• Hit F5 to refresh or turn on the automatic widget below • Email thoughts and chat to evanfanning@gmail.com • Follow all today’s game and more in our daily live blog • Follow Evan on Twitter, if that’s your thing First set: Murray* 5-2 Lopez Murray holds serve comfortably which allows us to put on our casting agent hats once more. “Less Deliciano, more Christopher Lambert in Greystoke mode surely?” writes Yvonne Fletcher. Now we’re getting somewhere. “I’m happy with Ewan MacGregor as Andy, and surely it’s Maggie Smith as Judy Murray?” writes Integra. “I’m wondering about Javier Bardem as Deliciano, mainly because I just watched Biutiful last night and can’t get him out of my head. He’s probably a bit too ugly and a bit too hairy though. Maybe if Wilkinson Sword sponsored him as well…..” I think this man needs to play one of the Murray brothers. First set: Murray 4-2 Lopez* Murray breaks Lopez and pumps his fist in celebration after a game that felt like it was going to go on forever. Murray three times had break point and sensed blood for the opening point when Lopez tried a very deft drop shot which turns out to be a very foolish drop shot as it hits the net. Lopez challenges a call mid-point and it was the right decision as the ball is seen to be well inside the baseline (although it’s later confirmed that Lopez’s serve on that point was out but was missed by both Murray and the umpire). Murray then challenges a call after a fantastic rally where Lopez was at the net but on the back foot, but somehow found return after return and eventually pushed Murray to the backline and his return was between the tramlines, as Hawkeye confirms. It doesn’t put Murray off and he eventually takes the game after yet another attempt at a drop shot from Lopez hits the net. First set: Murray* 3-2 Lopez A less impressive service game this time round from Murray, but he still manages to hold serve (losing a challenge on the way). “Were the genders different,” writes Paul Szabo. “We might have a Mrs. Robinson/’Graduate’ situation, eh? I can see Dustin Hoffman playing the Lopez part quite easily, long hair and all.” Assuming the situation is at is is, who today would play the three protagonists in the picture above. Ewan McGregor as Andy Murray? First set: Murray 2-2 Lopez* It’s going with serve so far. Lopez is looking to get to the net at every opportunity and he shows how dangerous he is if his serve and volley game goes according to plan winning two successive points. He’s less impressive from the backline, hitting the net when he really should have done better but is rescued by his serve as an ace wins the game. Tom Gardiner has an idea: “Don’t you think if tennis was the kind of game where sledging went on, Lopez has an open goal two yards out? Imagine what Shane Warne would have made of the opportunity Judy Murray has presented ‘Deliciano’.” First set: Murray* 2-1 Lopez Murray holds serve comfortably, losing just one point and winning the game with a lovely cross-court forehand which Lopez didn’t even bother chasing. “Re the shaved legs,” writes Gary Naylor, “cyclists do it not to minimise wind resistance, but to ensure that scrapes, burns and road rash wounds do not become infected and so heal more quickly. It probably helps the soigneurs in their massaging at the end of the day too. And it does improve looks, though Snr Lopez doesn’t look like he needs much help in that department – unlike his opponent.” Whatever the reason it gets Judy Murray going. First set: Murray 1-1 Lopez* Lopez holds serve after a scrappy game. The Spaniard produced his first double-fault – his 18th of the tournament so far, which is relatively low. Lopez also has his first (unsuccessful) challenge of the game. Both make unforced errors, Lopez coming at game point, but a a poor Murray drop shot allows Lopez to take the advantage once again and this time Murray can’t clear the net as he returned a booming serve. First set: Murray* 1-0 Lopez Murray wins the game to love and that will settle whatever nerves he has. A lovely, gentle opening point that was so laid-back they could have had a conversation while playing it. Murray then steps it hitting two aces – the second his 50th of the tournament, half of what Lopez has hit – to take the game. Lopez, incidentally, has newly-shaved legs. Why does he do that? We’re about to start but there are very few people in Centre Court. They’ve all gone for refreshment following the epic Tsonga-Federer match. Andy Murray to serve … “The Americans are not even broadcasting his match,” says Daniel John McGrath. “On their Telly. Which is a pretty ugly snub.” That’s the kind of stirring statement that needs to be stuck on Andy Murray’s dressing room door. And Feliciano Lopez’s door come to think of it. Game-by-game exclusive (from the Johann