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May 10, 2009
Benitez hopes for Man Utd slip-up
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is pinning his team’s title hopes on a slip-up from Manchester United as the season reaches its climax.
The Reds returned to the top of the Premier League on goal difference after a 3-0 win over West Ham at Upton Park.
But Benitez is relying on other teams – starting with Manchester City on Sunday – to do Liverpool a favour.
“We needed to get three points and put them under pressure, and now we will be cheering and supporting City,” he said.
“United will have a difficult game, a derby is a derby.”
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have two games in hand over Liverpool, with the game against City followed by Premier League matches against Wigan, Arsenal and Hull.
Liverpool will take on West Brom on 17 May before finishing their season against Tottenham a week later.
“We have done our job. We have to keep winning, that’s all we can do,” added Benitez.
“It’s a derby and if they make a mistake they will be feeling the pressure. Manchester City are a difficult team to play against.
“Clearly our position is very good, we have to keep pushing and wait – hopefully we can be top of the league next weekend.”
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard put Liverpool in front after just 76 seconds for his 22nd goal of the season, following up with a penalty rebound on 38 minutes before Ryan Babel’s effort six minutes from time sealed a comfortable win.
“We’re happy with the clean sheet, it puts more pressure on Manchester United,” said Gerrard.
“They have a tough game against Manchester City, who have come into form recently, and it’s a derby match, which are never easy. We hope Manchester City can do us a favour.
“When you come to tough places like West Ham, it’s important to go in front and we did that. Looking at the game, we deserved to win.”
Gerrard saw his 38th-minute penalty saved by Robert Green, only to tap in the rebound past the outstretched dive of the Hammers goalkeeper.
And the midfielder admitted a morning conversation with Jamie Carragher had put the curse on his miss.
“He said to me this morning, ‘You haven’t missed a penalty for a while’, so he’s getting the blame,” joked Gerrard.
“The win shows we are a good team and have a winning mentality. We deserve to be on top of the league.”
Meanwhile, Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola said the 3-0 scoreline was somewhat harsh on his team.
“I don’t think on the pitch there was a big difference,” he said.
“In the first half we probably played better than them, the quality of the passing was good.”
Tevez expecting to leave Man Utd
Carlos Tevez has said he thinks he will leave Manchester United in the summer.
“I am very sad about this but I guess what I’m saying is goodbye,” the striker told the News of the World.
“I don’t think I’ll be a United player next season. I’ve done everything I possibly can but they have never made me an offer or given me a contract.
“I have not been treated as a member of the family. The fans treat me like family but United have not signed me so they don’t respect me as a footballer.”
Tevez joined United in the 2007 close-season on a two-year loan deal which ends this summer.
His first English club was West Ham and he became a free agent when his agent Kia Joorabchian paid the Hammers a £2m settlement.
Tevez said he is still committed to helping United this season, despite not holding down a regular place in the side, adding: “I still have the same hunger and I will give my all to win the last two trophies we are chasing so I can move on knowing I have done everything for the team.
“Things have changed dramatically this season. I was dropped but didn’t perform badly. Sir Alex never gave me an explanation but I never asked him for one because it is not in my character.”
The Argentine international said he would not rule out moving to one of United’s Premier League rivals at the end of the season.
“It’s not true my family are unhappy in England. It’s not true I want to leave England for Spain.
“My four-year-old daughter is learning English and my wife is very happy living in England.
“We want to stay. I want to play in England because it is the best League in the world and it suits my style.
“I would like to thank the United fans for their support. They will always have a special place in my heart.
“If I was a United fan I wouldn’t want to see their player in any other shirt but I think they will accept I’ve done everything I can.”
Zuma set to name S Africa cabinet
New South African President Jacob Zuma is set to name his cabinet, following his inauguration on Saturday.
Mr Zuma has pledged to tackle the tough economic crisis, widespread poverty and rising crime, but insisted he will not hand out favours to his supporters.
Investors are watching to see if Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who has been praised for his fiscal management, will be retained.
The choice of health minister is also key, as the country tackles HIV/Aids.
Mr Zuma was elected president by parliament after the African National Congress won the general election last month, albeit with a slightly reduced majority.
‘Feel the pinch’
At his inauguration on Saturday, Mr Zuma warned of hard economic times ahead.
“Jobs are being lost in every economy across the world,” he said. “We will not be spared the negative impact, and are beginning to feel the pinch.”
His choice of finance minister is being closely watched, with 13-year incumbent Trevor Manuel the investors’ choice for the role.
They are also waiting to see to what extent Mr Zuma will reward the left-wing allies that helped bring about his election victory.
Health experts, meanwhile, want Mr Zuma to retain Barbara Hogan as health minister.
She took over from Manto Tshabalala-Msimang – a highly controversial minister criticised for her handling of South Africa’s HIV/Aids epidemic – in October 2008.
Iran court hears reporter appeal
A court in Iran is hearing an appeal from jailed US-Iranian reporter Roxana Saberi, two days earlier than originally expected.
Ms Saberi’s lawyer said it was not clear when a ruling would be announced, but that he was optimistic that the 32-year-old would be acquitted.
Ms Saberi was convicted of spying for the US – a charge she denied.
