Football Vinicius Junior alleged he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni during Real Madrid's win over Benfica on Tuesday; UEFA is investigating and Prestianni -

 

The Real Madrid winger scored the goal in his side's 1-0 win, after which he celebrated in front of the Benfica fans before he was allegedly abused by Prestianni.

Prestianni pulled his shirt over his mouth while confronting Vinicius but denies the allegation of racism.

Vinicius Junior racism claim - the key points...

Champions League game halted after after Vinicius allegedly racially abused by Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni.

Trent Alexander-Arnold called the incident “a disgrace to football”, while Kylian Mbappe said after the game that he and other Benfica players heard what Prestianni said to Vinicius.

Benfica boss Jose Mourinho has been criticised for suggesting Vinicius had provoked the abuse with his celebration. Kick It Out have since released a statement accusing the Portuguese boss of 'gaslighting'.

Vinicius responded to alleged abuse by saying “racists are cowards” in a statement.

Prestianni released his own statement saying he had not directed racist insults at Vinicius, who he said had “regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard”.

Benfica posted footage of the incident on X, also dismissing the allegations.

UEFA has confirmed that it is investigating allegations of discriminatory behaviour.

Benfica have reiterated their support to Prestianni and have claimed a 'defamation campaign' against him

Ex-HSBC banker dodged £5,900 in London train fares by using 'doughnutting' fraud

 Joseph Molloy, a former HSBC executive, exploited the scam over 740 times in 11 months, saving a total of £5,911 on Southeastern train fares, Inner London Crown Court heard

A “distinguished” London banker has been banned from using railway services after being caught fare dodging using a scam known as “doughnutting”.

Joseph Molloy, a former HSBC executive, purchased tickets between stations at the beginning and end of his journey, but did not pay for those in between.

This technique, which saved him thousands on train fares, allowed him to use ticket barriers whilst paying less than other customers, The Times reported.

Molloy exploited the scam over 740 times in 11 months, saving a total of £5,911 on Southeastern train fares, Inner London Crown Court heard.

The banking executive travelled from his £2 million home in Orpington, south London, to London Bridge station, and then on to his office in Canary Wharf.

The 53-year-old pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and appeared at court on Tuesday for sentencing

2026 Winter Olympics 2026: Team GB lose crunch men’s curling tie, Norway’s Frostad wins big air

 Norway continued their dominance at the top of the medal table with 14 golds, adding the Nordic combined and the men’s ski big air

France won the biathlon relay gold

Italy won the men’s team pursuit speed skating, while Canada won the women’s

Germany filled the podium for the two-man bob

The tussle is tight in the men’s team curling

Sweden are about to advance beyond Latvia in the men’s hockey qualifier, by the by.

go one, two, four in the standings, with Alysa Liu of the USA in third.

Chiba looks to be having a lot more fun out there than most, skating to Donna Summer rather than something super serious and operatic and vast like so many skaters, and has a cheerful expression on her face the whole time. She’s tiny, and flings herself around the ice, going for a double axel and a triple lutz, no deductions, and banking a 74. There’s a slight judge query on one of the elements.

So it’s an exceptional round for the Japanese team, but the story of it is Nakai Ami, the most junior member, who produced the only flawless performance, and did so with such style. Could she possibly back that up in the free skate? Is that wishful thinking?

Schizas, Safonova, Variakojyte, Feigin, and Spours are the five who’ll miss out on progressing to the free skate, which will be on Thursday.

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Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq end higher in volatile trading day as Apple jumps

 US stocks edged higher Tuesday in volatile trading as Wall Street continued assessing the AI jitters that have hammered markets in recent weeks.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) flipped into the green to end 0.1% higher, recovering from steep losses early in the session. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose just above the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was little changed.

Apple (AAPL) shares gained more than 3% over optimism that the iPhone maker is ramping up development of wearable devices with AI capabilities.

After a break for Presidents Day, AI concerns continued to simmer. Investors are on the lookout for the next potential victim after fresh worries about AI's ability to upend industries hit stocks in sectors from wealth management to transportation to logistics. The Dow and S&P 500 have fallen in four of the past five weeks amid that pressure.

