|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Congress questions FBI delay in reporting affair, as details of 'harassed' second woman emerges The dramatic downfall of CIA chief David Petraeus has given rise to political intrigue in Washington as a drip-feed of details concerning his clandestine affair mixes with serious questions over the timing of the resignation. Over the weekend it emerged that his relationship with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by FBI agents while they investigated harassing emails she allegedly sent to a second woman, who was named on Sunday by the Associated Press as Jill Kelley, a state department military liaison. The scandal comes at a particularly sensitive time. Petraeus had been due to give evidence before a Congressional body this coming Thursday concerning the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including America's ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. It is now thought that Petraeus will not attend the session, robbing politicians of the opportunity to question an "absolutely necessary witness", according to Peter King, chairman of the House homeland security committee. White House and intelligence officials have suggested that there is no connection between the timing of Petraeus's resignation and the evidence session on the Benghazi attack. But in Washington, questions are being asked as to why the FBI appeared to have sat on the information it uncovered regarding the affair before handing it on to other authorities some time later. Intelligence officials have suggested that Petraeus was first questioned over the nature of his relationship with Broadwell a fortnight ago. But it was only on the night of the presidential election that national intelligence director James Clapper was notified of the affair. It is thought that Clapper then advised the CIA chief to resign. Even then, it was not until the next day that the White House was informed of the situation. It then took a further day before newly re-elected President Barack Obama was told that his intelligence chief was to tender his resignation. Meanwhile, the Senate intelligence committee only heard about the matter on Friday, just hours before the CIA director announced he was to step down. Further confusing the time-line of events were reports on Sunday that leading House Republican Eric Cantor had been informed by an FBI whistle-blower of the brewing Petraeus scandal two weeks ago. If true, it would raise the prospect that the affair had become known in Washington circles before Friday's resignation. House Republican King said on Sunday that the account of who knew what and when "doesn't add up", saying that there were a lot of unanswered questions. The FBI had an "obligation" to tell the president as soon as they had identified a possible security breach, he told CNN's State of the Union. Meanwhile, other politicians said that Petraeus may still be compelled to give evidence concerning the 11 September attack in Benghazi. "We may well ask him," Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. Congress is keen to question the former four-star general over what the CIA knew in advance of the assault, and importantly, what it had told the White House in regards to the nature of the terrorist threat. In the run-up to last week's election, senior Republicans accused the White House of misleading Americans over claims that it was not made aware of requests to bolster security in advance of the assault. It is on this point that Petraeus was expected to be questioned at Thursday's Congressional hearing. Following his resignation, it is thought that his former deputy, Michael Morell, will testify before Washington in his place as acting director of the CIA. Morell is slated to meet with Congressional figures on Wednesday to discuss the Petraeus affair in a bid to curtail lingering suspicions over the timing of the resignation. The political fall-out from Friday's resignation comes amid a personal crisis for a man often referred to as the leading American military mind of his generation. In the days following his announcement to step down, a steady flow of leaks to the US media have given more detail to the affair that cost Petraeus his job. The makings of his downfall were in a series of apparently vicious emails sent by his lover — a 40-year-old former Army reservist who co-authored All In, a fawning biography of the CIA chief — to Kelley, a state department liaison to the military's Joint Special Operations Command. It is thought that the threatening nature of the missives led the Florida-based recipient to seek the protection of the FBI. An investigation of Broadwell's personal email account uncovered letters of an explicit nature between her and Petraeus, who has been married for the past 38 years to his wife Holly. It was then that agents approached the CIA chief directly. Having eliminated the threat of a security breach, it was decided that no further action would be taken by the FBI. But the damage to Petraeus's reputation was clear, and having consulted with Clapper, the decision to resign was made. In a letter to staff explaining his move, the now outgoing CIA boss said: "Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours." Others close to Petraeus had an even more blunt assessment of the scandal. "He screwed up, he knows he screwed up," said Steve Boylan, a retired army officer and Petraeus's former spokesman.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Soldier from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, shot in an insider attack A gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform shot and killed a member of the US-led coalition forces fighting in Afghanistan the latest in a spate of insider attacks that are fracturing the trust between Nato and Afghan forces. Separately, officials said 11 Afghan civilians were killed by land mines on Sunday in the east and south. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the insider attack had claimed the life of a British soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. It said the soldier was shot by an individual wearing an Afghan army uniform at his base in the Nade-e Ali district of Helmand province. The serviceman was not named, but the MoD said his next of kin have been informed. Mohammad Zarak, spokesman for the governor of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, said the shooting took place in Nad Ali district after an argument between an Afghan soldier and coalition service members. Coalition figures show at least 60 coalition service members have been killed so far this year and others have been wounded in about 45 insider attacks, where members of the Afghan security forces or insurgents dressed in their uniforms turn their guns on US and allied troops. The insider attacks have raised questions about how effectively the allied forces can train the Afghans to take over security of their own country in 2014 and beyond. Foreign forces are due to turn over security responsibility to the local military by the end of 2014. The spate of insider attacks has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in Nato countries and increased calls for earlier withdrawals. In London, General David Richards, head of Britain's armed forces, described the insider attacks as a "very effective" Taliban tactic. "They're very good at playing on our minds because of the impact it has in the minds of (ordinary people) and many people who are of influence, including our politicians," Richard said. Meanwhile, roadside bomb killed three men, two women and a baby in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan, deputy provincial police chief Youqib Khan said. He said their vehicle hit the bomb as they were returning from a hospital. Three other civilians were killed when their vehicle detonated a land mine on the road between Helmand and Kandahar provinces, a government statement said. Also in the south, two civilians who were walking were killed by a land mine in Khakrez district of Kandahar province, said Ahmad Jawed Faisal, a spokesman for the provincial governor. The United Nations says homemade bombs continue to be the weapons that kill the most civilians in the war.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands gather in protest as parliament votes to pass new austerity measures in 2013 budget Greek MPs passed a budget for 2013 on Sunday night that paves the way for the country to receive further financial aid. It was passed with a comfortable majority, unlike the narrow margin secured on last week's vote on an austerity package and labour reforms. The legislation imposes deep spending cuts on the country's battered economy, as international lenders demand further austerity in return for assistance. Antonis Samaras's ruling coalition won the vote just four days after the multi-year, €13.5bn (£10.8bn) austerity package. Thousands of people had gathered outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square, Athens, to urge MPs to vote down the budget. Leading the protest march were flag-waving trade unionists with the communist-aligned Pame party followed by private and public sector workers. The protesters' chants included "Out, out, out with the IMF" and "Hands off workers' rights". There was drama inside the chamber where opposition MP Stathis Panagoulis, of the leftwing Syriza party, warned that Greece faced "civil war", and that politicians risked being "lynched" and "murdered" as a result of the austerity measures. The budget includes hefty cuts in pensions and public sector wages, agreed through torturous negotiation with Greece's "Troika" of lenders, the IMF, European commission and European Central Bank. It also contains dire economic forecasts. Greece's national debt is predicted to hit nearly 190% of GDP next year – much higher than when its second bailout was agreed in March. It also warns that Greece's long recession will continue, with GDP shrinking by another 4.5% in 2013. Economists say the projections show that Greece cannot meet its targets without the two-year extension that Samaras has been quietly urging fellow European leaders to support. Last week's austerity package was eventually approved by 153 of the 300 MPs in the chamber. Democratic Left, the junior partner, abstained in protest at labour market reforms. Greece faces a nervous wait for its next tranche of bailout cash even if the budget is approved, with eurozone leaders unlikely to agree on a payment date when they meet on Monday.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Feuding factions finally put aside differences to agree deal combining Syrian National Council with smaller groups Qatar and Turkey, two of the Syrian opposition's biggest international backers, have called for other states to endorse an umbrella deal signed on Sunday night that unites feuding anti-Assad groups and paves a way for funding to resume. The formation of the group had been a key demand of the US and the Gulf states, which have sidelined the original political body, the Syrian National Council, and urged that a broader and more representative group be established. After a week of wrangling in the Qatari capital, Doha, the chance of such a group being enshrined had nearly evaporated. However, an agreement was finally reached that absorbed the SNC and nominated a new leadership. A former imam at the Umayyad mosque in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, was named leader. Riad Seif, who proposed the new initiative, and Suhair Atassi, a female activist, will be his deputies. Qatar, which had invested much regional capital in an accord being struck on its soil, said the international community no longer had an excuse to ignore the Syrian opposition. Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, adopted a similar tone. Qatar later called for the new body to be considered the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people. "Trust us that we will strive from now on to have this new body recognised completely by all parties … as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people," said Qatar's prime minister, Hamid bin Jassem. The SNC, which has been lambasted as nepotistic exiles detached from realities inside Syria, will no longer be the dominant voice in the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. The new group – the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces – will attempt to represent political, military and civil groups under a united banner. The SNC remained reluctant to the end to lend its weight to the agreement, but faced a prosect of being sidelined altogether. It had already lost the confidence of the US and Arab League members as the Syrian civil war steadily worsened. The new group is understood to be waiting for the recognition of the broader international community before announcing a provisional government. Military leaders inside Syria and civilian leaders in exile are still unlikely to gain support for their call for the establishment of a no-fly zone over parts, or all, of Syria. The US has been reluctant to support such a move and Robert Ford, a senior administration official and former ambassador to Damascus, said Barack Obama was unlikely to drop his opposition during his second term as president. Russia and China, which have blocked previous moves against the Assad regime at the United Nations security council, appear unlikely to change their stances. Observers in Doha cautioned that the hard won agreement could still encounter trouble. Some Arab officials familiar with fraught opposition diplomacy say the SNC started with wide consensus and promise but later proved it could not deliver.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Which struggling NFC East team will keep their season alive? Find out with Paolo Bandini
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mahmoud Abbas addresses ceremony on eighth anniversary of death in France of first Palestinian president Russia will join an international investigation to determine whether the first Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, was murdered, the current Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said on Sunday. French and Swiss experts are due to exhume Arafat's body in Ramallah later this month in an attempt to discover how he died after an al-Jazeera documentary in July suggested he was killed by a rare radioactive poison. "There's full cooperation these days between us and the French investigators and Swiss experts, and also from the Russian government," Abbas told a ceremony on the eighth anniversary of the death in France of the former guerrilla who led Palestinians' campaign to create a state through years of war and peace. Abbas asked Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for Moscow's help during talks in Jordan last week, Palestinian sources said. Allegations of foul play have long surrounded the demise of Arafat. The case returned to the headlines in July when a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of the radioactive element polonium-210 on Arafat's clothing supplied by his widow Suha, who called for exhumation of her husband's body. Polonium is the radioactive substance found to have killed former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Three French forensic experts are expected to visit Arafat's limestone sepulchre in the West Bank capital of Ramallah on 20 November 20, and investigating magistrates plan to visit four days later, a diplomatic source said. Headed by the intelligence chief at the time of Arafat's death, the Palestinians' own forensic team has repeatedly butted heads with French investigators over their supervision of the exhumation, proposed for this month. Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yousef described contacts with the French as ongoing but insisted that interrogating any Palestinians must be done through Abbas's administration, "as a matter of sovereignty," he said. Abbas also on Monday accused Qatar-based al-Jazeera of "hyping" the affair. The investigation is unfolding as West Bank leaders gear up for a UN general assembly vote on Palestinians becoming an "observer state" later this month. Arafat's direct kin have rejected an exhumation. "We say openly that our leader, our founder was assassinated by Israel with poison. The overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people is convinced of this," Nasser al-Kidwa, Arafat's nephew and a senior official in Abbas's Fatah group, said on Saturday. "Some have spread about the repugnant idea that Arafat's tomb should be opened up and desecrated. There is no justification for this: we know the real truth," he said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands gather in protest as parliament votes to pass new austerity measures in 2013 budget Greek MPs have voted to pass a budget for 2013, paving the way for the country to receive further financial aid. The budget was passed with a comfortable majority, unlike the narrow margin secured last week in a vote on an austerity package and labour reforms. The legislation will impose deep spending cuts on the country's already battered economy, as international lenders demand further austerity in return for assistance. Antonis Samaras's coalition is expected to win the vote just four days after it only narrowly won approval for a multi-year, €13.5bn (£10.8bn) austerity package. Thousands of people gathered outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square, Athens, to urge MPs to vote down the budget. Leading the protest march were flag-waving unionists with the communist-aligned Pame party followed by private and public sector workers. The protesters' chants included "Out, out, out with the IMF" and "Hands off workers' rights". There was drama inside the chamber where opposition MP Stathis Panagoulis, of the leftwing Syriza party, warned that Greece faced "civil war", and that politicians risk being "lynched" and "murdered" as a result of the austerity measures. The budget includes hefty cuts in pensions and public-sector wage reductions, agreed through torturous negotiation with Greece's "Troika" of lenders, the IMF, European commission and European Central Bank. It also contains dire economic forecasts. Greece's national debt is predicted to hit nearly 190% of GDP next year – much higher than when its second bailout was agreed in March. It also warns that Greece's long recession will continue, with GDP shrinking by another 4.5% in 2013. Economists say the projections show that Greece cannot meet its targets without the two-year extension that Samaras has been quietly urging fellow European leaders to support. Last week's austerity package was eventually approved by 153 of the 300 MPs in the chamber. Democratic Left, the junior partner, abstained in protest at labour market reforms. Greece faces a nervous wait for its next tranche of bailout cash even if the budget is approved, with eurozone leaders unlikely to agree on a payment date when they meet on Monday.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Which struggling NFC East team will keep their season alive? Find out with Paolo Bandini
