Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hailed his side as "mentality giants" after producing one of the most stunning comebacks in Champions League history to beat Barcelona 4-0 and progress to the final for the second consecutive year on Tuesday.
The Reds not only had a mountain to climb on the scoreboard after last week's 3-0 loss at the Camp Nou, but were deprived of two of their most potent attacking weapons in Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino due to injury.
However, Divock Origi -- making a rare start -- and substitute Georginio Wijnaldum both scored twice as Barca surrendered a three-goal first-leg lead to exit the Champions League for the second straight season.
"With any other team I wouldn't think it was possible. They are really mentality giants," said Klopp. "It is unbelievable the season we had, the games we had, the injuries we had now.
"Going out there and putting in a performance like this on the pitch is unbelievable. I am really proud to be the manager of this team.
"What ...

Liverpool 'giants' stun Barca to make Champions League final

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Ernesto Valverde admitted Barcelona had only themselves to blame for their "terrible" Champions League semi-final collapse at Liverpool on Tuesday.
Barca were blown away on an incredible night at Anfield as Liverpool won 4-0 to overturn a three-goal first-leg defeat.
Liverpool are only the third team in the history of the European Cup to recover from such a large semi-final deficit.
Barca boss Valverde conceded his players failed to match Liverpool's intensity and lost their cool after the Reds scored twice in quick succession in the second half to level the tie on aggregate.
"Things got on top of us after those two quick goals. We didn't manage to get on the scoresheet and they rolled us over really," he said.
"It's a terrible result for our fans and for ourselves. It's really, really unfortunate, but credit to Liverpool.
"They started really well, and they pinned us back. Early goal, we reacted well after that.
"We managed to control things a little bit in the second part of the ...

It's very painful': Valverde rocked by Barca collapse

Jurgen Klopp turned the air blue as the Liverpool manager celebrated his side's incredible Champions League semi-final success against Barcelona with a profanity-laced victory speech.
Klopp's men powered to their second successive Champions League final with a stunning 4-0 win against the Spanish champions in Tuesday's second leg at Anfield.
Liverpool had been written off after losing the first leg 3-0, but doubles from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum completed one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history.
It was all too much for the always passionate Klopp as the German let his emotions run wild in an entertaining post-match interview.
Speaking to BT Sport, Klopp said: "It's 10 past 10, most of your children are probably in bed but these boys are f*****g talented giants. It's unbelievable.
"Fine me if you want. I'm not native so I don't have better words for it.
"The whole game. The whole performance was too much. It was overwhelming. I watched in my life so many ...

'These boys are giants': Klopp salutes Liverpool heroes

Roger Federer shook off a brief bout of pre-match jitters as he returned to clay after a three-year absence, posting a 6-2, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet on Tuesday at the Madrid Open.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion needed just 52 minutes to brush Gasquet aside in the second round, but confessed he had to control his emotions during afternoon match strategy sessions with his team.
"I was very calm all day, but two hours before, I was feeling it a bit. But that was the only time," Federer said.
"The nerves went away quickly, I'm just happy I started well.
"I'm glad to be back," said the three-time Madrid champion who last played on clay almost three years ago, losing to Dominic Thiem in the Rome third round on May 12, 2016.
Federer skipped the dirt for two full seasons to concentrate on his grass court form, winning Wimbledon in 2017.
He claimed the Madrid title in 2006, 2009, and 2012.
"I've been missing the clay, this is a great return, it's a special night for me," he said.
Federer .

'Glad to be back': Federer wins on long-awaited clay return

Andrew Flintoff believes Ben Stokes can "steal the show" for England in a home season featuring both the World Cup and the Ashes.
For the first time since the inaugural men's World Cup in 1975, England are staging arguably the two biggest events in their calendar -- the one-day showpiece and a Test series against arch-rivals Australia -- in the same season.
For a multi-format cricketer such as Stokes, a dynamic pace-bowling all-rounder of a similar kind to the now-retired Flintoff, it could be a career-defining summer.
Stokes, however, has yet to hit the heights he showed before being acquitted of affray by an English court last year following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in the early hours of the morning.
Flintoff believes Stokes' bowling confidence may have been set back by being hit for four successive sixes by the West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite in the last over of a 2016 World Twenty20 final in Kolkata that England had been poised to win.
But Flintoff said that was ...

