|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Lawyers for Chinese premier's family dispute New York Times article which said they have accumulated wealth of $2.7bn Lawyers for Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's family have denied reports of their "hidden riches" saying they are untrue, according to Hong Kong media. The New York Times said on Friday that relatives of the premier had controlled assets worth at least $2.7bn, citing detailed analysis of corporate and regulatory records. The Chinese foreign ministry said the story "blackens China's name and has ulterior motives". Authorities also blocked the media organisation's Chinese language and main websites and banned microblog searches for its name and a wide variety of terms related to the article. But it is unusual for the family of a senior leader to comment publicly on foreign media reports about them. When Bloomberg ran an article this summer on the wealth of relatives of Xi Jinping, vice president and heir-apparent to the presidency, there was no public response from the family. The statement, issued by lawyers from two Chinese firms late on Saturday night and obtained by Hong Kong television, the South China Morning Post and Sing Tao newspaper, said they had been "entrusted by the family members of Wen Jiabao" but did not specify which relatives they represent. Telephone calls to the two law firms, Grandall and Jun He law, rang unanswered on Sunday. The statement said: "The so-called 'hidden riches' of Wen Jiabao's family members in the New York Times' report does not exist. "Some of Wen Jiabao's family members have not engaged in business activities. Some were engaged in business activities, but they did not carry out any illegal business activity. They do not hold shares of any companies." It said that Wen's mother had never had any income or property beyond her salary and pension. The statement added: "Wen Jiabao has never played any role in the business activities of his family members, still less has he allowed his family members' business activities to have any influence on his formulation and execution of policies." The New York Times article did not suggest that Wen himself held assets, nor allege wrongdoing. The report said that in many cases the names of family members were "hidden behind layers of partnerships and investment vehicles involving friends, work colleagues and business partners". It added that several relatives held shares via an investment vehicle run by a wealthy businesswoman who told the media organisation that the assets were actually her own. She had not wanted publicity so asked relatives to find other people to register the shares in their names on her behalf; they had "by accident" chosen the premier's relatives. The lawyers' statement added: "Other relatives of Wen Jiabao and the 'friends' and 'colleagues' of those relatives are responsible for all their own business activities. "We will continue to make clarifications regarding untrue reports by the New York Times, and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible." Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the New York Times, wrote in an email published by the media organisation itself: "We are standing by our story, which we are incredibly proud of and which is an example of the quality investigative journalism The Times is known for."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: San Francisco Giants visit the Detroit Tigers for World Series Game 3
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gale force winds expected to reach portions of the US east coast by late Sunday, potentially causing billions in damage Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday as it threatened to hit the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before US presidential and congressional elections. A massive but slow-moving storm, with tropical storm-force winds extending across 650 miles, forecasters warn Sandy's flood impact could span multiple tides with a storm surge of four to eight feet in Long Island Sound, the southern portion of Lower New York Bay and Delaware Bay. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches were likely in some areas. As it merges with an Arctic jet stream, forecasters said Sandy had all the ingredients to morph into a so-called "super storm", unlike anything seen over the eastern United States in decades. Coastal flooding posed a major threat, particularly in low-lying areas like New York City, and Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington DC. That threat was described in a blog posted on Weather Underground by veteran weather forecaster Bryan Norcross as "serious as a heart attack for anybody near the rising water". Governors in states along the east coast declared emergencies, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries. Coming in the hectic run-up to the presidential election on 6 November, the storm presented a challenge to the campaigns of President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. As Sandy approached, Romney was rescheduling all of his campaign events planned for Virginia on Sunday and flying to Ohio instead. And Obama's campaign announced that vice-president Joe Biden had canceled a Saturday trip to Virginia Beach. Ahead of the election, millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting arrangements to cast their ballots. State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting. The White House said the president convened a call with homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) administrator Craig Fugate and other officials to receive a Saturday update on ongoing government actions to prepare for the storm. In New York, authorities were considering closing down the city's buses, subways, commuter railroads, bridges and tunnels in preparations for the storm's onslaught. A decision on the transportation system was likely to come on Sunday, said state operations director Howard Glaser. A potential shutdown could begin at 7pm on Sunday, when the last commuter trains would depart, with the entire system to be closed down by 3 am Monday, officials said. Sandy was about 335 miles south-east of Charleston, South Carolina, and packing top sustained winds of 75mph on Saturday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. The cyclone had briefly dropped just below hurricane strength early Saturday.
Little overall change in strength was expected ahead of its anticipated US landfall early next week, the Miami-based Hurricane Center said. The storm picked up a little forward speed but was still moving slowly over the Atlantic at 11mph. A jog east late Saturday morning briefly took Sandy further out to sea. The storm's windfield has continued to expand, with hurricane force winds now extending 105 miles from its center, government forecasters said. Gale force winds were expected to reach portions of the mid-Atlantic coast by late Sunday and would begin hitting New York's Long Island and southern New England by Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said. "It's hard to imagine how millions of people are not going to be without power for an extended period of time," Norcross said. Sandy battered the Bahamas southeast of Florida on Friday after causing widespread destruction in eastern Cuba a day earlier. The storm's powerful winds and rains were blamed for at least 41 deaths in several Caribbean countries, including 11 in Cuba. Most were killed by falling trees and building collapses. "Perhaps the biggest concern, at the very end, may be the extreme rainfall that's going to occur after landfall," Landsea said. In addition to coastal and inland flooding, along with widespread power outages, Sandy was expected to dump heavy wet snow in south-west Pennsylvania and as far inland as Ohio. High winds also threaten to disrupt air travel along the US East Coast.
Tropical storm warnings and watches along Florida's east coast were lifted on Saturday as the storm moved north. Tropical storm-force winds were being felt near the North Carolina coast and tropical storm warnings for all of the coastal portion of the state, along with about half of South Carolina, were in effect. Along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands, which jut out into the Atlantic, residents and officials said they were taking a wait-and-see approach to the storm. As the winds and rains increased Saturday, ferry service between Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands on the Outer banks was suspended due to water on Ocracoke's only highway. "Right now it's blowing pretty hard," said Ray Waller, manager of the Ocracoke office of North Carolina Ferry Division. Outer Banks residents, with memories of damaging flooding from last year's hurricane Irene, moved vehicles to higher ground and secured outside objects ahead of winds of more than 60mph beginning Saturday night and potentially lasting into Monday. A buoy 225 miles south of Cape Hatteras recorded 26-foot waves amid blistering wind gusts early on Saturday, authorities said. Many forecasters are warning that Sandy could be more destructive than Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the US north-east.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Carlos Tevez's excellent goal settled a weird game that included freak injuries to Michel Vorm and Micah Richards Preamble When you've had a chastening experience, there's nothing as comforting as comfort. It could be the zesty ingestion of 47 Big Macs, spunking money you don't have on clothes you don't want or even a home Premier League fixture. Nothing is as likely to make Manchester City feel good about themselves. Since the start of 2011, their Premier League record at the Etihad puts the 'form' in 'formidable': P32 W29 D3 L0. City are still the best team in the Premier League. This is worth reiterating given their status as the crisis club of English football, on a notorious losing streak of one game. They have made a slightly absent-minded start to their title defence, in part because of Roberto Mancini's think problem, but their imminent departure from the Champions League will focus those minds. All should be well with their world by 7.30pm. It's an important game for Swansea too, the start of a very tricky run of fixtures. In the next 10 games they play City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. There have been some scandalously premature judgements of Michael Laudrup's tenure. By Christmas we should have a much better idea how successful he is likely to be. Swansea's last win at Manchester City came in 1951. That's a deceptive statistic, though; they've only played six games in the 61 years since. No, I'm not really sure what the point of this entry is. Shameless plug department I wrote a chapter on Roy Keane (there's an extract here) for this book. If everyone in the entire known universe buys a copy, I'll be so rich that I never have to MBM another game, so we all win. What are you waiting for? Michael Laudrup: the definitive player's player Just look at these tributes, and then spend 10 minutes savouring what all the fuss was about. Team news Manchester City have recalled Carlos Tevez, Alexsandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasic. They could play a couple of formations with that XI: it might an up-yours 3-5-2 from Roberto Mancini, with Gael Clichy as the left centre-back, but it's more likely to be a 4-2-3-1 with Samir Nasri on the right of midfield. Swansea are unchanged. Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Hart; Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Y Toure, Barry; Nasri, Tevez, Kolarov; Aguero.
Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Toure, Evans, Sinclair, Dzeko, Balotelli. Swansea City (4-2-3-1-0) Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies; Britton, Ki; Hernandez, De Guzman, Routledge; Michu.
Subs: Tremmel, Dyer, Graham, Monk, Shechter, Tiendalli, Agustien. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) 5.20pm "Right, I've been disappointed by Villa and Norwich, I've been disappointed by my Quorn burgers for lunch, and I've been very disappointed by my 10-month-old son going for a nap rather than watching Star Wars Episode IV with me," says Matt Dony. "This better be a helluva good MBM, Smyth!" I'll bring my banter A-game. Here's a question If you have big headphones, proper headphones, and a woolly hat, how can you wear the two at the same time? You can't wear the hat on top and if you wear the headphones on top it looks like you're auditioning for the winter season of Nathan Barley. You could just go without the music, of course, but a gentleman needs his Roxette fix on a cold winter's day. 1 min City (Manchester) kick off from right to left. They are in blue; Swansea are in white. 2 min City (Manchester) are indeed playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. 3 min "Back when I used to spend my money on things like nice headphones, I would have two pairs, proper headphones, and then smaller headphones that would hook behind the ear which I could wear under a winter hat or on an oppressively warm day," says Kari Tulinius. "Big headphones and woolly hats don't play well together." This head ain't big enough for the both of 'em, and all that. 4 min It's been a pretty quiet start to the game, with more than a whiff of prawn sandwiches about the atmosphere. 5 min Britton plays a crisp 10-yard pass straight into touch. Swansea have been good without the ball but poor with it in the first few minutes. 8 min Aguero feels Williams at his back and swerves majestically around him. When he's tackled the ball breaks to Tevez in the area, and Chico makes a superb sliding tackle before Tevez can get a shot in. 10 min This is all very sluggish thus far. Whatever happened to the fast start? In 2002 Arsenal seemed to be 2-0 up after 10 minutes every second week. Now teams would rather feel their way into the game. 11 min "It is for such occasions that the humble boombox was invented," says Ben Stanley. "This has the additional advantage of allowing you to drown out the tinny grime emanating from some spotty teenager's iPhone speaker with a blast of Physical Graffiti." 13 min Kompany fouls De Guzman down the left, which gives Swansea their first attacking set piece. It's swung deep by De Guzman and, although Williams was flagged offside, Hart didn't know that when he came for the ball and made a total hash of his attempted punch. 15 min "I know I'm pushing on an open door here Rob, but watching that selection of Laudrupisms just underlines how blessed are those blessed with outrageous balance," says Gary Naylor. "Yet his contemporary, Preben Elkjaer, was a magnificently balanced footballer too – though in a completely different way. Elkjaer seemed always to be on the edge of falling over, always flat out to try to keep up with the ball and his footballing brain, always baffling us with how he actually did the things he did. Though Laudrup is at the extreme end of 'his' balance spectrum with the likes of Zidane, Beckenbauer and Muller, is Elkjaer on a spectrum all of his own? I can't think of many who played like him with quite that level of ability, like an ultra deluxe Ade Akinbiyi. Someone should write a book about those mid-80s Danes." Quite. This is a great example of his balance. Elkjaer was one of those players, like Jan Ceulemans, who never gave defenders even a second's peace. One Spanish paper described him as "the human locomotive", which is lovely. 16 min This game is a mess. Both sides have been unusually loose in possession. 17 min Gareth Barry, the Englishman, palpably obstructs Angel Rangel, the foreign man, sending him flying as a result. The foreign man is booked for diving. 20 min Aside from that Chico tackle on Tevez, Manchester have not even had a sniff of a chance. They aren't being helped by a seriously subdued atmosphere. 21 min "We are still in the bar, Rob," hics my colleague Ian McCourt, who was in the bar during the first MBM five hours ago. 22 min Hernandez, on the right, swings a superb cross towards Michu, who is about to head for goal when Micah Richards comes round from the side to head away. In doing so he clashes heads with Michu, who drops straight to the ground and may well have been knocked out for a few seconds. He receives treatment before being helped to his feet by Joe Hart, and I think he'll be okay to continue. That was a great piece of defending from Richards, because Michu was only ten yards out and would surely have scored. 25 min "I can't have been the only one to see that Elkjaer clip and thought, 'What would Benjamin Massing do?'" says Richard Dorman. You know you've left a decent football legacy when your surname becomes a verb. 26 min City, as Chris Waddle says on ESPN, have been far too slow in possession. I'm not quite sure why. They look like a team who are so used to going behind (and then coming back to win) that they need it to happen again before they wake up. In a daft way the worst thing Swansea could do here is score a goal. 28 min This is even worse than Aston Villa v Norwich City. 29 min Apart from this game, and the one earlier, what would be your nominations for The Joy of Six: Stinkers. 30 min Kolarov and Nasri have switched wings. This is the extent of the excitement just now. 31 min Does anyone else remember Leeds 0-0 Blackburn in 1996-97, live on a Monday night? That was the stinker's stinker, and more exciting than this. 32 min If this game was a song ... 33 min Gareth Barry overhits a 10-yard through pass to Carlos Tevez by at least five yards. A 50 per cent ineptitude ratio, which is pretty special. 34 min "How many Stoke games are you willing to list in the JOS: Stinkers?" says Mike. "Switzerland v Ukraine World Cup 2006 haunts me still." I think there's a support group for people who watched the entirety of that game. 35 min Clichy bombs into space down the left – and sidefoots a cross straight out of play. Is this a deliberate parody of an awful football match? If so it's note perfect. 36 min Vorm, obviously bored of having bugger all to do, passes the ball straight to Aguero, 25 yards from goal. He moves it forward to Tevez in the area, where Rangel comes round to make an excellent interception. 37 min Michu has a goal rightly disallowed for offside. It was a classy finish, though, clipped high beyond the advancing Hart. 38 min "Birmingham v Wolves in the Carling Cup last season," says Phil Booth. "Has to be." 39 min An actual shot on goal. No word of a lie. Tevez had a little space on the right side of the box and drilled a sharp but straight shot that was comfortably saved by Vorm. Moments later, Swansea had their first half-chance. Richards cleaned out De Guzman on the edge of the area, but Martin Atkinson played a good advantage, allowing Hernandez to swerve into the box and hit a low cross that was hoofed clear from under the bar by Kompany. When the ball went dead, Atkinson booked Richards for his earlier attempt at a tackle. 41 min Hart makes a fine save to deny Michu. The chance came when he broke beyond a static defence onto a superb angled through pass from Ki. Michu's first touch was a fraction too heavy, and it allowed Hart to charge from his line. Michu tried to dink it over the top with his second touch but Hart had got to within a couple of yards of him and was able to block the shot. Great goalkeeping. 