Marco Rubio got a taste of what it’s like to live in the klieg light of national politics this week. Ever since the Washington Post published a story accusing him of fudging the truth about his Cuban family history, Rubio has been on a media blitz to rebut the story….
Continue reading …What happens in Glasgow stays in Glasgow—except when Brad Pitt comes to town to film a potential zombie blockbuster, and the city transforms into Scotland’s top destination spot so far this year. Calling it the “Brad Pitt effect,” the Daily Mail notes that Scotland’s No. 2 city boasted a…
Continue reading …News Corp’s shareholder meeting went pretty much as expected: Rupert Murdoch and sons took plenty of heat but survived a long-shot bid to oust them from control, reports the Los Angeles Times . The tally will be released next week, but given that the Murdoch family controls 40% of voting shares,…
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Hope for the first elections of the Arab spring is mingled with frustration at continuing corruption and police brutality Tunisia votes on Sunday in its first ever free elections, the first vote of the Arab spring. But the mood of optimism is tempered with deep unease that, nine months after the revolution which ousted the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country is still dominated by the corrupt and brutal vestiges of the old regime. Voting is to elect an assembly with one specific mission: to draw up a new constitution before parliamentary elections scheduled to take place within 12 months. The Islamist party An-Nadha, which was outlawed and brutally repressed by the Ben Ali regime, is expected to take the biggest share of the vote, and says it will defend democracy and women’s rights. But the complex proportional representation system means that, no matter how the votes are cast, no one party will have a majority or be able to dominate. On the street Tunisians, fiercely proud that their uprising launched the Arab spring, warned that the most pressing issue was safeguarding their “unfinished revolution.” Lawyers complain that police brutality and torture continues in the small north African country, which under Ben Ali was notorious as having the most pervasive secret police in the region. Human rights activists say Ben Ali’s cronies and former party sympathisers still dominate a crooked justice system, that corruption has worsened, and that notorious servants of the old regime have even been promoted since the revolution. Some describe a climate of impunity, symbolized by Ben Ali’s flight to Saudi Arabia, where he can avoid facing trail for his crimes. Meanwhile, in Tunisia, his influence continues to pervade officialdom and the workings of the state. “We are overwhelmed with cases of human rights abuses. You wouldn’t believe there had been a revolution,” said Imene Triki, a human rights activist. “Torture is the way things are done, it’s systematic. They have not changed their practices at all,” she said, warning of “countless” cases in police stations and prisons. She described: the “systematic and routine” arrests of bloggers and activists on fabricated charges, often of “burning police stations”; arrests of people labelled “Salafists” who were out of the country at the time their alleged crimes were committed; and the arrests of children. Triki described one case, of an alleged robber who was transferred to hospital from prison with a stomach complaint. While in hospital, she claims, he was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in front of the doctors, nurses and other patients. Triki says she found him with his legs chained to the bed and severe injuries to his genitals and that in the same hospital she found another prisoner lying in the emergency ward, his body festering with worms and covered in excrement. He had, she says, been there for a month. Ahmed Rahmouni, head of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates, described a rotten justice system – still in place – in which judges were used by Ben Ali as a “tool of repression” to crack down on civil society. Although some judges were independent, he said, the overwhelming system remained in thrall to politicians and dominated by those who served Ben Ali. These judges continue to try cases. “The country’s top judges are corrupt, inefficient and an instrument of dictatorship. We need to get rid of them, and restore trust in the judiciary,” he said. Sihem Bensedrine, a human rights activist and head of Kalima radio station, has returned from exile but has still not been issued with a licence for her radio station, which broadcasts online. She said: “The revolution cut off the head, but the body is still there. Dictatorships aren’t just about security per se – they are also about the security forces controlling the media, culture, health care, universities, hospitals. You need to dismantle the whole machine. There are three elements: the secret police, the old guard of the former ruling party and the businessmen corrupted by working with the regime. These three are still powerful, they still have long arms.” After nine months of discredited and weak interim governments featuring ageing faces from Tunisia’s