Hari school of exclusives – i.e. they just said it on BBC) Feliciano Lopez expects Judy Murray to support her son in today’s game. He didn’t mention anything about dinner tonight. Kenny MacLeod has a dance for Andy. “The Sword Dance – and with sponsorship: The Wilkinson Sword Dance.” You, sir, should be an agent. Reasons for Andy Murray to be worried … Feliciano López has already hit 100 aces in this year’s tournament, more than any of the remaining players. Murray’s biggest area of weakness so far has been his serve return. Just in case you haven’t heard the gasps of disbelief I should tell you that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came from two sets down to beat Roger Federer and reach the last four . He then produced a truly spectacular version of his trademark dance. Andy Murray needs a trademark dance, but what should it be? Answers to the usual address. Preamble There are some interesting betting markets on this game. Not so much on whether Andy Murray will defeat Feliciano López and reach a third straight Wimbledon semi-final (that’s a ridiculously short 1-10), but instead the focus is on Judy Murray, who has expressed her admiration for her son’s opponent, the man she calls ‘Deliciano’ López. You can get 20-1 on Judy wolf-whistling at López at some stage (the bet of the day as far as I’m concerned), and you can get the same price on the Spaniard blowing Judy a kiss from the court. It’s 30-1 that they’ll be spotted having a romantic dinner somewhere in SW19 later tonight so if you work in a nearby restaurant and have just taken a booking for a table for two under the name J Murray I would pop round to your nearest bookies as soon as you can. Given that we know that Judy ♥ Feliciano, has anyone bothered finding out if Feliciano ♥ Judy? If he does, we could pack the two of them off behind the Wimbledon bike shed and give Andy a bye into the next round. Would this be a satisfactory outcome for Andy? To exchange seeing his mother disappear into the sunset with a rival in exchange for a place in the semi? That’s the big question of the day. That, and why is there no love for Mardy Fish? Wimbledon 2011 Andy Murray Tennis Wimbledon Evan Fanning guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Michigan medical student is being charged with torturing and killing up to 14 dogs he purchased in the last nine months. Police checked on David Thompson, 24, after a tipster complained that he was bringing in a large number of dogs, mostly Italian greyhounds, that were never seen again….
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Six paramilitary soldiers to be tried by civilian court after being caught on camera apparently shooting unarmed suspect Sarfaraz Shah Six Pakistani paramilitary soldiers face a possible death sentence after being charged with the murder of an unarmed civilian in a Karachi park this month. The shooting in broad daylight of Sarfaraz Shah, who was accused of theft, led to a national furore after a video of his death was aired on television . Many Pakistanis were horrified to see a uniformed man shoot the 22-year-old twice at point blank range as he begged for mercy, then watch him bleed to death. A civilian who dragged Shah towards the rangers, seen on camera grabbing him by the hair, has also been charged. If convicted, all seven face the death penalty. “The court has formally framed charges of murder and terrorism against all the accused,” prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro told reporters. The accused men have pleaded not guilty. The brutality of the slaying amplified strong criticism of Pakistan’s security forces that started with the death of Osama bin Laden on 2 May, reaching as far as the national parliament. The scrutiny has brought some changes. The six soldiers are standing trial before a civilian court instead of a military tribunal, as is usually the case. The supreme court had taken the rare step of ordering the head of the Sindh Rangers, a two-star general, to be transferred. The army says it will comply. The security forces are beset by other scandals too. In western Balochistan province Frontier Corps paramilitaries are under investigation for the shooting of five unarmed Chechens, including a pregnant woman, at a checkpoint. The corps initially claimed they were suicide bombers, which proved to be untrue. Video footage showed the Chechens trying to surrender as they were being shot. In Islamabad a judicial inquiry has been launched into the death of investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad, who was found dead after disappearing from the city centre. He had previously told colleagues he feared his life was in danger from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency . The ISI has denied the allegation. Scenes of