43 min "The 1994 World Cup final nearly killed off my nascent interest in football when I was 8," says Matt Roberts. "Abysmal match." But it had Viola's 14 minutes of fame. And it was Barry Davies's only World Cup final, so it gets a pass. 45 min City get a corner, their first I think, on the left wing. It's taken by Aguero, and it doesn't clear the front man's feet, never mind his head. There will be two minutes of added ambience. 45+1 min "The girls behind the bar are giving us free shots," says Ian McCourt. How did you swing that? Did you tell them you know Tom Lutz? 45+2 min The half in miniature. City win a free kick on the right, maybe 35 yards from goal. All the big men come forward. Tevez hoofs it miles over everyone, and the crossbar. Half time: Manchester City 0-0 Swansea City We must never talk of that half of football again. Ever. Obvious half-time thought David Silva is having a good game. Half-time emails "The worst match I can remember is definitely Ireland v Norway in the 1994 World Cup group stage. It's hard to forget the sight of John Sheridan hoofing it 40 yards upfield every time the ball came to him, followed by John Aldridge thinking about running after it but deciding instead to trot back infield with a shake of his head" – James Roscow. "Virtually all of Alex McLeish's games in the Premier League are tripping over each other in the boredom stakes" – Conor Seery. "Micah Richards was the last man on the tackle he was booked for and should have been sent off. No one has seemed to notice though" – Rasmus. (He was last man but I don't think it was a clear goalscoring opportunity.) "Evening Rob. Pop Quiz. Who is the only man to have scored in a World Cup semi-final and the Dundee derby? That's right, Claudio Caniggia. I once met him in the Overgate shopping centre in Dundee, one of the more surreal experiences of my life" – Simon McMahon. "How tall need a player be to receive praise for his balance? With the likes of Romario, Messi, Aguero etc, I've always taken it for granted. Yet Seedorf's ability to drop his center of gravity from one leg to the other has always amazed me. Surely some kind of mometer is due..." – Phil Podolsky. 46 min Swansea kick off from right to left. City have replaced Aleksandar Kolarov with Mario Balotelli. 47 min City have had a half-time hairdryer – possibly literally – and have already shown more urgency in the first two minutes of the half than they did in the 47 minutes of the first. 48 min "I'm in California visiting some college buddies," says Eric Calhoun. "I convinced everyone to get up for the 9:30am kick-off and watch the game over breakfast, and now I'm not allowed to make suggestions the rest of the trip." 49 min I wonder if a team who are unbeaten in the league at the end of October have ever been under such scrutiny as City right now. 51 min Balotelli has just missed a very good chance. He was put through on goal by a lovely pass by Nasri and decided to go round Vorm instead of shooting. His touch was too heavy, however, and took him almost to the touchline on the left side of the box. By the time he passed the ball back into the middle, a group of Swansea defenders had got back and one of them was able to clear. In Balotelli's defence, Vorm was out extremely quickly to him. 53 min It's all City now. Tevez splits the defence with a stunning pass to find Richards in the box on the right. He eschews the shot and instead drags it across the face of goal towards Balotelli, who just can't reach the ball to put it into the open net. Balotelli claimed he was dragged down by Chico and went head to head with Williams; replays suggest he made the most of very little contact. No way was that a penalty. It was a wonderful pass from Tevez, Laudrupesque in fact. It was pretty much in a straight line, over a distance of about 30 yards, and took four players out of the game. 56 min "In 2006 I was living in the US and didn't have TV," says Kari Tulinius. "However, my landlady let me go to her apartment to watch World Cup games on a Spanish-language channel. I was the only tenant who was allowed that, but then I was the only tenant who had any desire to go into her apartment, on account of her cat. That kitty was just about the most malignant, crazed feline I have ever heard of. It would jump on whomever entered the apartment and just straight-up maul them with claws extended. It would even attack its owner, but she, being ex-military police, was a tough lady and didn't mind. However, for some reason, that cat took a shine to me, which garnered me some privileges in return for taking care of the cat whenever the landlady was away. When I'd go downstairs to watch games, the cat would inevitably curl up next to me on the sofa and purr. Usually it would sleep, no matter how excited I'd get, and wouldn't pay any attention to the screen. However, during the Switzerland – Ukraine game, as it was becoming increasingly clear that extra time was upon us, the cat woke up, looked at the TV for a minute or so, and then stepped up on me and put its front paws on my chest and started kneading me. As I looked down at it, the cat put one paw on my throat. I could feel its claws on my skin. It looked up at me, as if saying: 'I can end it for you now, if that makes your pain go away.' After a second's consideration of its offer, I shook my head, and the cat took its paw away from my throat and curled up in my lap, where it stayed all the way to the end of the match. That is almost entirely a true story." 57 min Swansea can't put three passes together. The atmosphere is still pretty subdued but you do feel a City goal is on the way. 59 min Michu produces another important save from Hart. Swansea's first decent attack of the second half almost led to a goal. After a long series of short passes, Hernandez broke away on the right and clipped over a cross towards Michu near the penalty spot. He sent a diving header towards goal but it was a bit too close to Hart, who dived smartly to his right to save. Michu will probably feel he should have scored; had it been in the corner, Hart would have had no chance. He didn't get enough of a flick on the header. GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Swansea City (Tevez 61) This is an excellent goal from Carlos Tevez. Nasri played a square ball to him, 25 yards from goal, slightly to the right of centre. He didn't have much space but had enough time to take a touch and then crunch a fine shot that dipped nastily and arrowed into the far corner. The way Tevez stunned the ball meant it wobbled a bit like a plastic ball, but ultimately it was the accuracy of the shot that was decisive. Vorm had no chance really, although he injured his groin in his attempt to save and is going to be stretchered off. 65 min Play still hasn't restarted. Vorm is being helped very carefully onto a stretcher by five or six physios. 66 min Vorm is finally replaced by Gerhard Tremmel, and Swansea kick off five minutes after conceding. 68 min "Like in most things, Premier League era ennui is nothing to real football era ennui," says Jon Millard. "Arsenal and Coventry seemed to be both perpetually televised in the 80s, and also, like Spinal Tap's Fire and Ice, perpetually produce lukewarm water. In 86/87 they gave us a shocking 0-0, and that so impressed ITV that they let them reproduce the exact scoreline and level of tedium next year. Being the 80s, you couldn't even watch it in the pub. Great. 71 min Michu's header from De Guzman's cross hits the outstretched hand of Kompany. There was a slight penalty appeal from Michu but nothing really. Kompany was only a couple of yards away from Michu, although he did have his arms raised. It would have been a pretty harsh penalty. 72 min Swansea replace a midfielder, Leon Britton, with a striker, Danny Graham. Michu will drop back into the hole. 74 min City still look unconvincing in defence. Nasri's pathetic clearance goes straight to De Guzman, 25 yards out. He shapes to go to the left of Hart and then sweeps a curler the other way, just past the far post. That was a fine effort. 75 min Apparently the Swansea chef, who is not a svelte gentleman, has broken his seat in the dugout. Yes, this is the bit where we link to Vito Spatafore (warning: clip has adult language). 77 min City have started sleepwalking through the game again, which has allowed Swansea to get back into the game. Pablo Hernandez clearly has his shirt pulled in the area by Nastasic, but it's not seen by the referee Martin Atkinson. That should have been a penalty, although only Mike Dean tends to give them. 78 min Swansea make their final change, with Nathan Dyer replacing Pablo Hernandez. 80 min Micah Richards is running towards his own goal when suddenly he collapses to the floor. He's beating the turf in pain, and it seems to be a knee problem. That looks pretty nasty. He had treatment for cramp a few minutes earlier but I don't think it's that. He looked in agony when it happened and now, as a stretcher is prepared, he is receiving oxygen. He may have ruptured something. 84 min Richards, still receiving oxygen, is helped slowly onto a stretcher and off the field. What a strange game of football this has been; two players have been stretchered off with apparently serious injuries, both after no contact with any other players. 85 min Richards is replaced by Kolo Toure. There will probably be at least 10 minutes of added time in this match. 86 min Nathan Dyer is booked for a sliding foul on Gael Clichy. That seemed a little harsh. 87 min He broke his seat! 88 min "Did you see Michael Vaughan's jive on Strictly the other week, Rob?" says Simon McMahon. "Didn't see that coming back in 2005." You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you never heard! 89 min An excellent inswinging cross from the right by, er, a Swansea player just evades the leaping Graham before drifting wide of the far post. Manchester City have been really poor in the last 15 minutes and a Swansea goal wouldn't be at all surprising. 90 min There will be 12 minutes of Fergie Time. That's about right in view of the injuries and substitutions. 90+2 min He broke his seat! 90+3 min This has been such a strange game, with an atmosphere so muted as to be almost unsettling. Dyer plays a smart one-two with Rangel and then blitzes a stunningly inept cross well wide of the near post. 90+4 min When the ball goes out for a Swansea throw-in, Michael Laudrup scoops the ball up to Ben Davies. Which is as good an excuse as any to post this link. 90+6 min City make their final substitution, with Joleon Lescott replacing Sergio Aguero. It's not a switch to three in defence; Lescott has gone to centre back, Nastasic left back and Clichy left midfield. 90+7 min A loose ball breaks to Ki, 25 yards out, and he blooters a half-volley miles wide. 90+9 min Balotelli wins a corner with an excellent run down the right. Nothing comes from it. 90+10 min Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 90+11 min After a dodgy spell either side of the Richards injury, Manchester City have been comfortable enough in added time. Not remotely convincing, but not in any real danger of conceding. 90+13 min This is now the longest Premier League game in history. Full time: Manchester City 1-0 Swansea Balotelli almost scores with the last kick of the game, thrashing a shot that is either tipped over or hits the bar. Who cares? Thank goodness that game is over. At first it was terrible; then it was unnerving with freak injuries to Michel Vorm and Micah Richards; and by the end of 13 minutes of added time it was just plain weird. Thanks for your emails; night.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Convictions of six seismologists over 308 deaths three years ago have shocked colleagues – but not the disaster's survivors On a sun-drenched autumn day in L'Aquila, Vincenzo Vittorini peered into the huge hole in the ground where his house once stood and recalled the night his wife and nine-year-old daughter were crushed to death. Scared by the scores of tremors that had shaken L'Aquila for four months, the Vittorinis were huddled together in bed in their top-floor apartment that night, 5 April 2009. When the earthquake struck at 3.32am, all three plummeted three storeys as the building folded like paper. Miraculously Vittorini, 49, was unscathed, never lost consciousness and was dug out at 9am by a neighbour. His family were less fortunate. "My wife and daughter did not die immediately," he said, his voice trailing off. Did he hear voices as he lay trapped? "I heard everything, unfortunately." Like many local people, Vittorini had decided to stay at home that night, having been reassured by a meeting of Italy's leading earthquake experts five days earlier, on 31 March. Just before attending the meeting, the deputy head of Italy's civil protection agency, Bernardo De Bernardinis, promised the tremors were helping the earth release pent-up energy and called the situation "favourable". "During a tremor the day before the meeting, everyone in L'Aquila had run for the streets, but on the night of the fifth, after the meeting, we felt the initial tremors, said 'this is good, the more the merrier', and went to bed," recalled Vittorini, a surgeon and local councillor. The following morning 308 people were dead, 1,600 were injured and L'Aquila was a patchwork of rubble following a 6.3 magnitude shock. Last week those six scientists, plus De Bernardinis, were handed six-year sentences for manslaughter by a judge in L'Aquila, a verdict that drew a furious reaction from the world's scientific community amid claims that scientists cannot be sent to jail for their findings. Enzo Boschi, one of the convicted experts, compared himself to Galileo, who was tried by the Vatican in 1633 for claiming the Earth revolved around the Sun. Another claimed the court had wanted "an eye for an eye". After rows over climate change, genetically modified food and most recently bovine TB and the merits of badger culls, the L'Aquila trial is just the latest scuffle between science and society that has seen scientists forced out of their laboratories and on to the frontline in political battles shaping the world's future. As a battlefield, L'Aquila fits the bill. The cracked and crumbling palazzi that line the streets of its once busy centre are now shored up by metal brackets and abandoned, awaiting reconstruction, while weeds creep along the empty cobbled streets. Bored army patrols looking for looters stand by split-open buildings where bathroom mirrors glint in the sun and washing still hangs from balconies, greyed after three winters. Survivors of the quake who celebrated the verdict last week were quick to stress that the convictions of the experts had been misunderstood – they were not punished for failing to predict the quake, as widely understood, but for offering unreasonable reassurances that no earthquake would come. "We were desperate for news after leaving the house repeatedly in the wake of four months of growing tremors," said Maurizio Cora, a local lawyer, who tried in vain to dig his wife and two daughters out alive from rubble when their apartment building collapsed. "That night we took the advice of Italy's most senior experts and stayed in." One of those experts, Franco Barberi, denied he or his colleagues had offered reassurances. "I attended the press conference after the meeting on 31 March and said earthquakes were not predictable and nothing could be excluded," he said. The problem, he said, stemmed from the optimistic interview given by De Bernardinis before the meeting. "That interview should have been countered," he said. "The civil protection agency had a responsibility to do that and evidently did not." De Bernardinis's optimism appeared to be similar to that of his boss, Guido Bertolaso, who did not attend the meeting but arranged it. Under investigation at the time in a corruption probe, Bertolaso had his phone tapped, and investigators overheard him telling a local official he was staging the meeting as a "media event" to "quieten imbeciles" who feared a big quake. Bertolaso had already decided to take legal action against a local scientist who had forecast that a surge in the release of radon from the ground was a sure sign trouble was coming. But Bertolaso's lawyer, Filippo Dinacci, said the sense of the conversation had been twisted. "He also criticises the official for issuing a statement saying there would be no more quakes and tells her, 'You don't even do that under torture'. That is the opposite of what he is accused of." Cora said that, even if the scientists were not prepared to rule out a major quake, they were at fault for not speaking out after De Bernardinis claimed the tremors were releasing energy. "No one denied what he said," he recalled. "The energy release idea was nonsense, the scientists unplugged their brains and obeyed the politicians," said Giustino Parisse, a news editor at local newspaper Il Centro, whose son, daughter and father were killed in the quake. "At that meeting I think they felt the need to calm people down." Last Thursday, local councillors in L'Aquila gathered to listen in silence to another wiretap released by prosecutors in which Bertolaso appeared to instruct Boschi about speaking to the press after the main quake. "These wiretaps show the complete control of the state over science," Vittorini told his fellow councillors. At the time of the quake, Bertolaso was a rising star in Italian politics, often seen at the side of Silvio Berlusconi and entrusted by the then prime minister to help solve crises including the tonnes of uncollected rubbish cluttering the streets of Naples. "Bertolaso viewed himself as Superman, just like Berlusconi, and believed there was no reality apart from the one he lived," said local journalist Barbara Bologna. Bertolaso is now under investigation for his role, butlast week denied he had ever bullied scientists. "I never needed to impose anything on the scientists who worked with us," he wrote on his website. "He has no responsibility here," added Dinacci. Three years on, residents who were hurriedly shifted to new homes after the quake say Italy's political class has since compounded its error by delaying the reconstruction of the historic centre of L'Aquila. A student dormitory building where eight people died remains a gutted shell, surrounded by a metal fence draped with curling photographs of the dead and withered flowers. The town's decision to allow bars to reopen in the deserted centre brings in crowds by night, creating a surreal rave atmosphere among the empty buildings, but by day the cordoned-off streets feel like a film set, with the odd construction worker silhouetted against the Abruzzo mountains that surround the town. "There is nothing happening, we are two years late," said the mayor, Massimo Cialente, who blames the special commissioners sent in to handle the work. "It has been like Kabul here, and I am [Afghan president Hamid] Karzai," he said. "It was not done deliberately, it was just sheer incompetence." As reconstruction starts in earnest next year, the seven men convicted of manslaughter will be launching their appeal against their sentences. Parisse said that, despite losing his children on the night of 5 April, he did not want damages and he did not want revenge. "We just need to learn from this. I don't want it to happen again," he said. Vincenzo Vittorini walked away from the hole where his house once stood. "My hope," he said, "is that no one ever builds on this spot."