recent past, Tunisians insist that the old guard must be rooted out of officialdom and daily life, and that this must be coupled with quick answers to the country’s major problem, unemployment, a central cause of the revolution. Officially at 19%, unemployment has soared since January, but most believe the real figures are far higher. The jobless rate for graduate women is over 40%. In the poorer interior of the country the figures are double the national rate. Lina Ben Mhenni, a blogger who was nominated for this year’s Nobel peace prize, warned that Tunisia was being held back by the old regime and “after a few weeks of revolutionary euphoria” the country once again risked turning into a police state with the regime’s apparatus still in place. Disillusioned at the ongoing presence of the old regime, she said she wouldn’t vote. In purely political terms, Ben Ali’s ruling RCD party has been dissolved and its figureheads are forbidden from standing for election. But in a bewildering political landscape of over 110 new parties and scores of independent candidates, several small, marginal new parties have regrouped supporters from the old RCD. They aim to win over a dozen seats between them. In the offices of one new party, Al-Watan, the Nation or Homeland, its leader Mohamed Jegham said there was a prevailing current in Tunisia since the revolution “and we can’t go against the current”. But Jegham, a one-time interior minister and defence minister of Ben Ali, said he was proud of what he called the good state infrastructure left behind by the Ben Ali era and said the country “needs people who know the terrain”. He was critical of the removal of regional governors linked to the regime. Formerly minister in charge of police, he said: “The police needs to go back to being in the service of the country, of the nation, and not just in the service of the president or ministers. Not all officers can do that. There will be change – some have left, some are more reticent – the majority can do it.” He said corruption must be stopped but that it would not be easy. “We need new laws and for those to be respected.” Saida Lakrimi, of the Tunisian lawyers union, said: “We are in a transitional period, but the pace is very, very slow. Changes to institutions need to happen more quickly to cleanse the system … Popular discontent will fester if those who robbed and killed and tortured are not tried in a fair and transparent way … You can’t create the future using the tools of the past.” Journalists’ organisations complained that even the media, which was so tightly censored under Ben Ali that even the airbrushed photographs of the great man were chosen and provided by his office, was yet to be overhauled. Kamel Labiti, head of the commission for media reform, said the media landscape had not changed. Media owners still had connections in the administration, and undue influence. “We have a culture of praising the king. You can’t change that in a few months,” he said, also citing a lack of training for journalists. He said that “for decades journalists have effectively been civil servants.” Najiba Hamrouni of the journalists union said: “Since the revolution we have greater freedom in terms of what we can cover in the mainstream press, who we can interview and so on. However, the problem is that the main media organisations are controlled and run by the same Ben Ali men, and they are censoring their journalists. Managers dictate editorial policy. Some people and issues are marginalised.” New press titles have launched but many have folded through lack of funds. On the streets of central Tunis, most people were optimistic that the elections could mark the beginning of the end of the unfinished revolution. But people were vigilant. Many vowed that if they sensed anything but total transparency and fair elections, they would once again take to the street. Rhamouni said he saw a new “dynamism and plurality in Tunisian society”, which gave him hope. “Tunisian people believe they started the first revolution in the Arab world. They won’t accept the manipulation of their will. It is not just the elite who are talking about the need to cleanse the judiciary, but ordinary people. There is an unprecedented state of awareness in the country.” Tunisian elections 2011 Tunisia Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali Angelique Chrisafis Katharine Viner Becky Gardiner guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Prince Sultan’s death fuels debate about who will succeed to the Saudi throne
October 22, 2011 No Comment