Flintoff backs Stokes to 'steal the show' for England

Steve Smith hit an attractive unbeaten 89 but David Warner was out for a duck as Australia made 277 for six against a New Zealand XI in a World Cup warm-up on Wednesday.
Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell were also among the runs, scoring 56 and 52 respectively, but it was former skipper Smith who was the star attraction.
After being dismissed for 22 in his return to Australian colours on Monday after a year-long ban for ball-tampering, he made the most of his opportunity in the second of three "unofficial" one-dayers in Brisbane.
Smith came to the crease when Shaun Marsh was out for 28 and was in fine touch, stroking an array of fours and sixes, in a major boost for Australia ahead of their World Cup defence in England.
Warner, who made 39 on his return from the "Sandpapergate" scandal, didn't fare as well.
He opened the innings with Aaron Finch, rather than Khawaja, but was soon back on the sidelines after spooning a catch to cover without scoring, lasting just six balls.
Meanwhile, ...

Smith slams 89 as Warner flops in World Cup warm-up

President Donald Trump's taxes show that he lost $1.7 billion over a decade starting in the mid-1980s, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Trump's apparent losses are greater than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, so much so that he managed to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years.
Trump's federal tax forms from 1985 show he reported $46.1 million in losses from his main businesses, which consisted mainly of casinos, hotels and retail spaces in apartment buildings.
Over the course of the next 10 years, they continued to lose money, with losses totaling $1.7 billion by 1994, the Times said.
The report comes the day after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied Democratic lawmakers' request for Trump's tax returns, saying it "lacks a legitimate purpose," raised constitutional questions and threatened taxpayer privacy.
"I am informing you now that the Department may not lawfully fulfill the committee's request," Mnuchin said in a letter to House Ways and ...

Trump taxes show losses of $1.7 billion over decade: report

A car ploughed into a group of kindergarten children in western Japan's Shiga region on Wednesday leaving at least four of them critically injured, police and reports said.
There was no immediate detail on why the car veered off the road into the group of children in the city of Otsu.
"The accident occurred on a road in Ogaya in Otsu City," a police spokesman told AFP.
"A car hit a line of about 15 nursery school children out walking. Several people were injured," he added.
The local city government also confirmed the accident but had no further details.
Public broadcaster NHK reported that four children were in critical condition and that others were hospitalised after the accident.
The children and their teachers were on the pavement near a crossing when the small vehicle crashed into them.
Footage on local media in the aftermath of the accident showed the car had veered up off the road and onto the pavement. A second car that appeared to have been damaged in a crash could be seen ..

Car ploughs into young children in Japan, leaving several injured

New Zealand introduced legislation Wednesday to make the South Pacific nation carbon neutral by 2050, although greenhouse gas emissions from the economically vital agricultural sector will not have to meet the commitment.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the bill would help New Zealand contribute to a goal of limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.
"The government is today delivering landmark action on climate change -- the biggest challenge facing the international community and New Zealand," she said.
The centre-left leader said avoiding the issue would be "gross negligence" and burden future generations.
But the legislation does not explicitly outline how the economy will become carbon neutral by 2050, sparking criticism from environmental campaigners.
Instead, it establishes an independent Climate Change Commission, which is charged with helping New Zealand reach the goal by setting five-yearly ...

New Zealand unveils plan to go carbon neutral by 2050

Sudan's army rulers Tuesday said Islamic law should remain as the guiding principle in a new civilian structure, after protest leaders handed in their proposals on changes they want enforced but kept silent on Sharia.
The 10-member military council was handed proposals last week for the new civilian structures protest leaders want.
The military council told reporters that the generals overall agreed to the proposals but they had "many reservations."
This included the silence on Islamic Sharia law remaining the guiding principle of all laws.
"The declaration failed to mention the sources of legislation, and the Islamic sharia law and tradition should be the source of legislation,"
Lieutenant General Shamseddine Kabbashi, spokesman for the military council, told reporters.
Sudan, under ousted leader Omar al-Bashir, saw the Islamic law applied at random with the constitution saying that Sharia was the guiding principle.
This led to thousands of women being flogged for "indecent ...

