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Real Madrid hopeful on Benzema recovery ahead of first leg against PSG
AFP
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday he is optimistic Karim Benzema can recover in time to play against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Last 16 first leg match on Tuesday.
Benzema’s absence would be a huge blow to Real Madrid, given the Frenchman has scored 27 goals in 33 games for them so far this season.
He has missed Madrid’s last two matches with a hamstring injury and will also sit out Saturday’s visit to Villarreal in La Liga.
Ancelotti said the 34-year-old is still training alone and is expected to resume work with the team on either Sunday or Monday, ahead of the crunch first leg in Paris.
“What we have are good feelings,” said Ancelotti in a press conference on Friday.
“He continues to work individually.
“We have to wait for him to start training with the team and he will do that on Sunday or Monday, then we will make the decision.
“So far I can’t say anything but the feelings of everyone — his, mine and those of the doctors — are good.”
Ancelotti said he would not push Benzema back before he is ready.
“Risk does not exist. If we think that Karim can play, he will play safely. If there is even a minimal risk, he will not play,” Ancelotti said.
Madrid sit six points clear of Sevilla at the top of La Liga but this weekend face a resurgent Villarreal side, whose six wins in their last eight league games have propelled them back into contention for the top four.
Ancelotti said Ferland Mendy will not be available but should be back in time to play against PSG.
He added that Gareth Bale, who has not featured for Madrid since August, has impressed in training.
“My personal relationship with Bale is very good,” Ancelotti said.
“Recently he has struggled a bit to be at his best physically but in the last few days I’ve seen a player training with intensity. From what I have seen, he is ready to play.”
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Trump files $15 billion defamation suit against The New York Times
U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times, which denounced the legal move on Tuesday as an attempt to silence the press.
In this new stage of his presidency, the 79-year-old Republican leader has escalated his long-standing hostility toward traditional media, repeatedly attacking critical journalists, limiting their access, or taking them to court.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Florida, seeks $15 billion in damages, along with additional punitive compensation “in an amount to be determined at trial.”
The New York Times had reported last week that Trump threatened legal action over articles concerning a birthday letter allegedly sent by him to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The letter featured a typed message inside the outline of a nude woman. Trump denies that the accompanying signature is his.
“For too long, The New York Times has been allowed to lie, defame, and slander me freely — and that ends NOW!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
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Maduro warns Venezuela would enter armed struggle if attacked by foreign forces
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated on Friday that if his country were attacked, it would enter a phase of armed struggle, amid his claims of “threats” from the United States, which is conducting a military deployment in Caribbean waters near Venezuela’s coast under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
Maduro emphasized that Venezuela is currently in the non-armed phase, which he described as political, communicational, and institutional, but added that if the country were somehow aggressed, it would move to a planned, organized armed struggle involving the entire population, whether the threat is local, regional, or national.
“We would enter a stage of armed struggle, in defense of peace, territorial integrity, sovereignty, and our people,” Maduro said during an event activating citizen militias, broadcast on state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).
He also noted that Venezuela is currently in a phase of readiness and preparation to defend the country and will proceed to the deployment of defensive capacities, including training and retraining of the entire Venezuelan population.
Maduro described the Venezuelan people as pacifist yet warrior-like, asserting that “no one will enslave us, neither today nor ever.”
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USCIS gains law enforcement powers: Agents now authorized to investigate and arrest immigration violators
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), traditionally responsible for handling naturalizations, visas, residence permits, and work authorizations, is now expanding its role to include law enforcement powers, according to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Under the new directive, specially designated USCIS agents are now authorized to investigate, arrest, and bring to justice individuals who violate U.S. immigration laws. Previously, USCIS primarily managed administrative and bureaucratic processes, while enforcement responsibilities were handled by agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Illegal immigration has been a central issue under President Donald Trump’s administration, with DHS reporting that over 300,000 migrants have been arrested in the first six months of his presidency. However, the number of people who have crossed U.S. borders illegally in recent years remains controversial, with experts estimating between 8 to 10 million individuals.
The policy shift also comes amid heightened legal battles over immigration enforcement. Recently, a federal judge blocked the deportation of minors to Guatemala, who were moments away from boarding a flight. Trump’s aggressive measures, including large-scale raids in cities like Los Angeles, have faced multiple judicial challenges, some upheld and others overturned at various federal levels, including the Supreme Court.
According to the DHS statement, the expanded authority allows USCIS to “manage investigations from start to finish rather than referring cases to ICE,” aiming to reduce backlogs and combat fraud within the immigration system.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow will have the power to appoint and train special agents under the order signed by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, ensuring that the agency can effectively execute its newly granted enforcement responsibilities.
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