Former IMF boss freed after doubt cast on aspects of alleged victim’s account, while her lawyer gives graphic description In extraordinary scenes outside a Manhattan courtroom, the lawyer for Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s alleged victim promised the maid would take her cause to the press amid fears that prosecutors might be preparing to drop the case. Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was freed from house arrest and had his bail dropped, as it emerged that investigators had discovered his accuser, a 32-year-old Guinean-born maid, had lied about a previous rape claim. They also uncovered evidence that appeared to cast doubt on key elements of her account, and seemed likely to do deep damage to her credibility as a witness. But her lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, repeated her account of the assault, including highly graphic details of the alleged sex attack, and said she now wanted to speak out in front of the press. He said there were photographs of the victim’s “bruised vagina” and medical evidence of other injuries, and evidence of semen that the victim had spat out into the room. “He grabbed her vagina with so much force he hurt her,” he said. “She is going to tell you what Dominique Strauss-Kahn did to her,” Thompson said. “The victim will stand before you.” He went on to say that her story held up, despite astonishing revelations that she had lied to prosecutors about a whole raft of events, including her movements after the alleged attack and her links to a possible drug dealer, as well as apparent evidence that she was seeking financial gain. “The only defence that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has is that this sexual encounter was consensual. That is a lie,” Thompson said. But the developments represented a huge boost to Strauss-Kahn. In court with his wife Anne Sinclair, he thanked judge Michael Obus as his previously strict bail conditions were lifted, effectively removing him from house arrest. Though the court did not give him back his passport, Strauss-Kahn is free to travel around the US without bail conditions. In a brief court hearing, prosecutors filed papers detailing some of the new findings. Strauss-Kahn then walked out of the court and into a waiting car. Strauss-Kahn’s arrest for attempted rape on 14 May led to him losing his job at the IMF and his position as a leading possible presidential contender for the Socialist party in France. He was confined under effective house arrest in Manhattan and the episode prompted a bout of soul-searching in France as other people came forward with salacious and disturbing details of Strauss-Kahn’s apparently prolific womanising. Legal experts believe the developments will now see the charges reduced down to a misdemeanour, while the defence team push for them to be dropped altogether. “The next step will be a complete dismissal,” said Benjamin Brafman, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer. The discoveries reflected a sudden lack of confidence that prosecutors would be able to convince a court about what the hotel maid said happened between herself and Strauss-Kahn in his room at the Sofitel. After she alleged that he sexually assaulted her, New York authorities swept into action, arresting Strauss-Kahn as he waited to take off on a flight to Europe. But now the anticipated court battle may not happen at all. Prosecuting lawyers have concluded that the maid has lied repeatedly in their dealings with her. A letter filed with the court detailed how prosecutors believe she lied over claims she was gang-raped when she submitted a claim for political asylum in the US. The letter said she had admitted to them the claims were not true. The letter also said she did not tell the truth about her behaviour following the alleged assault by Strauss-Kahn. Initially, she told investigators she had hidden after the attack until she saw her alleged attacker leave and then reported the assault to a supervisor. But the letter said that was not true and in fact she cleaned a nearby room and then also cleaned the room in which the alleged attack took place. The New York Times has also reported that police have tape recorded a telephone conversation between the woman and a man in prison on the day of the alleged rape in which she talked about the possible financial benefits that could come to her as a result of pursuing charges. The investigation also found deposits made into her bank account totalling $100,000 (£60,000) over the last two years, some of which came from the man, a convicted drug dealer. James Cox, law professor at Duke University, said: “This has got to be the prosecution’s worse nightmare. You do what you think is right and then your witness goes south on you.” He said the prosecution was right to act decisively and quickly on the case when the charges were brought and could not be blamed for the media furore that followed. “You can not have a chambermaid bringing allegations against an aristocrat like Strauss-Kahn without there being this find of frenzy,” Cox said. But, given subsequent developments he was surprised that the prosecution had not done more homework on their witness ahead of making such strong statements about the case and the strength of their witness. Others said the developments did not mean Strauss-Kahn would avoid all charges. Professor John Coffee of Columbia Law School said: “This does not exonerate him.” Strauss-Kahn had been expected to run for the French presidency after stepping down from his post