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• Follow Rob on Twitter 80 min Micah Richards is running towards his own goal when suddenly he collapses to the floor. He's beating the turf in pain, and it seems to be a knee problem. That looks pretty nasty. He had treatment for cramp a few minutes earlier but I don't think it's that. He looked in agony when it happened and now, as a stretcher is prepared, he is receiving oxygen. He may have ruptured something. 78 min Swansea make their final change, with Nathan Dyer replacing Pablo Hernandez. 77 min City have started sleepwalking through the game again, which has allowed Swansea to get back into the game. Pablo Hernandez clearly has his shirt pulled in the area by Nastasic, but it's not seen by the referee Martin Atkinson. That should have been a penalty, although only Mike Dean tends to give them. 75 min Apparently the Swansea chef, who is not a svelte gentleman, has broken his seat in the dugout. Yes, this is the bit where we link to Vito Spatafore (warning: clip has adult language). 74 min City still look unconvincing in defence. Nasri's pathetic clearance goes straight to De Guzman, 25 yards out. He shapes to go to the left of Hart and then sweeps a curler the other way, just past the far post. That was a fine effort. 72 min Swansea replace a midfielder, Leon Britton, with a striker, Danny Graham. Michu will drop back into the hole. 71 min Michu's header from De Guzman's cross hits the outstretched hand of Kompany. There was a slight penalty appeal from Michu but nothing really. Kompany was only a couple of yards away from Michu, although he did have his arms raised. It would have been a pretty harsh penalty. 68 min "Like in most things, Premier League era ennui is nothing to real football era ennui," says Jon Millard. "Arsenal and Coventry seemed to be both perpetually televised in the 80s, and also, like Spinal Tap's Fire and Ice, perpetually produce lukewarm water. In 86/87 they gave us a shocking 0-0, and that so impressed ITV that they let them reproduce the exact scoreline and level of tedium next year. Being the 80s, you couldn't even watch it in the pub. Great. 66 min Vorm is finally replaced by Gerhard Tremmel, and Swansea kick off five minutes after conceding. 65 min Play still hasn't restarted. Vorm is being helped very carefully onto a stretcher by five or six physios. GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Swansea City (Tevez 61) This is an excellent goal from Carlos Tevez. Nasri played a square ball to him, 25 yards from goal, slightly to the right of centre. He didn't have much space but had enough time to take a touch and then crunch a fine shot that dipped nastily and arrowed into the far corner. The way Tevez stunned the ball meant it wobbled a bit like a plastic ball, but ultimately it was the accuracy of the shot that was decisive. Vorm had no chance really, although he injured his groin in his attempt to save and is going to be stretchered off. 59 min Michu produces another important save from Hart. Swansea's first decent attack of the second half almost led to a goal. After a long series of short passes, Hernandez broke away on the right and clipped over a cross towards Michu near the penalty spot. He sent a diving header towards goal but it was a bit too close to Hart, who dived smartly to his right to save. Michu will probably feel he should have scored; had it been in the corner, Hart would have had no chance. He didn't get enough of a flick on the header. 57 min Swansea can't put three passes together. The atmosphere is still pretty subdued but you do feel a City goal is on the way. 56 min "In 2006 I was living in the US and didn't have TV," says Kari Tulinius. "However, my landlady let me go to her apartment to watch World Cup games on a Spanish-language channel. I was the only tenant who was allowed that, but then I was the only tenant who had any desire to go into her apartment, on account of her cat. That kitty was just about the most malignant, crazed feline I have ever heard of. It would jump on whomever entered the apartment and just straight-up maul them with claws extended. It would even attack its owner, but she, being ex-military police, was a tough lady and didn't mind. However, for some reason, that cat took a shine to me, which garnered me some privileges in return for taking care of the cat whenever the landlady was away. When I'd go downstairs to watch games, the cat would inevitably curl up next to me on the sofa and purr. Usually it would sleep, no matter how excited I'd get, and wouldn't pay any attention to the screen. However, during the Switzerland – Ukraine game, as it was becoming increasingly clear that extra time was upon us, the cat woke up, looked at the TV for a minute or so, and then stepped up on me and put its front paws on my chest and started kneading me. As I looked down at it, the cat put one paw on my throat. I could feel its claws on my skin. It looked up at me, as if saying: 'I can end it for you now, if that makes your pain go away.' After a second's consideration of its offer, I shook my head, and the cat took its paw away from my throat and curled up in my lap, where it stayed all the way to the end of the match. That is almost entirely a true story." 53 min It's all City now. Tevez splits the defence with a stunning pass to find Richards in the box on the right. He eschews the shot and instead drags it across the face of goal towards Balotelli, who just can't reach the ball to put it into the open net. Balotelli claimed he was dragged down by Chico and went head to head with Williams; replays suggest he made the most of very little contact. No way was that a penalty. It was a wonderful pass from Tevez, Laudrupesque in fact. It was pretty much in a straight line, over a distance of about 30 yards, and took four players out of the game. 51 min Balotelli has just missed a very good chance. He was put through on goal by a lovely pass by Nasri and decided to go round Vorm instead of shooting. His touch was too heavy, however, and took him almost to the touchline on the left side of the box. By the time he passed the ball back into the middle, a group of Swansea defenders had got back and one of them was able to clear. In Balotelli's defence, Vorm was out extremely quickly to him. 49 min I wonder if a team who are unbeaten in the league at the end of October have ever been under such scrutiny as City right now. 48 min "I'm in California visiting some college buddies," says Eric Calhoun. "I convinced everyone to get up for the 9:30am kick-off and watch the game over breakfast, and now I'm not allowed to make suggestions the rest of the trip." 47 min City have had a half-time hairdryer – possibly literally – and have already shown more urgency in the first two minutes of the half than they did in the 47 minutes of the first. 46 min Swansea kick off from right to left. City have replaced Aleksandar Kolarov with Mario Balotelli. Half-time emails "The worst match I can remember is definitely Ireland v Norway in the 1994 World Cup group stage. It's hard to forget the sight of John Sheridan hoofing it 40 yards upfield every time the ball came to him, followed by John Aldridge thinking about running after it but deciding instead to trot back infield with a shake of his head" – James Roscow. "Virtually all of Alex McLeish's games in the Premier League are tripping over each other in the boredom stakes" – Conor Seery. "Micah Richards was the last man on the tackle he was booked for and should have been sent off. No one has seemed to notice though" – Rasmus. (He was last man but I don't think it was a clear goalscoring opportunity.) "Evening Rob. Pop Quiz. Who is the only man to have scored in a World Cup semi-final and the Dundee derby? That's right, Claudio Caniggia. I once met him in the Overgate shopping centre in Dundee, one of the more surreal experiences of my life" – Simon McMahon. "How tall need a player be to receive praise for his balance? With the likes of Romario, Messi, Aguero etc, I've always taken it for granted. Yet Seedorf's ability to drop his center of gravity from one leg to the other has always amazed me. Surely some kind of mometer is due..." – Phil Podolsky. Obvious half-time thought David Silva is having a good game. Half time: Manchester City 0-0 Swansea City We must never talk of that half of football again. Ever. 45+2 min The half in miniature. City win a free kick on the right, maybe 35 yards from goal. All the big men come forward. Tevez hoofs it miles over everyone, and the crossbar. 45+1 min "The girls behind the bar are giving us free shots," says Ian McCourt. How did you swing that? Did you tell them you know Tom Lutz? 45 min City get a corner, their first I think, on the left wing. It's taken by Aguero, and it doesn't clear the front man's feet, never mind his head. There will be two minutes of added ambience. 43 min "The 1994 World Cup final nearly killed off my nascent interest in football when I was 8," says Matt Roberts. "Abysmal match." But it had Viola's 14 minutes of fame. And it was Barry Davies's only World Cup final, so it gets a pass. 41 min Hart makes a fine save to deny Michu. The chance came when he broke beyond a static defence onto a superb angled through pass from Ki. Michu's first touch was a fraction too heavy, and it allowed Hart to charge from his line. Michu tried to dink it over the top with his second touch but Hart had got to within a couple of yards of him and was able to block the shot. Great goalkeeping. 39 min An actual shot on goal. No word of a lie. Tevez had a little space on the right side of the box and drilled a sharp but straight shot that was comfortably saved by Vorm. Moments later, Swansea had their first half-chance. Richards cleaned out De Guzman on the edge of the area, but Martin Atkinson played a good advantage, allowing Hernandez to swerve into the box and hit a low cross that was hoofed clear from under the bar by Kompany. When the ball went dead, Atkinson booked Richards for his earlier attempt at a tackle. 38 min "Birmingham v Wolves in the Carling Cup last season," says Phil Booth. "Has to be." 37 min Michu has a goal rightly disallowed for offside. It was a classy finish, though, clipped high beyond the advancing Hart. 36 min Vorm, obviously bored of having bugger all to do, passes the ball straight to Aguero, 25 yards from goal. He moves it forward to Tevez in the area, where Rangel comes round to make an excellent interception. 35 min Clichy bombs into space down the left – and sidefoots a cross straight out of play. Is this a deliberate parody of an awful football match? If so it's note perfect. 34 min "How many Stoke games are you willing to list in the JOS: Stinkers?" says Mike. "Switzerland v Ukraine World Cup 2006 haunts me still." I think there's a support group for people who watched the entirety of that game. 33 min Gareth Barry overhits a 10-yard through pass to Carlos Tevez by at least five yards. A 50 per cent ineptitude ratio, which is pretty special. 32 min If this game was a song ... 31 min Does anyone else remember Leeds 0-0 Blackburn in 1996-97, live on a Monday night? That was the stinker's stinker, and more exciting than this. 30 min Kolarov and Nasri have switched wings. This is the extent of the excitement just now. 29 min Apart from this game, and the one earlier, what would be your nominations for The Joy of Six: Stinkers. 28 min This is even worse than Aston Villa v Norwich City. 26 min City, as Chris Waddle says on ESPN, have been far too slow in possession. I'm not quite sure why. They look like a team who are so used to going behind (and then coming back to win) that they need it to happen again before they wake up. In a daft way the worst thing Swansea could do here is score a goal. 25 min "I can't have been the only one to see that Elkjaer clip and thought, 'What would Benjamin Massing do?'" says Richard Dorman. You know you've left a decent football legacy when your surname becomes a verb. 22 min Hernandez, on the right, swings a superb cross towards Michu, who is about to head for goal when Micah Richards comes round from the side to head away. In doing so he clashes heads with Michu, who drops straight to the ground and may well have been knocked out for a few seconds. He receives treatment before being helped to his feet by Joe Hart, and I think he'll be okay to continue. That was a great piece of defending from Richards, because Michu was only ten yards out and would surely have scored. 21 min "We are still in the bar, Rob," hics my colleague Ian McCourt, who was in the bar during the first MBM five hours ago. 20 min Aside from that Chico tackle on Tevez, Manchester have not even had a sniff of a chance. They aren't being helped by a seriously subdued atmosphere. 17 min Gareth Barry, the Englishman, palpably obstructs Angel Rangel, the foreign man, sending him flying as a result. The foreign man is booked for diving. 16 min This game is a mess. Both sides have been unusually loose in possession. 15 min "I know I'm pushing on an open door here Rob, but watching that selection of Laudrupisms just underlines how blessed are those blessed with outrageous balance," says Gary Naylor. "Yet his contemporary, Preben Elkjaer, was a magnificently balanced footballer too – though in a completely different way. Elkjaer seemed always to be on the edge of falling over, always flat out to try to keep up with the ball and his footballing brain, always baffling us with how he actually did the things he did. Though Laudrup is at the extreme end of 'his' balance spectrum with the likes of Zidane, Beckenbauer and Muller, is Elkjaer on a spectrum all of his own? I can't think of many who played like him with quite that level of ability, like an ultra deluxe Ade Akinbiyi. Someone should write a book about those mid-80s Danes." Quite. This is a great example of his balance. Elkjaer was one of those players, like Jan Ceulemans, who never gave defenders even a second's peace. One Spanish paper described him as "the human locomotive", which is lovely. 13 min Kompany fouls De Guzman down the left, which gives Swansea their first attacking set piece. It's swung deep by De Guzman and, although Williams was flagged offside, Hart didn't know that when he came for the ball and made a total hash of his attempted punch. 11 min "It is for such occasions that the humble boombox was invented," says Ben Stanley. "This has the additional advantage of allowing you to drown out the tinny grime emanating from some spotty teenager's iPhone speaker with a blast of Physical Graffiti." 10 min This is all very sluggish thus far. Whatever happened to the fast start? In 2002 Arsenal seemed to be 2-0 up after 10 minutes every second week. Now teams would rather feel their way into the game. 8 min Aguero feels Williams at his back and swerves majestically around him. When he's tackled the ball breaks to Tevez in the area, and Chico makes a superb sliding tackle before Tevez can get a shot in. 5 min Britton plays a crisp 10-yard pass straight into touch. Swansea have been good without the ball but poor with it in the first few minutes. 4 min It's been a pretty quiet start to the game, with more than a whiff of prawn sandwiches about the atmosphere. 3 min "Back when I used to spend my money on things like nice headphones, I would have two pairs, proper headphones, and then smaller headphones that would hook behind the ear which I could wear under a winter hat or on an oppressively warm day," says Kari Tulinius. "Big headphones and woolly hats don't play well together." This head ain't big enough for the both of 'em, and all that. 2 min City (Manchester) are indeed playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. 1 min City (Manchester) kick off from right to left. They are in blue; Swansea are in white. Here's a question If you have big headphones, proper headphones, and a woolly hat, how can you wear the two at the same time? You can't wear the hat on top and if you wear the headphones on top it looks like you're auditioning for the winter season of Nathan Barley. You could just go without the music, of course, but a gentleman needs his Roxette fix on a cold winter's day. 5.20pm "Right, I've been disappointed by Villa and Norwich, I've been disappointed by my Quorn burgers for lunch, and I've been very disappointed by my 10-month-old son going for a nap rather than watching Star Wars Episode IV with me," says Matt Dony. "This better be a helluva good MBM, Smyth!" I'll bring my banter A-game. Team news Manchester City have recalled Carlos Tevez, Alexsandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasic. They could play a couple of formations with that XI: it might an up-yours 3-5-2 from Roberto Mancini, with Gael Clichy as the left centre-back, but it's more likely to be a 4-2-3-1 with Samir Nasri on the right of midfield. Swansea are unchanged. Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Hart; Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Y Toure, Barry; Nasri, Tevez, Kolarov; Aguero.
Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Toure, Evans, Sinclair, Dzeko, Balotelli. Swansea City (4-2-3-1-0) Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies; Britton, Ki; Hernandez, De Guzman, Routledge; Michu.
Subs: Tremmel, Dyer, Graham, Monk, Shechter, Tiendalli, Agustien. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) Michael Laudrup: the definitive player's player Just look at these tributes, and then spend 10 minutes savouring what all the fuss was about. Shameless plug department I wrote a chapter on Roy Keane (there's an extract here) for this book. If everyone in the entire known universe buys a copy, I'll be so rich that I never have to MBM another game, so we all win. What are you waiting for? Swansea's last win at Manchester City came in 1951. That's a deceptive statistic, though; they've only played six games in the 61 years since. No, I'm not really sure what the point of this entry is. Preamble When you've had a chastening experience, there's nothing as comforting as comfort. It could be the zesty ingestion of 47 Big Macs, spunking money you don't have on clothes you don't want or even a home Premier League fixture. Nothing is as likely to make Manchester City feel good about themselves. Since the start of 2011, their Premier League record at the Etihad puts the 'form' in 'formidable': P32 W29 D3 L0. City are still the best team in the Premier League. This is worth reiterating given their status as the crisis club of English football, on a notorious losing streak of one game. They have made a slightly absent-minded start to their title defence, in part because of Roberto Mancini's think problem, but their imminent departure from the Champions League will focus those minds. All should be well with their world by 7.30pm. It's an important game for Swansea too, the start of a very tricky run of fixtures. In the next 10 games they play City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. There have been some scandalously premature judgements of Michael Laudrup's tenure. By Christmas we should have a much better idea how successful he is likely to be.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Voters in the critical swing state to decide on measures including healthcare and abortion in longest ballot in state's history Long lines quickly formed as early voting began in Florida on Saturday and electors confronted the longest ballot in their history, consisting of a range of choices from the next president to measures affecting healthcare reforms, the independence of the state supreme court and abortion. Florida is a tight and important swing state, particularly for Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, who probably cannot win the presidency without taking its 29 electoral college votes. Opinion polls consistently put Romney about two percentage points ahead of Barack Obama, and both camps say the outcome is likely to be decided by which side can turn out supporters. The monster ballot includes 11 proposed amendments to the state constitution, some of which run for hundreds of words. Officials advised people to read the wording before arriving at polling places but lines still backed up as it took even those voters familiar with the ballots about 10 minutes to fill them out. Others said they spent up to half an hour to complete the forms. "I came prepared," said Yvette Florian, waving the prepared ballot she copied her choices from, after voting at the Hart Memorial Central Library in Kissimmee. By mid-morning the line to vote extended down a flight of stairs and into the middle of the library. "There's a lot of people want to vote. I think this is going to be a passionate election. There's people who don't want their welfare taken away and people who believe you should do it the old fashioned way and stand on your own two feet." Florian said she voted Republican. "Romney won't run up more debt. Or if he does, his spending will create more jobs. It won't be handouts to the gimmies. I'm not a warmonger but if Romney spends on the military it's still creating jobs," said Florian who works for the state health department. Joseph Saenz couldn't disagree more. "We need to keep social security going and Medicare. There's people who don't want to help people who need it," he said. Saenz, who works as a maintenance man for a liquor store, said he voted for Obama. "He hasn't done everything he should have," he said. "But [the Republican-controlled] Congress has stopped him doing what he wanted to do. It's like he's banging his head into a brick wall." Besides electing the president, members of the US Congress and the Florida legislature, many voters in the state are choosing local councils, sheriffs and other officials. They are also being asked to decide on proposed changes to Florida's state constitution. First on the list is a measure designed to block Obama's healthcare reforms by prohibiting laws that compel individuals to buy medical insurance – a key part of the president's legislation. Yesenia Valentin said she supported the change. "I don't like to be told what to do," she said. "The less federal government the better." Valentin said she voted a straight Republican ticket with the exception of the local sheriff. Even if the healthcare amendment passes, it is not clear that it is enforceable given that the US supreme court has already upheld what is known as the individual mandate. Legislators have also placed an amendment on the ballot that would exempt abortion-related matters from the state's privacy laws. The measure comes after Florida courts blocked the legislatures attempts to pass laws limiting access to abortion, citing the state's constitutional protections of privacy. The proposed change also bars state funds from paying for health insurance that includes abortion coverage. Other constitutional amendments on the ballot include a proposal by the Republican-controlled Florida legislature to curb the power of the state supreme court which conservatives have frequently criticised as too liberal in its judgments. More than 1 million of the estimated 9 million Floridians expected to vote have already cast an absentee ballot. Marginally more registered Republicans have voted than Democrats but the gap, at 5%, is considerably less than at the last presidential election – eroding a Republican advantage. Voting is easier than Republican legislators had hoped after a federal court struck down a stringent new identification law as discriminatory. The court also blocked restrictions on independent groups registering voters. But other new measures are in place including a cut in the number of early voting days and the closure of polling booths on the final Sunday before the election – the day on which large numbers of black people voted in Florida in 2008. Black churches have been leading a push, "Souls to the Polls", to get African Americans to vote early this weekend. The state also made it more difficult for those who move house to register to vote, which is thought to disproportionately affect students who tend to lean toward the Democrats. Floridians are particularly sensitive to problems with the vote given the state's notorious role in the 2000 election when votes that could have delivered victory to the Democratic party candidate, Al Gore, were discounted as part of the "hanging chad" fiasco. But already there are signs of trouble. Officials in Palm Beach county have spent the week painstakingly duplicating about 27,000 absentee ballots because a design flaw on the ballot papers meant the scanners could not read them. Every copied ballot is inspected by a Democratic party and a Republican poll watcher.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Child protection expert criticises Max Clifford for saying celebrities didn't ask for birth certificates A child protection expert has rejected the assertion of pop stars of the 1960s and 1970s that the "hedonism" of the era was an excuse for having sex with children. Paul Roffey said that the pop stars used their position to manipulate young women to carry out acts which were as illegal then as they are now. The PR guru Max Clifford said he had been approached by dozens of celebrities from the 60s and 70s who are "frightened to death" that they will be implicated in the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal. He said the stars, some of whom were still big names, had approached him to handle any fallout from inquiries. He said they were worried because at their peak they had "never asked for anybody's birth certificate" while living a hedonistic lifestyle in which young girls threw themselves at them. Roffey said: "There is obviously much greater awareness of paedophilia today but in the 1960s everyone knew about the age of consent and people were regularly tried for breaking the law over it. The fact that someone may have looked 16 or 21 if they were male may be mitigation but it is no defence." Paedophilia became a subject of national concern in the 1970s as it emerged as a civil rights issue. In 1974, paedophiles set up the Paedophile Information Exchange to lobby for the abolition of the age of consent and to oppose the banning of child pornography. The group operated openly until 1978 when the police arrested and charged some of its members. The group was the subject of newspaper exposés and criticism by campaigners including Mary Whitehouse. On Friday, Clifford said young pop stars at the time had gone from working in a factory one week to performing in front of thousands of people, "and girls are screaming and throwing themselves at them then". He told LBC radio: "I am hoping that the real predators are the ones we are going to find out about: the Glitters of this world, the Saviles of this world, not people that were randy young pop stars in the 1960s, 70s and 80s even, that had women throwing themselves at them everywhere they went, because that is a whole different area and a whole different situation. No one had heard the word paedophile in those days, the 60s and 70s," he said. "They never asked for anybody's birth certificate and they were young lads … suddenly everyone's dream was a reality.We are talking about a lot of people that were huge names in the 60s and 70s and a lot of them barely remember what they did last week, genuinely. For them to try and recount what happened in a dressing room in 1965 or 1968 or 1972, genuinely they are frightened to death." Roffey remains unimpressed by such special pleading. "You don't need a birth certificate to realise the age of a girl even if she looks older than her age. People invariably know they are breaking the law and they still know now," he said. Clifford's comments came as it emerged that the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichol, has written to the Pope to ask him to consider removing Savile's papal knighthood in recognition of the distress caused to his victims. Scotland Yard is leading the current investigation into accusations of abuse by the former BBC DJ and presenter Savile, which now involves around 300 possible victims. Officers have searched a cottage belonging to Savile in Allt na Reigh in Glencoe, Scotland, to look for "any evidence of any others being involved in any offending with him". In Leeds, members of Savile's family issued a statement expressing their bewilderment at his crimes and their sympathy for his victims. In the statement, the family said their "thoughts" and "prayers" were with those who had suffered abuse.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Satellite images show huge swath of coastal town destroyed in a wave of violence which has left dozens dead Burma's president has admitted an unprecedented wave of ethnic violence has targeted his country's Rohingya Muslim population, destroying whole villages and large parts of towns. Thein Sein's acknowledgement follows the release of satellite images showing the severe scale of the destruction in one coastal town, where most – if not all – of the Muslim population appears to have been displaced and their homes destroyed. The pictures, acquired by Human Rights Watchshow destruction to the coastal town of Kyaukpyu in the country's west. They reveal an area of destruction 35 acres in size in which some 811 buildings and boats have been destroyed. The images confirm reports of an orgy of destruction in the town which occurred in a 24-hour period in the middle of last week after violence in the province broke out again on 21 October. The attacks in Arakan province in the country's west – also known as Rakhine – appears to have been part of a wave of communal violence pitting Arakan Buddhists against Muslims that has hit five separate towns and displaced thousands of people. "There have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns being burned down in Arakan state," Thein Sein's spokesman said. A government spokesman put the death toll up until Friday at 112. But within hours state media revised it to 67 killed from 21-25 October, with 95 wounded and nearly 3,000 houses destroyed. The president's comments followed a warning from the office of the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, that ethnic violence was endangering political progress in Burma. "The vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped. If this is not done … the reform and opening-up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardised," the statement said. The Burmese government is struggling to contain ethnic and religious tensions suppressed during nearly half a century of military rule that ended last year. Inter-ethnic violence broke out earlier this year, triggered by the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. Releasing the satellite images, Human Rights Watch said it had identified 633 buildings and 178 houseboats and floating barges which were destroyed in an area occupied predominantly by Rohingya. A committee of MPs led by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi called on Friday for security reinforcements and swift legal action against those behind the killings and destruction. According to Reuters, dozens of boats full of Rohingyas with no food or water fled Kyaukpyu, an industrial zone important to China, and other recent hotspots and were seeking access on Friday to overcrowded refugee camps around the state capital, Sittwe. Some 3,000 Rohingya were reported to have been blocked from reaching Sittwe by government forces and landed on a nearby island. "These latest incidents between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhists demonstrate how urgent it is that the authorities intervene to protect everyone, and break the cycle of discrimination and violence," Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy director, Isabelle Arradon, said. The latest violence erupted as a Burmese website in Norway – the Democratic Voice of Burma – reported it had acquired a document by a group calling itself the All-Arakanese Monks' Solidarity Conference. calling for all Rohingya to be expelled from the country. "Burma's government urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya in Arakan state, who are under vicious attack," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Unless the authorities also start addressing the root causes of the violence, it is only likely to get worse." Human Rights Watch fears the death toll is far higher, based on allegations from witnesses fleeing scenes of carnage and the government's well-documented history of underestimating figures that might lead to criticism of the state. The Rohingya are officially stateless. Buddhist-majority Burma's government regards the estimated 800,000 of them in the country as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and not as one of the country's 135 official ethnic groups, and denies them citizenship. But many of those expelled from Kyaukpyu are not Rohingya but Muslims from the officially recognised Kaman minority, said Chris Lewa, director of the Rohingya advocacy group, Arakan Project. "It's not just anti-Rohingya violence anymore, it's anti-Muslim," she said. It was unclear what set off the latest arson and killing on Sunday.