death and destruction have become commonplace on Pakistan television since a wave of Taliban attacks in major cities started four years ago. But Pakistanis were shocked at the images of Shah’s death because they showed the young man screaming as he slowly died in a public park named after the assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Police said they recovered an imitation pistol from Shah’s body, heightening suspicions that he was a thief. But the video evidence swung public opinion firmly against the soldiers. “The video had a huge impact. No civilised force has the right to shoot an unarmed man,” said Zafar Hilaly, a retired diplomat. The shooting was filmed by a TV cameraman with a local station. The journalists’ union in Karachi said the reporter had received death threats and had been pressured by the authorities to “say it was a fake”. Videos have played a prominent role in Pakistan in recent years. In 2009 the country was electrified by a footage of Taliban militants whipping a young girl in Swat , triggering outrage that paved the way for an army assault months later. Last year a video emerged of soldiers executing blindfolded militants , also in Swat, triggering criticism from the US that forced the army chief to order a military inquiry. No findings have yet been made public. Pakistan Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk
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Meteorologists call for more lightning conductors as 38 children injured in same incident are admitted to hospital with burns Eighteen schoolchildren and their teacher have been killed in a lightning strike in Uganda, police said. The country has one of the highest rates of lightning deaths in the world and its capital, Kampala, has more days of lightning per year than any other city, according to the World Meteorological Organisation . The lightning hit the victims in a classroom at a school in Kiryandongo, 130 miles north of Kampala. Another 38 children were admitted to hospital. The east African country has suffered several fatal lightning strikes in recent weeks during unseasonably heavy rains. The deaths were debated in parliament on Monday, with MPs calling on the government to come up with strategy to deal with what several termed “a crisis”. “I don’t know which minister is in charge of the lightning but let the government come up with a statement to inform the country on what is going on and how we can manage it,” speaker Rebecca Kadaga said. Local meteorologists have criticised the government for not providing enough lightning conductors for buildings in storm hotspots. “The 19 were killed in a single lightning strike on Monday,” a police spokesman said. “They were ready to leave school but there was a heavy downpour and so they sheltered in the classroom and then, all of a sudden, it struck.” Police said 15 of the 38 injured were still in hospital being treated for burns. Local media quoted medical officials in Kiryandongo predicting the death toll could rise. The state-owned New Vision newspaper said on Tuesday that at least 40 people had been killed by lightning strikes in recent weeks. The police did not give an official death toll. Many of the strikes have killed children. Three siblings aged four, six and eight were killed while sheltering under a tree on their way home from school last week and another two children were killed the week before, police said. Uganda Natural disasters and extreme weather Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, who plays pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an upcoming movie, has been booted out of Burma and told not to come back. The Malaysian-born actress, who met the activist after her release from house arrest late last year, was deported on the next…
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Arab Israelis and Palestinians say arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah in London is ‘strange’ and ‘illegitimate’, and call for his release Arab Israelis and Palestinians have accused the British government of collaborating with Israel in detaining Sheikh Raed Salah , the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Ibrahim Sarsur, a United Arab List member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, described the arrest of Salah as “strange”. He said: “Sheikh Salah is one of the leading figures in the Arab Israeli community. He travelled to the UK legitimately, and he had no knowledge of any ban on his entering the UK, so we are surprised and disappointed by this illegitimate procedure.” Sarsur called on Britain to release Salah immediately. “We know that Israel is not happy with anyone that opposes its policies, but we see Britain as the most democratic place in the world and the birthplace of democracy. Britain