This week, earnings season enters its final stretch. The week's highlight is Walmart's (WMT) quarterly report on Thursday, the first since the retail giant joined the trillion-dollar market cap club.

Elsewhere in corporates, Paramount Skydance (PSKY) stock rose over 5% on Tuesday following the news that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has given the studio one week to come back with a better offer. Warner Bros. rejected the latest bid from the

Apparent racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior overshadows Real Madrid’s win in Benfica

 Vinícius Júnior and his teammates appeared ready to walk off and the game was put on hold for 10 minutes after the Brazilian told the referee that he had been subject to racist abuse after scoring the goal that gives Real Madrid a 1-0 first-leg lead in their Champions League playoff against Benfica. Vinícius had celebrated the strike dancing in the corner of the Estádio da Luz and in the confrontations that followed, Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni said something to him while covering his mouth. Vinícius immediately ran to the referee, François Letexier, who stopped the match and crossed his arms to signal that he was doing so because of an accusation of racist abuse.

Both managers came on to the pitch and Vinícius spoke to José Mourinho to explain what had happened. Conversations and confrontations continued as Vinícius sat alone on the bench, but eventually they restarted with the Brazilian on the pitch. The noise that accompanied Benfica’s attempts to get back into it, and a red card for Mourinho as he protested a late foul on the edge of the Madrid area, were unable to eclipse the feeling that there was something empty, something sadder, about the occasion now, like this match no longer mattered. Its lasting legacy will not be about the football.

It had been different to the last time they had met, just 20 days ago. Mourinho had said that he began his analysis by watching back the last meeting, but soon turned off and threw his early prep in the bin. This Madrid is not that Madrid, he said, and that was quickly clear. Álvaro Arbeloa has settled on a structure that gives a more muscular presence in the middle, offering a solidity that simply wasn’t there three weeks ago. Benfica started brightly again, the noise rising as Rafa Silva was almost slipped in after just three minutes and there was a willingness to run through the middle from deep, particularly from Leandro Barreiro, but they would not find it so easy to tear into Madrid this

Return of Topshop hailed as major boost to city

 

The return of fashion brand Topshop to Essex could be a major boost to High Street shopping, a retail expert said.

A pop-up version of the retailer opened inside John Lewis in Chelmsford on Tuesday.

Topshop was a household name until it closed in 2021, but 32 outlets are due to become available again across the UK in February.

Sara Tupper, chief executive of city business group Chelmsford For You, said: "It brings back a popular fashion name to physical retail and attracts new and younger shoppers."

The Topshop chain disappeared following the collapse of Sir Philip Green's retail empire, Arcadia Group.

Perhaps its most iconic venue was the three-storey shop at 214 Oxford Street, which had its own nail bar, food stalls and DJs.

The retailer continued to sell online via Asos after its in-person shops collapsed, before announcing its return in September.

Tupper said: "Not only can this increase footfall from locals and visitors, but most importantly it signals confidence in bricks-and-mortar shopping, making the city more vibrant and economically resilient."

Police identify suspect in Rhode Island ice rink shooting

 Police have identified the suspect in a shooting at a high school ice hockey game in Rhode Island that killed two people and injured three others.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said Robert Dorgan, who also used the name Roberta and the surname Esposito, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the Dennis M Lynch Arena on Sunday.

"It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute," Goncalves said. She did not provide details about the identity of the victims.

Video of the incident showed shots were fired while players were on the rink, sparking panic as the teams scrambled to leave the arena.

Goncalves said a bystander "stepped in and interjected" and "that's probably what led to a swift end of this tragic event".

After the incident, hockey players and their families described their fear after gunfire broke out.

Melissa Dunn, whose son played for one of the hockey teams, said she saw paramedics performing CPR in the stands of the arena after she ran back inside to find her son.

"You don't know what's going on at first," Dunn said. "You just hear the loud noises. And we're used to the kids banging on the board with their skates, so we thought it was that at first."

She said she screamed for her son to duck and avoid gunfire.

"We ran out of the rink… your first thought is 'where's my kid?'" she said. "I tried to get back in the rink, and I actually got back in there to find out where he was, and I saw them doing CPR in the stands and it was just really disturbing."