- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
England footballers' wives libel spat ends with judgment reserved
A headline-grabbing libel case over an online spat between two England footballers' wives wrapped up on Thursday, after lifting the lid on tabloid double-dealing and the lives of the rich and famous.
Rebekah Vardy, whose husband Jamie plays for Leicester City, is suing Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United star Wayne, after she accused her of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper.
Coleen, the childhood sweetheart of England's leading goalscorer, was dubbed "Wagatha Christie" after she set up an elaborate sting to try to determine who was behind the leaks, then announced her findings publicly.
"It's... Rebekah Vardy's account," she said.
Fascination with the lives of the wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of top-flight footballers -- and their very public falling-out -- has produced wall-to-wall coverage since the case began last Tuesday.
Bystanders have even been waiting outside the hallowed Royal Courts of Justice in central London to snap the women as they attended proceedings.
Fevered online comment has divided support into two camps -- #TeamColeen and #TeamRebekah.
Articles have been written about the designer clothing worn to court and even Coleen's surgical boot that she wore for an unspecified injury has attracted column inches, and comparisons to Wayne's 2006 metatarsal injury before that year's World Cup.
Legal costs have reportedly run into millions of pounds (dollars, euros), and the women's lawyers have previously represented Hollywood actor Johnny Depp and Chelsea Football Club's former owner Roman Abramovich.
Vardy vehemently denies leaking details from Rooney's private Instagram account and is seeking "substantial libel damages", her lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, said.
But she faced accusations from Rooney's lawyer David Sherborne of being "an entirely unreliable witness".
After a week of testimony from the women, the lawyers presented final arguments Wednesday and the judge Karen Steyn reserved judgment to a later date.
- Peter Andre -
For the final day of hearings, Vardy strode into court in a dark suit and green top. Rooney did not attend as the case overran and she had a previously booked holiday.
The MailOnline site pictured the pair at Manchester Airport, Wayne grappling with the family's suitcases before they jetted off to Dubai.
English libel law places the onus on Rooney to prove that her post alleging she had narrowed down the leaked stories to Vardy's account is "substantially true".
Vardy has nevertheless faced lengthy cross-examination and was even questioned on an interview where she derided the penis size of her previous boyfriend, the pop singer Peter Andre.
Her lawyer said his client was "entitled to an award of substantial libel damages" for serious harm to her reputation, to vindicate her and to compensate "distress caused by the publication".
Summing up, Rooney's lawyer alleged that Vardy "regularly and frequently leaked information to The Sun about a number of people... as opposed to simply Mrs Rooney".
He accused her of being "hand in glove" with her former agent, Caroline Watt, who did not testify and was unable to present a mobile phone she said she had dropped in the North Sea.
The lawyer alleged that Vardy is "not concerned about doing the dirty", accusing her of selectively deleting messages ahead of the trial and said that the "thrust of the reveal post (by Rooney) is substantially true".
Vardy's lawyer presented a very different picture, saying his client "made mistakes" by trusting Watts, who may have sought to leak stories.
But he said that their communications were "largely tittle-tattle, gossip" and there was no "contemporaneous evidence" of Vardy contacting the tabloid.
He said the case had been "serious and extremely upsetting" for his client.
B.Finley--AMWN