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Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of raping a young woman and trying to rape another. Mendy, 28, broke down in tears as the two not guilty verdicts were delivered by the jury foreman following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court. The French international footballer and World Cup winner had faced a lengthy jail sentence if convicted. Jurors found him not guilty of both charges following around three hours and 15 minutes of deliberations. He was cleared of attacking a 24-year-old woman at The Spinney, his £4.2million mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire, in October 2020. And the jury also found him not guilty of the second charge, the attempted rape of a 29-year-old woman also at his home two years before. Mendy told the jury of six women and six men, that any sexual activity was consensual. Trial Judge Stephen Everett, the Recorder of Chester, thanked jurors after discharging Mendy from the dock. Mendy was on trial for a second time, the jury failing to reach verdicts on the allegations made by the two women. In his first trial, lasting six months and ending in January, he was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four other young women or teenagers. Benjamin Aina KC, prosecuting, told the jury in the re-trial Mendy enjoyed parties at his home and on two occasions “took advantage” of his female guests and his wealth and celebrity status turned him into a man not used to being told “No”, by women. The first complainant, woman A, a 29-year-old student, first met Mendy while in a nightclub in Barcelona in late 2017 and she became intimate with one of his friends. They kept in touch and a year later she arranged to visit Mendy’s friend at the footballer’s house, where they stayed after they all went with other girls for a night out. The morning after, when she took a shower in the en-suite bathroom, Mendy appeared uninvited, wearing just boxer shorts, and holding himself, visibly “aroused” she told the jury. Mendy is then alleged to have grabbed the woman and tried to rape her on the bed as she tried to struggle free, despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. Mendy told the jury the two were “flirting” during the night out and the next morning he went to her room and they began hugging on a bed. He said she told him she would not have sex with him because she was with his friend. Mendy said she then got upset when he told her he had already asked his friend who had told him it would be “OK”. He denied trying to rape her. Two years later, woman B, aged 24, was out with friends at a bar in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, near Mendy’s home, when they were invited back to the footballer’s house. She alleges Mendy took her phone from her, which contained “intimate” photos, then led her to his locked bedroom, as she asked for her phone back. Mendy was alleged to have told her “I just wanna have a look at you” and told her to take her clothes off. Woman B complied, leaving her underwear on, and Mendy then threw her phone on the bed. As she went to retrieve it, Mendy was alleged to have taken hold of her from behind and raped her despite her telling him she did not want to have sex. The woman said afterwards Mendy said to her: “You’re too shy. It’s fine. I’ve had sex with 10,000 women.” Mendy told the jury the woman had agreed to “play around” on the bed and denied raping her saying afterwards they swapped details to connect on Snapchat. Mr Aina, prosecuting, claimed Mendy was not used to women saying no to him. He said: “You wanted women who came to your house to party, get drunk and have sex?” Mendy replied: “If they want. “I will never force to have sex with a woman.” In a statement, Mendy’s lawyer, Jenny Wiltshire, said: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence in this trial, rather than on the rumour and innuendo that have followed this case from the outset. “This is the second time that Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdicts. “It has been almost three years since the police started investigating this matter. Mr Mendy has tried to remain strong but the process has, inevitably had a serious impact on him. “He thanks everyone who has supported him throughout this ordeal and now asks for privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sarina Wiegman ‘grateful’ for Women’s World Cup growth 35 years after experiment Novak Djokovic clashes with umpire and fans on his way to latest Wimbledon final Michal Kwiatkowski holds off Tadej Pogacar to take solo win on Grand Colombier

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Harry Kane was the latest guest to appear on First We Feast's Hot Ones challenge and proved he could handle the heat off the pitch. The YouTube show sees host Sean Evans interview celebrity guests. During each question, both he and a guest eat a chicken wing that has been coated in different hot sauces, with the Scoville level (the heat or spiciness) increasing each time. Some of the previous celebrity guests include Jennifer Lawrence, Gordon Ramsay, Florence Pugh, and Noel Gallagher. In the latest episode, host Evans began by asking the England captain how he is around spicy food, to which Kane admitted that he's "not great," adding that "it's not something [he] normally [has] a lot". The first wing had a Scoville level of 1,600 which Kane ate with ease and said it was "not too bad," as Evans asked the footballer about his record-breaking season, scoring over 30 goals and becoming England's all-time leading goal scorer. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Kane described the latter achievement as a "dream come true," before having a slight cough and reaching for a glass of milk - was the spice getting to him already? Harry Kane Takes One For the Team While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones www.youtube.com Next up was a wing with a Scoville level of 6,000 and to Kane's surprise he found this one "a little easier". "I do like a curry back home in England, so I'm quite familiar with that taste," he told Evans, appearing more confident in his ability to handle the spice. For the wings with a Scoville level of 15,500, 36,500, and then 49,000, followed by 71,000 and 103,000, Kane took them in his stride, with some coughs, a runny nose and sips of milk along the way. Then came "Da Bomb," hot sauce at a Scoville level of 135,600 which a nervous Kane commented: "I've heard about this. I've just heard it's brutal. Unenjoyable." Though it didn't stop the Tottenham player from taking a bite, before telling Evans that it was "not nice," and "disgusting," and added that he could have the other sauces he's tried with food, but not with "Da Bomb". Despite the discomfort, Kane continued on to eat wings that had a Scoville level of 641,000 before finally making it to the final wing where he join in the tradition of dabbing an extra bit of sauce on the wing. Going straight for it, the footballer noted how the heat "straight up [his] nose". Footy fans loved seeing Kane on Hot Ones and in the comments praised performance for making it to the end. One person said: "Never in a million years did I think I'd see Harry Kane on this show, but I'm all here for it." "Let's be real he surprised every single one of us after seeing his reaction to the first wing. Respect," another person wrote. Someone else added: "Harry seems so wholesome!! And handled the hot sauces so well for someone who doesn't appear to eat much hot sauce." "One of the best episodes ever! Big bites, no complaints and a good talk," a fourth person commented. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta provided updates on Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard after the duo missed Thursday's 1-1 draw with Nurnberg. The Gunners will fly out to the United States this weekend to continue their pre-season preparations.

Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski has soloed to the top of the Grand Colombier mountain on the Tour de France and Tadej Pogacar has cut a little more time off Jonas Vingegaard’s lead in the fight for the yellow jersey

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The second half of the MLB season gets underway on Friday with the Rangers looking to build on its AL West lead against the Cleveland Guardians, who is trying to play itself into AL Central contention.The Rangers will send out Jon Gray, who has had a strong season for the team, but his underlyin...

Novak Djokovic powered into his ninth Wimbledon final as the fiery defending champion feuded with the umpire and spectators before beating Jannik Sinner to reach a record 35th Grand...

Former Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy broke down in tears on Friday, as a UK jury cleared...

As football fans across the globe gear up for the Women’s World Cup, some of the biggest names in the game including England captain Leah Williamson will be absent because of a wave of ACL injuries which has rocked the sport in recent years. It is a common sight in the women’s game when clubs and countries are forced to announce that their biggest stars will be out for months on end. Williamson ruptured her ACL – or anterior cruciate ligament – in April, and will miss the World Cup as a result. Other stars to miss the tournament are England’s Beth Mead and the Netherlands striker Vivianne Miedema, who both suffered the injury in November. Canada's Janine Beckie and the USA’s Catarina Macario are in the same boat. The issue also blighted the Euros last summer, as Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas missed the tournament after rupturing her ACL days before the opening game. Northern Ireland’s Simone Magill was also ruled out, along with France striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had been one of the favourites to win the Euro 2022 Golden Boot. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter But what is this injury, and why are so many women’s footballers getting it? A recurring problem The ACL is a small band of connective tissue in the centre of the knee. It can tear during routine activities like jumping. Any athlete that gets it faces surgery followed by six-to-12 months of rehab. Men also sustain ACL injuries – the likes of Virgil Van Dyke and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are high-profile examples in recent years – but it is more prominent in the women’s game. Speaking to Sky Sports last year, female health specialist Dr Emma Ross said: “We know female athletes are up to six times more likely to have a non-contact ACL injury than their male counterparts.” “In sport and exercise science research, only about 6 per cent of the studies are done exclusively on females – meaning they study things that are happening to the female body – so we don't have a lot of research on female athletes. “But what we do know about the menstrual cycle and injury is that the changing hormones across the cycle can impact the physiology and biomechanics of the body. “For example, when oestrogen is elevated in the menstrual cycle, and that happens in about the second week, it can affect the stability of joints. It can interfere with the collagen in our joints and it can create looser, more lax joints. A loose joint is therefore less stable and more inclined to injury. “So we do have some information about loose joints, but what we don't have is the end step of whether that really does increase the risk for injury in female athletes.” ‘Please no more’ Meanwhile, the workload for elite women’s footballers has grown because of the spiralling popularity of the game. Top players can play up to 44 matches a year, while three out of every four summers there is a major tournament, whether it is the Olympics, Euros or World Cup. The game has grown more professional in lockstep with the ever-busier schedules in recent years, with more Premier League clubs than ever pouring significant cash into their women’s teams. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur spent a combined £33m on running their women’s football teams in the year to July 2022. Nonetheless, it remains lightyears behind the men’s game in terms of funding. The teams paid £186m to agents for men’s team transfers in the same season, according to the Telegraph. There are other factors at play too – women’s feet are significantly different from men’s in shape and size, and experts are concerned that ill-fitting boots could be contributing to the wave of injuries. Sports rehabilitation expert Dr Katrine Okholm Kryger told Sky Sports that “we know that women have a two to five times higher risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries”, which affect the knee. Many of the major manufacturers are developing women's specific boots which should be available for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023, but Dr Okholm Kryger said the lack of available football boots is a general concern. She said she hopes to start a discussion and “kindly nudge manufacturers and research towards the need to pay more attention in this area”. Until they listen, the problem could continue depriving women’s football of its biggest stars. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.