Ultraconservative Prince Nayef, who was behind suppression of protests in neighbouring Bahrain, becomes likely successor The death of the heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud, has led to an urgent debate over the succession in the oil-rich state. Sultan, who was in his 80s, had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer in New York, although Saudi TV, which announced the death today, only said he had died “abroad”. The younger half-brother of Saudi Arabia’s frail and ailing leader, King Abdullah, Sultan was also deputy prime minister and defence minister, in charge of one of the biggest arms budgets in the world. He leaves multiple widows and 32 children. The most likely candidate to replace him as Abdullah’s successor is Prince Nayef, a member of the most powerful of the Saudi ruling families. Nayef, 78, is the Saudi interior minister, in charge of the security forces, and is close to Islamic ultra-conservatives. He was directly involved in the decision in March to send soldiers into neighbouring Bahrain to help crush pro-reform demonstrations. Abdullah gave Nayef the position of second deputy prime minister, traditionally the post of the second in line to the throne. But for the first time the mechanism of picking the next crown prince is in doubt as the king could hand over the decision to the Allegiance Council, created as part of Saudi Arabia’s tentative reforms, and consisting of his male relatives. That would open the process up, although observers expect Nayef to be the favourite there as well. Saudi Arabia has been ruled since 1953 by the children of its founder, King Abdul-Aziz, who had more than 40 sons. But that generation is ageing and secrecy surrounds their health. It was an American diplomatic cable, reported through WikiLeaks, that revealed Sultan was incapacitated with illness. Abdullah had surgery last week, said to be on his back. The palace said that the king, with “deep sorrow” mourns “the loss of his brother”. The statement, on the official Saudi Press Agency, added that the funeral would be held in Riyadh. Prince Charles sent his condolences in a letter to the Saudi king. The foreign secretary, William Hague, said that he was saddened to hear of the death. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, called Sultan a “good friend to the United States”. It is not known what effects any succession would have on recent reforms to allow women to vote in 2015. Saudi Arabia King Abdullah Bahrain Middle East Tracy McVeigh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has died of colon cancer, but the country is expected to have an orderly process to figure out who is next in line to the throne, reports the BBC . Crown Prince Abdel Aziz al Saud was 85, according to the AP , and he reportedly died at…
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• Mail scott.murray@guardian.co.uk in the electronic fashion • Follow the rest of the day’s goals as they go in • Press F5 for the latest, or switch on the auto-refresh 37 min: Suarez slashes a shot from a tight angle on the left straight across goal. Before a red shirt can poke home, Martin hacks clear. Liverpool have stepped it up a bit again, without looking as quite dangerous as they were during the opening 20 minutes. “There are stats for everything these days,” writes Gary Naylor, “so does anyone know if there is a midfielder in the PL who gives the opposition possession more often than Steven Gerrard?” 36 min: Another corner for Liverpool, Downing winning it down the right. He takes the set piece himself, Johnson winning a header but sending it high into the Kop. 34 min: Tierney is booked for clipping Downing’s ankles, a couple of yards outside the Norwich area on the right. The free kick’s in a very dangerous position. Adam tries to pass it into the left-hand corner, but only finds the wall. He bangs the rebound as hard as he can, but only into a thicket of yellow shirts again. Eventually the ball’s swung in from the right by Downing, but it floats over the bar. 31 min: Jose Enrique tries to find Bellamy down the left. Barnett slides the ball out for a corner. Bellamy’s dead ball is met by the head of Kuyt at the near post, but easily cleared. Liverpool haven’t started playing badly, but their sparkle has disappeared. 29 min: Liverpool are showing their first signs of frustration. First an over-eager Bellamy needlessly gets himself flagged offside when presented with a pass in acres down the left, then Kuyt goes ballistic at the linesman when narrowly caught ahead of play himself. 26 min: The passes aren’t quite sticking for Liverpool now. First Kuyt puts a stop to his own player’s gallop, rolling a dreadful pass behind a flying Bellamy down the left. Then Adam hits a ball far too strongly down the right for Johnson, who had room in which to scamper. The crowd haven’t got anxious yet, but Anfield has seen sweet starts turn sour on more than one occasion this season already. Norwich will be pleased with their efforts in the last ten minutes; they’re certainly seeing more of the ball. 24 min: Up the other end, Gerrard tries to free Suarez down the inside-right channel, but just as the striker looks to control and shoot from just inside the area, Barnett slides over to clear. 23 min: Bennett rides a couple of tackles in the centre, just outside the area, and slaps a shot goalwards. Norwich are right in this game now. 21 min: Norwich ping the ball around hither and yon. They must have put nearly 20 passes together then. They slowly edge up the pitch, Bennett finally swinging a cross into the Liverpool area from the right; with Pilkington making a nuisance of himself at the far post, the Carragher is forced to concede a corner on the left. Which Morison meets, eight yards out, level with the far post, arrowing the ball towards the top right. Reina is behind it all the way to claim. That was delightful play from Norwich, who appear to be settling now. 19 min: No chance at either end for nearly 40 seconds now. 18 min: Tierney swings a ball across the edge of the Liverpool area from deep on the left; Morison can’t direct the ball goalwards. 