APRNEWS - Mesut Ozil thanked Arsenal fans for their “love” at a pre-season friendly after a torrid week following his racism allegations against Germany’s football body.

Ozil watched Arsenal’s penalties defeat to Atletico Madrid on Thursday from the bench but he received one of the biggest cheers of the night when his image was flashed up on the big screen.

APRNEWS - Mesut Ozil's decision to quit playing for Germany unleashed a racism storm in Berlin on Monday, but earned the applause of Ankara with a Turkish minister hailing "a goal against the virus of fascism".

AFP - France's sports minister has condemned the "inadmissible" monkey chants aimed at French players Paul Pogba and Ousmane Dembele during the international friendly against Russia in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

Laura Flessel, a former two-time Olympic champion in fencing, posted a message on her Twitter account on Wednesday.

AP - President Donald Trump, on the defensive in the wake of recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations that have revived questions about whether the leader of the world's melting pot is a racist, declared Sunday that he is not one.