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rejected director general candidates to be interviewed again, while Newsnight staff left in limbo after abuse film The BBC's governing body, the BBC Trust, held an emergency meeting on Sunday night as the broadcaster reeled from the humiliating Saturday night resignation of the director general, George Entwistle, after just 53 days in the top job in British television. The BBC chairman, Lord Patten, said privately that he expected to speak again to the director general candidates Caroline Thomson, the BBC's former chief operating officer, Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive, and "one or two other names" in a bid to rapidly recruit a new leader for the crisis-hit broadcaster. Patten – also under fire for choosing the underperforming Entwistle – told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that the BBC Trust would have to appoint a successor "with a few weeks rather than a lot of months". Interviewing previously shortlisted candidates and a few chosen others could help him achieve that. It has emerged that Entwistle will receive a £450,000 payoff – equivalent to a year's salary – even though he stepped down having concluded that the BBC "should appoint a new leader" after he struggled to contend with the fallout from the Jimmy Savile child abuse crisis. Amid repeated comparisons to the Hutton crisis that led to the departure of the BBC's then director general, Greg Dyke, and its chairman, Gavyn Davies, in 2004, No 10 remained determined to keep its distance – thereby avoiding accusations it was capitalising on the BBC's weakness for political benefit. With David Cameron being kept informed by his director of communications, the former BBC editor Craig Oliver, Downing Street was indicating it wanted Patten to be given time to get a grip. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, tweeting, said that the BBC needed to put in place "a strong DG" and that it was necessary "to restore trust in one of our great national institutions". Entwistle's departure also did little to steady nerves inside a rumour-hit BBC, with journalists working on Newsnight still unclear if the BBC2 programme would go out as usual on Monday, pending an emergency review of the circumstances surrounding a report that wrongly linked the former Conservative party treasurer Lord McAlpine to child sexual abuse. The acting director general, Tim Davie, is on Monday expected to set out his plans for dealing with the crisis created by the Newsnight broadcast. Insiders said there were some internal doubts over the Newsnight film, which although it did not name McAlpine, referred to historic allegations connected with a north Wales child abuse scandal in such a way that it was possible to easily identify him via the internet. It is understood that Newsnight's political editor, Allegra Stratton, had such grave concerns over the allegations made by abuse victim Steve Messham and the possible Twitter implications for those involved that she refused to conduct a two-way interview for the programme. Stratton, however, would not confirm this. There were also talk of fierce battles at the top of the BBC, as Davie attempted to ease the crisis – and speculation that other BBC executives had come under pressure to step aside from their roles while various inquiries into Newsnight continue. Patten indicated that he was keen on a wider structural overhaul of the corporation, offering vague proposals to appoint a strong "editorial figure" to complement the work of the director general. The chairman said "there is a case" for splitting the roles of director general and editor in chief, although this would require an emergency rewrite of the BBC's governing royal charter. An emergency review into the erroneous McAlpine report led by Ken MacQuarrie, the head of BBC Scotland, was sent to Davie on Sunday night – while a second review, the Nick Pollard review of last year's decision to axe an investigation into sexual abuse by Savile, is due to begin holding interviews with those at the heart of that affair this week. The BBC Trust also met Davie to hear the outcome of the MacQuarrie review, with the body saying that it was "looking forward to him setting out tomorrow his plans" for dealing with "some of issues" arising from the McAlpine broadcast. It is understood that Davie himself had no part in approving the McAlpine broadcast, which went out under the auspices of the programme editor Liz Gibbons and the acting BBC news chief, the 5 Live boss Adrian van Klaveren. There was also some residual unhappiness with Entwistle, who implied that he had not been informed of a Guardian report on Thursday night that Lord McAlpine was a victim of mistaken identity on the part of Messham. It is understood that the report was discussed in the BBC management's 9am call – but Entwistle was not listening in because he was preparing to give a speech later that morning, outlining the BBC's priorities in 2013. Meanwhile, those familiar with the evidence already collected by Pollard say that Entwistle – who is still expected to give evidence – will have to explain why he rejected a personal appeal from the Newsnight journalist Meirion Jones on 16 October to discuss errors in the contents of a blog written by the programme editor Peter Rippon. There was also uncertainty about the future for the Bureau for Investigative Journalism, whose reporter Angus Stickler had generated the 2 November Newsnight report that linked McAlpine to child sexual abuse. Stickler has declined to comment, but the bureau's editor, Iain Overton, who tweeted before the broadcast that Newsnight was about to out "a very senior political figure who is a paedophile", is believed to be considering stepping aside.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Protesters echo Arab Spring slogans during demonstration in square opposite parliament Tens of thousands of Kuwaitis packed into a square opposite parliament on Sunday in a peaceful opposition-led rally against new voting rules. Recent demonstrations against the electoral changes, ordered by Kuwait's ruler last month ahead of a poll on 1 December, have led to clashes between protesters and police as marches spread out of the areas usually designated for rallies. Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the 83-year-old emir whose family has ruled Kuwait for more than 250 years, has said the new rules are aimed at preserving national unity. He warned last week there will be no leniency for threats to national security. Hundreds of Kuwaiti men wearing white traditional robes streamed into the square, where opposition leaders gave speeches from a stage to protesters, many sitting on carpets drinking tea as others sang Kuwaiti songs. Women dressed in black traditional robes sat in a separate area of the audience. Helicopters circled overhead and police lined the streets around the square, which were clogged with traffic. "The government just wants a parliament that does everything they want," said computer security manager Abu Abdullah. "They are playing with our constitution." Fatima al-Badah, an educational supervisor, said: "The decision [to change voting rules] came from the emir. It is more accurate if this issue is discussed in parliament. Under the new system it is easier to buy votes." In a conscious echo of Arab Spring slogans, some protesters chanted "The people want to bring down the decree [on voting]." Protests have toppled four Arab leaders since last year. Although Kuwait, an OPEC member and United States ally, allows more dissent than most other Gulf states, in recent weeks it has begun to emphasise the limits of its tolerance and has arrested small groups of people at the protests. Made up of Islamist, tribal and liberal lawmakers, as well as youth groups, the opposition says the new voting rules are an attempt to skew the parliamentary election in favour of pro-government candidates. Opposition politicians held a majority in the last parliament which was fraught with legislative deadlock and dissolved by a court ruling in June.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fear grips Brazil's biggest city as undeclared war between First Capital Command gang and police leads to wave of violence It was a more than typically murderous Saturday night in São Paulo: at 10pm, in the São Bernardo do Campo neighbourhood, a motorcyclist rode up to a private home, killed two of the residents, then sped away. An hour or so later in a nearby district, police shot and killed two men in what they said was an exchange of fire. Elsewhere police found the body of a man with a bullet through his brain – one of 14 people murdered and 12 injured in this single night amid a rising wave of violence in Brazil's biggest city. At least 140 people have been murdered in São Paulo over the past two weeks in an outbreak of violent crime that has prompted early school closures, a change of municipal bus routes and street demonstrations. In September 144 people were killed. The causes are manifold, but a major factor appears to be an undeclared war between the largest criminal militia and the police, which has led to drive-by shootings, ambushes and other killings. After initially denying the link, officials from the public safety department told local newspapers at the weekend that many of the killings of police had been ordered by imprisoned leaders of the First Capital Command criminal group in reprisal for a crackdown on the drug trade. Non-governmental organisations, however, say the responsibility also lies with militias formed by former and serving police officers, who are used to skimming profits off the drug trade. So far this year, 92 former and current police officers have been gunned down. Last week state and federal police said they would combine forces to create a new intelligence agency to counter the resurgent threat posed by organised crime. Police jitters were apparent on Friday night when an off-duty officer, Edcarlos Oliveira Lima, killed the driver and passenger of a car that swerved in front of him. He claimed to have seen a gun in the vehicle and feared he was being corralled for a possible hit. However, witnesses and the victims' families say he needlessly killed two innocents. Oliveira Lima is under investigation. There were 982 murders in the first nine months of this year in São Paulo, according to data released by the public security department. This is up 10% on last year and higher than the total in Rio de Janeiro. Five hundred angry and worried residents of Brasilândia – one of the worst-affected areas – took to the streets on Sunday morning, carrying white roses, wearing T-shirts printed with the faces of some of the victims and shouting for greater vigilance. Schools and shops in some São Paulo districts closed early last week due to concerns about the rising risks. "In view of the wave of violence in the city's south zone, the school's directors decided to send staff and students home early so as to assure their safety," Eliane Valerio de Souza, administrative assistant at a professional training school, told the newspaper Folha de S Paulo. Regional authorities have played down the violence. Governor Geraldo Alckmin said the crime rate in Greater São Paulo was on the wane. However, he warned the problem would not go away unless the national government took firmer measures to control the influx of drugs and guns along Brazil's extensive borders. Despite the recent killings, São Paulo state is by no means the most violent in Brazil when its huge population is taken into account. Last year, this commercial powerhouse saw 10.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants compared with 74.5 in the most murderous state, Alagoas. Until recently, the dominance of the First Capital Command was credited as a factor in the relatively low crime rates that São Paulo has enjoyed for most of the past decade. While Rio has been riven by frequent violence between competing gangs of drug traffickers, the war for control has largely been won in the commercial hub. But police crackdowns in 2001 and 2006 have resulted in surges of violence. • The picture on this article was changed on 11 November 2012 to replace an image showing police in Rio de Janeiro
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Key figures on both sides of the Washington divide have said a deal can be reached to avoid damaging cuts and tax rises Both sides of Washington's political divide expressed optimism Sunday that a deal could be struck to avoid the "fiscal cliff" of swingeing spending cuts and tax increases that could put the US economy back into reverse. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Republican senator Bob Corker acknowledged that raising revenue from America's rich would have to be part of the plan to reduce soaring national debt. But he pushed for the closing of loopholes as a way to increase the government take, rather than upping the tax rate on millionaires. Nonetheless, Corker suggested that a "basis for the deal" with Democrats existed. David Axelrod, one of President Barack Obama's closest aides, also appeared to suggest there was room for compromise. "Obviously there is money to be gained by closing some of these loopholes and applying them to deficit reduction," Axelrod told CBS's Face the Nation. "I think there are a lot of ways to skin this cat, so long as everybody comes with a positive attitude towards the task." Such comments will raise hopes that a deal will be reached before scheduled $600bn spending cuts and tax increases take effect at the end of the year. Some economists fear that a failure to avoid falling off the so-called "fiscal cliff" could be catastrophic for the US economic revival, plunging it back into recession. President Obama has invited congressional leaders to the White House next week, to begin the process of hammering out a deficit-reduction package that is acceptable to both parties. Despite encouraging remarks from Republicans and Democrats on Sunday, an ideological divide will still need to be breached. Last week, John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, reiterated his party's commitment to blocking tax rises, although he appeared more open to the idea of increasing revenue through changes in the tax code. Obama used the first radio address of his second term to confirm that he would stick by an election pledge to increase the government's take from America's super-rich. Obama said that a deficit reduction plan based on spending cuts alone was a non-starter: "I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. I will not ask students or seniors or middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes." The president added that he believed his election victory over the Republican challenger Mitt Romney had given him a mandate to carry out his promise. "This was a central question in the election. And on Tuesday, we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mobile phone makers sign 10-year licensing agreement after 32 months of lawsuits In a surprising outbreak of peace in the mobile phone world, Apple and the Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC have halted legal hostilities and signed a 10-year licensing agreement. Industry sources suggested that HTC may have agreed to pay Apple between $5 (£3.15) and $20 per handset that it produces with Google's Android operating system. HTC said that the deal, which enables the company to use Apple patents on its devices, would not have a material effect on its profit-and-loss account. HTC was the company that first prompted Steve Jobs to threaten to "go thermonuclear" against Android handsets in 2010. The companies had been suing each other for 32 months in Europe and the US, most notably at the International Trade Commission (ITC), which controls imports of goods into the US. Apple had succeeded last year in temporarily blocking US imports of HTC Android phones, choking its sales, and another ITC ruling in Apple's favour was about to be handed down in the coming weeks. The deal, announced in a joint statement on Sunday, follows the legal battle between Apple and Samsung concerning patent infringements, which saw Apple secure $1bn in damages in August. Benedict Evans, smartphones analyst at Enders Analysis, suggested the HTC deal signalled the closing stages of the patent wars in the smartphone market, adding that the per-device licensing payments may put a floor under the prices of Android smartphones in the west. The deal comes amid speculation of a profit warning at HTC, where revenues have plummeted since peaking in September 2011. Quarterly revenues for July to September 2012, at NT$70.2bn (£1.5bn), were 46% down on a year ago, and the company's revenues have returned to the levels seen in mid-2010 before its huge growth driven by sales of Android handsets. In the third quarter of 2011, HTC was the biggest seller of smartphones in the US. "HTC is pleased to have resolved its dispute with Apple, so HTC can focus on innovation instead of litigation," said Peter Chou, chief executive of HTC. Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, said he was glad to have reached the settlement and that Apple "will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation". Carl Howe, vice-president of the Yankee Research group, commented on Twitter: "Cook's Apple is far less litigious than it was under [Steve] Jobs." Jobs in 2010 threatened to "destroy" Android after HTC introduced a handset which he thought used patented Apple methods for zooming into text. With Apple having been the aggressor, HTC is reckoned to have offered a per-device payment to use Apple's patents in Android handsets. That will be in addition to a similar per-device patent licensing deal HTC made with Microsoft in April 2010, reckoned to be for between US$5 and $10 for every Android handset it ships. Apple and HTC would not disclose details of any payments written into the peace deal. Microsoft has already signed 14 patent licensing deals with Android handset makers, and Apple was awarded $1bn in damages in August when a California jury decided Korea's Samsung had infringed some of its software and design patents. "HTC wasn't making phones that looked like the iPhone so a licensing deal was always on the cards, unlike the case against Samsung," said Evans. "Most of the growth in Android sales is coming from cheap $75 to $100 handsets which are replacing featurephones. If you're paying $20 in licensing on those, you've got no margin." Mobile phone patent wars began in August 2007 when the handset maker Motorola banned a Chinese company, Chi Mei, from making a chip for Germany's Infineon. Those chips were being used by Apple in the iPhone. Motorola has since been demanding a separate licence from Apple. It is the only major lawsuit outstanding from Apple.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands gather in protest as parliament decides whether to approve new austerity measures in 2013 budget The Greek government faces another test on Sunday evening when MPs vote on a 2013 budget that requires approval for the country to receive further financial aid. The legislation will impose deep spending cuts on the country's already battered economy, as international lenders demand further austerity in return for assistance. Antonis Samaras's coalition is expected to win the vote just four days after it only narrowly won approval for a multi-year, €13.5bn (£10.8bn) austerity package. Thousands of people gathered outside the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square, Athens, to urge MPs to vote down the budget. Leading the protest march were flag-waving unionists with the communist-aligned Pame party followed by private and public sector workers. The protesters' chants included "Out, out, out with the IMF" and "Hands off workers' rights". There was also drama inside the Athens chamber where opposition MP Stathis Panagoulis, of the leftwing Syriza party, warned that Greece faces "civil war", and that politicians risk being "lynched" and "murdered" as a result of the austerity measures. The budget includes hefty cuts in pensions and public sector wage reductions, agreed through torturous negotiation with Greece's "Troika" of lenders, the IMF; European Commission and European Central Bank. It also contains dire economic forecasts. Greece's national debt is predicted to hit nearly 190% of GDP next year – much higher than when its second bailout was agreed in March. The budget warns that Greece's long recession will continue, with GDP shrinking by another 4.5% in 2013. Economists say the projections show that Greece cannot meet its targets without the two-year extension which Samaras has been quietly urging fellow European leaders to support. Last week's austerity package was eventually approved by just 153 of the 300 MPs in the chamber. Junior partner Democratic Left abstained in protest at labour market reforms, but the leftwing party is thought to support the new budget. Greece faces a nervous wait for its next tranche of bailout cash even if the budget is approved, with eurozone leaders unlikely to agree on a payment date when they meet on Monday.