London, Jan. 23: Liverpool are in talks to sell the club to billionaire Kuwaiti businessman Nasser Al-Kharafi - the world's 46th-richest man.

The club's financial chief Philip Nash and commercial director Ian Ayre have been sent to the Middle East this week for discussions over a possible 400 million pound deal.

An Anfield insider confirmed: "Talks are ongoing but there is real hope this could finally be the answer to all the club's problems - on and off the pitch."

London, Jan. 23: Manchester City has offered Didier Drogba 180, 000-pound a week to quit Chelsea.

The striker is interested because he believes his old boss Jose Mourinho will take over at Eastlands this summer.

Drogba, 30, could earn 40 million pound over a period of four-and-a-half years, reports The Sun.

The tabloid revealed yesterday that Manchester City had turned to 15-million-pound Drogba after failing to get Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn.

London, Jan 23 : Burlesque star Dita Von Teese is set to take the French audiences by storm as she returns to perform striptease at Paris'' most famous nude revue.

The 36-year-old star has been booked in for a two-week run at the Crazy Horse in the French capital, where she also plans to show off musical skills.

"I feel that Paris is a place that still appreciates its showgirls. I feel I have to raise the bar," The Sun quoted her as saying.

London, Jan 23 : A 40-year-old Irish woman who forced her teenage son to have sex with her and abused her other five children for years in a rat-infested "house of horrors" was jailed for seven years on Thursday.

The woman's name cannot be revealed in order to protect the identities of the children.

Her instance echoes Josef Fritzl''s case who allegedly held his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered her seven children. He imprisoned Elisabeth in a dungeon, which was later dubbed "house of horrors."

Prosecutors charged Fritzl in November 2008 with murder for refusing to arrange medical treatment for the seventh child, who died in infancy.

London, Jan 23 : England Batsman Kevin Pietersen and all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will play in the Indian Premier League after signing their national central contracts.

Talks between England's players and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on signing of the annual deals had stalled over how long they would be allowed to play in the IPL, The News reported.

The agreement will allow a chosen few, probably Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah and maybe Ravi Bopara, to earn some big money quickly.

London, January 23 : A Beverly Hills court has given American actress/singer Hayden Panettiere's father, Alan, two years' probation, and ordered him to attend domestic violence counselling.

Alan had been charged with assaulting his wife in a much-publicised fight in August last year.

He had pleaded not guilty to misdemeanour battery.

The court gave him 24 months' probation, slapped a fine of 265 pounds, and ordered him to attend 52 weeks of domestic violence counselling.