Doctors and scientists say Bachmann’s comments risk further reducing already low take-up rates for vaccine in US Fears that America’s already weak HPV vaccine programme will be critically undermined by a political row has increased as campaigners, academics and doctors lined up to condemn the politicising of a public health issue. The controversy was ignited by Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann, who claimed that the vaccine against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer, was a “very dangerous drug” that could lead to “mental retardation”. That claim immediately drew a barrage of criticism from the medical profession and even from Bachmann sympathisers on the right, forcing her to backtrack slightly. She told a conservative talkshow: “I have no idea. I am not a doctor, I’m not a scientist, I’m not a physician. All I was doing is reporting what this woman told me at the debate.” But doctors and scientists say that her remarks risk further reducing the already low take-up rates for the vaccine, as more parents will be convinced to reject the vaccine for their daughters. Professor Gregory Zimet, co-leader of the cancer control programme at Indiana University, said of Bachmann’s comments: “People will say there’s no evidence for it and that is true, there is no evidence. But I would go further: Bachmann is absolutely wrong.” He added: “Part of the issue will be how long the discussion is prominent in the news. If this is brought up every time the Republican candidates have a debate, if misinformation is repeatedly expressed and covered nationally, it can have a negative effect.” The uptake of the vaccine has already suffered a major backlash in the US in response to what some critics viewed as an overly aggressive marketing strategy and anxiety from the religious right that the vaccine would promote sexual promiscuity among young girls. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that girls receive the HPV vaccine at the of age 11 or 12, before they begin having sex. According to the CDC, around 49 percent of girls aged 13 to 17 received one dose of the vaccine in 2010, but only 32 percent received all three doses. “From the public health point of view that is inadequate,” said Zimet. “When you have a vaccine that likely prevents around 70% of cervical cancers, but fewer than half of girls are receiving all three doses, the ultimate effect is dampened.” In the US, around 6m people a year become infected with HPV, and some 4000 women die of cervical cancer each year. Bachmann had focused on the HPV virus to attack her rival in the Republican nomination race, Texas governor Rick Perry, over his decision to issue an executive order requiring girls in the state to have HPV vaccines. She also suggested that he may have made the order in return for political donations from Merck, the manufacturer of the Gardasil, the vaccine used in the US. Both allegations drew political blood, and Perry found himself on the back foot before the otherwise largely supportive Tea Party audience suspicious of “big government” intrusion on individual liberties. But Bachmann appears to have badly overplayed her hand by then telling NBC television: “I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter,” said Bachmann. “It can have very dangerous side effects.” Although offering the vaccine at such an early age is sometimes controversial, its effectiveness and safety have not been a political issue in the US. Dr Marion Burton, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, hit back at Bachmann. “The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35m doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record,” Burton said. The Institute of Medicine, which advises the government, last month found the HPV vaccine to be safe. But while there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the vaccine is dangerous, there are some questions over the efficacy of Gardasil, the version of the vaccine used in the US. Clinical trials show that Gardasil is highly effective against two strains of the HPV virus that together account for around 70% of cervical cancers. The vaccine works best in young people who have never had an HPV infection. In countries with popular cervical cancer screening programmes, vaccination with Gardasil can reduce the number of abnormal smear test results by around 20%. “That means sparing women from the psychological trauma and gynaecological procedures that arise from an abnormal result,” said Anne Szarewski, a cervical cancer expert at the medical charity Cancer Research UK. But questions remain over the value of Gardasil in preventing cases of actual cervical cancer where cervical screening programmes are widely subscribed to, said Diane Harper, a Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, who led the clinical trials of Gardasil and its main competitor, Cevarix, manufactured by GSK. Smear test programmes that look for precancerous changes to cells in the cervix caused by the virus have reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in the US to around eight in 100,000 women. “The very best you could achieve with Gardasil alone would be 14 cases per 100,000 women. So in an overall population, Gardasil is never going to prevent more cervical cancers than you are already preventing with a screening programme,” Harper told the Guardian. Another concern centres on how long the vaccine lasts. If a woman who received the jab was protected for only five years, any infection and resulting cancer would only be delayed until the immunity wore off. Gardasil targets two strains of the HPV vaccine, while Cevarix is designed to protect against five strains. Mathematical models of Cevarix suggest the vaccine should protect against the virus for 30 years. Bachmann’s claims also drew criticism on the right. Yuval Levin, a former domestic policy advisor to George Bush’s administration and former chief of staff of the President’s Council on Bioethics, called Bachmann’s assertions “preposterously ill-informed” and “profoundly irresponsible”. “Baseless assertions to the contrary about various vaccines have for years been piling needless guilt upon the parents of children with autism and other disorders, and driving other parents away from vaccinating their children against diseases that could do them great harm. A presidential candidate should not be engaging in such harmful nonsense,” he said in the conservative National Review Online. Even the popular rightwing radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, said that Bachmann “may have jumped the shark” – an idiom generally used to mean having gone too far – by linking the HPV vaccine to mental retardation. Limbaugh said that Bachmann appeared undercut her initial success in wounding Perry over the HPV issue by shifting the focus to her own credibility with her claims about the vaccine’s safety. “She scored the points and should have left it there,” said Limbaugh. Michele Bachmann US elections 2012 US politics United States Rick Perry Cancer Cancer Chris McGreal Ian Sample guardian.co.uk
