Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greeted supporters in Oslo after missing the ceremony to award her the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado has spent more than a year in hiding, and has backed sanctions and US military intervention against the government.
Bolivian law enforcement officials have arrested former President Luis Arce as part of a corruption investigation, in a polarising move just a month after the inauguration of conservative President Rodrigo Paz ended 20 years of socialist rule.
A senior official in Paz’s government, Marco Antonio Oviedo, said on Wednesday that Arce had been arrested on charges of breach of duty and financial misconduct related to the alleged embezzlement of public funds during his stint as economy minister in the government of charismatic former leader Evo Morales (2006-2019).
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A special police force dedicated to fighting corruption confirmed to The Associated Press news agency that Arce was in custody at the unit’s headquarters in Bolivia’s capital of La Paz.
“It is the decision of this government to fight corruption, and we will arrest all those responsible for this massive embezzlement,” Oviedo said.
While officials described Arce’s arrest as proof of the new government’s commitment to fighting corruption at the highest levels in fulfilment of its flagship campaign promise, Arce’s allies say his arrest is unjustified and smacks of political persecution.
Authorities accused Arce and other officials of diverting an estimated $700m from a state-run fund dedicated to supporting the Indigenous people and peasant farmers who formed the backbone of Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism party.
As Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, Morales transformed the country’s power structure and gave Indigenous people more sway than ever.
Serving on the board of directors of the Indigenous Peasant Development Fund from 2006 to 2017, Arce was in charge of allocating funds to social development projects in rural areas.
During that time, officials allege Arce siphoned off some of that money for personal expenses.
“Arce was identified as the main person responsible for this vast economic damage,” said Oviedo.
Bolivia’s attorney general, Roger Mariaca, told local media that Arce had invoked his right to remain silent during police questioning, adding that he would remain in police custody overnight before being brought before a judge to determine whether he will remain in prison pending trial.
Tennis great Billie Jean King says the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios is “not the same” as her era-defining meeting with Bobby Riggs.
American King famously beat self-proclaimed chauvinist Riggs 6-4 6-3 6-3 in Houston in September 1973 for a winner-take-all prize of $100,000 (£74,765).
An estimated 90 million people worldwide watched King, then aged 29, win the best-of-five set match against a 55-year-old former Wimbledon and US Open singles champion – and it is remembered as a key part of the women’s rights movement and push for equality in sport.
Asked if she saw any similarities between the matches, King told BBC Sport: “The only similarity is that one is a boy and one is a girl. That’s it.
“Everything else, no. Ours was about social change; culturally, where we were in 1973. This one is not.
Some see the encounter between four-time major singles champion Sabalenka and Australia’s former world number 13 Kyrgios as harmless entertainment, but others believe it could belittle the women’s game if Sabalenka loses.
The exhibition will be the best of three sets, with a 10-point tie-breaker if it goes to a decider.
Each player will only receive one serve, while Sabalenka’s side of the court will be 9% smaller after tournament organisers Evolve said data showed female players move about 9% slower on average than their male counterparts.
“I played Bobby three out of five sets, I played on a court and didn’t change anything,” recalled King.
“I said, ‘look, I play straight up or else I’m not going to play’. And Bobby loved it.”
King’s contest took place a few months after Riggs – who died in 1995 aged 77 – had soundly beaten world number one Margaret Court 6-1 6-2 in the first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ matches.
It was played in the same year King founded the Women’s Tennis Association, and three years after a group of players, dubbed The Original 9, broke away from the sport’s establishment.
It also took place at the time of Title IX legislation in the US, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or education programme, and gave male and female athletic teams equal benefits, opportunities and treatment.
“Mine was really political. It was rough, culturally, what was coming in with it,” added the 82-year-old King.
Sabalenka told the BBC on Wednesday her match will not damage women’s sport, saying she and Kyrgios are “there to have fun and bring great tennis”.
“Whoever wins, wins,” added the Belarusian.
Kyrgios’ suitability for the match has also been questioned. He admitted assaulting an ex-girlfriend in 2021 and shared a post from controversial influencer Andrew Tate last year, before later distancing himself from the self-proclaimed misogynist.
Asked whether she thought the match could undermine women’s tennis and the status of its number one player, King said: “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask her [Sabalenka] after she plays, but we have never said we are better than men – ever.
“We have talked about our entertainment value – sometimes a women’s match ends up being better than a guy’s match.
“I get upset when people say you think you are better. We have never said that, never.”
American tennis legend Billie Jean King says the upcoming ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match between Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios is “not the same” as her 1973 victory over Bobby Riggs, which she says was about “social change”.
Tottenham players including Bethany England, Kit Graham, Jessica Naz and Lenna Gunning-Williams share their confessions, including unpopular opinions and their team-mate icks.
