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SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…

A British academic sentenced to life imprisonment by the United Arab Emirates and then pardoned has spoken for the first time since his release, thanking his wife for her "brave" support.

Matthew Hedges was freed on Monday after a high-profile battle with the Gulf state ally, but officials persisted in calling him an MI6 spy – a claim denied by family and colleagues.

"I could not have done this without Daniela, I hear her face is everywhere!" he said through his family spokesman, after landing at Heathrow airport on Tuesday morning. "She is so brave and strong, seeing her and my family after this ordeal is the best thing that could have happened. I thank you all once again, this is very surreal.” 

He also thanked the British embassy and the Foreign Office for their help in securing his release. 

The Durham University PhD student, originally from Exeter, was sentenced on Wednesday after being arrested at Dubai Airport as he tried to leave on May 5.

His wife, Daniela Tejada, mounted a campaign to free the 31-year-old and Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary, personally discussed the case with UAE leaders.

 "No one should ever have to go through what he did and it will take him time to heal and recover," she said on Tuesday. "He is very overwhelmed.

"To say we are happy is an understatement.”

On Tuesday afternoon, she also tweeted a photograph of her husband kissing her on the cheek in a message of gratitude to everyone who helped her. 

"His highness has decided to include Mr Matthew Hedges among the 785 prisoners released," he said.

"Mr Hedges will be permitted to leave the country once all the formalities are complete."

Matthew Hedges timeline

The UK takes a "neither confirm nor deny" approach to allegations of intelligence service membership, but Mr Hunt has previously said he has seen "absolutely no evidence" to suggest Mr Hedges is a spy.

Following the pardon, Ms Tejada, from Bogota in Colombia, said: "The presidential pardon for Matt is the best news we could have received.

"Our six-plus months of nightmare are finally over and to say we are elated is an understatement.

"That he is returning home to me and the rest of his family is much more than I was ever expecting to happen this week. I thank you all for your support."

Ms Tejada credited media coverage, support from British diplomats, Mr Hunt, academics and members of the public across the world for helping her husband’s cause.

She continued to reject the accusation that he was a spy, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "In my heart I know that he isn’t."

Mr Hedges’ release was confirmed after a family representative initially contradicted UAE officials who said he had been freed.

Foreign Secretary @Jeremy_Hunt's statement today on the release of Matthew Hedges pic.twitter.com/5WBr6q6Cnl

— Foreign Office 🇬🇧 (@foreignoffice) November 26, 2018

Mr Hunt said the UAE had made a "very important gesture" in pardoning Mr Hedges but described it as a "bittersweet moment" given that Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe remains detained in Iran, also accused of spying.

He told Today: "In a way it’s a bittersweet moment as in Iran, another country in the region, we have Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an innocent woman who is still in prison for nearly three years now.

"Indeed, there are other British citizens and other citizens from other countries also wrongly imprisoned in Iran also.

"So, you know the wonderful news about Matthew is also making us remember there are other people who are in a terrible state right now and we must never forget them either."

UAE minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said the pardon would allow the two countries to "return our focus to the underlying fundamental strength of the UAE-UK bilateral relationship", the WAM Emirates news agency reported.

Dr Gargash said: "It was always a UAE hope that this matter would be resolved through the common channels of our longstanding partnership.

"This was a straightforward matter that became unnecessarily complex despite the UAE’s best efforts."

Professor Stuart Corbridge, vice-chancellor of Durham University, said staff were "absolutely delighted" to learn of the news.

"It is paramount that he is now allowed to return home to Daniela and his family as quickly and safely as possible," he said.

Ms Tejada told Sky News she wanted to arrange a "winter barbecue" for her husband, which had been postponed from Spring due to his detention.

The Great War came to an end on Raw last night.

Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt’s Ultimate Deletion match aired in the main event spot. And after WWE’s first spectacle at the Hardy Compound, Hardy emerged victorious and Wyatt was unable to be retrieved from the Lake of Reincarnation. The match also included a cameo from Jeff Hardy following his DWI arrest from earlier this month (which came after the Ultimate Deletion was taped).

Despite being “temporarily suspended,” Roman Reigns made an appearance to open the show. He was handcuffed by three US Marshals, fought them off when they put their hands on him, and then was demolished by Brock Lesnar.

Elsewhere on the episode, John Cena wanted an answer from The Undertaker but got a chokeslam from Kane, Ronda Rousey opened up about the end of her UFC career in a video package, and Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax was made official for WrestleMania.

