Former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick dies at 84.

Former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick has died at the age of 84. Keswick, a successful merchant banker, first joined the Gunners board as a director in 2005 before going on to take the mantle of chairman in 2013. He served in that role until retiring in May 2020, though he maintained an interest in the club. A club statement read: "It is with great sadness that the club reports the death of former Chairman, Sir Chips Keswick. A lifelong Arsenal supporter, he was a regular at Highbury after first standing in the boys’ enclosure in 1949 and listed his early heroes as the Compton brothers and Jimmy Logie but, above all, goalkeeper – and later manager – George Swindin, as young Chips was a budding schoolboy keeper himself. "But it was in the banking industry Sir Chips made his name, where he was a very senior figure for many years, rising to become Chairman of Hambros Bank and also a Director of the Bank of England. It was during his successful banking career that he became good friends with our former Chairman, Peter Hill-Wood – a former Vice-Chairman of Hambros – and Peter recognised that his business acumen, common sense and love of the Gunners would make him an ideal board member at Highbury." Former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick dies at 84 It was during Keswick's reign as chairman that the Gunners clinched four FA Cups, along with runner-up finishes in the Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup.

Meet the Iranian student who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lionel Messi

Which is Messi?! Iranian student Reza Parastesh is one of the closest celebrity lookalikes you'll ever see. The 25yr old is so famous, police had to impound his car and take him to the station because too many people were stopping to take pictures with him.
It was his dad who first put the idea in his head after which he styled his hair after the Barcelona icon to closely mimic his appearance. Parastesh who dubs himself the "Iranian Messi" said:

 "Now people really see me as the Iranian Messi and want me to mimic everything he does. When I show up somewhere, people are really shocked. I'm really happy that seeing me makes them happy and this happiness gives me a lot of energy." 

 Thanks to his newfound fame, he is in demand and could make a career out of media appearances.

40yr old mountain climber, Ueli Steck dies during training at Everest

Famous mountain climber, Ueli Steck was killed on Sunday, April 30, 2017 in an accident near Mount Everest.

The 40-year-old died when he slipped from a slope and fell into a crevasse at around 6,600 meters on Mount Nuptse.
His body has been recovered and airlifted to Lukla, where the nearest airport to Mount Everest is located, Dinesh Bhattarai, of the Nepal Tourism Department said. 

Mingma Sherpa, an official with expedition organizer Seven Summit Treks said, the "Swiss Machine" as he's fondly called was acclimatizing himself as he planned to ascend 8,850-meter Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse next month.

His death is the first casualty of the this year's spring mountaineering season in Nepal, which is expected to involve 365 registered climbers from 39 teams, officials said. Last year, six climbers died on Mount Everest.

NBA Playoffs Rockets oust Thunder in competition, Spurs and Jazz close in

James Harden scored 34 points and the Houston Rockets withstood a furious effort from Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook to oust the Thunder from the NBA playoffs on Tuesday.

James Harden scored 34 points and the Houston Rockets withstood a furious effort from Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook to oust the Thunder from the NBA playoffs on Tuesday.

The Rockets beat the Thunder 105-99 to win their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series four games to one.

Rockets reserve Lou Williams scored 10 of his 22 points early in the fourth quarter as the Rockets responded to a sensational third quarter from Westbrook, who carried his team to a 77-72 lead going into the final period.

Westbrook scored 10 straight points in one stretch and finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists in the third.

But Williams opened the fourth with two free throws, and added three more from the line along with a three-pointer as the Rockets regained the advantage with Westbrook on the bench - and they held on even after Westbrook re-entered the game as the Thunder missed a string of shots.

Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook finished with 47 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists

Westbrook finished with 47 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, but connected on just two of his 11 shots in the final period.

The defeat brought a close to a historic season for Westbrook, who joined Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double and beat Robertson's 55-year-old record for most triple-doubles in a regular season with 42.

In withstanding Westbrook, the Rockets showed they have plenty of defensive ability to go with their free-wheeling offense.

"We're not just a three-point shooting team," said Harden, who scored 13 of his 34 points in the final eight minutes. "We get after it on the defensive end. We're overlooked. We have been all year. But we're not really worried about it. We go out there and compete at a high level on both ends of the floor."

Thunder coach Billy Donovan agreed, calling the Rockets defense "underrated."

That included their defense on Westbrook, said the Rockets' Patrick Beverly, who took exception to Westbrook's taunt that "no one can guard me."

Kawhi Leonard (R) of the San Antonio Spurs fights for the ball with Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies in Game Five of the Western Conference quarter-finals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs, at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, on April 25

The two received double technical fouls for jawing at each other during the game, but Beverly said the Rockets did what they set out to do against Westbrook.

"We did a great job on him," Beverly said. "We tried to make him take a ton of tough shots."

In the second round the Rockets will face either the San Antonio Spurs or Memphis Grizzlies.

Spurs, Jazz in command

The Spurs, seeded second in the West behind the Golden State Warriors, seized a 3-2 lead in their series Tuesday with a 116-103 victory in San Antonio.

Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points, Patty Mills added 20 and Tony Parker chipped in 16 as the Spurs bounced back from a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Grizzlies in game four.

Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz lays up a shot past DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers in Game Five of the Western Conference quarter-finals, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on April 25, 2017

Reserve point guard Mills made five three-pointers, four of them in the fourth quarter en route to his career-high playoff scoring total.

The effort from Australia's Mills helped thwart a Grizzlies rally. Memphis trailed by 18 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, but a 17-3 scoring run saw them pull within four points with nine minutes to play.

"We made shots, that's what we didn't do the last game," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, whose team will try to wrap up the series in game six on Thursday in Memphis.

The Utah Jazz are also closing in on a second-round berth after a 96-92 victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles.

Gordon Hayward scored 27 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Jazz, who took a 3-2 series lead with game six in Salt Lake City on Friday.

Rodney Hood scored 16 points and Joe Johnson produced nine of his 14 in the fourth quarter for Utah, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds from French big man Rudy Gobert.

Chris Paul scored 28 points for the Clippers, who played their second game without standout scorer Blake Griffin, who will miss the rest of the playoffs with a right big toe injury.

The winners of the series will face the Warriors, who swept the Portland Trail Blazers in four games.

Russian Premier League Zenit out to slow Spartak title charge

Spartak are eight points clear of both city rivals CSKA and Zenit with eight matches to go.

Zenit St Petersburg will try to reinvigorate their fading Russian Premier League title hopes when they face leaders Spartak Moscow on Sunday.

Spartak, who won the last of their nine titles in 2001, are eight points clear of both city rivals CSKA and Zenit with eight matches to go.

But Zenit, who beat Spartak 4-2 in October, are hoping to do the double over the Muscovites to stay in the hunt following a disappointing 1-1 draw with Anzhi Makhachkala last time out.

Manager Mircea Lucescu was upset with Zenit's sub-par performance a week ago and expects his players to rediscover their best form in a clash against arch rivals.

"Some of our team leaders played too cautiously in the match against Anzhi due to the threat of missing the clash with Spartak through suspension," Lucescu told the Zenit website.

"We were just a pale shadow of our normal self, especially in the first half. But I'm confident that on Sunday we will see a completely different Zenit."

Spartak skipper Denis Glushakov said there would be no complacency within the squad, with matches still to play against both their title rivals ensuring the race is far from finished.

"For us each of the remaining games will be the match of the year," Glushakov said. "There are eight matches ahead and we must play for the win in every one.

"Of course the meetings with Zenit or CSKA are always important but a single match decides nothing. We should gear up for each of these eight games as if it's the biggest one."

On Saturday reigning champions CSKA will host a Rostov side that has kept a clean sheet in all five of their matches -- including four straight 0-0 draws -- since the league resumed following the winter break.

CSKA head coach Viktor Goncharenko said the results of this weekend's matches and his side's clash with Spartak on April 30 would likely determine this season's title winner.

"We try not to take into consideration our rivals' results as we know clearly that we need to play for the win in every game," he told CSKA's website.

"I think that the results of the games in the upcoming weekend will be crucial in terms of who wins the title. The outcome of our derby with Spartak will also have an impact."

Fixtures (all times GMT)

Saturday

Amkar Perm v Ufa (0900), CSKA v Rostov (1130), Anzhi Makhachkala v Samara (1400), Rubin Kazan v Krasnodar (1630)

Sunday

Orenburg v Terek Grozny (0930), Ural Yekaterinburg v Tomsk (1200), Arsenal Tula v Lokomotiv Moscow (1430), Spartak Moscow v Zenit St Petersburg (1700)

Cristiano Ronaldo becomes 1st man to score 100 European goals but you won't believe this other 5 insane records held by him

Cristiano Ronaldo might be 31, but he's clearly aging like fine wine after his double in last night's incredible win over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena ensured he broke a new record- as he became the first footballer to score 100 goals in UEFA club competitions. But Ronaldo at this stage shouldn't be seen as a mere footballer, he should be referred to as the modern day 'god' of football, and this amazing records held by the Real Madrid/Portugal star can only prove this.

1.) He's the most followed athlete/sports man on Instagram

With a following of 97 million fans on social media site, Instagram, Ronaldo is the perfect brand for any company to work with, as his followership ranks with the likes of Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and other top Hollywood celebrities.

2.) First and only player to score in the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Euros and the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in the 2004, 2008 Euros while with Man U and the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World cups, making him the first and only player to achieve such feat.

3.) First and only player to win league titles, Club World Cup, the national cup, the national Super Cup, Champions League,  League Player of the Year, the Golden Boot and the Ballon d'Or while at 2 different clubs.

Ronaldo while at Man U and even at Real Madridwon  league titles, the community shield, the FA cup and the Champions league. He's also won the Ballon D'or, Golden boot (highest goalscorer) and player of the year awards while at both clubs. His legacy will never be forgotten!

4.) Most followed athlete on Twitter

Ronaldo, always updating his fans with the latest happenings in his career boasts a Twitter following of 51 million, Urmm that's 17 million more than his closest rival, NBA star, LeBron James. Another reason why the corporate world associates with his brand more than any other athlete.

5.) Real Madrid and Portugal's all time highest goalscorer

Ronaldo has surpassed Real Madrid legends Alfredo Di Stefano and Raul as the club's highest goalscorer of all time and is also Portugal highest goalscorer and highest appearance maker of all time. Legendary stuff!