Manchester City grab dramatic Premier League title win
Manchester United missed out on the Premier League title despite victory at Sunderland after arch-rivals Manchester City beat Queens Park Rangers.
Wayne Rooney's first-half goal put United in charge and it looked like it would seal a 20th league crown as news filtered through that City were losing 2-1 to 10-man QPR.
But, with United fans in celebratory mood as it appeared their team might snatch glory, they faced an anxious wait as City equalised in stoppage time.
Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.
It was a fitting end to a race that has fluctuated between both teams in the most dramatic circumstances.
United were made to pay for letting an eight-point lead as little as five weeks ago slip and, despite their final-day efforts, they will look back on a season where, when they needed to step up, they fell flat.
Two defeats in five games coming into this contest, and a draw with Everton, ultimately cost Sir Alex Ferguson's side in what became the most extraordinary finale to the league championship since Arsenal beat Liverpool at Anfield in 1989.
United were value for their win and Rooney could have had a hat-trick before half-time, with Paul Scholes also striking the post in the second half.
Rooney and his team-mates started ponderously, as if sensing the enormity of the occasion, but once Scholes began to link with Ryan Giggs in the middle of the park, the visitors increased the tempo with Sunderland struggling to keep up.
The Black Cats contributed to their own downfall for the only goal when Titus Bramble, making his first appearance since Boxing Day, and Michael Turner, let Phil Jones' cross bounce across the six-yard box as Rooney tucked in at the back post.
The United striker could have doubled his tally when his free-kick struck the bar from 20 yards, and he should have converted when Ashley Young fired towards goal from Antonio Valencia's cross.
Former United striker Fraizer Campbell volleyed a great chance wide from 12 yards after Stephane Sessegnon's clever chip, but United were largely in control by the break.
The home supporters were growing frustrated by several free-kicks awarded to United, and they wasted little time in mocking the 2,600 visiting fans when City took the lead against QPR, but Ferguson's team were quicker to the ball and using their five-man midfield to better effect.
And from another clever exchange, Rooney was again denied when Simon Mignolet stopped his fierce strike just after the break.
The United fans were given a huge boost when news filtered through of QPR's equaliser at Etihad Stadium, but it was Sunderland who were lifted as they appealed for a penalty when Sessegnon was brought down in the penalty box.
The contest was a lot more even in the second half, as the wind swirled around the Stadium of Light, but it took Craig Gardner's superb block to prevent Young getting on the scoresheet.
After the hour mark, events in Manchester were almost becoming a distraction such was the thunderous cheer from the United fans to greet QPR taking their unlikely lead against City.
At that stage, Ferguson's side were on course to be champions, and they almost went 2-0 up when Scholes hit the post, with Mignolet saving from Giggs after a quick break.
But as United saw the game out, little did they know that, having looked likely to win their 13th Premier League title, it was City who turned the table to snatch glory from their arch-rivals' grasp.
Miami's LeBron James named MVP winner again
Miami Heat forward LeBron James was named on Saturday as the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player for the 2011-12 season, cementing his place among the game's greatest players. It was the third time in four years that "King" James has won the game's most prestigious individual award, elevating him alongside the sport's biggest names.
Only seven other players - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone - have won the trophy at least three times.
Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for six MVP wins, one ahead of Jordan and Russell but James, still just 27 years old, has plenty of time on his side.
"I never dreamt about being an NBA Most Valuable Player," an emotional James said in a presentation in Miami broadcast live on national television.
"I never dreamt about doing the things that I do now at a high level.
"Now that it's in me now, and it's happening, it's overwhelming."
FIRST-PLACE VOTES
James, who twice won the award with the Cleveland Cavaliers before moving to Miami last season, averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists during the 2011-12 regular season, which was shortened to 66 games because of a labor dispute.
He totaled 1,074 points, including 85 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 voters that decided the award.
"We do not take LeBron James for granted, not here in this organization," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
"He's as committed as ever... and we all respond to his energy on the court."
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, the leading scorer for the third season in a row, finished second in the vote, followed by Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers and Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chicago's Derrick Rose, who won the MVP award last year, finished 11th in the voting after missing more than a third of the season because of injury.
James, despite his individual success, has yet to win an NBA title, but has perhaps his best chance this season with Miami.
JAMES OVERWHELMED
"This is very overwhelming to me as an individual award," James said.
"But this is not the award I want, ultimately. I want that championship. That's all that matters to me."
The Heat, who finished runners-up to Dallas last year after James left Cleveland to link up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, cruised through the opening round of the playoffs.
They now face the Indiana Pacers in a best-of-seven series, starting in Florida on Sunday, for a place in the Eastern Conference final.
James is sure to feature in the star-studded United States team at this year's London Olympics after being a member of the team that won the gold medal in Beijing four years ago.