More coverage from last night —
Ronda Rousey appears for WWE Raw crowd, lays out Dana Brooke
WOR: Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, AJ Styles, RAW, tons more! 3/20
John Cena vs. Kane set for WWE Raw next week
Two more matches made official for WWE WrestleMania 34
WWE Raw live results: Brock Lesnar returns, Ultimate Deletion
WWE Raw video highlights —

Roman Reigns appears, fights off three US Marshals, gets demolished by Brock Lesnar

Alexa Bliss walks out of her match against Asuka, runs away from Nia Jax

Kurt Angle makes Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax official for WrestleMania

Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro

Matt Hardy introduces everyone to his Woken family

The Revival defeat Titus Worldwide, declare themselves for the Andre the Giant battle royal

WWE announces Mark Henry for this year’s Hall of Fame class

Bayley still can’t get over what Sasha Banks did to her at the Elimination Chamber

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville

John Cena wants an answer from The Undertaker, gets a chokeslam from Kane instead

The Balor Club vs. The Miz & The Miztourage

Ronda Rousey trains for WrestleMania, opens up about the end of her UFC career

Bray Wyatt arrives at the Hardy Compound

Matt Hardy gets some assistance from Vanguard 1

Bray Wyatt is reminded of his past as they fight in the Dilapidated City

Matt Hardy plays hide and seek with Bray Wyatt

The Great War enters the Dome of Deletion

Brother Nero makes a cameo, Matt Hardy deletes Bray Wyatt

Raw fallout: Seth Rollins wants a rematch against Finn Balor before WrestleMania

Raw fallout: Ronda Rousey makes an appearance for the crowd, throws Dana Brooke

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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.

(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)

President Emmanuel Macron of France is facing police calls to bring in the army to defend Paris from “yellow vest” attacks following last Saturday’s unprecedented riots in the French capital.

The police unions’ plea came as the government held crisis talks with the leaders of all of France’s political parties, many of whom urged Mr Macron to instantly scrap “green” fuel tax hikes to avoid the country spiralling into a permanent state of insurrection.

The three-week revolt has exposed a deep malaise over high taxation, the price of living and a sense of social injustice. Much of the ire has been directed against Mr Macron with many protesters complaining he is an arrogant and out of touch “president of the rich”.

Several regional state prefects – civil servants normally sworn to silence – were cited by Le Monde as slamming the “Parisian arrogance” of his government, totally cut-off from poor provincial France and in a “technocratic bubble” that was “without feelers”. One was citing as dubbing the situation “pre-revolutionary”.

"What is expressed the most is hatred for the President," said another.

Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, was due to announce new conciliatory “measures” after the marathon talks in what observers are calling a “race against time” to prevent a fresh bout of violence. He has ordered a parliamentary debate on the crisis on Wednesday.

But in a worrying blow, all 10 "yellow vest" spokesmen who signed a tribune in the French press this Sunday detailing their demands declined to meet the prime minister on Monday night.

They cited "security concerns" after receiving death threats from other protesters who see no compromise possible.

Masked protesters fought running battles with riot police last Saturday in Paris, smashing and looting shops, setting fire to banks and even targeting cherished symbols of the French Republic – chief among them the Arc de Triomphe. Paris’ town hall said they caused up to €4 million in damage.

Four people have died in incidents linked to the revolt around the country, with one protester in Paris in a critical condition after being crushed by a giant railing in the Tuileries gardens.

Some 682 arrests took place around France, including 426 in Paris, with 57 people due to be receive fast-fast-track sentences yesterday (Mon). Some 133 people were injured, including 23 police in the capital.

With calls on social media for fresh protests in Paris next Saturday, several police unions urged the government to bring in the army as their men were “exhausted”. Petrol bombs, rocks, and even hammers were thrown at the weekend, while one officer narrowly escaped a lynching.

Up to 10,000 troops have been patrolling sensitive sites around France since the 2015 Paris terror attacks but have not been used to protect landmarks during demonstrations.

“We must accept to free up security forces from a static form. We’re no longer talking about classic demonstrations but a phenomenon of urban guerrilla,” said Mr Le Bars.

On Monday, Mr Macron had lunch with several CRS riot police who faced the rioters near the Champ-Elysées and they are due to meet the interior minister on Tuesday.

Jean-Claude Delage, head of the main officers’ union, Alliance, warned: “If it kicks off like that next Saturday, there will be injuries and deaths among security forces.”

With thousands of “yellow vests” continuing to block roads around France, some 4,000 lorries were stuck on the border or Spain, said local Catalan authorities. 

Food industry representatives warned that the blockages risked causing €13.5bn over the festive season while hauliers said they had already lost €400m. 

There were signs the movement was spreading to secondary schools, some 100 of which were at least partially blocked on Monday.

Despite Saturday’s violence, some 72 per cent of French continue to support the movement, a Harris Interactive poll suggested.

Opposition leaders called for radical measures to restore calm.

After meeting the prime minister, Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Republicans party, said: “The president cannot keep on keeping quiet.”

“The only act that would restore peace would be to scrap tax hikes,” he said, calling for a referendum on the issue.

Olivier Faure, head of the Socialist Party, also demanded the restoration of a wealth tax Mr Macron partially scrapped at the start of his presidency – a move that critics claim proves he is on the side of the rich. 

“He’s got to come down from Mount Olympus,” he said.