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | State media says 67 people were killed last week in attacks targeting Rohingya people, but there are fears toll may be higher Burma's president has admitted an unprecedented wave of ethnic violence has targeted his country's Rohingya Muslim population, destroying whole villages and large parts of towns. Thein Sein's acknowledgement follows the release of satellite images showing the severe scale of the destruction in one coastal town, where most – if not all – of the Muslim population appears to have been displaced and their homes destroyed. The pictures, acquired by Human Rights Watchshow destruction to the coastal town of Kyaukpyu in the country's west. They reveal an area of destruction 35 acres in size in which some 811 buildings and boats have been destroyed. The images confirm reports of an orgy of destruction in the town which occurred in a 24-hour period in the middle of last week after violence in the province broke out again on 21 October. The attacks in Arakan province in the country's west – also known as Rakhine – appears to have been part of a wave of communal violence pitting Arakan Buddhists against Muslims that has hit five separate towns and displaced thousands of people. "There have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns being burned down in Arakan state," Thein Sein's spokesman said. A government spokesman put the death toll up until Friday at 112. But within hours state media revised it to 67 killed from 21-25 October, with 95 wounded and nearly 3,000 houses destroyed. The president's comments followed a warning from the office of the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, that ethnic violence was endangering political progress in Burma. "The vigilante attacks, targeted threats and extremist rhetoric must be stopped. If this is not done … the reform and opening-up process being currently pursued by the government is likely to be jeopardised," the statement said. The Burmese government is struggling to contain ethnic and religious tensions suppressed during nearly half a century of military rule that ended last year. Inter-ethnic violence broke out earlier this year, triggered by the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. Releasing the satellite images, Human Rights Watch said it had identified 633 buildings and 178 houseboats and floating barges which were destroyed in an area occupied predominantly by Rohingya. A committee of MPs led by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi called on Friday for security reinforcements and swift legal action against those behind the killings and destruction. According to Reuters, dozens of boats full of Rohingyas with no food or water fled Kyaukpyu, an industrial zone important to China, and other recent hotspots and were seeking access on Friday to overcrowded refugee camps around the state capital, Sittwe. Some 3,000 Rohingya were reported to have been blocked from reaching Sittwe by government forces and landed on a nearby island. "These latest incidents between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhists demonstrate how urgent it is that the authorities intervene to protect everyone, and break the cycle of discrimination and violence," Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific deputy director, Isabelle Arradon, said. The latest violence erupted as a Burmese website in Norway – the Democratic Voice of Burma – reported it had acquired a document by a group calling itself the All-Arakanese Monks' Solidarity Conference. calling for all Rohingya to be expelled from the country. "Burma's government urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya in Arakan state, who are under vicious attack," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Unless the authorities also start addressing the root causes of the violence, it is only likely to get worse." Human Rights Watch fears the death toll is far higher, based on allegations from witnesses fleeing scenes of carnage and the government's well-documented history of underestimating figures that might lead to criticism of the state. The Rohingya are officially stateless. Buddhist-majority Burma's government regards the estimated 800,000 of them in the country as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and not as one of the country's 135 official ethnic groups, and denies them citizenship. But many of those expelled from Kyaukpyu are not Rohingya but Muslims from the officially recognised Kaman minority, said Chris Lewa, director of the Rohingya advocacy group, Arakan Project. "It's not just anti-Rohingya violence anymore, it's anti-Muslim," she said. It was unclear what set off the latest arson and killing on Sunday.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Minute-by-minute report: Join Scott Murray for all the latest from today's 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Minute-by-minute report: Scott Murray had all the action from the 3pm kick-offs, including a belter between Reading and Fulham
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Number of Americans with implicit anti-black sentiments jumped to 56%, up from 49% during the last presidential election Racial prejudice in America is more widespread now than when President Barack Obama became the country's first black president in a historic 2008 vote, a new survey has shown. In a poll of racial attitudes by the Associated Press news agency, researchers found that more Americans have attitudes that are both implicit and explicitly racist than when the same survey was conducted four years ago. The news comes as Obama is deadlocked in a tight race for re-election against Republican challenger Mitt Romney and surveys have shown strong support for Obama among minorities while white voters favour Romney. In all, 51% of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48% four years ago, the study showed. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56%, up from 49% during the last presidential election. "As much as we'd hope the impact of race would decline over time … it appears the impact of anti-black sentiment on voting is about the same as it was four years ago," said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who worked with AP to develop the survey. A majority of Americans expressed anti-Hispanic sentiments, too. In an AP survey done in 2011, 52% of non-Hispanic whites expressed anti-Hispanic attitudes. That figure had risen to 57% in the implicit test in 2012. There was no comparative data for before that. Though race has not been played an especially high profile in the election campaign so far America, like many societies, still struggles with racism. During his four years in office Obama has repeatedly had to contend with untrue rumours that he is a Muslim or was not born in America – a phenomenon of fear of "the other" that some link to his being a black American. The AP poll showed that racial prejudice against Obama could cost him five points in the current election campaign. However, conversely pro-black sentiment could see him scoop an extra three points, meaning a net loss due to racial attitudes of 2%. The survey also found that some 79% of Republicans expressed explicit racial prejudice compared to 32% of Democrats. The implicit test too showed that 64% of Republicans had racial prejudice compared to 55% of Democrats, while independents came in at 49%. The explicit racism test asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about black and Hispanic people. In addition, the surveys asked how well respondents thought certain words, such as "friendly", 'hardworking", ''violent" and "lazy" described blacks, whites and Hispanics. The same respondents were also administered a survey designed to measure implicit racism, in which a photo of a black, Hispanic or white male flashed on the screen before a neutral image of a Chinese character. The respondents were then asked to rate their feelings toward the Chinese character. Previous research has shown that people transfer their feelings about the photo onto the character, allowing researchers to measure racist feelings even if a respondent does not acknowledge them. The AP poll comes amid a slew of books and research studies analysing the current situation of black America that have found it has suffered greatly in the wake of the Great Recession. The Pew Charitable Trust showed that some 68% of middle class black Americans are predicted to see their economic status decline in the next generation. The National Urban League civil rights group also showed from 2009 to 2012 median annual household income for blacks dropped by 11.1%, compared to a drop of just 5.2% for whites and 4.1% for Hispanics. The current black unemployment rate of 14% is roughly twice that of the white jobless rate. Elsewhere ,a new book, called Documenting Desegregation, has examined racial equality in the workplace after the 1960s. It found that progress largely halted in 1980 and in fact has actually got worse in some industries since then. Indeed racial segregation between white and black men is increasing in one-in-six industries. Co-author Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, said societal attitudes had changed in America, but not practical applications. "Most white Americans do think that we should live in an equal opportunity society. But we do not actually apply that very practically. On a behavioural level, we are not post-racial," he said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Both these teams were in need of a win, but neither got it, Norwich City's Michael Turner heading in a late equaliser after Aston Villa had been reduced to 10 men by the dismissal after 52 minutes of Joe Bennett, for his second yellow card. Paul Lambert is having a torrid start as Villa manager, with only one win in nine Premier League matches. He looked like getting a second here when Christian Benteke scored after 26 minutes, but the loss of Bennett transformed the game. The standard of play rarely rose above the ordinary, but It was a match with enough sub-plots for a Le Carre novel. For Lambert, in particular, it was a strange occasion – a fixture in which a manager was more popular with the away fans than his own. At Norwich he took a team newly relegated to the third tier to successive promotions, then to a mid-table finish in the Premier League before quitting in acrimonious circumstances for Villa at the end of last season. The two clubs are still wrangling over compensation for his "transfer." With Villa, he has presided over their worst start to a Premier League campaign after consecutive defeats, against Fulham and Spurs, and with one point from the previous four games. Villa's shortcomings are not hard to identify. Nobody managed to score ten goals in the league for them last season and this time Bent, their leading scorer, is in dispute with the management, and was on the bench for 69 minutes, with Benteke preferred in attack. Benteke it was who opened the scoring when Brett Holman's centre from the left caught the Norwich centre halves poorly positioned and bisected them, leaving the Belgian striker with time and space near the penalty spot, from where he curled his shot into the left-hand corner of John Ruddy's net. The goal came as a reminder that Norwich, too, have had a grim start to the season, never really recovering from a 5-0 drubbing at Fulham on opening day. Their first win, against Arsenal last week, came after three defeats on the trot, against Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle. Norwich had the edge when it came to passing, but Villa were dangerous when breaking at pace, and Benteke had two more chances either side of half-time. The balance changed when Bennett was sent off seven minute into the second half. Down to 10 men, Villa withdrew Agbonlahor in favour of a defender, Eric Lichaj, and went into backs-to-the-wall mode. Brad Guzan saved at point blank range from Wes Hoolahan in what, after 64 minutes, was only Norwich's second attempt on target. The tide had changed now, though, and Grant Holt might have done better with a far post header from Bradley Johnson's deep cross, then again when he burst clear, only to be denied by Guzan's well-timed dash from his line. The equaliser was always coming, and Turner headed it home in the 79th minute.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Michael Turner's late header gave Norwich a deserved point against 10-man Aston Villa Preamble Meeting the ex for the first time is a strange experience. On the one hand, the prospect can be intimidating, uncomfortable, painful, regretful, nostalgic. On the other the actual experience can be weirdly emboldening. Whether you're the dumper, the dumpee or you split by "mutual consent", the desire to win the unspoken battle of who has gone to pot the least can bring out an arrogant side in even the meekest characters. It's like you borrow a different personality for the night: more confident, assured and, in theory, desirable. People also go to the trouble of dressing up, wearing a minimiser if they are a man and a maximiser if they are a woman. Here, my stupid little former lover, is what you could have won. There are even suggestions – although the Guardian has not been able to verify these – that some people even splash on a bit of cologne and spend much longer than usual in front of the mirror. So long as you don't inadvertently shout "I NEVER LOVED YOU ANYWAY, THE BLOODY ZERO 7 CDs WERE MINE AND YOUR BEEF STROGANOFF PALPABLY NEEDED MORE SALT!" it should go reasonably well and you can go away feeling better about yourself. That's what Paul Lambert and Norwich hope will happen at Villa Park today. Both have looked a little lost without each other in the early part of the season: Norwich, like Lambert's Villa, have won only one out of eight league games. There is a burgeoning sense that Lambert, who seems to have all the tools to become what Jamie Redknapp's even more excitable alter ego would call a top, top, top, top, top, top, top manager, might just have taken a wrong turn by going to Villa. This may just be London-based-media ignorance – and apologies if so – but it does seem a bit of a nothing job at a club which is stuck in no team's land: too mediocre to go down, too mediocre to make an impression. It would be interesting to know what Lambert thinks he can achieve. He'll be fine in the medium term – it would not be at all surprising if he were the next British manager to get one of the big jobs – but it might get worse before it gets better. The first Premier League meeting between these sides came at Villa Park in November 1992, a minor classic that Norwich won 3-2. Look at the league table after that game. How much better football was when smaller teams could be seen and heard. Prediction on which you are advised not to stake your last Rolo, never mind your mortgage: Villa 1-1 Norwich Team news Darren Bent has been dropped again. Remember when scoring goals was a virtue? Aston Villa (4-4-2): Guzan, Lowton, Herd, Vlaar, Bennett, Albrighton, El Ahmadi, Delph, Holman; Agbonlahor, Benteke.
Subs: Given, Ireland, Bent, Westwood, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj. Norwich (4-2-3-1): Ruddy; R Martin, Bassong, Turner, Garrido; Tettey, Johnson; E Bennett, Hoolahan, Pilkington; Holt.
