Serena Williams accuses Ilie Nastase of racially abusing her and unborn child

American tennis player Serena Williams has accused Ilie Nastase of racially abusing her and her unborn baby as she made her first response to comments the Romanian former world No 1 made about her.

Nastase was overheard on Friday at a press conference for the Fed Cup tie between Romania and Britain saying about the current world No 1’s unborn baby: “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”

Williams confirmed on Wednesday last week that she was 20 weeks pregnant with her first child after posting an image of her baby bump. Her fiance Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of the Reddit website, is white.

Nastase, 70, the Romanian team captain, had also asked his British counterpart Anne Keothavong for her room number.

He was also heard to call her and British No 1 Johanna Konta “fucking bitches” in an outburst that led to his provisional suspension by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and expulsion from the competition being held in Constanța, Romania.

In a comment on Instagram, Williams wrote: “It disappoints me to know we live in a society in which people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers.

“I have said it once and I’ll say it again, this world has come so far but yet we have so much further to go. Yes, we have broken down so many barriers - however there are a plethora more to go.

“This or anything else will not stop me from pouring love, light and positivity into everything that I do. I will continue to take a lead and stand up for what’s right.”

The 35-year-old American player said she was not afraid, and directed questions and a defiant statement to Nastase: “Does my sassiness upset you. Why are you beset with gloom? You may shoot me with your words ... you may try to kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I rise.”

Williams also thanked the International Tennis Federation, adding: “They will have my full support.”

Nastase was expelled from the stadium on Saturday after swearing at officials, as well as at Keothavong and Konta. He also directed an aggressive rant at a Press Association journalist.

The Romanian has remained defiant about his expulsion and has made no apology for his conduct. “I don’t need this bullshit. I’m 70 years old. I don’t even get paid for being team captain. I don’t give a shit if they fine me,” he told the Daily Mirror.

His friend, the former gymnastics star Nadia Comăneci, was one of the few public figures in Romania to criticise Nastase.

“I cannot condone or defend his recent ugly and very offensive remarks … I am a great supporter of women in sport and I would never condone any kind of sexist comments of this kind, whether they are from Ilie Nastase or anyone else,” she said.

Meanwhile, Keothavong questioned whether Nastase should have been appointed as Fed Cup captain given his notoriously volatile temperament.

“Clearly his behaviour on court over the weekend and leading up to this tie was inappropriate and in hindsight maybe he shouldn’t have been put in the position that he was,” she told Sky Sports News.

“You walk out on to court as a tennis player expecting to be in a safe environment and expecting to be playing against a partisan crowd – that’s understandable – but you don’t expect to be verbally abused when you’re out there just trying to do your job.”

Sir Elton suffered 'potentially deadly' infection on tour

Sir Elton John suffered a "potentially deadly" bacterial infection during a tour, forcing him to spend two nights in intensive care and cancel concerts in the US, his management says.

The singer became violently ill at the end of a tour of South America last week, requiring him to return to the UK for urgent treatment.

Nine concerts that were due to be staged in Las Vegas and California over the next two weeks have been cancelled.

Sir Elton is now resting at home.

A statement by his management said infections of the kind suffered by the star were "rare and potentially deadly". It gave no other details.

North Korea tensions: US submarine arrives in South Korea

A US submarine has arrived in South Korea, amid worries of another North Korean missile or nuclear test.

The missile-armed USS Michigan is set to join an incoming group of warships led by aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.

North Korea is celebrating its army's 85th founding anniversary on Tuesday. It marked the event with a large-scale firing drill, South Korea said.

Tensions have risen in the area in recent weeks, with the US and North Korea exchanging heated rhetoric.

Experts fear Pyongyang could be planning more tests - it has marked some key anniversaries in the past with nuclear tests or missile launches.

However, South Korea's defence ministry said "no unusual development had been detected".

Instead, the North conducted a large live-fire drill around the city of Wonsan, South Korea said.

"Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military's movement," the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea conducted a failed ballistic missile test on 16 April, prompting US Vice-President Mike Pence to warn it not to "test" President Donald Trump.

In an unusual move, the entire US Senate has been asked to attend a briefing on North Korea on Wednesday at the White House.

