Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) (PTI): A court in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri has summoned Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair on July 11 in a case registered in November last year on the charge of promoting enmity, a senior official said Saturday.

Shortly after Zubair got an interim bail from Supreme Court on Friday in a case registered in Sitapur for hurting religious sentiments, Lakhimpur Kheri Police served him a warrant to appear in court.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted five-day interim bail to Zubair in connection with an FIR lodged against him in Sitapur district but he will remain in custody as per the order of a Delhi court in another case.

"The court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) Mohammadi in Kheri district issued the warrant against Mohd Zubair, which was served by Kheri police on Friday," Additional superintendent of police (ASP) Arun Kumar Singh told PTI on Saturday.

Mohammadi Police station in charge Ambar Singh told PTI that "a case against Mohd Zubair had been lodged by Ashish Katiyar, reporter for a private news channel on Nov 25, 2021 by an order by a Kheri court."

"In his complaint, Katiyar had alleged Zubair of misleading people through his tweet about his channel," he said.

Inspector Ambar Singh said "On Friday, Kheri police reached Sitapur and handed over a warrant issued by Mohammadi ACJM's court to Sitapur district prison officials where Zubair was lodged." PTI COR CDN

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Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.

The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.

On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."

His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.

In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”

Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”

Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.

After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.

“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.

“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”

Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.

Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay. 

Chaotic end to a poor season

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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.

It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.

Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.

Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.