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mohamed Merah's brother reveals in new book how gunman's parents brought-up raised family 'in atmosphere of racism and hate' The radicalisation of the French gunman who killed seven people in March began at home, his brother has said in a new book and documentary. Mohamed Merah killed three Jewish children, a rabbi and three paratroopers in and around Toulouse over eight days in March before dying in a standoff with police. Merah said he had links to al-Qaida and that he had received training at an Islamist paramilitary camp in Pakistan. One of his brothers, Abdelkader, also faces preliminary charges in the case and is in police custody. The attacks raised painful questions about whether France was failing to integrate the children of Muslim immigrants, like the Merahs, who are of Algerian origin. Many blamed the poverty of the neighbourhoods that many immigrants and their children live in for driving them to radical Islam. But in the book, another of the Merah brothers, Abdelghani, says his parents, particularly his mother, were responsible for Merah's radicalisation. According to excerpts published in Le Figaro and other newspapers, Abdelghani made a silent vow on the day of his brother's funeral to tell the world how they were brought up on anti-Semitism. "I will explain how my parents raised you in an atmosphere of racism and hate before the Salafis [ultra-conservative Muslims] could douse you in religious extremism," he writes in My Brother, That Terrorist, due out on Wednesday. The Merahs's mother was at one point held for questioning but has since been released. Their father left the family for Algeria when the children were young but has since sued the French state for Mohamed's death. A documentary featuring interviews with Abdelghani and his sister, Souad, treads similar ground and airs later on Sunday on French television. In an excerpt published in the Belgian media, Abdelghani remembers how his mother drove home a message of anti-Semitism. "My mother always said: 'We, the Arabs, we were born to hate Jews.' This speech, I heard it all throughout my childhood," Abdelghani says in the documentary, according to the RTL.be website. Souad, on the other hand, declares how proud she is of her dead brother.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Venetians direct anger at forecasters after 'exceptional and unpredictable' rise in sea waters floods homes and businesses Tourists attached plastic bags to their legs or stripped off to take a dip in St Mark's Square in Venice on Sunday as rising sea waters surged through the lagoon city. High water measuring 1.49 metres (5ft) above the normal level of the Adriatic sea came with bad weather that swept Italy at the weekend, causing floods in historic cities including Vicenza as well in the region of Tuscany 250 miles further south. Venice's high water, or "acqua alta", said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70% of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away. The record high water in Venice – 1.94 metres in 1966 – prompted many residents to abandon the city for new lives on the mainland. Venetians bombarded Facebook with moans about the city's weather forecasters, who had predicted just 1.2 metres of water on Saturday, before correcting their forecast at dawn on Sunday. "How come the people from the council who put out the wooden platforms were predicting 150cm?" asked Matelda Bottoni, who manages a jewellery design shop off St Mark's Square, which floods when water reaches 105cm. "Many residents and shopkeepers had gone to the mountains for the day and did not have time to rush back." Bottoni is so used to floods she has installed waterproof furniture and an angled floor. "I cannot keep the water out, but at least I can make sure it goes straight back out when it recedes," she said. Matteo Secchi, a hotelier and head of a protest group, who grew up in ground floor flat in Venice and recalls splashing into water on getting out of bed, said his hotel was only safe up to 140cm. "This morning the lagoon came right into the hotel entrance, and this is not clean water – you need to mop with disinfectant twice after it goes down," he said. "The British tourists don't complain but the Americans can't understand how it's possible." Secchi complained that a running event around the city had not been cancelled on Sunday. "As Venetians were trying to fix their homes and shops, people were running down the flooded streets splashing everyone with water," he said. Alessandro Maggioni, the city's assessor for public works, defended the Venice weather centre, describing the high water as "exceptional and unpredictable". The Moses flood barrier system being built to protect the lagoon, due for completion in 2015, would have kept the city dry, he said. "Meanwhile, there is no rise in the incidence of high waters," he said. Bottoni disagreed. "My shop now has some form of flooding 100 days a year, up from 30-40 days when I moved in just 10 years ago." But she does not plan to leave. "I was born and raised here and will stay here for the satisfaction of being in Venice."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gallery: the best images from Stamford Bridge The onset of winter is freezing Chelsea's title pursuit yet again. Points were wastefully shed to Liverpool, the celebratory mood that had briefly flared when John Terry marked his return from domestic suspension with his first goal of the season having dissipated by the end. The four-point advantage at the top enjoyed a fortnight ago has been surrendered, with Roberto Di Matteo's side now third and playing catch-up. This might actually have been worse had Petr Cech not reacted well to turn José Enrique's skimmed shot round a post in stoppage time, with Chelsea's vulnerability having been exposed not least by Terry's absence. The captain had not seen out the first half, crunched inadvertently by Luis Suárez, who had been nudged in the back by Ramires, and left thumping the turf in agony. He departed on a stretcher, medical staff left to scrutinise the state of his right knee, with concern mounting behind the scenes. It was no way to mark his return to the fold, though at least he had the time to make an impact. This contest was drifting towards the midway stage of the first half when Chelsea won a corner, swung over by Juan Mata, and Terry darted into space to thump a header beyond Brad Jones. Daniel Agger should have done more to snuff out the home captain's threat, though the Dane had started the set-piece on the wrong side of his man and was blocked off by Glen Johnson and Branislav Ivanovic. By the time Terry was charging off to the corner flag in celebration, Agger's guilt was clear. Chelsea's centre-halves have contributed as many Premier League goals so far this term as their extravagant attacking trio of Eden Hazard, Mata and Oscar, and the home side should have eased further clear thereafter, revelling whenever they sprinted in possession at back-tracking defenders. Hazard's dart through the middle, leaving Joe Allen floored, might have prompted a second only for Jones to save well from Fernando Torres, the Australian thwarting the Spaniard's close-range header early in the second half. In between Mata should have gained personal reward after three visiting defenders collided and inadvertently released him. Yet, having eased into space, the forward skied his attempt over the bar. Liverpool had offered little, with Steven Gerrard too peripheral and the possession they enjoyed spent in deep-lying areas. Anxiety set in whenever Petr Cech came into view, their route back into the contest a grind as they benefited from the hosts' profligacy and sought to create a clear-cut chance of their own. When it came, from the substitute Suso's corner, it was taken. Jamie Carragher, making his first Premier League start of the season, flicked on and Suárez, peeling off Ramires, nodded in a sixth goal in as many league games. The Londoners have now failed to keep a clean sheet in eight games in all competitions, stretching back to early October. Their principal weakness remains clear. Man of the match Brad Jones (Liverpool).
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The onset of winter is freezing Chelsea's title pursuit yet again. Points were wastefully shed to Liverpool, the celebratory mood that had briefly flared when John Terry marked his return from domestic suspension with his first goal of the season having dissipated by the end. The four-point advantage at the top enjoyed a fortnight ago has been surrendered, with Roberto Di Matteo's side now third and playing catch-up. This might actually have been worse had Petr Cech not reacted well to turn José Enrique's skimmed shot round a post in stoppage time, with Chelsea's vulnerability having been exposed not least by Terry's absence. The captain had not seen out the first half, crunched inadvertently by Luis Suárez, who had been nudged in the back by Ramires, and left thumping the turf in agony. He departed on a stretcher, medical staff left to scrutinise the state of his right knee, with concern mounting behind the scenes. It was no way to mark his return to the fold, though at least he had the time to make an impact. This contest was drifting towards the midway stage of the first half when Chelsea won a corner, swung over by Juan Mata, and Terry darted into space to thump a header beyond Brad Jones. Daniel Agger should have done more to snuff out the home captain's threat, though the Dane had started the set-piece on the wrong side of his man and was blocked off by Glen Johnson and Branislav Ivanovic. By the time Terry was charging off to the corner flag in celebration, Agger's guilt was clear. Chelsea's centre-halves have contributed as many Premier League goals so far this term as their extravagant attacking trio of Eden Hazard, Mata and Oscar, and the home side should have eased further clear thereafter, revelling whenever they sprinted in possession at back-tracking defenders. Hazard's dart through the middle, leaving Joe Allen floored, might have prompted a second only for Jones to save well from Fernando Torres, the Australian thwarting the Spaniard's close-range header early in the second half. In between Mata should have gained personal reward after three visiting defenders collided and inadvertently released him. Yet, having eased into space, the forward skied his attempt over the bar. Liverpool had offered little, with Steven Gerrard too peripheral and the possession they enjoyed spent in deep-lying areas. Anxiety set in whenever Petr Cech came into view, their route back into the contest a grind as they benefited from the hosts' profligacy and sought to create a clear-cut chance of their own. When it came, from the substitute Suso's corner, it was taken. Jamie Carragher, making his first Premier League start of the season, flicked on and Suárez, peeling off Ramires, nodded in a sixth goal in as many league games. The Londoners have now failed to keep a clean sheet in eight games in all competitions, stretching back to early October. Their principal weakness remains clear. Man of the match Brad Jones (Liverpool).
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | When Loubna Mrie joined the revolution, she incurred the wrath of her father, an Assad loyalist When revolution first came to Syria, Loubna Mrie decided she would break new ground to help it succeed. Deeply affected by the images of dead protesters across the country, the 21-year-old Alawite – the daughter of a leader of the regime's thuggish Shabiha militia and member of Syria's most privileged minority – left her home in the regime heartland of Latakia and travelled to parts of Syria where death tolls were mounting. She soon became a feature at demonstrations and even ventured near the frontlines of the regime's fight with an armed opposition, delivering medicines to wounded rebels and finding homes for fleeing families. In August, Mrie appeared in a web video, her face wrapped in the independence flag adopted by the opposition. She was injured at a demonstration in which nine fellow protesters were killed. Every step she took to support those fighting four decades of state control earned the increasing wrath of close relatives. Every move made her more vulnerable. Last week the revolution took a toll that not even 19 months of exile and enmity had prepared her for. "I learned that my mother is dead," she said. "And it was my father that killed her." Alone in a house in Turkey, Mrie now feels racked with guilt. "My mother was kidnapped immediately after I made the video with the rebels on August 11," she said. "I waited for 10 days. I begged my father to tell me what he knew about it, to let me know. He used to curse me and hang up the phone. Some of my dad's friends told me that she was dead. "Last Friday [2 November] one of my friends, someone that I trust, told me that the dead body had been seen. I called [my father] and told him that he killed her. He said OK. He told me that he wished he could do the same to me." The Guardian was unable to independently verify Mrie's claim that her mother had been killed. Mrie has been told to stay well away from her home village of Jableh and cannot verify for herself that her mother is dead. But she needs no more convincing. "People I trust are telling me that she's gone," she said. Early last week, she posted on Facebook a lament to her late mother and to the father that she believes has killed her. The post has drawn widespread sympathy among opposition circles, where Alawite supporters are extremely rare and almost always silent. "They hit her because of me. Was it by electricity or a single bullet in her head?" the post asked. "Was she upset at me when they were humiliating her? Did her old age stop them from hurting her? "Abu Muntazer [her father] went to his brothers, cheered them up and told them that he washed the shame that his daughter brought to Jebel al-Akrud [the mountains near Latakia where the video was filmed] ... "I hate my identity and my passport. I hate your name which will accompany mine. What should I say to my future kids about why I don't have a family? Why isn't there a grave for my mum? Why this double punishment? Why the injustice?" Yet even in the face of grief that seems impossible to fathom and guilt that has at times been overwhelming, Mrie retains a streak of defiance. She has continued her work in a small unit that acts as a clearing house for mobile phone videos smuggled out of Syria. The sense of necessary sacrifice that led her to join the opposition in the early days continues to drive both Mrie and a small number of other Alawite members of the opposition, who fear that their sect has been co-opted by a regime that wants to retain power by instilling fear in them. "On the first day of the revolution, I cried like it was one of my family members. And from that day I decided that we can not go on like that. My people are not really living. The government does not respect us. The mukhabarat [secret police] has taken over our lives. We can't open our mouths." Latakia is a particularly pro-regime area. The Assad regime draws much of its support from communities there, which have long been prime recruitment grounds for Shabiha members. The Shabiha is a loyalist militia that fiercely defends regime interests and has been in the vanguard of the regime crackdown. "All the Shabiha in Jableh were boys I had grown up with. At the time they were trying to convince me that this was a war against us as minorities and that we had to stop talking to the Sunnis." Syria's Sunni majority dominates the opposition. The regime is supported by most of the Alawite sect, who make up the vast majority of Syria's military leadership and establishment but only account for around 12% of the population. Alawites have loose links to Shia Islam, a fact that inspires some extremist groups on the fringes of the opposition to frame the revolution as an existential battle along the ancient faultline between Shias and Sunnis. A majority of Christians also appear to support the regime, along with a sizeable number of the Sunni population, including much of the merchant class, as well as senior military and Ba'ath party officials. "I started to go to the houses of the dead people," Mrie said. " At the time there was a huge gap between them and the Alawites. Both were convinced that each side was fighting the other. "For six months I tried my best to raise awareness that this revolution is not against us. We were fighting for dignity and democracy. "In January I went to Hama and spoke in the name of my sect. I wanted to tell them that my blood is theirs. My father used to tell me that I was a criminal and that he was ashamed of me and that he didn't see me as his daughter. "The stupid thing about this government is its claim that it is trying to protect the people, that it is protecting the Alawites. [Assad] doesn't care if you are Alawite, Christian or Shia. If you are against him, he will kill you."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Luis Suarez's late header rescued a point for Liverpool after John Terry had put Chelsea in front in the first half Afternoon. If you're here for the shit on a stick, you've come to the wrong place. Sure, matches between Chelsea and Liverpool were once the most tedious around but this one could be as entertaining as turning on your television on a Sunday morning and seeing a middle-aged man wearing an alice band. That's mostly down to Chelsea's admirable decision to forgo defensive discipline and instead build their side around three creative geniuses (not Milligan, Cleese, Everett). The last three matches at Stamford Bridge have been absurd ripsnorters, Chelsea losing 3-2 to Manchester United in the league, beating them 5-4 in the League Cup and then edging out Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 in an end-to-end thriller. In total, there have been 45 goals scored in 9 matches at Stamford Bridge this season, a rate of five goals a match. Chelsea have only kept two clean sheets at home too. All hail the new entertainers! So there we have it. Another classic awaits, although Brendan Rodgers might be justified in not playing such an open game when Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar around, especially when Lucas isn't. Indeed Liverpool have only kept two clean sheets in the league – against Reading and Stoke at home – and have had problems scoring as well, an inevitable consequence of going into the season with only one senior striker. With that in mind, trying to take on this Chelsea side at their own game might not be the wisest move. Not that Liverpool should despair. After all, they've won five of their last six matches against Chelsea, including wins on their last three visits to Stamford Bridge. One problem though: Big Andy's not around to make mincemeat out of John Terry again. Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Terry, Ivanovic, Bertrand; Mikel, Ramires; Hazard, Oscar, Mata; Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Moses, Ferreira, Marin, Sturridge, Cahill. Liverpool: Jones; Johnson, Wisdom, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique; Allen,Gerrard, Sahin; Sterling, Suarez. Subs: Gulacsi, Cole, Assaidi, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Suso. Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire) Kick-off: 4pm. Tactics, yeah? "As a Liverpool fan, I'm a bit confused about the negativity surrounding the decision to play five at the back," Will Annetts says. "Assuming we adopt a 5-4-1 formation, it will give Enrique and Johnson more licence to get forward and support the attack without leaving the defence so exposed. Surely, given the lineup Rodgers has gone for today it also means that Gerrard and Sterling will either be playing wide as part of a four-man midfield, enabling Gerrard to get forward more, or there'll be a three-man midfield with Sterling playing off Suarez. One more point - didn't we play five at the back at least once at Stamford Bridge during Dalglish's second stint in charge? It worked then, so surely, now that we have a team with more pace, it's worth a try?" That was a bit different, because Chelsea played with no width and were a confused mess with Torres, Drogba and Anelka all playing up front. But this formation did cause Everton problems in the second half two weeks ago and Chelsea are susceptible to quick counters. Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling will offer those. At St James's Park, Kevin Nolan has scored at his old club to make it Newcastle 0-1 West Ham. He didn't do the chicken dance out of respect though. Here come the players. In honour of Remembrance Sunday, they form a guard of honour for members of the armed forces. A round of applause follows. "As a fan of the Glorious Glasgow Rangers, I'm hoping today's game makes up for Celtic's depressing,jammy midweek victory