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Police say sorry and pay damages to student held for seven days after downloading al-Qaida manual for his masters degree A student who was arrested and held for seven days after downloading the al-Qaida training manual as part of his university research into terrorist tactics has received £20,000 in compensation and an apology from the police for being stopped and searched. Rizwaan Sabir , 26, was studying for a master’s at the University of Nottingham in 2008 when he was detained under the Terrorism Act and accused of downloading the material for illegal use. He was arrested on 14 May after the document was found on an administrator’s computer by a member of staff. Sabir had asked the administrator, Hisham Yezza, to print out the 140-page manual as they were collaborating on research. The university said it called the police after efforts to contact Yezza failed as it felt compelled to act by its duty of care to staff and students. However, Sabir and Yezza dispute this version of events. As soon as he was made aware of the situation, one of Sabir’s supervisors confirmed that the manual – which he had downloaded from a US government website and which can be bought at WH Smith – was relevant to his research. After seven days and six nights in custody, he was released without charge or apology. But his lawyers later discovered Nottinghamshire police were holding an intelligence file on him, which contained false information about him and wrongly claimed he had been convicted of a terrorist offence. His legal team brought proceedings against Nottinghamshire police for false imprisonment and breaches of the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Human Rights Act 1998. The proceedings also included a claim under the Data Protection Act 1998 relating to the intelligence file. The case was due to go to trial on Monday 19 September, but the force settled last week, paying Sabir £20,000 compensation and covering his legal fees. It apologised to Sabir for a stop and search on 4 February 2010 and agreed to delete the inaccurate intelligence information. Sabir, now a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde researching domestic UK counter-terrorism policy, told the Guardian he was delighted at the settlement. “This is finally some vindication and we can say proudly that I have proved to many, many people who may have suspected that I was a terrorist that I am actually innocent and always have been,” he said. “It shows and it proves that [the police] were wrong to have behaved the way they did. They were wrong to put me through the torturous experience they did and they have finally accepted that.” He said his experiences had given him an insight into his field: “I was very, very lucky in the sense that I was released without charge because I was innocent in the first place. It has allowed me to understand the perspective from the other side. It has made my understanding a lot more in depth. You understand how policing works, you understand how counter-terrorism operations work, how the police behave, how they think, and the public pressure that they are under.” His solicitor, Michael Oswald of Bhatt Murphy , said the case showed how the so-called “war on terror” had perverted the rule of law over recent years. “Clearly, the police have a difficult and important job to do in their counter-terrorism role, however, they must nonetheless act within the law and must be held to account when they do not,” he said. “Through his remarkable effort and fierce determination over the last three years, Mr Sabir has been able to do that in this case. This result is nothing more than the clear vindication that he is entitled to.” However, a spokesman for Nottinghamshire police said it stood by the original arrest and detention, saying they were “perfectly legal, proportionate and necessary” under the circumstances. He added: “The matter was settled without admission of liability save that the force admitted that one brief search of Mr Sabir and his vehicle carried out in February 2010 was the result of a mistaken belief on the part of the officers involved. This was admitted in November 2010 and the force apologises for this search.” Given the financial risks of litigation, said the spokesman, “this modest monetary settlement was viewed as a sensible way of keeping overall costs to a minimum”. The University of Nottingham released a short statement, saying: “This is a matter between the police and Rizwaan Sabir, who has not been a student at the University since he completed his studies here in September 2009.” UK security and terrorism Police Global terrorism al-Qaida Nottingham Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
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Police say sorry and pay damages to student held for seven days after downloading al-Qaida manual for his masters degree A student who was arrested and held for seven days after downloading the al-Qaida training manual as part of his university research into terrorist tactics has received £20,000 in compensation and an apology from the police for being stopped and searched. Rizwaan Sabir , 26, was studying for a master’s at the University of Nottingham in 2008 when he was detained under the Terrorism Act and accused of downloading the material for illegal use. He was arrested on 14 May after the document was found on an administrator’s computer by a member of staff. Sabir had asked the administrator, Hisham Yezza, to print out the 140-page manual as they were collaborating on research. The university said it called the police after efforts to contact Yezza failed as it felt compelled to act by its duty of care to staff and students. However, Sabir and Yezza dispute this version of events. As soon as he was made aware of the situation, one of Sabir’s supervisors confirmed that the manual – which he had downloaded from a US government website and which can be bought at WH Smith – was relevant to his research. After seven days and six nights in custody, he was released without charge or apology. But his lawyers later discovered Nottinghamshire police were holding an intelligence file on him, which contained false information about him and wrongly claimed he had been convicted of a terrorist offence. His legal team brought proceedings against Nottinghamshire police for false imprisonment and breaches of the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Human Rights Act 1998. The proceedings also included a claim under the Data Protection Act 1998 relating to the intelligence file. The case was due to go to trial on Monday 19 September, but the force settled last week, paying Sabir £20,000 compensation and covering his legal fees. It apologised to Sabir for a stop and search on 4 February 2010 and agreed to delete the inaccurate intelligence information. Sabir, now a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde researching domestic UK counter-terrorism policy, told the Guardian he was delighted at the settlement. “This is finally some vindication and we can say proudly that I have proved to