as managing director of the IMF, one of the most important roles in world finance. But after his arrest he was forced to resign form the IMF. The job has just been filled by the French finance minister, Christine Lagarde. These new developments could leave the way open for him to return to French domestic politics with France’s former Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin describing the news as a “thunderbolt”. The handling of the Strauss-Kahn case is likely to lead to criticism of New York prosecutors and questions over their handling of the case, especially the now notorious “perp walk” which saw Strauss-Kahn paraded in front of press cameras. Comment and leader comment, pages 40 and 42 Dominique Strauss-Kahn United States IMF France Europe Dominic Rushe Paul Harris Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi says ICC charges over the shooting of Benghazi protesters may be dropped in return for secret peace deal The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has claimed that Nato has offered the regime an “under the table” deal that would see the international arrest warrants against both men dropped. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi vehemently denied that he or his father ordered the killing of civilian protesters, as charged this week by the international criminal court (ICC). In his first interview since the charges were brought, Saif alleged that western powers had proposed sacrificing the independence of the ICC to negotiate an end to Libya’s civil war. “It’s a fake court,” he told Russian news channel RT in an interview released on Friday . “Under the table they are trying to negotiate with us a deal: ‘If you accept this deal, we will take care of the court.’ What does it mean? It means the court is controlled by those countries which are attacking us every day. It is just to put a psychological and political pressure on us.” Documents from the ICC outline multiple incidents in which the tribunal prosecutors allege government troops fired on civilian protesters during anti-Gaddafi street demonstrations earlier this year. Saif, 38, wearing a thick beard, insisted that neither he nor his father were responsible. “This court is a Mickey Mouse court,” he said. “Come on, they accuse me of killing people. Everybody knows, even the rebels themselves, they can’t accuse me of using force because I’m not in the army, I’m not in the government, so for me to be responsible for killing people, it was a big joke. “Second joke – the people who died at the beginning, 159 – most of the people died when they attacked a military site and this would happen anywhere in the world – in Russia, in America, in France, in Germany and Italy. If people in the street move towards a military site trying to steal ammunition or arms, the military will prevent that, and this is what happened in Benghazi.” On Monday, the tribunal at The Hague issued arrest warrants against Gaddafi, Saif and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi. The three are accused of orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of the uprising and for trying to cover up their alleged crimes. Asked by the Russian state-funded network who did order the brutal crackdown, Saif replied: “Nobody ordered, nobody. The guards fired – that’s it. The guards were surprised by the attack of the people and they started firing. They don’t need an order to defend themselves and to defend their barracks and their camps.” Saif, who studied at the London School of Economics, had once been viewed as a reformer by the west and was being groomed as a possible successor to his father. He accused Nato and the rebels of being in a “hurry” to finish the conflict, and warned that the government is ready to wait them out. “They want to finish as soon as possible because they are hungry, they are tired, they want to share the cake,” he said. “For them Libya is like fast food, like McDonald’s, fast. Because everything should be fast: fast war, fast airplanes, fast bullets, fast victory. “But we are very patient because we are in our country. We live here, we die here, so we are very patient. We may win tomorrow, in one week or in one year, but one day we’ll win. One day the French will go back to Corsica in France, the Italians will go back to Sicily in Italy, the Danish will go back to Denmark, the Canadians will go back to Toronto and Libya will go back to the Libyans.” Saif’s reaction to the ICC charges was dismissed by underground activists in Tripoli. A man using the name Niz, who belongs to a group known as the Free Generation Movement, said: “There is no one who does anything without the desire and wish of Colonel Gaddafi. Any atrocity in the last five months or in the last 42 years is directly associated with an order issued in one way or another by Colonel Gaddafi.” On Friday, rebels were pulling back from their positions outside the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam, 50 miles south of Tripoli, after coming under rocket attack, Reuters reported. A rebel spokesman, Gomaa Ibrahim, said a colonel in Gaddafi’s army had defected to the rebel side. The officer, Mohammed al-Rajbani, had served as a local commander in the Libyan military and recently joined rebels in Libya’s western mountains, Ibrahim told the Associated Press. Nato Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Muammar Gaddafi David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Saif al-Islam Gaddafi says ICC charges over the shooting of Benghazi protesters may be dropped in return for secret peace deal The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has claimed that Nato has offered the regime an “under the table” deal that would see the international arrest warrants against both men dropped. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi vehemently denied that he or his father ordered the killing of civilian protesters, as charged this week by the international criminal court (ICC). In his first interview since the charges were brought, Saif alleged that western powers had proposed sacrificing the independence of the ICC to negotiate an end to Libya’s civil war. “It’s a fake court,” he told Russian news channel RT in an interview released on Friday . “Under the table they are trying to negotiate with us a deal: ‘If you accept this deal, we will take care of the court.’ What does it mean? It means the court is controlled by those countries which are attacking us every day. It is just to put a psychological and political pressure on us.” Documents from the ICC outline multiple incidents in which the tribunal prosecutors allege government troops fired on civilian protesters during anti-Gaddafi street demonstrations earlier this year. Saif, 38, wearing a thick beard, insisted that neither he nor his father were responsible. “This court is a Mickey Mouse court,” he said. “Come on, they accuse me of killing people. Everybody knows, even the rebels themselves, they can’t accuse me of using force because I’m not in the army, I’m not in the government, so for me to be responsible for killing people, it was a big joke. “Second joke – the people who died at the beginning, 159 – most of the people died when they attacked a military site and this would happen anywhere in the world – in Russia, in America, in France, in Germany and Italy. If people in the street move towards a military site trying to steal ammunition or arms, the military will prevent that, and this is what happened in Benghazi.” On Monday, the tribunal at The Hague issued arrest warrants against Gaddafi, Saif and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi. The three are accused of orchestrating the killing, injuring, arrest and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians during the first 12 days of the uprising and for trying to cover up their alleged crimes. Asked by the Russian state-funded network who did order the brutal crackdown, Saif replied: “Nobody ordered, nobody. The guards fired – that’s it. The guards were surprised by the attack of the people and they started firing. They don’t need an order to defend themselves and to defend their barracks and their camps.” Saif, who studied at the London School of Economics, had once been viewed as a reformer by the west and was being groomed as a possible successor to his father. He accused Nato and the rebels of being in a “hurry” to finish the conflict, and warned that the government is ready to wait them out. “They want to finish as soon as possible because they are hungry, they are tired, they want to share the cake,” he said. “For them Libya is like fast food, like McDonald’s, fast. Because everything should be fast: fast war, fast airplanes, fast bullets, fast victory. “But we are very patient because we are in our country. We live here, we die here, so we are very patient. We may win tomorrow, in one week or in one year, but one day we’ll win. One day the French will go back to Corsica in France, the Italians will go back to Sicily in Italy, the Danish will go back to Denmark, the Canadians will go back to Toronto and Libya will go back to the Libyans.” Saif’s reaction to the ICC charges was dismissed by underground activists in Tripoli. A man using the name Niz, who belongs to a group known as the Free Generation Movement, said: “There is no one who does anything without the desire and wish of Colonel Gaddafi. Any atrocity in the last five months or in the last 42 years is directly associated with an order issued in one way or another by Colonel Gaddafi.” On Friday, rebels were pulling back from their positions outside the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam, 50 miles south of Tripoli, after coming under rocket attack, Reuters reported. A rebel spokesman, Gomaa Ibrahim, said a colonel in Gaddafi’s army had defected to the rebel side. The officer, Mohammed al-Rajbani, had served as a local commander in the Libyan military and recently joined rebels in Libya’s western mountains, Ibrahim told the Associated Press. Nato Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Muammar Gaddafi David Smith guardian.co.uk
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New EU president Donald Tusk makes passionate defence of EU while warning against new Eurosceptic mood Poland’s prime minister has accused western Europe’s most powerful leaders of hypocrisy and myopia in the midst of what is being called the EU’s worst crisis. Assuming the rotating presidency of the EU for the first time, Donald Tusk rounded on the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, and Britain over their handling of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, immigration, EU spending and the budget. He charged them with posing as European champions while pandering to a new form of Euroscepticism for personal political gain, and of using fears about immigration to curb freedom of travel in Europe. The passionate and optimistic defence of the EU from the Polish leader was completely at odds with the mood in Brussels and other EU capitals, where commitment to the union is being eroded by the rise of populist