over Barcelona," Ryan Dunne says. "But surely I can't be the only one worried that 5-4-1 is a formation dangerously suggestive of shit-on-a-stick? 3-3-1-3ing that Liverpool line-up would be an improvement; I thought fans are giving Brentan time because he's making Liverpool play in a silky, Swansean way?" A banner in the Liverpool end reads: "Without fans football is nothing." That's presumably a comment on the extortionate prices Chelsea charge away fans. "I seem to remember a 5-2-2-1 working extremely well in Fifa 2007 when I won the Champions League with Feyenoord Rotterdam," Daniel Schulwolf says. "Not sure how that translates to this game, but the inclusion of Carragher can't be a good thing for Liverpool's chances." After a minute's silence, Liverpool get the ball rolling. All in red to Chelsea's blue, they're attacking from left to right in the first half. Liverpool's fans are informing their Chelsea counterparts that they have no history. Chelsea's are pointing to a bit of history that was made in Munich in May. 2 min: Liverpool's 5-3-2 is working brilliantly. Chelsea have barely had a kick! 3 min: A confident start from Liverpool. In true Brendan Rodgers style, they're knocking the ball about very nicely in midfield. Suddenly Gerrard ups the tempo, sliding a pass down the left for Agger of all people. He bursts into the area and goes down under a challenge from Ivanovic. Nothing doing, not that Agger seems too bothered. 5 min: Fernando Torres's first two contributions are to be caught offside and then give away a free-kick for a foul. 6 min: What a chance for Oscar after a horrible mix-up in the Liverpool defence. Here's the danger of, er, trying to keep the ball. Sometimes you lose it. Eh? You know what I mean. Allen was caught dozing by Torres near his own area and the ball squirted to Hazard. He prodded a pass through to Oscar but he lifted his shot over Jones and over the bar from 15 yards out. He should have scored. The form this kid's in, I'm staggered Chelsea aren't in front actually. 8 min: Azpilicueta charges up the right flank, but can't win a corner off Jose Enrique. 1-0 to Liverpool's Spaniard. 10 min: Sterling comes out on top in a tussle with Oscar on the halfway line and tries to run at the Chelsea defence, only to be halted by a firm challenge by the excellent Ramires. 12 min: Liverpool's passing has been excellent so far. Really good to watch. Over on the right, Bertrand deflects Johnson's cross behind for Liverpool's first corner. Ivanovic heads it behind at the far post. They'll get another chance. 13 min: Gerrard trots over to the left to take the second corner but it's easy for Cech. He instantly sets Torres away on the counter. He steams wonderfully past Wisdom on the halfway line before slipping a pass to Mata on the right. He moves it on to Hazard but his cutback gets a crucial touch from a Liverpool defender. Chelsea aren't seeing much of the ball but they have much more going forward than the visitors. 15 min: Liverpool are beating Chelsea 68-32. 16 min: In possession. 17 min: England manager Mr Roy is in the crowd watching his beloved Liverpool. "So, on 3 minutes, Liverpool were 'knocking the ball about very nicely in midfield'?" Matt Dony says. "Sounds about right. You may as well just copy-and-paste that for every other entry, right up until the inevitable defensive/goalkeeping/refereeing howler gives away a soft goal in the 80th minute. Probably scored by Torres. Please don't let it be Torres. Or Terry. Ah, I think I'll just go to bed." 19 min: Carragher concedes a needless free-kick with a push on the back on Torres 35 yards from goal. No way to treat an old friend. Mata tees up Ivanovic for a pop; the ball's still rising. GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Terry, 20 min): There will not be a simpler goal scored all weekend. This is absolutely risible defending from Liverpool and Daniel Agger in particular. After Torres won a corner off Enrique on the right, Mata curled it in and Terry was allowed the freedom of the area by Agger to bullet a header into the top-right corner from 12 yards out. Jones didn't have a chance. There was barely a Liverpool defender within five yards of Terry. Awful. 22 min: All the talk of formations but that had nothing to do with tactics. Human Error 1-0 The Chalkboard. 23 min: Mind you, it was so naive from Liverpool because Agger managed to get himself into a position where he could be blocked off by Ivanovic to give Terry a free run. It's not as if Chelsea have been pulling that one off for the last 10 years. 25 min: Agger looks to redeem himself for his mistake, shooting from 40 yards out. The ball sails off in the direction of Craven Cottage. 27 min: Liverpool are rocking here and Chelsea could be out of sight. Under severe pressure, Hazard somehow manages to wriggle clear of three markers in the middle. He's outstanding. With Liverpool's defence at sixes and sevens, he finds Torres, whose curler from the left is pushed out by Jones but only as far as Hazard, who awkwardly hooks the rebound wide on the volley. Liverpool really miss Lucas. 29 min: "I wonder if Matt Dony made it into bed before the goal," Simon McMahon says. "If Torres joins Terry on the scoresheet can you ask him for his lottery numbers for next week please?" 30 min: Liverpool have no way of stopping Chelsea's attacking trio. Once again Hazard bursts forward at will but overhits his pass through to Mata, Jones out quickly to smother. Up the other end, Sahin has a whack from the edge of the area. Not bad, but it fizzes a couple of yards wide of the right post. Cech probably had it covered. 32 min: Enrique crosses. Liverpool don't have a striker. Easy for Terry. "Brendan has decided the quickest way to get possession back at a corner is to concede a goal," Niall Mullen says. "Hence the lack of marking, players on the post etc. Viva la revolucion!" 33 min: Chelsea have managed to save some face, pulling the score back to 67-33. It's a long way back from there though. 35 min: Terry is down after an accidental collision with Suarez. He might be seriously hurt. It sounded like there was a scream of pain when he fell. The Chelsea physios are on. It looks like his knee, writes Dr Steinberg. 36 min: It was a complete accident. Suarez ran at Terry but got a little push from Ramires, causing him to fall down on Terry's standing leg, which crumpled under the pressure. There's no way he's going to continue. 37 min: Gary Cahill is getting ready to come on for the stricken Terry. 38 min: Terry is able to bend his knee, so maybe it's not so bad. The stretcher's out though. 40 min: Terry's taken off on a stretcher. On comes Gary Cahill. The injury doesn't look quite as serious as first feared though, writes Dr Steinberg. 41 min: A few of you have seen the open goal presented by the Terry and Suarez incident. Step away from the open goal, people. "Yup, same old Liverpool alright," SB Tang says. "Dominating possession. Failing to convert said possession into goals. Conceding comedic goals at the other end. As predictable as United going behind early then scoring at the death to win games. Bah humbug." 43 min: "Jose Enrique has had a lot of the ball," Martin Tyler says. Is that good for Liverpool or for Chelsea? 45 min: Suarez is being crowded out every time he gets the ball. He just has no support. Gerrard tries a half-hearted shot from the right. It dribbles straight at Cech. That was so lame. There will be five minutes of stoppage time. 45 min+1: Liverpool's defence is never too far away from disaster. Now Wisdom fails to deal with an innocuous flick from Torres, nearly letting Oscar in, but Jones is out quickly to rescue to youngster. 45 min+3: Sahin is a lovely player but has sadly been irrelevant in many of his appearances for Liverpool so far. 45 min+4: Mata lets Liverpool off the hook after another fine mess in their defence. There really should have been no danger at all after a spot of scrapiness in the middle but for some reason the Liverpool defence parted, allowing Oscar to head Mata clear. He cut inside from the right, nutmegged Wisdom and then blasted the ball over the bar from the edge of the area. Why did he shoot so early? He had so much time. Half time: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool. A bit of a non-event to be honest. Chelsea have been good when they've needed to be and could be two or three up. Instead they've had to settle for John Terry's early header, before seeing their captain go off with an apparently serious injury. Liverpool are blunt. The big story of the day is that West Ham are up to sixth place after a 1-0 win away to Newcastle. Kevin Nolan got the winner against his former club. 46 min: Here we go again. Neither side has made any substitutions. "Is SB Tang trying to become the new Gary Naylor?" Fraser Thomas wonders. "A Google search reveals: Gary Naylor + Guardian = 459,000 hits; SB Tang + Guardian = 15,300,000. Forgive me, I'm abroad on a business trip and my crappy illegal internet feed has gone down. I'm very, very bored. PS You are astonishingly good looking." xxx 47 min: Jose Enrique expertly guides the ball out for a Chelsea throw-in. To my right, Gregg Bakowski exclaims: "He's becoming more and more like Dossena." 50 min: Joe Allen, far too self-indulgent this afternoon, is caught dawdling again by Torres in his own half and reacts by hauling down the striker. He's booked. 51 min: This feels like a match between title challengers and mid-table nonentities. I'm not sure why. 52 min: Suarez reacts furiously after being penalised for illegally levering Ivanovic out of the way on the edge of the area. It was a foul. 53 min: Liverpool invite a shot from Mata from 25 yards out. He obliges but it swerves a few yards wide of the far post. 55 min: Liverpool need to think about getting making a substitution. Unfortunately Stewart Downing is on the bench, which maybe makes their reluctance more understandable. But why not Suso? 56 min: Johnson is booked for using an arm to fend off Oscar. The Chelsea fans want a red card for an elbow, only problem being that it wasn't an elbow. 57 min: Jones makes another save to deny Torres! The free-kick was curled in dangerously from the left by Hazard and Torres got ahead of his marker to skim a header goalwards, Jones sticking out a hand to push it out. Torres then goes down trying to reach the rebound. No penalty, but Chelsea continue to press. Cahill's cross then falls to Mikel in the middle of the area. He would score, but he's John Obi Mikel, so produces a comical air-swipe instead. Take that, air! The ball pings about the area until Howard Webb finally stops play with Gerrard injured in the six-yard box. 59 min: Gerrard walks off for treatment. He took a blow to the head, but will be fine to continue. 60 min: Liverpool make their first change, Suso replacing the disappointing Nuri Sahin. 61 min: Brendan Rodgers is fond about speaking about the "journey". It might be a long one for Liverpool. Patience is a virtue. 63 min: Liverpool are struggling to keep the ball for more than four or five passes. Chelsea will really have to go some to lose this match. "I wouldn't say Liverpool are title challengers just yet, but I see what you mean about the match," honks Matt Dony. "(If I don't laugh, I'll cry...)" 64 min: Chelsea really want that second goal. Bertrand finds space on the left and drives a low cross into the near post, but Torres can't make enough contact with the ball. Liverpool escape again. As long as Chelsea continue to waste opportunites, Liverpool have a chance. A very slim one though. 66 min: "The Sky graphic has just revealed that Liverpool have not had a single attempt at goal on target," says Simon McMahon. "They do know that the point of playing football is to score goals, right? At this rate they'll be lucky to get nil." What are you on about? Think of the possession! It's death by football. 67 min: Gerrard is booked after being made to look rather old by Oscar. 68 min: Mata curls the free-kick into a horrible area from the right. Torres can't rise high enough and Jones comes out flapping but is extremely fortunate that the ball deflects off Mikel and behind for a goal-kick. Liverpool aren't very good when they have to defend set-pieces. 70 min: After more dismal play from Liverpool inside their own half, Ramires slices one well over the top. The only danger for Chelsea is if they get too casual, because this is too easy for them. GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool (Suarez, 73 min): Chelsea have paid for their profligacy and there was just a hint that they were growing too complacent. Again it's terrible defending from a set-piece. After a positive run, Wisdom won a corner on the right. Suso curled it into the near post, Carragher flicked it to the far post and Suarez got clear to head it in from close range. He could hardly miss. But there were two unchallenged headers there. I'm not quite sure how this one's level. But there you go. That's football. 75 min: This is one of those games where it got too easy for Chelsea. They really should be three or four up and now they don't even lead by one. 76 min: But the Liverpool goal seems to have made Chelsea angry. Bertrand beats Wisdom with alarming ease on the left, before haring into the area. Instead of shooting he tries to cut it back for a team-mate. It's cut out. 77 min: Oscar is replaced by Victor Moses, who has scored in his last two appearances for Chelsea. 78 min: "Can anyone tell me who at Chelsea thinks it is a good idea for Mikel to be a box-to-box midfielder?" says Luke Garratt. "He's popping up in the 18yard box more than Lampard did in his heyday!" The weird thing about Mikel is that when United and Chelsea were trying to sign him all those years ago, he was meant to be an attacking midfielder. 79 min: And now Mikel's been booked for a foul on Suso. 80 min: For the 754th time this afternoon, Jose Enrique is caught offside. "Heartening to see that Suarez is as popular with his team mates as he is with the world in general," says Rich North. "They didn't seem much keen on celebrating with him ..." 82 min: It's another miserable outing for Fernando Torres against Liverpool. He's replaced by Daniel Sturridge, who is his own biggest fan. 84 min: Gerrard sends Sterling scampering clear down the right flank, albeit with little support. So he bides his time and waits for some, and when it does come he finds Suso in the area. But the pass is just behind him and the Spaniard can only scoop the ball harmlessly wide. That was a decent chance. Suddenly Liverpool look the more likely winners. 86 min: Suarez tries to beat Cech from way out on the right touchline. Behave. 87 min: A corner to Chelsea on the left. Mata whips it in and Ivanovic nuts it powerfully over. But up the other end... 88 min: Jose Enrique clips the ball over the square Chelsea defence for Suarez, who's clean through on goal. He tries to prod the ball around Cech but the Chelsea goalkeeper, having raced way out of his area, comes up with a brilliant, match-saving tackle to deny him. That's exceptional goalkeeping. 90 min: Hazard rams a fierce one a few yards wide of the right post. It's petering out into a draw now. 90 min: There will be four minutes of added time. 90 min+4: Liverpool go close to winning it with the last attacj of the match! Sterling darts across the area from the right and finds Suarez. He rolls it to Enrique, who's got a clear sight of goal, but his low left-footer is well parried by Cech down at his near post. The corner comes to nothing. Full time: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool. For a long time, it looked like Liverpool were going to be on the end of a pasting. Instead they've somehow escaped with a draw thanks to Luis Suarez's late header. They could even have won it in the end. They're still 13th though, while Chelsea, who wasted a number of chances to wrap it up, are third, three points behind Manchester United. They need a new striker. Thanks for reading. Bye.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Officials say they were not told of the scandal until 6 November or later, but some question the emerging timeline of events The dramatic downfall of CIA chief David Petraeus has given rise to political intrigue in Washington as a drip-feed of details concerning his clandestine affair mixes with serious questions over the timing of the resignation. Over the weekend it emerged that his relationship with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by FBI agents while they investigated harassing emails she allegedly sent to a second woman, the identity of whom has yet to be revealed. The scandal comes at a particularly sensitive time. Petraeus had been due to give evidence before a Congressional body this coming Thursday concerning the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including America's ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. It is now thought that Petraeus will not attend the session, robbing politicians of the opportunity to question an "absolutely necessary witness", according to Peter King, chairman of the House homeland security committee. White House and intelligence officials have suggested that there is no connection between the timing of Petraeus's resignation and the evidence session on the Benghazi attack. But in Washington, questions are being asked as to why the FBI appeared to have sat on the information it uncovered regarding the affair before handing it on to other authorities some time later. Intelligence officials have suggested that Petraeus was first questioned over the nature of his relationship with Broadwell a fortnight ago. But it was only on the night of the presidential election that national intelligence director James Clapper was notified of the affair. It is thought that Clapper then advised the CIA chief to resign. Even then, it was not until the next day that the White House was informed of the situation. It then took a further day before newly re-elected President Barack Obama was told that his intelligence chief was to tender his resignation. Meanwhile, the Senate intelligence committee only heard about the matter on Friday, just hours before the CIA director announced he was to step down. Further confusing the time-line of events were reports on Sunday that leading House Republican Eric Cantor had been informed by an FBI whistle-blower of the brewing Petraeus scandal two weeks ago. If true, it would raise the prospect that the affair had become known in Washington circles before Friday's resignation. House Republican King said on Sunday that the account of who knew what and when "doesn't add up", saying that there were a lot of unanswered questions. The FBI had an "obligation" to tell the president as soon as they had identified a possible security breach, he told CNN's State of the Union. Meanwhile, other politicians said that Petraeus may still be compelled to give evidence concerning the 11 September attack in Benghazi. "We may well ask him," Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. Congress is keen to question the former four-star general over what the CIA knew in advance of the assault, and importantly, what it had told the White House in regards to the nature of the terrorist threat. In the run-up to last week's election, senior Republicans accused the White House of misleading Americans over claims that it was not made aware of requests to bolster security in advance of the assault. It is on this point that Petraeus was expected to be questioned at Thursday's Congressional hearing. Following his resignation, it is thought that his former deputy, Michael Morell, will testify before Washington in his place as acting director of the CIA. Morell is slated to meet with Congressional figures on Wednesday to discuss the Petraeus affair in a bid to curtail lingering suspicions over the timing of the resignation. The political fall-out from Friday's resignation comes amid a personal crisis for a man often referred to as the leading American military mind of his generation. In the days following his announcement to step down, a steady flow of leaks to the US media have given more detail to the affair that cost Petraeus his job. The makings of his downfall were in a series of apparently vicious emails sent by his lover — a 40-year-old former Army reservist who co-authored All In, a fawning biography of the CIA chief — to a second woman. It is thought that the threatening nature of the missives led the recipient to seek the protection of the FBI. An investigation of Broadwell's personal email account uncovered letters of an explicit nature between her and Petraeus, who has been married for the past 38 years to his wife Holly. It was then that agents approached the CIA chief directly. Having eliminated the threat of a security breach, it was decided that no further action would be taken by the FBI. But the damage to Petraeus's reputation was clear, and having consulted with Clapper, the decision to resign was made. In a letter to staff explaining his move, the now outgoing CIA boss said: "Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours." Others close to Petraeus had an even more blunt assessment of the scandal. "He screwed up, he knows he screwed up," said Steve Boylan, a retired army officer and Petraeus's former spokesman.