Benzema wins Ballon d'Or after fantastic year with Real Madrid / Photo: © AFP
-
Marquez crashes, then tops second practice in Malaysia
-
German economy logs 0.2% growth, faster than expected
-
New home for orangutans rescued from Indonesia's burning forests
-
Crypto platform Binance confirms 'complex' $6.3 bn hack
-
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta shuts under Kremlin pressure
-
Spanish inflation stays at three-year high before election
-
Thailand extends activist's jail term to more than 34 years
-
Drugs giant AstraZeneca reveals higher profits, savings plan
-
China denies spying on Nvidia's Jensen Huang
-
French economy 'headed for a wall' as GDP shrinks
-
BP net profit quadruples on higher oil prices
-
South Korea to prosecute students cheating with smart glasses
-
Kiss backs 'hungry' Beale to push for Wallabies game time
-
Surging costs of living top US voter concerns
-
World number one Rybakina withdraws in Tokyo with injury
-
Basic services, fading loyalties loom over South Africa's vote
-
Malawi's fuel shortages, record prices deepen economic crisis
-
Shock, vindication, regret: Scientists react to AI roiling life's work
-
Rubio hosts G20 ministers as Iran, Ukraine wars divide members
-
Crypto platform Binance confirms $6.3 bn hack
-
From minerals to AI, EU and Canada to forge new alliance
-
Boozer shines as Grizzlies top Blazers in battle of NBA unbeatens
-
Fire pollution killed 3,560 people in Indonesia in September: report
-
Jorge Martin confirmed to race at Malaysian MotoGP
-
Ian Wright and Jamie Carragher split on Liverpool-Arsenal prediction
-
Bayern and Kane host Dortmund after week of 'extremes'
-
The Duskbloods delayed as Nintendo Switch 2 release moves to 2027
-
Packers beat Panthers 27-19 as Watson returns from hospital
-
Russia turns to NATO countries for prosthetics amid war-related shortages
-
Affordable supermarket fashion offers designer-inspired autumn alternatives
-
Researchers on island encounter giant spider legs emerging from a burrow
-
Judge throws out Australian mushroom killer's appeal, imposes harsher sentence
-
Britain's King Charles lands in ex-colony Guyana
-
Pelicans down Kings for first win of NBA season
-
Arsenal assess Bukayo Saka fitness concerns before Liverpool meeting
-
Tech firms take fresh hit as earnings misses fan AI fears
-
£10,000 garden project transforms a UK home into a miniature Greece
-
Worcestershire leaders back renewed two-unitary council reorganisation
-
Forest destruction tests Armenia-Azerbaijan peace push
-
India's animal megacentre vows reset after criticism
-
Deal still eludes nations on final day of UN nature talks
-
Dodging fuel price hikes, Damascus drivers turn to electric cars
-
Teen rallies take to the streets across Italy
-
Alvechurch manager praises resilience but seeks improvement after Anstey draw
-
Netanyahu bloc finishes ahead in Israel vote, but well short of majority
-
Crypto platform Binance confirms major hack, more than $2.5bn frozen
-
Rural US hospitals, collateral victims of Trump politics
-
Sports chiefs face losing battle to keep sport separate from politics
-
How Trump could interfere in US midterm elections
-
Nvidia's web of AI bets: smart strategy or bubble risk?
Benzema wins Ballon d'Or after fantastic year with Real Madrid
France striker Karim Benzema won the Ballon d'Or at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, the reward coming after his stunning performances helped Real Madrid win the Champions League and La Liga last season.
Benzema, who is the first French winner of the most prestigious individual prize in football since Zinedine Zidane in 1998, scored 44 goals in 46 games for his club including 15 in the Champions League.
Benzema, who also won the UEFA Nations League with France last season, pushed Bayern Munich and Senegal star Sadio Mane into second place.
Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Belgium was third, with Barcelona and Poland star Robert Lewandowski coming fourth.
Winning the award, which is given out by France Football magazine, caps a remarkable career revival for Benzema, who was frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
He was later handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros ($73,848) for his involvement in the affair.
However, he returned to the national team for last year's European Championship and will now go to the World Cup in Qatar with France next month.
He will turn 35 on December 19, the day after the World Cup final.
Benzema is the oldest winner of the Ballon d'Or since the very first winner, Stanley Matthews in 1956.
The former Lyon striker is also the fifth Frenchman to win the prize, with Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini and Jean-Pierre Papin all getting their hands on the trophy before Zidane's victory in 1998.
F.Pavlenko--BTB