17 min: Level with the right-hand post, Suarez turns and drags a shot across the face of goal, the ball sailing just wide right. This is breathless. 16 min: Skrtl Bcknbrs upfield and finds Downing down the right. The winger cuts inside and tries to find Suarez on the far post, but the cross is too high. Suddenly Norwich hit a long ball upfield, and Hoolahan is clear down the inside-left channel! After all that Liverpool pressure, is this a sucker punch? No: Hoolahan gets his effort on target at the near post, but Reina parries clear with his chest. What an open game this is. 14 min: Adam bustles inside from the right and feeds Suarez, who tries to chip Ruddy from 25 yards. Now now. The keeper’s behind it all the way, and the ball floats over the bar in any case. 11 min: What a goal this would have been. Adam sprays a long ball down the left for Bellamy, who takes it in his stride at full pelt, reaches the byline, and cuts a low ball back into the centre for Suarez. The striker, level with the left-hand post, opens his body and hits a first-time sidefoot at high pace towards goal. Ruddy manages to get fingertips to it, though, and diverts the ball onto the right-hand post and out. Downing picks up the ball, but panics and snatches a dismal shot miles wide right. 10 min: Pilkington looks a real handful down the left. He’s this close to diddling Johnson with a clever back heel and turn, but the full back stands firm and wins a goal kick. 8 min: Johnson skitters down the inside-right channel, into the area, and sends a low cross into the middle towards Suarez. Martin slides in to intercept. Norwich are struggling to keep hold of the ball, and Liverpool are relentless in returning it down their end of the pitch. 7 min: A long ball down the inside-left channel by Gerrard finds Suarez, who turns again on the edge of the area. Once more Barnett is all at sea, but this time he recovers well before Suarez can break clear, and gets a clearing challenge in. Liverpool have started very strongly here – but then they’ve a habit of doing this, only to fall away as the game progresses. 5 min: A throw-in for Liverpool down the left. Suarez takes up possession with his back to goal, on the corner of the box. He whips round through 180 degrees in an instant, a split-second turn, flummoxing Barnett. He’s clear on goal, albeit at an angle down the inside-left channel, but shoots wide left. A world-class turn, a dunce-class miss. Liverpool could easily be two goals up already. 2 min: The returning Glen Johnson has already seen plenty of the ball down the right. His incessant probing finds Suarez, who wins a corner. Adam sends a flat ball towards the near post, Skrtel glancing a header off the bar. Norwich clear, but only out for a corner on the other side. Suarez tries to meet the set piece, coming in from the left, but Norwich clear again. A strong start by the home side. A massive mosaic displayed on the Kop: Justice for the 96. Then the cards flip down in time for kick off. Liverpool get the ball rolling, and they’ll be kicking towards the Kop in this first half, never their preference. The teams are out! Liverpool are wearing their trademark all-red outfit, Norwich their equally distinguishing yellow shirts and green shorts. It’s a crisp, dry evening at Anfield. “Am delighted to see Bellamy start up front today (first time in the league this year, I believe),” writes David Horn. “I can’t think of two forwards more likely to annoy opponents, referees, managers, grannies, or anybody, anywhere at any time over the last 20 years, than these two. If there has been a more obnoxious strike partnership since the Premiership began, I’d like to hear of it.” OLD-SCHOOL SONGBOOK PT 2. On the Ball, City (1902): Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage / Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die / On the ball, City, never mind the danger / Steady on, now’s your chance / Hurrah! We’ve scored a goal! OLD-SCHOOL SONGBOOK PT 1. Hurrah for the Reds (1907): Hurrah for the boys to play the game / Hurrah for the Reds! / Hurrah for the boys there’s none can tame / Hurrah for the Reds! / There’s Hewitt and Mac to lead the attack / With Hardy to hold the fort, boys / There’s Goddard and Cox, and Raisbeck the fox / And more of the good old sort, boys / Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah / Hurrah for the Reds! Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) Norwich City name an unchanged side: Ruddy, Naughton, Barnett, Russell Martin, Tierney, Bennett, Fox, Johnson, Pilkington, Hoolahan, Morison. Subs: Rudd, Crofts, Holt, Jackson, Surman, Wilbraham, De Laet. Liverpool replace Martin Kelly with the returning Glen Johnson: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Kuyt, Gerrard, Adam, Downing, Suarez, Bellamy. Subs: Doni, Agger, Carroll, Maxi, Henderson, Spearing, Flanagan. Kick off: 5.30pm. More pertinent, of course, is the recent form. Liverpool are unbeaten since that shellacking at Spurs a month ago, and looked promising in patches against Manchester United last time round. Norwich meanwhile have been properly impressive: a run of three wins in four, plus a defeat at Old Trafford which, had the ball bounced another way, could easily have been a victory. United, being the champions, are a fair enough litmus test: both teams will fancy their chances here. “We’ll give it a go,” says Norwich boss Paul Lambert. His opposite number Kenny Dalglish will doubtless have a similar mindset, so hopefully we’ll have a decent game on our hands here. Entertainment, please! All of that, of course, has little bearing on reality today. I don’t know why I mentioned it. City’s recent record at Anfield isn’t otherwise much to write home about. A 3-0 loss in 2004. A 4-0 defeat in 1995. A 4-1 tonking in 1992. Losses of 3-0 and 2-1 in 1991. A 3-1 FA Cup defeat in 1990. And then you’re into the Eighties, which featured whippings of 6-2, 5-0 and 4-0, a couple of goalless draws – and a 1-0 win for the Canaries in December 1988, a season which saw Liverpool lose the league on goal difference. Slim pickings, then, but when Norwich win, Liverpool certainly feel the reverberations. Norwich City haven’t won at Anfield since Jeremy Goss scored the last goal in front of the Kop at the tail end of the 1993/94 season. It was a well-deserved 1-0 victory for the Canaries: Steve Nicol hooked the ball against his own bar on 15 minutes, Jeremy Goss hammered home the only goal of the game at the Kop end on 35, Efan Ekoku missed a one-on-one with David James just before half time, and Bryan Gunn became the last keeper to shut Liverpool out in front of their famous old terrace, Rob Jones putting the ball past him only to see his shot cleared off the line. “You’re supposed to let us win,” was the Kop’s dry response, as a Liverpool team featuring Ian Rush, John Barnes, Ronnie Whelan, Robbie Fowler and, er, Julian Dicks flailed around helplessly. Premier League Liverpool Norwich City Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Mail scott.murray@guardian.co.uk in the electronic fashion • Follow the rest of the day’s goals as they go in • Press F5 for the latest, or switch on the auto-refresh 37 min: Suarez slashes a shot from a tight angle on the left straight across goal. Before a red shirt can poke home, Martin hacks clear. Liverpool have stepped it up a bit again, without looking as quite dangerous as they were during the opening 20 minutes. “There are stats for everything these days,” writes Gary Naylor, “so does anyone know if there is a midfielder in the PL who gives the opposition possession more often than Steven Gerrard?” 36 min: Another corner for Liverpool, Downing winning it down the right. He takes the set piece himself, Johnson winning a header but sending it high into the Kop. 34 min: Tierney is booked for clipping Downing’s ankles, a couple of yards outside the Norwich area on the right. The free kick’s in a very dangerous position. Adam tries to pass it into the left-hand corner, but only finds the wall. He bangs the rebound as hard as he can, but only into a thicket of yellow shirts again. Eventually the ball’s swung in from the right by Downing, but it floats over the bar. 31 min: Jose Enrique tries to find Bellamy down the left. Barnett slides the ball out for a corner. Bellamy’s dead ball is met by the head of Kuyt at the near post, but easily cleared. Liverpool haven’t started playing badly, but their sparkle has disappeared. 29 min: Liverpool are showing their first signs of frustration. First an over-eager Bellamy needlessly gets himself flagged offside when presented with a pass in acres down the left, then Kuyt goes ballistic at the linesman when narrowly caught ahead of play himself. 26 min: The passes aren’t quite sticking for Liverpool now. First Kuyt puts a stop to his own player’s gallop, rolling a dreadful pass behind a flying Bellamy down the left. Then Adam hits a ball far too strongly down the right for Johnson, who had room in which to scamper. The crowd haven’t got anxious yet, but Anfield has seen sweet starts turn sour on more than one occasion this season already. Norwich will be pleased with their efforts in the last ten minutes; they’re certainly seeing more of the ball. 24 min: Up the other end, Gerrard tries to free Suarez down the inside-right channel, but just as the striker looks to control and shoot from just inside the area, Barnett slides over to clear. 23 min: Bennett rides a couple of tackles in the centre, just outside the area, and slaps a shot goalwards. Norwich are right in this game now. 21 min: Norwich ping the ball around hither and yon. They must have put nearly 20 passes together then. They slowly edge up the pitch, Bennett finally swinging a cross into the Liverpool area from the right; with Pilkington making a nuisance of himself at the far post, the Carragher is forced to concede a corner on the left. Which Morison meets, eight yards out, level with the far post, arrowing the ball towards the top right. Reina is behind it all the way to claim. That was delightful play from Norwich, who appear to be settling now. 19 min: No chance at either end for nearly 40 seconds now. 18 min: Tierney swings a ball across the edge of the Liverpool area from deep on the left; Morison can’t direct the ball goalwards. 