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Congress questions FBI delay in reporting affair, as details of 'harassed' second woman emerges The dramatic downfall of CIA chief David Petraeus has given rise to political intrigue in Washington as a drip-feed of details concerning his clandestine affair mixes with serious questions over the timing of the resignation. Over the weekend it emerged that his relationship with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by FBI agents while they investigated harassing emails she allegedly sent to a second woman, who was named on Sunday by the Associated Press as Jill Kelley, a state department military liaison. The scandal comes at a particularly sensitive time. Petraeus had been due to give evidence before a Congressional body this coming Thursday concerning the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including America's ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. It is now thought that Petraeus will not attend the session, robbing politicians of the opportunity to question an "absolutely necessary witness", according to Peter King, chairman of the House homeland security committee. White House and intelligence officials have suggested that there is no connection between the timing of Petraeus's resignation and the evidence session on the Benghazi attack. But in Washington, questions are being asked as to why the FBI appeared to have sat on the information it uncovered regarding the affair before handing it on to other authorities some time later. Intelligence officials have suggested that Petraeus was first questioned over the nature of his relationship with Broadwell a fortnight ago. But it was only on the night of the presidential election that national intelligence director James Clapper was notified of the affair. It is thought that Clapper then advised the CIA chief to resign. Even then, it was not until the next day that the White House was informed of the situation. It then took a further day before newly re-elected President Barack Obama was told that his intelligence chief was to tender his resignation. Meanwhile, the Senate intelligence committee only heard about the matter on Friday, just hours before the CIA director announced he was to step down. Further confusing the time-line of events were reports on Sunday that leading House Republican Eric Cantor had been informed by an FBI whistle-blower of the brewing Petraeus scandal two weeks ago. If true, it would raise the prospect that the affair had become known in Washington circles before Friday's resignation. House Republican King said on Sunday that the account of who knew what and when "doesn't add up", saying that there were a lot of unanswered questions. The FBI had an "obligation" to tell the president as soon as they had identified a possible security breach, he told CNN's State of the Union. Meanwhile, other politicians said that Petraeus may still be compelled to give evidence concerning the 11 September attack in Benghazi. "We may well ask him," Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. Congress is keen to question the former four-star general over what the CIA knew in advance of the assault, and importantly, what it had told the White House in regards to the nature of the terrorist threat. In the run-up to last week's election, senior Republicans accused the White House of misleading Americans over claims that it was not made aware of requests to bolster security in advance of the assault. It is on this point that Petraeus was expected to be questioned at Thursday's Congressional hearing. Following his resignation, it is thought that his former deputy, Michael Morell, will testify before Washington in his place as acting director of the CIA. Morell is slated to meet with Congressional figures on Wednesday to discuss the Petraeus affair in a bid to curtail lingering suspicions over the timing of the resignation. The political fall-out from Friday's resignation comes amid a personal crisis for a man often referred to as the leading American military mind of his generation. In the days following his announcement to step down, a steady flow of leaks to the US media have given more detail to the affair that cost Petraeus his job. The makings of his downfall were in a series of apparently vicious emails sent by his lover — a 40-year-old former Army reservist who co-authored All In, a fawning biography of the CIA chief — to Kelley, a state department liaison to the military's Joint Special Operations Command. It is thought that the threatening nature of the missives led the Florida-based recipient to seek the protection of the FBI. An investigation of Broadwell's personal email account uncovered letters of an explicit nature between her and Petraeus, who has been married for the past 38 years to his wife Holly. It was then that agents approached the CIA chief directly. Having eliminated the threat of a security breach, it was decided that no further action would be taken by the FBI. But the damage to Petraeus's reputation was clear, and having consulted with Clapper, the decision to resign was made. In a letter to staff explaining his move, the now outgoing CIA boss said: "Such behaviour is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organisation such as ours." Others close to Petraeus had an even more blunt assessment of the scandal. "He screwed up, he knows he screwed up," said Steve Boylan, a retired army officer and Petraeus's former spokesman.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Charles Schumer, a Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican, have previously made some progress on the issue Two key US senators are restarting bipartisan talks on US immigration reform that will include a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country, Senator Charles Schumer said on Sunday.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," the Democrat Schumer said he has spoken with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, and that they have agreed to resume talks that broke off two years ago. "And I think we have a darned good chance using this blueprint to get something done this year. The Republican Party has learned that being ... anti-immigrant doesn't work for them politically. And they know it," Schumer said. President Barack Obama, re-elected last week with overwhelming support from Hispanic voters, in 2010 called the proposal unveiled by Graham and Schumer a "promising framework" on immigration reform. But the plan never got off the ground. Obama's support among Hispanics was about 66 percent in the election, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data. There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of them Hispanics. The Graham and Schumer plan has four components: requiring high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; strengthening border security and enforcement of immigration laws; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a path to legal status for immigrants already in the country. Schumer said the plan embraces "a path to citizenship that's fair, which says you have to learn English, you have to go to the back of the line, you've got to have a job, and you can't commit crimes." Many Republican leaders have taken a hard position against illegal immigrants. Obama's unsuccessful Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, said during the campaign that illegal immigrants should "self-deport" from the country. Since the election, some influential conservative voices, including television commentator Sean Hannity, have announced support for immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States with no criminal record. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said on Friday that the U.S. immigration system is broken, and that President Obama had to take the lead. Boehner has said he is confident Republicans could find common ground with the president. The Obama administration announced in June it would relax US deportation rules so that many young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children can stay in the country and work. The change would allow illegal immigrants who, among other criteria, are younger than 30 years old and have not been convicted of a felony to apply for work permits.
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• The Premier League table 5 min: Fernando Torres's first two contributions are to be caught offside and then give away a free-kick for a foul. 3 min: A confident start from Liverpool. In true Brendan Rodgers style, they're knocking the ball about very nicely in midfield. Suddenly Gerrard ups the tempo, sliding a pass down the left for Agger of all people. He bursts into the area and goes down under a challenge from Ivanovic. Nothing doing, not that Agger seems too bothered. 2 min: Liverpool's 5-3-2 is working brilliantly. Chelsea have barely had a kick! After a minute's silence, Liverpool get the ball rolling. All in red to Chelsea's blue, they're attacking from left to right in the first half. Liverpool's fans are informing their Chelsea counterparts that they have no history. Chelsea's are pointing to a bit of history that was made in Munich in May. A banner in the Liverpool end reads: "Without fans football is nothing." That's presumably a comment on the extortionate prices Chelsea charge away fans. "I seem to remember a 5-2-2-1 working extremely well in Fifa 2007 when I won the Champions League with Feyenoord Rotterdam," Daniel Schulwolf says. "Not sure how that translates to this game, but the inclusion of Carragher can't be a good thing for Liverpool's chances." Here come the players. In honour of Remembrance Sunday, they form a guard of honour for members of the armed forces. A round of applause follows. "As a fan of the Glorious Glasgow Rangers, I'm hoping today's game makes up for Celtic's depressing,jammy midweek victory
over Barcelona," Ryan Dunne says. "But surely I can't be the only one worried that 5-4-1 is a formation dangerously suggestive of shit-on-a-stick? 3-3-1-3ing that Liverpool line-up would be an improvement; I thought fans are giving Brentan time because he's making Liverpool play in a silky, Swansean way?" At St James's Park, Kevin Nolan has scored at his old club to make it Newcastle 0-1 West Ham. He didn't do the chicken dance out of respect though. Tactics, yeah? "As a Liverpool fan, I'm a bit confused about the negativity surrounding the decision to play five at the back," Will Annetts says. "Assuming we adopt a 5-4-1 formation, it will give Enrique and Johnson more licence to get forward and support the attack without leaving the defence so exposed. Surely, given the lineup Rodgers has gone for today it also means that Gerrard and Sterling will either be playing wide as part of a four-man midfield, enabling Gerrard to get forward more, or there'll be a three-man midfield with Sterling playing off Suarez. One more point - didn't we play five at the back at least once at Stamford Bridge during Dalglish's second stint in charge? It worked then, so surely, now that we have a team with more pace, it's worth a try?" That was a bit different, because Chelsea played with no width and were a confused mess with Torres, Drogba and Anelka all playing up front. But this formation did cause Everton problems in the second half two weeks ago and Chelsea are susceptible to quick counters. Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling will offer those. Afternoon. If you're here for the shit on a stick, you've come to the wrong place. Sure, matches between Chelsea and Liverpool were once the most tedious around but this one could be as entertaining as turning on your television on a Sunday morning and seeing a middle-aged man wearing an alice band. That's mostly down to Chelsea's admirable decision to forgo defensive discipline and instead build their side around three creative geniuses (not Milligan, Cleese, Everett). The last three matches at Stamford Bridge have been absurd ripsnorters, Chelsea losing 3-2 to Manchester United in the league, beating them 5-4 in the League Cup and then edging out Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 in an end-to-end thriller. In total, there have been 45 goals scored in 9 matches at Stamford Bridge this season, a rate of five goals a match. Chelsea have only kept two clean sheets at home too. All hail the new entertainers! So there we have it. Another classic awaits, although Brendan Rodgers might be justified in not playing such an open game when Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar around, especially when Lucas isn't. Indeed Liverpool have only kept two clean sheets in the league – against Reading and Stoke at home – and have had problems scoring as well, an inevitable consequence of going into the season with only one senior striker. With that in mind, trying to take on this Chelsea side at their own game might not be the wisest move. Not that Liverpool should despair. After all, they've won five of their last six matches against Chelsea, including wins on their last three visits to Stamford Bridge. One problem though: Big Andy's not around to make mincemeat out of John Terry again. Chelsea: Cech; Azpilicueta, Terry, Ivanovic, Bertrand; Mikel, Ramires; Hazard, Oscar, Mata; Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Moses, Ferreira, Marin, Sturridge, Cahill. Liverpool: Jones; Johnson, Wisdom, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique; Allen,Gerrard, Sahin; Sterling, Suarez. Subs: Gulacsi, Cole, Assaidi, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Suso. Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire) Kick-off: 4pm.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Man in his 70s from Cambridgeshire, reported to be former BBC producer, arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and bailed A man arrested by police investigating sexual abuse claims against Jimmy Savile and others has been bailed. The man is reported to be a former BBC producer, Wilfred De'Ath. The man, in his 70s, from Cambridgeshire, was detained at 7.15am on Sunday and released on police bail until December after several hours of questioning. He is the third man to be detained under Operation Yewtree, the criminal inquiry being conducted by the Metropolitan police and the NSPCC. The Met said the man "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'others'". He was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and taken into police custody locally, Scotland Yard said. The arrest came nine days after the arrest and bail of the comedian Freddie Starr, and two weeks after Gary Glitter was questioned. Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested at home and questioned at a London police station before being released on bail until mid-December.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6.8-magnitude quake rocks northern Burma, destroying homes, mines and schools across region A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has struck northern Burma, destroying a bridge and a goldmine and leaving up to 12 people feared dead. The full extent of the damage caused by the quake on Sunday morning remains unclear as the country has a limited official disaster response system. Mandalay, Burma's second-biggest city and the nearest population hub to the earthquake, reported no casualties or widespread damage. The city lies about 72 miles south of the quake's epicentre, near the town of Shwebo. The US Geological Society reported a 5.8-magnitude aftershock, but there were no initial reports of additional damage or casualties. An official from Burma's meteorological department said the quake struck at 7.42am local time. Smaller towns closer to the quake's epicentre were worse hit. A report on state television, MRTV, said 100 homes, some government buildings and a primary school were damaged in Thabeikyin, a goldmining town not far from the epicentre. It said four people had been killed and 53 injured, with another four missing – a death toll lower than independently compiled tallies of about a dozen. The area surrounding the epicentre has several gemstone mines, many of which are said to have collapsed. The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township, on the Irrawaddy river near the quake's epicentre, who said six people had died there and 11 were injured. He said some of the dead had been miners, who were killed when a goldmine collapsed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because local officials are not allowed to release information to the media. Rumours circulated in Rangoon of other mine collapses trapping workers, but none of the reports could be confirmed. According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy river collapsed east of Shwebo. The bridge linked Sintku, 40 miles north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, with Kyaukmyaung on the west bank. The Weekly Eleven magazine website said four people had been killed and 25 injured when the bridge, which was under construction, fell. The local government said two had died in the collapse and 16 were injured. All of the victims are believed to be construction workers. The website also reported that two monasteries in Kyaukmyaung had collapsed, killing two people. "This is the worst earthquake I felt in my entire life," said Soe Soe, a 52-year-old Shwebo resident. She said the large concrete gate of a local monastery had crumbled and several sculptures from another pagoda had been damaged. Further damage was reported in Mogok, a key gem-mining area east of the quake's epicentre. Temples were battered there, as were some abandoned mines. "Landslides occurred at some ruby mines, but there were no casualties because these are old mines," Sein Win, a Mogok resident told Weekly Eleven. State television reported that more than a dozen pagodas and stupas in five townships had been damaged, with many of their so-called umbrellas atop the dome-shaped structures destroyed. The uppermost parts of the domes usually contain encased relics of the Buddha and sometimes jewels. Damage to them is viewed as a particularly bad omen. A witness said police were guarding a damaged stupa and its exposed relics in Mogok. A resident of Naypyitaw, 225 miles south of the epicentre, said several windows of the parliament building had been broken. The quake was also felt in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand. It comes a week before a scheduled visit to Burma by Barack Obama. He will be the first US president to visit the former pariah nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule. The disaster is the second to strike the area in three days. On Friday, a tanker train derailed about 80 miles north of Shwebo, killing at least 25 people when overturned carriages burst into flames. Many people in Burma are superstitious, and soothsayers have pointed out that the quake occurred on the 11th day of the 11th month.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Manchester City's super-sub Edin Dzeko scored a late winner after Tottenham had gone ahead in the first half Preamble: Tactics: those little, white mints boasting just two calories per serving. Fresh, refreshing and delightful, it's hard to see why anyone might get into a raving lather about them. Or are those tictacs? Anyway, probably best not to ask Robert Mancini as his recent efforts would suggest he hasn't got much chance of providing a definition.
