to a letter from Senator Ed Markey, who wrote that Amazon appeared to be profiting from panic buying related to the epidemic.
"We agree with Senator Markey -- there is no place for price gouging on Amazon and that's why our teams are monitoring our store 24/7 and have already removed tens of thousands of offers for attempted price gouging," an Amazon spokesperson said in an email.
"We are disappointed that bad actors are attempting to take advantage of this global health crisis and, in addition to removing these offers, we are terminating accounts." About half of Amazon sales come from third-party vendors as part of the company's online "marketplace."
Markey questioned Amazon's vigilance after a series of media reports highlighted markups on some items of .

Amazon vows to act on price-gouging on coronavirus goods

Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented move after the kingdom suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage.
State television relayed stunning images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba - a large black cube structure inside Mecca's Grand Mosque, which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.
The move was a "temporary preventive measure" but the upper floors of the Grand Mosque were still open for prayers, a Saudi official told AFP.
He called the measure "unprecedented".
On Wednesday, the kingdom halted the umrah pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents.
The move came after authorities last week suspended visas for the umrah and barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported infections to five.
The umrah, which refers to the ...

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