With his annexation of Crimea, will Vladimir Putin now turn Russian eyes on other targets? Nina Khrushcheva reports

The EU leaders have much to ponder as the crisis increases, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

Defending champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova both crashed out on a day of shocks at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

A dejected Roger Federer conceded he was well beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the Frenchman kept alive hopes of a home victory at Roland Garros.

Serena Williams is expecting a tough battle against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals of the French Open – and history indicates she will be right.

Rafael Benitez has admitted he is "lucky" to be managing Chelsea.

Gardaí are preparing to send a file to the DPP after questioning 10 Travellers who took over a main road for a sulky race.

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Tottenham 0 Real Madrid 1 (agg 0-5)

Kim Clijsters completed the quarter-final line-up at the Australian Open although she was made to struggle by Ekaterina Makarova.

Vera Zvonareva believes the experience she gained from last year’s grand slam final appearances came to the fore as she squeezed past Lucie Safarova at the Australian Open today.

ANDREY ARSHAVIN maintains Arsenal must improve as a defensive unit — and until that happens, Arsene Wenger’s men just have to score more than they let in.

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Andrey Arshavin has warned Blackburn that Arsenal will have some unfinished business at Ewood Park on Saturday.

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the State-controlled gas monopoly to cut gas supplies to ex-Soviet neighbour Belarus over its debt for Russian natural gas supplies.

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Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin has revealed he expects to miss the Champions League tie with Porto because of a hamstring injury.

Nikolay Davydenko won the biggest title of his career with a 6-3 6-4 victory over US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena this afternoon.

WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev shrugged off David Haye’s trash talk as the pair came face to face today, warning: “We’ll see what you can do on Saturday.”

Andy Roddick despatched Russian Igor Kunitsyn in four sets at Wimbledon today to set up a third-round clash with Jurgen Melzer.

Dinara Safina’s quest to win her first Wimbledon title may yet be scuppered by a knee problem encountered during her first-round victory over Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain.

Andy Murray completed a battling second-set comeback to see off eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko and seal a place in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters.

FORMER Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri returns to Stamford Bridge insisting he has no ill feelings about the way he was axed by Roman Abramovich.

Evander Holyfield failed narrowly to become the oldest heavyweight champion of all time as Nikolai Valuev clinched a close majority decision in Switzerland.

Serbian world number three Novak Djokovic downed Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 7-5 today to win the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai.

World number three Novak Djokovic qualified for the semi-finals of the Masters Cup after maintaining his 100% record with a below-par 7-6 (7-3) 0-6 7-5 victory over Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in Shanghai today.

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Thousands of Venezuelans protested in the capital Caracas to demand the Supreme Court overturn a “blacklist” blocking key opponents of President Hugo Chavez from running in elections.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC may have heralded a major turning point in men’s tennis after dismissing word number one Roger Federer in straight sets in the Australian Open semi-final in the early hours yesterday morning.

Maria Sharapova is determined to put the nightmare of last year’s Australian Open final firmly behind her when she faces Ana Ivanovic tomorrow.

Two UN inspectors have arrived in Iran to visit its uranium enrichment plant, the authorities said today as Western governments and experts expressed dismay and scepticism over Iran’s announcement that it is now enriching uranium in industrial quantities.

Top seed Maria Sharapova will be out to win back-to-back grand slam titles when she steps out onto the Rod Laver Arena to lock horns with Serena Williams in the Australian Open final on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in India today, hoping to use the two nations’ decades-long friendship to push for deals in civilian nuclear co-operation, military hardware and trade expansion between the booming economies.

Republic of Georgia authorities, helped by the CIA, set up a sting operation that led to the arrest of Russian who tried to sell nuclear-bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket, a government minister revealed today.

An Italian security expert today confirmed he met with a former Russian spy in London before the outspoken critic of the Kremlin was taken seriously ill with what British police and doctors suspect is poisoning by a toxic metal.

Nikolay Davydenko staged a stunning fightback from two sets down to defeat Tommy Haas and go through to the semi-finals of the US Open.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov today threatened retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space, according to Russian news agencies.

Defending champion Andy Roddick powered down the fastest serve in US Open history – 152 miles per hour – as he cruised past 17-year-old Scoville Jenkins 6-0 6-2 6-2.

Top seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany broke a two-year drought when he captured the Japan Open with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean of France in today's final.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said today that Moscow was still weighing how to vote on a British compromise proposal on disarming Iraq.

Reigning champion Venus Williams looked in ominous form in today’s opening quarter-final of the women’s singles, which began after rain had delayed play.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, tonight marked a decade since the demise of the USSR by launching a stinging attack on his successor, Boris Yeltsin.

Anna Kournikova found Lindsay Davenport too hot to handle in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.