many, many people who may have suspected that I was a terrorist that I am actually innocent and always have been,” he said. “It shows and it proves that [the police] were wrong to have behaved the way they did. They were wrong to put me through the torturous experience they did and they have finally accepted that.” He said his experiences had given him an insight into his field: “I was very, very lucky in the sense that I was released without charge because I was innocent in the first place. It has allowed me to understand the perspective from the other side. It has made my understanding a lot more in depth. You understand how policing works, you understand how counter-terrorism operations work, how the police behave, how they think, and the public pressure that they are under.” His solicitor, Michael Oswald of Bhatt Murphy , said the case showed how the so-called “war on terror” had perverted the rule of law over recent years. “Clearly, the police have a difficult and important job to do in their counter-terrorism role, however, they must nonetheless act within the law and must be held to account when they do not,” he said. “Through his remarkable effort and fierce determination over the last three years, Mr Sabir has been able to do that in this case. This result is nothing more than the clear vindication that he is entitled to.” However, a spokesman for Nottinghamshire police said it stood by the original arrest and detention, saying they were “perfectly legal, proportionate and necessary” under the circumstances. He added: “The matter was settled without admission of liability save that the force admitted that one brief search of Mr Sabir and his vehicle carried out in February 2010 was the result of a mistaken belief on the part of the officers involved. This was admitted in November 2010 and the force apologises for this search.” Given the financial risks of litigation, said the spokesman, “this modest monetary settlement was viewed as a sensible way of keeping overall costs to a minimum”. The University of Nottingham released a short statement, saying: “This is a matter between the police and Rizwaan Sabir, who has not been a student at the University since he completed his studies here in September 2009.” UK security and terrorism Police Global terrorism al-Qaida Nottingham Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …CNN Brings On Former Democratic Strategist to Analyze GOP Victory in NY-9
September 14, 2011 No Comment
For analysis of the special election in New York's 9th Congressional District, CNN hosted Hilary Rosen – a former Democrat strategist and interim head of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBT civil rights organization. The network simply listed Rosen as a “CNN political contributor,” failing to disclose her past as a Democratic strategist. Not surprisingly, Rosen downplayed the shock of a Republican victory in the district which had been Democratic since the 1920s, saying “there's too much made of it.” [Video below the break.] Rosen claimed that “it wasn't a particularly liberal Democratic seat” and “this is a district that barely supported President Obama the last time around.” However, Obama won the district by 11 points in 2008 – not a landslide, but not a very close victory either. The 2010 Almanac of American Politics states that the district is “unquestionably a Democratic district, but conservative by New York City standards,” so Rosen's first point may well be valid. Rosen blamed the defeat mainly on the disgrace of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, not the policies of President Obama. As a good Democratic strategist she focused on the effect the loss would have on the morale of Democrats and noted that the White House would have to “pay attention” to the media's reaction and make sure the party was supporting its candidates. The analyst also gushed over rumored Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, who could challenge incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) for the Massachusetts Senate seat. “Here you have somebody who's sort of the anti-politician in Elizabeth Warren, really just a phenomenal consumer advocate, a professor, perceived to be the kind of nice lady truth-teller who really is smart and accomplished and almost single-handedly brought some of the Wall Street reforms to Washington to encourage them to be enacted – and President Obama embraced them, of course,” gloated Rosen. A transcript of the segment, which aired on September 14 at 12:32 p.m. EDT, is as follows: T.J. HOLMES: Hilary, let's turn to New York and that election. Republican Bob Turner won that special election, a heavily Democratic district here. A Democrat hasn't held this seat – or excuse me – a Democrat has held this seat since the 1920s. So is it a lot going to be made of this? Too much made of this that this is a signal that Obama's in trouble? Or is this really a signal that Obama might be trouble next year? HILARY ROSEN, CNN political contributor: Well, my instinct is that there's too much made of it. First rule is, like, don't tweet pictures of yourself without your underpants because you'll turn all your constituents kerflooey. And they won't know what to do. (Crosstalk) HOLMES: Yeah, that's rule one. ROSEN: You know that was Anthony Weiner's seat. It was a Democratic seat before. And it wasn't a particularly liberal Democratic seat. So I think the Republicans, while they're going to try and make a lot out of this, this is a district that barely supported President Obama the last time around, and you know, not in the sort of maelstrom of kind of political liberal New York. Having said that, the fact that it's an isolated seat, and there will be a lot of media around the Republicans taking charge, you know, the White House is going to have to pay attention to this because members of Congress who are being asked to go out on a limb for the President – we want to get this economy moving, we want to pass the President's jobs bill – you know, they're going to want to make sure that the White House and the Democratic Party has their back. And so if the party can't support their candidates in these races, that's going to give members pause. So, the White House does have to pay attention. HOLMES: And last thing here, is Elizabeth Warren the right person, the person, the best chance for Democrats to unseat Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts? ROSEN: I love this race. I'm going to be watching it so closely. Here you have somebody who's sort of the anti-politician in Elizabeth Warren, really just a phenomenal consumer advocate, a professor, perceived to be the kind of nice lady truth-teller who really is smart and accomplished and almost single-handedly brought some of the Wall Street reforms to Washington to encourage them to be enacted – and President Obama embraced them, of course – against another kind of anti-politician, Scott Brown, who sort of came out of nowhere, was in the state legislature but not particularly noteworthy. This is going to be sort of a matchup of the Senate, I think. This is the race of the year.