The case sparked international concern and US President Barack Obama has appealed on her behalf.
Appeal process
Unlike her original trial, the legal process this time has been arranged to appear fair and open, says the BBC’s Jon Leyne in Tehran.
While Sunday’s hearing is still not open to the public, Ms Saberi’s appeal is being heard before a panel of three judges, and representatives of the Iranian Bar Association are being allowed to attend.
Her lawyer has also been given plenty of notice.
Abdolsamad Khorramshahi said he had submitted 15 pages of documents in support of the appeal for Roxana Saberi .
“I am optimistic she will be acquitted,” he said.
Before the hearing began, Ms Saberi’s father said he believed the case would be handled “more moderately” this time.
But he also told AFP news agency that the defence would ask for one or two extra days so a second lawyer could study the case.
A spokesman for the Iranian judiciary told local media that it was not clear a verdict would be issued on Sunday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged the court to give Ms Saberi her full legal rights.
Details of the evidence against her have still not been made public, but some legal officials have said they hope the appeal court will reconsider Ms Saberi’s eight-year sentence, which even for the crime of spying is considered very severe.
The appeal was initially scheduled for Tuesday, and it is not known why the hearing was brought forward.
Spy charges
Ms Saberi has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since January.
Her family said she spent two weeks on hunger strike after the sentencing was announced, but began to accept food again earlier this week.
The journalist originally faced a less serious accusation of buying alcohol, and later of working as a reporter without a valid press card.
Soon after, the spying charge was introduced, and she was tried and sentenced behind closed doors by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.
Ms Saberi, who holds dual US and Iranian citizenship, has spent six years in Iran studying and writing a book.
She has worked as a freelance journalist for news organisations including the BBC and the US-based National Public Radio.
Flight from Swat as curfew lifted
Thousands of people are fleeing Pakistan’s violence-hit Swat district after the army lifted a curfew.
Local residents trapped by fighting between troops and Taleban militants were given seven hours to leave.
The army is trying to reverse militant advances in the area, in what the prime minister has called a “fight for the survival of the country”.
Analysts say the lifting of the curfew is a sign that the army offensive is likely to intensify in the coming days.
The curfew was lifted at 0600 local time (0100 GMT) to allow residents in Swat’s main town of Mingora and the nearby towns of Kambar and Raheemabad out.
As dawn broke in Mingora, thousands of civilians began to leave. A local journalist described the event as something out of Doomsday, reports the BBC’s Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad.
Men, women, children and the elderly were seen moving along the road that leads out of the region.
The lucky ones were able to get some sort of transport, ranging from a local bus to a donkey cart.
But many plodded down the road on foot carrying what little they could gather, our reporter said.
“We are going out only with our clothes and a few things to eat on the long journey,” Rehmat Alam, a 40-year-old medical technician, told the Associated Press news agency.
“We just got out relying on God because there is no one else to help us.”Due to the intensity of the fighting and the cutting of phone networks, it is difficult to get independent information on the fighting or verify the army’s claim that it has killed nearly 200 militants in the past two days alone , correspondents say.
Pakistan’s government signed a peace agreement with the Swat Taleban in February, allowing Sharia law there, a move sharply criticised by Washington.
The militants then moved towards the capital, Islamabad, causing further alarm.
Up to 15,000 troops have now been deployed in the Swat valley and neighbouring areas to take on up to 5,000 militants. The military has said it intends to “eliminate” the Taleban fighters.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday called the conflict “a guerrilla war”.
“This is our own war. This is war for the survival of the country,” Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
The fighting has already displaced some 200,000 people, while a further 300,000 are estimated to be on the move or poised to flee, the UN says.
On Saturday the government said that refugee camps would be set up in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, and to the north-east in Naushara.
Footage on local television showed people at one camp desperately looting UN supplies, including blankets and cooking oil.
Sri Lankan shelling ‘kills 257’
Sri Lankan government forces have been accused of killing dozens of Tamil civilians in a night of shelling in the country’s northern war zone.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet website and government health officials said 257 civilians were killed and 814 hurt.
But the Sri Lankan military denied that any shelling had taken place.
The Tamil Tiger rebels and the military regularly accuse each other of atrocities in the civil conflict – claims that are impossible to verify.
Foreign reporters are banned from the war zone.
The Tamilnet website reported that heavy shelling had started late on Saturday and continued into Sunday.
It said doctors in a makeshift hospital in Vanni district had taken in 814 wounded people, and cited one doctor as saying 257 people had been killed.
The injured told the doctors “dead bodies are scattered everywhere”, according to the site.
The BBC’s Charles Haviland, in Colombo, said health officials confirmed that 257 people had died.
They said two hospitals were struggling to cope with the casualties, and that people were hiding in bunkers and many makeshift tents had been burnt.
They added that among those killed was a government nursing officer.
But the military denied the allegations.
Sri Lankan defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told the BBC the accounts were “propaganda” of the Tamil Tigers and that there had been neither shelling nor air attacks on the civilian zone.
“That is a fact,” he said.
He said the guerrillas were “holding people to ransom” in their area, and accused the rebels of killing nine civilians who were trying to escape their zone on Saturday.
The UN estimates that about 50,000 civilians are trapped by the conflict.
The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority since 1983.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war.
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