17 min: Level with the right-hand post, Suarez turns and drags a shot across the face of goal, the ball sailing just wide right. This is breathless. 16 min: Skrtl Bcknbrs upfield and finds Downing down the right. The winger cuts inside and tries to find Suarez on the far post, but the cross is too high. Suddenly Norwich hit a long ball upfield, and Hoolahan is clear down the inside-left channel! After all that Liverpool pressure, is this a sucker punch? No: Hoolahan gets his effort on target at the near post, but Reina parries clear with his chest. What an open game this is. 14 min: Adam bustles inside from the right and feeds Suarez, who tries to chip Ruddy from 25 yards. Now now. The keeper’s behind it all the way, and the ball floats over the bar in any case. 11 min: What a goal this would have been. Adam sprays a long ball down the left for Bellamy, who takes it in his stride at full pelt, reaches the byline, and cuts a low ball back into the centre for Suarez. The striker, level with the left-hand post, opens his body and hits a first-time sidefoot at high pace towards goal. Ruddy manages to get fingertips to it, though, and diverts the ball onto the right-hand post and out. Downing picks up the ball, but panics and snatches a dismal shot miles wide right. 10 min: Pilkington looks a real handful down the left. He’s this close to diddling Johnson with a clever back heel and turn, but the full back stands firm and wins a goal kick. 8 min: Johnson skitters down the inside-right channel, into the area, and sends a low cross into the middle towards Suarez. Martin slides in to intercept. Norwich are struggling to keep hold of the ball, and Liverpool are relentless in returning it down their end of the pitch. 7 min: A long ball down the inside-left channel by Gerrard finds Suarez, who turns again on the edge of the area. Once more Barnett is all at sea, but this time he recovers well before Suarez can break clear, and gets a clearing challenge in. Liverpool have started very strongly here – but then they’ve a habit of doing this, only to fall away as the game progresses. 5 min: A throw-in for Liverpool down the left. Suarez takes up possession with his back to goal, on the corner of the box. He whips round through 180 degrees in an instant, a split-second turn, flummoxing Barnett. He’s clear on goal, albeit at an angle down the inside-left channel, but shoots wide left. A world-class turn, a dunce-class miss. Liverpool could easily be two goals up already. 2 min: The returning Glen Johnson has already seen plenty of the ball down the right. His incessant probing finds Suarez, who wins a corner. Adam sends a flat ball towards the near post, Skrtel glancing a header off the bar. Norwich clear, but only out for a corner on the other side. Suarez tries to meet the set piece, coming in from the left, but Norwich clear again. A strong start by the home side. A massive mosaic displayed on the Kop: Justice for the 96. Then the cards flip down in time for kick off. Liverpool get the ball rolling, and they’ll be kicking towards the Kop in this first half, never their preference. The teams are out! Liverpool are wearing their trademark all-red outfit, Norwich their equally distinguishing yellow shirts and green shorts. It’s a crisp, dry evening at Anfield. “Am delighted to see Bellamy start up front today (first time in the league this year, I believe),” writes David Horn. “I can’t think of two forwards more likely to annoy opponents, referees, managers, grannies, or anybody, anywhere at any time over the last 20 years, than these two. If there has been a more obnoxious strike partnership since the Premiership began, I’d like to hear of it.” OLD-SCHOOL SONGBOOK PT 2. On the Ball, City (1902): Kick off, throw in, have a little scrimmage / Keep it low, a splendid rush, bravo, win or die / On the ball, City, never mind the danger / Steady on, now’s your chance / Hurrah! We’ve scored a goal! OLD-SCHOOL SONGBOOK PT 1. Hurrah for the Reds (1907): Hurrah for the boys to play the game / Hurrah for the Reds! / Hurrah for the boys there’s none can tame / Hurrah for the Reds! / There’s Hewitt and Mac to lead the attack / With Hardy to hold the fort, boys / There’s Goddard and Cox, and Raisbeck the fox / And more of the good old sort, boys / Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah / Hurrah for the Reds! Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) Norwich City name an unchanged side: Ruddy, Naughton, Barnett, Russell Martin, Tierney, Bennett, Fox, Johnson, Pilkington, Hoolahan, Morison. Subs: Rudd, Crofts, Holt, Jackson, Surman, Wilbraham, De Laet. Liverpool replace Martin Kelly with the returning Glen Johnson: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Kuyt, Gerrard, Adam, Downing, Suarez, Bellamy. Subs: Doni, Agger, Carroll, Maxi, Henderson, Spearing, Flanagan. Kick off: 5.30pm. More pertinent, of course, is the recent form. Liverpool are unbeaten since that shellacking at Spurs a month ago, and looked promising in patches against Manchester United last time round. Norwich meanwhile have been properly impressive: a run of three wins in four, plus a defeat at Old Trafford which, had the ball bounced another way, could easily have been a victory. United, being the champions, are a fair enough litmus test: both teams will fancy their chances here. “We’ll give it a go,” says Norwich boss Paul Lambert. His opposite number Kenny Dalglish will doubtless have a similar mindset, so hopefully we’ll have a decent game on our hands here. Entertainment, please! All of that, of course, has little bearing on reality today. I don’t know why I mentioned it. City’s recent record at Anfield isn’t otherwise much to write home about. A 3-0 loss in 2004. A 4-0 defeat in 1995. A 4-1 tonking in 1992. Losses of 3-0 and 2-1 in 1991. A 3-1 FA Cup defeat in 1990. And then you’re into the Eighties, which featured whippings of 6-2, 5-0 and 4-0, a couple of goalless draws – and a 1-0 win for the Canaries in December 1988, a season which saw Liverpool lose the league on goal difference. Slim pickings, then, but when Norwich win, Liverpool certainly feel the reverberations. Norwich City haven’t won at Anfield since Jeremy Goss scored the last goal in front of the Kop at the tail end of the 1993/94 season. It was a well-deserved 1-0 victory for the Canaries: Steve Nicol hooked the ball against his own bar on 15 minutes, Jeremy Goss hammered home the only goal of the game at the Kop end on 35, Efan Ekoku missed a one-on-one with David James just before half time, and Bryan Gunn became the last keeper to shut Liverpool out in front of their famous old terrace, Rob Jones putting the ball past him only to see his shot cleared off the line. “You’re supposed to let us win,” was the Kop’s dry response, as a Liverpool team featuring Ian Rush, John Barnes, Ronnie Whelan, Robbie Fowler and, er, Julian Dicks flailed around helplessly. Premier League Liverpool Norwich City Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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First minister says ‘days of Westminster politicians telling Scotland what to do or what to think are over’ Alex Salmond has launched a fierce attack on the UK government, saying the future of Scotland will not be determined by Westminster. The Scottish first minister used his speech to the Scottish National party annual conference in Inverness to send the Westminster a stark message. “The days of Westminster politicians telling Scotland what to do or what to think are over,” he said. “The Scottish people will set the agenda for the future.” Salmond declared: “No politician, and certainly no London politician, will determine the future of the Scottish nation. “The prime minister should hear this loud and clear. “The people of Scotland – the sovereign people of Scotland – are now in the driving seat.” The conference is the SNP’s first since the party’s landslide victory in May’s Holyrood elections, when the nationalists became the first ever party to secure an overall majority in the Scottish parliament. Salmond said that win had given his party the “greatest ever mandate of the devolution era”. That election victory means a referendum will be held on Scottish independence. While no date for such a vote has yet been set, Nationalists have pledged it will take place in the second half of the Scottish parliament’s five-year term. The speech by Salmond marked the start of the SNP’s campaign ahead of that referendum. Ahead of the referendum, Salmond said that next month he would ask MSPs at Holyrood to endorse Scotland’s Claim of Right. The original Claim of Right dates back to 1988 and declared the “sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs”. Nationalists believe that by endorsing this, MSPs will emphasise that a referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future is something for the Scottish parliament to deliver. The Scottish government has previously declared its willingness to consider having an option of Scotland gaining further short of independence on the ballot paper in the referendum. Salmond said that this “devo-max” option was a “legitimate proposal”, and that fiscal responsibility and enhanced economic powers could “allow us to control our own resources, introduce competitive business tax and fair personal taxation”. But he still described this option as being “not good enough”, adding: “Even with economic powers trident nuclear missiles would still be on the river Clyde, we could still be forced to spill blood in illegal wars like Iraq, and Scotland would still be excluded from the Councils of Europe and the world.” While Westminster has proposed further powers for the devolved Holyrood administration in its Scotland bill, Salmond said this was “unloved, uninspiring, not even understood by its own proponents”. And he claimed the coalition “hadn’t even gone through the motions of considering the views of the Scottish government” and others north of the border on the bill. After David Cameron promised to govern Scotland with respect, Salmond claimed that respect agenda now “lies dead in their throats”. He said: “This is Westminster’s agenda of disrespect – not of disrespect to the SNP but a fundamental disrespect for Scotland.” Almost 