Subs: Rudd, Snodgrass, Howson, Jackson, Morison, Barnett, R Bennett. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) "I'm a Villa fan," apologises Danny Marsh. "I am also planning my first meeting with an ex next week. How about some advice for me to come out on top? I should wear a clean jumper, right? A Villa 2-1 today!" We'll get the crack MBM team on it. First we need to knew a few things. Was it an acrimonious split? Who dumped who? Did she cook Beef Stroganoff? 1 min Norwich kick off from right to left. They are in canary yellow; Villa are in claret y blue. 2 min "Asking the MBM followers for advice on exes is an futile one," says Alex Netherton. "To have an ex you'd have to have had a relationship." That reads suspiciously like banter, Alex. 3 min It's been an urgent start from Norwich, who are snapping the ball around confidently. Villa look a bit tentative. 4 min "It was sort of mutual but she was the one that actually ended it," says Danny Marsh. "On the phone. Haven't seen her since. She never cooked anything. Ever." Anyone got any advice for Danny's big night? 5 min There's a nice autumn sunshine over Villa Park, although I suspect it's still bloody freezing. The game isn't really going anywhere at the moment, Norwich having regressed towards the mean after their smart start. 7 min Gabby Agbonlahor, who at 26 is Villa's senior Premier League player today, wins the first corner of the match down the left. It's drilled deep and Benteke's looping header goes gently over the bar. 8 min Holman comes infield from the left and plays a crisp angled pass into Benteke on the edge of the area. He is dispossessed but the loose ball comes to Holman, who was following up the play, and he hits a gentle 20-yard pass that is comfortably saved by Ruddy. 10 min "Advice for Danny Marsh," says Naman Vijay. "Take a super hot date with you." I think I may just have spotted one tiny flaw in your plan ... 11 min "Just sipping on a coffee in the south of France," says my colleague Ian McCourt, aka the nicest man in journalism, "and thought I'd email into the MBM and say hi." You just wanted to let us know you're in the south of France, didn't you? 13 min Hoolahan, the best player on the pitch so far, invites a long-range shot from Tettey. He scuffs it and it's blootered clear. 14 min Why the hell doesn't Wes Hoolahan get in the Ireland team? He's an actual footballer. 15 min A long spell of Norwich possession with a tame long-range shot from Elliott Bennett. Norwich have certainly been the better team thus far. 16 min "How to deal with meeting the ex?" says Craig Smaaskjaer. "Don't turn up. It is the only answer to the thief's dilemma that is meeting the ex. The questions you have posited that will remain unanswered are surpassed only by the questions this non-attendance (with no prior warning given! – this is pivotal) creates. You might say this is a fairly mean spirited thing to do. I say yes, MBM. Yes it is. Don't think it would work for Norwich today though." 17 min Norwich might have had a penalty there. It looked completely innocuous, as Vlaar and Elliott Bennett ran to meet a ball by the left edge of the box, but on reflection I think Vlaar did trip Bennett. I'm not sure Phil Dowd had the best view. 18 min Villa win a free kick on the right. Albrighton takes his time, an age in fact, considering his options. He's practiced this skill so many times in his life, surely he's mastered it now? Surely he'll do something special now. He curves it straight onto a Norwich head. Dear oh dear. 19 min Villa fans, as always in the 19th minute of home games, break into a minute's applause for Stan Petrov. 22 min Guzan makes a vital save from Hoolahan. That was the first big chance of the game. Holt and Hoolahan reversed their usual roles, with Holt providing for Hoolahan. A long goal kick broke to him just outside the area, and he flicked an excellent short-range through pass for Hoolahan, who had run beyond the defence. He took a touch and then tried to sweep a left-footed shot into the right corner, but Guzan deflected it wide for a corner. That's an excellent save, although Hoolahan should probably have scored. 24 min "Danny...here is an idea," says Alan McDonald. "Got a smartphone? Change the names of two male contacts to females. Then add smoking hot pics to the contacts, leave your phone on the table and have them call 45 minutes or so apart. When she inevitably asks who they are, hesitate slightly and say 'friends' then move the subject quickly on. You are welcome." Have you been watching Magnolia? 25 min Norwich continue to look much the better side. Hoolahan clips an angled pass to Holt, beyond the far post, and his header back across the face of goal is claimed by the diving Guzan. GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich (Benteke 27) What an excellent goal from Christian Benteke. The scoreline may be almost scandalous, given Norwich's dominance, but he took the goal beautifully. Agbonlahor did well with his back to goal, holding off Bassong and playing the ball wide to Holman on the left. As he did so, Benteke pulled away from the two centre-backs to find space near the penalty spot. Bennett's low cross came straight to him, and he took a touch before placing a lovely, calm shot into the far corner as Ruddy dived the other way. Expert stuff. 30 min "Is the nicest man in journalism in Marseille for tomorrow night's 'Olympico'?" says Phil Booth. "And re: meeting the ex – if there's any chance either of you might cry, arrange to meet in a quiet place, preferably with potplants etc to hide behind, and a quick route to the toilets." 32 min Villa have been awful in possession. 35 min A summary of the memorable action of the last five minutes: 38 min An excellent angled pass from El Ahmadi leaves Benteke one on one with Garrido (I think) to the right of the box. He cuts back infield and hits a left-footed shot that is deflected wide for a corner. The corner is claimed easily by Ruddy. 40 min A nice move from Norwich. Hoolahan wins a 50-50 with Delph 25 yards from goal and then plays a good ball down the outside for the onrushing Martin. He smashes a low cross along the face of the six-yard box which Herd, facing his own goal, does very well to hoof away for a corner. 42 min "If she's never cooked and dumped you on the phone, you're better off alone," says Martin Wills. "Sort of like being an admitted Villa fan this season." 45 min There will be one additional minute of this confused nonsense. Even Alan Parry, one of the most optimistic commentators of modern times, sounds bored and vaguely disgusted as another aimless pass disappears into touch. Half time: Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich City A low-heartrate finish from Christian Benteke separates the sides. See you in 10 minutes. "Best league in the world," says Silver Fox. "What. Oh." 46 min Villa kick off from right to left. Having seen a replay of Hoolahan's chance, it seems I was more than a little generous to Holt. It wasn't a through pass, just a mishit shot. Anyway, Norwich have made a half-time substitution, with Ryan Bennett replacing the injured Russell Martin. 46 min Villa almost score inside 40 seconds. A rubbish square pass from Hoolahan allows Albrighton to break down the right. He runs 45 yards and then dumps over a deep cross beyond the far post, where Benteke gets above his man to thump a downward header that is smothered by the sprawling Ruddy. It was a pretty comfortable save. 48 min "If you've been together long enough she'll see through the pretense, Danny," says Dr Phil Podolsky. "And besides you probably have enough mutual friends to keep her informed that you're holed up in that grimy one-room apartment, screaming abuse at your neighbours in four languages whenever they complain about your habit of blaring Captain Beefheart records at night. So drop that passing yourself off as a functioning member of society lark out of the windae, son, you're not fooling anyone." 49 min Alan Parry is so bored that he has just observed that we have three Bennetts on the field. He didn't add that none of them are called Gordon, but there's plenty of time yet. 50 min A shout of "Oh for f-" is audible on the commentary, presumably from someone at pitchside. I don't know how those pitchside microphones work but that was some quick editing, and with lovely comic timing as well. 52 min: JOE BENNETT IS SENT OFF FOR ASTON VILLA Joe Bennett gets his second yellow card for a cynical block on Elliott Bennett, who tried to play a one-two down the right. I missed his first yellow card – oh, me – but there's no doubt the second was a fair decision. Elliott Bennett was getting away from him and Joe Bennett pulled him back. 54 min Elliott Bennett's overhit cross almost sneaks in at the far post, with Guzan shovelling it away. Villa have made a substitution, bringing on the left-back Eric Lichaj for Gabby Agbonlahor. 56 min "If a certain Mr. Suarez committed an outrageous dive like that just perpetrated by good old Grant Holt a few minutes ago," says Roy Allen, "he'd be run out of the country." Yeah but Grant Holt isn't a foreigner, so what's your point? 59 min It seems Joe Bennett was booked shortly after the Villa goal for taking a shortcut through Elliott Bennett. 60 min This is utter rubbish I'm afraid. 61 min If this match was a cat it would be set to make the acquaintance of a bag of bricks. 62 min Johnson plays a good angled pass to Elliott Bennett, who has run off the left-back Lichaj. A good first touch will take him in on goal. He chests it out for a goal-kick. 63 min Chris Herd is booked for putting his person about Grant Holt. 64 min Guzan makes another vital save from Hoolahan. A diabolical pass from Vlaar went straight to Hoolahan, 30 yards from goal. He played the ball wide to Pilkington, ran into the area for the return and then, from a tight angle to the left of the six-yard box, smashed a shot that hit Guzan and went away for a corner. Before it is taken, Norwich replace Elliott Bennett with Robert Snodgrass. 66 min Norwich have had almost Barcelona levels of possession since the dismissal of Bennett (J), but they still aren't really getting behind Villa. They've had only two shots on target all game. 68 min Great defending by Vlaar! Snodgrass's deep cross from the right was headed back across the face by Holt. Hoolahan was about to head it in from a few yards when Vlaar jumped in to head the ball away. Moments later he does just enough to put off Holt, who heads Garrido's cross wide. 70 min A substitution per side: Steve Morison replaces Bradley Johnson, and Darren Bent comes on for Christian Benteke. 71 min Villa's defending is getting more desperate by the minute, with Herd diving towards his own goal to head a cross away for a corner. When that's half cleared, Snodgrass's 20-yard shot is blocked by the backside of Lowton. A Norwich goal isn't just in the post; it's been sent by recorded delivery. 73 min "I've genuinely seen better quality football over the park on a Sunday morning," says Silver Fox. "You understand now why I'm concerned about us going down this season?" Villa won't go down. Have you seen some of the other sides? Since money ruined the Premier League, there are usually enough poor teams that you are never too bad to stay up. 74 min The Anglia tiki-taka continues, although Villa have limited Norwich to very few actual real-life chances. The two centre-halves, Vlaar and Herd, are putting a serious shift in now. 75 min "I've always wondered exactly how tedious it must be to be a Villa fan," says Johny Bennett. "All those years of mediocrity stretching back decades, the football equivalent of the loveless, sexless, duty-bound marriage. Many of them must secretly pray for relegation for a change of scenery." 76 min Andreas Weimann replaces Brett Holman. 77 min Guzan makes a crucial save from Holt to keep Villa ahead. Holt played a one-two near the halfway line with the excellent Hoolahan and ran through on goal, muscling Delph aside almost disdainfully. He ran into the area and tried to sidefoot the ball under Guzan, who flew from his line to make a vital saved with his legs. GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich (Turner 79) That, it's fair to say, was coming. Snodgrass's shot was blocked desperately by Vlaar at the expense of yet another corner on the right. With Villa sleeping and/or catching breath, Snodgrass took the corner short to Hoolahan, who clipped over a lovely, inviting cross towards the near post. Michael Turner got a run on his man and flicked an accomplished header that clattered off the inside of the far post before bouncing into the net. 80 min If Norwich relax now, and are content with a draw, they should be shot. 81 min "Will Danny be providing a MBM report of his forthcoming date?" says Lynne Hyland. "I for one will be glued." 82 min Norwich are bombing Villa now. A long angled free-kick is nodded down by Morison towards Holt, who spins and is about to shoot when Vlaar smashes the ball away. 84 min Herd is struggling with injury, and Villa have used all their subs. They are almost out on their feet after being pummeled incessantly for 25 minutes solid. 85 min Alan Smith has just pointed out on Sky that Herd should have been sent off. When Hoolahan played that return pass for Holt's chance in the 77th minute, he was clattered by Herd, who has already been booked. That was a stunningly inadequate piece of refereeing from Phil Dowd. There was no reason at all not to give Herd a second yellow card once the ball went dead. 86 min "We've defended directly in front of the keeper, given the ball away with virtually every pass of the game and since going down to 10 men we've subbed off any forwards we've got who can defend," says Anthony Hull. "I just don't know where we've gone wrong?" 88 min A moronic foul by Delph on the outstanding Hoolahan gives Norwich a free-kick 25 yards from goal. It's a fair way right of centre, so Snodgrass will swing it in. He swings it in and miles over the head of everybody for a goal-kick. 89 min Norwich's intensity has dropped a bit since the goal. On the one hand that's human nature; on the other it's just not good enough. A win is so obviously there for the taking. 90 min Morison's header hits the arm of Vlaar in the penalty area, but there were only around 2.1 millimetres between the two players and it would have been a desperately harsh penalty decision. 90+1 min There will be four additional minutes of oxygen-gulping for Aston Villa. On Sky, Alan Smith gives Wes Hoolahan the Man of the Match award; he is such a classy footballer. 90+2 min Ryan Bennett misses a great chance! Pilkington's cleared was deflected across the box to Bennett, 15 yards out, but he was leaning back and slashed a half-volley high over the bar. 90+5 min Another chance for Norwich. A driven, left-to-right pass is headed down by Ryan Bennett towards Snodgrass, only a few yards from goal, and his attempted volleyed lob drifts onto the top of the net. It wasn't an easy chance, because he was under pressure and also running away from goal. Full time: Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich City It's hard to know what to make of that game. Norwich will be happy that they were the better side but will know they should have won it; Villa will be happy they got a point after being outplayed but know they have some very tough fixtures to come. On this evidence they are a poor side. Thanks for your emails; bye.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former cricket captain turned politician detained on flight from Canada to New York to be questioned over his views on jihad Imran Khan, the former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician, was taken off an international flight from Canada to New York and questioned by US immigration officials over his views on drone strikes and jihad. Khan, who has been at the forefront of a high-profile campaign as leader of the Pakistan Movement for Justice party (PTI) to end US drone strikes in northern Pakistan, had been in Canada to give a speech and was on his way to a fundraising dinner in the US on Friday. Khan recently attempted to lead a high-profile march into south Waziristan which included US peace activists from the Code Pink group with some 15,000 of his supporters. He claims that the drone strikes kill large numbers of innocent civilians – a claim denied by the US. "I was taken off from plane and interrogated by US Immigration in Canada on my views on drones. My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop," Khan tweeted yesterday after his questioning. He added: "Missed flight and sad to miss the fundraising lunch in NY but nothing will change my stance." A US state department spokeswoman confirmed Khan's questioning. "We are aware that Imran Khan was briefly delayed in Toronto before boarding the next flight to the United States," she told Pakistani media. "The issue was resolved. Mr Khan is welcome in the United States." US immigration authorities refused to comment on Khan's case but a spokeswoman quoted by the Toronto Sun newspaper said: "Our dual mission is to facilitate travel in the United States while we secure our borders, our people, and our visitors from those that would do us harm like terrorists and terrorist weapons, criminals, and contraband," said CBP spokesman Joanne Ferreira. "Under US immigration law, applicants for admission bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States. In order to demonstrate that they are admissible, the applicant must overcome all grounds of inadmissibility." Some Canadian commentators have speculated that Khan's questioning was because of groups who have been protesting his visit to the US, including a group called the American Islamic Leadership Coalition which reportedly wrote to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton asking her to revoke the US visa granted to Khan. "The US embassy made a significant error in granting this Islamist leader a visa," the group said in a statement. "Granting individuals like Khan access to the US to fundraise is against the interest of the people of Pakistan and the national security interests of the US." Ali Zaidi, an official in Khan's party demanded "a prompt and thorough inquiry into this sordid episode" and "an unconditional apology from the US government".