Continue reading …United States in last-ditch effort to set up Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
September 14, 2011 No Comment
US fears major diplomatic embarrassment if Israelis and Palestinians collide in New York over looming request at UN for recognition of Palestinian statehood The United States, Europe and the Middle East quartet are engaged in a last-ditch effort to set up a fresh round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an attempt to head off a major diplomatic embarrassment over the looming Palestinian request for recognition of statehood at the UN. The US is leading diplomatic pressure on Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to persuade the parties back to negotiations rather than risk a damaging collision in New York next week. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is in telephone contact with the three delegations in the region, who are co-ordinating their efforts. Washington is keen to avoid carrying out a threat to veto a Palestinian request for full membership of the UN, a move likely to further damage America’s already battered reputation in the Middle East, particularly following its strong backing for moves towards self-determination in the region this year. But some at the heart of the diplomatic manoeuvres believe that it is now too late to stop the Palestinians taking their case to the UN and are concentrating on damage limitation by seeking a clear position for a return to the negotiation table after the world body meets. The Palestinians insist that they will not be diverted from making a formal request at the security council for full member status, and that diplomatic interventions have come too late. They claim to be resisting pressure, which included President Obama this week describing their move as “counterproductive”. Washington, fearing isolation in wielding its veto, is seeking support from Britain in particular in its stand against the Palestinian resolution if it comes to a vote. Two other security council members, Russia and China, have openly backed the Palestinian move. France is sympathetic to the Palestinian demand but is seeking a compromise resolution that could be supported by Germany, which is opposed to UN recognition of a Palestinian state, in the hope of forging a common EU position. Britain has so far not declared how it would vote but diplomatic sources say that it is torn between American pressure to support the US position in the security council and concerns about what such a move would do to the UK’s standing in a changing Middle East, particularly while it is still heavily involved in Libya. The former British prime minister, Tony Blair, now special envoy of the Middle East quartet, was Wednesday working on a text to put to Israeli and Palestinian leaders outlining a basis on which talks might resume. He was liaising with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and US special envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross in the region, and by telephone with Clinton. The former British prime minister expects to remain in the Middle East until flying to New York at the weekend. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he will take the request for full recognition as a state to the UN security council next week. But some Arab and European nations are pressuring him to downgrade the request to the general assembly, which can only offer observer status to the Palestinians, to save Washington the embarrassment of having to wield its veto. The Palestinians insist their approach to the UN does not preclude a return to negotiations later. “We see no contradictions between doing both,” said Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh, a senior member of the team heading to New York. The UN bid was “the beginning of the game, not the end. It is a process”. But diplomatic efforts to secure a breakthrough on a return to talks are constrained by Palestinian demands of guarantees that any future negotiations would be based on the pre-1967 borders plus a total settlement freeze. Israel is unlikely to sign up to that. The International Crisis Group warned this week that any climbdown by the Palestinians now “could decisively discredit [Mahmoud Abbas's] leadership, embolden his foes and trigger unrest among his people”. It went on: “Most Palestinians do not strongly support the UN bid; but they would strongly oppose a decision to retract it without suitable compensation.” Israel was also making last-minute efforts to persuade undeclared countries not to vote for a Palestinian resolution, although it has acknowledged it will lose a vote at the general assembly. The Palestinians claim to have the support of around 130 countries so far, just beyond the two-thirds majority needed for a resolution to succeed. Israeli ministers have threatened retaliatory measures should the Palestinian bid succeed. They include tearing up the Oslo accords, under which the Palestinian Authority was given control of parts of the West Bank and Gaza, annexing the West Bank settlements and withholding tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA. The US Congress is also threatening to cut off financial aid to the Palestinians. Israel Palestinian territories United Nations US foreign policy Hillary Clinton Mahmoud Abbas Middle East Tony Blair United States Harriet Sherwood Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
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Cabinet office ‘nudge unit’ encourages use of product banned in many countries, in bid to reduce smoking-related deaths The government’s “nudge unit” wants to encourage the use of smokeless nicotine cigarettes, banned in many countries around the world, in an attempt to reduce the numbers killed in the UK by smoking diseases each year. The Cabinet Office’s behavioural insight team – better known as the nudge unit – wants to adopt the new technology because policy officials believe the rigid “quit or die” approach to smoking advice no longer works. Rather, they want nicotine addiction to be managed to help smokers who otherwise won’t quit – an approach the unit believes could prevent millions of smoking deaths. Ten million people in the UK smoke, and smoking claims 80,000 lives a year. The nudge unit’s first annual report, published today, says the unit – the first of its kind around the world – has, in the face of criticism, implemented a series of measures they believe could save thousands of lives a year, as well as £100m over the course of the next parliament. Ideas already being rolled out include “nudging” people to donate organs by asking someone to opt out rather than opt in when filling out an online driving licence application. The report also says the government is to change tax forms to tell people how many people in their area have paid their taxes ahead of them. Now the unit wants to explore and