R&B singer R Kelly has denied allegations that he is holding several young women in an “abusive cult”. The singer’s lawyer said he would work “diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name”. A BuzzFeed report accuses the singer of brainwashing women, who got closer to him in an effort to boost their musical careers. Kelly has ...

The “heartbroken” American fiancé of an Australian shot dead by a US police officer has said they have received almost no information from officials. Don Damond said his wife-to-be, Justine Damond, was gunned down after calling police to report a possible sexual assault in their quiet neighbourhood. He said they were “desperate” to find out how Saturday’s shooting in Minneapolis, ...

Two more Republican senators say they oppose their party’s replacement for President Obama’s health reforms, leaving leaders short of a majority. Mike Lee and Jerry Moran both announced they could not support the bill in its current form. Republicans hold 52 seats in the 100-member Senate, and with two other Republicans already against the bill they could not afford more ...

Barcelona on Monday announced record income of €708 million for 2016/2017 with an after-tax profit of €18 million. The Spanish giants said the healthy revenue was up €13m on the forecast figure in their budget for the period. A statement following the approval of the accounts at a board meeting disclosed the club has reduced its debt by €24.5m to ...

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva looks set to join Lazio after the Serie A club on Monday posted a picture of the Brazilian having a medical on their official Twitter account. British media said Liverpool had accepted a bid of £5 million for Lucas, who was pictured on Sunday holding a Lazio scarf at an airport where he was mobbed by ...

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez should be left alone to decide his future, captain Per Mertesacker has said, as speculation continues to swirl about the Chilean’s plans.Sanchez, who was the North London side’s top scorer last season with 24 league goals in 38 matches, is entering the final year of his contract and is yet to sign a new deal. “He ...

Game of Thrones has returned for its seventh season – and the critics are generally quite happy about it. “It was a thrill to have the show back and it looked more stunning than ever,” wrote The Independent‘s reviewer. “By the end of the episode it is clear that the stage is now set for a war of truly epic ...

The United Arab Emirates has denied it was behind the alleged hacking of Qatar’s state news agency in May. The Washington Post cited US intelligence officials as saying the UAE had orchestrated the posting of incendiary quotes attributed to Qatar’s emir that he insisted were fabricated. The incident helped spark a diplomatic rift between Qatar and its neighbours. Qatar said ...

  Zambia U-17 Men’s Football National Team coach Numba Mumamba has unveiled his final 20-member squad for the 2017 Cosafa Castle Cup. The team underwent MRI tests over the weekend with the technical bench picking their final squad thereafter. Zambia’s first U-17 assignment is the Cosafa Championship in Mauritius where they are drawn in Group B alongside South Africa, Mozambique ...

Russia is pressing demands that the US give it access to two diplomatic compounds seized in the US last year. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was unacceptable to set preconditions for returning the properties. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the move as “daylight robbery”. In December the US expelled 35 Russian diplomats and shut the compounds over suspicions of ...