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Anglo American Platinum move could end weeks of violent unrest and lost production in gold and platinum mines Mines in South Africa have agreed to re-instate 12,000 miners which could end a period of industrial unrest and violence. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) said they would allow 12,000 miners sacked for an illegal strike to return to work. Months of strikes have cut production of platinum and gold sectors in the most damaging labour strife since the end of apartheid in 1994 and which threatened to destabilise the ANC government. "They agreed to reinstate all the dismissed workers on the provision that they return to work by Tuesday," Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the powerful National Union of Mineworkers, told Reuters on Saturday. Seshoka said he expected workers would return to their posts and "that will mean the end of the strike". Amplats said in a separate statement it had reached the deal with the unions and offered sweeteners such as a one-off hardship payment of 2,000 rand (£144) to facilitate the return. The strike lasted about six weeks and crippled production. "Employees who do not return to work on Tuesday ... will remain dismissed and/or be subjected to the illegal strike disciplinary action and will not be eligible for any of the benefits mentioned above," it said in a statement. South African labour law has clear processes for strikes and walkouts. Those that do not go through all the proper bureaucratic hoops are considered illegal, and can result in striking workers being sacked. Mining firms usually reinstate dismissed workers because it is more expensive to train a new workforce.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Storm expected to move to the south-east coast of the US later this weekend after 41 deaths across the Caribbean Forecasters in the US have re-upgraded tropical storm Sandy to a hurricane, just hours after raising hopes that the winds were losing strength. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday morning that a Hurricane Hunter aircraft had recorded sustained winds of 75 mph – enough to reclassify the storm to Category 1 hurricane status. The weather system left has so far left 41 people dead in a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. Experts have warned that the cyclone could inflict "widespread impacts" along the US east coast. It is due to make landfall as early as Monday. Among those already known to have died as a result of the storm is Briton Timothy Fraser-Smith, 66, chief executive of Deltec Bank & Trust, who died after falling from his roof in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas on Thursday, as he tried to repair a window shutter. The storm was expected to move away from the Bahamas and parallel to the south-east coast of the US later this weekend. A state of emergency was declared in some areas along the east coast on Friday as experts feared Hurricane Sandy could become a storm of "historic" proportions. Sandy could strike the US coastline anywhere between Virginia and Massachusetts, forecasters said. Meteorologists warned that weather conditions could be complicated as Sandy is expected to meet two separate weather systems somewhere over the north-east US, resulting in high winds, heavy rain, extreme tides and perhaps even snow. "It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. He compared the convergence of weather systems to the so-called "perfect storm" that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, although that storm hit a less populated area. On Friday afternoon, the centre of the hurricane was moving slowly north around 430 miles south-southeast off the coast of South Carolina. Sandy was moving at 7mph with maximum sustained winds near 75mph. Forecasters said there was a 90% certainty that storm would make landfall on the east coast, although it was too early to predict where it would come ashore. Parts of Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were left devastated as the hurricane swept over on Thursday and Friday. In Cuba, 11 people were killed in eastern Santiago and Guantanamo provinces. Authorities said Sandy was Cuba's deadliest storm since July 2005. One person died as Sandy passed through Jamaica and 16 were left dead in Haiti, where heavy rains from the storm's outer bands caused flooding in the impoverished and deforested country. New York, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency on Friday. In Virginia, where Mitt Romney cancelled a rally planned for Sunday night, Governor Bob McDonnell told people to prepare ahead of the storm's arrival, warning that the state "could see severe weather lasting for 48 hours or more". "In that scenario, saturated soil coupled with high winds could lead to major tree damage and extensive power outages," McDonnell said. "Virginians should make sure their family members, friends and neighbours are prepared for this extended weather event. I encourage all Virginians to gather batteries, blankets, water, canned goods, and other necessities prior to the anticipated onset of storm conditions late Saturday and early Sunday." New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg said he would wait until Saturday before potentially issuing an evacuation order, but warned that the storm was moving at such a rate that "we're still not going to have a good sense of when and where it's going to hit land". The last major storm to threaten the north-east coast was Hurricane Irene which caused an estimated $15.8bn in damage in August last year, making it one of the costliest storms in history. Bloomberg said that bridges may have to be closed in New York. The MTA suspends subway, bus and other transit services in advance of the arrival of sustained winds at 39mph or higher, he said, while power outages are also a possibility. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Friday that wherever the storm comes ashore, there will be 10in (254mm) of rain and extreme storm surges. Up to 2ft (0.6m) of snow should fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. "It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people," said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center.
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• And read a big interview with Norwich's Grant Holt 59 min It seems Joe Bennett was booked shortly after the Villa goal for taking a shortcut through Elliott Bennett. 56 min "If a certain Mr. Suarez committed an outrageous dive like that just perpetrated by good old Grant Holt a few minutes ago," says Roy Allen, "he'd be run out of the country." Yeah but Grant Holt isn't a foreigner, so what's your point? 54 min Elliott Bennett's overhit cross almost sneaks in at the far post, with Guzan shovelling it away. Villa have made a substitution, bringing on the left-back Eric Lichaj for Gabby Agbonlahor. 52 min: JOE BENNETT IS SENT OFF FOR ASTON VILLA Joe Bennett gets his second yellow card for a cynical block on Elliott Bennett, who tried to play a one-two down the right. I missed his first yellow card – oh, me – but there's no doubt the second was a fair decision. Elliott Bennett was getting away from him and Joe Bennett pulled him back. 50 min A shout of "Oh for f-" is audible on the commentary, presumably from someone at pitchside. I don't know how those pitchside microphones work but that was some quick editing, and with lovely comic timing as well. 49 min Alan Parry is so bored that he has just observed that we have three Bennetts on the field. He didn't add that none of them are called Gordon, but there's plenty of time yet. 48 min "If you've been together long enough she'll see through the pretense, Danny," says Dr Phil Podolsky. "And besides you probably have enough mutual friends to keep her informed that you're holed up in that grimy one-room apartment, screaming abuse at your neighbours in four languages whenever they complain about your habit of blaring Captain Beefheart records at night. So drop that passing yourself off as a functioning member of society lark out of the windae, son, you're not fooling anyone." 46 min Villa almost score inside 40 seconds. A rubbish square pass from Hoolahan allows Albrighton to break down the right. He runs 45 yards and then dumps over a deep cross beyond the far post, where Benteke gets above his man to thump a downward header that is smothered by the sprawling Ruddy. It was a pretty comfortable save. 46 min Villa kick off from right to left. Having seen a replay of Hoolahan's chance, it seems I was more than a little generous to Holt. It wasn't a through pass, just a mishit shot. Anyway, Norwich have made a half-time substitution, with Ryan Bennett replacing the injured Russell Martin. Half time: Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich City A low-heartrate finish from Christian Benteke separates the sides. See you in 10 minutes. "Best league in the world," says Silver Fox. "What. Oh." 45 min There will be one additional minute of this confused nonsense. Even Alan Parry, one of the most optimistic commentators of modern times, sounds bored and vaguely disgusted as another aimless pass disappears into touch. 42 min "If she's never cooked and dumped you on the phone, you're better off alone," says Martin Wills. "Sort of like being an admitted Villa fan this season." 40 min A nice move from Norwich. Hoolahan wins a 50-50 with Delph 25 yards from goal and then plays a good ball down the outside for the onrushing Martin. He smashes a low cross along the face of the six-yard box which Herd, facing his own goal, does very well to hoof away for a corner. 38 min An excellent angled pass from El Ahmadi leaves Benteke one on one with Garrido (I think) to the right of the box. He cuts back infield and hits a left-footed shot that is deflected wide for a corner. The corner is claimed easily by Ruddy. 35 min A summary of the memorable action of the last five minutes: 32 min Villa have been awful in possession. 30 min "Is the nicest man in journalism in Marseille for tomorrow night's 'Olympico'?" says Phil Booth. "And re: meeting the ex – if there's any chance either of you might cry, arrange to meet in a quiet place, preferably with potplants etc to hide behind, and a quick route to the toilets." GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Norwich (Benteke 27) What an excellent goal from Christian Benteke. The scoreline may be almost scandalous, given Norwich's dominance, but he took the goal beautifully. Agbonlahor did well with his back to goal, holding off Bassong and playing the ball wide to Holman on the left. As he did so, Benteke pulled away from the two centre-backs to find space near the penalty spot. Bennett's low cross came straight to him, and he took a touch before placing a lovely, calm shot into the far corner as Ruddy dived the other way. Expert stuff. 25 min Norwich continue to look much the better side. Hoolahan clips an angled pass to Holt, beyond the far post, and his header back across the face of goal is claimed by the diving Guzan. 24 min "Danny...here is an idea," says Alan McDonald. "Got a smartphone? Change the names of two male contacts to females. Then add smoking hot pics to the contacts, leave your phone on the table and have them call 45 minutes or so apart. When she inevitably asks who they are, hesitate slightly and say 'friends' then move the subject quickly on. You are welcome." Have you been watching Magnolia? 22 min Guzan makes a vital save from Hoolahan. That was the first big chance of the game. Holt and Hoolahan reversed their usual roles, with Holt providing for Hoolahan. A long goal kick broke to him just outside the area, and he flicked an excellent short-range through pass for Hoolahan, who had run beyond the defence. He took a touch and then tried to sweep a left-footed shot into the right corner, but Guzan deflected it wide for a corner. That's an excellent save, although Hoolahan should probably have scored. 19 min Villa fans, as always in the 19th minute of home games, break into a minute's applause for Stan Petrov. 18 min Villa win a free kick on the right. Albrighton takes his time, an age in fact, considering his options. He's practiced this skill so many times in his life, surely he's mastered it now? Surely he'll do something special now. He curves it straight onto a Norwich head. Dear oh dear. 17 min Norwich might have had a penalty there. It looked completely innocuous, as Vlaar and Elliott Bennett ran to meet a ball by the left edge of the box, but on reflection I think Vlaar did trip Bennett. I'm not sure Phil Dowd had the best view. 16 min "How to deal with meeting the ex?" says Craig Smaaskjaer. "Don't turn up. It is the only answer to the thief's dilemma that is meeting the ex. The questions you have posited that will remain unanswered are surpassed only by the questions this non-attendance (with no prior warning given! – this is pivotal) creates. You might say this is a fairly mean spirited thing to do. I say yes, MBM. Yes it is. Don't think it would work for Norwich today though." 15 min A long spell of Norwich possession with a tame long-range shot from Elliott Bennett. Norwich have certainly been the better team thus far. 14 min Why the hell doesn't Wes Hoolahan get in the Ireland team? He's an actual footballer. 13 min Hoolahan, the best player on the pitch so far, invites a long-range shot from Tettey. He scuffs it and it's blootered clear. 11 min "Just sipping on a coffee in the south of France," says my colleague Ian McCourt, aka the nicest man in journalism, "and thought I'd email into the MBM and say hi." You just wanted to let us know you're in the south of France, didn't you? 10 min "Advice for Danny Marsh," says Naman Vijay. "Take a super hot date with you." I think I may just have spotted one tiny flaw in your plan ... 8 min Holman comes infield from the left and plays a crisp angled pass into Benteke on the edge of the area. He is dispossessed but the loose ball comes to Holman, who was following up the play, and he hits a gentle 20-yard pass that is comfortably saved by Ruddy. 7 min Gabby Agbonlahor, who at 26 is Villa's senior Premier League player today, wins the first corner of the match down the left. It's drilled deep and Benteke's looping header goes gently over the bar. 5 min There's a nice autumn sunshine over Villa Park, although I suspect it's still bloody freezing. The game isn't really going anywhere at the moment, Norwich having regressed towards the mean after their smart start. 4 min "It was sort of mutual but she was the one that actually ended it," says Danny Marsh. "On the phone. Haven't seen her since. She never cooked anything. Ever." Anyone got any advice for Danny's big night? 3 min It's been an urgent start from Norwich, who are snapping the ball around confidently. Villa look a bit tentative. 2 min "Asking the MBM followers for advice on exes is an futile one," says Alex Netherton. "To have an ex you'd have to have had a relationship." That reads suspiciously like banter, Alex. 1 min Norwich kick off from right to left. They are in canary yellow; Villa are in claret y blue. "I'm a Villa fan," apologises Danny Marsh. "I am also planning my first meeting with an ex next week. How about some advice for me to come out on top? I should wear a clean jumper, right? A Villa 2-1 today!" We'll get the crack MBM team on it. First we need to knew a few things. Was it an acrimonious split? Who dumped who? Did she cook Beef Stroganoff? Team news Darren Bent has been dropped again. Remember when scoring goals was a virtue? Aston Villa (4-4-2): Guzan, Lowton, Herd, Vlaar, Bennett, Albrighton, El Ahmadi, Delph, Holman; Agbonlahor, Benteke.
Subs: Given, Ireland, Bent, Westwood, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj. Norwich (4-2-3-1): Ruddy; R Martin, Bassong, Turner, Garrido; Tettey, Johnson; E Bennett, Hoolahan, Pilkington; Holt.