encourage new products that deliver nicotine to people’s lungs but without the harmful toxins and carcinogens in tobacco smoke that kill. The annual report reads: “It will be important to get the regulatory framework for these products right, to encourage new products. A canon of behaviour change is that it is much easier to substitute a similar behaviour than to extinguish an entrenched habit (an example was the rapid switch from leaded to unleaded fuel). If alternative and safe nicotine products can be developed which are attractive enough to substitute people away from traditional cigarettes, they could have the potential to save 10,000s of lives a year.” Current alternatives to smoking range from smokeless tobacco to the Swedish snuff-like product Snus, which is illegal in the UK. Versions of smoke-free cigarettes are illegal in Australia, and banned in Canada, Brazil, Singapore and Thailand because side-effects haven’t been tested. But experts have advised the UK government that the nicotine contained in some new, smoke-free cigarettes is no more harmful than caffeine in coffee. A cabinet office source said: “A lot of countries are moving to ban this stuff; we think that’s a mistake.” John Britton, professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, told the Guardian that on top of the current smokeless range – which includes electronic or “e-cigarettes” that simulate smoking by producing an inhaled mist – there are three or four devices in different stages of development. But he said some companies have been reluctant to develop this technology because they had expected it to be as tightly controlled as pharmaceutical drugs. Britton said: “If a manufacturer makes a health claim for anything then it becomes a drug, and drugs have to be regulated with tight controls. The current nicotine replacements are sold as drugs; however, e-cigarettes contain nicotine but get around this by making no health claim and so can be sold freely, but with little or no information on safety or standards. What we’re asking for is a regulation change to bring all nicotine products into a light-touch regime that will guarantee reasonable purity and safety standards but make them as available as cigarettes in a shop.” The Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is looking into approving these devices for use. If it finds in their favour, the government is likely to push for them to be placed prominently in shops alongside tobacco cigarettes, where they would be sold at a cheaper rate. The unit is keen to engage with those critics who believe its analysis and intervention in people’s behaviour is “nanny statism”. David Halpern, the unit’s head, told the Guardian: “As with seatbelts and the smoking ban, these ideas were unpopular at first but after a while when you explain them to people, they understand and say, ‘Yeah, alright then.’ “A year in,” Halpern added, “we’re much more confident about how well this can work, and the early trials have also made us much more confident about public acceptability. There’s no doubt it can save many lives and hundreds of millions of pounds. In fact, our problem has become that we have so many inquiries from across Whitehall, we have to turn down many of the requests for help.” Smoking Health Cancer Health policy Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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• Email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Hit F5 for the latest or use our auto-refresh button below • Click here for all tonight’s live scores • Click here for our live stats centre • Follow Manchester City v Napoli with Paul Doyle Half time: Benfica 1-1 Manchester United Two classy goals have embellished a fairly underwhelming game. See you in 10 minutes. 44 min Luisao does very well to head an excellent cross from Giggs behind for a corner. Had he not done so, Park would have had a straightforward headed chance. GOAL! Benfica 1-1 Manchester United (Giggs 42) Where did that come from? United have been largely hopeless, but Ryan Giggs has equalised with a storming goal. He collected a pass from Valencia, ran smoothly to within 20 yards of goal and then blasted a beautiful left-footed shot into the top corner. Pick that out. Giggs has now scored in 22 consecutive seasons. 41 min Aimar, booked a minute earlier, has a naive hack at Fletcher from behind. Some referees would have sent him off for that, although in truth there wasn’t that much in it. 40 min Aimar is booked for a cynical foul on Rooney. 38 min Hernandez for Giggs or Fletcher is the obvious substitution to make at half-time, although I suspect Sir Alex Ferguson will leave it until the hour. 36 min Giggs faffs about in midfield, allowing Garcia to break towards the United defence. He has Gaitan in space to the left side of the box, but underhits his pass to such an extent that Valencia can clear for a corner. Eventually Luisao’s volley is blocked for another corner, and that comes to nothing. United have had 62 per cent of the possession, surprisingly, but Benfica have done more with their 38 per cent. 34 min “You can see now what the new signings + Cleverley have have brought to United watching this game,” says Andy Butler. “This is lethargic team of last year, reckon we’ll see at least two subs at half time.” I think it’s partly that, but also it’s just an intractable mindset United have away from home in Europe – and one, you have to say, that has been incredibly successful. I’m not a big fan of Rooney up top on his own, though. 33 min “Surely the only proper course of action open to you would be to change tipple altogether,” says David Horn. “The twin horns of your dilemma effectively blunted by a simple switch to gin. Nothing says uncomplicated alcoholism like neat gin.” 32 min Evans gets away with a handball on the edge of his own area. 31 min Aimar clips an overambitious shot high and wide from 25 yards. Benfica are much the beter side. 30 min Rooney heads Fabio’s flat cross over the bar from 15 yards. It was no sort of chance. 29 min “Surely it’d be simpler to use hooliganese and simply point and grunt at a beer tap within your field of vision?” says James Tyler. “Failing that, headbutt the barkeep and steal a bottle of Peach Schnapps.” 28 min United haven’t got going in attack. They are, in approach and effectiveness, unrecognisable from the side that has charmed the pants off English football in the last month. It’s all very laboured and cautious. In fact, they look like the 2010-11 United. 27 min Rooney is booked for challenging the goalkeeper after the whistle had gone. I’m not sure he heard the whistle, and that seems a bit harsh. 