Roger Federer beats Tomas Berdych to win Madrid Open
Roger Federer came back from one set down to beat Tomas Berdych and win the Madrid Open 3-6 7-5 7-5.
"It was a tough tournament and a brutal draw. Tomas played very well," said Federer who now replaces Rafael Nadal as world number two.
"I'm sure we will see each other many more times and they will be quality matches like this one."
Berdych had beaten Federer twice this year, but the Swiss got his own back on Madrid's controversial blue courts .
It's the 11th time Federer has beaten Berdych, the world number six.
Berdych broke his opponent in the second game and went on to win a close first set.
Federer replied with two breaks in the second set to level the match.
The Czech produced a couple of double faults as Federer took a 5-3 lead in the third.
The 16 times grand slam champion let Berdych back in but at 6-5 he converted his fourth match point to claim the title.
Berdych said: "I want to congratulate Roger. He showed that he is really the star."
It was Federer's first game in 44 days and he had already been beaten twice by Berdych this year.
The win, his third Madrid title and the 20th Masters tournament of his career, also earned Federer a framed Men In Black suit from actor Will Smith.
Serena Williams beats Victoria Azarenka to win Madrid Open
Serena Williams beat world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 to win the Madrid Open for the first time.
It was Williams' first appearance in Europe this season and the world number six and ninth seed dominated the Belarussian over two sets.
It took the American just over an hour to win the match and confirmed her as the player in form ahead of the French Open which starts on 27 May.
Williams hit a series of winners to take her 41st WTA singles title.
It is the eighth time the pair have met, with Williams winning on seven occasions.
Azarenka's only victory over Williams came in the final of the 2009 Miami tournament, but she came nowhere near the American on Sunday, with Williams superior in every department.
The Madrid Open is the second consecutive WTA clay tournament for Williams, coming a month after she won in Charleston.
Michael Schumacher penalised for Bruno Senna clash
Michael Schumacher has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Monaco after a collision with Bruno Senna in Spain.
The seven-time champion's Mercedes ran into the back of Senna's Williams, taking both out of the race.
The race stewards decided Schumacher had caused a collision that took Senna out of the race.
Schumacher had initially claimed that the incident was the Brazilian's fault for moving in the braking zone.
If you look at the overhead shot you can see he moves right to defend his position and then in the braking point he moves left," Schumacher said. "And I couldn't avoid him.
"It's in the braking phase. I'm very much annoyed about that. In Brazil (last year there was) a strange manoeuvre from him, and just before (in this race) he had an incident with (Lotus driver Romain) Grosjean. I don't know what happened there."
Senna, who had had a minor brush with Grosjean the lap before the crash with Schumacher, said: "He's not going to say it's his own fault.
"He had much newer tyres than me. I guess our braking points are quite different then. I saw Romain Grosjean braking quite late and hitting me. I didn't want Michael to do the same. When I tried to brake he hit me.
"I had old tyres - of course his braking point was going to be much later than mine.
"I wasn't going to resist too much, I left him just enough room to the inside.
"I moved a bit left because I thought he was going to the inside. I never thought he'd go to the outside."
The incident and penalty will pile more pressure on Schumacher, who in the third year of his comeback to the sport has had the worst start to a season in his career.
Yahoo chief executive Scott Thompson steps down
The chief executive of computer firm Yahoo has stepped down, amid accusations that a fake computer science degree was included on his CV.
The California-based company confirmed media reports that Scott Thompson had quit his post.
He has been replaced by Yahoo's global media head Ross Levinsohn.
The firm is also reportedly close to agreeing a truce with activist shareholder Daniel Loeb, who discovered Mr Thompson's mistake.
Mr Loeb, a hedge fund manager who lobbied for Mr Thompson's dismissal, is set to be appointed a company director.
Other new directors will also be appointed and Yahoo has named Fred Amoroso as the new chairman of its board.
Cost cutting
Yahoo has already acknowledged that Mr Thompson, who took up his post in January, does not have a computer science degree.
Just last month, the company, which is based in Sunnyvale, announced plans to make 2,000 employees redundant.
Mr Thompson had previously been the president of online payments firm Paypal since 2008.
He took over as chief executive from Tim Morse, who had held the role on an interim basis since Carol Bartz was sacked in September 2011 after two-and-a-half years in the post.
Since Mr Thompson joined Yahoo, he had been attempting to cut the firm's costs and improve its fortunes.
Part of this involved cutting 2,000 jobs, or 14% of the company's workforce, in a bid to save $375m(£233m) a year.
Besides its search engine, Yahoo's key products include the photo sharing site Flickr and its webmail platform.