Aaron Hernandez’s Jailhouse Lover Revealed

London’s Daily Mail revealed the identity of Aaron Hernandez’s prison boyfriend. Kyle Kennedy is a 22-year-old heroin addict from Uxbridge, Massachusetts, who is serving time for robbing a gas station.

Hernandez, 27, hanged himself in his prison cell on April 19. Before he died, he reportedly gave Kennedy’s family a $50,000 wristwatch and other personal property.

Hernandez hanged himself with a bed sheet at the maximum security Souza-Baranowski Corrections Center.

Kennedy was the last person to speak to Hernandez.

According to The Milford Daily News, Kennedy, 22, is no choir boy. He allegedly stole $189 while armed a with a “long butcher-style knife.” He was arrested after a brief police chase in January 2015.

His father initially paid $12,000 to bond Kennedy out of jail, but was sent to prison when he violated the terms of his parole. He is currently serving 3 years in prison.

Kennedy also has prior arrests for trafficking heroin.

On the online dating website Write A Prisoner, Kennedy listed his sexual orientation as “straight”.

Most men who convert to homosexuality while serving time are considered “trade” or gay-for-pay.

Boy aged 12 drives himself 1,300km across Australia

A 12-year-old boy who was apparently trying to drive across Australia has been stopped by police 1,300km (800 miles) into his journey.

The boy was pulled over in Broken Hill in the New South Wales outback on Saturday after a patrol noticed the car's bumper dragging on the ground.

Police said the boy had been attempting to drive 4,000km from Kendall in NSW to Perth, Western Australia.

He was arrested and taken to Broken Hill police station.

His parents, who had reported him missing, picked him up on Sunday.

The journey from Kendall to Broken Hill involves driving hundreds of kilometres along straight, sealed highways which pass through some of Australia's most productive farmland and the featureless plains of the outback.

The whole route to Perth would have taken about 40 hours, if travelling non-stop.

Local media reported that the boy managed to evade suspicion partly because he looks much older.

The manager of a petrol station in the town of Cobar was quoted as saying that he looked "maybe 19 or 20".

Police also said the boy was "about six foot tall" (1.8m).

"He'd taken the family car," Det Insp Kim Fehon told the Australian Associated Press.

"His parents reported him missing immediately after he left home, so they were looking for him."

A NSW Police spokesman told the BBC it was possible he could face charges under the Young Offenders Act.

Woman attacked by shark in British territory St Helena

A woman has been attacked by a shark near a British island in the South Atlantic.

She was swimming near Ascension Island, part of the territory of St Helena, and one source told the Times her husband punched the shark to scare it away.

The woman, who works for the St Helena government, was treated in hospital locally, but later airlifted to the UK.

St Helena is a British Overseas Territory, 1,150 miles (1,850km) off the west coast of Africa.

The government has warned swimmers entering the water in the area that they do so at their own risk.

The remote islands of St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha lie midway between Africa and South America, and though far from each other, they form a single territorial grouping under the sovereignty of the British Crown.

In the 1600s, the English East India Company was given a Royal Charter which allowed it to colonise the island, but St Helena is perhaps best known as the destination to which Napolean Bonaparte was exiled in 1815 after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

Today, the islands have a combined population of less than 6,000, and are linked to the outside world by a Royal Mail Ship, the St Helena, which makes a five-day journey from South Africa, every three weeks, carrying passengers and supplies.

Kim Kardashian shows flat post-baby tummy as fellow reality star Shawna Craig offers to carry her child (and yes, she's serious)

Strutting down the street in a peekaboo black outfit, Kim Kardashian is back to her pre-baby best.

The smiling reality star was pictured out and about in Los Angeles on Thursday, once again showing off her flat stomach. 

Her outing came as fellow E! reality star Shawna Craig offered to act as a surrogate for Kim and husband Kanye West.

And it seems the Second Wives Club star is serious - indeed she has even previously been a surrogate for her stepdaughter.

Kim has spoken at length about her longing for a third child - despite medical complications making the prospect of another pregnancy 'really dangerous'.

The mother of one-year-old Saint and three-year-old North suffered a series of health complications during her pregnancies including placenta accreta in both cases, a potentially life threatening condition which sees the placenta abnormally attach to the uterine wall.