Brussels-bashing, squabbling leaders, and soaring mistrust between member states. In defiance of the gloomy European zeitgeist, Tusk said: “The European Union is great. It is the best place on Earth to be born and to live your life.” He said he would use his six-month presidency to try to restore some sense of common purpose and confidence to a union in dire straits. Tusk is riding high in Poland, heading for victory in an October election that would make him the first Polish prime minister to win a second term in 22 years of democracy. He leads the only country in Europe not thrust into recession by the financial crisis, the fastest-growing economy in the EU, and where the EU enjoys high popularity ratings of more than 80%, not least because of the €10bn (£9bn) pouring in every year from Brussels, making Poland the biggest beneficiary of EU largesse. He dismissed talk of the EU encroaching on the sovereignty of the nation states of Europe, referring to his own experience as a Solidarity activist in communist Poland under martial law and Moscow’s control. “Until quite recently we saw a real restriction on our sovereignty,” he said. “We were truly occupied by the Soviets. It was truly an occupation. That’s why for us EU integration is not a threat to the sovereignty of the member states.” Tusk’s buoyant message from a booming country sounded like a plea to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris and other EU leaders to shift course and try to reverse the sense of decline and defeatism seizing Europe. “I just want to resist the phenomenon of the new Euroscepticism that is everywhere,” he said. He was not referring to the intellectual hostility to the EU that is the traditional British position, Tusk said, but a more insidious and hypocritical trend in countries long committed to Europe. “The different phenomenon I am talking about is the birth of a type of Euroscepticism which does not declare itself. But it’s the behaviour, the words, the actions by politicians who say they are for the EU, support further integration, but at the same time suggest actions and decisions that weaken the community.” He singled out the French and Italian campaigns, supported by many others, to use the north African upheavals to reintroduce national border controls and curb the travel liberties enjoyed under the EU’s Schengen system. “I sometimes feel that some forget, maybe because they’ve been using freedom of movement much longer than myself, a Pole, what great value it is to have freedom of movement in the EU.” In a dig at David Cameron, Tusk also lamented the months of trench warfare looming over how to divvy up the next medium-term EU budget, describing the contest as one between those who want the budget to be “one of the main tools for European integration” and those who want “to give as little as possible to Europe”. Despite Tusk’s plea to revive a Europe beset by weariness, frictions, and attempts to re-nationalise policymaking, the divisions were again evident when finance ministers of the 17 countries using the euro cancelled an emergency meeting on Greece scheduled for Sunday. The meeting had been billed as crucial to frame a new bailout of Greece after the country’s prime minister, George Papandreou, in Athens delivered on the EU’s terms last week by securing parliamentary backing for a savage austerity package ordered by Brussels and Berlin. Tusk was scathing of the EU’s halting response to the 18-month Greek crisis. His criticism was echoed in an unusual intervention by the German president, Christian Wulff, who challenged the dithering by Merkel and Europe. “Europe is about giving and taking and you have to communicate that,” Wulff told the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit. “Europe and the euro are worth German’s special efforts because both are exactly in Germany’s interests. Without a persuasive and viable concept involving everyone, people’s doubts all over Europe will increase … There are calls in many places for renationalisation, for border controls, for defences against the foreigner and the foreign while populists propagate a supposedly once better world. European Union Poland European debt crisis Greece Europe Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …New EU president Donald Tusk makes passionate defence of EU while warning against new Eurosceptic mood Poland’s prime minister has accused western Europe’s most powerful leaders of hypocrisy and myopia in the midst of what is being called the EU’s worst crisis. Assuming the rotating presidency of the EU for the first time, Donald Tusk rounded on the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, and Britain over their handling of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, immigration, EU spending and the budget. He charged them with posing as European champions while pandering to a new form of Euroscepticism for personal political gain, and of using fears about immigration to curb freedom of travel in Europe. The passionate and optimistic defence of the EU from the Polish leader was completely at odds with the mood in Brussels and other EU capitals, where commitment to the union is being eroded by the rise of populist Brussels-bashing, squabbling leaders, and soaring mistrust between member states. In defiance of the gloomy European zeitgeist, Tusk said: “The European Union is great. It is the best place on Earth to be born and to live your life.” He said he would use his six-month presidency to try to restore some sense of common purpose and confidence to a union