Tottenham 3 Manchester United 0: Louis Van Gaal claimed Tottenham will never be as a big a club as Manchester United as he branded a reporter “pathetic” for suggesting he might regret rejecting the chance to become manager of the north London club before taking charge at Old Trafford.

The best of what’s hitting Irish cinemas this week.

A teenager facing trial after a "savage" attack on a Chinese national in Dublin said: "I don't want my Ma watching that" before CCTV footage was played. His mother was in tears by the end of the clip.

Irish writer Emma Donoghue tells Helen Barlow how her hit film about incarceration was more inspired by her own experiences of motherhood than the Fritzl case

The richest people got richer in 2014, adding $92bn (€75.6bn) to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and the geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Is This the End of China’s Economic Miracle?

Chelsea 2 WBA 0

Chinese censors have blocked access to several popular websites as they target content delivery networks that serve much of the internet, according to a US internet service company.

Taiwan, an island that China's ruling Communist Party has long sought to bring into its fold under the same "one country, two systems" arrangement it has for Hong Kong, has thrown its support behind Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

Alibaba Group Holding, the e-commerce company started in 1999 with $60,000 by Jack Ma, yesterday cemented its status as a symbol of China’s economic emergence by raising $21.8bn (€16.9bn) in a US initial public offering.

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce powerhouse named after a fabled, poor woodsman who discovers a thieves’ den full of treasures, is ready to strike it rich on Wall Street.

Rescuers have found scores of survivors as they dug through homes shattered by an earthquake in southern China that killed at least 398 people and injured more than 1,800.

Manchester United 2 Wigan Athletic 0

Apple is investigating an accident in which a Chinese woman was killed by an electric shock when answering a call on her iPhone 5 while it was charging, the US technology company said.

The yawning gulf between China’s rich and poor has been officially revealed as the Government says it urgently needs to narrow the politically explosive gap.

China made badminton headlines for the right reasons as Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei produced a world-class performance to claim Olympic gold at Wembley Arena.

China's state-controlled Catholic church is investigating the ordination of a bishop who announced he was quitting the government body.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou won a close re-election fight today, leveraging his message of greater prosperity through expanded ties with China to beat his populist-minded opponent.

Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou has formally registered his re-election bid as his once-sweeping popular support is slipping as January 14 election draws near.

The chief executive of Chinese internet company Alibaba Group Holding says he would be “very interested” in buying Yahoo.

Algeria has said it is ready to recognise Libya's former rebels when they form a broad-based government, and insists it has not offered an escape route to Muammar Gaddafi.

A typhoon has flooded homes, roads and farmland in Taiwan, bringing more than 20 inches of rain.

Inventor Tom Pellereau was tonight crowned the winner of this year’s UK Apprentice after Alan Sugar followed his “gut feeling” to invest in him.

'Apprentice' hopeful Natasha Scribbins said “adios” to a place in the final after her team’s Mexican restaurant failed to whet Lord Sugar’s appetite.

They wanted for nothing, but now the girlfriend and daughter of mobster capo and killer Greg Scarpa are struggling to come to terms with a less pampered and more isolated life, Nancy Hass reports

Optical tycoon Gavin Winstanley has become the latest contestant to get the push from BBC1’s 'The Apprentice' – and he admitted he did not see it coming.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will bid for a second term in next year’s election, riding on a strong economic recovery and markedly improved ties with rival China.

Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou expressed his frustration today after an unusually public test firing of 19 surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles became a national embarrassment.

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou called on China to improve its human rights record while congratulating Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for winning the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

‘JUST One Day To Change Your Life’ screamed the poster. For just €125 and six and a half hours of your time, Apprentice star Bill Cullen would let you in on all the tips needed to achieve all your goals and make loads of cash.

TWO Irish authors are among the 13 to have made the “Man Booker dozen” longlist out of a total of 138 books.

China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact today that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war.

A Chinese college professor was jailed for nearly four years today for running a swingers club and holding private orgies.

US President Barack Obama welcomed leaders of 47 countries to a Washington summit on nuclear security today and delivered a stark warning about the dangers of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands.

China agreed to work with the United States on a possible sanctions regime against Iran and Ukraine announced it would give up its weapons-grade enriched uranium as a US-hosted nuclear summit got under way today.

CHINA protested US president Barack Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama in strong terms yesterday, saying it “seriously harms” bilateral relations and demanding the US take steps to improve ties.

China urged the United States today to immediately cancel plans for President Barack Obama to meet with the Dalai Lama next week, warning the move could further hurt ties.

Beijing issued a stinging response to Hillary Clinton’s criticism that it is jamming the free flow of words and ideas on the internet.

CHINA’S economy has moved back to double digit growth of 10.7% in the last quarter of 2009.

Wolves 0 Wigan 2

The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 – plus tax.