1,600 party members packed the main hall at the Eden Court theatre conference venue, and also filled five overspill rooms for Salmond’s keynote addresse. They heard the first minister launch a fresh attack on the UK government over its decision to abandon plans for the UK’s first coal-fired power plant with technology to capture and store carbon emissions at Longannet in Fife. Salmond accused Westminster of having “betrayed the future of Longannet”.He also made a renewed claim for Scotland to have control over energy and its revenues, saying that Westminster had “coined in” £300bn from North Sea oil and gas over the last 40 years. Salmond told the conference the North Sea would continue to yield oil and gas for the next four decades “at least” and added: “London has had its turn out of Scottish oil and gas. Let the next 40 years be for the people of Scotland.” Scottish National party (SNP) Scottish politics Alex Salmond Scotland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …First minister says ‘days of Westminster politicians telling Scotland what to do or what to think are over’ Alex Salmond has launched a fierce attack on the UK government, saying the future of Scotland will not be determined by Westminster. The Scottish first minister used his speech to the Scottish National party annual conference in Inverness to send the Westminster a stark message. “The days of Westminster politicians telling Scotland what to do or what to think are over,” he said. “The Scottish people will set the agenda for the future.” Salmond declared: “No politician, and certainly no London politician, will determine the future of the Scottish nation. “The prime minister should hear this loud and clear. “The people of Scotland – the sovereign people of Scotland – are now in the driving seat.” The conference is the SNP’s first since the party’s landslide victory in May’s Holyrood elections, when the nationalists became the first ever party to secure an overall majority in the Scottish parliament. Salmond said that win had given his party the “greatest ever mandate of the devolution era”. That election victory means a referendum will be held on Scottish independence. While no date for such a vote has yet been set, Nationalists have pledged it will take place in the second half of the Scottish parliament’s five-year term. The speech by Salmond marked the start of the SNP’s campaign ahead of that referendum. Ahead of the referendum, Salmond said that next month he would ask MSPs at Holyrood to endorse Scotland’s Claim of Right. The original Claim of Right dates back to 1988 and declared the “sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs”. Nationalists believe that by endorsing this, MSPs will emphasise that a referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future is something for the Scottish parliament to deliver. The Scottish government has previously declared its willingness to consider having an option of Scotland gaining further short of independence on the ballot paper in the referendum. Salmond said that this “devo-max” option was a “legitimate proposal”, and that fiscal responsibility and enhanced economic powers could “allow us to control our own resources, introduce competitive business tax and fair personal taxation”. But he still described this option as being “not good enough”, adding: “Even with economic powers trident nuclear missiles would still be on the river Clyde, we could still be forced to spill blood in illegal wars like Iraq, and Scotland would still be excluded from the Councils of Europe and the world.” While Westminster has proposed further powers for the devolved Holyrood administration in its Scotland bill, Salmond said this was “unloved, uninspiring, not even understood by its own proponents”. And he claimed the coalition “hadn’t even gone through the motions of considering the views of the Scottish government” and others north of the border on the bill. After David Cameron promised to govern Scotland with respect, Salmond claimed that respect agenda now “lies dead in their throats”. He said: “This is Westminster’s agenda of disrespect – not of disrespect to the SNP but a fundamental disrespect for Scotland.” Almost 1,600 party members packed the main hall at the Eden Court theatre conference venue, and also filled five overspill rooms for Salmond’s keynote addresse. They heard the first minister launch a fresh attack on the UK government over its decision to abandon plans for the UK’s first coal-fired power plant with technology to capture and store carbon emissions at Longannet in Fife. Salmond accused Westminster of having “betrayed the future of Longannet”.He also made a renewed claim for Scotland to have control over energy and its revenues, saying that Westminster had “coined in” £300bn from North Sea oil and gas over the last 40 years. Salmond told the conference the North Sea would continue to yield oil and gas for the next four decades “at least” and added: “London has had its turn out of Scottish oil and gas. Let the next 40 years be for the people of Scotland.” Scottish National party (SNP) Scottish politics Alex Salmond Scotland guardian.co.uk
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