Watch live coverage of Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur in the Women’s Super League on Sunday, 14 December from 14:30 GMT on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app.
NFL 2025 season: Week 15
There are four weeks left in the NFL’s regular season and I feel like every year we’re saying this, but I don’t think the league’s ever been this contested.
There’s been so many games where you cannot blink or take anything for granted. Some play-off spots won’t be decided until week 18, so for so many teams, that final game will be incredibly meaningful.
The AFC East title could go down to the wire, but the Buffalo Bills will need to stop the New England Patriots’ 10-game win streak when the divisional rivals meet at Foxborough this Sunday.
The Bills improved their record to 9-4 with a 39-34 win over the Bengals last Sunday, and it was just Josh Allen doing Josh Allen things again, especially in that fourth quarter. He just puts on his cape and make things happen. That’s what makes the Bills so dangerous. He was last season’s Most Valuable Player and he’s a guy who can change the game and rally the troops around him.
Buffalo had a rough spell but have won their past two. At this time of year, you’ve been able to have a true self-scout, so things are coming together for them, and last Sunday’s win was huge. The Bills were on the edge of the AFC play-off rankings and now they’ve solidified themselves. If they win at the Patriots, who are 11-2, the Bills will be just one win back with three games left.
New England’s schedule looks easier than Buffalo’s though. The Patriots finish with Baltimore, the Jets and the Dolphins. The Bills go against the Browns, the Eagles and the Jets.
There’s a high probability Buffalo won’t win the AFC East for the first time in six years, and few expected New England to win the division after back-to-back four-win seasons.
In the past, there was an expectation with the Patriots because they had greatness. They had Tom Brady and had been winning for so long. Now there’s straight excitement about current quarterback Drake Maye and what this team can do. They could clinch the AFC East on Sunday, which is huge for them.
Sometimes it’s better when you’re that team with no expectations, but the Patriots have Mike Vrabel as head coach. He won three Super Bowls with them as a player and he’s brought in the right people. Josh McDaniels won six Super Bowls on the Patriots’ coaching staff but wasn’t successful as head coach of the Raiders. Vrabel pairing him as offensive coordinator with Maye has been so good though. McDaniels understands what it takes to win in the AFC East, to win in the cold and how to attack those teams.
New England had one of the easiest schedules this season, but you still have to win those games. Vrabel’s been using the word ‘champions’ and I think all the guys are starting to believe in that championship mentality. I love how he also says ‘no naps’, like, you can’t sleep on anybody and you’ve got to keep doing the right things. I think he’s a great leader who’s learned how to inspire from being in this situation as a player.
The Patriots aren’t outstanding in any one category, offensively or defensively, but Maye has been brilliant, especially as a second-year quarterback. He can run the ball and be a big threat with his legs, and his decision making has gotten so much better. He gets to the top of his drop and he’s already kind of made his decision on where he wants to throw the ball, because he’s reading the field so quickly.
Maye’s got the NFL’s best pass completion percentage, only Matthew Stafford has a higher passer rating, and only Dak Prescott has more pass yards. Maye’s thrown 23 touchdown passes versus six interceptions. In every game, he’s had 200+ pass yards and that goes to show that, for the most part, he’s made the right decisions. He’s protecting the football, and he’s using different weapons to throw to.
Early in the season, Stefon Diggs was pretty much the star of the show. That gave Maye confidence and now he’s using a slew of different receivers. They were kind of identifying their roles and now they’re elevating each other. Maye has also been doing it without Will Campbell on the offensive line the past few weeks.
He is very much in the MVP conversation, but Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has just been phenomenal. It’s his 17th year in the league and this is probably his best season. He leads the league with 35 touchdowns, with just four interceptions.
It’ll be interesting to see how Maye does this week against Buffalo and then Baltimore. There’s the irony of playing the past two MVPs – Allen and Lamar Jackson – and some people might say that could determine whether Maye becomes this season’s MVP.
Allen’s still breaking records and it’s hard to watch that game on Sunday and not think ‘wow, this guy is so different’. I mean, which other quarterback has a 40-yard touchdown run in the snow? But I don’t know if they’d give him a back-to-back MVP. Last year made sense because of how he took care of the ball but this year he hasn’t been as perfect.
Buffalo have a rivalry with the Patriots and, after losing to them in October, I think the Bills understand the importance of Sunday’s game and what it can mean to go into Foxborough and get the win. But this is going to be a challenge for their defence, for sure.
With the different offensive weapons the Patriots have through the air, I think the Bills’ defence has to step up and force turnovers. You know it’s going to be a Stefon Diggs game when his former team Buffalo is involved, so I think that Maye-Diggs connection is where the outcome lies.