The Manchester City manager appears on the brink of some great madness. Though his side are currently unbeaten in the Premier League, his grip on things appears to be slippery. The club is awash with rumours of a potential Pep Guardiola takeover at the end of the season, largely thanks to the arrival of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, and Mancini seems intent on taking the Blackadder way out of a difficult situation.
Rather than stick pencils up his nose and say 'wibble', though, he's been experimenting with an equally mad-looking back three despite his players saying it's not something they'd much practised. Against Ajax away in the Champions League he rifled through four formations in 90 minutes, in the return leg defensive disorganisation led to City conceding what Mancini called "two stupid goals". That led to more disappointment in Europe and a mad few minutes of yelping at officials and a cameraman.
However, Manchester City are on a 34-game unbeaten run at home so despite not always seeing eye-to-eye with their manager, the club's players have always had cause to respect him. Now, though, with increasing chaos on the pitch, you just wonder how much longer that will last. Andre Villas-Boas will know all about losing players' respect. When Chelsea travelled to The Etihad last season he had been out of work for 17 days having suffered his own communication breakdown. However, in the fixture at Stamford Bridge, he had already masterminded City's first defeat in the league that season – albeit thanks to a penalty from Frank Lampard, a player he was attempting to ease from the starting lineup. He will be hoping that, with Spurs now, he can be both the first manager to steer his side to victory at The Etihad since December 2010, and the first to inspire four consecutive away wins for Spurs since 1989.
He'll do so with one striker in the form of his life, and another one desperate to make a rare start to avenge his treatment at City. Jermain Defoe has been revived under AVB, but it's Emmanuel Adebayor – drummed out of City after Mancini's arrival – who is so keen to exact revenge on his former employers. Given his notorious celebration after scoring against another old club – Arsenal – it's clear that getting even is strong motivation for the Togolese striker, something AVB says he has noted.
It could lead to AVB playing the 4-4-2 formation he favoured in the Europa League – but it seems more likely he'll deploy his notorious man-management skills and leave Adebayor on the bench, sticking with a 4-2-3-1, with Clint Dempsey in the hole. He'll be hoping, too, that the Spurs side that turn up today will be the one that beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, rather than the one shocked by Wigan last weekend. Team news: Manchester City: Silva is back but there's no Balotelli in the squad at all: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy, Toure, Barry, Silva, Tevez, Kolarov, Aguero.
Subs: Pantilimon, Maicon, Dzeko, Sinclair, Javi Garcia, Toure, Razak. Tottenham Hotspur: AVB has played on the revenge card - Adebayor starts, with Defoe on the bench. Gallas is making his 300th Premier League start: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Adebayor.
Subs: Lloris, Naughton, Defoe, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Livermore, Carroll. Referee: youth's Michael Oliver 1.02pm: There were 11 goals in the two fixtures between these two sides last season, eight of them to City and three to Spurs. So it'll be a 0-0 today then, yeah? 1.09pm: AVB says Adebayor is playing as a lone striker for tactical reasons - he thinks he'll be able to hold the ball up better than Defoe, giving Spurs more control over the match. "That and he might go on a scorching run up the length of the pitch after scoring in order to celebrate in front of the City fans," he didn't add. An email: Rob Moline writes: "Arsenal in their past three games have let in four against Reading in the first half (Reading!) and thrown away two-goal leads in two other games; QPR under Hughes have four points in the first third of the season. City are still building up form, but sit third. Yet City are the club in crisis? Wenger out! Hughes out! Actually I'd love to see Mancini out, replaced not by Guardiola but Mourinho, really put the cat amongst the pigeons." It's more Mancini in crisis, I think. Another email: "AVB seems to suffer from an attention to tactical detail so intense that he forgets the human side," reckons Ian Copestake He's convinced himself of the benefit of starting Adebayor but is blind to the inevitable disgruntlement to be felt by his in-form striker and fans, if his plan goes awry (actually am sure Defoe is already at the disgruntled stage)." I can't imagine Adebayor is a cheery presence when on the bench either, to be honest. 1.23pm: The players are ambling into the pre-tunnel corridor. Well the City players are, the Spurs ones are a little tardier. Adebayor, when he turns up, is giving all the City players a nice hug, smile and handshake. So much for AVB's revenge plan, he looks like he thinks this is a cocktail party with old friends. Extraordinary. 1.30pm: "Defoe has 1 league goal in his last 5 starts. He may have got a hat-trick against a 2nd rate European team in midweek and have had a decent season to date, but can everyone please stop thoughtlessly Redknapping the myth that he's in 'the form of his life'?" emails Max Dowler. He does have 10 goals already this season, which ain't bad Max. Peep, peep: After a minute's silence Manchester City kick off. City are in their pale blue, Spurs in their grey and black away strip. 1 min: Within a minute, Adebayor has had to go off the pitch to remove some white tape from his socks, which didn't match the rest of his strip. Your referee today: Gok Wan. What on earth is going with football? 3 min: Clichy plays a long ball over the top and Aguero charged through to the ball unchallenged. Spurs thought he was offside, the linesman didn't. No matter, Friedel pops out to collect the ball. 4 min: City attempt to pry open the Spurs back four but Walker is there to clear up. He tries to set Bale free as Tottenham appear set up to counter-attack as much as possible. Nothing comes of it this time. 6 min: Kompany hoofs another long ball over the top for Aguero. He runs down the right flank to collect and attempts to play the ball into the box for Zabaleta. Spurs clear but Zabaleta hangs about in the box and Silva attempts to find him but fails. 10 min: Nastacic finds Kolarov on the wing, and he crosses from the line into the City front two of Tevez and Aguero. Next, Silva takes control of the ball and again the City players charge into the box hoping to be found. Spurs clear again, but then City aim for Aguero over the top again. Spurs are attempting to play a high line, but it's a risk against a frontman this quick. 11 min: Corner for City after a Barry shot is deflected behind. Dempsey does the clearing up. Not entirely sure Spurs have been in City's half yet. 12 min: Huddlestone gives away a free kick 40 yards out. Kolarov lines up the kick. Surely he's not shooting from here? He is. Friedel stops it easily. Meanwhile Max Dowler's back: " 'He does have 10 goals already this season, which ain't bad Max.' Exactly my point, thanks Tom," he writes, helpfully pointing out the punchline he'd missed. 15 min: Aguero and Tevez combine to get into the box. Aguero goes down under a challenge from Walker. There are a few howls from the crowd, but nothing from the players on the pitch. 16 min: Here's a chance for Spurs at last. Huddlestone stands over a wide free-kick and pings a cross to the D. Kolarov heads behind for a corner when perhaps it would have been easier to head clear. Caulker connects with the corner, but it goes behind of a City player for another corner. City get the second one clear. 19 min: Spurs are beginning to get going. Bale finds Vertonghen out wide and he has an age to get a cross in. He aims for Adebayor but City get the ball out for a throw. Vertonghen throws long for Adebayor but Lennon attempts to sneak around the back and strike home. There's a big tangle of legs, Adebayor goes over Hart and there are half-hearted shouts for a penalty. Bit sloppy in the City defence, but Hart finally claims. GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Caulker, 21): Huddlestone swings over a free kick and Caulker pops up to head home powerfully into the bottom corner. Hart got a hand to it but not enough of one to keep it out. City are dreadful at set-pieces. 23 min: That came out of the blue. City have been on top so far, with Aguero looking a particular threat. Should Hart have done better there? Probably. It was a strong header, but he did get his hand to it and should have kept it out. HANDBALL? Certainly the City fans think so. The ball looked as though it struck Gallas's hand in the box as Aguero was turning. He clearly had his arms out but arguably couldn't do anything about it. The referee Michael Oliver doesn't give it, perhaps because he was unsighted. 26 min: Adebayor goes on a glorious run, cantering half the length of the pitch. After doing so, though, he elects to backheel to Huddlestone rather than shoot himself. The midfielder then rifles a shot just past the bottom of Hart's post that may well have broken the sound barrier, given the pace of it. What a shot. 28 min: Toure finds Zabaleta in the penalty area with a long ball. His clipped cross is cleared though. Zabaleta decides to take it out on Adebayor, conceding a free-kick against him then unloading a fair amount of family-unfriendly language in the striker's direction. A minute later, Adebayor spots Zabaleta coming for him again and goes down fairly easily. Zabaleta gets a yellow; phase one of Adebayor's revenge gets started. 31 min: Looking at the goal replay again, Hart got more than a hand to the shot. He got his whole body to it and still managed to let it in. "That was a complete howler by Hart," says Neil Goldenburg, possibly a Manchester United fan, steam possibly coming out of his ears. "If that was done by another keeper (David De Gea perhaps?) commentators would be all over him. But Best Keeper On Earth Joe Hart simply 'could have done better'." 33 min: City ping the ball about the pitch, the ball going hither thither. They work the ball to Zabaleta who, again, is a long way up the pitch. He charges into the box and hammers into Huddlestone, going down sprawling. That could easily have been given as a penalty, but you can understand why it wasn't. 34 min: A raking ball finds Aguero galloping forward. He flicks the ball inside to Kolarov, who attempts to chip the ball into the far corner. It goes just wide, with Friedel diving to his left. 36 min: City again concede a free-kick just inside their half. Again, Huddlestone launches it towards Caulker in the box. He attempts to head centrally but the home side get the ball away. No matter, City concede another free-kick just inside their half a minute later after Kolarov clatters Lennon. In other news, Toure has gone down clutching his ankle after coming together with Adebayor. 38 min: City clear the free-kick and go marauding up the the other end. The move breaks down when Tevez attempts a cross-shot that Friedel plucks from the air underneath the cross bar. 40 min: Nastasic has gone down after he and Dempsey went up for a 50-50 ball. A small pause follows while he gets attention. Toure seems to be hobbling along fine now. Shortly after the game gets started again, Kyle Walker got himself into trouble on the edge of the Spurs box. Rather than capitalise on that, though, Kolarov grabs the Spurs defender around the neck and throws him to the ground. 41 min: Two errors in the Spurs defence as Gallas and Caulker fail to deal with a Zabaleta cross. The ball bobbles free to Aguero, but his shot is wild and swings deep into the crowd. 42 min: Toure latches onto a poor Dempsey pass and sets Silva free up the left. He crosses to Tevez who is one-on-one with goal. His shot is easily saved by Friedel though. A good chance goes begging. 44 min: Things are beginning to get a bit spicy. Toure goes in on Sandro, who hits the deck hard. Toure thought he made the most of it and, as the crowd whoop and cheer, he allows his mouth to run unfettered. The ref reminds him not to. The City crowd are furious - they believe the Spurs players are looking for free-kicks - and you can see their point as Lennon goes down under minimal contact from Barry. 45 min: Now Kolarov and Lennon get involved in a spot of finger-pointing and shouting. Good stuff. 45 min+1: Aguero takes the ball on his chest masterfully in the box. He finds Silva, who works a slide ball through to Zabaleta. His shot is saved though. The cameras cut to Mancini in his dug out. He looks momentarily interested, sees Zabaleta's shot, then rolls his eyes, slumps in his chair and goes back to talking to himself. Peep, peep: That's the half and, as City walk off the pitch, their fans let a brief but loud bout of booing ring around the stadium. 2.20pm: Very frustrating for City. They've been on top and, though they haven't fashioned any gilt-edged chances, they could be leading. However, they keep giving free kicks in their half (or Spurs keep earning them, as City's players believe) and Huddlestone has been delivering accurate balls into the box to exploit the home side's problems with set pieces. Spurs have already managed to score from one, and you wouldn't bet against them doing it again at this rate. 2.22pm: Here's Gary Naylor on the Pep/Mancini/Mourinho debate: "When Pep Guardiola does find employment again, does he come as a package with the training complex, the history, the stadium e'en the very culture too? If not, I suspect Mourinho (who seems to "become" wherever he is) may be the better bet. Though maybe not for QPR." 2.24pm: "There's something weird about this game," emails JR from Illinois (not that JR, presumably). "I can't quite put my finger on what it is, though. That's how weird it is. Of course the corresponding fixture last season was weird too, but in a more explainable way. That game saw the worst first half in the history of football followed by an astounding second half which featured goals, head stamps, drama, and Howard Webb." Wonder if it's too late to get Webb out here today? 2.26pm: There's so much wrong with Manchester City's defending for the goal. Caulker was able to simply shrug off his marker and find room in the box. Kolarov was probably the most to blame as he attempted to meet the ball but gambled wrongly and missed. Toure didn't cover himself in glory either as his marking went awry. Hart had to react very fast to the header but still should have kept it out. 2.28pm: Meanwhile, Manchester City could have had a penalty. Aguero turned sharply in the box and the ball ballooned up and into William Gallas's upper arm. He couldn't really get out of the way, but then he also shouldn't have been waving his arms about like that in the box. 2.29pm: "I'm not sure about Max Dowler's skills as a judge of strikers but he's a genius as a lexicographer," writes David Wall. "More managers' names should become commonly used as verbs, similar to 'Redknapping' myths until they're accepted as fact. How about 'Wengering' a bad situation by describing it in a way that conveniently overlooks how bad it is but not in a way that makes anyone feel good or more confident about it." Or AVB-ing, which is talking as if you're in dire need of a Strepsil. Here comes the second half: Tottenham kick off, no changes to either side. 46 min: Kompany plays a long, low ball almost half the length of the pitch to find Silva on the right. It sets up a period of City dominance outside the Spurs penalty area which finishes with Zabaleta (again) popping up on the right to shoot. Vertonghen slides in and knocks it behind for a corner, injuring himself while he's at it. 48 min: Tevez tries to run onto a long ball over the top, but he's offside. He complains bitterly. "I can see a red card coming this game. Walker and Zabaletta are both on yellow, but Man City are very tetchy and both their full backs seem to be constantly chopping down the Spurs forwards from behind," emails Gareth, a Spurs fan in Seattle, WA. 49 min: Nastasic hits a long ball to Ageuro who is also offside. He's less bitter about it. Spurs are playing the famous AVB high line, pushing up. It's worked so far, but you do worry that if it goes wrong, Gallas v Aguero is not a sprint the Frenchman would want. 52 min: Silva is linking play masterfully. He pulls a variety of strings, plays some one-twos and wriggles his way into the box. After such impressive stuff, he then fluffs his shot. An email: "The transparency of the nets in the Etihad," emails Brian Kitt. "Do the nets create a delay effect in that you're not sure if the ball is in?" Yes. They are remarkably transparent. 53 min: Tevez is offside again, this time because he slipped over. He grumpy about it nonetheless. I'll say it again, this pushing up that Spurs are doing is a risky business. 54 min: Corner to City, which Kolarov mucks up. He's lucky that Spurs clear behind though. His second effort is better but Kompany heads over and wide. 56 min: Toure finds Aguero with one of those balls over the top. He's onside this time and the Spurs defence are in trouble as they get caught out. They're lucky that he miscontrols when clear through on goal. City are getting on top now, while they're about to bring on Maicon for Nastasic. 57 min: Uh-oh. Looks like Mancini has gone to three at the back with Clichy, Maicon and Kompany at the back, and Kolarov and Zabaleta operating as wing backs. 58 min: Spurs push up again and Tevez is flagged for offside again. This time the linesman is wrong, though and the striker is justified in his bitterness. Spurs are treading dangerously here. 59 min: Spurs head forward and attempt to take advantage of the inevitable chaos in the City back three. Adebayor manages to concede a free-kick though. "As an American I shouldn't say this, but what exactly is the point of Dempsey? Hes been invisible..." emails Dan, accurately. He's one of those players who "does a lot of good work off the ball", isn't he? 60 min: Toure makes his first forward run of the game, those great galloping legs carrying him into the box to connect with Maicon's ball. He thrashes a shot at Brad Friedel from the byline but it goes behind for a goal kick. 62 min: Clichy goes on a great, surging run from defence. He then attempts to play Kolarov in, but hits the pass too straight for the wing-back to capitalise on. 63 min: Dempsey lays off to Bale, who has been quiet today. His shot is wide from the edge of the box. 64 min: Clichy wins a foul just inside the Spurs half. Toure hits the ball to Kolarov, who crosses to Aguero but Spurs clear. "So City revert to three at the back again," emails Jesse Wedlock, sarcasm seeping from every letter of his missive. "It worked perfectly last time so I guess it makes sense. Hopefully AVB will leave Defoe on the bench as those vast spaces in City's defence certainly wouldn't suit him." GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Aguero, 65min): There's a kind of chaos on the pitch now, the ball whizzing everywhere. Toure takes advantage and goes cantering forward, finding Aguero on the right of the penalty area. The striker cuts back and flashes a brilliant finish across Friedel and into the net. 66 min: Adebayor finds Bale at the other end and, briefly deciding to get himself into the game, he hammers a shot over the bar. Up the other end, Aguero is caught offside again when through on goal. Just. 68 min: City are on top now and Maicon fizzes a cross between the Spurs back four and Friedel. He had all the time in the world there, with Vertonghen happy to let him have the freedom of the right wing. 70 min: Toure has gone down in a heap after a clattering from Sandro. That was a 50/50 challenge and both players went in with honest intentions. But Toure landed on his back and looks to be in agony. As he lies on the pitch, it's like looking at a fallen race horse at Becher's Brook. 71 min: He pulls himself up and walks gingerly to the side of the pitch as City prepare to get Dzeko onto the pitch. Spurs hoist both high balls and low balls into the City box, all of which are repelled but this game is beginning to get tetchy again. 