in dire straits. Tusk is riding high in Poland, heading for victory in an October election that would make him the first Polish prime minister to win a second term in 22 years of democracy. He leads the only country in Europe not thrust into recession by the financial crisis, the fastest-growing economy in the EU, and where the EU enjoys high popularity ratings of more than 80%, not least because of the €10bn (£9bn) pouring in every year from Brussels, making Poland the biggest beneficiary of EU largesse. He dismissed talk of the EU encroaching on the sovereignty of the nation states of Europe, referring to his own experience as a Solidarity activist in communist Poland under martial law and Moscow’s control. “Until quite recently we saw a real restriction on our sovereignty,” he said. “We were truly occupied by the Soviets. It was truly an occupation. That’s why for us EU integration is not a threat to the sovereignty of the member states.” Tusk’s buoyant message from a booming country sounded like a plea to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris and other EU leaders to shift course and try to reverse the sense of decline and defeatism seizing Europe. “I just want to resist the phenomenon of the new Euroscepticism that is everywhere,” he said. He was not referring to the intellectual hostility to the EU that is the traditional British position, Tusk said, but a more insidious and hypocritical trend in countries long committed to Europe. “The different phenomenon I am talking about is the birth of a type of Euroscepticism which does not declare itself. But it’s the behaviour, the words, the actions by politicians who say they are for the EU, support further integration, but at the same time suggest actions and decisions that weaken the community.” He singled out the French and Italian campaigns, supported by many others, to use the north African upheavals to reintroduce national border controls and curb the travel liberties enjoyed under the EU’s Schengen system. “I sometimes feel that some forget, maybe because they’ve been using freedom of movement much longer than myself, a Pole, what great value it is to have freedom of movement in the EU.” In a dig at David Cameron, Tusk also lamented the months of trench warfare looming over how to divvy up the next medium-term EU budget, describing the contest as one between those who want the budget to be “one of the main tools for European integration” and those who want “to give as little as possible to Europe”. Despite Tusk’s plea to revive a Europe beset by weariness, frictions, and attempts to re-nationalise policymaking, the divisions were again evident when finance ministers of the 17 countries using the euro cancelled an emergency meeting on Greece scheduled for Sunday. The meeting had been billed as crucial to frame a new bailout of Greece after the country’s prime minister, George Papandreou, in Athens delivered on the EU’s terms last week by securing parliamentary backing for a savage austerity package ordered by Brussels and Berlin. Tusk was scathing of the EU’s halting response to the 18-month Greek crisis. His criticism was echoed in an unusual intervention by the German president, Christian Wulff, who challenged the dithering by Merkel and Europe. “Europe is about giving and taking and you have to communicate that,” Wulff told the Hamburg weekly Die Zeit. “Europe and the euro are worth German’s special efforts because both are exactly in Germany’s interests. Without a persuasive and viable concept involving everyone, people’s doubts all over Europe will increase … There are calls in many places for renationalisation, for border controls, for defences against the foreigner and the foreign while populists propagate a supposedly once better world. European Union Poland European debt crisis Greece Europe Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A badly doctored propaganda photo has made hapless officials in China’s Huili county the laughing stock of a nation of 1.3 billion people. The photo on the rural county’s website appeared to show county officials levitating above the road project they were inspecting, the Guardian reports. The county apologized…
Continue reading …Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s old job has been filled but supporters waking to the news that the sexual assault case against him is collapsing have a new one in mind for him: President of France. Before his arrest, the former IMF chief was considered a leading contender to unseat Nicolas Sarkozy in…
Continue reading …NASA is suing the sixth man on the moon for a camera that he says would have ended up as “government trash” or moon litter if he hadn’t kept it. Government lawyers got involved after Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell attempted to sell the lunar movie camera at auction, where…
