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A US judge has dismissed a rape allegation lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo because the accuser's lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records, BBC reported.

Kathryn Mayorga alleges that the Manchester United footballer raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. 

He denies the allegations and has never been charged.

She reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with the star in 2010, but has been seeking millions more than the $375,000 (£304,000) she received, according to BBC.

Ms Mayorga said that while she had agreed to the settlement shortly after the alleged incident, her emotional trauma at the time did not allow her to participate in the mediation process, and she felt pressured to accept the offer.

Before filing her complaint, Ms Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Stovall, received "ill-gotten" information and documents which were confidential and privileged, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote.

The judge said the lawyer harmed Mr Ronaldo, 37, by conducting himself in "bad faith" through repeated use of stolen, privileged documents to prosecute the case.

In a 42-page ruling released on Friday and quoted by AFP, Judge Dorsey accused Mr Stovall of "abuses and flagrant circumvention of the proper litigation process" and said that as a result, "Mayorga loses her opportunity to pursue this case."

Last year, a magistrate judge recommended the case be dismissed due to Mr Stovall's conduct.

The BBC has contacted Mr Stovall for comment, BBC reported.

In 2019, US prosecutors said Cristiano Ronaldo would not face charges over the accusations as they could not "be proven beyond reasonable doubt".

The Clark County District Attorney's office in Las Vegas said Ms Mayorga reported an assault in 2009, but refused to state where it had happened or who the attacker was. As a result police were unable "to conduct any meaningful investigation". But the allegations were investigated again in 2018 at her request.

It followed a 2017 article in German magazine Der Spiegel, which reported that in 2010, Ms Mayorga reached an out-of-court settlement with the footballer for agreeing never to go public with the allegations. 

Ms Mayorga's lawyer said she had been inspired to re-open the case by the #MeToo movement.

Mr Ronaldo has not denied that the two met in Las Vegas in 2009, but said that what happened between them was consensual.

The BBC does not generally name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but Ms Mayorga has given consent to make her name public, BBC reported.

Nine people have been arrested in China after a video went viral of a brutal attack by a group of men on women in the city of Tangshan, police say, BBC reported.

It has led to an outcry on social media and re-ignited debate about gender violence in China.

The incident began when a man put his hand on a woman's back in a restaurant and she pushed him away.

The man is seen striking her before others drag her outside and continue attacking as she lies on the floor.

The group of men are also seen attacking her dining partners.

Two of the women were admitted to hospital and were in a "stable condition and not in mortal danger", while two others sustained minor injuries, officials said, according to BBC.

Police in Tangshan, in northern Hebei province, said they had arrested nine people on suspicion of violent assault and "provoking trouble". 

The attack dominated discussion on Chinese social media on Saturday, taking up the top six places of Weibo's most-discussed topics. State television called for the suspects to be severely punished.

"All of this could happen to me, could happen to any of us," said one commenter in a post liked over 100,000 times.

"How is this sort of thing still happening in 2022?" wrote another. "Please give them criminal sentences, and don't let any of them get away."

A widely shared WeChat post took issue with the initial official framing of the attack as a simple act of violence, BBC reported.

"This happened in a society where violence against women is rampant," the anonymous post said. 

"To ignore and suppress the perspective of gender is to deny the violence that people - as women - suffer."

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of two mass shootings, BBC reported.

Those taking part at the hundreds of marches carried slogans like "I want freedom from getting shot".

US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to "pass common sense gun safety legislation".

Despite this the chances of legal change are likely to be quashed by Republicans. 

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.

That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US, according to BBC.

On Saturday, gun safety group March For Our Lives - founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida - said some 450 rallies would be held across the country, including Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. 

The group said it would not let politicians "sit back" as people continue to die.

March For Our Lives (MFOL) said political leaders' inaction was killing Americans. 

"We will no longer allow you to sit back while people continue to die," Trevon Bosley, a MFOL board member, said in a statement.

Speaking to protesters in Washington DC, one of the survivors of the Parkland shooting, David Hogg, said the killings of children in Uvalde "should fill us with rage and demands for change, not endless debate, but demands for change, now."

Garnell Whitfield, whose 86-year-old mother was killed in the racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York on 14 May, told crowds in Washington: "We are here to demand justice, BBC reported. 

"We are here to stand with those who are bold enough to demand sensible gun legislation." 

Among other policies, MFOL has called for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks for those trying to purchase guns and a national licensing system, which would register gun owners.

Ukrainian and British officials warned Saturday that Russian forces are relying on weapons able to cause mass casualties as they try to make headway in capturing eastern Ukraine and fierce, prolonged fighting depletes resources on both sides, Associated Press reported.

Russian bombers have likely been launching heavy 1960s-era anti-ship missiles in Ukraine, the UK Defense Ministry said. The Kh-22 missiles were primarily designed to destroy aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead. When used in ground attacks with conventional warheads, they “are highly inaccurate and therefore can cause severe collateral damage and casualties,” the ministry said.

Both sides have expended large amounts of weaponry in what has become a grinding war of attrition for the eastern region of coal mines and factories known as the Donbas, placing huge strains on their resources and stockpiles.

Russia is likely using the 5.5-tonne (6.1-ton) anti-ship missiles because it is running short of more precise modern missiles, the British ministry said. It gave no details of where exactly such missiles are thought to have been deployed, according to Associated Press.

As Russia also sought to consolidate its hold over territory seized so far in the 108-day war, the US defense secretary said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine “is what happens when oppressors trample the rules that protect us all.”

“It’s what happens when big powers decide that their imperial appetites matter more than the rights of their peaceful neighbors,” Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Asia. “And it’s a preview of a possible world of chaos and turmoil that none of us would want to live in.”

 Nepali delegation led by Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on June 11, to attend the 12^th ministerial conference that will take place on 12-15 June 2022.  

 Minister Badu is accompanied by secretary Ganesh Prasad Pandeya and other high-level government officials. Minister Badu is scheduled to address the meeting.

 Ministers from across the world will have the opportunity to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system, make general statements, and take action on the future work of the WTO.

The Conference will be co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan's President. Kazakhstan was originally scheduled to host MC12 in June 2020 but the conference was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WTO meeting is taking place in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic that battered the world economy and the Russia-Ukraine war which has triggered high inflation across the world. 

A tremor was felt in various places of Kathmandu in the wee hours of Saturday.

According to the Seismilogical Center, the tremor was felt at 2: 36 am and it was of local magnitude 4.7.

Its epicenter was close to Changunarayan of Bhaktapur.

Nepal reported 17 new Covid-19 cases on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 915 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which seven returned positive. Likewise, 1, 155 people underwent antigen tests, of which 10 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that seven infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 109 active cases in the country.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 14. 64 points to close at 2, 048. 16 points on Friday.

Similarly, the sensitive dropped by 4. 11 points to close at 392. 25 points.

A total of 3, 045, 838 units of the shares of 229 companies were traded for Rs 8. 94 billion.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 91 trillion.