26 min “I was told the correct pronunciation of Hoegaarden involved a throat-clearing noise in the first syllable that should have barstaff ducking for cover to avoid the incoming phlegm-ball, followed by the ‘g’ being pronounced ‘h’, leading to ‘I’d like a throaty cough hardon please’, which is unlikely to endear anyone to people behind the counter,” says Robin Hazlehurst. “Or maybe that was a practical joke by those Dutch speakers…” GOAL! Benfica 1-0 Manchester United (Cardozo 24) This is a magnificent goal. Gaitan, on the left wing near the halfway line, curved a long angled pass with the outside of his left foot, a glorious pass. Cardozo took it on his chest by the D, dragged the ball past the last defender Evans and then stabbed a right-footed shot across Lindegaard and into the far corner. That was such an emphatic goal. 23 min “Surely its the Moet thing again,” says Michael Hunt. “You wait till someone else has ordered it for you (always wait till your drink has been ordered), then correct the orderer loudly and watch as the ladies in the bar migrate adoringly towards you, amazed by your education. It hasn’t really worked for me yet, but its quite difficult to mispronounce Fosters.” 22 min United’s lack of match fitness (more than half the team have not started a league game this season) could be a factor. Benfica do look a little sharper. 21 min Evans does well to cut out a sly through ball from Aimar, and the ball runs loose to Cardozo, 20 yards from goal. He sweeps it towards goal with his right foot, and Lindegaard plunges to his right to make an ultimately comfortable save. 20 min This game is pretty boring. 18 min Maxi Pereira’s bobbling cross from the right is miscontrolled by Cardozo, but it falls nicely for Gaitan, charging onto the ball at the edge of the box. He thrashes a first-time half volley that flies just wide of the far post. 17 min “To be even more potably pedantic, The “G” in Hoegaarden is pronounced as if one is clearing one’s throat after chain smoking a pack of Capstan Full Strength,” says Paul McCormick. “I got this news from a barmaid in Amsterdam, who should know. By the way, do they still make Capstan Full Strength?” 16 min Rooney has been a little isolated. It’s rare these days for him to play as a No9 rather than a No10, and it doesn’t look quite right. 15 min Aimar is starting to influence the game. He sparks an attack that eventually ends with Gaitan thrashing over the bar from 25 yards. 13 min “RE pronunciation,” begins Stuart Steel. “Get a Carling instead, pronounced Car-ling.” A foolproof plan apart from one very, very, very minor detail: it necessitates drinking a pint of Car-ling. 12 min Nothing much has happened so far. United generally like to play cagily away from home in Europe and it’s the same tonight. Giggs and Park have swapped, so now Park is playing behind Rooney. 10 min “Not touched a drop myself in four years (after a trip to The Priory) but: surely “pedantic alcoholic” is an oxymoron?” hics Ryan Dunne. “Someone so fastidious that they care about the correct pronunciation of their booze is surely a long way off the Own Brand Vodka with Windowlene Chaser indignities of genuine alcoholism (although, for the record, I pronounced it “Ho Garden”, which sounds like something an outdoorsy gangsta rapper might have).” 9 min Valencia spanks high and wide at the near post from a prohibitive angle. His absolute shocker in last year’s final was one of the more inexplicable occurrences of the 2010-11 season. 8 min A neat one-two between Gaitan and Cardozo ends with Smalling conceding the first corner of the game, on the left-hand side. It’s taken by whatever happened to Pablo Aimar, and claimed by Lindegaard. 5 min “Go for the correct pronunciation,” says Rai Skrupskis. “At least you’ll sound like a sophisticated, educated alcoholic.” 4 min A quiet start. United are good at silencing a home crowd in Europe, although it will take them a while to do that tonight. Valencia skins Emerson thrillingly down the right before chipping over a cross that is claimed by the diving Artur. 3 min United’s formation is more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3, with Giggs playing behind Rooney. Benfica looks more like a 4-2-3-1 as well, with Aimar behind Cardozo. So apart from getting both formations wrong, I’m flying. 2 min “I can totally sympathise with your predicament: since living in Germany and learning the language I have a similar problem in the UK with Löwenbräu,” says Adam Lord. “Do I say Low-en-brow, which is just wrong, or the proper word Loer-ven-broi – which as you said sounds snobbish!?! Would also be grateful for any tips that other OBOers can come up with!” Watch those exclamation marks, kid. 1 min There is a storming atmosphere in the Stadium of Light. Benfica kick off from left to right. They are in red; United are in blue-and-black hoops. Prediction Benfica 2-1 United. A question Last night, while having one of my five-a-day, I found out that Hoegaarden is actually pronounced Who-gar-den. So now, when I order it, do I ask for Hoegaarden or Whogarden? The former is incorrect, the latter makes you sound like a diabolical snob. What’s a pedantic alcoholic to do? You don’t have to be Father Jack Hackett to appreciate the value of ladies playing football. Especially when they are doing it for a good cause. Eleanor Ward is part The Sonics, who are doing just that next Tuesday. If you’re feeling generous/pervy you can donate here . Nobody effs with the Jesus Benfica’s manager is called Jorge Jesus, which is as good a reason as any to link to this . Team news United make eight changes from the team that defenestrated Bolton on Saturday. David De Gea is omitted amid fears that he can’t handle a dry, still night in Lisbon. Rumours that Dimitar Berbatov accidentally stubbed a pencil-thin cigarette in the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson’s favourite cat, killing him instantly, are unconfirmed. Benfica (4-3-3) Artur; Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Garay, Emerson; Ruben Amorim, Javi Garcia, Witsel; Aimar, Cardozo, Gaitan. Substitutes Eduardo, Bruno Cesar, Nolito, Rodrigo, Matic, Saviola, Jardel. Manchester United (4-3-3) Lindegaard; Fabio, Smalling, Evans, Evra; Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs; Valencia, Rooney, Park. Substitutes De Gea, Jones, Owen, Anderson, Berbatov, Hernandez, Nani. Preamble Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Benfica v Manchester United. It’s a fixture that evokes the faded glamour of the old European Cup, thanks to a couple of meetings in the 1960s. In the first, George Best brought Beatlemania to football with a performance of stunning audacity ; in the second, at Wembley in 1968, United reached the promised land by becoming the first English team to win the European Cup. There will be no such excitement tonight, not even if the game ends 14-14 and Sir Alex Ferguson comes out for the second half dressed in a jaunty lycra all-in-one, although it is still the heavyweight clash of a fairly weak group that also includes Basle and Galati. Not that these two sides come together as equals. Benfica have only reached the Champions League knockout stages once since 1994-95; United have only been eliminated in the group stages once since 1994-95. Both instances occurred in 2005-06, when Benfica put United out with a 2-1 win in the final group game, with Phil Brown’s Geovanni scoring one of the goals. Many people felt that Ferguson was finished. In fact he was just starting on his third great United side, the first to achieve sustained success in Europe. In five seasons since that Benfica defeat they have reached three finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final. The road to Munich, where next May’s final will be played, starts here. Champions League 2011-12 Benfica Manchester United Champions League Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