should deal with delicate matters of the Middle East with delicacy and not act as a collaborator with the Israeli government.” Ben White, a writer and activist who was due to speak at an event with Salah on Wednesday, said there was a stark contrast between how Britain treated Palestinian and Israeli leaders. “The same government that sent police to arrest a Palestinian civil society leader from his hotel bedroom is changing UK legislation explicitly to facilitate the entry of accused Israeli war criminals,” he said. Israel has acted angrily in the past when its army officers and politicians have been threatened with arrest, such as when the former foreign minister Tzipi Livni had to postpone a trip to the UK to avoid arrest in 2009. A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said that the Israeli consulate in London had been informed of the arrest as would happen with the arrest of any Israeli. “It’s up to the British authorities to explain the reason for the arrest. Sheikh Raed Salah will be visited by consular officials if it is necessary.” Salah is despised by Israel’s right wing and his arrest was used as an opportunity by one member of the Knesset to launch his own “Raed Salah bill”. Alex Miller of the Israel Our Home party said the bill would prevent people such as Salah, convicted of aiding a terrorist organisation, from using government-funded institutions. “If the British government forbade this man from entering its territory because of his extremist views and a fear that he would use public and academic forums to incite violence and racism, there is no reason the Israeli government should give that pleasure to Salah and his peers,” Miller told the Jerusalem Post. Israel Middle East Palestinian territories London Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
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Man with fetish for cutting locks of hair from women faces extradition over earlier killing of teenager in Italy A man with a fetish for surreptitiously cutting locks of hair from girls and women has been found guilty of murdering a British seamstress and now faces extradition over the killing of a teenager in Italy. Danilo Restivo was convicted of killing his neighbour, Heather Barnett, at her Bournemouth flat and mutilating her body before placing a hank of someone else’s hair in her right hand and a clump of her own beneath her left. During his seven-week trial at Winchester crown court, Restivo, an Italian national, was also accused of killing 16-year-old Elisa Claps in the loft of a church in Potenza, southern Italy, and leaving cut strands of her own hair in her hands and next to her body. Both women suffered wounds to their chests but the jury was told the killer’s “hallmark” was to leave cut hair at the scene. Restivo admitted he had a “fetish” for cutting hair from women and girls in the UK and Italy, often while they travelled on buses. The court was told he had cut the hair of 15 women in the UK and nine in Italy. Restivo, 39, was born in Sicily and lived in Potenza before moving to Bournemouth in Dorset in May 2002. Police quickly came to believe Restivo had killed Barnett, 48, in November 2002 and kept him under intense surveillance amid fears he would strike again. But it was not until Claps’s body was discovered in the church loft where she had been killed in 2010 – 17 years after she vanished – that the British authorities felt they could make a case against Restivo largely based on the similarities of the two ritualistic murders. The Italian authorities want Restivo extradited to face trial over the murder of Elisa Claps. Officers may also quiz him about other unsolved murders in Italy. In the UK the Criminal Cases Review Commission has been watching the Restivo trial because the legal team for a man called Omar Benguit convicted of killing a student, Jong Ok Shin, in July 2002 three streets from Heather Barnett’s home claim that Restivo could also be guilty of that attack. Shin was also stabbed to death. Crime Italy Europe Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Hackers havd grabbed thousands of Tumblr users in a massive phishing attack. The typically simple but effective assault on the microblogging site presented users with a screen asking them to “revalidate their credentials” in order to view adult content, reports GFILabs . Compromised accounts were used to spread the scam.
Continue reading …A clinic run by Michele Bachmann’s therapist husband has collected $137,000 in payments from a program lashed by the GOP presidential candidate: Medicaid. Those payments are on top of an additional $30,000 in government grant money for employee training at Marcus Bachmann’s clinic. The clinic, which advertises “quality…
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