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Abhisit Vejjajiva attempting to rally nationalist sympathy with Preah Vihear temple dispute before Sunday’s polls, say analysts The corrugated roof gleams, the paintwork is bright and pink-flowered curtains float at the windows. Somrith Sanbradap’s house was completed just two days ago, but she shows no sign of pleasure in the achievement. The Thai farmer’s last home went up in flames in February, destroyed by Cambodian shelling as a long dispute over Preah Vihear – the 11th-century temple a few kilometres away – flared up again . At least seven people died and thousands fled homes on both sides of the border. Now residents fear another clash is imminent. “I lost everything … I don’t want this to happen again and the way things are going now, watching the news brings back very bad memories,” Somrith said tearfully. This week, the Thai military said Cambodia was moving in reinforcements – a claim denied by Phnom Penh – after Bangkok announced it was leaving the World Heritage Convention over the dispute. But analysts believe the row is driven by Sunday’s general election in Thailand. “In this very critical week for Thai politics, [the temple dispute] has appeared again as a political weapon,” said Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun of the Institute of South-East Asian Studies in Singapore. He said that while the government’s stance would not win over opponents, it had rallied nationalist sympathisers who had drifted away. The incumbent Democrats are trailing Puea Thai in the polls. The prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said the decision to leave the convention was solely about defending Thai land, the Nation newspaper reported. He added: “I want the voters to choose the Democrats as we protect the territory, although it is against the wishes of a leader in a neighbouring country.” Abhisit said the Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, wanted a new Thai government because of his ties to exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The opposition Puea Thai party is headed by Thaksin’s sister and regarded as his proxy. The temple, known as Phra Viharn to Thais, stands high on an escarpment in the Dangrek mountains. Originally a Hindu place of worship it was later used by Buddhists. Bangkok does not dispute a 1962 international court of justice ruling that it belongs to Cambodia, but still claims a 4.6sq km area of land around the site. In 2008 rightwing Thai nationalists reacted angrily when Unesco granted the site world heritage status, although Bangkok had not opposed Cambodia’s application. The Democrats – then in opposition – took an increasingly hawkish line. While no one expects large scale military action, clashes in the last three years have affected bilateral relations, caused deaths and evacuations and damaged Preah Vihear itself. Prof Charnvit Kasetsiri, a historian and former rector of Bangkok’s Thammasat University, warned that the row and the decision to quit the World Heritage Convention were affecting Thailand’s standing. “It has damaged our reputation internationally – we look like the bad guys to the world,” he said. The Thai military says it will not instigate hostilities – each side blamed the other for February’s skirmish – and now seems to be playing down its comments about Cambodian reinforcements on the other side of the border. “I’m not scared, because we’re well prepared,” said a soldier guarding a sandbagged checkpoint at what used to be the ticket booth for the Thai national park leading to the temple. That is as far as one can go – a source of regret to Warunrat Chitruchiphong, a regular visitor since her teenage years. “It’s magnificent. I want to go back,” she said. The 34-year-old teacher’s bigger concern is the safety of her pupils. The Phumsaron Wittaya high school was in the middle of a sports day when fighting broke out in February; shells hit the buildings as the frightened staff and pupils crouched in concrete bunkers built the previous year. “I’m constantly worried that if something happens we won’t get them into their bunkers in time,” said Warunrat. “I’m very nervous, but what can we do?”Pavin said he did not expect to see violence this week or next. But in the longer term, he warned, it depended on the election’s outcome.”If Puea Thai come back, the issue could be used once again to discredit the red shirts. There’s a possibility of the military and Democratic opposition pressing the situation,” he said. Thailand Cambodia Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal – Wimbledon 2011 men’s semi-final live! | Scott Murray
July 1, 2011 No Comment
• Email your thoughts to scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Press F5 to refresh this page or use our auto-refresher First set: Murray* 5-4 Nadal. Now it’s Murray’s turn to hold to love. He’s serving big, and standing up to Nadal during the rallies. First set: Murray 4-4 Nadal*. Nothing for Nadal to worry about here, as he wins his service game to love. “Sorry, but wasn’t Harold Mahony, although born in Edinburgh, really an Irishman from Kerry?” asks Dermot Meagher. Hmm. And for goodness sake, please don’t google Vere St Leger Goold, you’ll reveal this report to be a tissue of lies. First set: Murray* 4-3 Nadal. A majestic rally for the first point, Nadal nearly passing Murray at the net but the Scot anticipating well to volley a point-blank winner. Then another mini-classic for the second, Nadal whipping a cross-court backhand through both advantage courts. Murray sees the game out with some more powerful serving. This match isn’t exactly exciting as of yet, but the tennis is of very high quality. “That roll call of men’s finalists contains some of the finest names I have ever read,” opines Daniel Boynton. “It’s a close call, but Vere St Leger Goold must be the best. ‘Andrew Murray’ doesn’t really stack up by comparison does it?” I hope I copied that out correctly. First set: Murray 3-3 Nadal*. Nadal goes 30-0 up. Murray sends a screamer down the right-hand sideline, then Nadal dumps a woeful backhand out of play down his deuce court. Nadal bounces back by forcing a Murray error at the end of a 19-shot baseline rally, and before you know it the game is