Sudan army rulers want to retain Sharia as legal guide

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri, under pressure over a misfiring economy, has called rival party leaders together to thrash out a series of policy measures to stabilise the crisis six months ahead of presidential elections.
Macri sent an invitation to the country's main political and social leaders to join negotiations on agreeing a 10-point plan to get the economy under control.
"Clearly, we have had problems agreeing on basic issues of our economic development," Macri wrote in his letter to leaders, including his leftist arch-rival Cristina Kirchner.
"Therefore, every time an election campaign approaches, there are many doubts about our future."
Macri's invitation has so far been received cooly by some leaders, including Peronist leader Sergio Massa and former economy minister Roberto Lavagna.
Employers, unions and church leaders have also been invited to participate in the discussions.
The embattled center-right president is seeking agreement on a 10-point list that includes ..

Argentina's Macri seeks deal with opposition over economic crisis

Recent satellite photographs indicate China's construction of its third aircraft carrier is well underway, a Washington think tank reported Tuesday.
ChinaPower, a unit of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, published photos of a large vessel under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.
The bow and hull are already under assembly, the pictures indicated, and are likely to be the beginnings of the 80-85,000 tonne type 002 aircraft carrier the Chinese navy has been known to be planning.
"Visible through the clouds and mist is what looks to be a bow and main hull section of a large vessel," ChinaPower said.
"While details regarding the Type 002 are limited, what is observable at Jiangnan is consistent with what is expected for the People's Liberation Army Navy's third aircraft carrier."
China's first carrier, the three decade-old, 66,000 tonne Liaoning, was acquired from Russia.
The second, a home-built carrier designated Type 001A and based on the Liaoning's ..

China building third aircraft carrier: Think tank

Wall Street stocks tumbled amid renewed trade war fears on Tuesday, joining other leading bourses in selling off amid signs Washington and Beijing are moving further from an agreement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8 per cent to 25,965.09. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.7 per cent to 2,884.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.0 per cent to 7,963.76.
Hopes the United States and China can seal a trade deal took a hit over the weekend when President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports as of Friday.
Beijing has decided to proceed with key trade talks later this week but the White House now says US duties on USD 200 billion in Chinese merchandise will more than double on Friday.
Investors have generally viewed the Trump threats as a bargaining tactic. Still, Tuesday's pullback suggested some fear the latest back-and-forth could pose a more serious obstacle.
"The new tariffs have caught the market off guard," said Quincy Krosby, ...

US stocks tumble on trade war fears, Dow ends -1.8%

The Palestinians are asking the European Union to pick up the mantle in defense of the two-state solution if the upcoming US peace plan ditches Palestinian statehood, their UN envoy said Tuesday.
President Donald Trump's administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month, but the Palestinians have already rejected it as heavily biased in favour of Israel.
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters that he urged European officials during recent meetings in Brussels to seize the initiative and not allow the United States to be the preeminent player in the Middle East peace process.
The Palestinians urged the EU to call for an international conference that would reaffirm the global consensus of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reject the US approach.
"We are engaging them," Mansour told reporters about his meetings with EU officials. "They have to act." "We would be extremely happy to show that there is more ...

Palestinians turn to EU to counter Kushner plan

An escalation in attacks on northwest Syria has displaced more than 150,000 people in the past week, the UN said on Tuesday, as the regime and Russia stepped up bombardment.
"We are alarmed by ongoing reports of aerial attacks on population centres and civilian infrastructure, resulting in hundreds of civilians dead and injured," said David Swanson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA.  "More than 152,000 women, children and men have been displaced in Aleppo and Idlib governorates over the past week alone," he told AFP.
The northwestern part of Syria controlled by jihadists is made up a large part of Idlib province, as well as adjacent parts of the Aleppo and Hama provinces.
The Idlib region has been protected from a massive regime offensive by a September deal inked by Damascus ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.
But the region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, a former .

More than 150,000 displaced in northwest Syria in one week: UN

Novak Djokovic needed just 65 minutes to make a winning start at the Madrid Open on Tuesday, hammering Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round.
The top seed and world number one broke three times as he schooled the American.
Djokovic won the Madrid title in 2011 and 2016. He will be chasing a fourth straight Grand Slam trophy at Roland Garros next month.
Third seed Roger Federer was making his clay return after two full seasons off the surface when he faced Frenchman Richard Gasquet later in the second round after a bye.
Unseeded treble Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka started his Madrid campaign with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert to move into the second round.
"It was a great first match. I've been good on the practice court, feeling really good, so it was important to start well today," Wawrinka said.
"I hope my game is going to click soon. I'm patient enough to know that sometimes it takes time," said the Swiss player, who underwent two knee surgeries in August .