Subs: Rudd, Snodgrass, Howson, Jackson, Morison, Barnett, R Bennett. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) Prediction on which you are advised not to stake your last Rolo, never mind your mortgage: Villa 1-1 Norwich The first Premier League meeting between these sides came at Villa Park in November 1992, a minor classic that Norwich won 3-2. Look at the league table after that game. How much better football was when smaller teams could be seen and heard. Preamble Meeting the ex for the first time is a strange experience. On the one hand, the prospect can be intimidating, uncomfortable, painful, regretful, nostalgic. On the other the actual experience can be weirdly emboldening. Whether you're the dumper, the dumpee or you split by "mutual consent", the desire to win the unspoken battle of who has gone to pot the least can bring out an arrogant side in even the meekest characters. It's like you borrow a different personality for the night: more confident, assured and, in theory, desirable. People also go to the trouble of dressing up, wearing a minimiser if they are a man and a maximiser if they are a woman. Here, my stupid little former lover, is what you could have won. There are even suggestions – although the Guardian has not been able to verify these – that some people even splash on a bit of cologne and spend much longer than usual in front of the mirror. So long as you don't inadvertently shout "I NEVER LOVED YOU ANYWAY, THE BLOODY ZERO 7 CDs WERE MINE AND YOUR BEEF STROGANOFF PALPABLY NEEDED MORE SALT!" it should go reasonably well and you can go away feeling better about yourself. That's what Paul Lambert and Norwich hope will happen at Villa Park today. Both have looked a little lost without each other in the early part of the season: Norwich, like Lambert's Villa, have won only one out of eight league games. There is a burgeoning sense that Lambert, who seems to have all the tools to become what Jamie Redknapp's even more excitable alter ego would call a top, top, top, top, top, top, top manager, might just have taken a wrong turn by going to Villa. This may just be London-based-media ignorance – and apologies if so – but it does seem a bit of a nothing job at a club which is stuck in no team's land: too mediocre to go down, too mediocre to make an impression. It would be interesting to know what Lambert thinks he can achieve. He'll be fine in the medium term – it would not be at all surprising if he were the next British manager to get one of the big jobs – but it might get worse before it gets better.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Eid truce broken again with at least 22 thought dead after alleged incursion by Syrian rebels into neutral Kurdish districts At least 22 people were killed in clashes between Syrian rebels and Kurdish militia men in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. The fighting broke out despite a truce brokered in honour of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, which was also broken in other areas of Syria with sporadic bombings and clashes. The clashes occurred after rebels pushed into largely Kurdish and Christian areas that have remained relatively quiet during the three-month battle for the city. Kurds say the rebels had pledged to stay out of their districts. Kurdish groups have for the most part tried to steer a middle course in the conflict between the rebels and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Some figures have allied with the rebels, others with Assad, while others have remained neutral. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 19 rebels and three Kurdish gunmen were killed in the clash that lasted several hours, the group said. A Kurdish official put the death toll at 10 Kurds, but had no figures for the rebels. Mohieddine Sheik Ali, head of the Kurdish Yekiti party, told the Associated Press that the clashes broke out after rebels entered Ashrafieh, violating "a gentlemen's agreement" not to go into Kurdish areas in Aleppo. He said there are 100,000 Kurds in Ashrafieh and many in the nearby Sheik Maksoud area. Sheik Ali said tens of thousands of Arabs have also fled to these districts from the violence across Aleppo. "Disagreements between our brothers in the [rebel] Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish Popular Defence Units" led to the clashes, he said. In other violence, the Observatory and the Local Co-ordination Committees reported shelling and shooting on Saturday, mostly in Aleppo, the eastern region of Deir el-Zour, Daraa to the south and suburbs of the capital, Damascus. Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy, mediated a four-day ceasefire that began on Friday to mark the Eid festival. "The ceasefire collapsed nearly three hours after it went into effect," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory. "The only difference is that the fighting is less widespread and the regime has not been using its air force since the ceasefire began." State-run Syrian TV also reported on Saturday that rebels violated the ceasefire by detonating a car bomb outside an Assyrian Christian church in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, near the border with Iraq. The violence came a day after car bombs and clashes left more than 100 dead.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Intensity of storm subsides but east coast prepares to batten down hatches after 41 deaths across the Caribbean The US National Weather Service has downgraded Hurricane Sandy from a hurricane to a tropical storm as the weather system left 41 people dead across the Caribbean..Although the intensity of the storm has fallen forecasters expect "widespread impacts" along the US east coast. Among the 41 deaths was Briton Timothy Fraser-Smith, 66, chief executive of Deltec Bank & Trust, who died after falling from his roof in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas on Thursday, as he tried to repair a window shutter. The storm was expected to move away from the Bahamas and parallel to the south-east coast of the US later this weekend. A state of emergency was declared in some areas along the east coast on Friday as experts feared Hurricane Sandy could become a storm of "historic" proportions. Sandy could strike the US coastline anywhere between Virginia and Massachusetts as early as Monday. Meteorologists warned that weather conditions could be complicated as Sandy is expected to meet two separate weather systems somewhere over the north-east US, resulting in high winds, heavy rain, extreme tides and perhaps even snow. "It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. He compared the convergence of weather systems to the so-called "perfect storm" that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, although that storm hit a less populated area. On Friday afternoon, the centre of the hurricane was moving slowly north around 430 miles south-southeast off the coast of South Carolina. Sandy was moving at 7mph with maximum sustained winds near 75mph. Forecasters said there was a 90% certainty that storm would make landfall on the east coast, although it was too early to predict where it would come ashore. Parts of Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba were left devastated as the hurricane swept over on Thursday and Friday. In Cuba, 11 people were killed in eastern Santiago and Guantanamo provinces. Authorities said Sandy was Cuba's deadliest storm since July 2005. One person died as Sandy passed through Jamaica and 16 were left dead in Haiti, where heavy rains from the storm's outer bands caused flooding in the impoverished and deforested country. New York, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency on Friday. In Virginia, where Mitt Romney cancelled a rally planned for Sunday night, Governor Bob McDonnell told people to prepare ahead of the storm's arrival, warning that the state "could see severe weather lasting for 48 hours or more". "In that scenario, saturated soil coupled with high winds could lead to major tree damage and extensive power outages," McDonnell said. "Virginians should make sure their family members, friends and neighbours are prepared for this extended weather event. I encourage all Virginians to gather batteries, blankets, water, canned goods, and other necessities prior to the anticipated onset of storm conditions late Saturday and early Sunday." New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg said he would wait until Saturday before potentially issuing an evacuation order, but warned that the storm was moving at such a rate that "we're still not going to have a good sense of when and where it's going to hit land". The last major storm to threaten the north-east coast was Hurricane Irene which caused an estimated $15.8bn in damage in August last year, making it one of the costliest storms in history. Bloomberg said that bridges may have to be closed in New York. The MTA suspends subway, bus and other transit services in advance of the arrival of sustained winds at 39mph or higher, he said, while power outages are also a possibility. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Friday that wherever the storm comes ashore, there will be 10in (254mm) of rain and extreme storm surges. Up to 2ft (0.6m) of snow should fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania. "It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people," said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | On screen, John Goodman is funny, warm, expansive. Off screen, he's struggled with drink and depression – and he's in no mood to share John Goodman sits on the couch, immobile as Mount Rushmore, his forearms parked aboard meaty knees. Fishing responses from him is like chipping at granite. He says, "No, sir" and, "I don't know"; "I suppose" and, "I wouldn't know about that." From time to time, he emits a long, breathy groan, as though invisible doctors are subjecting him to some invasive medical procedure. I don't know whether he's exhausted or sick; whether he hates interviews or this particular interviewer. On balance, with the benefit of hindsight, I decide it's all four of these things with the gas turned up. It is perhaps unfair to expect an actor to put on a show when the cameras aren't rolling. But after barely five minutes, I'm floundering, rattling through the questions, desperately attempting to snag his interest. Clearly, there is no sign of the joie de vivre Goodman brought to his role as earthy, expansive Dan Conner through nine seasons of Roseanne. Nor, for that matter, is there much evidence of the playful gusto and twinkling intelligence he smuggles into even his most baleful screen incarnations (volcanic Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski, the one-eyed Bible salesman out of O Brother, Where Art Thou?). Forgive the preconceptions: I walked in to meet a warm, funny, abundantly gifted actor whose work I've loved for years. Instead, this feels like dinner with Grendel. Goodman is here to promote his role in Ben Affleck's new movie, Argo, though he's not in town for long, "no, sir." The film itself is punchy and involving; a stranger-than-fiction account of Hollywood's deep-cover role in the Iranian hostage crisis that helped unseat the Carter administration. Affleck stars as CIA operative Tony Mendez, who concocts a fake movie as a means of springing six Americans who have gone to ground at the Canadian embassy in Tehran. Goodman plays the late John Chambers, a makeup artist best known for designing the masks on the original Planet Of The Apes pictures. Chambers' task is to cook up a sci-fi production that looks legit, passing off the imperilled Americans as workaday film-makers who have come to Iran to scout for locations. Don't worry, Chambers assures Mendez at one stage, "You can teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day." I ask Goodman what research he did into the real-life Chambers and he heaves a heavy sigh. "I didn't have much to go on or much time to do it. I just read a couple of things. Spoke to a couple of people who knew him. There wasn't really much to do. The script was self-explanatory." Did he perhaps base the character on any Hollywood crew members he's known in the past? Chambers, after all, is one of Hollywood's working Joes; the unsung heroes of film production. "I'm a working Joe myself," Goodman says. "A cog in the machine." So he feels a certain affinity with men such as Chambers? Goodman grimaces into the middle distance. He can't think what I mean. Well, I elaborate, he describes himself as a working Joe… "Do I?" Goodman barks. "Do I? Ah, well, if you say so." By this point I sense we might have danced ourselves giddy with our chat about Argo, although I'm not quite sure where we go from here. Goodman seems so jaded, so hostile, so barely engaged that speaking to him has become a little unnerving. Is he feeling all right? "Yes, sir." Can I get him some water? "No, sir," he says and then waves me to continue. He was born in St Louis in 1952, to a waitress mum and a postman dad who died when he was two. He liked football as a boy, and played a little in college. Now he says that he was never that good; it would not have worked out. Acting, he claims, was the only thing he could do, and he had no plan B. He liked the idea of being Marlon Brando; he loved that whole method school of acting. "Brando was different. He changed the world. He was the beginning and end of his own revolution." Is that what inspired Goodman, what fired him up? "Yeah, I suppose." He laughs mirthlessly. "Gee, I wish I could still get fired up." I had the impression that Goodman struggled during his early years as an actor, but he insists that this was not really the case – he was always able to pick up work. In his 20s, he acted on Broadway and cropped up on TV, bagging his first screen appearance as a hungry diner in a Burger King commercial. In the meantime, he was chasing the dream in 1980s New York, jockeying for position among a bunch of other young actors. "Bruce Willis was a bartender at a place I used to go," he says, briefly illuminated by the memory. "He was a great bartender, it was a performance every night. He just had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Ah, Bruce, he was great. He got me the drinks and I drank 'em down." In 1988, Goodman secured what would prove to be his breakthrough role. Roseanne Barr's portrait of a loving, scratchy, blue-collar family, struggling to get by in Lanford, Illinois, amounted to a roustabout salute to the real America, depicting a landscape of chintzy furnishings and ranch-style kitchens that was worlds away from Wall Street or Beverly Hills, though Goodman won't be drawn on the show's political impact. "I was just showing up and doing my job," he says. "And if I thought I was making some sort of statement, then I was in the wrong fucking business." Roseanne's on-screen fireworks sometimes spilled over on to the set as well. Life on the show could be fraught and demanding, driven with an iron hand by Barr herself, who oversaw the scripts and brought her then-husband, Tom Arnold, to serve as executive producer. Still, the show topped the ratings and made Goodman a star. "It was strange," he admits. "I saw the world differently. I guess there was a sense of entitlement. People treated me differently and I got used to it. It's not pleasant to look back on right now." How does he look back on the show itself? "Happily, now. It was great fun at first and then it was trouble. At times, it was hard to go to work." What was the trouble? "A lot of individual things. She had fallen in love with this guy and brought him along and this kind of upset the balance. But, you know…" He gives an epic shrug. "Everybody got along. It was like this big dysfunctional family." In the years since Roseanne, Goodman has gone on to establish a rich, rewarding film career: sometimes as a leading man, more often as a galvanising support player, a safe pair of hands, a rock to anchor the ship. He played the US president on The West Wing and the monarch of England in King Ralph. He reared up brilliantly through five collaborations with the Coen brothers, and rustled up a beautiful, heartbreaking turn as shaggy James P "Sulley" Sullivan in the animated Monsters Inc. All of which was a just reward for hard graft and talent. And yet what should have been his vintage years were also blighted by increasingly heavy drinking. In 2007, Goodman checked into a rehabilitation centre to get himself sober. "It was getting to be too much," he tells me. "It was 30 years of a disease that was taking its toll on everyone around me and it had got to the point where, every time I did it, it was becoming more and more debilitating. It was life or death. It was time to stop." Was the alcohol affecting his work? "Yes, it certainly was." In what respect? "Erm," he says. "Temperament. Memory. Depression." All at once he swivels on the couch and stares off at the wall. He is silent for the longest time. His jaw is set, his colour is rising. Finally, he speaks: "This is not something I want to chat about to sell a fucking movie. You understand? I don't know what you do. I'm sorry, I'm very tired. It seems a little cheap to me." OK, I say. I'm sorry if I've offended you. "It's not your fault, it's the process," he says. "I can't just waltz in here and talk about the movie, I have to dredge up some very unpleasant things and it's just not worth it. What's the fucking point?" Goodman admits that he has sometimes used work as a distraction from all the other, swirling aspects of his life, and possibly as a means of controlling them, too. He explains that he likes acting because it involves working with good people. He likes shooting with the Coen brothers best of all, he says, because their scripts are so good they're practically foolproof, which effectively removes him from the equation: "Which works for me." When a film isn't going well, it makes him very "antsy". When there's no film to work on, he gets antsier still – although he says he's working on that, it's part of a process. Last summer, he had some time on his hands, so he just ended up hanging out at home with Anna, his wife of 23 years. He fixed the house, read some books, watched a little baseball. "I wound up rather enjoying myself," he says with surprise. At some stage he'd like to do more theatre. But right now he has an arthritic left knee that is in need of repair and a heap of new films poised to roll off the rank. Argo, for instance, is already being tipped as a potential Oscar contender, just as Michel Hazanavicius's silent-screen comedy The Artist was last year. The actor shakes his head. He still can't get over what happened with The Artist, in which he took a small role as a Hollywood mogul. He agreed to appear in the thing only because it sounded like a neat idea, plus he didn't need to learn the lines. "I thought it would be a nice little film that nobody would see." But that's the thing about this business, he shrugs. You can never predict which film will take off and which one will bomb. "If I could do that, I wouldn't be sitting in this room. I'd be at a desk the size of a football pitch. Barking orders, or having someone else bark 'em for me. One thing's for sure: I wouldn't be sitting here with you, my friend." Afterwards, a little bruised from the encounter, I email Roseanne Barr for her thoughts on Goodman. I ask her about their working relationship on the set of Roseanne, about what aspects he brought to the role of Dan Conner. What I most want to know, I think, is what he's like as a person when he's off screen and relaxed, when he feels loved and fulfilled. Barr emails back straight away: "John is the funniest and deepest actor in the world," she says. "He has only gotten more open, more sweet, more expansive and giving, on-screen and off, if that were possible, since the Roseanne show." • Argo goes on general release on 7 November.
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