72 min: Silva finds Tevez on the edge of the box. Again, Vertonghen is not close enough to his man and the striker whizzes a shot across the face of the goal. That's enough for Mancini to pull Tevez off the pitch and replace him with Dzeko, who strides onto the pitch blowing a bubblegum bubble. Casual. 73 min: Gareth Bale somehow manages to lose the ball three times to City challenges but still maintains possession. He hits a fierce shot at Joe Hart and City scramble the ball away. 75 min: Manchester City take a quick corner and aim for Dzeko. The ball bobbles free and Spurs charge up the other end. Adebayor and Zabaleta come together, with the City player hitting the deck hard to howls from the crowd. The ref waves play on. Keep an eye on that. 76 min: Adebayor is given a yellow card, retrospectively, for that challenge. Zabaleta, his nose bloodied, walks away. He's close to exploding. 78 min: Sandro blocks another City attack, this time diving in at Barry's legs. He's been very effective today, helping out the Spurs defence magnificently. Kyle Walker is hauled off and is not happy about it. He is limping, though, so can't really complain. Dawson comes on and Gallas goes to right back. 79 min: Maicon plays another great ball into the box and Silva canters onto it. Friedel does brilliantly to block him though. From the corner, Dzeko heads just wide with Dawson in close attendance. Very close from City. 80 min: To a great chorus of boos, Adebayor has been subbed and Defoe comes on. The former City player has been good today, a big, muscular presence up front for Spurs. 81 min: Aguero goes on a thrilling, poewrful run into the box. He finds Kolarov who, via Gallas's boot, blasts it into the side netting for a corner. It's all City at the moment. 82 min: Aguero wriggles and turns, finding Silva on the edge of the box. He works himself some space and tries to guide the ball into the bottom corner. Just wide. 84 min: Dzeko finds Aguero from a throw-in and the Argentinean blasts the ball at Friedel from point blank range. He gets another go and still Spurs escape. They race up the other end and Bale's shot is blocked. According to Duncan Alexander, head of content and media at Opta, Adebayor had more touches today than Defoe has had this entire season. 85 min: This game has gone haywire, both sides pushing for a winner and creating chances. City look the more likely, with Maicon causing havoc with his crossing. 86 min: Spurs's high line has gone for a burton, all of their players are back in their own half now. Lennon comes off, Naughton comes on for Spurs as AVB boosts his defence. GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Dzeko, 87min): That man again! The super sub scores. Silva dinked a wonderful pass over the defence and Dzeko simply spun, swung a leg and thrashed it past Friedel. Brilliant goal. 90 min: That really was a sensational chipped pass from Silva, but the finish from Dzeko was superb too. AVB is wearing the same sort of inner-rage but outer-calm look on his face as he did throufh nearly his entire Chelsea career. On the pitch, Defoe attempts to sprint onto a long ball. He bounced into Clichy while in the box, but the ref isn't buying it and doesn't award the penalty. For City, Aguero comes off, Garcia comes on. Minimum of five minutes of extra time to be played. 90 min+2: AVB is desperately urging Spurs to thump it long but instead they work the ball slowly into the box. Hart is there to hoof it clear. 90min +3: Dawson clears long and Dempsey plays a nothing ball to no-one when in a good position. He's been poor today. 90 min+5: A last gasp change for Spurs. With time ticking on, Bale swings a ball into the box but Hart claims. Peep, peep: That's it. Vindication for the back three? 3.30pm: Manchester City certainly weren't at their best today and were once again bailed out by Edin Dzeko. They probably deserved the victory though, as Spurs were curiously blunt in attack with Bale anonymous and Dempsey irrelevant. Adebayor was muscular and troublesome but he wasn't given much service from either Lennon or Bale on the flanks. City, meanwhile, will have cause to feel grateful for their super sub once again (scoring his fourth goal from the bench this season) but Maicon's contribution shouldn't be ignored. He was a real threat after coming on and, against the tiring Vertonghen, was arguably City's most influential player. That's it from me. Ta!
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fire department says site of unexplained explosion 'looks like a war zone' after blast and fire damage at least 14 homes An explosion that leveled two homes and set two others ablaze in a huge fire forced about 200 people from an Indianapolis neighborhood where two people were killed, authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and inflicted other damage on at least 14 other homes. Four people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries after the explosion and fire, the Indianapolis Fire Department said in a statement. Fire Lieutenant Bonnie Hensley said firefighters put out the flames and then went through the rubble and damaged homes one at a time, in case people had been left behind. Two bodies have been recovered. Some witnesses said in televised reports that they had heard people screaming "Help me! Help me!" after the explosion and fire and that two parents and two children were safely pulled from one house that caught fire. "This looks like a war zone; it really does," Hensley said. "Police officers and fire department officials remain at the scene searching for other possible victims." She said they used search lights until dawn as they peered into the damaged and ruined homes. The fire department has not released the names of those killed. Hensley said one body was found in one of the leveled homes after the fire was put out, and added that at least 14 other homes had been damaged by the shock wave or flying debris. The explosion was heard for miles around. Authorities said they had no immediate information on the cause. The fire department and other agencies were investigating. People who were asleep when the blast happened were evacuated in their pajamas, scooping up their pets as they left, authorities said. They left what some described as a chaotic scene of tall flames on the Indianapolis skyline. Survivors reported shattered windows, caved-in walls and garage doors knocked off their hinges. Of the two homes that were leveled by the blast, Hensley said: "There's nothing left." Bryan and Trina McClellan were at home with their 23-year-old son Eric when the shock wave from the blast a block away shook their home. It knocked out the windows along one side of their house. Eric McClellan said he ran to the scene of the explosion and saw homes flat or nearly so. "Somebody was trapped inside one of the houses and the firefighters were trying to get to him. I don't know if he survived," he said, adding that firefighters had ordered him to leave the area. All power, gas and other utilities in the area were shut off as a precaution as emergency officials swarmed the site. About 200 people were taken to an elementary school. Most left to stay with relatives, friends or at hotels, but 15 to 25 remained through the night, sleeping on cots. Pam Brainerd, a 59-year-old hospice nurse, said she had been asleep when the explosion blew out the upstairs windows in her house. "I was sleeping on the sofa and all of a sudden, my upstairs windows were blowing out and my front door was falling in," Brainerd said. "My front door came off the frame. It was the largest bang I've ever heard. There was a house engulfed in flames, and I could see it spreading to other houses."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Four Palestinian civilians are reported killed in Gaza as fears grow that Syrian civil war could spill across border Israeli troops are engaged on two of the country's borders, firing warning shots into Syria after a mortar shell hit an Israeli army post on the Golan Heights and targeting militants in Gaza in an escalating round of violence over the weekend. Four Palestinian civilians were reported killed in air strikes on Gaza. In the north, the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) response came amid concerns that the civil war in Syria could spill across the boundary into the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967. In the past week, four shells fired from within Syria have landed in the Golan, although none have caused damage or injuries. Eight days ago, three Syrian tanks briefly entered the buffer zone between Syria and the Golan Heights. Sunday's warning shots were the first time the IDF has fired into Syrian territory since the 1973 Yom Kippur war. "A mortar shell targeted an IDF post in the Golan Heights," said the army spokeswoman, Avital Leibovich. "We answered with a warning shot towards Syrian areas. We understand this was a mistake and was not meant to target Israel and then that is why we fired a warning shot in retaliation." The Israeli military lodged a complaint through United Nations forces operating in the area, stating that "fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and shall be responded to with severity". The prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said on Sunday that Israel was "closely monitoring what is happening on our border with Syria and we are ready for any development". Another army spokesman, Yoav Mordechai, said Israeli forces had targeted a mortar squad operating near the Syrian army position that had apparently fired the mortar into the Golan, and that the IDF estimated there were no casualties on the Syrian side. "We have no interest in getting in between the rebels and the Syrian army, but to defend the Golan Heights from stray fire," he told the Times of Israel. In the south, dozens of rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza between Saturday evening and midday on Sunday by militants from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other organisations. Six Palestinians, including four civilians, were reported killed in at least nine separate Israeli air strikes. Netanyahu warned that the military was ready to intensify its response to rocket fire from Gaza following the escalation of attacks and counter-attacks. The round of violence followed a similar spike almost three weeks ago, which subsided after intervention by Egyptian mediators. But some observers believe Netanyahu may be more inclined to order a robust approach in the runup to Israel's general election on 22 January. Militants in Gaza were "sustaining harsh hits" from the IDF, Netanyahu told ministers at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit with its hands tied in the face of attempts to harm us. We are prepared to intensify our response." Operation Cast Lead, the three-week assault on Gaza in which about 1,400 Palestinians were killed, was launched in the build-up to Israel's last election in 2009. Moshe Ya'alon, minister of strategic affairs, reinforced Netanyahu's warning. "We aren't going to let this stand … We have many means for exacting a price from the other side, and we will deploy them as we see fit, so that in the end we can bring quiet back to the south," he told army radio. Asked about the possibility of a ground operation, Ya'alon said: "Everything is being weighed and will be weighed." However, he indicated such a move would only be authorised if targeted air strikes failed to stop rocket fire. The increase in violence followed the death on Thursday of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy during an incursion by tanks near the city of Khan Yunis. Hamid Younis Abu Daqqa had been playing football with friends when shots were fired from an Israeli helicopter, according to his father. Later, an Israeli soldier was slightly injured when a booby-trapped tunnel dug by militants from Gaza towards Israel exploded. On Saturday, militants fired an anti-tank missile from Gaza which wounded four Israeli soldiers on a jeep patrol along the border. Six Palestinian factions, including Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, issued a joint statement saying they were responsible for the rocket fire. Since Operation Cast Lead, Hamas has largely tried to restrain other militant groups from launching rockets and mortars, but it has increasingly participated in military operations over the past few weeks. The organisation is under pressure from more radical groups within Gaza, which may explain its unusually open participation in recent violence. Israel is concerned that large quantities of weapons from Libya are being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt. Last month an anti-aircraft missile was fired from Gaza for the first time at an Israeli military helicopter, according to Israeli defence officials. The shoulder-fired Strela missile missed its target.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wife of one of 16 shooting victims tells pre-trial hearing of Staff Sergeant Robert Bales more than one soldier was involved The wife of an Afghan villager killed in a rampage blamed on a decorated US officer told an Army investigator that more than one soldier was present when her husband was shot dead at their home in March, the investigator testified on Saturday. Military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accusing him of killing 16 villagers, mostly women and children, when he ventured out of his remote camp on two revenge-fueled forays over a five-hour period in March. The wife's account, relayed by Army criminal investigator Leona Mansapit, appeared to cast doubt on the government's case that Bales alone was responsible for the deaths, although survivors have so far testified to seeing only a single soldier. The US government, which has been laying out its case against Bales in a pre-trial hearing aimed at deciding whether he can be sent for court martial, says a coherent and lucid Bales acted alone and with "chilling premeditation". Mansapit said that the wife of Mohamed Dawood, who was killed in the village of Najiban, recalled a gunman entering the couple's room shouting about the Taliban, while another man, a US soldier, stood at the door. The shootings in Afghanistan's Kandahar province are the worst case of civilian slaughter blamed on an individual US soldier since the Vietnam War and have damaged already strained US-Afghan relations. Mansapit said the wife, who spoke to her through an interpreter, said one of the men pulled her husband out of the door while the other stopped her from following. One of the men then put a gun to her husband's head and killed him while the other continued to yell about the Taliban, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head against the wall. Mansapit, who was called by the defense, recalled the woman as saying that outside there were more soldiers "speaking English among themselves". She put the woman's age at about 25 but did not name her. It was not immediately clear whether the wife would testify to the hearing herself. The testimony came a day after a father and two sons described being attacked by a sole US soldier in their family compound in the Afghan village of Alkozai. So far, the only sworn references to more than one soldier have been second hand. A veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of assault and wrongfully possessing and using steroids and alcohol while deployed. Prosecutors have presented physical evidence to tie Bales to the crime scene, with a forensic investigator saying a sample of blood on his clothing matched a swab taken in one of the compounds where the shooting occurred. Bales' lawyers have not set out an alternative theory to the prosecution's case, but have pointed out inconsistencies in testimony and highlighted incidents before the shooting where Bales lost his temper easily, possibly setting up an argument that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Gathering evidence and witness statements was complicated by the speedy burial of victims, the inability of US investigators to access the crime scenes for three weeks after the violence and the dispersal of possible witnesses after treatment at a Kandahar hospital. Bales' lead civil defense attorney, John Henry Browne, who is in Kandahar to question witnesses, complained early in the investigation that his team was denied access to villagers wounded in the attacks. One of the villagers, a 15-year-old boy who was wounded in the rampage in Alkozai but survived by hiding, testified to the hearing at a US Army base in Washington state that the shooter wore a US military uniform. "He put his pistol in my sister's mouth and then my grandmother started wrestling with him," the boy, introduced to the court by the single name of Rafiullah, said via video link from Kandahar Air Field. "He shot me in my legs." The boy's testimony was consistent with the recollections of another teenage boy, Sadiquallah, who testified previously that he saw only a single American that night. (Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Pravin Char)
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• The Premier League table 6 min: Kompany hoofs another long ball over the top for Aguero. He runs down the right flank to collect and attempts to play the ball into the box for Zabaleta. Spurs clear but Zabaleta hangs about in the box and Silva attempts to find him but fails. 4 min: City attempt to pry open the Spurs back four but Walker is there to clear up. He tries to set Bale free as Tottenham appear set up to counter-attack as much as possible. Nothing comes of it this time. 3 min: Clichy plays a long ball over the top and Aguero charged through to the ball unchallenged. Spurs thought he was offside, the linesman didn't. No matter, Friedel pops out to collect the ball. 1 min: Within a minute, Adebayor has had to go off the pitch to remove some white tape from his socks, which didn't match the rest of his strip. Your referee today: Gok Wan. What on earth is going with football? Peep, peep: After a minute's silence Manchester City kick off. City are in their pale blue, Spurs in their grey and black away strip. 1.30pm: "Defoe has 1 league goal in his last 5 starts. He may have got a hat-trick against a 2nd rate European team in midweek and have had a decent season to date, but can everyone please stop thoughtlessly Redknapping the myth that he's in 'the form of his life'?" emails Max Dowler. He does have 10 goals already this season, which ain't bad Max. 1.23pm: The players are ambling into the pre-tunnel corridor. Well the City players are, the Spurs ones are a little tardier. Adebayor, when he turns up, is giving all the City players a nice hug, smile and handshake. So much for AVB's revenge plan, he looks like he thinks this is a cocktail party with old friends. Extraordinary. Another email: "AVB seems to suffer from an attention to tactical detail so intense that he forgets the human side," reckons Ian Copestake He's convinced himself of the benefit of starting Adebayor but is blind to the inevitable disgruntlement to be felt by his in-form striker and fans, if his plan goes awry (actually am sure Defoe is already at the disgruntled stage)." I can't imagine Adebayor is a cheery presence when on the bench either, to be honest. An email: Rob Moline writes: "Arsenal in their past three games have let in four against Reading in the first half (Reading!) and thrown away two-goal leads in two other games; QPR under Hughes have four points in the first third of the season. City are still building up form, but sit third. Yet City are the club in crisis? Wenger out! Hughes out! Actually I'd love to see Mancini out, replaced not by Guardiola but Mourinho, really put the cat amongst the pigeons." It's more Mancini in crisis, I think. 1.09pm: AVB says Adebayor is playing as a lone striker for tactical reasons - he thinks he'll be able to hold the ball up better than Defoe, giving Spurs more control over the match. "That and he might go on a scorching run up the length of the pitch after scoring in order to celebrate in front of the City fans," he didn't add. 1.02pm: There were 11 goals in the two fixtures between these two sides last season, eight of them to City and three to Spurs. So it'll be a 0-0 today then, yeah? Team news: Manchester City: Silva is back but there's no Balotelli in the squad at all: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy, Toure, Barry, Silva, Tevez, Kolarov, Aguero.