Djokovic destroys Fritz in solid Madrid start

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The two diplomats, longtime allies on a number of issues including the Syrian conflict, will discuss "key issues of the international and regional agenda" as well as bilateral cooperation, the ministry said in a statement.
"Cooperation with Iran is an important condition of ensuring our country's national interests" and stability in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, it said.
Moscow has backed Iran since helping orchestrate the multi-country nuclear deal in 2015 under which Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
While Washington has pulled out from the nuclear deal, Russia argues that Tehran "remains a responsible participant", the ministry said.
The United States on Monday warned it would deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to the vicinity of Iran in response to "indications of a 

Russia's Lavrov to hold talks with Zarif on May 8

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday he regrets not intervening in the Brexit referendum, insisting the EU could have "destroyed the lies" that led to Britain voting to leave.
Juncker, who will step down in the autumn after completing his five-year term, said he made a mistake by listening to British leader David Cameron when he told him to stay out of the campaign before the June 2016 vote.
"The then prime minister asked me not to interfere, not to intervene in the referendum campaign. It was a mistake not to intervene and not to interfere, because we would have been the only ones to destroy the lies that were circulated round," Juncker said.
"I was wrong to be silent at an important moment." The former Luxembourg prime minister said it was one of two "major mistakes" he made during his mandate -- the other being his slow response to the LuxLeaks financial scandal at the start of his term.
Britain's bombshell vote -- by 52 per cent to 48 -- to leave the EU sent .

EU's Juncker laments not 'interfering' in Brexit campaign

Two Reuters journalists jailed for their reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar walked out of prison on Tuesday, freed in a presidential amnesty after a vigorous global campaign - and backroom diplomacy - for their release.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were mobbed by media as they stepped out of Yangon's notorious Insein prison after more than 16 months in detention.
Their December 2017 arrests made them an international cause celebre and a sign of Myanmar's deteriorating press freedoms under Nobel laureate and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Wa Lone, 33, thanked people from "around the world" for advocating for their release and vowed he would return to work.
"I can't wait to go to my newsroom," he said. "I am a journalist and I am going to continue." Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: "We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters".
"Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the ...

Myanmar frees two Reuters journalists after global outrage

Russian investigators were on Tuesday considering pilot error as the cause of a crash-landing that saw a plane erupt in flames at Moscow's busiest airport and kill 41 people, media reported.
The Sukhoi Superjet-100 had just flown out of Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday evening when it sent out an emergency signal and circled back, bouncing on the runway and catching fire.
Sources in the investigation told Kommersant newspaper the Aeroflot pilots made a number of errors including flying into a thunderstorm and landing with a full tank rather than circling to use up fuel.
Various sources told the business daily RBK the pilots opened a cockpit window, potentially fanning the flames, and failed to turn off engines immediately after landing.
Investigators are still examining the black boxes from the plane and have so far given no official reason for the crash.
Pilot Denis Yevdokimov earlier said the lightning strike shortly after take-off caused the aircraft to lose communication and forced .

Russia probes pilot error after deadly plane blaze

Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra warned Tuesday that the EU faces "the smouldering threat of implosion" as Britain and other key countries reject it.
"The bitter reality is that we have a Union in which part of the population, mainly in northwestern Europe, wants to leave," he said in a Berlin speech.
Hoekstra pointed out that Norway and Switzerland "aren't interested in joining" the bloc while Denmark and Sweden had rejected the euro common currency.
On Britain, he said that "now, in one of the most tragic chapters of the EU, the second most important economic power and single most important geopolitical power in Europe wants to leave the Union".
He warned those on the continent who look forward to "a future without the difficult British", saying that this view "shows a complete misunderstanding of who the winner is".
"This is not a victory for London, or for Berlin or Paris, let alone The Hague. This is a victory for Moscow and for Beijing."
He added that if the EU can't ...

AFP

AFP

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