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Tory peer has already served a term in prison for expenses fraud and was released five days before his rearrest on fresh charges Lord Hanningfield, the Tory peer jailed for fiddling his expenses, has been arrested on suspicion of making fraudulent expenses claims from Essex county council. Essex police would not confirm Hanningfield had been brought in for questioning but sources confirmed to the Press Association that the peer had been arrested. His arrest came five days after he was released from his prison term. A spokesman for the Essex force would only confirm that a 70-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of fraud as part of an investigation into expenses claimed at Essex county council. He has been bailed to return in January 2012. Hanningfield, the former leader of Essex county council, was jailed for nine months in July for fiddling his parliamentary expenses. The former Lords opposition frontbencher claimed £13,379 for overnight stays in London when he was not there. On Friday, after his release from prison, he was spotted by a local newspaper walking his dog near his home in West Hanningfield, near Chelmsford, Essex. He told the Colchester Gazette after his release thathe was relieved his ordeal was over but said there was more to tell. “There is much more to my side of the story, which will be revealed when I am ready,” he said. “This expenses situation has been going on for two and a half years and I am glad it is all over. “I am feeling OK about things at the moment but I just want a couple of weeks to myself to relax and let everything settle down.” He said of his time at a minimum-security prison in Kent: “Some of the people who were in prison were better than some of the people I have met on the outside.” A former pig farmer, Hanningfield – who was tried under his name, Paul White – was found guilty of six counts of false accounting following an eight-day trial at Chelmsford crown court in May. The judge, Mr Justice Saunders, said that when it came to sentencing the case was distinguished from other expenses cases because of Hanningfield’s poor health. The anxiety and depression he suffered over the case “goes well beyond the level of depression suffered by many people of good character who find themselves for the first time before the courts”, said Saunders, sitting at Maidstone crown court. “He has been diagnosed as suffering from clinical depression and he is being treated for that condition. The bringing of these charges brought about the end of his work which was very important to him. “He is 70 and his physical health is not good. Imprisonment will be harder for him than for others who are mentally and physically fitter. Also, while others convicted in this series of prosecutions will have some chance to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the public, Lord Hanningfield is less likely to be able to do that because of his age, but it is not impossible that he will.” MPs’ expenses House of Commons Conservatives Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Rebecca Leighton, cleared over saline contamination, but who admitted stealing hospital drugs, could be reinstated under restrictions Rebecca Leighton, who was suspended after being charged with contaminating saline at Stepping Hill hospital, has had her nursing registration reinstated with certain conditions. Leighton, 27, could practise again at the Stockport hospital if senior hospital management agree. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London had earlier heard that Leighton, from Heaviley, Stockport, had admitted to police when she was being interviewed that she had stolen prescription drugs from the hospital where she worked. She was released from Styal prison in Cheshire, where she spent six weeks on remand, on 2 September, after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all the charges against her. The NMC which reviewed the interim suspension of her registration following her arrest, ruled on Wednesday that they would lift the ban on practising and panel chairman Dr John Unsworth said: “We would be minded to impose conditions of practice on her.” The panel reached its decision after hearing how Leighton had admitted stealing opiate-based drugs. The restrictions are likely to prevent her carrying keys to the hospital’s drug store, the panel said. Leighton could also be subject to geographical limitations that mean she is only able to work within a designated area, the NMC added. Leighton, who was supported by her parents and fiance, smiled at her lawyer as the panel set out its decision. Earlier Salim Hafejee, for the NMC, outlining the case against her, told the panel she had admitted stealing drugs and the “reasonable inference” was that she was taking them for her own use. However, Leighton’s lawyer Paul Rooney said there was no evidence that the drugs were for personal use. Rooney told the panel that maintaining the restriction on his client working would be “disproportionate and devastating” for her professional reputation and her financial situation. “She has had her liberty restored and she expects to be afforded the opportunity to return to the profession she loves and has worked hard to be part of.” He told the panel it was a “leap too far” to state she had taken drugs from the hospital for her personal use. “Whilst remanded in custody, the registrant was unable to work. The financial implications of having her liberty taken from her have been huge.” The panel was told of a letter from her GP that said that “from a mental health point of view” she was fit to work. A consultant at the hospital described her as “one of the best staff nurses” he had worked with, who was caring, hard-working and committed to her job. In a statement read by Richmond, the nurse said she had been “living in hell” since her arrest. She had suffered verbal abuse while on remand from other prisoners because of the charges she had faced. “All I ever wanted to do was pursue a profession in nursing, and care for my patients,” she said. “I think it unbelievable that anyone in