Marine Le Pen, head of the far-Right National Rally, warned Mr Macron had “only a few more hours” to stop the revolt spiralling out of control.

Without “important, audible and immediate” measures, she predicted, he risked becoming “the first president in half a century to give the order to fire on French people.” 

With Alberto El Patron no longer with the company, Impact Wrestling’s upcoming Redemption pay-per-view has a new main event.

It will be Impact World Champion Austin Aries defending his title against Pentagon Jr. and Fenix in a triple threat match. That’s the same matchup that ended up headlining Impact’s show with Lucha Underground in New Orleans this week. Aries & Fenix were supposed to face El Patron & Pentagon at Impact vs. LU, but it was changed due to El Patron not showing up.

Aries revealed the new Redemption main event at tonight’s House of Hardcore show. Pentagon won the non-title meeting on Friday, pinning Fenix after they had taken Aries out of the equation with a double superkick.

Aries vs. El Patron and Pentagon vs. Fenix were originally scheduled for Redemption before the card was changed. The PPV will be taking place at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida on April 22nd.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report into Russian interference in the 2016 US election may never been seen in public, despite a drip feed of tantalising details being published over the last week.

As key aides to Donald Trump prepare to be sentenced this week for crimes relating to the Russia inquiry, the president’s lawyers are pouring over little-known rules that dictate how the long-awaited conclusion of the probe is handled. 

On Friday, intrigue over the protracted investigation, which opponents hope could open the door to impeachment for collusion with Russia in the 2016 elections, was fuelled by Mr Mueller publishing key guidelines for sentencing suspects.

Mr Mueller’s team announced that Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer for Donald Trump due in court on Wednesday, had met a Russian promising “political synergy” with the Trump election campaign, and even offering a meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Mr Mueller also announced that Paul Manafort, Mr Trump’s former campaign manager, told prosecutors "multiple discernible lies" about his contacts with Russians. Mr Trump, in the early hours of yesterday (SAT), insisted that the documents proved he played no role in Russian inteference.

 "AFTER TWO YEARS AND MILLIONS OF PAGES OF DOCUMENTS (and a cost of over $30,000,000), NO COLLUSION!" he tweeted.

Yet on Wednesday Mr Cohen, for years Mr Trump’s “fixer”, will be sentenced for the crimes of bank and tax fraud, and for lying to Congress – for which he pled guilty.

Prosecutors in New York are seeking “substantial” jail time, but Mr Mueller does not recommend additional time behind bars as a result of his inquiry.

Despite intense public interest, the inquiry itself may yet remain secret.

Mr Mueller is bound to “provide the [US] attorney general with a confidential report” explaining the prosecutions he brought or decided not to pursue.  

However, it is then up to the attorney general, who leads the Justice Department, to decide whether the report is published or handed over to the US Congress. There is no obligation to do either.  

The situation is complicated by the fact that Mr Trump, who has railed against the “witch hunt, recently sacked his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and replaced him with an arch critic of the Mueller probe, Matthew Whitaker.

The uncertainty means there are fears details of Mr Mueller’s findings could become the subject of intense legal and political wrangling and may never fully be revealed. 

Mr Trump’s own lawyers were once optimistically predicting the probe would be wrapped up by Christmas 2017.    

Mr Mueller, the former FBI director put in charge of the Russia investigation last May, is compelled to produce at least one report to the Justice Department explaining his decisions once his work is concluded. There is nothing stopping him producing numerous reports.  

John Q Barrett, a law professor at St John’s University in New York City who worked with the independent counsel investigating the Iran Contra scandal in the 1980s, said there was “zero” chance it will be finished by Christmas, pointing to a string of recent developments which suggest a number of investigations are still being pursued. 

“It could easily run another six months. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mueller is active as special counsel through much of next year,” Prof Barrett told The Sunday Telegraph.

Tommaso Ciampa is set to challenge for Aleister Black’s title on an episode of NXT television later this month.

It was announced on last night’s show that Black vs. Ciampa for the NXT Championship would be taking place on the episode that airs on July 25. That will be taped when NXT returns to Full Sail University on July 18 for the last set of TV tapings leading into TakeOver: Brooklyn IV.

Whatever happens in Black vs. Ciampa should help set up the card for Brooklyn. An angle leading into last month’s TakeOver: Chicago special saw Ciampa attack Johnny Gargano and take him out of a match with Black before Gargano was supposed to challenge for the title on TV.

After being defeated by Ciampa in Chicago, Gargano hit the same draping DDT that Ciampa used to beat him as the finish of his match with EC3 on last night’s episode. The storyline is that Gargano’s rivalry with Ciampa is continuing to turn him into what he was fighting against.

Ciampa interrupted a promo from Black on the June 29 episode of NXT TV to set him up as the next challenger for the title. That was after Black retained against Lars Sullivan in Chicago.

TakeOver: Brooklyn will be held at the Barclays Center on August 18 as part of SummerSlam weekend.