won. This is a proper face off at the moment. “McIntyre and Corden are together?” shudders Louise Wright. “You realise that means that the other two horsemen of the apocalypse are almost certainly on their way? I’d return top your loved ones and wait for the Rapture if I were you. Or just go down the pub.” Russell Howard and Joe Pasquale are coming too? Lord help us, there’s no need for this. First set: Murray* 3-2 Nadal. An easy service game to love for Murray. Everything’s going well. Apart from that dodgy hip, the poor old soul. But there’s some good news there too: the pusher comes on, offering powerful drugs, but Murray waves him away. It’s the only way to deal with these people. Listen to what Bo Diddley tells you , kids. First set: Murray 2-2 Nadal*. Both players take turns to dump easy strokes into the net, Nadal a forehand, Murray a sliced backhand. Murray looks particularly annoyed, as he had an easy chance to put Nadal away while approaching the net and move 0-30 up. Nadal mops the remaining points up without fuss. First set: Murray* 2-1 Nadal. At 30-15, Nadal moves Murray around hither and yon, before passing his opponent with a blistering cross-court shot from his own deuce court to Murray’s. It’s in, but the ball’s called out, and Nadal doesn’t challenge. Nadal wins the next point, so he’s effectively been robbed of the first break point of the match. Murray serves out to hold. All good news, except he’s called for the trainer. That hip is playing up again. He’s been given the option to get a jab if it doesn’t simmer down during the next couple of games, but he’ll have to go off court for that. First set: Murray 1-1 Nadal*. A fairly painless game for Nadal. Murray gets his racquet on all but one of the serves, forcing three rallies, but Nadal wins all the points, then finishes off with a booming ace of his own. A fairly painless game, I say, other than some clown shouting “We love you Andy”, then a gaggle of other goons laughing at the bon mot. Maybe it was McIntyre testing out some new material. If so, he’s getting edgier. First set: Murray* 1-0 Nadal. Nope. Rafa wins his first point, but Murray responds by whistling down another huge ace. His first-serve averages haven’t been the best this tournament; he’ll be hoping for more of this, because that’s a very impressive opening. 4.45pm: And we’re off! Murray belts down an ace to start, then serves and volleys a second point to go 30-0 up. And then another ace! Can he win his first service game to love writes hack who needs to break this game into two entries in order to segue into the proper format ? 4.40pm: Is the BBC trying to throw everyone into a thundering depression before Murray even has a chance to crash out in three sets? The first celebrity cutaway of the match is of landfill comedians Michael McIntyre and James Corden, chatting away to each other. Maybe they’re swapping notes on how they’ve got away with it. 4.35pm: Murray has won the toss. He elects to serve in the first game. The players are knocking up. Nadal is wearing a determined look today – when doesn’t he? – but much good that gameface will do him: win or lose Wimbledon, he’ll not be world number one any more come Monday morning. 4.30pm: The idle chatter on Centre Court turns into a smattering of polite applause as the players walk out. It’s almost as though half the crowd have gone off to purchase Pimm’s, and the ones remaining are paggered on Pimm’s. Either way, it’s a low-key start to the big event. Murray almost immediately leaves the court – he’s got his bag of rackets, and is wearing both of his shoes, so perhaps he’s forgot his wristband – then makes his entrance again. Still no big cheer. 4.20pm: Murray and Nadal should be out on centre court in a few minutes, as Novak Djokovic has just beaten Jo Wilfred Tsonga 7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 , making it to his first Wimbledon final. He’s not having too bad a year, is he? He’ll be the new world number one after this tournament, whatever happens on Sunday. The crowd: Unfunny. The weather: Sunny. Still, here’s hoping, and the head-to-head in slams isn’t the disaster zone it could be:. Nadal leads 4-2, having beaten Murray in the last 16 at the 2007 Australian Open, in the quarters at Wimbledon in 2008, in the semis here last year, and in the semis of the French Open in May. Murray has triumphed over Nadal in the semi-final of the 2008 US Open, and the quarters of the 2010 Australian Open. Murray’s due one. Like that means anything. Let’s face it, the odds aren’t in his favour (and I’m talking him down with a view to managing expectations and tempting fate). Murray is spectacularly good – and the most entertaining tennis player on the circuit at the moment by a long chalk – but Rafael Nadal is just that little bit better. Duller, but better. Relentless and better. Spencer Gore. William Marshall. Frank Hadow. John Hartley. Vere St Leger Goold. Herbert Lawford. William Renshaw. Ernest Renshaw. Willoughby Hamilton. Wilfred Baddeley. Joshua Pim. Wilberforce Eaves. Harold Mahony. Reginald Doherty. Lawrence Doherty. Arthur Gore. Sydney Smith. Frank Riseley. Herbert Barrett. Josiah Ritchie. Randolph Lycett. Bunny Austin. Fred Perry. So can Andy Murray join this roll call of British gentlemen’s Wimbledon finalists, a roll call I’m sure we can all rattle off, the tennis loving nation that we are? Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Andy Murray Rafael Nadal Tennis Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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