the medical profession would ever put their patients’ lives at risk.” Greater Manchester police is still investigating allegations of tampering with saline solution at the hospital and are looking at the suspicious deaths of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, and Alfred Derek Weaver, 83, who it has established were all given insulin. All three, who had been patients at Stepping Hill, died in July this year. A spokesman for the force said they had been “unlawfully administered insulin” but officers had yet to establish if that was a significant contributing factor to each of their deaths. On Monday, the force said it had ruled out six deaths that had formed part of their investigation. In a statement, Greater Manchester police said there could be up to 30 people affected by insulin. Further tests are expected to take several weeks to complete. Officers are continuing to work closely with medical experts to scrutinise post-mortem reports, medical histories and records of any drugs that patients received while they were in the hospital. It also emerged on Monday that a bottle of milk at Stepping Hill had become contaminated with bleach. Police said they were investigating but it was not connected with the wider inquiry. NHS Nursing Health Crime Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
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Amid fresh setbacks in politicians’ struggle to rescue Greece, the US treasury secretary is set to take part in meetings in Poland Europe’s struggle to come good on pledges to rescue Greece from bankruptcy and save its single currency has descended into confusion amid political feuding and parliamentary setbacks across the eurozone. Angela Merkel’s coalition in Germany was embroiled in rows about whether Greece should be allowed to fail; a parliamentary committee in Austria delayed a vote to ratify plans for a strengthened bailout fund; and in Slovakia the eurosceptic parliament speaker demanded that Greece be allowed to go bust, making clear that he would seek to undermine the plan hatched at a eurozone summit in July in Brussels. Amid the cacophony, José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, voiced exasperation at the failure of EU national leaders to keep their promises and talked up the benefits of eurobonds, a pooling of eurozone government debt. The Polish finance minister said the survival of the EU was at stake. “Europe is in danger,” Jacek Rostowski told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “If the euro area breaks up, the European Union will not be able to survive.” Poland currently holds the EU presidency and Rostowski faces a tough challenge on Friday when he chairs a meeting of EU finance ministers in Wroclaw which will now be consumed by the crisis. International pressure on Merkel and other European leaders surged, with the US, China, Russia and others demanding they get a grip. In a display of Washington’s alarm, the US Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is to take part in the EU meetings in Wroclaw. The American fear is that a Greek collapse would trigger a renewed European banking crisis which would spill over into the US, a reverse of what happened in 2008, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers was exported across the Atlantic. A fresh crisis could plunge America back into recession and damage Barack Obama’s re-election hopes. Similar fears are gripping the Elysée Palace in Paris. A Greek collapse would impact severely on French banks eight months before Nicolas Sarkozy faces a second-term presidential election. Another leader under pressure, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has won a vote of confidence, paving the way for its austerity package to be voted through. The governing coalition has been fighting over the details of the fiscal consolidation plan for weeks but Berlusconi mustered enough of a majority to win the vote. At a teleconference Greek prime minister George Papandreou told Merkel and Sarkozy his country was determined to meet all obligations agreed with international lenders in exchange for an EU/IMF bailout. Officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund returned to Athens to try to get the Greek rescue package back on track. All three leaders have a vested interest in playing for time over Greece despite the sense that time is running out. “The President and the Prime Minister have repeated in unison France’s determination to do whatever it takes to rescue Greece,” said the French government spokeswoman, Valérie Pécresse. According to senior EU diplomats, this month the three officials departed from Athens “in despair” at the Greek government’s failure to honour the stiff terms of the bailout deal. In July, eurozone leaders pledged a second €109bn bailout for Greece, to boost the funding of the bailout pot, the European Financial Stability Facility, and to empower it to replace the ECB in buying up stricken government bonds. But the plans have run into several problems. The level of involvement by Greece’s private creditors in rolling over debt remains lower than foreseen. The 17 countries of the eurozone have to ratify the new scheme promptly, but ratification has been delayed in Austria, Slovakia, Finland and possibly Slovenia, and run into rebellion among Merkel’s coalition partners. While Barroso talked up the prospect of eurobonds yesterday, Germany’s economics minister and liberals’ leader, Philipp Roesler, ruled them out. Pécresse in Paris said they would not be a quick fix. “Eurobonds are for us the end of a process of consolidation in the eurozone because sharing debt also requires the convergence of our budget policies.” In Bratislava, Richard Sulik, the eurosceptic parliament speaker and leader of one of four parties in the ruling coalition, said the bailout fund was a bigger threat to the euro than Greece. “It has often happened that a city within a country goes bankrupt, and that does not have consequences for the currency. We must let Greece go into bankruptcy,” he told Austrian radio. “The rescue plan tries to overcome the debt crisis with new debt. We are saying that this is equally a threat to the euro.” That echoed growing calls among political leaders across eurozone creditor countries. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, was the first eurozone head of government formally to propose recentlynew arrangements enabling fiscal recalcitrants to be expelled from the single currency. Barroso said: “Solid, feasible and concrete proposals have been made. They have been agreed upon. But they have taken too long and have not yet been fully delivered.” European debt crisis European banks Angela Merkel US economy Silvio Berlusconi Euro European Union Economics Greece Europe Economic policy Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
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