Subs: Pantilimon, Maicon, Dzeko, Sinclair, Javi Garcia, Toure, Razak. Tottenham Hotspur: AVB has played on the revenge card - Adebayor starts, with Defoe on the bench. Gallas is making his 300th Premier League start: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Lennon, Bale, Dempsey, Adebayor.
Subs: Lloris, Naughton, Defoe, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Livermore, Carroll. Referee: youth's Michael Oliver Andre Villas-Boas will know all about losing players' respect. When Chelsea travelled to The Etihad last season he had been out of work for 17 days having suffered his own communication breakdown. However, in the fixture at Stamford Bridge, he had already masterminded City's first defeat in the league that season – albeit thanks to a penalty from Frank Lampard, a player he was attempting to ease from the starting lineup. He will be hoping that, with Spurs now, he can be both the first manager to steer his side to victory at The Etihad since December 2010, and the first to inspire four consecutive away wins for Spurs since 1989.
He'll do so with one striker in the form of his life, and another one desperate to make a rare start to avenge his treatment at City. Jermain Defoe has been revived under AVB, but it's Emmanuel Adebayor – drummed out of City after Mancini's arrival – who is so keen to exact revenge on his former employers. Given his notorious celebration after scoring against another old club – Arsenal – it's clear that getting even is strong motivation for the Togolese striker, something AVB says he has noted.
It could lead to AVB playing the 4-4-2 formation he favoured in the Europa League – but it seems more likely he'll deploy his notorious man-management skills and leave Adebayor on the bench, sticking with a 4-2-3-1, with Clint Dempsey in the hole. He'll be hoping, too, that the Spurs side that turn up today will be the one that beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, rather than the one shocked by Wigan last weekend. Preamble: Tactics: those little, white mints boasting just two calories per serving. Fresh, refreshing and delightful, it's hard to see why anyone might get into a raving lather about them. Or are those tictacs? Anyway, probably best not to ask Robert Mancini as his recent efforts would suggest he hasn't got much chance of providing a definition.
The Manchester City manager appears on the brink of some great madness. Though his side are currently unbeaten in the Premier League, his grip on things appears to be slippery. The club is awash with rumours of a potential Pep Guardiola takeover at the end of the season, largely thanks to the arrival of Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, and Mancini seems intent on taking the Blackadder way out of a difficult situation.
Rather than stick pencils up his nose and say 'wibble', though, he's been experimenting with an equally mad-looking back three despite his players saying it's not something they'd much practised. Against Ajax away in the Champions League he rifled through four formations in 90 minutes, in the return leg defensive disorganisation led to City conceding what Mancini called "two stupid goals". That led to more disappointment in Europe and a mad few minutes of yelping at officials and a cameraman.
However, Manchester City are on a 34-game unbeaten run at home so despite not always seeing eye-to-eye with their manager, the club's players have always had cause to respect him. Now, though, with increasing chaos on the pitch, you just wonder how much longer that will last.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Military says it has fired warning shot after stray mortar hit one of its posts in the Golan Heights The Israeli military has fired a missile into Syria, the first time Israel has been drawn into the fighting in the neighbouring country. The military said it had fired the missile as a warning shot on Sunday after a stray mortar from Syria hit a military post in the Golan Heights. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and subsequently annexed it. The military says no damage or injuries were reported inside Israel. A string of mortar shells have struck the Golan Heights during the Syrian civil war. Israel views the fire as accidental, but nonetheless has warned that it holds Syria responsible. "A short while ago, a mortar shell targeted an IDF [Israel Defence Forces] post in the Golan Heights," said the army spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich. "We answered with a warning shot towards Syrian areas. We understand this was a mistake and was not meant to target Israel and then that is why we fired a warning shot in retaliation." The Israeli military also said it has filed a complaint through United Nations forces operating in the area, stating that "fire emanating from Syria into Israel will not be tolerated and shall be responded to with severity". Israel and Syria are bitter foes who have fought several wars, but their shared border has been mostly quiet since a 1974 ceasefire. Still, Israel worries that Syria's civil war could spill across into the Golan Heights, and repeated errant fire has intensified that concern. Israel fears that if the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is toppled, the country could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists or descend into sectarian warfare, destabilising the region. Israeli officials do not see Assad trying to intentionally draw Israel into the fighting, but have raised the possibility of his targeting Israel in an act of desperation. They also fear that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons or other weapons could slip into the hands of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, a close Syrian ally, or reach other militants if Assad loses power. Israeli officials also worry that the frontier region could turn into a lawless area like Egypt's Sinai desert, which Islamic militants now use as a launching ground for strikes against southern Israel. Speaking to his cabinet on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel was "closely monitoring" the border with Syria and was "ready for any development".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BBC Trust chairman says George Entwistle's resignation is a 'tragedy' and successor will be appointed within weeks The chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, has said George Entwistle's replacement will be appointed within weeks rather than months and revealed that he will discuss the future of Newsnight with the acting director general before the end of the day. Patten admitted there was a case for splitting the director general job's executive and editor-in-chief responsibilities, and said the BBC needed a "radical structural overhaul". He rejected suggestions that he should quit over the Newsnight scandal and said Entwistle's resignation after 54 days in charge was a "tragedy" but he had been "overwhelmed by this wretched crisis". Patten told Sky News he would be talking to Tim Davie, the acting director general, on Sunday about the future of Newsnight, but said whatever the fate of the BBC2 current affairs programme "what should survive is investigative journalism" at the corporation. Earlier on Sunday Patten said on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that it was a "rather quick judgment" to say that Newsnight was, in the words of its presenter Eddie Mair, "toast". However, he pointedly avoided saying the show would continue in its current form with its existing name. "It would be very sad if we were to give up that evening slot which has done some terrific investigative journalism over the years not least when George was the editor," he told Marr. He said the BBC Trust would immediately begin work on finding a permanent successor to Entwistle. Patten told Marr there would not be the sort of lengthy appointment process that led to Entwistle's appointment in the summer. "It's got to be a few weeks rather than a lot of months," he said. Patten said there may be a "strong argument" for splitting the job of director general and editor-in-chief, currently combined in a single role. "There is a case for that," he said. "I don't think we would ever want a case where there wasn't one person who was boss, but we do need to look at the relationship between director general [and] editorial and creative. Anyone but an archangel needs strong support in those areas. "But we've obviously got to consider how at the moment it is managed and if people have got a grip on its content." Patten made clear his irritation with the events that led up to the broadcast of the Newsnight report on Friday 2 November, which made a false allegation against the former Tory party treasurer Lord McAlpine. Unlike Entwistle, who said he had not been aware of the report before it had been broadcast, Patten said a tweet on the morning of 2 November from Iain Overton, managing editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, previewing its content had been brought to his attention. "I did subsequently ask whether the programme was being properly edited, properly managed and I was assured that it was. We know from what George was saying yesterday [on the Today programme] apparently the decision went up through every damned layer of BBC management, bureaucracy and legal checks, and still emerged." Patten said BBC staff felt "slightly tainted" by the "ghastly mess", adding that it was "important to really encourage them to go on making great radio and TV programmes". On the circumstances of Entwistle's resignation, Patten said: "I didn't try to argue him out of it. He had made his mind up. I thought it was the right decision. We had several conversations yesterday. He is the editor-in-chief of a great news organisation and I think he felt he should take responsibility for the awful journalism that disfigured that Newsnight programme." Asked about Entwistle's much-criticised performance on the Today programme on Saturday, Patten said: "You don't go on an interview with John Humphrys and expect the bowling to be slow full tosses. That's why he's such a great journalist. And throughout this the BBC, in the way we have covered ourselves, has held on to the fact that above all we are a news organisation and our credibility depends on telling the truth about ourselves and about others, however horrible it may be." Patten said Entwistle had been "at the least implicated" by Newsnight's decision not to broadcast its Jimmy Savile investigation in late 2011 because he had been the BBC's director of vision when the report was shelved. "It made it very difficult [for him] to tackle the whole thing," said Patten. "He is a very good man, cerebral, decent, honourable, brave. I'm afraid this would have overwhelmed a lot of people with those sorts of skills." Patten said the BBC needed to go through a "radical structural overhaul". He said decision-making had to be devolved but said there were people "within editorial who are very reluctant to accept they are part of management but they are". He added: "One of the jokes I made, it wasn't actually all that funny, when I came to the BBC was that there were more senior leaders in the BBC than there were in the Chinese Communist party. We do have to devolve decision-making as much as possible … with devolved decision-making comes people's preparedness to take responsibility." Patten claimed News International's coverage of the crisis had been driven by its anti-BBC agenda. He said his own position as chairman of the BBC Trust "was bound to be under question from Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, let's be clear about that". He said people still had trust in the BBC but it had to earn it, and it would be very serious if it lost it. "There are one or two newspapers, Mr Murdoch's newspapers would love that, but I don't think the great British public wants that," Patten said. "I now have to make sure in the interests of the licence fee payer and the audience that the BBC has a grip. We have these two big inquiries, my job is to make sure we learn the lessons from those inquiries and restore trust and confidence in the BBC. If we don't do that then I am sure people will let me know." On criticism that he had been too silent during the emerging scandal, Patten said: "I do think because of what's happened I will probably have to be a bit more vociferous. I don't believe this is a job in which I should grandstand or try to take editorial decisions, that would get us into all sorts of difficulties over political interference." He said the role of the BBC Trust – which replaced the BBC's board of governors as the corporation's governance and regulatory body in 2007 – "maybe constrains one too much in relation to programmes, but that's the situation as it is". Patten described the director general role as "spectacularly big in terms of scale and sweep and you do need to have a really good team of people around you". He said the trust would discuss the appointment of a new director general on Sunday. "We will be turning our attention to that today. We will also be working with Tim Davie to make sure he can have the right support in getting the BBC on track straight away." Patten said he would still have chosen Entwistle as director general in spite of the events of the last two months. "He was the unanimous choice of the trust, a terrific creative leader for the BBC. I'm sorry, it's one of the tragedies of life he was overwhelmed by this wretched crisis."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As many as 12 people feared dead as mines and bridge collapse in magnitude 6.8 quake a week before Barack Obama's visit A strong earthquake struck northern Burma on Sunday, leaving as many as 12 people feared dead. An official from the meteorological department in the capital, Naypyitaw, said the magnitude 6.8 quake struck at 7.42am local time. The area surrounding the epicentre is a centre for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed. The biggest single death toll was reported by an administrative officer in Sintku township, who said six people had died there and another 11 were injured. He said some of the dead were miners who were killed when a gold mine collapsed. According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy river east of the town of Shwebo collapsed. The bridge linked Sinku on the east bank of the Irrawaddy with Kyaukmyaung to the west. The website of Weekly Eleven magazine said four people were killed and 25 injured when the bridge fell. The local government announced a toll of two dead and 16 injured. All of the victims appeared to be workers. A police officer in Shwebo said one person was confirmed dead from the bridge's collapse, and five were unaccounted for. Weekly Eleven also said two monasteries in Kyaukmyaung collapsed, killing two people. "This is the worst earthquake I felt in my entire life," said Soe Soe, a 52-year-old Shwebo resident. She said the huge concrete gate of a local monastery collapsed and several sculptures from another pagoda in the town were damaged. A resident of Naypyitaw, 225 miles south of the quake's epicentre, said several window panes of the parliament building had broken. The quake was felt in Bangkok, the capital of neighbouring Thailand. It comes a week before a scheduled visit to Burma by Barack Obama. He will be the first US president to visit the one-time pariah nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Man in his 70s from Cambridgeshire held on suspicion of sexual offences but later released on police bail A man arrested by police investigating sexual abuse claims against Jimmy Savile and others has been bailed. The man, in his 70s, from Cambridgeshire, was detained at 7.15am on Sunday and released on police bail until December after several hours of questioning. He is the third man to be detained under Operation Yewtree, the criminal inquiry being conducted by the Metropolitan police and the NSPCC. The Met said the man "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'others'". He was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and taken into police custody locally, Scotland Yard said. The arrest came nine days after the arrest and bail of the comedian Freddie Starr, and two weeks after Gary Glitter was questioned. Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested at home and questioned at a London police station before being released on bail until mid-December.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Man in his 70s from Cambridgeshire held on suspicion of sexual offences A man in his 70s from Cambridgeshire has been arrested by officers investigating sexual abuse claims against Jimmy Savile and others. He is the third man to be detained under Operation Yewtree, the criminal inquiry being conducted by the Met police and the NSPCC. The Met said the man "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'others'". He was arrested at 7.15am on suspicion of sexual offences and has been taken into police custody locally, Scotland Yard said. It comes nine days after the arrest and bail of the entertainer Freddie Starr, and two weeks after Gary Glitter was questioned. Glitter, 68, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was arrested at home and questioned at a London police station before being released on bail until mid-December.
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