Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 49th and 50th goals in all competitions this season as Real Madrid won 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while Barcelona didn't need Lionel Messi to brush aside Real Zaragoza 3-0 and ease closer to the Spanish league title.
Ronaldo opened with a dipping free kick two minutes in and scored again in the 69th, before passing for Gonzalo Higuain to net a third in the 76th.
Full Story
AC Milan and Napoli played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at San Siro in a battle for an automatic Champions League spot on Sunday.
It was a mixed night for Mathieu Flamini, who fired Milan into the lead in the 30th minute but was sent off 18 minutes from time.
Full Story
American John Isner beat Argentina's Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship on Sunday.
Isner won his first tournament of the year and the sixth of his career. He had seven aces in the match — including two at more than 140 mph in the 10th game to hold serve — and a record 64 for the tournament.
Full Story
Bahrain's government has backed proposals to impose penalties of up five years in prison for insulting the Gulf state's king or its national symbols, the media said Monday. It's the latest move across the region against dissent on the streets and online.
Gulf leaders have sharply escalated efforts to muzzle criticism since the Arab Spring uprisings, which include more than two years of clashes between Sunni-led authorities and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice.
Full Story
A Syrian human rights group has said that a key military unit loyal to President Bashar Assad is running secret prisons holding hundreds of suspected regime opponents.
The Syria-based Violations Documentation Center said in a report Monday that the regime's 4th Division runs detention centers in its bases in and around Damascus.
Full Story
With a cast of superheroes and villains, "The Avengers" beat out its competitors to become the big winner at the MTV Movie Awards.
The action romp won three awards Sunday, including the top prize, movie of the year.
Full Story
Here's a list "Fifty Shades of Grey" was destined to make: The books most likely to be removed from school and library shelves in the U.S.
On Monday, E L James' multimillion selling erotic trilogy placed No. 4 on the American Library Association's annual study of "challenged books," works subject to complaints from parents, educators and other members of the public. The objections: Offensive language, and, of course, graphic sexual content.
Full Story
Indonesian investigators on Sunday began working to determine what caused a new Lion Air passenger jet to miss a runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 on board.
The National Transportation Safety Committee is examining the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 that snapped in half before coming to a stop in shallow water near Bali's airport on Saturday, said Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan.
Full Story
Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad resigned on Saturday, leaving the Palestinians without one of their most moderate and well-respected voices just as the U.S. is launching a new push for Mideast peace.
A statement from the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said President Mahmoud Abbas met with Fayyad late in the day and accepted his resignation, thanking him for his service. According to the statement, Abbas asked Fayyad to continue to serve in his post until Abbas forms a new government.
Full Story
China, the world's largest producer of carbon dioxide, is directly feeling the man-made heat of global warming, scientists conclude in the first study to link the burning of fossil fuels to one country's rise in its daily temperature spikes.
China emits more of the greenhouse gas than the next two biggest carbon polluters — the U.S. and India — combined. And its emissions keep soaring by about 10 percent per year.
Full Story