China, S Korea and Japan to begin free trade talks
The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, three of Asia's biggest economies, have agreed to begin talks this year for a free-trade agreement.
The three leaders also signed a trilateral investment agreement, at a summit in Beijing on Sunday.
China is the biggest trading partner of both Japan and South Korea.
As with other free-trade agreements between countries, this one could still face long negotiations and trade barriers.
Trade boost
"The establishment of a free-trade area will unleash the economic vitality of our region and give a strong boost to economic integration in East Asia," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
He also said the pact would help the nations at a time of rising trade protectionism.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said economic co-operation was essential to maintaining the Asia-Pacific region as the growth centre of the world economy.
Trade between the three countries reached $690bn in 2011, up from only $130bn in 1999, according to a Chinese government report.
Political tensions
The leaders also agreed on Sunday to work together to ease regional disputes and tensions, specifically on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea conducted a failed rocket launch last month and there are fears it is preparing another nuclear test.
South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak said the nations would not accept "further nuclear tests or further provocation" from North Korea.
"What is most urgent (for us) now is to make all-out efforts to prevent the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula," Mr Wen Jiabao said at a joint news conference.
JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon admits failures
The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, says he was "dead wrong" in April to dismiss concerns over the bank's trading practices.
At the time he played down concerns over bets the bank made on the markets.
On Thursday JPMorgan said it had lost $2bn (£1.2bn) on trading activities in just six weeks, and said there could be further losses to come.
In a US television interview, Mr Dimon said he did not know the full extent of the problem in April.
Back then he described the concerns as a "tempest in a teapot".
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press Mister Dimon said: "We made a terrible, egregious mistake, there's almost no excuse for it."
The bank's shares plunged by almost 10% on Friday, wiping $14bn from its value.
The losses have prompted US politicians to call for tighter financial regulation.
'Bad judgement'
The company said the losses resulted from a strategy of hedging that was supposed to protect the bank from risk.
But critics disputed his claims, alleging that such losses were more likely to have come from risky bets.
On Thursday, Mr Dimon, who serves both as chief executive and chairman of JPMorgan, blamed the losses on "errors, sloppiness and bad judgement" and warned "it could get worse".
The trading loss was revealed in a regulatory filing, and will dent the company's profits, although it still expects to make about $4bn this quarter.
Analysts say the firm is still in better health than many of its competitors, and the losses incurred should be manageable.
The trading was carried out by a small unit based in London.
Media reports have focused on a single trader, Frenchman Bruno Michel Iksil, nicknamed the London Whale, who reportedly made big bets on the financial markets as part of a hedging strategy.
But insiders have dismissed claims that he was a "rogue trader", saying it was the wider strategy that was at fault.
US regulators have said they are taking notice of the developments, but no inquiry has yet been officially announced.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble eyes EU role
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has indicated interest in becoming chairman of the eurozone finance ministers' regular meetings.
It is a key position that involves coordinating policy among the 17 countries that use the euro.
Known as the Eurogroup, it holds its next meeting on Monday.
In an interview with a German newspapers Mister Schaeuble said he could not exclude the possibility of being its next chairman.
The post will probably become vacant in June as the current chairman, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker is unlikely to seek another term.
The Eurogroup also includes the head of the European Central Bank and the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs.
In the interview in the German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, Mr Schaeuble said: "As German finance minister I already have to be strongly involved.
"So that is why I do not say that I will under no circumstance take on the chairmanship.
"And I also haven't heard my colleagues saying: 'Dear god, please not Schaeuble.' So that is also not bad.
"But for now let's wait and see."
The Eurogroup played a key role in coordinating Europe's response to the financial meltdowns in Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
On Monday Greece is again likely to be under discussion as politicians there are struggling to form a government.
It will also be an opportunity for finance ministers to discuss Spain's efforts to restore confidence in its finances.
Earlier on Sunday Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy defended his government's austerity measures as "necessary", but tens of thousands of Spaniards joined protests on Saturday against the austerity drive.
China allows banks to lend more in bid to boost economy
China has cut the amount of funds banks have to hold in a reserve, in a bid to boost its economy.
It is the third time the central bank has made such a move in six months.
It follows recent economic data suggesting that the Chinese economy is slowing down. In April industrial output growth slowed to 9.3% - the slowest rate since 2009.
The People's Bank of China says banks will have to hold half a percentage point less in reserve.
For the nation's biggest lenders it means they will have to hold 20% of their assets in cash reserves.
The move should free up banks to lend billions of yuan.
China's economy has been slowing for more than a year. In the first quarter of 2012 it grew 8.1% compared with 8.9% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Meanwhile, China has agreed to launch negotiations for a free trade pact with Japan and South Korea.
The agreement came at a summit in Beijing.
China is already the most important trading partner for Japan and South Korea.